Chapter Text
“. . . Hey, Sol?”
Sol had been walking over to the expeditions shack, trying to find Dys when Dys found them. “Oh, hey Dys . . . I actually was coming to talk to you.” Sol shifted on their feet, now nervous about what Dys was going to say. “What do you need?”
“Um . . .” Dys held both of his hands behind his back, gently rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Y-you said you needed to talk to me, right?” Sol nodded. “ . . . Y-you can go first, it's okay . . .”
Sol shook their head vigorously, too anxious to actually confess now that the time had come. They ran their fingers over the box in their pocket. “No, no, you can go . . .”
Dys glanced nervously from side to side, trying to see if anyone was watching. He unclasped his hands from behind his back and held out a bouquet of colorful flowers, not looking at Sol when he spoke. “I . . . I found these flowers when I was out exploring . . . I thought you might like them . . .”
The flowers he held in his hand were beautiful; their colors were radiant, and their petals were delicate. The blossoms were radiant, and they almost looked like they had come from one of the many paintings from Earth that they had been shown. Sol had never seen such wonderful flowers before. Dys must have gone to great lengths to procure them just for this occasion.
“Oh! Y-you got them . . . for me?” Sol was surprised. They knew that Dys liked them, at least to some extent, but they never thought he would give them such a delightful gift. Both of them knew that giving someone flowers often had romantic connotations, and Dys didn’t seem to be trying to refute these implications. This at least made their plan go a bit easier, since it was clear that Dys cared about them enough to give them such a striking present.
Dys nodded, clearly anxious about their opinion. “Do . . . Do you like them?”
Sol smiled at him. His nervousness was kind of cute. “I do,” Dys tried to hand the flowers to them, but they shook their head gently. Dys looked heartbroken, and Sol hurriedly added, “I actually have a gift for you too.”
They held out the small box they had been hiding in their pocket. “Open it.” Dys looked at the box curiously and handed the flowers to Sol before taking the box from their hands. He slowly undid the bow that Sol had carefully crafted (with guidance from holovids). Inside, there was a careful assortment of chocolate candies that Sol had made themself. “I know that people usually give chocolates on Valentine's Day, so I made some for you.”
Dys looked at the chocolates in surprise. He never thought that he would receive such a thoughtful, handmade gift. “You made these . . . for me?” Sol nodded at him, and he gently plucked out one of the small treats and took a bite. Dys looked genuinely happy, whether from the taste of the chocolate, the idea of getting a gift on Valentine's Day, or both.
He took out another sweet, this time dark chocolate, and offered it to Sol. “Here,” he blushed and didn’t look Sol in the eyes when he said it. Sol took it gratefully and popped it in their mouth. The two of them just stood there for a moment before Dys mumbled out a quiet, “Thanks . . .”
“Mhm . . . Thanks for the flowers, I really like them.” Dys just nodded at them and shuffled his feet awkwardly before turning and swiftly walking away with a soft blush on his face. To anyone else, it may have seemed rude, walking away after receiving a gift, but Sol knew that was just how Dys worked. They smiled. Maybe they had nothing to worry about after all.