The Mustache and The Beard

James took to eating his own meal, taking a few more bites as his mind lingered on Amy and Ari as he tried to replay through the last few days. He was desperately trying not to overthink it, but he couldn't get rid of the gut feeling that they were trying to set him up. It was an obnoxious suspicion, and he didn't want to assume, and he especially didn't want to make it something that just made things awkward. But it kept nagging him at the back of his mind.

"I do think of him as a little brother," he finally admitted after a significant silence.

"I can tell," she answered. "You act like family. He's lucky to have someone. I think you are, too."

He poked at his fish with his fork, staring down at it.

"...Yeah. I am," he said quietly, before quickly continuing at normal volume. "Ari doesn't have a lot of people out here. Most of us don't. You have to find new family amidst the chaos."

She went silent for several moments, looking down at the canine on at her feet. "Yeah, tell me about it," she said softly.

James was at a loss for how to reply, but watched as her eyes fell down to her dog.

"How long have you had Bane?" he asked.

"Six years. I had her father before her, and his mother before that."

He took another bite of food and swallowed. "Ah. What about Nightmare?"

"Fifteen years. Since she was a filly. She's the first horse I had that lasted more than a few years - the rest got eaten by something at one point or another."

"Hm," he said with a nod, looking back down at his plate. He was almost done. And he'd run out of surface-level questions to ask that didn't make it seem like he was reaching for conversation topics desperately. He quickly put the last of the fish in his mouth and set his fork down.

Tasha wolfed down what she had left and gave the last few bites to Bane, who took it eagerly, tail wagging.

As the two cleared their dishes, the server passed by and stopped at their table.

"Are you two done for the evening?" he asked.

James nodded, procuring money from his pocket and setting it on the table.

"Yes," he said, getting up from his seat. "We're done here. Thank you."

The server nodded to them both, taking the payment with a smile. "Thank you. Have a nice evening."

"And to you," Tasha dipped her head and stood, whistling to Wolfsbane and starting towards the street and expecting James to follow.

James followed after her, picking up his pace until he was beside her. "We should probably find lodging for the night," he said. "Unless you want to camp out again."

"Not a bad idea," she answered. "First we should find the pups, though."

James snorted. "That. Yes."