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I will murder Blevin for this, Dedra thought with a sour pout on her lips as she tried to mantain some dignity while she quickly ran across the platform to escape the heavy rain. Her right hand held her black hat to prevent it from being torn away by the strong cold wind and disappear somewhere in the approaching evening. When she took the first step from the ship and realised how heavily it was raining, Dedra immediately regretted not being prepared enough and leaving her umbrella home, but now when she was going against the wind it suddenly felt like the smaller evil. She would hardly want to amuse anyone who might be outside and watching her to desperate fight for the umbrella to save it from being ripped from her hands.
She quickly took the elevator and pressed the button to take her to the floor where her apartment was. Hers and Syril's, though Syril still attended more like a visitor. Even after more than a year they’ve been together in a relationship, Syril still treated the situation like something so fragile he could break it with one bad move. Even though Dedra allowed him to be here, to share the space with her, to see her without a mask and with her shields down, perhaps even see her being vulnerable.
Many knew Lieutenant Meero, so little knew Dedra.
She leaned her back on the cold steel wall behind her and sighed. Stars, she was tired, she didn’t want anything else but step under a warm shower and then sleep through the whole night - hopefully with Syril welcoming her at the door, taking her soaking wet coat from her and put it in the dryer before he would pull Dedra in his arms and kiss her. He didn’t know she would be returning tonight because the official date was set on two days from now and Dedra chose to not update it and inform him. The professional part of Dedra convinced herself it wasn’t necessary. Just another message taking more space in the internal storage that might risk leaking.
The other part of Dedra, however, secretly hoped to witness the moment Syril's blue eyes would lit up with excitement as he would realised she returned home and he would show perhaps too much enthusiasm about it. Dedra discovered that she enjoyed the enthusiasm because Syril expressed it for her only, and it felt surprisingly good to know she was the reason of his joy. That he wanted to worship her as the most precious thing he had.
And for that Dedra would suffer Blevin's stupid idea to take her back on Ferrix, just to not give him the satisfaction of denying it left a scar on her soul the last time she had been there. On Maarva Andor’s funeral. Anxiety and paranoia accompanied her for the whole time she spent on the planet, even though Dedra had the role of an audience more than an investigator. She wiped the confident smirk away from Blevin's face, but now she returned from the cursed cold planet with wet, rainy air that felt like trying to breathe through a used washcloth just to find out the weather wasn’t better on Coruscant.
Dedra returned irritated, frozen, uncomfortable from the feeling of her clothes sticking to her skin. She only wanted a shower, strong caf, her bed with harder mattress and, of course, Syril’s warm embrace. His fingers in her hair as he would happily brush Dedra’s wet platinum veil to make it dry quicker. His nails would brush over her back (on of Dedra’s weaknesses) and kissing her on her neck, right in the right height to be able to cover the marks with her uniform.
The apartment was dark and quiet. Not a trace of Syril anywhere. Dedra paced through all the rooms, however it seemed that he wasn’t here - which surely wasn’t concerning, but irritating for sure. Dedra’s lips twitched as she grimaced in anger. She had two awful months on Ferrix and now she couldn’t even enjoy her return back home?
She gritted her teeth so hard she could hear the enamel screeching. It wasn’t the fact that Syril wasn’t home, but the truth that none of what she planned worked. Dedra didn’t even want anything complicated and yet for some reason it seemed like the biggest problem to achieve it.
He for sure didn’t stay so late for work. There were hardly any delays in Syril’s workplace, especially because he refused to put in his work less but the maximum effort and be always exactly on time - or even before the due date. Going for a walk in such weather didn’t seem as an option either and it wouldn’t take him so long to buy groceries, not to mention that Dedra quickly checked and nothing important was missing. It seemed Syril actually did the shipping very recently.
After excluding all the previous possibilities, there was only one place left where she could most probably find him: his mother’s flat.
