He squeezed her hand, and she swallowed a sob,trying to hold on to the beauty of the moment. Though it lasted maybe ten minutes, time seemed to slow, like they were caught in a capsule where the drifting spores would never end.
But end, it did.
Eventually, all the glowing seeds met the forest floor, ready to grow the next generation ofLumaria vitellus. She didn’t look at Apodis until she felt a touch at her cheek, his soft fingers turning her to face him.
“I can take you back to your camp now,” he said, though his eyes rippled with sadness.
Gemini swallowed hard, knowing her decision before her brain had even fully comprehended it.
“Let’s go to the cabin. Camp can wait until the storm is done.”
Apodis nodded with a grin, helping her retrieve all the filled spore canisters before leading her to his cruiser.
By the time they arrived at Apodis’ cabin, Gemini was well and truly drenched.
When they stumbled into the living room, leaving puddles of water on the floor, Zenith was there to greet them with a look of consternation.
“You left without saying goodbye,” he said, hisorb dimly glowing as he inspected their disheveled looks.
Of all the things to comment on, she wasn’t surprised it was her callous exit that he had decided to mention first.
“I know. I’m sorry. There was a lot going on…” she said, looking to Apodis for guidance.
“Yeah, Z. I told you not to mention it,” Apodis said before turning back to her with a look of horror. “Not that I expected you to come back here. I just told him that it wasn’t your fault. I’m the one who messed up.”
Yes, he had. And yet, he had been right to do so. No one on her crew actually cared about her well-being. The only reason they had even been worried about her absence was because of how it would look if NovaFloralostone of its employees on an away mission.
Like everything on Earth, the concern was fabricated. Image was more important than real people, and the thought of returning to that contrived, self-absorbed world disgusted her.
“I think you might have made up for it,” she said quietly.
“You forgive me?” he asked with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
Gemini made a show of thinking hard, but her smile broke through all too easily.
“I suppose so. You saved my life after all.”
Apodis laughed, then brought his hands to her hips, the electricity of his touch sending a tremor through her rain-soaked body.
“I guess you owe me now,” he said, though his eyes widened in an instant. “Well, not like that. That was just a joke, obviously. I didn’t mean?—”
She silenced his stammering with a kiss, one that said everything it needed to say as her body vibrated with lightness. He was tentative as she wrapped her arms around his neck, though it only took a moment for him to circle his around her waist fully, hauling her in close as he angled down to return the kiss.
It was sweet, soft, their lips brushing without hurry. Gemini breathed in his scent, that wild aroma that had enticed her from the very start, and sighed into Apodis’ embrace, at least untilsomeonecleared his throat loudly, trying to get their attention.
“You are making a mess of the entryway,” Zenith said as Gemini pulled away from the kiss, though her arms remained around Apodis’ neck.
“I’ll deal with it, don’t worry,” Apodis said, glancing down at Gemini. “Maybe we should get cleaned up? You can shower first if you’d like…”
She scoffed, taking his hand and dragging him toward the bathroom. Apodis dutifully followed, not protesting as they entered together, the door whooshing shut behind them.
When she turned to face him, he had a strange look on his face, like he had eaten some badfish or something. She pressed a palm to his cheek, then a soft kiss against his lips, before unbuttoning his soaked shirt.
“I can wait for you…” Apodis said again, but she shushed him, removing the shirt and tossing it on the floor.
“I don’t want you to leave,” she said, her voice a whisper as she did the same with his pants, unzipping them and tugging them down.
The air was heavy with anticipation as Apodis finished the job, kicking his pants and underwear off and reaching for Gemini’s shirt. He leaned forward, bringing his face to her neck and breathing in deeply.
