Sunset Valley and leave you like they left me here

the smile stayed on his face, not wavering. it seemed like all had been cleared up, at least on the surface. the guilt would still nag at him for a while yet, and perhaps alarian still had some bad feelings within, but they were now civil enough to go about their business. he nodded as alarian rose to his feet, a laugh bubbling up and over at the sanctuary leader's attempts at humor.

"if there's ever a next time, i promise i won't run away," aditya responded impulsively. he could have hit himself for that. instead, he flushed; if he were human, he would be crimson all over. trying to recover himself, he took a shaky breath and gave another curt nod, businesslike. "goodbye for now, alarian. best of luck to you and bracken sanctuary."

without another word, aditya shot alarian one last grin, then turned on his heel, tail slightly lower than usual--humility, he supposed. he didn't feel at ease until he was nearly halfway home, and maybe not even then. but at least--at least!--some of the burden had been taken off his shoulders.