Satellites

[Kaile Vera]

[member=[/SIZE]"Asmus Janes"]


There was a dull ache along Kaile’s hip where she struck the counter, only to have the pair shuffle along, ignoring the slight wobble of a small statue that barely managed to right itself.

Left, right left. Their legs slid in tune to one another, as surprising as that would be. The Lorrdian was acutely aware of every single motion and flex of Asmus’ body, and while they were both still struggling with direction, it had no ill effect in how they interacted with one another.

Although the stairs or that wobbling statue might say otherwise.

The rustle of Kaile shirt was a quick whisper. Within seconds the chill of the air kissed Kaile’s skin, her hair falling in messy, loose waves around her shoulders, the shirt sent sailing to flutter to the floor and join Asmus’ own a few feet away.

As soon as her shirt had been tugged off, Kaile’s hands immediately came to rest upon the pilot’s chest, palms flat and fingers spread wide. She deliciously sent her hands wandering up and over his chest, enjoying the quickening pound of his heartbeat, feeling it call to her own.

Their eyes met again, dilated, and he breathed her in and she did too, air flowing between them. He smelled like the wind that went pushing against those crashing waves; refreshing, comforting, peaceful. Like home. It had been so long since Kaile had felt like she was home.

Lips coupled once more and a few more steps managed to get them within range of the stairs. Asmus not only made her fall in love with him, but also made her want to fall in love with the idea of a man who could make her laugh, smile, and cry all at once. With the idea of him loving her for her brokenness, for her pained heart.

It was so different in the past. The only other person who could affect her so was Kurt. She first knew of love then. A different kind but love regardless. He made her care about him in the manner that the former bubbly agent realized that what she did truly could affect other people. That it could hurt them. Kill them, if she wasn’t careful. The betrayal in Kurt’s eyes at discovering what the agent truly did had struck a deep wound within the Lorrdian’s chest. The guilt, the pain, the [SIZE=10pt]hyper awareness of every possible risk had scored a festering wound before Asmus come into the picture. It had been fresh in her mind five years ago, and it only was reaffirmed when the pilot became more in those four days than anyone else in the ‘verse.

So it was hard, painful even, to try to verbalize all this to Asmus. The lies upon the lies. Every omission that threatened to mirror the exact expression of betrayal in Asmus’ eyes as Kurt’s had bored into hers.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus had hurt other people in the past. Careless acts that had disturbed existing relationships or caused chaos for his uncle. He had been young and naïve and often entirely unaware of the trouble left in his wake. Just as it had been to some extent with Lucy on the Subversion. The timing there had threatened to destabilise his attempts to win Kaile back. Being open and honest in consent had just been part of his life.

Asmus had never understood why he been told to accept some of the blame if someone had spent the night in his cabin at a dock and it had subsequently turned out that they had lied about their circumstances. Typically when an outraged partner had arrived.

He wasn't angry that she couldn't open up to him. It was just difficult for him to understand. But this truth, expressed in action was given and taken freely. When everything was reduced down to this simplicity it was easy to appreciate what it meant.

Her fingers brushing against him sent a little tremble under her touch. There was a step change as he touched her with increased fervour.

Asmus decided he was going to be possessive of Kaile. Damn it all he was jealous that she had been with Max, the loss of those five years they could have shared was fresh and raw. But above all, there was almost nothing he would not give up to be able to say that she was his.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Dependency on his touch dripped from every fiber of Kaile. The morning sun was rose behind them, lighting up the corridor with a light and truth they both craved. Illuminating the scattered constellations of freckles that revealed themselves upon the canvas sky of Kaile’s skin. His favorite stars.

Light. There was so much light. It reflected off the walls, glinted off his inky hair. Warm rays of the sun that refracted against the honey beige of Asmus’ skin and ignited the gold flecks in those jade green eyes. The urgency remained, but along with it was a growing deliberateness to the pilot’s touch.

He was beautiful in the sunlight. From the thick lashes that rimmed his eyes, to the near delicate planes and angles of his face. When he was younger one could certainly call him ‘pretty’. A bit too feminine for his looks. The years in the service and his time at the gym had polished some of those features, turning his body into a lean taunt frame. One that she wanted to kiss every single inch of and brand him for her own.

