Her words hang heavy in the air, the closeness of the trees making them almost tangible in her deep voice. What might only have been mere seconds seems as if it stretches in to hours as her gaze of ice and molten gold searches his face, lingering on his good eye and awaiting his answer. Finally he breaks the silence enveloping them, a single word that releases the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding as he steps toward her and it seems the world galvanizes again. Continuing on his is long winded as per usual, but these words are more clear and he says them with such conviction she can feel the warmth of her own belief in them. As her faith grows his heartbreaking question finds her and causes her pause for only a moment.

A chuckle rumbles deep in her chest as she steps to him, nuzzling the thick hair of his chest and neck, “I doubt I could get you to leave even if I wanted to.” The words are lighthearted but she won’t let him misread them, pulling back to stare into his good eye with her usual ferocity. “But I cannot imagine doing this without you.” And it’s the truth. She hadn’t imagined doing this with him, but seeing as this is where they have found themselves she is happy he is here beside her. “Come, let me give you the tour," she says finally, flipping him a rare wink as she turned and headed toward the den at their backs.

She stepped inside the hole at the base of the tree, following a short descent to the flat space she had carved out within the bark. The ceiling was tall enough she didn’t have to bend, but no doubt Zaphkiel would scrape it with his taller form. She backed up, allowing him room to enter though as he had assumed even with just the two of them space was somewhat cramped. Closeness was something she wasn’t used to and she found herself…nervous. For a moment she closed her eyes, inhaling the familiar musk of her den laced with her own familiar scent before exhaling slowly. Finally she looks back to him, reaching out almost tentatively to brush her snow-hued muzzle against his own dark one. She lay down at the back wall, leaving him enough room to situate himself as he liked, her heart beating hard in her chest as she waited to see what he would do. Despite the intimacy they had already experienced this was something entirely new to her.