Dawn/Dusk

Nate felt a rush of relief to see Kira slumped over her desk with her head on her arms, completely asleep. When Adam had mentioned she’d not shown up for combat training that evening he’d been concerned—more so when she didn’t answer her phone. Unit Bravo had quickly organized to do a quick surveillance of Wayhaven to see if they needed to be concerned over her absence.

Which reminded him—he pulled out his phone and tried to remember what Adam had shown him. With less of a struggle than he anticipated he was able to send out a message to the group letting the others know Kira was alright. The phone buzzed instantly with responses.

Adam: Please assure the detective that we can do additional combat training tomorrow after your research training to make up for today. She should rest tonight.

What an offer! Doubtless Kira would feel unable to turn down Adam’s request and it would be left to Nate to try and provide her with time to breathe. With a sigh he returned his attention to his phone.

Felix: Good thing you found her. Have some fun tonight Natey!

Mason: You know, if you take her home, I can recommend a few exercises—

Nate stopped reading Mason’s message and tucked his phone back into his pocket. He didn’t need Mason’s ‘suggestions’ in his head when he woke Kira. He made his way back to her office, a table lamp and her computer the only lights brightening the space. Kira had turned her face away from the light, allowing the light to make her long red hair glow as it spilled over her shoulder and onto her desk.

He was reluctant to wake her, though the desk was doubtless an uncomfortable place to sleep. If it wouldn’t disorient her to take her back to her room in their new home, he’d do that in an instant. Nate made his way to her side, crouching down so he was at a similar height. Her face was relaxed in sleep and there was a small mark of dried drool at the edge of her mouth that he knew would bother her when she woke up. He was struck in that moment by how much he cared for her and how much joy she brought, not only to him, but all of Unit Bravo. She was like the last rays of light at dusk—short-lived and precious.

He wet his handkerchief in the mug of water on her desk and gently wiped at the corner of her mouth. The sensation caused her to stir and Nate tucked the handkerchief away as Kira’s hazel eyes opened. Immediately they crinkled in confusion.

“Nate?”

Time to wake up Snow White,” he whispered. “You fell asleep at your desk.”

Kira bolted upright at his words, grabbing for her phone as she did. She fumbled with it, but Nate knew the second she saw the time because her face fell.

“Blast—I’m late to meet Adam! My alarm was supposed to wake me hours ago!”

Nate lay his hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to stay seated.

“I came to find you when you didn’t show up,” Nate told her, choosing to leave out the fact that all of Unit Bravo had been out looking for her. “Adam knows you fell asleep and says you can practice tomorrow.”

Kira relaxed into her seat, but still looked perturbed.

“I’m sure Adam loved that.”

“It will be fine Kira, he wasn’t upset. Now tell me, what left you sleeping on your desk?”

Her face went red, but her eyes sparkled with a quiet joy.

“You can’t tell Adam unless he asks, okay? I’d prefer he not know.”

Curiosity peaked Nate nodded his agreement. Kira bit her lip and then smiled dreamily.

“I just finished reading a book this weekend, it’s called A Discovery of Witches. It’s a fantasy series, but the main character is a professor of history, and the author is a professor too. Anyway, the dvd for the television series based on it arrived Wednesday and I stayed up late watching the first bit of the series, and then last night I just gave myself carte blanche. I think the hours I just slept doubled how much sleep I’d gotten in the last 24 hours.”

Nate could feel his grin stretching across his face as Kira got lost in her excitement. When she was passionate about something, be it a case or some form of media, there was a radiance to her. It was as if gravity could hardly keep her to the ground.

“That sounds like a good night,” he commented. Kira nodded ruefully.

“It was great, until I got to work and remembered I was stuck to the desk most of today writing reports and reviewing things. I was just finishing the last of one of them when I decided a quick cat nap would give me the pep I needed before I headed over to your place. You can see how well that worked out.”

Her face had pinked adorably, and she turned to her computer looking to finish what she’d left undone. She was normally so diligent with such things she rivaled Adam, though she had little enjoyment from paperwork.

“Can it not wait until your next day on duty?”

“No,” Kira shook her head, her eyes not straying from the screen as she answered his question, “Tina may need this one tomorrow, depending on if she can find the kid who’s been leaving tags on all the buildings the Mayor’s money has a hand in. This won’t take long.”

Nate settled into a seat, recognizing that she had no intention of leaving before she’d done what she set out to do. Surprisingly, it really wasn’t long before she was powering off her computer and stretching, working kinks out of her back.

“I really need to thank you for that Nate. I’ve fallen asleep at a desk before and it does horrible things to me the next day.”

He laughed.

“I hope you don’t make a habit of it, Detective, it’s hardly good for you. Your body deserves a warm bed. I could recommend one if you like.”

Judging by her flush Kira picked up on his flirtation, and she gestured for him to stand before wrapping her arms around him.

“Seriously Nate, thank you. Before you guys came into my life, I was doing things like this all the time. Work hard, binge some new thing I like, work late with Verda or go out with Tina on occasion. It wasn’t a bad life and I was happy with it, but you guys arrived and it felt like some part of me woke up, as if it had been sleeping for a long time. Like Unit Bravo was the dawning of a new day after an unusually long night. And you’re especially dear to me Nate.”

Nate kissed her forehead, allowing himself to use the pressure of the kiss to wordlessly tell her how much she meant to him. She tilted her head and scooted onto her tiptoes to kiss his lips just as firmly. He returned her kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist in order to pull her closer to him.

This, he wanted to last forever. He played with the idea of leveraging Kira against the door so that the height difference was less of an issue, but if he started kissing her like that, he couldn’t see them stopping for hours and she was in desperate need of a solid rest. He withdrew and she followed him with her lips still seeking his.

“We should stop for now.” Nate brushed strands of hair behind her ear and she leaned into the palm of his hand looking up at him with disappointment. “I need to get you home.”

“I suppose,” Kira agreed reluctantly, smoothing out wrinkles where she’d been pressed against him. “I do have some research I wouldn’t want to miss tomorrow.”

Nate laughed as he reached for her jacket to help her into it, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

“Oh, I am very much looking forward to it.”