It sounded a little bit like a question, even to him, so he tried to inject a little more confidence.
>
>
> He wasn’t even sure he’dthoughtabout it for a really long time, even back in his human days when thinking about things hadn’t required so much effort. >
> Iz said noncommittally.
She was probably better at relaxing than he used to be, then. Good for her.
> Iz took a delicate bite of Sebastian’s food, and Logan felt a wave of revulsion roll off her mind. She kept her tone light, though, apparently by sheer force of will. >
It was coming back a little more easily now, with the old memories pushing forward out of the dark.
> There was an uncomfortable hitch in his chest. >
As he said it, he remembered it. He could almost feel the sweet cool evening air wrapped around him and hear the quiet cricket chirps. He could feel the book in his hands.
There was a reason he had kept himself from thinking too much about this. He felt like remembering it was going to kill him.
He forced himself onto another track.
> he said dryly, >
He heard the pleasant sound of her laughter inside his head.
> she said as she snapped up the last steak and gulped it down. All that was left now was a few traces of cooling juice.
Iz went over to the fountain in the corner of her cage; she swished some of the water around in her mouth and spat it out in a puff of steam, and only then did she take a few long drinks.
She had just violated what seemed like a major cultural taboo, and she was holding up better than he would have.
Logan gave her some space, eating some of his own breakfast. By now, he was so used to Sebastian’s limited menus that he didn’t even taste anything anymore. Just heaps of unseasoned meat, day after day after day. If he were still human, he’d have come down with a bad case of scurvy by now, like some kind of old-fashioned sailor.
He tried to remember what his breakfasts had been like back in his old life. What had it been like to peel an orange, to have that sharp-sweet scent suddenly fill the air, to feel the warm segments separate in his hand? Had he liked waffles? He thought he did. Yeah—waffles and real maple syrup, even though he had to pay more for it. And coffee with lots of sugar.
Had that been his last meal, before Sebastian had found him and stuck him down here? Waffles, coffee, and an orange?
> Iz said softly. >
He couldn’t believe he was making her comfort him. She was the one who was still new to all of this and still all shaken up.
>
> she said, faux-casually. >
Despite how he was feeling, that would have made him smile, if smiling was something hellhounds could do. He did the next best thing, twitching his ears and giving his tail a brief wag.
He said, >
>
> Logan said, amused.
> Iz said, with an arch of her long neck. He could see the humor twinkling in her golden eyes. >
He stretched out on the floor. >