Page 108 of The Garnet Daughter
I squint at him, which earns me a little laugh in return.
We chat back and forth about nothing at all, slowly melting away the tension in my shoulders, and it strikes me suddenly that’s exactly what he intended. Being alone with him when we are not frantically trying to find our way back to the others or in immediate danger feels so good, like it used to when Ferren and 99 would sneak off and it was just the two of us. When I would let myself flirt with him a little, thinking it was one-sided and that he was just overly friendly. I know him so much better now. He is not the goofy man I thought he was. I adore that part of him, but also the complicated layers he only shares on occasion, as deeply.
A transmission chimes on the command station, jolting us both from the pleasant haze we have found ourselves in. He spins in his chair and scans the message that presents. “We have clearance to move the ship to the same bay as Ferren and 99’s.”
I cross to the station, curious how the message appears on the screen.
He glances up at me with a half smile. “It will be nice to see something other than inside of this hangar.”
“Hm, I agree. I wasn’t paying attention when you landed us here. Does it open from the top?”
He quickly types a return message, his fingers pressing so quickly, it’s as if he doesn’t want me to see the words. “No, that would be too easy. This bay is very old. The doors are ahead. We will have to skim the ground and turn before we can lift off.”
I lean forward, searching the screen for an answer to my suspicion, but his gentle grin distracts me. “When do I learn how to do that?”
“After many lessons. It is tricky.”
“Can we have one now then?”
“A lesson?” He smiles like I’ve baited him but he approves. “Well, first, we run through protocols.”
“The boring part.” I scoot in a little closer with no true intention of retaining his rundown of how the ship will be moved. I do want another lesson, but right now, I simply want to listen to him speak, among other things.
“Yes, the boring part and the most important.” His smile turns a little shy and it makes my stomach flip.
“From there, we would engage the engine, but controlled. We only want to drive across the surface. More of a steering than a liftoff. I’d use this.” He quickly points to a vertical bar with a black ball on top.
“This one?” I lean so far forward, my hip brushes against his side, and when I glance back, his eyes are not focusing on where I have my fingertips and instead are fixed on my backside. “August?”
“Yes, that one. Wait, which one did you point to? I . . . didn’t see.”
“This one?”
He nods.
“How would you reach it from there?” Even with his longer arms, it seems like a stretch to use and keep an entire ship steady. I hear a button click and then his palm is on my hip, steering me toward his lap.
“Sit,” he says.
The backs of my thighs press against his knees until bending is my only option, sitting comfortably on one of his strong legs as his chair glides forward. I can’t help but laugh at the slow slide towards the command station.
“Viathans have a solution for every inconvenience.” He huffs.
“I noticed.” I settle in, shuffling closer to his torso.
“See, perfectly in reach now. Clearance, flight protocols, engines engaged.”
“We can’t see anything.” I gesture at the opaque film on the windows.
“Those will be open,” he says flatly, then places a gently gripping hand on top of my thigh. “In the morning, when we move.”
“Morning? I thought we got clearance.”
“I sent a message back to reschedule.” His voice is lower, going from flirty and carefree to a core-clenching baritone. “We aren’t moving the ship tonight.”
I should have known what he was up to while hiding the screen from me.
“What about my flight lesson?” I tease and wiggle around to face him better.