Dedra captured her displeased expressing in the mirror on the wall. The last thing she wanted was facing Eedy Karn. The most logical step would be to just stick to her previous plan and just wait for Syril to return. But Dedra couldn’t be sure if he would be going home today - it was getting late and he still had his old room in Eedy’s apartment, he could always stay for the night and in the morning head to his work from here. It wouldn’t be the first time.
She put her suitcase beside their bed and changed it for an umbrella - at least one thing could work for her.
_______________
The corridor leading to Eedy’s flat bathed in pitch black that was hardly lighted with buzzing lantern in the middle. Dedra almost forgot how much she disliked this. Syril’s astonishment for sun being always visible behind her windows was completely understandable.
But it wasn’t the darkness what made Dedra feel uneasy as much as what lurked in it. Perhaps she would be more open to the idea to meet local smugglers and drug dealers - once they saw the white uniform and her cold expression they were smart enough to not get in Dedra’s way.
She couldn’t say the same about Mrs. Karn.
Dedra took a deep breath before she pressed the doorbell accompanied with the muffled buzzing inside the apartment. She tugged on her coat to put on her best impression, although she learned the hard way that Eedy couldn’t be less impressed by Dedra’s career - which was ironic because she would sell her soul if it meant Syril could be as successful as Dedra, making a great name in the imperial hierarchy.
"Syril, did you forget your keys again?"
Eedy’s voice made her stomach knot. She sunk her shortly cut nails in the soft fabric of her gloves. Eedy’s loud, deep and screeching voice was coming closer. She wouldn’t even open the door without causing a scene about it loudly enough to make all neighbours hear it.
"And why are you coming back so soon? I specifically told you-"
The shock in the older woman’s dark eyes was quickly replaced with a sour grimace as she stared at Dedra’s figure standing in the door.
"Oh, it’s you."
The disappointment in her voice couldn’t be masked even if she tried. Dedra lifted her chin slightly.
"Good evening, Mrs. Karn."
Once again Dedra tried to spot any similarity in Eedy’s traits and see them in Syril, however there were none - especially in the way Eedy pursed her lips as she eyed Dedra up and down.
"I was informed you were on Ferrix," Eedy started and ignored Dedra’s courtesy completely. "You weren’t supposed to return today, were you?"
"My mission ended sooner," Dedra answered simply and moved her blue eyes from the short woman to look inside her flat as if she expected Syril to appear from behind a corner at any second. Eedy noticed it and huffed. "I see. But Syril isn’t home - yet. He is finally living a life and interacting with other people." The devilish grin on Eedy’s face couldn’t mean anything good. "He went to have dinner with a friend.”
A friend.
There had to be a reason why Eedy used the specific tone of a voice, a reason why she looked to pleased with herself. Maybe because she as well knew that Syril had colleagues and coworkers and people he met on regular basis, but none of them could be in the invisible box of friendship. And even if there was somebody with the tag of a friend, they obviously weren’t so close to Syril to include them in his life.
Dedra didn’t plan to let Eedy win this round. This evening was already a disaster for her and she wouldn’t give the older woman the satisfaction of breaking the character and be curious - or emotional. She just tugged on her black gloves to take them off.
"Alright. But he plans to return here, no? I can wait inside."
She invited herself inside the flat, not bothering to wait for agreement. Eedy made a suprised sound as if she wanted to say something but lost her own thread. She closed the door and shot an angry glance at Dedra.
"Did you adopt such rebellious attitude on Ferrix, Miss Meero?"
She had a point that Dedra didn’t show her best manners, but she learned a long ago they wouldn’t impress Eedy Karn anyways. Dedra tried, she really had tried to make Eedy like her and agree on her and their relationship, however Syril’s mother threw sticks under Dedra’s feet at any step, questioned her - and questioned Syril. He had been an easy target for her his whole life as he didn’t have anyone else (uncle Harlo counted as the worst option if they were being honest).
