a kiss with tears. ( for tayala. if that's ok. :eyes: )
More and more time kept passing between each meeting.
Tayala knows this to be part of Denvik's plan. The man cannot shut up, even when she is close enough to hear him, about how he intends to keep her husband "on a tight leash" so to not have Bode "getting any clever ideas"– or perhaps he says such things where she can hear him as yet another test: to see if she would confirm to Bode that the man was, in fact, doing this to them on purpose all along. But either way, Tayala doesn't ever bring Denvik up whenever she is able to meet with Bode.
She doesn't bring up Denvik's cruel ramblings, nor the fact that she is only given the luxury to remove her headscarf and properly clean herself in private when it is known that Bode will show up —because Denvik might think that he has some kind of control, but he's not stupid. He knows not to anger a force user beyond what he can handle—, when Bode finally walks into the repurposed and heavily altered living quarters that have become her cell.
Instead, she rushes over to him, arms wrapping around his neck to bring him down enough so that she can close the distance between their lips.
The tears come without warning and meet no restrictions. Half from relief at having him there, in her arms, ALIVE; and half from the weight of the loneliness and the yearning for the life they used to have but that feels so far away now. But Tayala doesn't let that stop her. She kisses Bode like it is both the first and the last time she will ever get to, until her lungs force her to pull back for air. Even then, she remains close, her forehead pressed against his.
"Is Kata okay?" she asks him. "Are you?"