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Del frowned down at their joined hands. It wasn’t like he didn’t like it when Iden held his hand; quite the opposite. But Iden had been holding his hand for ten minutes, and he really needed to use it.
“Iden?”
“Hm?” She was falling asleep next to him. They were sitting on the couch in Iden’s room on the Corvus, and Del was reading something Shriv had sent him on his datapad.
“I need my hand back for a moment.” He said, and immediately regretted it.
“Oh! Sorry.” Iden dropped his hand and shifted away. She did that a lot; she would apologize for touching him, as if it was an inconvenience to him. Even though Del initiated most of their touches anyway. (Not their first kiss though, that had been a surprise). He had just assumed she wasn’t a very physical person, but it was beginning to seem more like she was scared to touch him. Like… She didn’t know how.
“Don’t do that.” Del dropped his datapad on the table in front of them and grabbed her hand back. Shriv could wait.
“Don’t do what?” She blinked up at him in surprise.
“Don’t apologize.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “You know I like holding your hand.”
“Yeah.” She watched his lips graze her knuckles. “I think I’m just tired.”
It was still the middle of the ship's day cycle. Del wasn’t surprised though; apparently, Iden and Shriv had been up most of the night trying to figure out a way to pile as many explosives into Dio as they could without damaging him. Del must have known, subconsciously, that they were up, because he had woken up in the early hours of the morning and wandered around the ship to try and calm his mind down enough to fall back asleep. When he had found them, hunched over Dio and a box of explosives in the hangar, Iden had explained their experiment with a genuine, curious gleam in her eyes. He had, privately, thought it made her look adorable, but he dragged them both to their respective rooms and told them not to come out until six hours had passed, at least. He had seen both Iden and Shriv in the caf after only three.
“Me too.” He agreed, and pulled her against him and laid down on the couch. He positioned them so Iden was tucked in between his body and back of the couch, one of his arms under her and her head on his chest.
“Del? What are you doing?” She murmured.
“Taking a nap with you.” He answered simply, and with his free hand he started pulling the pins out of her hair.
“But we’re still in the day cycle, Del.”
“So?”
“We can’t just-” Iden cut herself off with a small gasp when Del pulled out the last pin and started playing with her hair. Her whole body melted against him. He massaged her scalp and kissed her forehead, and she made a small, pleased sound. She felt like she was on fire, but in the best way possible. Del’s hand felt so good in her hair, and his other hand-his large, warm hand-had snuck under her shirt and was holding her waist firmly. His thumb traced a circle onto her skin, and electricity shot up her spine.
“When was the last time someone held you like this?” Del asked quietly, even though he was sure he knew the answer.
“I-I don’t know.” Iden stammered. I don’t think anyone ever has.
“Ah. I see.” He didn’t sound surprised, just disappointed. He had never met her mother, but he knew her parents had divorced when she was young, and she had grown up with the admiral. It was hard to picture Admiral Versio as a man who gave out hugs, even to his own daughter.
“Why?”
“You deserve to be held, Iden.” He said it like it was a genuine fact.
“Oh.” She breathed, and Del kissed her forehead again.
“Get some rest, Iden.” He murmured against her skin. She cuddled up closer to him and sighed in contentment. For the first time in so long, she felt safe.