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Nova hadn’t expected June to go along with the idea when she’d first thrown it out there as a joke, but now she finds herself slipping off her boots, gingerly stepping onto the toes of his shoes with her bare feet.
“Am I too heavy?” She quickly asks, concerned and feeling self-conscious. But June just laughs as he meets her halfway, welcoming her into the circle of his embrace and wrapping an arm around her waist, braced just so as to stop her from falling.
“Not at all,” he reassures, smiling down at her as he brushes a knuckle against her cheek, and all the affection he holds for her in those grey eyes of his makes her breath hitch. “How can I complain?”
She scrunches her nose playfully at him, a light blush on her cheeks. Nova wonders if he can feel the way her legs are shaking as she stands on her tippy toes, but June’s arms around her are doing a stellar job of keeping her on her feet.
(He’s also having quite the effect on her already pounding heartbeat, but there’s no way she’s about to tell him that.)
A soft, tinny-sounding piano waltz plays from an old speaker June found digging through the stores of the Andromeda, and Nova twines her hands behind June’s neck, feeling his own settle gently at her waist. Thinking back on it, she isn’t really sure how they ended up in this position - just that the conversation had somehow led to them both admitting that they didn’t know the last thing about dancing, which had consequently led Nova to quip that they wouldn’t be able to dance together due to their height difference unless she stood on his toes.
Clearly, June had taken that as a challenge, and he’d suggested that they give it a try.
“Don’t drop me, cowboy,” she warns, suddenly a little anxious. Whether it’s from the potential of self-embarrassment or from having him this near to her, she can’t tell. And when June answers with a small smirk, his hands giving her waist a light squeeze, the warmth that melts through her system is enough to send her nerves into a giddy, exhilarating spin.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
The waltz picks up, and June steps forward, leaving Nova little choice but to follow his movements into a slow box step. It’s clumsy and unpracticed, the both of them stumbling through the movements, and it doesn’t take them too long to fall into fits of giggles together, their laughter filling the room they’re in and the sliver of space between them.
“God, I’m horrible at this,” he admits, chuckling in embarrassment as he takes Nova for another slow turn about the room. “I’m starting to feel kind of silly, actually.”
“You and me both,” she says sheepishly, grinning at him. “But like you said, how can I complain?”
This time, she watches as June’s cheeks flush with color instead, the gunman clearing his throat at her comment. “You shouldn’t say that,” he contests good-naturedly, fixing her with a stern but teasing look. “Maybe I had my own ulterior motives for going along with this.”
Slowly, Nova looks up, daring to meet his eyes. On impulse, she nudges her nose against his, her heart skipping traitorously as she does so. “Oh? And what ulterior motives might you have with me?”
His grip on her waist tightens imperceptibly, and he’s so close - close enough for her to see his eyes darken, his breath fanning gently against her lips when he answers, “This.”
When June presses his mouth to hers and kisses her, that tell-tale electricity once again sparking inside of her and spreading through her veins, Nova nearly slips out of his grasp and trips onto the floor, the kiss making her weak in the knees.
This is not the first they've had, nor will it be the last — but nothing stops it from stealing the air from her lungs each and every time.
“Sneaky,” she whispers against the corner of his mouth when they part, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Do it again.”