His hands remain steady over the controls as he rears the ship around to fly past the meteors just beside it; his blue eyes become hard rocks attached to his face as he focuses intently on his task.
His co-captain pushes a button to harden the outer shell of the ship before she turns to face him, all beautiful and in that moment, powerful.
It isn't much and certainly wouldn't seem like much, but she saved the entirety of their lives in a way and yet she never acted like it was something as grand; she'd handled her task efficiently and delicately, and she'd behave in a much more subdued, meek manner after the fact, not superbly confident, just quietly content with herself.
Daina pulls back from the control panel once they're further away and smiles at Alfred, and it's moments like these that remind him how he came to love the alien that co-piloted his ship, that handled the 'formal' shifts of gear, that just overall made his life easier.
She's gentle and loving; it's not from a lack of confidence, but rather a comfortable humbleness that allows her to take it all in and not lose face.
Daina has never been weak, and Alfred vaguely memorizes her face or well commits this moment to memory; her lips are upturned slightly in a gentle smile, pale against sort of blue-ish skin, and her eyes are practically a bright blue under the lit darkness of space, under the lights of their control panel.
She's beautiful with her faint gill-like extra set of lungs that handle the toxins and lack of oxygen on her home planet, and she's beautiful with her dark brown hair that falls like black silk past her shoulders when the lighting hits it just right like it is now.
Her eyes fade to a pretty green when the lights aren't overly bright or when the room isn't too dark, just dim, and they shine delicately in the air around her when they do: vibrant and full of meaning, of emotion.
He loves her for her humbled confidence, for her tendency to analyze tough situations, for her ability to handle the hardships of life, and end the day with a smile no matter the obstacle.
Her smiles are never arrogant or harsh; they are small things after success, not quite relief filled either.
Alfred wonders though when he first fell for his partner after he'd stumbled upon her on a planet, when he couldn't breathe, choking on the toxic air around him, when she gently took him close and helped him to breathe around the air that didn't look all that different, just felt a thousand worlds worse.
Her blue hands delicately held his, and he commended her for her kindness especially so when her whole tribe, group of aliens, abandoned her; he'd sought to make her feel welcome, to treat her like a human.
She's the only alien of their crew, and yet Alfred loves her all the more for it; he adores her unique mannerisms, the way she'll sometimes slip into a strange tongue when she's distracted.
She never translates her mumbles, but Alfred still finds them cute.
He adores the way that she'll ramble sometimes when she knows just what to do even though she'd more often than not trail off afterward, realizing that she isn't the captain, isn't the leader of this ship.
Alfred considers her the unofficial second in command of the ship regardless; he hasn't announced it, she doesn't know, but everyone else seems to respect her for it or perhaps for the way that their leader treats her.
He's never quite sure how to ask her out; do aliens ask other aliens out differently and besides what are they supposed to do for dates?
Sometimes Alfred misses Earth with the ease of customs that wash over him as while cultures differ, he knows that most people will just understand that if you're asking someone for a date rather than question your motives.
Would Daina be flustered by the notion or just treat it like some age old normal custom that Alfred would never feel privy to?
Her quiet confidence is catching, and he smiles slightly at the thought of growing old with her though he's pretty sure that she'll long since outlive him.
Ninety years for three hundred feels a world different, but he doesn't say a word; what if she'll only last as long as he does?
Do they mate for life or settle down with those they love and never let their hearts grow entirely weak?
Or, Alfred wonders, if it is fickle like human relationships sometimes seem to others?
Alfred considers her his equal in every way and a partner that he can trust with his life and so much more; he likes to think that he's entered the mindset of having a soulmate and hunkering down to protect her.
He isn't quite sure if it's obvious how seriously he takes her, how much he loves her regardless; even if their future would be a little unsteady as they are of different races, he'd love her through it all.
Alfred hears the enemy gunfire and is already up, rushing to the cockpit of the ship, ushering his fingers to work to ready their lasers and zoom in on the enemy ships; not all those that traveled through space were friendly especially distrustful alien species that could sense human space craft from miles, from planets away.
He feels Daina enter the seat beside him rather than see her, he's too focused, and every inch of his body is a buzz with nervous fear, and he feels gratitude for her loyalty, for the ability to depend on her, as he pushes his relief into action and readily accepts her fingers working fast beside him.