Stars, how I love him. It was so easy to think, harder still to even try and say aloud. He’s my ‘verse. Yet Kaile still wanted so much to overthink everything. She wanted to overthink how it wasn’t fair to Asmus. She wanted to overthink their chance reunion. She wanted to doubt that he could ever be something that was hers, but her heart told her head to shut up. Told her to just allow herself to feel, to live in this moment in [SIZE=10pt]time,[/SIZE] because all they had was the here and now, and in the blink of an eye, that could be taken away.

Eyes. Lips. Hands. Kiss. A gasp escaped her mouth, face flushing, head tilting back, the tips of his mop of hair tickling her temple. Nothing like the length of years past but still just as treasured. Another series of steps and they bumped against a wall. The threshold to his bedroom two meters the right. Then just a small corridor, past the refresher and his bedroom would be accessible. But not quite yet, each one sinking into the other against that wall, the morning light the only witness to their gravitational flux.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Their inexorable trail towards his room came to a halt. This was not a ship. They did not lie in a bed of shadows. They were not muffling their voices. They were not enclosed within oppressive walls and low ceilings of gunmetal grey.

The walls were glass, they were bathed in the warmth and light from a bright star and there was not a soul in sight. To asmus, it felt like freedom to express himself.

Asmus could remember how they had circled around each other those first days. They had both been afraid of a misunderstanding because of what physical affection had meant to them before.

But this was the purest form of expression and there could be no misunderstanding here. A language they both knew, just new phrases they had been writing together to share how they felt.

With words he could stumble over the right one, could mistake the inflexion in someone else's tone. There was a rhythm to this. A give and a take and the next response never formed in his mind. It just happened. This was a direct language he never wanted to share with another person.

You were right my Kaile, words can be such inadequate things.

Any fear that she had merely been trying to silence him had evaporated in the morning sun.

“Kaileann,” the breathless whisper escaped his lips. Every exchange played out with nothing held in reserve. If this was language they took tender care over each perfectly crafted verse.

Why couldn't life just be this? No complications, no secrets and no war. The palm of his hand brushed across her cheek lovingly. Asmus smiled warmly at her and bit on his lower lip. His heart seemed to swell for the woman before him.

It was satisfaction on so many levels at once. Watching the care with which she treated him made his heart feel as if it were going to spill over. Nothing held away, nothing shrouded in mystery or shadow. In the open, in broad daylight. This time they hadn't so much fallen together as deliberately collided. Not gravity, but a path deliberately mapped and followed in earnest.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

It was to Asmus’ benefit that the Lorrdian was able to read every single nuance and tremor that ran along the length of his body. One could say that it wasn’t fair for her to use her skills to such effect, but right now she didn’t care.

[SIZE=10pt]There had been affection in his eyes. In the caresses that still left that lingering warmth against her cheek from his touch. He smelled of a musk uniquely belonging to him, tasted like the ocean mist, and stars were he breathtaking with that flush rising over his skin. All of him and all his quirks and idiosyncrasies, everything that made Asmus from his little boy grin to the way the smoldering forest of his eyes promised the stars and rescue her from herself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]By now Kaile had left all doubt and worry and fears behind. It didn’t matter. A switch in mental gears had occurred when the Lorrdian had taken this step. It was the most arousing and erotic interchange. One that reminded Kaile that the act could be fun. That it could be exhilarating, and exciting, and so [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]satisfying[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]. It was all the more of a poignant realization when Kaile considered just how [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]much[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] she felt for the pilot. How her emotions were not irrefutably tied to Asmus’ desires, needs, dislikes, and satisfaction. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]In the past, before Kurt, before everything seemed to just turn into one mess by her own making, Kaile had enjoyed mutual pleasure in all venues. Sure, she’d be assigned a mission but that didn’t mean she had to live the life of a Jedi monk. No, she flirted, she smiled, she propositioned with sassy, bubbly overtones to her object of desire. If they had a great ass and if they were funny and cute, Kaile was all aboard on having a few hours of fun. The ‘verse was a small place and there was precious few moments of pure enjoyment and bliss. Why not do so willingly? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]That’s how Kaile met Kurt, with that mindset. She didn't plan on getting fired from her cover and having to spend time on Kurt’s ship while her mission was adjusted. Or ending up enjoying her time with the Tatooine pilot and learning more about him beyond the fact that he had a cute butt and a desire for speed. Kaile grew to care for Kurt, and realizing that she had placed him and his family in danger because of her job and then seeing how Kurt felt betrayed had struck her to the core. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Then came Asmus, the scoundrel with the little boy smile and kind eyes willing to buy her a drink and have a little mischievous fun getting out of quarantine. He had been so happy — and so [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]drunk[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]. But perfectly willing to spend all his time chatting while Kaile kept drinking. Maybe that’s why she went him him. Not just to forget but because he had reminded her of a time when she’d been the exact same way. Why he hadn’t taken what she’d offered that first night had always made her wonder; but then as the days passed, it had been Kaile who had been increasingly worried that she [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]would[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] take advantage of him. That she would use him and that she wouldn’t be able to help herself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Those four days had been the perfect storm of choices, sorrows, and guilt. And while Kaile could say that period of time had once been her worst, it had also been her best. Meeting Kurt had opened a path to making real connections. A path that had charted a chaotic course to discovering just what loving someone meant. What it [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]could[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] be. Meeting Asmus had been that final gateway to it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]This was nothing like what they a had done at the Quintessence or on the Subversion, having to muffle their voices and be careful with where they could be seen or heard. They couldn’t have done this on the low ceiling corridors of the ship; not with Amargard ready to write Asmus up at any provocation. Asmus was right, there wasn’t anyone else here for miles. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]Just him and me. [/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

