* after [[scouring + consummation]] He came back to the cook pit covered in blood, shoulder slumped, eyes glassy. What happened? She asked standing up and running over to him. He rested some of his weight on her, and shook his head. “ Tell me something good about your day” She hesitated a moment, wondering if she should insist, then started rambling about the first thing that came to mind. They laid down, he lais an arm over her waist her, tucked his chin against her head, and after a few minutes of silence or she could feel the tension refusing to leave his body he said: // what happened. “I don't want to dwell on it. But I thought you needed to know. Just in case.” A thousand questions filled her mind, but she kept her mouth shut while she thought about them. Dismissed the ones that were just curiosity, swallowed the comments that would feel like empty sympathy, and asked the only one that mattered: “ are you going to go back in the morning, or do you want to see if Tuft can take us somewhere else?” He was silent for long enough that she fell asleep.