Found:
I spent the day putting Millie's lesson to the test. I've a small pile of discarded attempts for later use in firelighting, and a lot more practise to do before I manage anything even remotely decent.
Ry found me before dusk; earlier than I was expecting, not that I've any complaints.
We spoke long into the night on various matters, and shared a few personal truths. We're now in a more stable state of equilibrium, I think; there are things I know about him that he's told no one else, and likewise things he now knows of me that no one still living is aware of. We agreed we'd not tell others - secrets to be kept between us - but we both know what would happen were either one of us to display a loose tongue.
Is it trust, then, or mutually assured destruction?
My hope is the former, though the cynic in me is certain it's the latter. I want to trust him. Maybe in time. It would be nice, for once, to have no doubts about someone. We've become close, true, and he knows more about me than anyone else and yet...
Isn't that exactly what makes me wary? It's too much. It's too soon. It's too confusing.
When these days are up, three days hence, I'll go to the North Downs as planned. It would be good to... disconnect, to give myself room to breathe and think. He won't follow. Even were he so inclined, he knows better.
But for now, more practise.
