And so we stayed in silence.
Dry Grass was the first to break the silence, mumbling. “In The Wind.”
“What was that, love?” Tule asked, brushing fingers through her hair.
-“That was my up-tree instance. In The Wind.” She laughed, choked and hoarse. “I remember the rattle of dry grass in the wind. I picked that up from Louie. Eir clade, os Riãos, did much the same. I thought I was so clever.“
+“That was my up-tree instance, yes? In The Wind?” She laughed, choked and hoarse. “I remember the rattle of dry grass in the wind. I picked that up from Louie. Eir clade, os Riãos, did much the same. I thought I was so clever. I thought I had gotten all of my grief out that second day. I thought I could move on, limping, until I heard of the work she’d done, that she made it so far and still did not make it to the end. Until I saw her core.”
Tule, more flexible than I, bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Cress gave her own kiss after. Both of them glanced briefly at me, looking a little sheepish. I couldn’t quite piece together the reason for their looks until I pieced together their confusion — our confusion, since I shared in it — of how I must feel about her.
The compulsion to echo that gesture was certainly there, too. I knew from countless memories the softness of her skin against my lips, I knew what even the briefest touch would mean to her as she worked to process her own loss.
I also knew her only as a friend, only as Dry Grass of the Ode clade, only Cress and Tule’s partner, with whom I had shared only a few dinners.
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@