There is salt in his hair, and it has already lightened subtly from the last few days spent in the sun (both here on this island and time spent in the desert), and it feels so very nice to have her fingers running through it, even if it is dirty.

And her lips on his skin are also nice, a comfort. She will feel him eventually relax better beneath her touch, his nerves calming as his reassurance grows that she is here with him.

"I only did what any man should have done," he says softly. Clearly downplaying just what he did to have her here by his side, in this moment.