Dedra wasn’t good with people in general. Professional behaviour and manners, yes, but not deeper and more intimate interactions. Yet she somehow understood the importance of Syril’s mother approval on them and cared enough to at least try. Eedy didn’t appreciate it and Dedra wouldn’t humiliate herself by begging. She held her shields high. After all, Syril was the only being in a relationship with Dedra - if he could love her despite her natural coldness, she could stand the necessary evil of including Eedy Karn in her life as well.
Dedra sat beside the kitchen table, taking off her black cap. It protected her blonde hair from being completely soaked. She suppressed a tired yawn. The dead of the night was not even that close and she wished she could be in the bed and sleeping already.
But not without Syril.
_______
Minutes turned to an hour. One slowly passing hour Dedra spent convincing herself she didn’t make a mistake and didn’t hold on the wish to see him today just because her wounded pride and her desperate attempt to bend the universe’s plans to her will and make at least this one thing that kept her sane on Ferrix happening.
She moved from the kitchen inside Syril’s old room. She wanted to kill some time by observing and perhaps even analysing, however there was nothing to analyse. Especially not when Dedra knew very well what she would find here - order and neatness. Not even a single particle of dust could escape his keen eyes.
She just picked up one of his old toys. A little plastic stormtrooper with movable body parts. She tilted her head in a try to convince herself it sparked a sense of curiosity inside her, however her mind didn’t rewarded her with the feeling of thrill and sensation.
"Would you like some tea?"
Eedy’s shadow filled the space between the doorframes. Her short fingers with brightly pink polished nails hugged a cup with steaming liquid inside. "Do not bother," Dedra refused shortly. Eedy pressed her lips in a thin line. "If you plan to continue on haunting my own home, I would just like to say-"
Her words were cut by the sound of someone opening the door and Eedy immediately turned to look. Dedra felt her heart starting to pump blood faster.
"Mother, is everything alright? Who are you talking to? I heard-" Dedra walked slowly in the light from his old room, her presence causing Syril to stop in the middle of the sentence and stare at her wide eyed as if he wasn’t sure what he saw. "…voices." Dedra tilted her head to her shoulder. Syril stood on the place, processing the sudden and unexpected visitor. Eedy’s lips curled into a smirk. "I will leave you two alone," she announced as she took her cup with still steaming tea and slowly paced to her own bedroom.
Dedra still didn’t move an inch. Irritation started to spread through her whole body, feeling its epicentre in her chest and stomach where it mingled with the burning sense of anger. Wasn’t he glad to see her? Or even worse: was it guilt in his watery, teary eyes?
"I’m not a ghost; you don’t need to look at me as if you just saw one."
Those were hardly the first words Dedra wanted to say after two months of separation and loneliness. Yet she couldn’t say anything else, not when Syril looked at her in disbelief - but not happiness or at least enthusiasm.
One slow blink for snapping back to presence. A second one to realize she was not just the product of his imagination, but the real Dedra Meero from flesh, bones and blood.
His Dedra.
"I’m sorry, it’s just…"
Unexpected? Unannounced? Alien?
Unwelcoming?
Syril cleared his throat.
"I didn’t know you would be returning today."
Because she didn’t bother to inform him. Because she assumed there would be no abnormality in the nature of their lives, their careers and their relationship. That he would be waiting for her home.
Right where he belongs. Where they belong.
"The schedule had changed," Dedra informed him briefly. Her voice sounded raspy from the cold, moist Ferrix air and chilly temperatures that crawled under her skin and settled inside her bones, refusing to melt even in the warmth of Eedy Karn’s heated apartment. Her body felt cold and so was her mood.
But Syril didn’t let Dedra’s attitude push him away - not anymore. He made sure that his mother was deeply interested in talking to one of her old friends and gossip about some actress from their favourite holo-novela before he reached his hands to her. The warmth of Syril’s palms burned through her soaked coat.
