Tuktu Hinterlands Better hold on tight, before you know it's gone

He'd definitely thought about it - asking her to be his mate, here and now.  The segue was there if he wanted to use it, but he didn't.  It didn't feel right, with how upset she seemed by his story, and it suddenly felt more right to just... talk.  Talk about things he hadn't with others.  Niamh was giving him the opportunity, and he felt a weight he hadn't even known was there lift as he told her about her.

"You woulda liked her.  She called me on my shit." He looked at her with amusement - they had that in common. "She wasn't a fighter; a healer.  First time we met I'd done something stupid and she patched me up."  He looked down.  "That's why by my estimate, Redhawks are so lucky to have Raven and Ceara.  And why I help em all I can, even if I can't do much.  If they'd been there, or it had been me takin sick, things mighta gone different."  He reached out and touched her cheek, getting his sardonic grin back.  "So when we do stupid things, like taking on bears, there's someone to make sure we don't pay for it."  It was a Colt move to slip into teasing right after a heartfelt reveal, but he couldn't let this place bring her down too much; that hadn't been why he'd brought her.  She understood him now, better than anyone, even Finley or Fire.  He hadn't shared any of this with either of them, much as he'd been tempted to.  Easygoing brother was his calling card there, and it was an image he'd never had a reason to shatter.  Now, suddenly, he did, and wow it felt nice to lay it all out and have someone understand it.  He hadn't dwelt on Quixote's dismissal, chalking it up to his friend's stress level, but it had cut a little deeper than even he'd realized.