[It's chillier up here in the tree, higher up off the ground with less of a windbreak from her surroundings, and she opted to go without a coat tonight. That's what she tells herself. It was an evening breeze that caused that hint of a shiver, not anything else. Certainly not that wink or the smile that followed.]

I didn't ask for it to be.

[It'd defeat the purpose, really, to only want to hear the happy stories. She wants those too, of course, but it's the ones that aren't that she's truly interested in pursuing, because those are the ones he locks tightly away and she is a thief at heart, and there's no one better in all the world — any world — at sneaking in and making off with things others have tried to lock away.

That is, when she's not otherwise occupied with memorizing every minute detail of his enjoyment of the food, because hello.]

Be careful, or I might have to make sure you're not enjoying that duck more than you are my company.