A subtle change in the way she looked at him did not go unnoticed. She was enjoying this.

“Oh, Kaile.”

She was beautiful. It wasn't a single aspect of her he could focus on, so clear in the warm light. It wasn't just hips he found seductive even without the old fashioned Kaile wiggle. Not just the way she looked up at him with wide brown eyes. There was enjoyment in that gaze as well as a reflection of everything he felt in this moment. It was everything he saw but beyond skin deep. It was the connection between them and everything else he felt and perceived when he looked down upon her. All of it stunningly beautiful. They hadn't accidentally met. That couldn't be. They had been drawn back together. A warm flush and thin sheen of perspiration covered his chest, neck and cheeks. Between everything she did to him, the scene before his eyes and every emotion for her bubbling up Asmus’ mind was overwhelmed. If felt as if he was mentally spinning plates, but the sound they would make as they all came crashing down would be glorious.

Watching her carefully hammered home the realisation that she wasn't hiding from him any more. Emotional and physical satisfaction were two sides of a coin. No, he told himself, that could not be right. A coin could only land on one side: the two sides were mutually exclusive. These weren't. These bled into each other and the whole was so much more than the parts.

Overwhelmed. The word barely described what it was like as awareness of everything he felt free beyond what he could handle. Asmus had never really understood love. Yet he had come to recognise it within such a short space of time from meeting Kaile. Bittersweet to be lost so quickly, but now it was found and treasured once more.

“Please…” he whispered, but he couldn't finish the hundred requests that crossed his mind. Please stay, please love me back, please look at me again. Hands spoke for the last request with just a gentle brush against her cheek.

“K….” for the first time he couldn't even say her name. His shoulders struck the wall behind him and he needed that contact just to stay on his feet.

Asmus had every intention of speaking back in her language. Soon. Once breathing felt normal once more. That last slide of her tongue over enticing lips as she watched him with such satisfaction in her eyes was almost too much. Like the receding tide each wave fell smaller than the last.

For once he didn't even think about breaking the comfortable silence with words. Instead he tugged that bind in her hair free and tossed it away down the corridor. He took great pleasure in letting her hair cascade down her back before burying his fingers in there. It would be gone soon, he thought to himself.

Sometimes in these moments the mind could go to strange places. There were times when he had been struck by an odd sense of guilt, or a wave of melancholy. Occasionally surprise at just how far he'd let an act go. With colours spots all across the hangar bay floor and splashed across bare flesh. There was none of that now.

The feelings for Kaile blossomed to fill that void. Every inch of his body ached to be close to her, to never let her go. There, perhaps, was the slight negative twinge that crept in. That fear that she could leave again. It also crossed his mind, with some amusement, that they had utterly failed to reach his room.

Kaile was smiling. He could feel the shape of her lips, but it was also expressed somehow in her entire body language. Asmus wanted to see it. Hands gave a gentle caress and subtle direction that she followed. Language at a base level. No room for misunderstanding.

