Authors note: I had a random spout of writing after nothing for a few weeks, basically shows the romantic relationship between Usze, a renegade Sangheili who is attempting to help the human race. Anna was a marine in a mission that went wrong. when Usze saved her she hated him at first but slowly she realised that he was simply trying to help her and by extension her race as a whole, Usze had developed feelings for her and some may have called them a couple already. A warning that hopefully (if my writing persists lately) there may be a lemon/smut scene next chapter.
My roamed across the data pad in front of me, armour shifting and bumping the desk as i checked through the crew reports and typed i few small commands as i reassigned teams between their rotations, my eyes closed as i looked up to our next targeted planet to search through, if the coordinates where anything to go by, the place was inhabited and protected by a small United Nations Space Command fleet or UNSC for short. Idly for a moment i scanned through what data we had on their defence force, advance scout parties where already on their way and i still awaited their stealth operation in case we had to engage the human fleet. my eyes glanced over the next report and i skim read over the content, we had picked up a number of human munitions in our travels, scavenged from destroyed ships, bases or anything that could have been of use and it had amassed in one of our storage bays, but we had also started to run low on water again.
Finding reliable sources for anything was tough when the covenant sat on your ass at every turn and i tossed the data pad into the small table again and stood. stretching out for what seemed like an eternity sitting down. Beside me the door parted open beside me and a dark haired human woman walked through, armour covering her legs but her top half held a simple tank top and she looked over towards me curiously, a small later of sweat covering her as i knew she had most likely been working out. if we where still in the covenant, anyone entering without announcing themselves to the shipmasters quarters would have been punished severely but this woman was known to me and this was her home too.
"Hey Usze" she spoke simply as she made her way over towards the spacious main room. "Hey Anna" i replied quietly as i made may way over towards the makeshift kitchen we had sorted together, in reality it was more of a shelf with some makeshift cooking implements we had amassed through our travels and a small cool area that kept some things cool. my fingers reaching into the cool space and fetching a small container from within. taking a quick sip as eyes glanced over its left over level. now being on rations that cup would have to last us a small time.
"reports again?" she asked quietly as she glanced over the scattered data-pads on my desk, the main screen still displaying a bunch of text from a report. "Yea, starting to run low water" i spoke as i shook the contents of the small container in my hands, hearing the waster slosh around within and i handed the rest to Anna who took it and took a small drink too and handed it back. "anything else interesting?" she queried quietly. "nothing worth mentioning, mostly team rotations, planet reports and inventory counts, check lists all that fun stuff" i replied quietly and she chuckled a little.
"Never knew you hated paperwork so much" she replied and smiled at me. "someones gotta keep this tugboat going" i replied and smiled as i leaned back against the wall, the two of use about a meter apart as i found myself in thought quietly a moment. "do you want to get a shower first or me? i stink worse than S deck at the moment" i heard her query and i chuckled, S deck was for our waste disposal and treatment facilities. even though we reused what we could of our… waste we always were dumping something. "go on, ill have mine after yours, need to finish some stuff first" i spoke quietly and gestured for the bedroom where the small shower sat and i moved back to continue on with the first pile of reports, prioritising anything that was essential and set to work.
I finished up a little later after Anna had finished her quick shower and she came out wrapped in a towel around her middle, face scrunched up as she looked around the room. "trouble?" i queried not looking up as i completed a small checklist and wrote a few words. her eyes turned to me as i spoke quietly and i thought i heard her mumble, 'ill show you trouble..' before she then spoke "cant find any of my night things, did you put anything away this morning?" she asked, i pointed to the set of shelves hidden away behind a small table, "over there, under the weapons shelf, thought they were dirty" i spoke simply as i washed her cross the room towards them. we where close now, some of the crew had even called her my partner with disgust or distain and i had been lectured in my attachment to Anna by some of the bridge crew, they respected me and so they respected her as well but they worried for the backlash it would cause if it continued and they all would have to remove me from command.
Water still slightly dripped down Anna's hair as she made it to the shelf and bent over to pull at the contents, while it was usually tied back behind her shoulders i had not realised how deeply i had developed feelings for her until now, desire rumbled in my chest and i was tempted to simply walk over and wrap my arms around her smaller form but i stilled myself and for a moment i simply admired her figure as she stood back up again. afraid to be caught i quickly busted myself again, realising that i had become distracted from work while watching via the reflection of a data pad. It was only after the bedroom door slid closed again i face planted my head into the desk softly, afraid and confused over my own feelings for the woman who had added brightness to my troubled and dull past.
i had almost finished when she emerged again, "your turn Usze" she spoke simply and made her way over towards the kitchen as i stood. "any ideas for dinner?" she asked curiously and i thought a moment. "no beans and fish?" i queried as i watched her look through the small assortment of rations, supplies and food stuffs. "only the top shelf" she muttered as i made my over, one hand stilling her as she tried and failed to reach up to the slightly higher shelf. she stilled as i placed my hand on her shoulder and with the other reached out and took the small cylinder container into my hand, holding it out in front of her as i looked down upon her face.
She clutched the small can in her hand as we stared at each other, her eyes roaming mine as we seemed to search each others soul, my eyes drawn to her lips as i was tempted to kiss them. the warmth of her body close to mine and the smell of what seemed to be a green grassy field had me in a trance when her voice spoke up quietly. "Usze?" she asked quietly seeing unsure, it was enough to brake me out of it. "Sorry, ill have that shower now" i apologised as i backed up and made my way for the shower to pull myself from my thoughts. The cold water that hit me though could not rid the ghostly feel of her body near mine, the woman was driving me crazy.