Cat's excitement and admiration had Tal subconsciously straightening his shoulders with pride even as he reached up to rub his nose to hide his pleased grin. "Nothin' else like it," he agreed. "We'd go days between camps, just me an' th'dogs an' th'sound o' th'runners. I wouldn't've traded it for anythin' back then... well, 'cept my skyboat. Once I had her, she made it a lot easier t'make deliveries outside o'Halo, bein' able t'fly around Caido instead o' takin' th'Voice's portals or walkin'!" But it had also made it easier to leave Halo in the end, and his grin faltered at her unexpected understanding of why he'd left his home and his family and so many of his friends. He swallowed hard and nodded as Boreal leaned more heavily against Cat's leg, chuffing a large sigh at her human to shake him free of his moment of feelings. He huffed right back at her, but it buoyed his spirits so that talk of Flora could bring the grin back - even if it was a bit more wry this time.
"Larger'n life? Yeah, that's Flora," he agreed with a chuckle. "An' if y'think she glows, wait'll y'meet her mom! Her whole damn family's demigods at this point, I think. Dunno what she was up to in Halo... leader stuff, probably," he admitted with a shrug. "Th'Void shi--uh, stuff's got everyone runnin' around these days."
Boreal, meanwhile, was quite pleased with the renewed attention and Cat's scritches in all the right places, and she rumbled happily up at the woman's teasing, much to Tal's fond amusement. "Well, me an' Boreal are pretty good at bein' ourselves. Dunno who else we'd be, but if it's stories y'want..." He shifted his hand back to his neck, not entirely comfortable with this unexpected attention but not unhappy about it.
Though mention of Starfall did sober the courier. His hand dropped back to his side as he nodded. "Yeah, my partner an' I ended up stickin' around a little bit longer t'help rebuild in Snowcloak after all th'floodin'. Our family store wasn't hit too bad, thankfully, an' my courier station made it through in one piece. But we were definitely lucky. Torchline, though..." He gestured towards Kaiholo Port and the docks there. "I ended up bringin' supplies down on my skyboat an' helpin' them rebuild their port here, too. Halo got hit bad, but Torchline was way worse. Lotta people died in both regions..." He shook his head with a grimace. "Were you an' your da affected, out where y'were?"
"Larger'n life? Yeah, that's Flora," he agreed with a chuckle. "An' if y'think she glows, wait'll y'meet her mom! Her whole damn family's demigods at this point, I think. Dunno what she was up to in Halo... leader stuff, probably," he admitted with a shrug. "Th'Void shi--uh, stuff's got everyone runnin' around these days."
Boreal, meanwhile, was quite pleased with the renewed attention and Cat's scritches in all the right places, and she rumbled happily up at the woman's teasing, much to Tal's fond amusement. "Well, me an' Boreal are pretty good at bein' ourselves. Dunno who else we'd be, but if it's stories y'want..." He shifted his hand back to his neck, not entirely comfortable with this unexpected attention but not unhappy about it.
Though mention of Starfall did sober the courier. His hand dropped back to his side as he nodded. "Yeah, my partner an' I ended up stickin' around a little bit longer t'help rebuild in Snowcloak after all th'floodin'. Our family store wasn't hit too bad, thankfully, an' my courier station made it through in one piece. But we were definitely lucky. Torchline, though..." He gestured towards Kaiholo Port and the docks there. "I ended up bringin' supplies down on my skyboat an' helpin' them rebuild their port here, too. Halo got hit bad, but Torchline was way worse. Lotta people died in both regions..." He shook his head with a grimace. "Were you an' your da affected, out where y'were?"