"Dedra, I planned to pick you up on the day of your return," Syril said and brushed her arms with his thumb. "I would be in your apartment - our apartment," he quickly corrected himself as Dedra’s brows dropped. "But my mother asked me to do a favour for one of her friends - her daughter’s partner fell ill and she needed someone to go with her at some boring work meeting. You know, when they promise you a luxurious dinner while pretending you go well with your colleagues you can’t stand." He sighed. "If it makes you happy, it was very close to suffering and I escaped as soon as possible."
Syril’s attempt to joke was pushed aside by the unknown sting of something in Dedra’s stomach. The thought of Syril attending a social event as a partner of some other woman didn’t sound right to her. Dedra’s mind showed her a picture of Syril in his best suit with high collar, perfectly ironed tie, his chestnut curls tamed by a generous amount of gel, offering his arm to some strange woman to walk beside him, to touch him, to be in his company.
"Why did you agree?" Dedra didn’t even realise she put on her interrogation tone of a voice specially modified to make even the strongest minds to crack and tell her what she exactly wanted to hear. But perhaps it was the smaller evil - on Dedra’s tongue burned the question "Who was the woman?" she refused to ask.
However Syril obviously sensed Dedra’s jealousy (what a nasty word that had no place in her life - or at least shouldn’t have) because he once again shoot a glance at Eedy before he slowly blinked and squeezed Dedra’s arms.
"Vessa and I sometimes played as children. I haven’t seen her in decades - if my mother didn’t remind me, I wouldn’t even remember. It was just a courtesy because Vessa had a reservation for her partner who was supposed to go with her and she didn’t want to waste it. Her mother asked mine if I could go with her. And because you were supposed to be still away, I agreed - just because Vessa seemed desperate. That’s all."
Of course Syril volunteered to please his mother - Dedra knew them both well enough to sense that it was more of a sacrifice to silence Eedy than his good intention to help a childhood friend. She could even imagine the conversation an evening before: "Syril, what reason do you have to not go? To enjoy one evening somewhere else from the parody of household where Dedra keeps you on a leash? Your social life doesn’t gravitate around her - you should go outside and have some fun with other people!"
Dedra clenched her fists to push the annoying thoughts away. Maybe she was just overthinking it. Maybe she suspected something that was never real.
Maybe she just returned from a cursed piece of a planet surrounded with colleagues who had the incredible talent to settle every single cell in her body to irritation and rage, and clung onto the thought of a familiar environment and company of the only man who had the power to make her inner demons melt.
Syril moved his hands on Dedra’s face and cupped her cheeks in a warm embrace of his palms. He closed his eyes and lowered his head to lean his forehead on Dedra’s. Just this simple gesture was enough to make her sigh and feel her lips slightly turning in a smile. She mirrored Syril’s action and shut her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of their foreheads touching and Syril caressing Dedra’s cheeks with his fingers.
"We should go home. You deserve it."
Dedra pressed her hand on his chest. "Or we could stay here. Over the night. It’s quite late and I have no desire to go anywhere." She arched her left eyebrow waiting for approval she knew very well Syril would give her. Even though his eyes sparkled in the dim light of Eedy’s flat with doubt, he nodded.
"Oh… Alright , I mean… That’s an option as well," Syril smiled softly and Dedra didn’t waste more time waiting. She took Syril’s smoothly shaved cheeks in her small hands and pressed her lips on his in a first kiss after weeks - months - of being apart. Stars, he tasted as good as she remembered. Syril immediately responded. He pulled Dedra closer to him, his hands grabbing her waist and Dedra hummed in relief and arousal. Her tongue slipped inside Syril’s mouth and he immediately responded with the same passion.
Both of them ignored Eedy’s loud and irritated "Ahem!" from the other room. Dedra’s world shrank to the small kitchen where Syril lifted her in his arms without breaking the kiss. Dedra’s fingers dug in his soft hair, brushing them to force them in the adorable curls that made Syril look so damn good. Syril responded in a low growl and slid one of his hands that held her around her thighs on Dedra’s butt, squeezing her gently yet with undoubted possession.
