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The door to the medbay opened, and a familiar, teasing voice rang from behind the A-rank valkyrie who had been sitting next to it.
“Hmm? What’s got you so down then, couldn’t bear to be without me for even a minute?”
Startled, Helia turned around, quickly trying to wipe her eyes dry with her hands.
“C-coralie?”
She quickly scrambled upright, practically throwing herself at the smaller dog girl in a close embrace.
The hug’s recipient winced. “Ow, ow, slow down! I might be free to go, but it still hurts!“
Just as quickly, Helia backed off.
“S-sorry! I just thought, they said you-” She shook her head. “No, I mean, I’m really sorry… You got hurt because of my carelessness, and-”
Coralie sighed. “Oi, you really think a scratch like that can keep the great demon lord Coralie down for long?” She winked, but gently brushed her tail against Helia’s calf in reassurance.
“Ahahah.. I suppose not, no. Still, I’m really sorry.”
Coralie gave her a lopsided smile. “If you want to make up for it, why don’t you carry my stuff back to my room for me? Gonna be a whole lot more comfortable than doing it myself, in this state.”
“Ah, of course!” The diligent valkyrie grabbed the gear left behind in the med bay, then tried to pick up the hammer with her remaining hand - only to fail miserably, lose her balance and fall.
Meanwhile, her friend (or, in Helia’s most closely guarded dreams, girlfriend) was unable to hold back her giggles.
“S-sorry, I should have said something when i saw what you were trying, but the look on your face when you realized what was about to happen was just priceless..!”
While only able to muster a wry chuckle herself due to the damage to her pride, Helia was not in a mood to scold anyone right now. “Yeah yeah, very funny.”
Picking herself and the equipment back up, she went for take two, with improved posture to balance the weight.
Walking back to Coralie’s room, Helia couldn’t help but be impressed. “You carry this thing around like it’s nothing..”
“Heh-heh. That’s what a knucklehead like you will never understand - sometimes you have to work smarter, not harder!”
Unlocking her door, she leaned in towards Helia and whispered “Antigrav engine is the small red switch on the handle, otherwise you might struggle to get it on my shelf.”
Then she walked inside with a smug smile.
Flustered, Helia flipped the mentioned switch and quickly followed behind her. “Ah, dammit Coralie!”
Not long after, under careful supervision, Helia had stashed away Coralie’s equipment.
Sitting side by side on her bed, Coralie nuzzled her cheek against Helia’s side.
“Hey. Thanks though. For waiting there for me. It means a lot knowing you cared enough.”
Momentarily recalling the nauseating emotional turmoil of a mere hour earlier, Helia couldn't help but shiver. “Y-yeah, of course.”
In a moment of boldness, she wrapped an arm around Coralie's shoulder, as if to reassure herself that she was real.
Hoping the smaller girl didn’t find this weird, she cautiously looked down, only to see her blushing slightly.
Wait, did she see that right? Was Coralie really blushing over her?
She halfheartedly tried to push the thought from her mind, but Coralie herself had other plans, and put her head on Helia’s lap.
Still blushing, she smiled at her. “Heh, got you all flustered. I win.”
Helia couldn't help but protest this blatant unfairness. “Ehh?! Have you seen your own face, you’re bright red yourself!”
Surprise showing in her eyes momentarily, Coralie quickly turned away. “Must be the recovery process or something.”
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for her, this gave Helia ready access to her ears. Between her previous encounter with them and the current mood, the valkyrie’s resolve crumbled before it could even build, and she started gently stroking them.
Coralie shivered at the first touch, but she didn’t say anything. At the same time, her wagging tail said everything.
Mesmerized by the downright adorable creature melting under her caresses, and recently infused with a sense of urgency, Helia cleared her throat. It was now or never, truly.
“So, Coralie, I was uh, thinking about things while you were out in the medbay. And uh, I..”
Despite the mood, for the overly serious Helia, this was a lot harder than she thought.
“I-I was thinking about how I wasn’t sure what I’d do without you?” Her voice pitching upwards as that confession slipped out.
“But I w-was thinking, um, if you don’t mind then maybe, I mean obviously you shouldn’t feel pressured and of course it might complicate the squad dynamics bu-”
In an act of mercy, the dog girl pulled Helia down into a kiss. The other girl froze for a moment, then cautiously returned the kiss.
After only a few seconds, they broke the kiss, with Coralie being the first to speak.
“I try to catch your eye for ages, but this is what it takes? Hmph. Idiot.”
Seeing the confusion and distress on Helia's face, she pouted and hugged her close.
“Come on, you really didn’t notice? I can’t believe I fell for the densest valkyrie of all time. Just my luck.”
Still, she was smiling by the end of the sentence, and even Helia understood what this meant.
“So, does that mean we’re..?”
Not with a lot of certainty, but still.
Coralie, revelling in the opportunity to keep her prey off balance, moved her face towards Helia’s, licking her lips. “I’d joke we can be teammates with benefits, but I’d worry you’d take it seriously, so,”
She pushed Helia down onto the bed, then moved to whisper the last part directly in her ear.
“Girlfriends, maybe?”
Her throat dry, Helia was just levelheaded enough to answer. “Y-yeah. I’d like that.”
Coralie kissed her again, though quickly pulled back as Helia tried to embrace her.
“Um, easy on the kisses, though - I don’t have a lot of stamina right now.”
Nodding, Helia thought her embarrassed look was the cutest thing she would ever see in her life.
Lying down side by side, hand in hand, they talked until nightfall. Coralie seemed to enjoy talking about all the flirting the other never seemed to pick up on, although Helia found this teasing much more bearable with the girl she fell for giving her loving looks in return.
“Come on, why else did you think I wanted to stargaze with you on the way to Mars?”
She didn’t have an answer to that one.
As time passed, Coralie grew tired faster than usual - entirely fair, given the circumstances. She yawned.
“Mmm… Helia, can you stay with me tonight? Your presence makes me feel safe.”
Once more bright red, her newfound girlfriend nodded, and before long, Coralie was slowly falling asleep in the other’s arms.
She had one last trick up her sleeve to get Helia’s heart racing, though.
“Love you, Helia.”
“Love you too, Coralie.”
Her partner’s racing heartbeat was the most comforting sound imaginable for her to fall asleep to.