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His expression brightened immediately when Oce accepted his comment. He felt himself beginning to smile in response and felt more like a family than he had been in months. Since Tayui’s depature, it’d been just him in AniWaya. Honoré had disappeared before Noir’s death, so even he didn’t know about his niece’s passing. Aurèle, too, and her rather rambunctious sons had left AniWaya too. Now, with Ocèane, perhaps they could make a ramshackle family. They still had Dawali too after all, and he was almost like a father. He was a leader, and that was pretty close.
Claudius gave her an encouraging smile when she pondered his comment, waiting for her to say something more. He didn’t want her to leave it at just that – he was curious to know if she really agreed with him, or if she was just humouring him. The last time she spoke, Claudius was glad to hear she agreed. He nodded quickly and wished he was still holding her hand so he could give it a big, warm squeeze. He missed the feeling of warmth – and of knowing that luperci was there and you weren’t just imagining it. He was about to mention something when she asked what he had been up to, and promptly forgot what he was going to say.
“I h-h-h-helped N… Nian R-R-Redtree b-build a hut,” he replied. “I’ve b-b-been dying things and r-r-reading a lot. Not hunting though. M-m-maybe we s-should find a-another t-tribe member to go hunting w-with.”