Dax must have thought he had mastered the art of conceal. Sana would give him the credit to an extent but recently she had been noticing some slips in the cracks. The steel mirror that had once hidden his emotions was becoming translucent by day. In the past few days, Sana had seen the soft curve of Dax’s smile, the tender look in his eyes when he watched her and the tension in his face disappearing as he took her in his arms.

While these glimpses became more frequent, today was the first time Sana watched fear cage Dax openly. When he recalled his story for her, she had seen his anxious eyes looking at everywhere but her, his hold on her getting tighter at difficult parts of the story, and the colour leaving his face when she’d admitted she was scared. He was terrified she was going to let go of him.