"Well you certainly like to talk." Zar said, but not unkindly.

He hesitated again when Bath went on to ask what it would mean if it was him.

"Uh." he said, fidgeting just a little. Now he was in a spot where if he admitted things, then Bath would know he liked him and he would never get to live it down.

"Well." he said, tense, with his tail curled up small.

"If it was you then they'd be the same individual." he said while looking away uncomfortably.

Mud Bath couldn't have felt more dizzy with relief, and hot all over all at once.

"Then we are both granted a reprieve from conflict," Bath said. "I did compose it, and carve it, and deliver it. I've felt for you for such a long time. The thought of you with anyone else is torture."