She looked content, happy. There was no fear in those wide brown eyes. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

In tandem they stepped away from that wall. Kissing, spinning and stepping in perfect time. A waltz not fit for any Eriadu ballroom. There, framed in angled light from a star he had once fled, was the altar upon which he would worship her. Both hands drew down the curve of her neck before a delicate touch became an insistent push. There was no need to rush. No one here. Neither of them hiding any part of themselves away from view.

No need to rush at all.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


There was almost a cliche slow motion to the act of sinking into that sea of blankets, the soft fabric cushioning her fall, her hair fanning over her shoulders, legs up and slightly bent while Asmus’ fingers tugged at that last piece of fabric that separated her from his sight. A contrast of senses. Yet that didn’t compare to the way Asmus’ eyes seemed to burn a low, smoldering fire as he watched her, peeling away her last layers as his Whiskey Girl lay in his bed. A fleeting half dream he’d only allowed himself on the times when he couldn’t help but think back.

Now Kaile was here. In his home. With him. With the way those brown eyes seemed to strip him bare as much as they reflected the light of the star overhead. In them he’d see desire, need, want, anticipation, love. Ever so elusive but right now shining bright enough to burn.

Elbows came up to prop herself up, Kaile’s curves swaying as she began to slowly scoot herself back until her shoulders found the pillows. Wide tawny eyes never left the gold flecked green that watched her every move, seeing her sink and settle comfortably, her dark hair fanning the white pillow and knees whispering a caress.

All the while, Kaile extended her left out to Asmus, reaching to pull him in. To draw him against her. Yet it was the excitement, arousal, and a giddy desire reflecting off the Lorrdian’s face that was the magnetic pull that would bring him to her. For in these precious moments Kaile could breathe. Could allow herself go. Could maybe, possibly, under that light of that Eriaduian star forget her fears to heal a little of herself.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Asmus gad imagined countless ways they would cross paths again. In none of them had she looked at him in fear before running away. She was here now.

This had never really felt like home. Not like his tiny cabin on the Quintessence. It didn't have his gruff uncle. A man perpetually tortured by his careless exploits and yet a man who changed his ways to care for his nephew. The cathar who had barely looked at him. The soldier who had watched those careless exploits with amusement. And the lost waitress who seen through it all in just four days.

This house had always felt too large and too empty. Cold even when the sun was bright. They were not here. He had filled it with voices and music, with drink and merriment. And it still hadn't felt like a home.

It did now. She was here. Really here. There was no hiding behind their work. There was no hiding at all as she lay spread before him. There had been fear behind her eyes, but she had found a way to open herself up to him.

He smiled. She smiled back through a sharp intake of breath. That simple exchange warmed him in a way the sun never could. An understanding that spread beyond their eyes meeting. There, hidden in the corner of that smile, was the Kaile he had been looking for. He wished she could see herself through his own eyes, feel the things he felt for her. But that wasn’t possible. He had to show her.

Asmus dared to imagine a world where she would always be here. Where he would never need to leave the light of this star again.

---

“Bugger, bugger, bugger,” he muttered to himself as he nearly lost his footing. He was taking the stairs two at a time as he tried to fasten his robe.

The doorbell rang again. Outside would be an impatient droid with an airspeeder full of food. He had ordered a delivery to restock a house that had been left alone except for an occasional clean for months.

They had not slept for long, but he hadn't been thinking about the delivery. In perhaps an hour they had woken up, Asmus finding her tucked in against his chest and wrapped in his arms. He held her protectively, possessively.

Stay, his body had spoken as desperately as he had pleaded back in his cabin in the Subversion. They had both slowly woken together. Once again they had not shared a word as they began to communicate at that more base level.

“Good afternoon sir,” said the droid as he flung open the door. Asmus wasn't sure if he was imagining the sarcasm.

“Sorry, afternoon nap?”

“I'm sure it was nice. I have four boxes here. Would you like them inside or just in the door?” The droid had a saucer shaped head and Asmus wasn't entirely sure where the sensors were to make eye contact.

“Would you mind dropping them just inside the door?” He asked. There was no one around for miles so he helped bring two in. The weight made him slightly regret his decision but he didn't know where Kaile was.

“Sign here please.”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

The rays of light from the early afternoon sun seemed to dance along the walls.

