The hairs on his arms stood up, a chill creeping through his dorm.
They’d be at General Narron’s beck and call, at his service. Like all of their missions once they left the Academy, raider assignments came down directly from the Commanding General himself. They’d belong to the AMG—to the General. And AMG Raiders didn’t question their assignments or the authority behind them. They didn’t question loyalty or agendas; raiders did as they were told when they were told.
He rubbed his palms together to ward off the chill from before. He took in the warm overhead lights and Kat sitting here with him on his bed.
“We don’t have to complete everything right now,” Lee ground out, the waver in his voice betraying his attempt at nonchalance as he closed out his holoblock.
“This was a good first step,” Kat agreed, hastily closing out her own holoblock, her hands shaking as she clasped them together. She cast her eyes elsewhere about the walls of his dorm, so Lee did the same.
Like he’d told Kat before, they still had time to come to terms with serving the General. They had weeks to complete their actual applications and get them into the Commander’s hands. He could return to this another day.
Climbing over his comforter to reach the window bay, Kat picked up Lee’s mini-action hero figurine, redirecting him and his blaster out the window instead. “I feel like he’s judging me.”
Lee huffed a laugh, especially when she got sidetracked scoping out the aloe next to it. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she’d recently taken an interest in potted plants.
“You’re doing well with the star flower, you know that?”
She angled her gaze towards him, a haughty expression on her face that read only too clearly,of course I’m doing well.
Lee laughed softly again as he traced that arrogance with his gaze across stubborn cheekbones, gently lit against the starlight’s gleam. He traced the arch of her neck, graceful and flowing, down to the flat of her stomach, his mouth going dry as he took in the shape of her hips.
“So, what do you want to do instead?” Kat asked, peering up at him with too heavy eyelids. She batted her eyelashes almost subconsciously, and his eyes dipped down to her lips.
“We really ought to get out more,” he murmured as she rolled her tongue along her lower lip.
His holoblock actually toppled to the floor as he rose up to meet her.
They crashed into his blankets in a bedlam of teeth and tongues as he begged the universe to take a step back and leave them alone. Her body melded into his as he pleaded for some small insight that would make him okay with this darkness looming over them.
And still he held her tighter. Because this future they faced? It scared him. It scared the shit out of him. But this was the future where they ended up together. This was the one where their plans aligned, and where he got to be with Kat. And he could do it—he would do it for her, no matter what beliefs he had to compromise or set aside along the way. He would stay the course.
For her.
Always for her.
It was half-past-one before he finally walked Kat back to her dorm. They had early trainings in the morning, and although she’d never admit this to him, he had a feeling she wanted to check on her plant.
He was on his way back to his room, savoring the cool temperature of the hallway on his flushed skin, when he ran into Zane.
Lee hadn’t expected to see another face at this hour. He cleared his throat, and Zane looked up in surprise. His hair was wet, his eyes clouded.
“Good evening,” Lee said stiffly, dipping his chin.
Zane’s eyes flickered in the lowlights as he nodded back, and they fell into a stride together.
“You’re up late,” Zane said, his voice low so that it carried no more than a couple breaths ahead of them. “Couldn’t sleep either?”
“Wouldn’t know. I haven’t tried, I’ve been with Kat all night,” Lee said, savoring the boasting moment.
To his even greater enjoyment, Zane laughed. A dark chuckle, rumbling along with them. “You sly dog.”
They cleared a stretch between lowlights, the beams like hazy cones against the grates.
“How’s your dad taking the news with Placement?” Lee asked.
“He hasn’t seen it yet,” Zane said after a moment. “Mom says he’s been away a lot. They’ve been keeping him real busy with the new job.”
Busy.“You don’t know what they have him doing now, do you?”
