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The lively air of the dining area shifts around Sabine, there was one thing that brought even the most sour rebel into a better mood; good food.
And tonight was especially one that lifted spirits, because it was soup night. Everyone loved soup night. The soups available consisted of whatever they had on hand that they could get in, getting the exact ingredients to Atollon wasn’t always the easiest, but the cooks always managed to have at least four different kinds with a variety of flavors, usually meaning there was something for everyone.
It was evenings like this when grumbling about patrol shifts, and worries of the Empire seemed to cease for a while, replaced instead with laughter and camaraderie. The stars that shone above the outdoor dining area seemed to be a little brighter, the night a little less harsh.
She moves through and around the tables with a content smile, looking for a place to sit with people she tolerated, which was a group that was probably smaller than it should be. She picks up the pace when she sees him.
Short raven hair, brilliant blue eyes and a smile that could light up any galaxy. Ezra Bridger.
Her best friend.
And recently, a little more than that.
Her heart sinks in disappointment when she realizes there are no more seats at his table, so she pushes forward, looking for other seating accommodations. When she passes by, he looks up from his bowl of soup (which if she knew him, and she did, was probably the creamy vegetable soup, because that was what he always got) and sees her. Then he smiles at her.
Oh.
There was just something about him when he smiled at her. His smile was great enough regularly, but there was something different about the ones reserved for her. Something special. She couldn’t explain it, but it made her feel better, even if she wasn’t even feeling bad in the first place. She falters a step, nearly spilling her bowl, and then smiles back at him. She sees his chest shake with a supressed laugh, and she sticks her tongue out at him.
It's when Wedge, who Ezra was sitting with, turns and looks at her that she remembers they are in a very crowded public place. She flushes and puts her head down, once again looking for somewhere to sit.
Thankfully on the other side of the mess hall there was a seat open with a group of girls her age. She'd had a bit of a difficult time letting her guard down long enough to get to know them, but now that she had she found herself enjoying their company. They were fun, with a lot of energy that Sabine could only take in small amounts at a time, but there was an underlying maturity there too. A being couldn't live in a place like this and do the things they did without having to grow up a little fast.
As she took a seat, she was greeted with a chorus of hellos from the occupants of the table. Dela, a human pilot gives her a warm smile, "Let me guess, you got the spicy one."
Sabine chuckles, "You know me too well."
Dela's cousin, Brialia, pipes up, "Eh, it's not that hard to guess. You're a Mandalorian, you like spicy food, you get the hottest soup they have."
Krysara, a young Tholothian speaks up, eyes sparkling. "Speaking of hot, did you see Wedge during drills yesterday."
Dela flushes, "Did I ever."
Here we go again, she thought wryly. As much as she loved the girls, their tangents about various guys around base tended to be a bit much. It had never really been a topic Sabine had been all that interested in until recently. But the object of her interest was singular, so she still didn't much care for conversing about whose biceps were more visually appealing. That was not to say she thought less of the other girls for enjoying such conversations, they just weren't exactly up her alley.
Talea, a Twilek that was presumably a little older than Sabine joins in with a mischievous grin, "Forget about Wedge, Hobbie is where it's at."
Krysara grimaces, "Sure, if you go for that kind of thing."
Talea narrows her eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Briala interrupts before Krys can respond, "You are all missing the best one."
Dela grins, "Who?"
"Ezra of course."
Krys gasps, "Yes!"
Sabine swallowed the jealousy that rose in her throat like bile, she'd never cared before, she couldn't care now.
Briala giggles, "Have you seen those arms when he is training?"
Across the room, as if he knows he's being talked about, Ezra gets up from his table and heads towards the exit. It's almost like he can feel her eyes on him, because right before he walks out he turns his head, making eye contact and winking at her. She bites back a foolish grin as she turns back to her soup.
Dela adds, "And those eyes…"
Briala nods, "Don't even get me started on his eyes."
Despite her discomfort, she was inclined to agree with them, he did have rather nice eyes.
Krys pokes her in the shoulder, "Sabine here would know all about that, she lives with him after all."
There were a few pointed, suggestive looks thrown her direction. She does her best to mimic disdain, "Oh stop, that's weird. You're talking about my best friend."
And, it was true, he was her best friend, but it didn't necessarily stop there.
Brialia shrugs, "All I'm saying is if I lived on the same ship with him…"
Sabine focuses on eating her soup with false apathy as they chatter. Her impatience eventually gets the better of her and she slides her chair out from in under the table.
Dela, who had been animatedly talking about something Sabine hadn't quite caught, pauses, "Leaving so soon?"
She shrugs, "Not really that hungry."
Talea gives an accusatory look to the girls around her, "See, now you've scared Sabine off with all of your boy-talk."
Krys sticks her tongue out, "Like you weren't right there with us."
"Yeah, yeah whatever."
Sabine gives a reassuring smile, "You haven't 'scared me off', I just have other things to do."
Brialia cocks an eyebrow, "Like what?"
Kriff, she hadn't gotten that far. She stammers, "Uh, I have to- clean the Ghost! Yeah, that."
They hadn't been suspicious before, but they definitely would be now. She hastily grabs her bowl and walks away before they can question her more.
After disposing of her half-eaten soup, she exits the same way Ezra went. When she is out of view, she diverts her path slightly, going off the worn trail down the mesa coral, and grabbing hold of a ledge above her, climbing up instead. It was a route she'd taken plenty of times at this point, but it showed no signs of wear, as she was one of only two who knew about it.
