Work Text:
Mira Tovaan is 12 steps from freedom when Senator Riyo Chuchi walks around the corner and nearly collides with her.
Riyo stops.
Mira stops.
Riyo looks at Mira's coat.
Then at the small evening bag Mira is carrying instead of her usual Defense Office case.
Then at Mira's face.
Her eyebrows rise.
“Oh.”
Mira immediately dislikes that particular oh.
“What?”
“You have your date tonight.”
Mira's antennae twitch.
She should have kept walking.
“Yes.”
“With Lieutenant Cinder?”
“Yes.”
The same Lieutenant Cinder who, earlier in the month, had somehow gone from being mistakenly classified as tribunal evidence to offering Mira a ration biscuit as attempted courtship, then accepting an actual dinner invitation after several days of increasingly obvious mutual interest.
Riyo smiles.
Not smugly. That would actually be easier.
She looks delighted.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“Mira.”
“I'm considering fleeing the planet.”
“Better.”
Mira glances back toward the Defense Office.
“I have spent the last 40 minutes receiving advice.”
Riyo's smile disappears.
“From who?”
“Everyone.”
“Oh, no.”
“Exactly.”
Mira had made one critical error.
She mentioned the date where Thorn could hear her.
Thorn immediately advised her to “establish dominance early.”
Mira had asked what that meant. Thorn didn't know. He'd suggested ordering the most expensive thing on the menu and maintaining prolonged eye contact while eating it.
Then Hound joined the conversation and said the important thing was determining whether Cinder was “good under pressure.”
Mira pointed out that Cinder survived the Kiros campaign.
Hound said that wasn't the kind of pressure he meant.
He refused to explain further.
Thire offered to review the legal implications of dating someone employed within the Defense Office chain of authority.
That had turned into a 23 minute lecture about conflict-of-interest rules.
Stone had advised her to identify all exits when entering the restaurant.
“That one is just generally good advice,” Riyo admits.
Mira points at her.
“Don't encourage them.”
“Sorry.”
“Ghost ran a background check.”
Riyo stops smiling entirely.
“She what?”
“Without asking.”
“How extensive?”
Mira takes out her datapad.
“Educational history. Military record. disciplinary record. Financial history. Medical flags. Known associates. Former romantic partners.”
Riyo's eyes widen.
“She found former romantic partners?”
“There aren't any.”
“That seems statistically convenient.”
“Ghost wrote no identified prior attachments and underlined it twice.”
Riyo presses two fingers to the bridge of her nose.
Mira continues.
“She also confirmed that Cinder does not gamble, has no unexplained financial transfers, has never joined an extremist organization, and once received a disciplinary warning for placing a live nuna in a sergeant's locker.”
Riyo lowers her hand.
“Why?”
“The sergeant said clones couldn't improvise.”
A pause.
“I like him.”
“So does Ghost, apparently. She rated him ‘low threat.’”
“That is practically a blessing.”
“Then Fox got involved.”
Riyo visibly winces.
“Define involved.”
“He requested the restaurant address.”
“Of course he did.”
“Then the reservation time.”
“Of course.”
“The route.”
“Yes.”
“The table location.”
Riyo closes her eyes.
“And?”
Mira's antennae flatten.
“He asked whether the restaurant's rear service exit has biometric locks.”
Riyo makes a very small sound.
“Fox.”
“He said he wasn't interfering.”
“He thinks that means something different from everyone else.”
“He also gave me an emergency extraction frequency.”
Riyo looks at Mira.
Mira looks back.
“Why?”
“In case the date becomes hostile.”
Riyo stares.
“I asked him what scenario he envisioned.”
“What did he say?”
“‘Insufficient data.’”
Riyo bites her lip.
Mira knows exactly what she is doing.
“Don't laugh.”
“I'm not.”
“You're about to.”
“I am exercising restraint.”
“Your husband tried to operationalize dinner.”
“He does that.”
“He asked whether Cinder drinks.”
“Does he?”
“I don't know.”
“Good.”
Mira narrows her eyes.
Riyo laughs.
There it is.
Mira sighs.
“Then Thorn told me not to discuss work.”
“That is actually reasonable.”
“He followed it by suggesting I discuss weapons instead.”
Riyo's face goes blank.
“Stop taking advice from Thorn.”
“I stopped taking advice from Thorn before he finished the first sentence.”
“Excellent.”
They begin walking toward the lifts.
Riyo studies her.
Mira becomes increasingly aware that Riyo is still looking.
“What?”
“You look nice.”
Mira immediately tenses.
Riyo notices.
“Was that also covered?”
“Stone said the dress made me look less threatening.”
Riyo looks down at Mira's outfit.
It is simple by Senate standards. Dark, fitted, nothing ceremonial, with a high collar and clean lines that make her antennae stand out rather than disappear into elaborate styling.
“Stone is wrong.”
