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"Definitely missing my bed right now," Hal says offhandedly.
Thaisha has always been expressive. It's one of the many things he loves about her. But in this moment he wishes she was harder to read. She looks guilty.
"I didn't get to ask how Shadia is handling all of this," Thaisha says, voice pitched low.
The rest of their group is fast asleep, bundled up in their bedrolls as best as they can to keep out the cold. Hal had offered to take first watch and Thaisha second.
He longs to be home. He wonders how the show is going.
"She's… handling it," he says.
Thaisha's eyes narrow slightly but he pretends it's because the dim fire crackles unexpectedly. "How are you doing?"
Hal sucks in a breath. "About the same. I love—loved Thjazi but I never expected to be roughing it out in the wilderness again." He laughs quietly to himself. "I thought I'd left these days behind me after returning home."
He steals a glance at Thaisha. "What do you like most about it?"
Her brows furrow. "About current events?"
"About adventuring," Hal clarifies.
Thaisha shrugs but Hal reads the loosening of her shoulders, how her lips curl into a small smile that even she doesn't notice. "It's nice to see other places, experience different things. You know how it is," she says, a hint of a plea in her voice.
He does, he remembers. "Yeah, it's not too bad." But he can get that at home, too. People come and go through his home.
He's tired more than excited, away from home.
She grins, tusks showing. "Hey, at least we're here together. Just like old times, right?"
Hal smiles, although he feels his heart getting heavier in his chest. "Yeah, like old times."
They love each other so much, but they don't fit together they used to anymore. The shape of them has transformed into something different. He's not hurt by it the way their daughter is still, but he still allows himself time to imagine if Thaisha's plants saw more of her care than Hal's.
But time changes all things eventually.
He gets up, placing a kiss on Thaisha's forehead as he moves past her. "Goodnight."