Retreat

[Iestyn Nova]

[member="Iestyn Nova"]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“A month would be good,” Veronika agreed. Another small gust of wind passed over them, lifiting strands of her hair. She gently tucked them behind the shell of her ear, finishing up her own plate while she mulled over his suggestion. [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]A[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]c[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]y[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]a[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]n[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]g[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]l[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]o[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]w[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]r[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]i[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]p[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]p[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]l[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]d[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]o[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]v[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]r[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]t[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]h[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]m[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]o[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]t[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]t[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]l[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]d[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]s[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]p[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]o[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]t[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]s[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]a[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]n[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]d[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]p[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]a[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]l[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]b[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]l[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]u[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]s[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]t[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]r[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]i[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]p[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]s[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]a[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]g[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]a[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]i[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]n[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]s[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]t[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]h[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]r[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]s[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]i[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]l[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]v[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]e[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]r[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]s[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]k[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]i[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]n[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px].[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] [/SIZE]

“As long as you promise not to sneak off to review the proposal draft every few hours.” Iesytn had a tendency of scouring over the crew’s work, finding something he wasn’t pleased with, and instead of having Quam fix it, he would do it himself.

“However, enough about work.” she added, taking the lead. “We had enough of that already.” Instead, Veronika wanted to spend the rest of the evening with her mate.
Work could return at another time.

Iestyn had the awareness to at least look a touch embarrassed. “Sorry,” he replied genuinely. “No more work chat.” It was easy to slip into and had been his retreat when everything had seemed so difficult after Togoria. Just because they worked together it didn’t mean he had to keep returning to the subject instead of focussing on them. Ellis could be in charge, he decided, and filter up question as necessary. He decided not to voice this.

“We need to go and see your flower,” he said softly. His eyes swung over the water next to the festival. The sun was flirting with the horizon now with leant a particular sharpness to everything that wasn’t present in the flat, midday light. He imagined that the contrast made Vero’s plumage even more radiant. Catching himself starring with a flash of embarrassment, he stood up from the table and offered his hand.

 

[Veronika Nova]

There were times where Veronika couldn't help but smile at her mate's flustered moments. It wasn't just in the way he spoke, but in the manner that his plumage would shift and flow through colors. A typically reserved individual, he rarely ever displayed his emotional state outside of a conference.

Well...humor danced over her skin in wry remembrance.. Unless it involved discourse over her work. Doctor Villiam had indeed given quite the vivid show then.

She took his hand, slipping her slender fingers against Iestyn's own. Plucking her empty plate, they worked in conjunction to collect the rest of their trash.

"You are...what is it that humans call it," she began with a coy display of ocher of her stripes. She sensed Iestyn's slight tinge of embarrassment, but that had nothing to do with the reminder about keeping work out of their discourse.

"Blushing." her head gave a slight tilt to the right, studying her mate's colorful visage.

"What are you thinking?"

[member="Iestyn Nova"]

 

[Iestyn Nova]

[member="Veronika Nova"]

"Blushing? Funny how the only way they can change colour is by opening capillaries in their skin when they're embarrassed. Or angry. Or drunk apparently."

Iestyn took her hand but only for a moment. After stalling with his musings he decided to avoid her discerning gaze by slipping his hand around her waist and leaning his head on her shoulder. There was no use trying to control his plumage. They might have fallen some way off synchronisation recently, but she would still be acutely aware of his emotional state whether she could see him or not. Even as he kept his base colour steady his stripes swung from embarrassment to concern to affectionate and back to contemplation. Such changes would be subtle to a human's eyes but not to a Lovalla's.

"I caught myself starring at you and wondering how lucky I was," he admitted after a few seconds of silence. "We spend so much time together, but sometimes we don't spend enough time on each other. If that makes sense."

A human that knew them would probably find this a little odd. They spent most seconds together and lavished attention on each other. But theirs was a different world.