The night air around her is cool, a welcome relief from the heat of the days on Atollon, and it makes the climbing a little more bearable. She gets about halfway up the coral when a hand appears from the next ledge she was going to reach for. She looks up and sees a familiar pair of blue eyes looking down at her with mirth. She takes it and it hauls her up onto the ledge.
She crawls up over onto the ledge, flopping down with maybe a little bit of exaggeration and she first looks out at the planet below her. From here on one of the petrified leaves of the coral, she could see for miles even with her vision inhibited by the darkness. It was breathtaking now matter how many times she saw it.
"It took you long enough." Teases a voice next to her.
She turns to look at where he was sitting beside her and smiles. Ezra's eyes seemed even more brilliantly blue in the dim light. "Why? Did you miss me?"
He leans over, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. "Maybe."
She grins, reaching out to cup his cheek, "Good."
She closes the distance between them, pressing her lips to his and everything feels right for a moment. She isn't really sure how it all happened, when shutting down his cheeky attempts at flirting turned into secret kisses under the moonlight.
But by Manda she was glad it had.
It was a little exciting, being sneaky and all. It added to the thrill. But also, it made it more special, nobody knew but them. It was their thing, no one else’s. After being stripped of her ability to express herself at the Academy, and then having to give up things she cared about for the sake of the rebellion, Sabine had few things she was in complete control over, few things that were just hers.
He was just hers.
Ezra is the one that breaks from the kiss first, pressing his forehead to hers. They stay like that a while, relishing in eachother's presence. In time they pull apart. "How did your mission go?"
Ezra and Zeb had been sent off on a supply run yesterday and hadn't returned till noon today. It wasn't what one could call a high risk mission, but she hadn't seen him since he'd gotten back. He gives a slightly cocky grin, "Smooth as could be, like everything I do."
"Yeah like that time you set the Ghost's kitchen on fire trying to heat up your ration bars?" She asks cheekily.
"That was a long time ago!" He protests.
"That was last week." She counters, voice flat.
"Well atleast I didn't accidently set off an explosive on Commander Sato's ship." He retorts, poking her in the side.
She rolls her eyes, "That was a low blow there, Bridger."
He snickers, "More like a blow up."
She pushes his shoulder in jest, "You're an idiot."
They settle back down, his arm wrapped around her back, her head on his shoulder. As she twines her fingers through his, she thinks about how unbelievably lucky she was. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this content, this secure in anything. He was the best thing that ever happened to her.
He was also far too good for her.
She didn't know what she'd done to deserve someone like him. Someone so kind, and so giving, someone who was just so much pure goodness and light wrapped up in human form. If he was pure light, she was darkness. Sometimes she felt guilty for being with him, he deserved someone as good and bright as he was, not her with her darkness and her demons. Most of the time however, she allowed herself to be selfish. Maybe he was too good for her, but maybe that was what she needed, someone to want her, someone to love her.
She knew he was in love with her, he'd told her himself. She was pretty sure she was in love with him, she was just too scared to admit it. Love was such a dangerous thing in the galaxy they lived in. It impaired judgement, it created distractions, it had the potential to endanger lives.
And yet, when she looked into his eyes she thought that it might just be worth it.
He was worth it.
She feels him shift his weight beside her, and when she looks up at him she finds his eyes on her. The moonlight that was cast on his face lit his features in a way that made him even more attractive than normal. His brows are pinched in concern, "Everything ok?"
She sighs, "Yeah, just lost in thought."
"Careful, you might hurt yourself."
It takes a lot of restraint to not just slap him, instead she opts for an elbow in his stomach. "Rude."
The hand that was holding hers releases, flying to his side. "Why are you so mean to me?"
She shrugs, "Because you deserve it."
He chuckles, "Fair enough."
She leans over, pressing a feathery kiss to his cheek, "Besides, I think I make up for it plenty don't I?"
His cheeks flush, so much so that she can see it in the dim moonlight "I would say so."
His expression grows a little serious, "Do you ever think about telling everyone about us?"
She sighs, "Sometimes. I mean, we'll have to eventually I guess."
"You sound so dejected. Why? You embarrased of me?" The question is clearly meant in jest, but she can see the worry behind it.
"It's not that it's just… well you know how everyone would be. It would be insufferable!" It wasn't that she didn't want to tell the entire galaxy that she might be in love with Ezra Bridger. She just didn't want to deal with everything that would happen after that.
It's his turn to sigh, "I know, I don't want to have to deal with that either. They're going to talk, and make assumptions, and pass judgements that I just don't feel like putting up with… but also, it's so hard for me to pretend like I don't care. I want to be able to talk about you without pretending like you aren't the most important person in the galaxy to me. I want to hold your hand in public without people getting the 'wrong idea' even though technically it would be the right one."
She takes his hand in hers once more, wrapping her fingers around his. "I know, I know, I feel the same way. It's so weird acting like things are the way they've always been when they just aren't. The time will come, I think we'll know when, but for right now what we have is good, too good for me to let someone's elses words or opinions to get in the way of it."
The arm that has been behind her back wraps around her waist, pulling her closer to him, she shifts slightly to be able to lay her head on his chest. "Until then, I'll be happy to continue to hold my tongue if it means no one will try to insert themselves between us for whatever reason."
She smiles, "Me too. And as to when we should make all of this public, I guess we'll figure that out the same way we do everything else."
"How's that?"
"Together."