No Chains in the Forest (So'lek x OC)

She didn't hear him approach.
That bothered her more than the ache in her ribs.

"So," So'lek said, stopping beside her and sitting. His tone was light, almost careless. "Is this where you go when you pretend you're not bleeding?"

So'esya snorted, eyes still on the glowing forest below. "Is this where you go when you pretend you're not worried?"

A beat. Then a quiet breath of a laugh. "Careful," he said. "You'll bruise my pride."

She finally looked at him. Moonlight caught the scar on his temple, the one she never stared at. Never traced with her eyes.

"You worry loudly," she said.

"And you," he replied, stepping closer, voice lowering, "disappear like mist and expect no one to follow."

Their shoulders brushed. Barely.

It was nothing.
It was everything.

"So'lek," she murmured, softer now, "if you keep watching me like that, someone might think you care."

"I do," he said too fast.

Then, after a breath, he added, lighter, teasing, careful, "Someone has to make sure you don't get yourself killed without witnesses."

She smiled at that. Small. Sharp. Dangerous.

For a moment, neither of them moved. The forest hummed. Pandora waited.

And neither of them said the thing already rooted between them, because once spoken, there would be no going back.