[SE] was it the fire punch or the fever dream high

Noah

the truth is what remains
the truth is what you save from the fire

Noah followed the line of her gesture up the beach, nodding easily. He let the heat roll off from his face, but the salmon hue stayed stubbornly. He cleared his throat. "A cove sounds perfect." he said. He trusted her opinion and knowldege, knowing she worked to save people's lives on this shoreline.

As they waded, noah watched as the cloud manta drifted lower along the shoreline, vast and rippling like silk caught in slow motion. Noah watched it with open admiration, some of the earlier self-conscious tension easing out of his shoulders. Her confession drew another smile from him, warmer and softer. "Yeah?" He stepped with her toward the safer stretch, letting the water fall from rib-height to his waist. "When I was a kid, it was griffins for me. Not just the shift, the real ones. I used to leave out scraps and shiny things like that’d convince one to adopt me." A soft huff of laughter followed. "One finally did. Well, I found her, actually. An egg out on the Sea of Glass."

you fight for what you love, don't matter if it hurts
you find out what it's worth and you let the rest burn