Lingering upon Asmus' bed, Kaile lay half wrapped in the smooth and tangled sheets of the king-sized bed. There, the scent of their bodies seemed to saturate her senses. Asmus was in her hair, upon the faint red marks where his scruff had rasped against her skin, in the delicious sore muscles of her limbs and everything in between.

Laying upon the lingering warmth of where Asmus had just left, the Lorrdian allowed herself to simply be. To be in the moment. No other thoughts raced through her mind, thoroughly subdued for the present time by Asmus' kisses and the score of marks his fingers had left. There had been no space for fear to linger. Not in the way they had given themselves to each other. Perhaps, in a way, Kaile believed she'd never truly ever have been able to.

Off in the distance, there was just the faintest murmur of conversation, the pilot's voice barely discernable through the exchange. Quietly, lazily, Kaile drew herself up, the silky white sheet sliding off the swell of her breast to flutter by her hip. Faint realization would come in varying degrees of what had occurred. What it meant, or could possibly still.

Biting her lower lip, chocolate brown eyes would drift over towards the corridor. The very same one where a haphazard waltz had them stumbling onto this very bed hours ago.

Lids fell, and Kaile took a deep breath. Her shoulders rose, pausing as she held it. After a moment a soft exhale went flowing from her lips. A hand came up, threading through the tousled half waves of her hair. Lengthy strands she knew she would have to cut soon.

Something had changed. Kaile could feel it as much as she felt her blood rushing through her veins. As air was required to breathe. Asmus had managed to crack her defenses and curl himself ever closer to her heart.

And the terrible thing was that she didn't regret it. Not one bit. Not a single part of it.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He smiled as he carried out the menial task of putting the shopping away. Bare fridge had plenty of room for the order. He had considered rushing back up the stairs once the droid had gone, finishing what they had started again. It didn't seem so important to do so. Besides, there was something important he wanted to get ready.

There was plenty to drink left around the house, but he had ordered a few beers for the fridge too. Meat was split between the freezer and the fridge. It was a routine he was quite used to now. He would always return to an empty house and have to restock it for the weeks he would spend here.

There had been so many questions and none of them seemed important any more. She was here and while she was here, she was his. Being thrown out of her room on the Subversion suddenly seemed like a lifetime ago.

He heard a flutter from behind and turned to see Kaile in one of his robes. That meant she had visited the walk in wardrobe. That wasn't going to go without comment, he was certain.

"Hey. Here!" he passed over the important thing he had been preparing. It was just a bowl full of fresh fruit. Strawberries and grapes and apples. Adjodos, native to Eriadu. They had a hard, unappealing brown skin but that hid sweet yellow flesh.

You could go a long time without fresh fruit on a ship.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

[SIZE=9pt]Kaile has just padded her way into the kitchen when she spotted Asmus. Her mind had already been racing at the sight of his closet; or more aptly, the second bedroom that had to be redone to be a closet. There were so many drawers, shelves, shoes tucked into vacuum sealed bags and under small lights. There had even been a series of thin drawers that held tiny bits and bobs like neck pins, cufflinks, and all manner of shinnies. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Her mind had already begun to calculate just how much it all would cost when Asmus pulled the rugs out from under her. Proverbially of course. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Wide, chocolate eyes immediately sank onto the bowl of offered fruit. Her nose had already caught the sweet scent of the berries. It would be a lie to say that her mouth didn’t immediately water. Fresh fruit. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Rare. Hard to find in space. And expensive. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“... you have strawberries?” A total weakness. The expression of awe that swept over the Lorrdian’s face likely made it worth it to Janes then. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Ever so carefully, Kaile curled her palms around the edges of the bowl. She was quite a picture under the light; mused hair a tousled mess around her face, the fringe of her bangs slightly askew, her right shoulder bare from where the robe had slid from its perch, hanging just off her upper arm and revealing the delicate clavicle beside it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]There were other familiar fruits; grapes and apples. She wasn’t sure what the small, shriveled brown things were but her attention was already on a fat, red berry. Much like years past, Kaile brought the strawberry to her lips and took a juicy bite. Her expression could very well rival the ecstasy from earlier, eyes giving a roll back in delight. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Feth, this is so good. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Well, if he wanted to distract her from his massive walk-in closet, he’d succeeded. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Granted, she still hadn’t seen the refresher yet. [/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

It was a particularly broad grin that crossed his face when she took a bite. In the corner of his eyes was just a hint of strain. The robe falling off one shoulder, her reaction, and the untimely interruption all combined to require some restraint on his part to keep the space between them.