 

[Veronika Nova]

[member="Iestyn Nova"]

Now it was Veronika’s turn to preen under his compliment. Her stripes radiated against the sudden rosy backdrop in a rippling hue of

It was no lie that the Lovalla found pleasure under his regard, and his compliment set her aglow. Much like in the past, Veronika admired Iesytn for his academic prowess and his attention to detail. The passion that he conveyed within each of his journals had woo’d her even before they met. Granted, their first introduction could have been more pleasant than vexing; as would the next three years before Iesytn had broken traditions and asked her out to dinner.

Those had been some rather turbulent years between the two.
“We could start setting up a schedule to spend time together during the week.” she suggested. There were… weekends was it? Time off during the week that most humanoids took for themselves. Both Veronika and her mate were rather workaholics, but in the sense that they had such a passion and joy for their job, that it didn’t seem to be an issue to work day after day. Their only days off were those they selected for holiday.

Perhaps they could do more?

“Give Ellis more responsibility?”

 

[Iestyn Nova]

[member="Veronika Nova"]

"Ellis would certainly go for that, though I thought we weren't talking work," he replied, his twitching with amusement.

His stripes shifted a shade or two towards amber as he thought on the proposal. He looked up at Vera as they walked back down towards the famous flower bud.

"I suppose when we're in the field we could take a day to just...explore. No cataloguing, we just go somewhere and look around. As long as it's safe. We've got so much leave accrued we could take some longer breaks when the team is back and doing analysis."

 

[Veronika Nova]

@Iesytn Nova

That immediately brought forth a ripple of pleasure through their bond from Veronika. Iestyn did not have to notice the white glow of her stripes to understand that she was quite taken by that proposal.
“I would like that.” she confirmed, her expression brightening at the thought. Iestyn was always concerned about safety, but if they only went out and explored the set area after the probes had secured a perimeter, then that would be fine.

The thought of simply exploring without having to catalogue was exciting for the Lovalla. There was no finer suggestion her mate could have presented to brighten her mood as it did then. That joy then manifested in the increased amount of Veronika’s touching, her hand coming up to rub his arm, the increased press of her side against his. Their walk slowed, and she would turn to him to wrap her arms around his waist.

He had been right. They needed to spend more time on each other. That might seem rather ridiculous considering the heavy amount of personal displays of affection they already made, but the strain from the last Red Day and the loss of the Togarian laboratory had struck Veronika hard.

“I like this.” she murmured, leaning down a bit to nuzzle his cheek against her own, her skin increasing her colors in their vibrancy as the seconds ticked by.

 

[Iestyn Nova]

[member="Veronika Nova"]

Both turned bright together. Vibrant ripples of colour seeming to flow back and forth between them. Several pairs of eyes diverted from the flower bud to the pair of love birds.

"Perhaps..." he whispered right into her ear. "...perhaps we don't take enough time to seperate work life and us. Maybe that's why when both took a knock from Togoria we struggled so much. I let you struggle alone too much."

Just because the Lovalla were not sexual creatures outside of a few days a year, did not prevent them from being affectionate creatures. Quite the opposite in fact and they had little to no consideration for their surroundings.

Nuzzling down the side of their cheeks, he tilted his head up until their lips met. A few seconds later and he broke away, taking a deep breath. He placed his forehead against hers, his view taken up by eyes that had turned a brilliant shade of violet.

"You'll miss the flowering," he murmured.

 

[Veronika Nova]

[member="Iestyn Nova"]

There was a flurry of murmurs around the Lovalla pair at the sight of them. Enough to pull more attention from the flower over to the rather colorful couple.

Veronika, however, didn't pay them any mind. Not now. Her lids fell shut, and she sank into the deep sea of that empathic bond that she and Iestyn shared. Rubbing her forehead against his, she merely smiled. Her slender hands swept up over his back and held him close to her. Close enough to feel the rise and fall of his chest with every breath he took along with the steady thrum of his heartbeat under her fingers.

<< And another will take its place in twenty years. >> Veronika replied in their native tongue, indicating that this moment was far more precious to her. They were, after all, a long-lived and patient species.

Taking one's time was never an issue for a Lovalla. In life, in finding a mate, in raising a kyckling.

It was well worth the wait.