Ardan's outstretched hand froze at the tendril's momentary flinch. Was her husband perhaps frightened as well, just as uncertain as she was? But - she had no time to think on the question because now he was settling, the ethereal tendril floating closer once again, growing somehow more opaque and solid as it did so. She breathed in, breathed out, a deep and steadying breath, and reached her fingers out to meet him.
And then, then they were touching. The shadowy tendril was quite solid, real under her fingers. Yielding and supple like real skin, filled out and defined as if under the skin was real muscle. A smooth and unbroken expanse broken neither by the roughness of hair nor the edges of scales. And - and warm, strangely warm, like touching a swaddled baby. With a start she realized that the air around them had grown frigid, that she had goosebumps running up her arms and legs... she hadn't even noticed. As if her husband's presence exuded cold, but he himself was warm as a living thing. Warm and tingling, sparking faintly from inside like the surface of water about to boil over a fire, alive with energy. This tendril, which she had just witnessed coalescing from insubstantial smoke, felt like a living thing.
She did not resist as the tendril took hold and wrapped itself around her wrist. It did not feel threatening, somehow, although her instincts should have been telling her to move away from such an unknown entity. It felt... it felt safe, gentle, like the easy grip of a friend holding her hand. Her heart was still beating too quickly, her stomach unsettled with anxiety that had built up over the last hours - but she no longer felt blank with panic. As the tendril began to pull at her, as the enigmatic, silent mass of shadow retreated into the pitch darkness before her, she followed.
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And then, then they were touching. The shadowy tendril was quite solid, real under her fingers. Yielding and supple like real skin, filled out and defined as if under the skin was real muscle. A smooth and unbroken expanse broken neither by the roughness of hair nor the edges of scales. And - and warm, strangely warm, like touching a swaddled baby. With a start she realized that the air around them had grown frigid, that she had goosebumps running up her arms and legs... she hadn't even noticed. As if her husband's presence exuded cold, but he himself was warm as a living thing. Warm and tingling, sparking faintly from inside like the surface of water about to boil over a fire, alive with energy. This tendril, which she had just witnessed coalescing from insubstantial smoke, felt like a living thing.
She did not resist as the tendril took hold and wrapped itself around her wrist. It did not feel threatening, somehow, although her instincts should have been telling her to move away from such an unknown entity. It felt... it felt safe, gentle, like the easy grip of a friend holding her hand. Her heart was still beating too quickly, her stomach unsettled with anxiety that had built up over the last hours - but she no longer felt blank with panic. As the tendril began to pull at her, as the enigmatic, silent mass of shadow retreated into the pitch darkness before her, she followed.