Her hand hesitates when she reaches out for him. To feel that touch…he leans forward, but she shies further. Charlie’s heart aches.

“Please. Dearest…it’s me.”

The words come out twisted, a snarl that can’t seem to wrap around the common tongue. Thandi flinches and Charlie’s wings droop. He’s not familiar with the creature he’s become, but it’s so big that Thandi is dwarfed by him. There’s these enormous wings, feathered between long stretches of skin. He sees both fur and scales on his body, talons that would be more at home on the feet of a raptor than his…could he call them hands?

All five digits. Hands it is.

Again, he touches his nose to Thandi. I miss you. I love you. It’s me.

“Darling…you’ve become…”

An answer is what he needs. 

“…a dragon. One I’ve never seen before. And…”

Please. Love me anyway. I need to hear it.

“…I can’t bear to love a monster.”

The world crashes and falls through his fingers.

Fingers, not talons. He stares at his hands, his skin, the familiar calluses, his hardy palms. A relief.

A bad dream…he’s been having  only bad dreams lately. Not nightmares, but depressing. Like his spirit is being crushed. Every night, something different. A bear. An eel. a goblin. Dozens of creatures he could not name, and less that he would even recognize. 

Charlie pushes himself up, stepping over Merre as he goes to sit by the fire. The ghost white of her dress brings out a worried sigh. Charlie sits beside Thandi and puts a hand on her back. She startles for a moment and he sees the tears in her eyes. Quietly, he opens his arms. “Come home,” he mumbles and she laughs. 

Then she’s warm in his arms and he squeezes her gently. “Thandi. I’ll help you. No matter what. No matter what.”

“Even if I’m… sp…”

“I will hold you together myself.”