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Cressida was standing in the kitchen with one hand planted on the counter and the other wrapped around a cup of coffee. Kesh had pulled a hell of a lot of strings to get the Tempest some precious, rationed coffee, but freeing up a new colony had softened Addison, so Kesh hadn’t even had to threaten to airlock Addison’s assistant to get them something nice this time. Nothing like a treat from home to help her focus on some viability homework. She breathed in deep as the door slid open behind her.
She didn’t look up from the datapad on Eos until Liam was right behind her and so close she could feel the heat of his skin. He rested one hand on her hip and reached over her shoulder for a coffee mug. Without skipping a beat, he set the mug down right in front of her, humming to himself. Liam, for what it was worth, did not acknowledge Cressida’s startled laugh, but proceeded to make himself a coffee while all but wrapped around her, chin on her shoulder.
“Excuse me, Kosta.”
“Oh! Hey Ryder. Hadn’t noticed you there.” He stirred sugar into his coffee and tapped the spoon noisily against the lip of the cup. His stubble scratched her cheek when he shifted to take a sip, still standing close enough that she really hoped no one else on the ship decided to come to the galley for a snack.
“There’s a whole kitchen, you know.”
“Hmm?” He wrapped his free arm all the way around her waist.
“A whole kitchen.” Cressida tried really hard not to giggle, but something about Liam reduced her to a goofy mess. She rested a hand over his. “Counters, comfy seats, you know.”
“What, am I in the way of something?” He took another sip over her shoulder and sighed contentedly. “Excellent coffee, by the way. American?”
“From Nexus stores.” She tried to push him off, but Liam was a good deal stronger than he looked, and he looked pretty strong to begin with. After a minute, she was able to shift and twist until she was finally facing him. That he allowed, but he kept one hand on her waist and one braced behind her on the counter. He smelled like the spicy soap he’d gotten from one of the merchants who’d set up shop on the Nexus and his hair was faintly damp. Just taken a shower, she figured. Liam usually showered at night. What time was it?
She wormed her hands up in between them until her palms were flat against his chest. He took another sip of coffee.
“Alright, alright. I give up. What do you want, Kosta?”
“Why would I want anything, Ryder? I’m just here in the middle of the night cycle getting coffee.” He grinned down at her and that smile could have charmed Archon. “Just like some people I know.”
Night-cycle already, huh? There was no real night or day time on a spaceship, but their schedules were synced up to the Nexus’, and the Nexus mostly ran on a 24-hour human-and-Turian-standard day (woe to the poor Salarians, who were used to much shorter days). She looked back down at the datapad and tapped at the screen until it was set back at default where she could see the time. Middle of the night was right. She hadn’t even noticed how late it had gotten.
Liam ducked down and kissed her forehead when she looked back up.
“I see what you mean.”
“Thought you might.”
He kissed her again on the lips this time, warm and gentle and so perfect that she didn’t even notice him reaching back to swipe her datapad until he pulled away and held up the offending tech in one hand.
“Coming to bed, Cress?”
She sipped the rest of her coffee and it seemed a shame to drink it so fast given how rare it was, but Liam made some compelling arguments. He brushed a thumb over her cheek when she looked back up at him. That was what she liked best about him, she decided. Through crisis response and the literal hell Heleus turned out to be, Liam was sweet and tender. The man could punch a hole straight through two Kett and a Wraith if he wanted to, but he still held her in her sleep and combed through her hair with his fingers while they watched movies.
“If you insist.”
He smiled so broad he lit up the room and probably the whole cluster they were drifting through. She didn’t find it hard to follow him back to bed. Besides, she could always finish up her reading another night.