They slept in separate spaces and they were both pretending that was fine, and the problem was that neither of them was a good enough liar for the other person.
Aelara knew this because she had been reading Vaelor through the bond for two years and she could feel the specific quality of him pretending something was fine, which was a distinct thing, and she was absolutely doing it back to him in mirror image, and they had both decided to say nothing about it, and that was fine, that was a fine decision, except that it was also a little bit funny and she was not going to say that out loud.
She came out of the tent to find him already at the fire. He had made space the way he made space for her, which was immediately and without comment. She sat. The fire was doing what borderlands morning fires did, which was put out heat and smell like the previous night's wood.
