Starward Protector

"Eyebright." As if from nowhere.

My Starward Mechanic is surrounded by serpents, their eyes red and fangs bared with hunger and malice. Now, I am surrounded here, as well.

She clings to me; I can still sense her very real terror, so I waste no time.

I drop my staff to the ground, adding "Sticks to Snakes" for good measure. The words whisper in my mind, like an arrow knocked "Serpent Phoenix Form."

"Burnflare." Like an arrow loosed. 

The field ignites, smelling like BBQ Chicken and reminding me of the significance of the central thread to any garment.

"Flareburn." Like a legendary and almost illogical arrow returned, my serpent reforms in my hand, self parses into planks, and embeds back into my own form. 

My Starward Mechanic, heart still pounding and hands each still gripping my chest and shoulder, finds her energy persistent, though threat removed. She simply whispers "Every threat becomes a promise."

**Some time later**

"So how does this ship stay Starward?"

"I take care of the ship, and you take care of me while you're here. Now they just understand that 'while you're here' can be at literally any moment, so we'll need to come up with a new schedule and calling card."

"I never had any of this in mind setting out with y'all so many years back."

"Don't we know it. This has been as much if a surprise to us as it has been to you. Moreso even, since you're essentially moving in here rather than vice versa, but we've got the space."

She does get chatty in these hours~ I've always wondered. It's cute.

I just let the remaining words slip beneath the hum of the engine, feeling the emptiness of space around us absorb the tension. "It feels like home somehow."