Page 40 of Every Almost

But, at last, he was finallyhere. It didn't take any convincing or recruiting to get permission to bring him on board the Emberkind for its new purpose. Jere had been a part of this redesign since that first comm call when Elena's voice had come crackling across such a vast distance, saying "I figured it out" and he'd immediately responded with "Tell me everything." Reyna recalled how the three of them had talked until Reyna had to cut in to inform them both that they'd been on comms for four hours.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" Jere said as he stepped off the transport and walked up to Elena. The grin on his face was everything. Suddenly, it was painfully obvious how long it had been since they'd stood in the same room together, let alone the same ship. Suddenly, the time spent walking corridors without one another, having meals at tables where chairs werealways missing, or just the feeling of missing someone so much. Reyna recalled how almost every comm call ended with dead air, adding to the feeling and reminding her just how far apart they'd been.

"You look like a smuggler who completely forgot to eat," Elena said, smirking at Jere as he stood there before her. But before a moment could go by for Jere to look down at himself and offer a defensive comeback, Elena rushed him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him and holding him close. Jere's retort died on his lips as he hugged Elena back tightly. Before long, they separated, but Elena kept her hands on Jere's shoulders.

"Get on the ship, Jere," Elena said, her smirk still there as she patted his shoulder.

He walked away from Elena and her embrace, stepping through the airlock. His eyes locked on Reyna, but he stayed where he was. He didn't rush and instead looked at her with his loving, patient warmth he'd been directing at her since that first night at a mess hall table, as if he had all the time in the universe for her, and would happily spend it waiting for her to decide when she was ready.

"Rey," he said gently.

"Jere," she returned, hearing the emotion pouring out of her voice. She was trying so hard to hold it in.

A beat passed, then two. Reyna kept her arms crossed to try and hold in her emotions, her jaw set and her markings stayed gold and steady.I'm the Operations Officer of the CMS Emberkind, dammit. I do not sprint across docking bays or cry in front of the entire crew, or do anything of the sort that could be described as emotional in a professional?—

She uncrossed her arms, ran forward, and wrapped herself around Jere so completely that his pack slid off his shoulder and hit the deck.

"There's my girl," Jere whispered into her hair.

"You're late," she said into his chest.

He laughed softly. "But I'm here," he said. And he held on to her so tight, Reyna had a fleeting moment of believing there was nothing wrong in the entire universe.

She allowed herself to be enveloped in his embrace. Everything about him was still there, all the same. This was still the same person who, two minutes into knowing her, believed wholeheartedly that she was worth sitting next to, not to mention changed her life from that moment on. The man still smelled slightly of whatever research station he'd been living on. But he made her feel like the ground had just stabilized beneath her feet for the first time in months. Elena and Jere and Reyna, back together again.

Her family was together again.

Eventually, she stepped away, straightening her back, and shifted back to the ship officer again.

Jere smiled over at her as she stood against the wall. "I missed you too, Rey," he added, his grin still ever present. Reyna nodded, but didn't stop the smile on her face from being seen.

Reyna took a look at Jere's pack as he picked it up from the deck where it had fallen during the hug. Reyna could see it wasn't very full. Then, in Jere's movement to put the pack back on over his shoulder, Reyna saw the strap catch against his frame, and noticed just how lithe he looked, especially for someone coming off a six-month research posting who was outdoors in the field all day. She didn't say anything right then, but twenty minutes later, when their group were walking through the corridors toward the quarters after getting Jere setup in the Emberkind systems, she fell back half a step and tapped a quick message on her datapad to Borran.

Carrothi’s aboard. Please make the grain cakes and whatever else you have available before you meet him. It’s clear he hasn't been eating.

By the time they had settled Jere into his quarters, Borran had a full meal waiting in the galley. Once they arrived, Jere looked at the spread before him and then looked over at Elena.

"Don't look at me," Elena said with a laugh. So Jere instead settled his eyes on Reyna.

"Borran cooks when people arrive," Reyna said simply.

Jere stared at her for a long beat. Finally, he uttered, "Okay," stretching the word out for emphasis.

Good, no arguments.

"This is Borran," Elena said, gesturing toward the Brontari behind the counter. Jere turned to look up at the seven foot man that closely resembled that of a Grizzly Bear from the planet Earth. "He's the Emberkind chef. Been here longer than any of us have been alive," Elena stated.

"Nice to meet you, Borran."

"Eat," Borran ordered from his place behind the counter.

Reyna had decided that Jere didn't need to know she had prepared Borran, and Borran, when he met Reyna's eye over the counter, had the good sense not to contradict her.

They spent the next hour enjoying Borran's meal, talking and laughing and commiserating together over Coalition burdens just as they had done at Novahall. Reyna's cheeks actually hurt from all the laughing. That, or they hurt from the sheer act of laughing again at this frequency since they were altogether last. Either way, it was a good feeling, and Reyna had missed it.

As they were finishing up, both food and stories, Elena broke through about the whole purpose Jere was here.

"The cargo hold," Elena said, watching Jere closely as his eyes widened at the prospect of all their work ready and waiting for him. "Are you ready to see it?" Suddenly, Jere couldn't speak,so instead he just nodded his head, rising from the counter with Elena and Reyna.