Dedra’s voice sounded foggy and raspy when she ordered: "Take me to the bed. Now."
Before Syril could say anything else, Dedra’s still cold hands reached for his face and almost violently pulled him to kiss him again. Dedra’s lips crashed against his and successfully muffled the sound of surprise Syril let out. His shock disappeared after less than a few seconds. She almost purred as her tongue brushed over Syril’s teeth before it found its way inside his mouth.
To feel him. To claim him.
Syril shortly pulled back to take a breath. His hands moved from her waist to Dedra’s face, brushing over her cheeks with his warm touch. His thumbs were leaving invisible fingerprints tray all over her sharp cheekbones and Dedra was hardly immune to suppress the tingling feeling in her stomach.
"Did you really miss me that much, Dedra?" Syril looked at her with a smug, clearly pleased with himself and what effect he had on her. Dedra tugged on his perfectly straight collar. Her eyes narrowed, crinkling in the corners.
"Do you really think I would come through the rain, cold and your mother if I didn’t?"
She could waste their precious time by describing Syril the situation on Ferrix. How she felt about returning back to the place where she lost her control, dignity and almost her life as well, however Dedra decided to leave it up to his imagination if he wished to wonder about Dedra’s effectiveness while facing the ghosts of yesterdays. About all the restless nights when she tossed and turned in a bed that wasn’t hers with no company but the cold, moist air present all over Ferrix, wishing she would hear the sound of his steady breathing next to her. To have the luxury of falling asleep in his arms. When her mind traveled back in time to the moment in the dark closet where she trembled and shivered in Syril Karn’s embrace like a wounded animal, Dedra felt her heart clenching strangely.
She did, indeed, miss him that much.
"Take me to the bed, Syril," Dedra repeated again. This time Syril obeyed without more questions.
The door closed behind them. Dedra’s fingers attacked Syril’s clothes mercilessly (he was really wearing his best suit) on which Syril responded with the same hunger and wilderness. However he still maintained some humanity and made sure to be careful not only on Dedra’s uniform but to not hurt Dedra as well. He brushed over her naked back with his palm, his eyes sparkling with worry and gentleness.
"You’re freezing," Syril whispered and immediately pulled Dedra in a hug. Her shivering body pressed against Syril’s warm skin as he caressed her all over. "Mhhm," Dedra hummed softly as an answer. She wasn’t sure if she ever truly felt warmth in the two months she didn’t wasn’t sleeping in Syril’s arms.
Syril put Dedra carefully on the mattress under him. He kissed her forehead as he reached to the lamp on his nightstand, but Dedra caught his wrist, shaking her head.
"Leave the lights on."
After so long without him she wanted to see him. And she wanted him to see her. To forget about the other woman Syril spent the evening with. The mysterious Vessa might see Syril in his precisely tailored and well fitting suit and neatly combed hair, but it was Dedra whose name he would moan. He would be looking in her eyes, kissing her lips, tasting her body.
Even if there was no rivalry and no game to win, Dedra still enjoyed the price being hers only.
__________________
Syril was very much aware of the fact that he could wake up Dedra Meero and not end up dead. Not that he would want to wake her up - but even his light, almost butterfly like kissed on Dedra’s neck were enough to make her open her eyes. Syril didn’t say anything yet, he just enjoyed looking at her; admiring the sight of her as if she was a marble statue created by a talented pair of hands that put hours of their lives to put a certain sense of haunting, stern beauty in her.
His lips widened in a smile when he noticed her being awake.
"Good morning." Dedra rolled on her stomach to look in his face. She took his chin between her fingers and squeezed softly. "Good morning, Syril." For the first time in a while Dedra felt the urge to smile at him. Not sneer, not smirk, but smile.
Only he could break through her barricades without trying to tear them down with force. It might be enough to forget about yesterday’s evening and the whole thing about Syril spending his time with some other woman.
