The tears weren’t an unexpected response; they were a common side-effect of the depth shared during a X’honnar. Nonetheless, they still startled Kir’ion. Harrison’s empathy and kindness were unmatched when compared to every other human she’d had the chance to meet during her captivity. Without thinking, she pulled her sleeve down over her hand and used it to wipe away at his cheek. Tenderness and compassion were two of the most valued traits among her people, and despite everything she’d been through she was determined to adhere to the tenets of X’hondrian culture before the empire conquered them.

Harrison was full of surprises. The sudden embrace was more surprising than his tears, but Kir relaxed into it all the same. She slowly wrapped her arms around him, considering her answer carefully.

“I will be,” she finally sighed. “In a way, we share more than I realized.”

Kir could already feel the effect of sharing all of herself. Whatever boundaries might have separated them due to the dictates of social norms were gone. In a way, they were now inseparably bound simply by knowing each other to such an extreme depth beyond what anyone else could ever possibly share without the benefit of such a ritual. She hadn’t fully considered the effects of sharing so much of herself with Harrison, but that didn’t mean she regretted it, either. If anything, it felt good to have that connection with another person.

Pulling back, Kir’ion dragged her eyes over Harrison, assessing him, “How do you feel? I’ve never done this with a human. I’ve never done it with anyone except another X’hondrian, honestly… I can’t imagine what it must be like to absorb all of that.”