Mira exhales.
“Thank you.”
“You still look threatening.”
“Much better.”
“But pretty.”
Mira glances sideways.
Riyo smiles.
There is no teasing in it.
That somehow makes the compliment worse.
“Thank you.”
The lift arrives.
They step inside.
Riyo presses the lobby level.
For several seconds, neither speaks.
Then Riyo asks, “Do you actually want advice?”
Mira looks at her.
“Yes.”
“Good. Ignore everything the Guardsmen told you.”
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
“Stone's exits?”
“You can keep the exits.”
Mira nods solemnly.
“Fine.”
Riyo leans against the lift wall.
“You already like him.”
“Yes.”
“He likes you.”
Mira's antennae twitch.
“That seems probable.”
“He accepted the date.”
“Yes.”
“And you've already spent time together without either of you spontaneously combusting.”
“That is a low standard.”
“You work in politics. Your standards should be realistic.”
Mira laughs.
Riyo smiles.
“Don't treat it like an interview. Don't try to decide tonight whether he's compatible with your career, whether the Defense Office makes it complicated, whether the war ending changes his posting, or whether you're theoretically capable of maintaining a long-term relationship with a clone lieutenant from the 327th.”
Mira slowly turns toward her.
“I hadn't considered all of those.”
Riyo gives her a look.
“Liar.”
“Fine.”
“Mira.”
“Most.”
“That is exactly the problem.”
The lift continues downward.
Riyo's voice softens.
“Just have dinner with him.”
Mira looks at the floor indicator.
“That sounds suspiciously simple.”
“It is.”
“What do we discuss?”
“Whatever you want.”
“What if there's an awkward silence?”
“Then there's an awkward silence.”
“What if he realizes I'm terrible at this?”
“He's a clone officer who tried to court you with a ration biscuit.”
Mira considers this.
“That's fair.”
“He is also terrible at this.”
Another fair point.
Riyo folds her arms.
“You don't need to perform competence at him.”
Mira's antennae tilt back.
Riyo continues before she can object.
“You do that constantly.”
“I am competent.”
“I know.”
“Then I'm not performing.”
“You are when you're nervous.”
Mira opens her mouth.
Riyo raises one eyebrow.
Mira closes it.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
“You don't have to be Speaker Tovaan tonight,” Riyo says. “You don't have to represent the Defense Office. You don't have to fix anything. You don't have to know the correct legal procedure if dessert goes badly.”
“What if dessert violates procurement law?”
“Then Fox can handle it tomorrow.”
“That may be the most romantic sentence anyone has ever said to me.”
Riyo grins.
The lift reaches the lobby.
The doors open.
Mira steps out...and immediately stops.
Fox is there, of course, with Veya in a carrier against his chest. Thorn stands beside him, Thire beside Thorn, Stone pretending to read 20 meters away, Hound with Grizzer nearby.
Ghost is not visible, which means she is absolutely present.
Mira stares.
Riyo stares.
Fox’s eyes lock on Mira. So does Veya’s.
“Your transport is waiting,” Fox says.
Riyo immediately adds, “Do not listen to a single additional word.”
Thorn raises a finger. “One final recommendation—”
“No,” Mira and Riyo say together.
Fox steps forward. “Check in by 2200.”
“No,” Mira says flatly.
Riyo cuts in before it escalates. “Stop.”
Fox looks at Veya. Veya looks back, unimpressed.
A pause.
Fox exhales. “No check-in.”
“Thank you,” Mira says.
“Unless needed,” he adds.
“Fox.”
He stops.
Riyo points. “Go away.”
The entire Defense Office disperses instantly.
Fox lingers just long enough to say, “Cinder’s record is satisfactory.”
Riyo physically turns him toward the lift. “Stop helping.”
They leave.
Mira is finally alone in the lobby.
It feels like silence for the first time all evening.
She walks outside.
Cinder is already waiting in dress greys.
He looks up as she approaches, straightens slightly, and smiles. For real this time, warm at the eyes.
Mira forgets most of the advice she was given.
“Speaker.”
“Lieutenant.”
He studies her, ears turning faintly red. “You look… very nice.”
“Very nice?”
“I had a better sentence,” he admits. “It was lost in combat.”
Mira laughs.
Cinder relaxes.
“I was told not to discuss work,” he says.
“Same,” Mira replies.
“Was Thorn one of them?”
“Yes.”
“Then we should probably ignore that advice out of principle.”
Mira smiles.
Cinder offers his arm.
“Is this protocol?”
“No.”
“Strategic positioning?”
His eyes widen slightly. “How do you—”
Mira takes his arm. “Long story.”
They start walking.
Mira glances back once.
A curtain shifts in a high window.
She narrows her eyes.
“Ghost.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She keeps walking.
Cinder wisely does not ask.
For once, Mira decides, nobody needs investigating.
They can just have dinner.