Eve bites her lip again, and her right arm becomes a tentacle, branching at the fingers. She reaches for Teresa's scarred face.

Teresa takes the tentacle in her arms and clasps it between her breasts. The sxelanth flesh is soft and warm and slick-surfaced beneath her touch. Unnatural.

It is Eve's. Teresa smiles up at her.

"I love you too."

Lynia sits imprisoned in her bedroom, crosslegged upon the mattress amid the dimming light, and frets. They've been gone a long time. All evening, it feels like. They will be back, won't they? They...

The door opens, and they are standing there. Eve and Teresa both.

She leaps up to greet them, and then they are both embracing her: one from each side.

"Where have you been?" she asks Teresa. Petulantly, but she deserves to be petulant.

Teresa presses her lips together and looks to Eve.

Now that's strange. Since when does Teresa...

Eve turns Lynia to face her.

"Teresa's very brave. I... Braver than I think you know. She was helping me."

Oh. Well, she doesn't really understand, but that's okay. And she sort of wishes that she could have been the one to help Eve, but that's okay too. Teresa likes to help people, even if she's not always good at it.

Anyway, Eve is... She's okay; Lynia can tell. She's really okay. Teresa too. And if Eve's okay, and Teresa's okay, then everything that matters is just fine.

They lie down in Lynia's bed, the three of them, snuggled up close together.

Eve holds Lynia and whispers to her. "I promised you I'd take care of you. Do you remember? Well, I'm going to. I'll look after you, and take some of the burden off Teresa. Since I can -- I can trust myself better now. As long as she's here to help me."

"I can endure it," Teresa says, and her voice is soft and contemplative and almost sleepy. "I think... I think I'm a little stronger than I realized."

Eve is crying.

Lynia looks at her, concerned.

She smiles through the tears. "I'm just so glad you're safe. Thank you." She kisses Lynia's forehead, and looks beyond her to Teresa, lying opposite her. "Thank you, Teresa."

Did Eve really think she was in danger?

Well... Maybe she was, if that's what Eve believes. Maybe they protected her. She smiles. One more reason to love them.

Eve holds Lynia tighter. A deep and intimate embrace.

For now, that's enough for the sxelanth.