Terri and Sally had proposed the idea, and made a decent argument for it. Sally would sleep on James's couch for a night or two, to make sure no one broke in. Unable to be sure that the two men actually worked for the placement program had all three of them extremely anxious.
Sally had also shared the reaction Aurora had when the idea of returning to her assigned home had been brought up. Terri looked furious at the implication behind it, bringing James to finally break.
"Okay, seriously. I get something bad must have happened but what psychic lady stuff is going on that you guys are somehow on the same page?"
Terri pursed her lips and stared at him. "Well...if body language is as universal as it seems, what Sally just described sounds like a sex abuse victim."
James felt his gut tighten, and his jaw clench.
Sally nodded, "Yeah. It's like this mix of shame, fear, and disgust. If something did happen...it explains why she reacted so violently to the idea."
James nodded, and stood up. He walked into the guest room, where Aurora sat hard at work. She removed a helmet bent around and ruggedly put together, by puncturing holes from the inside with a screwdriver and folding the metal down to pinch the pieces together. She was too focused to register his entry.
Just when she'd started to thread a hose inside, James sat on his knees and pulled her into a hug. She flickered bright red for a moment, and gasped. When she saw his face, full of anger and sadness, she flickered blue and red.
Those people had said that was a question, right? Danger or peace? Is she asking if he's okay?
He didn't have to wonder long. She pushed him away enough to look at him properly, keeping her hand on him. "Jämesz...anger?", she flickered red, "Szäädnesz? Paen?", she flickered blue, and then yellow.
He shook his head. "No but...Sally told me...about why you don't want to go back. I'm sorry for whatever happened to you.", he answered.
Her face soured, and the spots on her arms and chest faded into a pale green. The ones on her head turned a light yellow color. "...Bäd Szällee..."
He tugged her back to him, holding her head against his chest. "I'm not going to let it happen again. I promise."
Slowly, her spots faded into a brighter green. A touch of lavender came to her face. She didn't push him away this time, turning her head to lay sideways on his chest.
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