They moved from the bed to the kitchen - Syril in his pyjamas set, Dedra with nothing on but a Syril’s shirt she picked up from the chair where they left they clothes in a tangled pile of fabric. Her lips pressed to the edge of the mug with caf he prepared for her and took a generous sip. It surely didn’t have the rich taste of the expensive caf Dedra had in her apartment, however she didn’t complain, not when it had the same effect anyways. Eedy didn’t leave her bedroom yet - not that they would miss her company.
The calm silence was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Syril exchanged a confused glance with Dedra (or more like looked at her as if she had any explanation) and slowly stood up. His bowl of cereal remained untouched.
"I’ll be right back." He shortly excused himself and headed to the door. Dedra didn’t even blink, just nodded lightly. He moved slowly to grab his housecoat to cover his pyjamas although his wild, untamed curls were snitching on him that he just left the bed.
"Good morning Syril. I hope I didn’t wake you up."
Dedra didn’t see the person behind the door, however she could hear her. A young woman’s voice. Syril froze on place. His shoulders tightened and he sounded guilty once again.
"Vessa…"
A painful pinch right in Dedra’s heart. Her nostrils widened as she breathed out all the remained air from her lungs.
"I know it’s soon, but I’m on my way on the café I told you about yesterday and your mother called me you found my lost necklace - I hoped you could return it to me, my mum will kill me if I don’t return it."
Her sweet, high pitched voice was followed by short laughter, but Syril didn’t react. He just clenched his fist and it seeemed it cost him all his strength to not turn his head on Dedra.
"I-I’m sorry, but I didn’t find anything," Syril shook his head. Vessa shortly sighed, but she obviously didn’t loose her enthusiasm. "Eedy told me it was in your pocket - maybe someone else put it here when they saw us together? Actually, can I come inside and look? I’ll be quick, I promise." Syril blocked her way with his tall figure, clearly panicking. "I don’t think that’s a good idea-" "Why not?" Vessa obviously didn’t plan to give up so easily. Her thick eyelashes casted dark shadows under her eyes as she blinked almost innocently.
This was Dedra’s time to step into the game.
"Perhaps because Syril Karn’s partner returned yesterday from a mission and doesn’t wish to have her first morning back home interrupted," Dedra announced with calm, steady voice as if she didn’t stand in the hallway only with Syril’s shirt on, barefoot, her hair in a messy bun (because she didn’t bother to undo it last night) and didn’t stare at a gorgeous looking woman with long, pin straight platinum hair, blue eyes and sharp cheekbones.
If she didn’t count the obviously different fashion sense - because Vessa stood here in long, lilac sparkly dress and her hair were partly pinned up with an expensive looking hair clip that also served as a jewel, the rhinestones sparkling on light - Dedra couldn’t deny the fact she was very similar to her. The proportions of their faces, the same shape of the chin, the same deep, steel blue eyes and long, narrow neck…
The only proper word on Dedra’s mind was 'uncanny'.
And judging by the surprised expression on Vessa’s face, the unexpected visitor felt the same.
"Miss… Meero, I suppose?"
Oh, so she knew, Dedra though after she connected her hands behind her back and lifted her chin.
"Supervisor Meero," Dedra corrected her with the cold, calculated smile her colleagues knew as an omen of upcoming storm. "I would suggest you to not come inside without the owner’s permission unless you want me to step in and report it as a violent intrusion."
Syril’s eyes swung between both women like a pendulum and his other time too pale cheeks turned in too bright shade of pink. Dedra was aware of the absurdity of the situation - she basically threatened the woman in the door with well learned phrases of the law while she didn’t wear basically any clothes - nothing but Syril’s long shirt. However that seemed to be even more effective because Vessa couldn’t misinterpret why Dedra lacked proper clothing.
However the sense of victory couldn’t force away the sting in Dedra’s chest.
