Work Text:
“Royce! Look what I found!”
Ava’s voice was strained with effort as she carried the two large gourds over to the doorway. Although they’d already been hollowed out, her arms were beginning to feel fatigued. Luckily, he’d heard her. The door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a rather unimpressed looking Royce.
“Ava…” He trailed off, searching for the right words. “What in the galaxy are…those?”
Well, she supposed she did look a little strange carrying the two large orange fruits under either arm.
“They’re pumpkins!” She grinned. “Did you know they grew these in the greenhouse?”
He probably did. Having command of the facility’s research division, he always seemed to know everything that went on in Tantiss. He stared at her for a moment, and she could see the gears turning in his head.
“Why have you…brought them up here?” He was doing his best to be polite, but she could tell he still had no idea what she was doing.
She sighed, realizing she’d gotten ahead of herself in her excitement. Taking a breath, she began to explain.
“Well, I used to carve one of these around this time every year on Batuu. I thought maybe you’d like to carve one with me.”
Slowly, she saw Royce’s face change, going from confused to touched.
“Sweetheart,” he smiled sadly, “I’m afraid I haven’t got the time today.”
Ava’s heart sank. She knew he was a busy man, but she’d hoped that maybe he would be able to make time for her.
“Oh, ok.” She smiled back, trying her best to hide her disappointment. “You’re right. I…I have a lot of work to do today too.”
Royce nodded, making his way to the door, but not before giving her a quick kiss.
“Maybe another time.”
Ava nodded back, collecting her own things and mentally preparing herself for another long day of work.
—
By the time the work day was over, Ava was practically running on autopilot. It had been a long, tedious day of entering every living specimen into the facility’s new database. The thing had been installed rotations ago, so why no one had updated the archives yet was beyond her. At least it was over now, and she could finally get some rest.
When the door hissed open, she almost laughed out loud.
Royce was seated at his desk, his eyes fixed on the pumpkin in front of him, scalpel in hand.
She hadn’t expected him to take to pumpkin carving so quickly, but he looked happy as he worked.
In fact, he looked like he was having a blast.
His brow was furrowed in concentration as he worked, and a small strand of his hair had fallen out of place and onto his forehead. He didn’t move to fix it, though, too deep in concentration to even notice her watching him, let alone care about his appearance.
“Stars, he’s adorable,” Ava thought to herself.
“What was that?”
Kriff. Had she said that out loud? He raised an eyebrow, clearly caught off guard at being called “adorable.” She was probably the first person to ever use that word to describe him. Brilliant, yes, intimidating, maybe, but…adorable?
“Never mind,” she shook her head, coming over to join him at the desk, “what are you carving?”
She placed her hands on his shoulders as she looked at his pumpkin, and he practically leaned into her touch like a friendly loth-cat.
Yep, definitely adorable.
The pumpkin had large, triangle shaped eyes and a big toothy grin. She couldn’t help smiling as she looked between the gourd and him.
“I like it.”
She could feel his face flushing slightly as she leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Why don’t we put it out by the door?”
Now it was Royce’s turn to smile, and she already knew the answer by the way his eyebrows raised once more.
“Why don’t we keep this one just between the two of us?” His tone was firm, but not unkind.
Oh, well. He did have a reputation to protect.