:: action
[ only a few select people are capable of bringing her walls down like this and jean-luc is most certainly one of them. it may be difficult for helen to allow someone inside those walls like she has done for him, but she can't say she regrets doing so. not for him. their combined touch lasts for only a moment, though it's a moment she drinks in as if she can hold his presence near her for longer than the duration of that one simple act.
once they're separate again, she tends the water, only pouring it once it's hot enough and the sachets are ready. ] You don't need to thank me. I wasn't the one whose plan worked. [ in all fairness, she played a minimal role, however crucial it had been, though she does understand it was a critical one. all she had really been able to hope for was that he had been able to hear her words when she had spoken to him through locutus. if she had been able to give him hope during that dark time... that was all she could ask for.
she sets the kettle somewhere to cool and moves to help him set the sachets in to steep the tea, barely glancing at him as she works. they're now so close that she can feel his presence beside her again and she takes comfort in that feeling, once again glad that he's here with her now. ] I would've done anything to help you, Jean-Luc. How could I not? [ how could she not help when she loved him so? ] I have wonder if you could hear me during all that. [ was he listening to that hope she had tried so desperately to convey? ]