When he was not bombarded with questions he couldn’t answer, Dietre let out a little sigh of relief. It seemed Pippin’s curiosity was mostly piqued by dangerous things that could kill her and not so much by why a man would take in a random stranger he met in the woods. He nodded in agreement to her comment about trusting dogs. “She hasn’t steered me wrong yet.” Then again, Sieglinde did sort of love everyone she met.
“Yes, I’m-- I am happy…” He said it with a touch of wonder in his voice, as if he was only just now realizing the truth in the words. Right now, in this moment, Dietre really did feel something that he could only label happiness. It was shocking, for just last year around this time he had been thinking about killing himself more often than not.
He let Aleksi steer the conversation and get to know Pippin while he sat back quietly, contemplating his new state of mind. What a strange feeling it was to actually be happy.