Vessa was indeed a very pretty woman. Tall and skinny, blessed with both - sharp facial features yet soft feminine curves. Her blue eyes were decorated with perfectly painted violet eyeliner and her pink lips could turn in a very lurking smile. Dedra had never cared about her appearance to the level of feeling jealous on other woman’s beauty - but now she felt the senseless fear in her stomach that she might not be enough for Syril’s taste. He surely appreciated beauty and fashion - one of his great passions.
It took her a long, deep breath to push the vain worries away.
And also Dedra finally realised who was the the one to blaim for organising such nexus event - this mysterious Vessa surely couldn’t be blamed for being such a mastermind of manipulation, she surely was a victim as well.
"But that wouldn’t be necessary," Dedra forced herself to look somehow empathetic. "I believe you happened to be a pawn in Mrs. Karn’s game. She doesn’t like me and I can see why she would want you to be the one she could be satisfied with as with a potential partner of her son - a perfect daughter in law." Dedra tilted her head. "Or maybe the truth is even worse - she targeted you only for your undoubtably familiar appearance and hoped you could replace me."
Dedra herself wasn’t sure how much of it was meant honestly and how much was the simple yet effective art of manipulation. Either way it forced Vessa to blink in confusion and stare at Dedra silently with her fingers fidgeting with her skirt.
Syril finally found his voice.
"Yeah, that’s unfortunately what my mother would do and I was too stupid to not realise when I agreed to go with you." His face clenched in a painful grimace, his eyes filled with regret and sorry. "I enjoyed the time with you, Vessa. I really did - it was good to see you after all the years. And you deserve so much more than our mothers’ game of pairing us as they wish."
Vessa seemed to process the information for a few seconds before she also took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She even found the strength to smile at them.
"I see. I have no intention to be a third wheel here. Syril, you were very kind to me and I appreciate that." She lowered her eyes to Dedra. "You found a good man, Supervisor Meero," Vessa reached her hand to Dedra. The short blonde didn’t hesitate to shake it. There was no rivalry or hostility between the two women - to Eedy Karn’s sour anger. Vessa smiled for the last time before she turned on her heels; the lost and miraculously found necklace obviously forgotten for good.
Syril closed the door and exhaled. She could see the presence of guilt in his eyes still. "Dedra, I-"
She silenced him with pressing her fingers over his lips. "You don’t have to explain anything. I’m not angry, I understand why did you go with her. She was right - you are a good man, Syril."
Syril sighed again. "I honestly felt sorry for her and-"
"You didn’t feel sorry for me," Dedra interrupted him again. "And I didn’t feel sorry for you. That’s why it works, Syril."
Dedra could never build a relationship out of pity. She and Syril had a rough, uneasy beginning, but after everything that had happened on Ferrix and in the few days after when she tried to process the traumatic events, Dedra didn’t give it a chance because she would feel she owed him something. She didn’t feel like she should pity his poor attempts. Deeds, not words - that was crucial for her. Dedra gave it a chance because she felt good in his presence.
Syril slid his hands on Dedra’s hips. He caressed the soft flesh under the fine silk of his shirt and smiled at her. For the first time without the shade of worry in his eyes.
"Thank you for handling it so well," Syril brushed Dedra’s waist with his thumbs. His eyes shortly wandered to the door to Eedy’s bedroom. She surely wasn’t sleeping - after all she was the one who lured Vessa here. However Eedy Karn lost this round and her plan to make Syril forget about his whole relationship with Dedra (by manipulating him into an interaction with woman physically similar to her) failed.
Perhaps the victory was just temporary, but for now Dedra could celebrate by spending the few days off in Syril’s company - preferably in the privacy of their apartment.
She placed her palms on his chest and tilted her head. A few strands of her blonde hair slid from her bun and Dedra bit her lower lip.
"I believe you were about to prepare a breakfast," Dedra purred and swung on her tiptoes to run her tongue over Syril’s lips. His hands once again found their way on Dedra’s butt and squeezed her slightly. "Mhhh, and what would you like?" Dedra smirked devilishly before she wrapped one leg around Syril’s waist as a reminder she truly had nothing on under the shirt.
"Guess."