"I never realized that you were such a space buff." Grant remarked in a slightly surprised tone as he and Jemma were lounging in front of the TV after being debriefed. The Bus was headed back across the Atlantic since they had just finished a mission which, at least in Grant's opinion, seemed too minor for Coulson. They were either the closest S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to the site or maybe there was something bigger behind it after all. Grant made a mental note to observe for any signs or slips. There were still a few hours before they were set to land so he thought to kill sometime by channel surfing. Everyone else decided not to stick around, making their ways to different parts of the bus, save for Simmons who was currently seated on the couch across from him.
Not that he minded of course, surprisingly enough. Thanks to the months they've been on the bus, Grant had grown to have a soft spot for Simmons; something that he swore to himself never to reveal to anyone especially to Skye.
"Well I wouldn't say that exactly." Simmons replied, keeping her eyes on the TV screen which they left on a documentary about deep space. "I'm more of a fan of space, really. There's just so much to explore out there. The universe is so huge that you can't help but be curious about it."
"Curious enough that you're actually willing to go out into the dark, endless void?" Grant jokingly answered, giving her an amused look that she didn't catch.
Simmons turns to give him a disbelieving look, "Surely you've wondered about what it would be like to be up in space?" Grant bites the inside of his cheek to maintain his neutral expression. He can't help but find Jemma's little outburst adorable.
"I've wondered, sure, but personally I'd prefer to keep both of my feet firmly planted on the ground." He tries (and fails) to keep the amusement out of his voice.
"But there's just so much out there!" She declares, waving her hands excitedly "All those worlds containing limitless possibilities! It would be very fascinating to find out how else life was able to manifest itself in different conditions. Of course, we've met the Asguardians who are a lot like us in anatomy but only more evolved physiologically and technologically and probably every way possible and, unfortunately, the Chitauri who are just unruly but that doesn't mean they're not worth studying and . . ."
Grant couldn't keep the small smile forming on his face as she continued speaking. Not for the first time since he met her, he was impressed with her passion for discovery. He sat back and watched the different emotions play on her face along with her gesticulating with her hands. He didn't really know what she was talking about now, but he found that he didn't mind the slightest.
They land near one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. field sites and Coulson tells them that they have the day off and that they could choose either to stay on the Bus or check into a hotel nearby. Everyone was expected to be back on the Bus by 1800 the next day. They chose the hotel, even May which surprised everyone, so they all stowed their bags into the SUV while Coulson drove away on Lola.
After being checked into their respective rooms, everyone headed into town on their separate ways. FitzSimmons wanted to see an exhibit that was on a flyer they found at the lobby, Skye chose to go to the beach while nobody knew where May went off to.
As for Grant, he didn't really have anything specific he wanted to see, so he opted to just take a walk around. Alone time was something rare to him so he decided to relish it, observing the buildings and the people while occasionally stopping to look at an item in a shop window more closely.
After almost two hours of ambling around, Grant was on his way back to the hotel when he walked by a quaint little shop. He stopped mid-step and headed back to the shop window. He leaned towards the glass to get a better look at the display then proceeded to go inside the shop.
The next day, Grant came back to the Bus earlier than the others and since he already finished unpacking he was reading on one of the couches when Jemma came in on her way to her bunk.
"Oh hello Ward," She greets him when he looked up from his book. She was carrying several paper bags which he presumed carried souvenirs as well as a backpack on her shoulders.
"Hey" He responds, closing his book "Do you need some help?" he asks, getting up anyway and proceeds to reach out for the bags.
"No not really, but thank you" She answers with a smile as she hands him some of the bags.
"What did you guys do, buy out all of the stores?" He jokingly asks as he follows her to her bunk.
"No!" She indignantly answers "There were all these interesting little knick-knacks from the museum and there's this quaint little book shop near the beach and of course Fitz wanted to go the antique store that he found."
"Of course he did." Grant replied mock-seriously, trying his best for his face not to break out into a wide smile.
They reach her bunk and she dumps the bags that she was carrying onto her bed. She shrugs out of her backpack and drops it on her bed as well before turning to Grant to grab the rest of her stuff. She smiles widely as a thank you and Grant suddenly freezes before nodding slightly.
"Listen, I-" Grant starts
"Oh this is new, but I don't think I bought this one" Jemma announces, not realizing that he had spoken. She's by her shelf holding up a lamp with one hand on its stand and the other cradling the cylindrical shade which covered the bulb. She was examining the lamp on all sides and the thoughtful expression on her face let Grant know that she was trying to figure out where it came from.
Grant took a deep breath and explained, "That's from me." Jemma twirls around with a surprised expression fixed on her face. "I found it in a small shop near the hotel and I just thought that you might like it." He continues, putting his hands in his pockets. Jemma opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes to mind. Grant shifts his weight uncomfortably and looks at anything other than Simmons.
"You bought me a lamp?" She finally says.
Grant risks taking a look at her and to his relief he only finds confusion in her expression.
"Well, it's a star lamp." He explains and her brow furrows indicating that she still didn't understand.
"May I?" He asks as he moved into the room and she hands over the lamp. He moves closer to her to plug the lamp onto the nearest socket to her bed and they're both suddenly conscious of the fact that his build makes the already-small bunk much cozier.
Grant clears his head of his thoughts and turns the lamp on. It lights up and the lamp's shade was designed to have little holes so that it plastered the room with little dots of light, much like stars. He steps back and nervously waits for Jemma's reaction.
"You said you'd always wanted to see the stars a bit closer and since I'm not licensed to drive a space ship, I thought that this was the closest thing." He says quietly.
Jemma looks at her bunk, a dumbfounded expression clearly written on her face. If she was going to be honest with herself, she knew that she was more surprised at the fact that Grant Ward just gave her a present. For everything that Skye said about him being a robot, this was just incredibly sweet. To be frank, she didn't know what to do about it especially since he was looking at her with an expression that she's never seen on him.
Her face breaks into the widest smile he's seen and it hits Grant with such intensity that it's a herculean effort to keep him from blushing (he's Grant Ward for pete's sake and Grant Ward does not blush).
She's still smiling and Grant's beginning to wonder if it was beginning to hurt for her when she suddenly launches herself at him and Grant takes a step back to keep the two of them from falling over. Jemma keeps him in such a tight hug and Grant is overwhelmed that it takes him a moment to be able to wrap his arms around her and return the hug.
The hug lasts just for a moment before Jemma pulls her away and takes a step back from him.
"Thank you, Grant" She says and he doesn't miss that she's called him by his first name "I really appreciate the gesture."
"No problem, it's really no big deal" He says as nonchalantly as he can.
"Still, thank you." She says softly as she stands on her toes to press a kiss on his cheek.