Once we had found a change of clothes I let out a long sigh and pulled them on without a word. We walked back through the treeline in complete silence, even the birds above us had gone quiet. Phoenix moved through the messy undergrowth without making a single sound, which felt deeply unfair given that I was tripping over roots every few steps.
He cleared his throat as we neared the house and turned to face me. He was only in a pair of loose pyjama bottoms, his torso completely bare, and I made a point of crossing my arms and looking somewhere else entirely.
"I have matters to attend to," he said.
"And?" I snapped, staring down at the mud still between my toes.
He sighed. "Were you always this spirited?"
I shrugged. "Everything needs a little watering and time."
He chuckled, a real one, and I looked up at him despite myself.
"That is true," he said, something soft crossing his face. "You will see someday, Nova, that what you just said means more than you know."
