Hearing that he was one of the 'many' who didn't really know the Valkyrie wasn't particularly comforting, but Tal figured it was fair enough since he'd been the one to bring up a painful topic. He cleared his throat and started to duck his head but Hotaru's hand found his knee and her unexpected compliment - ...? Ish? He was going to take it as one, at least - startled an amused snort from the courier. "'Refreshin'' ain't what most people call it," he admitted, but with a grin.
"An' anyways, salt's expensive," Tal protested smugly. "I'll save it for cookin' with." He hesitated for a moment, then squeezed her shoulder awkwardly. "An' no one's sayin' y'have to go home alone tonight, anyways. Wouldn't be. Um. The first time I've spent the night." His voice was gruff with self-conscious awareness of how his words might be taken, and there was a flush of tell-tale pink at the tips of his ears as he tilted his head up to look at the featureless black sky above where the rising sparks of the fire made brief-lived stars. "If y'don't mind us just sleepin' togeth- uh, next to each other, I mean."
Boreal's tail thumped quietly in the snow behind them but otherwise she was still; a warm, quiet weighted blanket of a dragon that curled around Ru and Tal. A soft rumble escaped her broad chest as clever fingers soothed her cheek, a bass whimper of approval as she let both humans know that they were loved.
"An' anyways, salt's expensive," Tal protested smugly. "I'll save it for cookin' with." He hesitated for a moment, then squeezed her shoulder awkwardly. "An' no one's sayin' y'have to go home alone tonight, anyways. Wouldn't be. Um. The first time I've spent the night." His voice was gruff with self-conscious awareness of how his words might be taken, and there was a flush of tell-tale pink at the tips of his ears as he tilted his head up to look at the featureless black sky above where the rising sparks of the fire made brief-lived stars. "If y'don't mind us just sleepin' togeth- uh, next to each other, I mean."
Boreal's tail thumped quietly in the snow behind them but otherwise she was still; a warm, quiet weighted blanket of a dragon that curled around Ru and Tal. A soft rumble escaped her broad chest as clever fingers soothed her cheek, a bass whimper of approval as she let both humans know that they were loved.
