Teddybear

"We're in the last stretch before the darklands."

Kivvien guided the cart around a curve in the road, and the forest gave way to an open prarie.

Kivvien hesitated. Decided against saying anything further.

"You um...please let me know when you're hungry."

Another pause. "Do you need anything to eat?"

w-what is this???

"Good," he said awkwardly after a short pause.

"Are you warm enough?" Kivvien asked.

He would forgive him. Eventually. They were nowhere near a town, so they'd have to continue through the night or stop for a hard night in the cold.

It was a cold day. Kivvien pulled his hood tighter around his head and glanced back at Hieronymus in his nest of blankets.

(A few days later then, let's just say they're just a week or two's journey from the edge, and Kivvien got the virus working earlier but doesn't know if it'll ...

(maybe a few days/weeks later once Kivvien has perfected the virus and they're in an inn at the edge of the habitable world, about to go into the darklands, or ...

(yup! Where to?)

"Maybe?"

"Coffee and game nights," she repeated.