SSWM : 364
He watched the woman as she shifted, her body knowing exactly what to do. Pripyat could hear the sounds as her bones realigned, watched as her skin stretched and then found its shape once more. Perhaps it was rude to stare so blatantly but he knew Xeris wouldn’t interpret his curiosity as anything other than what it was. For a long while he had struggled with the ability to shift himself, perhaps he really had just been too young and had tried to rush it, but now he could shift. He could shift as easily as she and as he watched her he wondered what had ever been so intimidating about it in the first place. Why had it been so hard for him? Yet now here he was, on two legs and Xeris too stood as the humans had and was now clasping him on the shoulder.
He smiled again, nodding at her words. It had been a while since just the two of them spoke. They had of course seen each other’s faces here and there, pack meetings or just coming and going, but their lives had not slowed down enough for the two to just chat. Although he couldn’t think of anything specific to tell Xeris, he hadn’t really slowed down in the past few months. He had been going here and there, within Phoenix Valley and outside of it. And within his own head. Yet all that had come to rest now and he didn’t want to drag up past grievances, so his voice was steady and friendly when he answered her.
“I have been well, real well.” He cleared his throat, his ocean eyes settling on their gaze on Xeris’s golden ones. “What about you? How have you been?” It did not seem strange to be asking her this, he had always been polite and courteous. Yet it wasn’t really the same question he might have asked months ago. Now it came from the lips of an adult, to the ears of another, and Pripyat had a mature interest in the woman who had once just been a caretaker but now was a fellow pack mate and a friend.
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