Work Text:
Reyes twirled a glass of whiskey in his hands, sinking into his thoughts, while leaning back on the sofa in his room in Tartarus. A couple of weeks ago, he had a conversation with Ryder about other planets in Heleus Cluster, and Reyes couldn't get Voeld out of his mind. He had, to some extent, a childish admiration with they way Scott described it. And he even came up with a clever plan to lure the Pathfinder there; pull the strings among the people in the Resistance, temporarily assign his local agents, negotiate with Vetra on a mutually beneficial cooperation, and of course talk with SAM. But Ryder beat him with one short message.
From: Scott Ryder
To: Reyes Vidal
I hope His Majesty has a warm coat. Because I'm going to fly in and take you away in a couple of days.
So now all he had to do was wait for the message saying that the Tempest enters the atmosphere of Kadara, and also to get something warm to wear.
After boarding the Tempest, Reyes couldn't stop laughing at Ryder, who was dressed in a baggy blue sweater with a giant S-letter on his chest, mittens clearly made for Angaran hands, and a hat with a giant pompom. His laughter was echoed by the joyful chirping of Mr. Scribbles, whom Scott with flakes of Blast-Os on his lap.
"It's not funny ... Well, maybe a little. Jaal's mom put her soul into it! Have at least a drop of respect," Ryder said, trying to hide his smile beneath the bulky collar.
"I'm more than serious," Reyes continued to laugh. He himself was wearing a giant scarf that looked more like a rug, and hoped that he would not freeze in his flight suit. He always kept a couple of tricks how to warm in his head, especially when such a handsome Pathfinder was at hand.
"I propose we take this thing off of you and do some really important things while we're flying to Voeld."
Scott took off his warm clothes, until he was left in one thin white T-shirt and jeans.
"Well then, I need to write a couple letters and ..." Ryder did not have time to finish speaking, because he was drawn into a kiss. But they were interrupted first by SAM: "Mr. Vidal, would you like me to turn on some music?" and then a pyjak that started to cross Scott's leg trying to climb onto Reyes’ shoulders.
"Yes, Mr. Vidal wants some music, and Mr. Vidal doesn't want to be interrupted by all sorts of ..." Reyes broke off, catching the look of Scott scowling at Mr. Scribbles "Little space ... agrhh ... just kick him out of the door with the package Blast-Os, he will be fine."
The rest of the way to Voeld, no one bothered them.
Even during the descent of the Tempest, Reyes noticed Scott's secret smile. From the whole arsenal of his smiles, this one was the most elusive, and usually appeared when Ryder thought that no one could see him. At such moments, his invisible defense fell, his slightly opened lips stretched out in a gentle smile, and his blue eyes dreamily looked somewhere in the distance.
He smiled like this when: reading letters from Sara; stroking pyjak where he peacefully snuggled curled up on his chest; and sometimes Reyes managed to catch this look directed at him.
And now Pathfinder was looking at the northern lights that decorated the skies of Voeld green-turquoise. Reyes wanted to ask what Scott was thinking, but they were not alone on the Bridge. And when they finally landed and Ryder turned to the exit, he already had an ordinary smile.
"Come, I want to show you something," Scott said, touching Reyes's shoulder slightly.
"Lead the way" he grinned, going down behind Ryder.
Outside, it was still cold enough for the frost penetrate to the bone, because they were far from the activation of the Remnant's vault. Snowflakes slowly fell, mingling with the white sea that covered everything around.
"This way," Ryder pointed out in the opposite direction from the outpost. "It is't far."
Reyes had no choice but to follow him, looking at the straight back of the young man. Too straight. Where is his dear, shy boy, who instantly flinches from any vulgarity said in his ear? After all, some hour ago, Reyes forced him to scream and beg for more. And now, Scott really was more like a model Pathfinder, even in this stupid sweater, hat and mittens, he managed to collect. Reyes might have thought that they were going on a mission to clear a kett base, if he hadn't seen that secret smile. He was unbearably anxious to do something to destroy that invisible wall, which Ryder built around himself after landing. And the best idea that came to him was to throw a snowball at the back of the Pathfinder.
"What the...?" Ryder didn't have time to be indignant before another snowball flew into him. "You!"
Reyes couldn't hold back a chuckle, because Scott looked adorably disheveled, cheeks flushed from the cold, and his coarse eyes narrowed. No sooner had Reyes come to his senses than a snowball hit him in the face.
"Oh, you're a little ..." Reyes made a snowball and ran towards Ryder's giggly laugh. In any case, he brought Scott out of the stupor, even if he had to run after the bastard and have snowballs thrown at him.
"Gotcha," Reyes said, catching up and embracing young man.
For a moment, time stopped, and Scott's face was so close: here are the snowflakes falling on his cheeks and melting instantly; Here are his chestnut, usually combed, bangs, broke out from his hat; Here are his blue wide-open eyes, which seem even more vivid against the background of the northern lights; Here are his red lips slightly ajar, his frosted breath floating in the air.
"So beautiful." Reyes held up his hand and slowly outlined Scott's chin, covered with light stubble. And then he pressed a kiss to his lips. He felt Ryder open his lips, allowing him to deepen the kiss, and didn't fail to take advantage of it. The tongue slid inside, touching the sharp canine, caressing the palate and intertwining his with the tongue of young man. Reyes thought that he could stand there forever, kissing his space boy, feeling his pulse beat faster and faster, and the body pressed closer, looking for support.
"Scott," he called, after having torn a kiss, ending with a little light bite the boy's lower lip.
"Yes," he almost mechanically responded.
"You wanted to show me something," Reyes reminded him, grinning and not letting go of the embrace.
"Yes, exactly," Ryder shook his head, returning the clarity of thoughts "Here, it’s not far away."
Reyes easily took Scott's hand, and though his mittens made it impossible to intertwine fingers, it was still damn nice to feel the palm of a young man against his own. They walked in silence for another ten minutes, when suddenly appearing behind the turn of one of the rocks Reyes saw the shuttle "Anubis", one of those to which he was assigned when he joined the Initiative.
"Here," Ryder said, releasing his hand and biting his lower lip.
“This is the surprise?" Reyes certainly liked when his boy was speechless, but under other circumstances.
"Willyoubeinmysquad?" Scott blurted out in one breath.
“Did I understand you correctly? Leave the career of King of Kadara to ride alongside you, and try to save the entire galaxy?"
"Yeah." Ryder nodded, but the further he spoke, the quieter his voice became. "I've thought it through, you'll always be up to date with SAM and Keema agreed ..."
"Of course l will," Reyes grinned, embracing and kissing his space boy.