Meia's voice cut through Keu'deh's slumber, casting a spell he didn't recognize that made his skin tingle. He'd not left Iya's room the previous night, opting to sleep on the pile of bedding near her bed.
"Puppy stay?" Iya's voice was sad.
"No, sweetie... He has to go with his friends..."
"Puppy stay!" Her little voice demanded compliance, making her mother sigh.
"Little druid?" Meia's hand on his shoulder and her directly addressing him made Keu'deh open one eye and glance at her, making a wordless noise of question.
"I've bound your clothing, they'll change with you now." She paused as if she were waiting for a response, but he just stared at her, not really processing the information. "You won't need new ones every time you take your animal form."
"Oh." That explained the tingling in his skin. He yawned and pushed himself into a seated position, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Meia leaned back to give him his space, Iya's little hands sliding around her arm.
"What did you say to your friends last night?" She'd gotten back to find them both sitting at a table, sulking for all the were worth, but wouldn't say what had happened. Keu'deh shrugged.
"Nothing they could understand." He didn't really feel like telling Meia either, it'd been a stupid fight in the first place and he wanted to just let it go.
"They were so somber the whole night..." Meia's curiosity urged her to press the subject.
"Good." Meia chewed her lip, wondering if she should try again when Iya spoke up.
"Puppy?"
"Iya?" Keu'deh turned her attention to her, welcoming the chance to change the subject. She fidgeted briefly and lunged towards him, her arms out.
"Please stay!" She tripped on the hem of her dress and Keu'deh's caught her before she could fall, pulling her close enough that she could grip the front of his shirt.
"Iya... I... can't..." His ears dropped at her upturned face, gazing at him with pleading eyes.
"Why?!"
"Because..." He hesitated, trying to decide what he needed to say... "I need to belong..."
"Belong here!" He wasn't sure if it was a demand or not, but he shook his head.
"No... I belong somewhere else..." Her fingers flexed, tugging futilely at his shirt.
"But..." She stopped when he shook his head again.
"I like you, Iya, and I'll miss you, but this place just isn't my home..." He couldn't really find another way to explain it to her, but she stared at him quietly for a long moment.
"Go to find home?"
"Yeah..." She seemed to understand, possibly better than he did the odd pull he felt, the need to leave and seek out a place, somewhere that he felt he belonged to. "Hopefully..." She stared at him sadly for a long time, her fingers curling in his shirt before she pulled away, standing apart from him, her eyes cast away.
".........okay..." Her sad little whisper was reluctant still, but she was letting him go.
