Zami only wanted to sit up. That was all he'd wanted to do.
But, of course, that wasn't all that happened.
As he had sat up, Mythene had suddenly turned back towards him. The result was their faces smushing right into each other. In that first split second, his main concern was whether or not he'd scratched her with his tusks. Again. After all, a sudden collision like that could've left them both one-eyed. But once he realized that, luckily, his tusks hadn't even made contact with her, his mind then registered that his lips had.
And still were.
Zami and Mythene stared back into each other's eyes, quite directly. It was kind of hard to avoid meeting someone's gaze when they were so close that your lips were touching, after all. It felt like it took Zami's brain a whole minute to buffer before he realized exactly what was happening. It seemed to be the same for Mythene, as both of them expressed their realization at once.
But neither panicked or pulled away, almost as if they were momentarily urging the other to move first. Like a game of chicken to see who would have to do something about it first. Ultimately, Zami decided to take control of the situation lest it get out of hand, and he slowly leaned back on his elbows. Mythene blinked a few times, as though a spell over her had been broken, and her hand trailed up to her lips.
She stared down at Zami and maybe it was the look in her eyes, or just the situation itself, but he felt his face begin to flush. His brain quickly began to go into panic mode, trying to think of something to say. Anything to break the uncomfortable silence. But he couldn't think of anything, so he just stared back up at her, blushing and wordless.
Mythene lowered her hand away from her mouth and parted her lips slightly, going to say something. But then she seemed to reconsider. Instead, she leaned forward.
Zami quickly rose his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't resist as Mythene replaced her lips against his. It was a gentle, uncertain gesture. Like she was testing the waters. And when he didn't kiss her back, still being too shocked by the situation to do so, she pulled away.
She then silently rose up to her feet, turning towards the door. Zami suddenly felt panicked again, like he'd done something wrong, and quickly sat back up. Knowing only that he didn't want her to leave like that, his hand reached out and caught hers. She paused, looking back at him over her shoulder. He tried again to think of something to say, but instead just gaped at her helplessly like a fish. She perked an eyebrow and gently slid her hand free, moving towards the door.
Zami had never had much of a way with words. It just wasn't one of the things he was good at in his life. And in this moment, he didn't think he could've said anything to fix it even if he thought of the perfect words. So he resorted back to what he was good at.
Action.
Mythene had only just opened the door, when Zami leaned his forearm flat against it. It promptly shut under the force of his weight, and she looked up at him with annoyance. Zami only stared back down at her in silence, trying not to draw parallels to the situation they'd been in just like this the other day. Only, that time their positions had been reversed. It had been her hand on the door. Maybe he had managed to escape back then, but he had no intentions of letting the same thing happen again.
"Thero'shan, let go of the door," Mythene ordered, "This instant."
Her expression was cold and flat. Emotionless. Guarded. Zami furrowed his brow, keeping his hand firmly in place. He wouldn't make the same mistake she had. Instead, he leaned down so their gazes were level, staring into her eyes. He was searching for something deeper, something beyond her walls.
"Thero'shan…" Mythene repeated, her voice shrinking to an uneven whisper, "Let me go…"
Zami hesitated a moment, almost giving in to her request. But then he saw it. The fear, hidden deep inside, past her walls and restraints. And so he steeled his own nerves and instead leaned forward slowly, softly pressing his forehead against hers. Mythene blinked at him in surprise, going to say something else, but fell silent as she felt him wrap his arms around her. He pulled her into a firm yet gentle embrace, holding her close. He felt her body stiffen as he held it against his, and one of his hands released her, offering her an out if she so chose. But she didn't move, remaining frozen like a statue.
Zami took her unwillingness to leave as a willingness to stay, and held her closer with the arm that was still around her back. His free hand moved up to gently run through her silver hair, pausing to tuck a strand of it behind her ear. It was just as silky as he had always expected it to be, he noted with a smile.
They remained like that for several minutes, neither speaking. Just when Zami finally went to fully release her and move away, he felt Mythene's arms both suddenly squeeze around him, keeping him locked to her. She held on tightly, like she was afraid he might get swept away the second she let go. He glanced down at her face, seeing her deep purple blush as she looked back. She quickly moved her head forward out of embarrassment, setting her forehead against his chest in order to break the eye contact.
And then something he didn't expect happened.
She began to cry. Zami frowned, feeling her body shudder with every sob, and held her tighter. The firmer that he held onto her, the more she cried. Unsure what to do, he began to softly run his hand through her hair again. She still cried, but her tears began to dry one by one as he repeated the gesture. But then, moments later, she began her tears anew. Zami frowned again and silently let her do so, wondering to himself how long it had been since someone simply held her. He had a nagging feeling that Caserion wasn't the hugging type.
And so Mythene continued to cry, her centuries of buried emotions surging forth all at once. And Zami just held her patiently, weathering the storm right alongside her.
And never once did he let her go.
