Hineni stands outside on the market plaza, staring up towards the bright morning sun, shining above his head. The ground is covered in slush, as all of the melting snow begins to run off, carrying with it the mud and the dirt of many months of treading.

A warm breeze touches his face, blowing the fabric of his scarf to the side as people walk all around him.

Spring has arrived, the long, cold winter having come to an end.

He sighs in relief, realizing that he had been holding his breath for the entire time while gazing towards the sky. It's too warm for his scarf, so he just takes it off.

It’s true that he and his people had done exceptionally well during the winter, considering their circumstances. Hell, he himself had been transformed during the duration of just one single season. But, the winter was really very long, having gone on for far longer than it seemed to have done in the years before and he’s glad that it is over.

Not having to pay for heating will give them a bit of breathing room on their finances, which are doing well. But they could always be doing more well. Plus fresh ingredients for the kitchen will become cheaper and people will slowly start to lose their appetite for heavy dishes with meaty, expensive ingredients and will instead move towards lighter, more refreshing things. These types of ingredients are usually cheaper too.

Plus, as strange as it sounds, he’d really like to go out more often.

“Who~” hoots Obscura, standing next to him. “I do not care for the sun,” she says. “It is too warm for her,” explains the owl-god.

Hineni nods, squeezing her hand and looking towards her. “It lets me see your face better,” he says, rubbing the back of his other hand over her cheek.

She hisses and lightly bites his hand. “The Hineni man has gotten bolder,” says Obscura, grabbing his other hand too.

“Yeah,” he says, pulling her along to keep walking, ignoring the people watching them. “But so have you,” he says. “A month ago, you would have ran away if I said that.”

Obscura nods. “It is true. Obscura has come to understand that it is her place in the world to be worshiped and adored,” says the owl-god. “Hineni does this well.” He lifts an eyebrow. Obscura looks around the street.

“Look, it’s the owl-god!” says an excited voice and Obscura waves to the group of people as they walk past them. A few others start looking at it isn’t long until various shopkeepers and street-vendors try to call them over, hoping to get an endorsement by having the owl-god visit their establishments or buy something from them.

They let themselves be talked into buying some cold tea to drink while they walk, before Obscura finds something that interests her. A stand belonging to a craftsman, who specializes in wooden toys and things of that nature.

“Hineni! Look!” she says excitedly, to Hineni who wasn’t as interested and stood a little away from the stand, behind of which a very excited merchant stands.

Hineni looks around at the thing that she’s holding. It’s a small, flat carving of a wooden owl, about the size of a child’s palm. Attached to the bottom of it is a string, with a feather ornament attached. She pulls on it and the little wooden owl lifts its wings, as if it were flapping them. “Behold!” she says, carefully pulling on the string a few times. She’s pretty thrilled by it, judging by the childish smile that he sees on her face.

Hineni realizes that this is a rare expression, that he rarely sees from her, as she always tries to act according to her position as a god.

“Very nice,” says Hineni, nodding to her, finding himself sharing her look. “Do you want it?” he asks, walking over to the stall after all.

“She wants!” says Obscura, holding the owl up to his face and pulling on the string a few more times to exemplify her point.

“Sure thing,” he says, laughing and heading over to the man and paying for it. A small crowd has gathered around them at this point, as curious onlookers follow the owl-god. Having been led here, they now too begin to browse the stand and to look at the little owls. Hineni leans in towards the merchant, a shorter, but wider and strongly built man. “Can I put in an order for these?” he asks. “A couple boxes' worth.“

The excited merchant and him come to an agreement and Hineni pays him in advance, telling him to deliver them to the guild when they’re ready.

They depart, sipping their tea and continuing on with their date for the rest of the morning.

The afternoon comes around and Hineni is busy at work inside of the forge with Rhine. They’re making an order of daggers today, or at least getting started on it. But, in an unusual change, the owl-god is here with them as well.

She wants to spend time together today and Hineni certainly doesn’t mind. He wants to spend time together with her too.

The day rolls towards its end and the five of them get ready to eat together.

Hineni pops his head into the library. “Seltsam,” he calls.

Quiet.

“Y- yes?” asks Seltsam’s voice from behind a shelf.

“We’re eating dinner. Would you like to join us?” asks the man. “You don’t always have to stay here by yourself. You’re welcome in the rest of the house.”

There’s a rustling of paper. “Dinner?” she asks. “Oh, uh! That’s okay, t-thank you!” says the librarian. “I’m not really hungry and uh… I don’t…” There’s a sound of a book being placed into a shelf. “…You know…”

Hineni nods, if only to himself. “I understand,” he says, remembering the feeling of being ashamed, if not terrified of being seen by anyone, ever. He closes the door, stepping back out of the library. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I bet the city would give us trouble for this,” says Sockel, carrying the back of the table.

