"Neria," Kell whispered back, his voice straining at the edges, on the cusp of breaking, a deep and heavy and warm peace settling in his chest as he leaned slightly forward, tucking her more firmly against him, a hand in the small of her back.

It was an intimate hold, but he wasn't thinking of it. He wanted her as close as they could possibly get.

When she pulled back from him he stopped holding on quite so tightly, enough to focus on her face, and her heartfelt, familiar smile called up one of his own; perhaps the first real, full one since his death.

"Likewise," he responded, still a bit breathless from her tight squeezing, caught up in just... for a moment, looking at her.