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"Keep the elbow bent....okay, good. Now breathe and--"
A blaster shot rang through the air, wisps of smoke in its wake. The two squinted to the humanoid target plastered on the far wall -- a fresh, gaping hole right through its "heart."
Loch watched the excitement form in Mako's smile, the twinkle in her eye as she turned to him, "I did it!"
"You did it!" He exclaimed, laughing and returning the hug as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
When she pulled away, much too soon by his calculations, she smirked, "Looks like all that trial and error finally paid off."
"Oh, come on, didn't I teach you a single thing?"
His 'woe is me' expression must not have worked because she giggled and patted his cheek lightly, "Thanks for the moral support, boss."
And suddenly she was shooting again, this time with unnecessary spins and "pew pew!" noises to go with. Loch couldn't help himself and joined in on the fun, neither of them halting the merriment until the poster was perforated and their noises were overcome with fits of laughter.
"As cute as you two are," came a muffled yell from the floor above, "some sleep would be nice."
"Goodnight, Gault!" Mako called, grin still plastered on her face from all the laughing before. The two had collapsed to the floor, their backs now pressed against the stony cold wall as they stared at what was left of the charred target board.
"He isn't wrong." Loch said aloud, waiting until the last of the smoke dissipated into the air before speaking again, his words almost tentative, "We are pretty cute together."
There was a pause before Mako replied. He hadn't quite summoned the courage to look her in the face yet, "We're a good team, Loch....nothing more. Not that there's anything wrong with being best friends on a team."
The words "friends" sent a pang to his gut. It was no secret that he'd had feelings for the witty cyborg damn near since the day they met. The only serious talk they'd ever had about their relationship was the night they stole the ship -- but Loch pushed the unpleasant memory from his thoughts.
When he finally turned to look at her his breath was swept away. She'd already been staring, those soulful dark pools glimmering in the dim light of the cargo hold, but that wasn't what caught his eye. It was the beads of sweat still glistening on her brow from their former exertion of energy. It was the two, no, three, strands of hair that'd found a way out of her updo in all that spinning and twisting and turning, now innocently framing her soft features.
One of his lekku twitched involuntarily, so he shook his head in a foolhardy attempt to try and camouflage the movement.
It took every fucking nerve in his body to resist the temptation to reach over and brush that hair behind her ear, "You're right. We're good friends and great teammates."
"Exactly." She flashed a smile that could put any sun in the galaxy to shame, "Now let's get some sleep before I pass out in the cargo hold."
The bounty hunter grinned at his companion, "Something wrong with my cargo bay?"
"No, nothing! Just about a dozen individuals frozen in carbonite ready to plague my dreams and turn them into terrifying nightmares."
They headed up the stairs, all smiles and banter, ruined targets and serious conversations forgotten.