Asmus turned away and opened the fridge. With his back turned he let out a small sigh. “There is plenty in here, so just put out whatever you fancy,” he said. The tall fridge had two drawers for fruit and vegetables that were now filled.

“Airspeeder deliveries are so useful when you live out of the way. There is a small shop in the village a few miles back from the coast if we really need anything.”

It occurred to him that he hasn't bought any feminine products but he was fairly sure there were some in one of the guest room refreshers.

With self control re-established, he turned back to face Kaile. Seeing her happy, content, and smiling was like pure effervescent joy bubbling up. He almost felt as if he would glow to see her like this.

“Don't know about you but I'm starving. Got some spiced meats we could try off with some peppers, with salad and cheese?”

What would he give up to just have a simple existence with her, he wondered. When he was young he had left everything behind to go chasing adventure. Right now, he would give up any chance of adventure just to be with her. She said it couldn't happen, but why not?

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

[SIZE=9pt]Kaile took a few more moments to enjoy another strawberry, never mind that a drop or two of the juice ran along the line of her lower lip. No, they were quickly lapped up with a flick of her pink tongue. At Asmus’ words, the Lorrdian’s eyes drew up and would follow as he meandered from one side of the kitchen to the next. The mention of food prompted a rumbling gurgle from her belly. A rather embarrassingly loud one. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Sorreh,” she added from behind the ridgeline of another red berry that hovered near her mouth. Standing there, with her messy hair and that white robe almost shed a few years from her expression. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Umm… that’s fine.” Kaile agreed. “I can help.” almost a scene cut out from years earlier. It was an odd scene, one barely edged in reality. A bowl of fruit wasn’t going to completely rid the agent of her earlier reservations or of the secrets she held close to her heart.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]But it was a reprieve. One they could work with for now. [/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]


“It's fine,” he chuckled. “I think my stomach has decided it's overdue lunch too.”

The food must have actually arrived late. Time had seemed to become a rather vague concept once he was lost with her. Utterly lost. All that mattered was the pull that could not be overcome. Falling together.

“I've put it away now of course…” he trailed off as he went back into the fridge. He took out some spiced sausage and vegetables to chop up and fry together, setting them down on the surface.

He turned to step around Kaile. The cupboard on the other side of her held the chopping boards. Instead however, he stopped.

The smile on his face was fond, rather than full of joy. A tentative hand reached out to her waist. It was almost as if he was checking that she was really there, that this wasn't just fantasy.

Leaning in, he kissed sweet lips, giving her almost no time to move the fruit out of the way.

There were so many things he wanted to say, but nothing came. He just leaned back. Now it was the little boy smile on his face. As if he had stolen something he knew he didn't deserve. He should have said anything, even if it was about food. Lips moved as if he was going to, but just silence.

But his eyes spoke volumes on their own.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


[SIZE=9pt]Kaile caught her breath. It was a quick stolen kiss, but it left her breathless. She’d hadn’t had the ability to even close her eyes, those chocolate orbs widening for a moment, staring into the gold-flecked jade that seemed to glow right back at her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]They always had a way of communicating that required no words. Often times it was uncanny how Asmus was able to do so easily. Under his warm gaze and with that little boy smile that threatened to steal her heart all over again, Kaile suddenly felt shy. A quick lick of a forefinger and she brought that same hand up to brush the stray strands of her bangs back. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Ah, right. I’ll need to cut it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Her eyes fell and she let them drift towards the rest of the kitchen. The large expanse of it along with the state of the art appliances would remind her again of the wealth that seemed to permeate the length of his home. Which also brought to mind his closet again. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]A finger rose, then gave a slight gesture towards the direction of his bedroom. Not in suggestion but as to say, [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]oh, right. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Why is your closet the size of a small apartment?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Kaile wished she could be exaggerating. But she wasn’t.[/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

His gaze followers he finger, wondering what she was about to change the subject too.

Oh. Yes.

Asmus could just be seen rocking his weight from foot to foot. His expression turned to one of embarrassment even if the smile did stay.

