When Colony Base Delta is torn apart, greenhouse technician Hale survives against every reasonable expectation. His rescuer is Thrayn, a Keeper from the living world of Vaeren-a man who can sense the resonance of every living thing around him. Every living thing except Hale. With no shared language and no understanding of each other's worlds, trust has to be built slowly: through gestures, shared work, tentative routines, and the kind of care that asks for nothing in return. What begins as survival becomes companionship. Then something harder to name. But Hale still belongs to a world far beyond Vaeren, and surviving the disaster does not mean he can simply leave his old life behind. As the distance between them closes, Hale and Thrayn must decide whether what they have found is temporary-or worth choosing a future for. Where We Take Root is a tender, slow-burn queer science-fiction romance about first contact, belonging, and the unexpected places we learn to call home. The first book in The Worlds That Answer.