Starlite

"how could you even begin to conceive of the pain i am suffering through?" though ushkram seemed outwardly exhausted, his razored feathers twitched involuntarily under the weight of the anger he had been repressing for so long. ejora knew. she knew he was a single confrontational remark from lunging at her, and she did not blame him in the slightest.

she slowly held her hands out in a placating gesture that communicated her desire to slow things down. it was late and she knew they were the only two souls awake aboard the lobas vo, and the very last thing either of them needed was to drag the others into this--neither of the two wanted to spotlight ushkram's misery.

"ushkram," she spoke so gently that it caught him off-guard. the softness she offered her crewmate, then, was completely alien to the firm woman who usually made a point of reserving her emotions. "please believe me when i say that i understand."

she could see the deadly tautness of his cybernetic components ease up even without being able to hear the relaxing of his metallic components. "you're a veritable breeder. how. how could you hope to understand?"

the remark stung her. she held her position for a moment, standing firm, shutting her eyes and willing away the hurt that his words inflicted. whether he meant them or not, she owed it to ushkram to bear those words.

"i was compatible with viththuumvaat, but... not always." she almost continued and realized just then the weight of what she had said. it startled her for many reasons, but more than anything, she silenced herself on the matter for the sake of her fellow crewmate. "i am sorry, ushkram. this hour of grief belongs to you and you alone. i merely..." ejora slowed her speech, shocked and ashamed that she was beginning to choke on her words.

"i wanted to sympathize with you, ushkram. i did not want to leave you feeling so alone. not again. not after everything that had happened, between us, but then, again, once you had returned home."

"ejora..."

she pulled the hood of her robe over her face. it was unlike her to lose her composure; she hadn't let the façade slip for hundreds--thousands--of years, but now, after so long, she felt the familiar wetness of her trailing tears. "no, ushkram. you should not have suffered the way that you have. please, simply tell me, how can i comfort you? i want to comfort you in a way that matters."

he swept her up into a dizzyingly swift, all-encompassing, razor-sharp hug.