None of it entered this room.
Takoda's hand came up suddenly and patted Sera's cheek, soft and deliberate, the gesture of a child offering something she has decided to give. "Love you, Gamma." The words were sleepy at their edges, slightly mashed by tiredness, but entirely full at their center. The first such offering since the bedroom had frightened them back inside her.
Sera's chest drew tight with a warmth that had nothing comfortable about it and everything right. She tightened her arms around the child by a degree, careful and sure. "I love you more, cub. I always will."
