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Nathair loved the rain, even when the drops were icy. The sprinkle of it was nice upon his gills, and it felt like it was cleansing his body, mind, and soul. They were only less than three weeks into spring, from what he gathered, so the rain should be somewhat warm.

“If I smile, no one knows what I’m thinking,” Linh eventually admitted softly. “I am at peace here with you, Nathair. My smiles are not false, so please don’t think they are, but hidden beneath them... my heart does hurt.”

Nathair brought his skull down to face her and observed the pain in her gaze. There were no tears, but her lips were curled downwards, and her chin did wobble slightly. The only parts of her that trembled were her hands as she picked at her nail beds and the sides of her fingers.

“I smile because I was forced to, or I’d be...hit.I wasn’t allowed to cry, or scream, or show just how miserable I was. I wasn’t allowed to grin, as it came across as snide or spite-filled, so I learned to just... smile. That way, no one knows how much hate I hold, how much I’m hurting, and what I’m planning to do next.” She tipped her face up to him. “I don’t feel like I have to do that with you. I’ve cried in front of you, shown anger, and even...kickedyou for fun. I smile formebecause it’s meaning was stolen. I share them with you because you deserve them, because you make me want to, and they feel so good when they touch my heart.”

Nathair parted his maw slightly and then spread his lower jaw bones like he was trying to emulate a grin. Her brows drew together, obviously puzzled, only for her to cover her mouth. A giggle sounded behind it.

“If that’s a smile, I have to tell you it’s creepy,” she stated with renewed mirth in her eyes.

Nathair chuckled in return and snapped his maw shut. He’d wanted to ease the hardness in her features.

Wanting her to know that he’d listened intently, he brushed the back of his claw over the corner of her lips, admiring this simple part of her. He felt when it curled, and her expression grew tender.

It dimmed as she lowered her gaze and fiddled with her fingers again.

“And... I have told you something about myself. I told you my mum was an apothecary, herbologist, and doctor, and that my father was the mayor of our village. I come from Springrock Mountain. I think that’s west of your pond, since I have no idea where we are right now.”

“Your father is a...” He’d never needed to say this word before.

“Leader?” she asked, pressing the tips of two fingers together before pulling away as if she was lining the edges of a triangle.

“Yes, leader,” he signed, mimicking the movement. He was thankful she simplified it by giving him a less specific name for those who led humans.

He did it again to make sure he absorbed the new word, then tilted his head at her. He nodded, hoping she’d continue.

“He wasn’t voted in. My grandmother on my mum’s side was our mayor before this, and when he married my mum, he was taken under her wing. Everyone loves him, so he was forced into the role when my grandmother grew ill. My mum didn’t care to lead, but she helped our people in her own way by taking care of the sick.” She gave a small laugh. “Half the time, everyone talks to her rather than my dad. You’d be surprised how much patients speak to their doctor about their problems. She was already giving them medicine, so why not?”

The more Linh spoke, the more his sight shifted to yellow and grew in brightness. He was learning new things about her, and he’d been waiting forever to hear this.

When she didn’t say anything for a while, he signed, “More?”

She laughed, but in the way that felt like she was calling him greedy. Nathair’s insatiable need to learn rumbled within him, and he’d take every bite he could.

“Fine. I’ll tell you more, only because you deserve it.”

Nathair snickered.I deserve more than that, and we both know it.

“I’ll be honest with you, I had it really easy growing up, despite all the Demon attacks,” she stated, waving her arms into a small shrug. “Because of the positions my parents had, I was watched, and kind of... it feels weird saying this, but... adored? I did what was expected of me. I made sure I exceeded at my tutoring. I learned how to cook so I could help feed everyone, and went with my mother into the forest to pick herbs since I wanted to follow in her footsteps. She’s one of the few doctors in our village. I was kind to everyone and learned to sign because my father told me I needed to be able to communicate with anyone and everyone.”

Nathair tilted his head when her warm expression crept away, and darkness entered it instead.

“It was lucky I did. I ended up having to translate for those in my village who are unable to speak, when both my father’s hands were injured due to...” Her features pinched and her face grew ashen as she darted her gaze to the side nervously. “He disobeyed the bandits, and they... theybashedthem as a way to punish him.”

Liquid bubbled in her eyes, but she quickly blinked it away. A blush rose on her cheeks as she peeked at him from the corner of her lids, her lips tightening. Seconds later, she gave him a forced smile.

“I’m the only one my age in the whole village,” she said, drawing away from the painful conversation. “Everyone is either years older than me, or at least three years younger. It sucked being the only person who was twenty-one, and I only turned that a few months ago. Instead of getting to play, I just studied hard because there was nothing else to do. I followed mum to work or played by myself.”

“Were you l-o-n-e-l-y?” Nathair signed, since he’d asked this of Weldir quite a few times. His father never answered directly.

“Hmm. Not really.” Linh shrugged her lean shoulders. “Sometimes the other villagers would sit with me, and I managed to know everyone well, even though there’s a few thousand of us. I know everyone’s name, who their families are, and where they live. I made friends with everyone, no matter if they were old or just a baby. Everyone in the village was my friend, but the Jolston kids were the ones who followed me everywhere I went.”

Nathair purposefully darkened his orbs to ask why.

Then again, she is like a pretty gem.From what she’d said about her past, he imagined she’d always been radiant. If what she was like with him was only a fraction of the loveliness she’d been before, then even Nathair thought he may have been hopeless to chase after her light.

“They are the closest to me in age, both sisters, and they both have hearing loss. So does their father. Not everyone knows how to speak Austlan, so they liked having someone they could speak freely with who wasn’t an annoying adult or someone younger. We think the loss of hearing is hereditary. My dad made sure I learned because they grew up next door to him. They had a lot of boy troubles and wanted advice, not that I could give it!”