Once the water is boiled, the mismatched cups gathered, Araceli can stop with as much of the rushing. Lux darts out to grab at a list carrot on the floor, crunching noisily as he tiptaps back to plant himself by Fern's feet. There's a moment where she ducks under Korrin's arm; better days maybe it'd be a dance even without the music.

When they'd met in the stables, Araceli hadn't been prepared to feel so grown up. Living with another woman had been the plan one day, always somewhere over her horizon until talking about it as if it weren't. Her smile is reassuring, she hopes. Comforting. Being the big sister again like she's been other places, other times.

"Sometimes I think that forest is her whole heart taken out of herself. Oh that's so romantic," no teasing only sincerity in her voice, warm and open before she has to turn back to the pan. "It's like in a story."