“The city?” asks Hineni incredulously, turning the other half of the table. “To hell with them,” he says. “I don’t care what the government has to say about what I do in my own home.”

“Is that a wise philosophy?” asks Rhine, pushing a small cart that Kleidet usually uses during the very busy hours. “Shouldn’t we follow city ordinances and regulations?” he asks. “They’re there for a reason, right?”

“Boy,” says Hineni. “That’s frog thinking right there,” he says. “The government isn’t there for your well-being. They’re there for their well-being.”

“Oh, huh…” says Rhine. “That’s not what we learned in school though?”

Sockel nudges him with her elbow. “Who do you think pays for the schools to exist, twerp?” she asks. “The people with the money decide what you get to hear and guess what?” she asks, her ears twitching.

“What?” asks Rhine.

“— They teach you whatever lets them keep making more money,” explains Sockel. “The whole system is rigged.”

Rhine blinks, standing there for a second in silence as they set the table down in the library. “…Isn’t this kind of a radical stance to the question of ‘am I allowed to put a dinner table in the library’?” he asks, rubbing his lip with the back of his thumb as he thinks.

“No,” replies Hineni dryly, waving him over. “Bring it in.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” says Rhine, pushing in the cart.

Obscura comes in, carrying some chairs.

“E- excuse me,” says Seltsam. “Y- you really shouldn’t bring food into the library…” she mutters, lowering her voice.

“Correct,” says Hineni. “It’s bad for the books. But that’s life,” he says, sitting down on his chair. “We all have to die our first death eventually.”

They place the table next to a shelf and all sit down. Hineni gets a plate ready and passes it through the shelving, through a hole that remains from when Obscura had tore through it for her labyrinth weeks prior.

“T- thank you,” says Seltsam.

Eilig flies in, buzzing down from above. “I got the ice.”

“Thanks, Eilig,” says Hineni as everyone sits down. The five of them on this side of the shelf and Seltsam on the other. “Let’s eat,” he says.

They have a very nice dinner together and Obscura takes the opportunity to show everyone her new prize, hooting excitedly.

Hineni sits upstairs in their bedroom, rummaging through his drawers for a nice shirt. He still doesn’t have a new favorite shirt, after he ended up getting a massive bloodstain on his old one during one of their ‘talon’ incidents.

It is late in the evening now, with dinner and the day’s tasks having been done and to cap off what has been a very unusually refreshing day, he and Obscura had planned to take a walk through the big-now-small forest together as a sort of calm couple’s activity.

Hineni picks up a shirt from the drawer, looking at it.

It looks exactly like the shirt that had gotten bloodied, but it isn’t the same one. It’s just a shirt that looks like it. Actually, he has a few of these exact same ones.

He sets it down and grabs a second one.

But that one was his favorite in particular. It’s hard to explain in a sensical way, really. All of them are the same, but that one was more the same than the others.

He sets it down and grabs a third one.

Hineni tilts his head, somewhat puzzled.

The shirt in his hands, this third shirt he had pulled from his drawer is that specific shirt, his favorite. But the bloodstains, which had gotten old and crusted, aren’t on it anymore.

“I did well, yes?” asks Obscura’s voice from behind him. He hadn't heard coming in. Hineni looks over his shoulder towards her. She’s floating there upside down, her hands clenched in excitement as she watches him. “Beloving Obscura read special house-nestkeeper books. There was much wisdom on removing blood from soft things!”

Hineni blinks, looking at her and then down at his favorite shirt, free of blood. It’s his double-favorite shirt now. No…

He narrows his eyes.

- His triple favorite shirt.

Of course.

Hineni leans in, sharing a long kiss with her, before putting on his shirt. “Thank you,” he says. “I really appreciate it,” says Hineni, buttoning it down.

“Who~,” she hoots, pleased.

“You ready?” he asks, looking out of the window.

“Obscura was ready when she came from the big-now-small forest and she is ready now to return to it.”

Hineni grabs her hand. “It’s only for an hour or two. We’re not staying there,” he says, as the two of them leave.

“He is sure that he does not want a tree?” asks Obscura. “Very tall. Good outlook. Trees will let us see our prey from afar.”

Hineni shakes his head. “Maybe next time, if we ever move, okay?”

“She will remind him,” says Obscura.

He isn’t really sure if she’s joking or not.

As the two of them leave the house, Hineni jiggles the door and pats his pocket to check that everything is in place and the two of them leave for a romantic walk in the moonlight.