but you never close the door

His life had not turned out at all how he had expected it. It was not such a bad thing - he'd learned a lot about who he was, and who was family was along the way. It was strange to think that he was already, three, though; hadn't he been a child just yesterday, romping in the grass with his siblings? He shook his head at the thought.

Her words were surprising to him. Were.. women supposed to talk about that sort of thing? It struck him as a bit of an unspoken thing - something that wasn't discussed, even if everyone knew it - but Lillie wasn't exactly one to hold things back. "Oh.." he'd start, trailing off soon after he opened his muzzle to speak. "That.. sucks."  Did it suck? He had no idea, but she said it did, so it must. He felt uncomfortable thinking about it. His head felt hazy and strange, but he felt disconcertingly.. good? He shuffled his paws beneath him after a moment, taking a few steps to the side and lowering himself to the earth, legs folding under him.

"I'm fine, I guess," he offered.. his usual half-hearted response. He didn't really want to talk about what was bothering him; they'd had this talk just recently, and it hadn't helped him at all. In fact, it'd made things worse. Going over the same stupid thoughts wasn't going to help him. "Better than you, though, maybe?" He really had no idea, but it seemed funny, and he let out a brief chuckle as he eyed her.