[Soon enough, Spéir had finished setting up camp. Their single tent sat close to the campfire; a clear tarp stretched above them to shelter both from sudden storms; and Nova—who Spéir had helped physically carry on Scamall's behalf, since they'd fought magic being used on them—laid against one of its wooden poles, having slowly consumed half-melted ambrosia in their slumber.]

Scamall: [huddled up in a bundle of blankets, sitting half-beneath the lip of the tent and in front of the fire]

Spéir: [sitting across from her on the other side of the fire. Has a leg propped up against the ground and an arm against its knee, with his back against one of the trees that'd shifted its way into their camp]

[Things in Talamhdé often moved as though they had a mind of their own… but, more often than not, it was Talamhdé Itself that had the mind, not them. And the tree seemed to be little different, so Spéir chose to get comfortable with it.]

Spéir: [staring into the distance, his face half-turned away from her and a subtle tension underlying his expression]

Scamall: [uneasy, but…] 😅

Scamall: [tiredly stares down at the half-finished ambrosia-and-herb tea Spéir had made for her]

Spéir: [had insisted she should have some now, since he'd had a whole square to himself earlier]

Spéir: [as the silence stretches between them, finally speaks up to say) "Scamall."

Scamall: [shakes herself awake, quickly looking up at him]

Spéir: [offers a weak—but obviously forced—smile, then adds uneasily) "about earlier…"

Scamall:

Scamall: [lifts her cup to her lips to silently sip at it. Watches Spéir, knowing he'll continue on his own]

Spéir: [glances away from her for a moment, but quickly looks back as he finishes) "… when Talamhdé fell apart on us. What did you think of that?"

Scamall: [blink]

Scamall: [frowns, ears drooping and eyebrows furrowing as she watches him uneasily]

Scamall: [lets her arms—and the tea—fall back onto her lap. Uncertainly, because everything about the situation had been obvious) "… what do you mean?"

Spéir: [sighs heavily, moving his arm to put his face in his hand]

Spéir: [but peers through his dark, starry fingers as he answers cautiously) "… why do you think it did that."

Scamall:

Scamall: [holding her breath without meaning to, absentmindedly looks to Nova's sleeping form]

Nova: [has slowly dropped from the wooden pole to be laying across the ground, where wild grasses and flowers sprouted around their body. Snoring softly and hugging themself again, but sleeping much more soundly than before]

Scamall: (voice sounding distant even to herself) "… you remember Moyner—"

Spéir: [winces]

Scamall: "—better than I."

Scamall: [eyebrows furrowing slightly, turns a gentle, worried look onto Spéir]

Spéir: [turned away from her, face twisted and eartips drooping into his shoulders]

Scamall: (gently) "… so I don't know why you'd ask. That was obviously God. Though—obviously, I have no better idea than you why they'd be interested in this faerie."

Spéir:

Spéir: [ears slowly pop back up as he takes a slow, uneven deep breath—but he doesn't immediately speak. Clearly still struggling to find his words]

Scamall: [lets out a slow sigh of her own, ears drooping and looking back down at her tea]

Scamall: (voice soft, almost absentminded) "although… their domain is weird. I can't seem to figure it out."

Scamall: [looks up at Spéir again, eyebrows furrowed]

Spéir: [meets her eyes, though his face is empty minus a slight tension]

Scamall: (uncertainly) "what do you think it is?"

Spéir: [swallows, looking away almost… guiltily?]

Spéir: (voice subtly uneven) "… something nature-y, obviously. I can't really tell, either."

Scamall: [ears droop—but sighs, quickly looking away to finish her tea]

Nova: [has managed to curl into a ball again, their arms over their head, but it's loose this time around. They seem comfortable]

Scamall: [smiles a soft, sad smile as she eyes them]

Scamall: [once again remembering their fear, their bravery, and how they'd risked their own life to keep her and Spéir from getting dragged into their problems. How they had all that, when they were only a little faeling]

Nova: [despite their maturity, Scamall got the sense they couldn't be any older than seven]

Spéir: [takes a slow, deep breath, standing up]

Scamall: [surprised, looks back to him]

Spéir: [offers her an awkward, slightly-forced smile as he walks around the fire to sit down at her side. Finally, wraps his arms around her in a tight hug]

Scamall: [metaphorically melts into him, tearing up and laughing weakly as she hugs him back]

Spéir: (gently) "I love you, Scamall."

Spéir: [but, before she can say it back, continues more evenly) "I'm going to keep watch by the tree tonight, okay? You think you can take a stuffed animal?"

Scamall: [smile fading, presses her face into Spéir's shoulder as she hugs him tighter]

Spéir: [usually would be beside her—letting her cling to him—while one of them slept and the other kept watch, but… sometimes, he'd want to stay separate. And, to make up for it, he'd offer her a stuffed animal to cling to in his place]

[Since it was made from his essence, he'd reasoned, it should be little different from her cuddling him]

[But it'd never been the same.]

Scamall: (into his shoulder, voice muffled and disappointed) "… yeah. I love you, too, Spéir."

Spéir: [gives a weak laugh, squeezing her tighter]

Spéir: (gently, though there's an edge to his voice) "sorry… I'm just a little antsy today. I don't want to disturb your sleep, you know?"

Scamall: [gives a slow, hesitant nod as she continues clinging to him, not wanting to let go] 🥲