It doesn't hurt, exactly. It doesn't pull at her heart. At her stomach, more like, at her core. People she knew, who thought they knew her.

They'd been doing well, and she hadn't even meant to... but both her sisters had still been watching cartoons when she left, even if the older of them was trying to hide it.

At the sound of that hop, Rachel pauses, face still pressed against the couch cushion. Then she rolls onto her back, reaching up a hand to stroke his wing with the back of her fingers.



She wouldn't mind a hug. If it was Tobias offering.