Darling, I Miss You

Modesty was getting into a habit of being up with the sun, making a circle of the Moor to check on and feed the stock, then coming back to the treehouse to check on Jael and the kids then going back out to the Estuary to make sure everything was as it should be. She had spotted a giant, dinosaur like bird out of the edges of the Estuary and wanted to make sure it stayed out towards the edges and away from Nim's turtle pond. She was also doing her best to map out where they should build a shelter for the birds to encourage them into nesting boxes, rather than... all over the place like they currently were.

This morning, however? She had allowed herself a rare sleep in. Ken had told her the night before he would look after the livestock in the mornings, she was almost sure it was because he planned on setting up another still that he didn't want his mother stumbling across but, if it meant he was taking on more responsibility, she wouldn't deny him that.

Gil's invitation was met with a smile that wasn't returned, and she tripped over it for just a minute. It wasn't his fault, and it wasn't her fault, everything was fine. He was alive and he was here and that was enough. Wasn't it?

It was easier when they were walking and she could focus on where she was placing her paws, eyes forward and ears tipping to take in the sounds of the estuary around them. The distant machine-gun clacking, like a woodpecker, but... more visceral, caught her attention for a moment, but then Gil was talking and she turned her ears towards him instead. It was easier if she wan't looking at him.

"Sakana is invaluable as always, and the pups seem to be doing well..." A few were... Unusual. Pythia was clearly blind as a bat and something wasn't quite right with Corsair... almost like Gil wasn't right but not quite... More... conflicted. Serious. Potentially dangerous, going from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye, one beast clearly winning out over the other, but both confused, neither certain. Maybe he'd grow out of it? Who knew?

But she forced a smile, considering his offer. "They'd all be better off learning to fight from someone who actually knows what they are doing." She swung her hip to bump against his, "They won't always have a tree to fall out of." She allowed her gaze to turn back towards the Estuary as they made their way down to the beach. "I was talking to Nimbus about the best way to make use of all these birds, we were thinking maybe a shelter where we feed them until they get used to us. If they associate us with food rather than being it, maybe we can encourage them to nest somewhere easier to get to." It was light work. She didn't want to ask him to go waging wars. Not yet.

"What do you want to do about Ethne?" She had no idea what name they were going by these days, but changing a name didn't change who they were, at their core.

"speech"