Chapter Text
“Whatcha got there, Miles?”
He jumped a little, turning on his heel and hiding his hands behind his back. “Reks, when the hell did you get so damn sneaky?”
“Somewhere in the sixteen years you were gone. What's behind your back?”
“Nothing,” he muttered.
“Yeah, bullshit,” Rzeka scowled, marching over to him. “I didn't sanction any contraband, so if you got a knife back there or anything I'm gonna-”
She grabbed his arm and pulled it out in front of him, revealing the makeshift bouquet he'd spent his long, boring morning putting together.
“Oh…”
“So what, baby? You gonna beat me up now?” he challenged her.
“Miles, why?”
“Jesus, it really has been sixteen years since you had somebody around. You checked a calendar in the last few days?”
“I don’t get what that has to . . . wait.” The look of realisation crossing her face was a sight he wouldn’t soon let go of.
Half annoyed, half amused, he held the weird looking bundle of flowers up to her and said, “Happy Valentine’s, Reks. I’d get you chocolate too, but I’m kinda lacking in cocoa beans up here on this shitty island.”
Rzeka chuckled and took the flowers, bringing them up to her nose and taking a long, deep breath. “And here I thought you wanted away.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t get ahead of yourself,” he muttered, his cheeks warming a little. “I still plan on-”
She leaned in and pecked him on the right cheek. “Thanks, Miles.”
That cheek burned, and what a beautiful burn it was. But he hadn’t missed sixteen Valentine's Days just to be met with a peck on the cheek. He reached slowly out and cupped Rzeka’s cheek with his right hand, and she leaned into it.
Taking the sign for what it was, he crossed the distance and met her with a kiss, soft and delightful, just as they had been both mere moments and an eternity ago.
“If you wanted,” she murmured, “we could go for a fly, together?”
Miles could only look at her suspiciously.
“A nice one,” she promised, “we’ll glide on the wind, bask in the evening sun, find somewhere quiet to just be . . . like we used to.”
“That was a long time ago, Reks. We’re still on different sides of this.”
She gave him an imploring look. “Come on, surely you can let that go for just one evening? Or did that kiss mean nothing?”
It meant everything, he thought, sighing in defeat. “Tonight, then?”
Rzeka flashed him a grin. “I’ll see you at eclipse.”