I wonder what he's thinking about when his eyes go all distant like that. He's thinking about something, or gauging something. I smile for him and shift around so I'm sort of straddling him. It's a little awkward, but I just want to reach to kiss him on the cheek.

"You're right. We'll be fine as long as we're together anyway. I'll go first." I say, mostly because we don't really have another choice, seeing as I'm basically on top of him.

We're not too far off the ground, so I only have to climb down off him and down a few branches before I'm in a position that I can drop to the ground instead.

The creature, whatever it is, is pretty creepy looking up close, but it seems... Confused by me, and not (yet) overtly aggressive.