“Yes… I mean this place is definitely too big for me. But also I really like clothes. It wasn't the least sensible thing to spend my pay on. Wasn't anything else for it. The house, not the closet. I'm aware that might make me look a vain fool. As long as the market doesn't crash before it's paid off.”

If it had been anyone else the explanation would have gone no further than ‘i like clothes’. He deeply cared about what she thought of him and it was obvious. Asmus didn't mention that the clothes in the closet were very much not an investment.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Well, that was one thing that hadn't changed. Asmus' tendencies to flutter over a wardrobe choice and function. It made the corner of Kaile's mouth twitch upwards in mild amusement. The memory of their first mission together with extracting the General and how the Wraith had to struggle with not spending too many credits at the store.

"Taking advantage that you have more room here than in the Subversion?" another berry went into her mouth, the brunette holding the remainder between her thumb and forefinger, little red dribbles of Strawberry juice trickling down the latter.

"I can't imagine ever having that many clothes," she said honestly, although there was a time before when she'd happily window shopped at all the pretty lacy bits and bobs of airy dresses. She had done that with Kurt a while back, even tried a few dresses on only to put it right back because of the expense.

Taking a booth, Kaile sat down, her hair giving a slight sway against her bare shoulder as she did so. The light from the kitchen windows brightening the glow of her skin, illuminating the slightly reddened patches where his scruff had marked her for his own. That and among many other slightly red constellations were fingers had dug dip and held her close.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Even less room on there than I had on the Quintessence," he mused. He busied himself around the kitchen. Cupboard doors clacked as he retrieved everything he needed to make them a light lunch.

"You just expand to fit whatever space you're given I think. Like a hermit crab with a new shell. Imagine having to get rid of some to move somewhere smaller," he turned towards Kaile with an expression of mock disgust on his face.

He stayed facing her slightly longer than was necessary. Another scene before his eyes that was hard to believe. Between her shift in demeanour and the lighting it just made Kaile seem more...real. Less like she was only half there. As if she had stopped trying to conceal herself from his awareness.

He turned back to the counter. The sound of sizzling oil and his knife on a plastic chopping board started. A mix of spices meat went in a large, curved pan and he started to toss it. A quick and healthy lunch for a vain man who watched his carbs more than was necessary.

"Do you own a place at all?" He asked. "Or just on the move too much?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

It would be a lie to say that Kaile hadn't been distracted by the sight of Asmus standing there in his robe, lazily stirring the pan he held and the hunger twisting scent of grilling meat wafting up to touch her nose. His hair had flopped over his temples, dark forelocks that would tease just the tips of where his eyebrows reached. The desire to sweep them back rose within her, only to wane at the Wraith's inquiry.

Kaile paused, strawberry hovering in front of her lips.

There were several ways she could answer that. The safest, arguably, meant that she could simply say that she would travel whereever SIS needed her. That she didn't own a place at all, certainly nothing like this.

Had he asked if she had a home, well, that would have been an even more troubling question to answer? Yes and no, for the Messa was her home, but without Kurt, there was always a little part of it missing.

"No," she shook her head from side to side, granting him that. "Long-term missions do not allow for permanent placement." her expression also added that it just wasn't safe.

Shore leave came few and far in between for the agent, nothing like with Asmus.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Asmus paused with a plate in each hand after he had turned to face her. So much had changed in the years, but some things had not. The pilot was still quite young, with a military record that spoke more of how drastic the war had turned more than of his experience. He wasn't the most perceptive man. In fact he had an earned reputation for putting his foot in his mouth by failing to notice context. But he had always been more perceptive when it came to her.

She struck him as someone who shouldn't be as alone as she was. That smiling, bubbling personality that could shine through made him think of someone with an extended circle of friends. He felt that Kaile deserved to have people around her who knew her and loved her. He wished he could start to fill that void again, but he also didn't think that he could alone.

Asmus wanted to do normal things with her. Go for another walk, the theatre, a restaurant, have shared friends. They would all go out for drinks together. Their friends would be funny, but she would always laugh at his jokes the most.

The trickle of red down her lips distracted him from his thoughts and he crossed the space between them to take a seat.

"Here, try that," he said. Asmus wanted to stay in the bounds of normal. Not invite the act Kaile hid behind when he asked too many questions.