At Last

Vervain's yelp of surprise quickly turned into a peal of laughter as she was lifted up into Dev's grip and marched away towards the foundations of their new home. She might have said a number of things - said that he didn't have to, said that she was perfectly capable, said that she could do it herself. But for one of the first times in her life she just let it happen, slinging her arm about his broad shoulders and smiling at the care with which he set her down. While Devrum fussed over her with the sort of affection that would likely seem foreign to most who knew the bear, Vai leant back on her hands to stare up at the canopy of trees. To breathe it in; the dry leaves, the woodsmoke, the wildflowers... it brought her an extraordinary feeling of peace. She shifted only at the feeling of Dev settling beside her, a smile curling across her lips as he drew her close. "I'm glad it seems that way," she murmured, though she wouldn't outright say he was incorrect. "Truthfully this is easier than adjusting to Northaven. I know not to trust easily here." By which she meant, of course, that Northaven had been more a political trap than a haven. This place was wild and unpredictable and all the more comfortable for it in her opinion. Vai tilted her head to glance up at him as he started to speak, something uncharacteristically hard and sharp flicking through her eyes. And I would let you, that look said. "Always," she murmured, lacing her arm around him in return and resting a hand on his thigh. She wasn't sure about divine intervention, though this sort of world was definitely starting to make her reconsider her ideas, and she sighed softly. "Just take it one day at a time," she murmured. "Every day we wake up here, breathing this air, with this ground under us... it's another day it's different. Another day when free really means free, for all that we're apparently stuck in this bubble." Honestly, compared to the trouble that had been about to land in their lap back in Northaven, this place was paradise. Mutants and monsters and all, because Northaven had plenty of those too, didn't it? "Ain't no shame in that," she said, leaning up to press her lips to a bearded cheek. "We will make this work. Second chances, third chances... however many we can take. Believe it, Dev. That door can close, for good." vervain where the wild things are