21 Part IV

Eventually, the girl took a seat before his, immediately lifting her feet to rest on his lap though he did not mind; he found the gesture comforting. She reached for her cutlery and ate the meal in silence after expressing the degree to which she enjoyed the flavour—something surprising. It was a peaceful silence, a silence endured with grace before the pair cleaned up after themselves, and then made their way back to the room they had occupied an hour or so before. 

The girl smiled shyly, an expression the man who stood behind her could not see as he approached the face of her back, an expression kno