Syn's screams still echoed faintly in the evacuation bay, a raw, jagged sound that lingered in the steel walls like a ghost of their fury. His ankles throbbed, twin pulses of agony radiating from the clean fractures Vera had inflicted, his breath wheezing through clenched teeth as he lay sprawled on the cold floor. The painkiller didn't seem to have started it's work yet.
Aster's weight lifted from his back, her broad frame easing off him with a slow, deliberate shift, her teal eyes clouded with a mix of resolve and regret as she flexed her hands, the blanket scraps fluttering around her boots. Pako still clung tightly to his head, consoling, her arms wrapped tight around him, her naked chest pressed against his face as she murmured soft, broken apologies, her dark hair tickling his sweat-damp skin. Vera crouched beside him, her purple eyes narrowed as she probed his ankles with careful fingers, her touch firm but clinical, assessing the damage she'd wrought.
