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The mission had been a success for all intents and purposes, but afterwards Stelle was left with a lingering emptiness that whispered to the Stellaron within her chest. She’d flown slightly too close to the sun when she found a trashcan that looked a little too good to be true and turned out to be a trap, quickly descending what should have been a routine supply run into an ambush.
She’d drawn upon that energy to heal her wounds every time an attack came too close and nicked skin, a necessary sacrifice but one that ultimately came with its own consequences. Stelle felt them now as she sat on the edge of her unmade bed within her room, mind unnaturally still among the evidence of her own chaos. Her fingers laid limp in her lap and her mind wandered adrift; the Stellaron’s acceleration of her healing had since faded; yet left in its wake Stelle felt a profound emptiness, as though to compensate for the energy it needed it stole from the depths of her own emotional resilience.
The door in her room whispered open and shut but Stelle didn’t startle. Every sound came through her mind as though she were hearing it through a thick pane of glass, like the barrier she gazed out that separated her from the cold vacuum of space.
Dan Heng’s eyes had followed her since the mission, regarding the growing emptiness with an increasing worry that he found difficult to suppress. Perhaps before Amphoreus enough distance existed between them that he may have believed she was merely tired, that the ambush and subsequent battle were just enough to wind her or emotionally exhaust her, but the bond that now existed between them flared and waned in response to Stelle’s emotions, often playing Dan Heng like a marionette without her conscious awareness; naturally, he knew this would occur and accepted it as just another aspect of the mating bond that existed between them.
Therefore, when a cold emotional void grew where Stelle’s warmth once thrived, he’d noticed immediately. When she locked herself in her room, he merely overrode the latch with his security code and crept inside.
Dan Heng stood in the space between the disorder of her living and the disorder of her mind and his eyes immediately locked onto her, sitting on the edge of the bed. Stelle’s hands gripped her knees until her knuckles were white, silver hair falling and guarding her face in a curtain, her figure absolutely still save for the occasional rise and fall of her chest.
He didn’t speak; it felt like an invasion in the quiet sanctuary of her room. Instead he approached as one might a wounded animal, slowly creeping forward with his hands outstretched as though she might dart at any moment.
Before he could get too close, he sunk to his knees and continued to slide forward on his hands and knees, eyes fixated on the slivers of her face he could glimpse through her hair. His position, if seen by another might have seemed of submission, yet Dan Heng categorized it as a necessary sacrifice for the sanctity of the moment; he would gladly supplicate himself to comfort the one he considered his mate, his lover and his partner.
Through her hair, he could see a slight tremor in her lower lip that wasn’t a sob and her wide, unseeing gaze fixated on the wall. He allowed his gaze to drop to her hands, curled up pale and cold against the dark fabric of her skirt.
Gently, he reached out and grasped both of her hands in his, warming them beneath his palms. He took her left hand first and cradled it, turning it over in his hands, then bowed his head.
He pressed his lips to her knuckles, kissing the junction between each finger with reverence. The soft warmth of his lips dragged along the skin and he turned her palms over within his hands, worshipping the gentle pulse that throbbed along her inner wrist, mouth lingering in kisses that touched each available section of skin.
He turned her hand over, his thumb skating over the vulnerable map of her palm before kissing there as well, kissing along the length of each line on her hand. He then repeated the ritual with her right hand, delicately trying to center her back with him, placing a kiss to the wrist where her pulse fluttered like a trapped star, then rising to the base of her thumb. With each point of contact, he drew a constellation on her skin that acted as a reminder of their combined presence.
A low rumble began in his chest, the grounding purr of a dragon whose treasure needed reassurance and the vibration traveled through his hands into hers. For another Vidyadhara, it would be a tangible reminder that they were safe; for Stelle, he only hoped it would bring her back to him and root her in the present with him.
Slowly, the distant fog within her mind began to recede and her eyes which had been hazy and distant, blinked. The tremor in her lip deepened as a look of recognition flickered over her face, as though she had not yet processed that he was kneeling before her and touching her.
He released her hands, raising his own instead to cup her face. His palms framed her jaw and his thumbs swept over the high points of her cheeks in a soothing gesture. He tilted her face toward his, his gaze holding hers, pulling her the final, crucial distance back into herself.
His lips gently met hers, attending with the same reverent focus he’d given her hands. He did not demand or take; he allowed his breath to wave over her mouth before claiming her lips, pressing gently against them and feeling her tremble with each gentle pass. It was an affirmation in touch that said I am here, I feel you, I support you.
The last of Stelle’s dissociation shattered and a sharp, shuddering breath escaped from her, breaking the kiss between them momentarily as her mind struggled to catch up to the present. Her hands flew up and her fingers tangled desperately in his hair, gripping as if he were the only solid thing in a universe. Dan Heng met her kiss with equal enthusiasm, purr breaking into a powerful hum with satisfaction; his method worked and brought Stelle back to him and the dragon rejoiced.
Stelle finally broke the kiss for air, folding against his chest until her face pressed into the curve of his neck. His arms came around her solid and secure, pulling her close as one hand splayed across her back and the other threaded through her silver hair, cradling her head. With her head pressed to his chest, his purr sounded like a thunderous roar that vibrated through her whole body, instantly swallowing any remnants of the aching silence brought upon by the Stellaron.
Together they huddled like that, him still kneeling and her tilting forward until she was fully enveloped in his embrace. As the purr resonated between them like a shared heartbeat, the Stellaron's hollow pull faded further into the background, replaced by the warmth of their bond.
Stelle's fingers loosened slightly in his hair, a soft sigh escaping her. "Thank you... for finding me." She nuzzled closer, concealing her face within the veil of his hair.
Dan Heng tightened his hold just a fraction, his voice a murmur.
"Always."
In that quiet moment, the distorted glass between her and the world dissolved at last, leaving only the steady anchor of their connection amid the stars and the unspoken promise that he would eternally be there to catch her when she slipped into the Stellaron’s pull again.