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Ulaz couldn’t see a damn thing with Thace’s hand over his eyes. Even though he could make out slivers of their surroundings from between Thace’s fingers, mostly it was just the dark grayish-black walls of their shuttle, and the soft glow of the dim lights overhead. So, rather than trying to figure out where they were going, he instead focused on the barest hint of pressure against the small of his back. Thace’s other hand was resting there as he guided Ulaz through the shuttle towards the cargo bay.
“So, you’re still not going to tell me where we are?” Ulaz asked, breaking the—albeit comfortable—silence between them.
His ear twitched as he heard Thace let out a soft, thoughtful hum. “It’s not called a surprise for no reason, Laz,” Thace said teasingly. “You’ll see when we get there.”
Ulaz turned his head the barest amount to speak over his shoulder. “And what if I don’t like surprises?” he asked, matching Thace’s teasing undertone.
“Oh, trust me,” Thace said—Ulaz could so clearly envision him grinning as his ears twitched in amusement at the sides of his head. “You’ll like this one.”
Ulaz chuckled softly and he didn’t argue further. He didn’t see the need to, as he was certain that he would like Thace’s surprise. Especially since Thace had put so much effort into keeping it a secret. When Thace had been preparing for their hyperspace jump, he hadn’t even let Ulaz see the coordinates. The only hints that Ulaz had been given were Thace telling him to pack for warm weather and that they’d be gone for close to an entire rotation. He hadn’t told Ulaz anything else… wherever they were going, it must’ve been special. If it had been anybody else dragging him halfway across the galaxy while telling him next to nothing, Ulaz might have been more ready to complain. However, since it was Thace, he had decided to just go with it.
No harm had ever come from letting Thace drag him across the universe. In fact, it had probably saved Ulaz’s life more than a couple of times.
Besides, Thace’s excitement about taking him… wherever they were was adorable. Ulaz hadn’t seen him like this in ages…
When they finally arrived in the cargo bay, Thace removed his hand from Ulaz’s face. However, much to his disappointment, Ulaz found that the cargo ramp was still closed, so he couldn’t see anything outside. His ears drooped a little bit at the sight of more cool, dark metal, but he didn’t voice any complaints.
“Keep your eyes closed.” Thace’s voice was soft in Ulaz’s ear before he moved away, going over to the control panel on the far wall that would lower the cargo ramp and allow them access to the outside. Rather than listen, however, Ulaz kept his eyes open and turn his head to watch his bondmate go. At first, Thace didn’t seem to notice, but then, one of his ears twitched as if he could feel Ulaz’s gaze boring into the back of his skull, and he turned his head.
“Eyes. Closed,” Thace said sternly, enunciating each word very clearly. However, neither of his words had any real bite to them, and the slight upwards quirk of his lips indicated that he was at least slightly amused. “Now…”
Ulaz smiled as he did as he was told, closing his eyes again and crossing his arms over his chest to wait. His ears turned to listen as Thace activated the cargo ramp, which began lowering with a loud hiss as the pistons worked. Just barely audible were the soft clicks of Thace’s toe-claws against the metal floor of the cargo bay as he walked over. His hand took its place at the small of Ulaz’s back again as he reached up to cover Ulaz’s eyes. No sooner had the ramp touched down into the dirt outside, was Ulaz hit by a sudden wave of sweltering heat.
Ah… a desert planet then…
“You brought water, right?” Ulaz asked as Thace carefully led him down the ramp, minding the slight incline. The last time they had visited a desert planet, Thace had nearly passed out beneath a tree due to his thick fur and heavy undercoat. Ulaz preferred they didn’t have a repeat of that incident.
“Of course I did,” Thace assured him.
As they stepped off the ramp, Ulaz felt his feet dig into soft dirt, felt the sun warming his fur. There was a slight breeze too, although it did little to help with the heat beating down on their backs. Still, Ulaz’s ears twitched curiously. “Can I see where we are now?” he asked.
Without another word, Thace uncovered his eyes, and Ulaz flinched at the sudden bright light. He blinked several times, trying to allow his eyes time to adjust. As soon as they had, though, his breath caught in his throat. Thace had parked their shuttle across from a small farm, which had little more than a house and a couple of barns. It was one that was very familiar to Ulaz, seeing as he had spent his entire childhood and adolescence there, living with his mothers. Thace had brought him to Khal… it had been so long since Ulaz had visited that he couldn’t even remember the last time he had.
If the heat hadn’t been overwhelming his senses, he might’ve been able to more easily pick up on his mothers’ scents. While it didn’t look like they were anywhere in the yard, surely they were inside, trying escape from the heat for a little while until the sun lowered in the afternoon.
“Do you like it?” Thace’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, and Ulaz turned his head when Thace lightly rest his hand on Ulaz’s arm. Thace was peering around Ulaz’s shoulder tilting his head as he smiled up at him.
“Yes,” Ulaz managed to say, turning to him and dipping his head to bump their foreheads together as he nuzzled Thace. “I love it… thank you.”
Thace let out a soft, pleased purr in return, reaching out to lightly scratch beneath Ulaz’s chin. “You’re welcome, my love…”