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The official mission statement of the Astro Ambassadors says they are in the business of ‘observation and response’. Most days, their tasks mostly involve ‘observation’. A diplomatic outreach here, some handshakes there. On some rare days, however, they are rather rudely reminded of the ‘response’ part of their mission.
In the docking bay of the Zephyr, the team is gearing up in silence. Daniel watches, mesmerized, as Daisy goes through the familiar paces of putting on her tac suit. Zip. Click. Click. Zip. A peek in a pouch, click. Distracted, he fumbles with his own gears, the buckle clacking as it misses its mark.
Daisy turns around.
‘Need help there?’ She asks, taking in his state.
‘Yea,’ he sighs in resignation. ‘These things have changed a bit since my time.’
‘It’s alright.’ She closes the distance between them, and starts to expertly buckle her boyfriend into his set of tac gear, tightening the straps and fixing the velcro. As she moves on from the vest to his belt, her fingers graze a strip of skin that has peeked out from his undershirt. Daniel flinches.
‘Sorry,’ she says immediately, ‘is that…?’
‘It’s fine.’ The reply comes way too quickly as he surreptitiously steps away from Daisy. ‘It’s just-’
Realization dawns on Daisy—and, as it seems, Daniel.
‘No,’ his tone is serious as he takes another step back, noticing a shift in her expression. ‘Don’t you dare-’
The time spent on the Bus and in the Playground has trained her well. In a flash, she reaches forward and tickles his side, causing him to let out an undignified yelp, drawing the attention of their fellow agents. Daisy laughs.
‘I did not expect that from you.’ She says with an unapologetic grin. When all she is met with is a half-hearted glare, she only grins wider.
‘If you two are done getting to third base,’ Kora calls out from the gangway over the bay, ‘we’ve got an intergalactic threat to contain?’
Daisy looks up to scowl at her sister, but the moment is broken. When she looks back down at Daniel, he is just finishing getting ready. Their eyes meet.
A beat passes.
‘This isn’t over, mister.’ And with a smug smirk, Daisy saunters away.