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however, there was no blush, just clear-eyed concern as she touched him gently after glancing at him to check if he objected.
    He didn’t.
    He watched her as she examined him, and his hand rose as if of its own volition to tuck a tendril of her hair behind her ear. Fingers stilling, she glanced at him for an endless heartbeat, then continued her examination. “It looks all right, but let me put on some more of the liniment. It helped earlier, didn’t it?”
    â€œYes.” He could’ve easily put the liniment on himself, but hedidn’t offer to do so. And as she ministered to him, he bore the psychic stabs of pain generated by his mind, without flinching.
    The dissonance was nothing, less painful than when the debris had fallen on him. It
should’ve
been much sharper and brighter—had been a year ago, when he’d first seen Tazia’s eyes light up as she smiled, and felt something strange happen inside him. He’d thought his inexorable compulsion toward the station engineer would fade once he knew her, but it had grown with each word they’d spoken to one another, each time he’d seen her or heard her laugh or even read a report she’d turned in.
    At this rate, his already erratic dissonance would degrade into nothing soon. If he wanted to keep his mind free of psychic coercion and not attract any unwanted Psy-Med attention, he’d have to be very, very careful not to give any indication of the disintegration in public.
    In private, however . . .
    He lay quietly as Tazia spread the liniment gently over his bruises, her delicate touch rippling sensation over every inch of his skin. “There,” she murmured, not mentioning the fact that one of his hands was brushing her knee. “Sleep now.”
    Stefan didn’t want her to move away, but he remembered what she’d said about her cultural mores and kept his silence. He would not do anything to cause her distress. Listening to her settling in, he waited for the rhythm of sleep, and when he heard only wakefulness, said, “Our next trip upside, would you like to see the northern lights?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThe timing will be right. I can ’port us to a suitable location without problems.” Pausing, he said, “No visas, no airfares required.”
    Her laughter was startled and bright. “I’ve always wanted to see them.”
    â€œYou’ll find them beautiful.” Her spirit would see more thancolor and sky and movement. She’d see something deeper, and she’d teach him to see it, too. As she’d taught him how to interact with the people here. “Good night, Tazia.”
    â€œTazi,” she whispered softly. “You can call me Tazi.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    It was just over a week later that they left. Additional rescue forces had arrived in bulk, bringing with them machinery capable of shifting the remaining rubble. With the aftershocks having died down, the village was now in good shape.
    â€œOur assistance is no longer required here,” Stefan said that morning. “I suggest we decamp and start getting back in shape. They’ll never let us back on Alaris like this.”
    â€œAgreed.” When she reached out to touch the jut of his collarbone, he didn’t flinch. Somehow, they’d become accustomed to each other after so many days sleeping next to one another. For her, a girl who’d been brought up to share her intimate space with only her husband, it had been as much a discovery as for him. “You’ve lost considerable weight.” His telekinesis burned massive amounts of energy.
    â€œSo have you.” He didn’t touch her, but his eyes, those
eyes
, they ran over her from head to foot.
    The two of them left quietly minutes later, though she knew full well Stefan would’ve been feted like a hero should he have given anyone the slightest indication that he was