Work Text:
She can feel her heart pounding, sending tremors throughout her entire body. Her hands are sweaty, palms warm against the black material hugging her body. She sways very slightly on her feet, fighting to keep her balance although she’s on flat ground. Her vision is blurred, hearing muffled.
“Ziegler.”
She’s trying hard to get herself to focus on what’s in front of her, but her body is doing the exact opposite. She feels as if every separate part of her body is screaming, demanding for a piece of her attention. The dull ache in her temple is getting stronger. She thinks she’s going to fall apart.
The sudden contact of another hand against her shoulder makes her jump.
“Ziegler,” the voice comes through again, clearer this time. “Are you feeling all right? You don’t look so good.”
Angela snaps back to reality, raising her head to the figure. She makes eye contact with intense, bronze irises. Angela quickly looks away.
“I’m fine! Why do you ask?” her accent coming through heavily, her heart beating even harder now.
A moment of silence sits between them.
Before Angela could process what was happening, dark golden skin pressed against her pale, flushed face. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the rest of her senses were overwhelmed by the taller woman. She could smell the mixture of tea and warm spices she was so deeply enamoured with, and feel the breath of the other gently caressing her face. She wanted so badly to reach out and wrap her arms tight around those broad shoulders, to bring her lips up to meet the other’s. In that moment, Angela’s existence was drowned out by her presence, and it was the only death she did not mind.
The captain took a step back. Handsomely dressed in her blue uniform, her face softened, but her eyebrow remained arched. “You’re burning up. Do you need to take a few days off? I can arrange for that,” the captain spoke. Her deep, strong voice made Angela ache even more.
“N-no, it’s fine! I promise I’m all right,” Angela managed to croak out.
Once again, those captivating dark eyes bored into hers. “It’s very rare and worrying to see you make so many mistakes. One careless number off your initial calculations has cost you the entire week’s research. You show a lot of promise and dedication, and I don’t want that to go down the drain. I know you’re only human, but that’s precisely why I’m concerned for you, Angela. I hope you’ll talk to me if you have something troubling you, okay?” the owner to those brown eyes sighed, her strong features displaying an indescribable softness.
Angela merely nodded, her blush deepening even more upon hearing her given name being uttered by the captain.
Angela bowed her head and gave her regards, before clumsily scooping her files up from the large wooden desk and hurriedly making her way out of the office and back to her own quarters.
With the tips of her ears red and her cheeks aching from the wide grin on her face, no one would have ever guessed she just got reprimanded by the fearsome Ana Amari.