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The first time he allows her to tend to his wounds it's out of necessity. His dominant hand is hurt and the dapophet can only do so much in terms of quick healing. Tamtey doesn't offer, she immediately springs to action. He's reluctant about offering his hand for a few seconds. But when she grabs his elbow with a bit too much force he let's her fuss over him. He watches her patiently.
The second time he doesn't even notice he's hurt, adrenaline still shooting through his blood. He's standing upright, her finger grazing an angry gash on the side of his stomach. He doesn't flinch, but his skin turns into goosebumps when her fingers leave it. She doesn't make eye contact when she takes care of him, but he keeps staring at her face hoping she will.
The third time he actually has to ask her for help. They were both cornered by a pack of feral viperwolves, but he got the worst of it. A deep claw mark bleeding all over his arm, and the way she says his name before he slightly stumbles to sit down is a sound that will ring in his head for the next few days. He doesn't even notice she's angry at him. Or worried. All he sees are her big beautiful eyes.
The fourth time they're in private back at headquarters. It had been a messy mission, but they were mostly fine. He had been affected by some poison, was slightly delirious. He was wondering why she kept looking at him like -that-. Like he had told her his biggest secret. Her smile too soft and her lips, too inviting. It was 3 days after he found out he had told her she was beloved to him. Teylan laughed when he told him. His blood ran cold.
The fifth time was right when they were on their way back from another RDA plant they took out together. They had been quiet, tension lingering. Tamtey had made a mistake and almost gotten herself killed, and he had lashed out at her, his worry more prevalent than ever. He stopped while they were walking back to their Ikran, not being able to take the silence anymore.
"I'm sorry." He spoke.
She turned to him, brows knit, worry on her face. He looked down, almost ashamed of his earlier actions.
"I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
She walked towards him, expression open. It wasn't until she touched his arm softly that he looked up.
"And I shouldn't have taken that risk."
His body turned warmed the longer she looked at him. It was as if he felt sick. An illness he knew the cure for, but was afraid to obtain.
"You always take risks."
He said it with a slight smirk, feeling glad they could resolve this. She smiled back, softly.
"There's one I'm afraid of taking."
Her eyes big, beaming up at his. Her hand was still on his arm. He felt it then, the adrenaline of closeness. The leap of faith in front of him. In the past he never took it, too afraid to change things, too calculated about life. It was screaming at him.
"That shouldn't stop you."
It wasn't a dare, but it might as well have been, for Tamtey leaned in, kissed him softly, as if to prove a point. His hands came up to hold her arms, so she couldn't pull away that easily. The kiss deepened a little, and as Tamtey tilted her head to do so, he felt it then.
The part of his heart that finally settled. The part that had been yearning for years to find a place of solitude. The part that had been longing to heal and feel whole again.
And he found it in her.
Written by a human in Ellipsus.