Alfred loves her for this and so much more; she takes the shot to leave the enemy aircraft, the lead ship from what he can tell, to careen off course and slowly start to sink with the harsh tug of the hole blasted through it.
Fire lights it up like space fireworks when Alfred shoots it with their specialty weapon that few ever expect, and he beams at the bright colors as the ship sinks in a weak pull and then starts to blow up, pieces flying, but thankfully not sticking where they'll hurt.
Alfred nearly laughs in relief as Daina remains steady by his side as the last space ship goes down in front of them, and he feels a giant, relieved smile light up his face as he spins to face her, and her little smile makes his heart soar.
He can't believe his confidence when he pulls her close and kisses her, relief, love, admiration, respect, and many nameless emotions flicker through his heart and straight to his lips.
It takes a second, but Daina melts into his embrace, into his kiss, and kisses back with a sudden vigor that Alfred doubts that any human can ever replicate.
Her lips are chapped, but not in a way that spells of severely dry lips, but rather a natural roughness, following little bumps and rises, and end with almost a soft mirror of his actions.
Alfred can't quite breathe past his heart in his throat when she pulls away, and he tries to catch himself.
"D-Do humans not court?" Her innocent voice pulls him out of a daze, and he smiles the brightest smile that he can as nerves lace up his spine and through his fingers that still hold her close.
"N-N-No, we still court." Alfred tries to catch his breath and decides vaguely that he likes the sound of courting more than dating, it instils a sort of age old commitment that dating doesn't quite capture, "J-Just, it's hard to court in space and not back home, and well, I've liked you like this for a while, so long actually, and I couldn't quite find the ability to tell you."
"It's a good thing," Daina takes a deep breath with a delicate smile, "That I could tell that you were my soulmate when I shared my air with you when we met." Her smile is delicate, almost shy yet not quite at that extreme yet, and Alfred decides that he likes the gentle, humble smile as much as he loves her other ones. It somehow speaks so much more at once.
"Thank goodness, you mate for life." He hopes that that doesn't sound too backward as it finally dawns on him what left his lips, "I don't think that I could take just an affair."
Daina laughs, and he wonders vaguely if she understands that word in the way he means it; her eyes flicker from bright gold back to delicate green, and he falls in love with the color all over again.
"Alfred," She murmurs, and it's soft, just soft enough to cushion his heart as it falls back to his chest in obvious relief and joy, "Can you kiss me again? It means more than air to me."
It's simple, and he takes it as something much more than a simple 'I love you,' "Why certainly."
He closes that gap and his eyes too.
Her lips are fast becoming one of his favorite set of things, much more than he realized; they still feel chapped, but they don't hurt at all to press close to.
He smiles against them and marvels over how they don't at all seem to bend completely to the will of his smile but rather hold their own.
Alfred tugs her close, closer, and falls back in love with just being by her side, being her equal in every way, despite their differences; there's no push for power here, and he revels in it, in its lack of struggle.
He lets her take a gentle lead and yet despite her guiding him for another few moments, it doesn't feel like a lead, just a simple moment that neither of them want to pull away from.
Alfred wants to be so much more than a partner, he wants his forevers matched evenly with hers, and he hopes that she can read that in him.
"We," She breathes when he pulls back, "Like little sea flowers when we're being courted. They equal what we've always wanted, a sort of dependency, something that's loyal and doesn't fade. We consider each flower like that a gift from a soulmate, and we cherish each one long after they've died."
Alfred smiles at her, "Are they as blue as your skin?"
"Sometimes, sometimes bluer." Daina looks happy, and Alfred just hopes to keep that happiness on her face forever as he brushes silky hair past pointed ears and relaxes in front of her, utterly in love.
"You know, I love you." Alfred doesn't feel like that's nearly enough to capture the words and emotions floating around his chest, but it's a start and possibly a start to forever, so he'll take it for what it's worth.
"I love you too, Alfred, my captain." There's something so gentle and sweet about that endearment, but Alfred feels like there's more to correct as she's just as important.
"My partner." Alfred murmurs, and her answering smile is gentle and sweet yet so enthusiastic too that his heart melts along with what feels like his lips stretching into a wide smile while melting into goo when she presses another kiss to his lips.
Tomorrow will bring more challenges and difficulties, but as for this moment and every moment afterward, he loves her too much to even consider that any of the obstacles may not be worth it in the end.