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After years of wrestling with the problem, Richeh was finally able to open the windowway to where she'd sent Euini and Alaira with good news to share, and an invitation to the atelier where Olruggio was ready to try his new tool on erasing Euini's curse tattoo if Euini wanted to risk it.
When they came through, Alaira didn't look much different, but Euini—
"You got tall," Richeh said, which was both inane and not nearly descriptive enough. Since the last time they'd seen each other, Richeh had grown about a handspan and a half, which was a respectable amount of height if she did say so herself. But now Euini stood taller than Qifrey, shoulders broader than Olruggio's, the straight dark hair that had hidden his green eyes from view now pulled back into a tail at the back of his head so she could see the hope and fear in them without obstruction.
"Yeah," Euini said, touching the back of his head nervously. "Is that okay?"
"Is that okay?" Richeh stepped closer, head tilted back to look up at him. "It's just a fact. I don't get an opinion about it."
"You get an opinion about everything to do with me," Euini said quietly, "and I want to know what those opinions are, actually."
Silently, Richeh reached up to put her hands on his shoulders, running her hands down his upper arms, and breathed in deeply. He smelled like woods, evergreens and wild things, sunlight on fur. "It suits you," she said softly. "Like you've grown into yourself. I always knew there was so much more to you than you were ready to show when we met."
Euini's cheeks stained with red as Richeh's hands continued down until they caught his own. "So it's okay?"
"It's okay, Euini."