There was a sense of relief in Lunise when Meesei kissed her, much like the relaxation she had when they were usually only in one another's company. Even though people they knew were barely a short walk away, the privacy and dark of the tent brought Lunise back into mask-shed state that only Meesei truly got to see.

When Meesei broke the kiss and said those four words, Lunise was thrown back into consciousness hard enough to render her frozen where she laid. Though Lunise could hardly see Meesei, Meesei could see Lunise's face caught in a rictus of shock and confusion.

Lunise slowly closed her mouth. Her angled elven eyes half-closed, though not in anger or derision. A high voice that Meesei didn't recognise at first came from Lunise's mouth. "You truly mean that, don't you?" It was more a statement than a question, breaking pitch in places as voices tend to do when emotionally charged. Lunise blinked and a pair of tears ran back from the corner of her eyes down to the bedding behind her head.

She showed her teeth and gasped in an upset breath.