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Sigma wasn’t exactly sure how they had gotten into this situation. One minute, they stop at some backwater planet to refuel, and the next thing he knows, they’re being chased by some guards because Pocket had stolen some valuable piece of rubbish. Again.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been running. They had gotten split up from Niveena, Krag, and Pocket a little bit ago by accident, and now he was just with Rick.
They had been making good pace, the guards still far enough away that it wasn’t a major issue. Sigma scolds himself for leaving his weapons on the ship; if he had a gun, this whole problem would’ve been solved by now.
“Captain, do you have any bright ideas?” Sigma asked, trying not to sound too out of breath for how long they’d been running.
“Not exactly a bright one, but I do have a plan,” Rick replied, turning his head quickly to see that the guards had fallen out of eyeline for a moment. Good. He swiftly grabbed Sigma’s hand and dragged them into the small alleyway.
Both paused, their breaths heavy as they pressed back against the alley wall, straining to hear the approaching footsteps of the guards.
“Sigma. Do you trust me?” Rick’s eyes locked with two of Sigma’s. The other two are still checking outside the alleyway.
“Captain?”
He placed a gloved hand on Sigma’s shoulder, “Do. you. trust. me?”
“I trust you to get us out of this situation, yes,” Sigma admitted. It was easy to trust Rick. His charisma and charm had gotten them out of many similar situations. It was something that Sigma admired about the human. Sigma wasn’t sure if his heart had been racing from all the running or from how close they were in proximity.
“I need to kiss you.” All of Sigma’s thoughts immediately evaporated as Rick spoke. He sounded serious, but that couldn’t possibly be correct.
“...what?”
Sigma’s ear twitched as he heard a shout from one of the guards. As he instinctively turned toward the noise, Rick quickly grabbed the sides of Sigma’s head and pulled him close.
Their lips touched softly at first, a little awkward at first, but they both relaxed into the kiss after a little while. Sigma could feel Rick’s arms wrap around his back. He wasn’t sure if the guards had passed them or not, frankly he wasn’t sure he cared at that moment. As long as Rick kept kissing him.
He moved his paws from his sides to hold Rick’s hair; it was softer than he thought it would be. But he had never kissed a human before. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling at all; however, it made his heart flutter in a way it hadn’t before.
This is stupid. Sigma thought to himself, he knew he wasn’t supposed to get his personal feelings involved. Especially not when they’re both criminals wanted by Vantacorp.
Sigma pulled back for a second, “Captain. Rick. We shouldn’t do this, what if–” his voice whispered.
“You’re absolutely right. However, we should do that again just to be sure that the guards won't come back,” Rick argued, looking at Sigma’s lips again.
Who was Sigma to deny his Captain?
The kiss felt a lot more certain this time. Less about hiding from the guards and more about the tension. Sigma was unsure of how long this had been going on for; the warmth and closeness of the moment distracted him. There wasn’t anything else he could possibly focus on except the man standing in front of him.
...Except for when a large hand grabbed his shoulder.
As they pulled back, Rick’s hat slightly askew and Sigma’s fur ruffled, both of them very flustered. He turned around, ready to throw hands, until he saw Krag’s large, rocky figure.
“Uh, guys, I think those guard fellows left a while back. What are you two doing here?” Krag asked, dumbfounded.
Rick Plann took a moment to adjust his hat and clear his throat. “Ah, Krag! Good to see that you lot escaped the guards as well. I had absolutely no doubt.” He smiled up at the Ashkarr.
“THE FUCK WERE YOU TWO DOING?!!??!” Pocket’s loud voice echoed in the empty alleyway. Sigma cringed in embarrassment, his fur doing well to hide his blush.
“Ah, well, uh, it’s an old human tradition! You see, often when being chased by guards, humans will put their mouths together to help hide from the danger! It is a formidable plan.” Rick explained with hand gestures as they began to walk back to their ship.
Sigma slowed a bit as Rick talked; he felt a bit stupid. Of course, it was a Rick Plann ploy, what else would it have been? It was a one-time thing, and they would never address it again. Rick needed Sigma for his intelligence, nothing more.
“You seem upset.”
The voice caught him off guard as he turned and saw Niveena looking at him.
“Ehh, it is nothing. Do not worry about it.” Sigma replied, trying to avoid the topic at hand.
“Do you wish to talk about it?” Niveena tried again.
Sigma rolled his eyes at her persistence. “No.”
“I bet our Captain wouldn’t mind helping you,” The Velunari spoke in a teasing voice, making Sigma perk up and glare at her.
The rest of the journey back to the ship was uneventful. As the crew piled in. Sigma was the last to get on board, as Rick stopped him.
“You know, uh. Sigma.” His voice started out shaky. Sigma already didn’t like where this was going.
“Captain. If you don’t ever want to talk about it, I understand–”
“Oh no no! I was actually suggesting that we attempt that again later.”
“...Excuse me?”
“You know, the kissing thing. We should do that again. Soon." Rick took his hat off, putting it in front of his face in a bit of embarrassment.
"But Captain, we're on the ship now, we don’t need to." Sigma felt his tail wagging like an idiot.
"Yes, yes, I know! But you know, for practice! Just in case we come into another scenario just like that one." Sigma’s eyes widened as Rick stumbled over his words.
There was a long pause before Sigma answered, “I…I think that's a great idea. Captain.” Sigma could see Rick Plann sigh in relief slightly as he gestured to Sigma to get onto the ship with him.
“Ah, wonderful! We can discuss when we should–”
“Would you two lovebirds get on the ship so that we can leave?” SASS-E’s voice broke them both out of their illusion.
“Yes, yes, we’re coming,” Rick responded, scowling slightly at the ship's intercom for ruining their moment. He interlocked hands with Sigma as they walked to the bridge of the ship.
Sigma didn’t say anything as he listened to Rick ramble on about how rude SASS-E was being. All he could focus on was his hand in Rick’s and the warmth in his chest.