It was a wet autumn's evening. The landing strips outside were slick, the sky hummed with backed up traffic, and the ground was muddy. Barely any light shown through the blanket of grey clouds marching across the horizon as the wind rapped on the walls, and the rain rolled down the wide, curved panes.
If it weren't for the shorter autumn days and longer nights, it would have been like any other typical day in the Federation base. Most everything remained routine no matter what happened outside - be it rain or shine. Like usual, there was always an abundance of work to be done, and no one knew that better than Commander Malkovich. So overall, the office was cold, uninviting, and uneventful on a rainy day such as this one.
Not that Samus cared though.
She sat silently hunched atop Adam's desk, listening to the pitter patter of raindrops and the quiet scratches of a pen. Her fingers lightly tapped along to the ambient sounds of the season, playing on the table's smooth, polished surface. Ever so often, in a small attempt to occupy herself, the girl would look over her shoulder to observe Adam at work. She glanced in his direction and followed the swift movements of his wrists as he wrote. Her eyes studied the seams of his cuffs, moving higher to the outline of musculature on his arm, then to that new badge on his broad chest, and then higher still to his face. Samus scrutinized his features: lips thin and pressed together, strong jaw slightly clenched, and eyes narrowed in concentration. She detected the early traces of those subtle wrinkles on his primed face. The result of too much work, she concluded. Samus also noted the dark circles that had formed beneath his eyes. Also a result of too much work. In fact, he was so engrossed in it as of late, he hardly spared her a moment in the entire time she had lounged about in his office. Aside from missions or urgent assignments, they rarely spoke anymore. Not that she didn't expect something like that from Adam - it was just a bit upsetting with the sudden change in his demeanor though, she reflected.
Sighing, the girl returned her attention to the ethereal scenery before her, watching the sky carefully for that perfect moment. Her patience was soon rewarded as the light began to flicker. The blanket of clouds suddenly began to transform as a single, lone ray pierced through its layers of homogenous grey - almost magically like a last, grand hurrah - and shined brightly into her blue eyes. She squinted as the room was bathed in its brilliance and marveled at the sight of it all: the beauty of nature perfectly framed by the large glass window.
Her small, gloveless hands wrapped about the edges of the table as she leaned forward in anticipation. Her young form twisted and turned about, filling with bubbling anxiety. Samus began the countdown; the sun would soon set.
Six... Five... Four...
There! Those last few seconds, the moment she had been waiting for - the glorious sunset...
Was eclipsed by a large, rusty vehicle passing harmlessly along.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the spot where she was supposed to have admired one of the many beauties of Earth. She blinked once and the offender was gone from sight with the sun fast asleep, tucked away somewhere far off.
Samus crossed her arms grumbling about the ridiculous odds it took for something like that to happen to her.
"Tch!" She gripped the sleeves of her uniform in slight frustration. ""That stupid ship!" She huffed and broke the silence of the room.
"What stupid ship?" her commander responded, his pen still moving.
Realizing she had his attention at last, she continued,"That stupid one that blocked the sunset!"
He laughed a bit, setting his pen down, and finally looked up, "There's always tomorrow, Samus."
"Well," she quipped, "There's always tomorrow for work, Adam."
"Well, the deadline is tonight." he fired back, giving her a tired smile.
"That's not what I meant! I mean - what I'm trying to say-" she slid off the tabletop and placed her hands firmly on the desk knowing that he had worked far too long, "...my point is that maybe you should take a break..."
Adam adjusted his hat and picked up his pen. "Save it, Samus; give me a minute, I'm almost done with this."
The girl raised her hands in defeat, "Fine," and walked over to the glass wall behind her. The quiet scratches began again as she looked out towards the noticeably darker horizon. Samus sighed to herself, already impatient from all the waiting she had to do beforehand, Just a little longer...
After a couple of minutes had passed, Samus tried to busy herself with trivial thoughts. Her mind began to wander into a more self-reflective state. She then pondered why she was here? Why was she waiting for him again? And what else is there to do? Or who drove that stupid ship? But of course, she knew the answers to all those questions (save for that last one, she was dying to know who). Bored, she leaned back against the window, watching Adam and rolled her eyes. Almost instantly she regretted that decision. With the slightest brush of her arm against the panes, the chill from outside seeped through the glass fibers and shocked her. Its icy aura reached in and stole as much heat from her as it could before she managed to pull away from the window. She took a sharp intake of breath and nursed the cold spot on the back of her arm, shivers immediately crawling up her spine from the direct contact with the chilled glass surface.
"It's not going to kill you, Samus." her commander chuckled, receiving a small scowl as he joined her side by the window to stretch a bit. Standing somewhat behind her, he clasped a hand on the girl's shoulder. She looked up at him inquisitively though Adam remained silent and continued to stare at her with those piercing grey eyes of his. They seem to see everything, she thought, peering into even the remotest recesses of her mind, all knowing. Sometimes too much so, and sometimes too calculatingly.
"What?" the girl flatly said.
She was never good at reading Adam. There was something odd and familiar about his expression. It was an expression she saw every now and then, but she still couldn't figure out its meaning. All she knew was that: He's giving me that look again. Soon, the slightest blush crept across her cheeks. "What? Didn't anyone ever teach you it's impolite to stare?"
"Sorry, Samus, I couldn't help but notice something."
"And that something is...?" Her bemused expression made him laugh again. They were standing close enough that she could feel the faint vibrations of his voice. To her, it felt too old and sentimental - unbefitting for someone his age - but for some reason it felt warm, safe.
Adam smiled, "That you're growing into a fine young lady, Samus." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment, she wasn't accustomed to this nostalgic tone coming from Adam.
Yet Samus liked it, and she remembered why she was waiting for him in his office on this rainy autumn day.
It was because her father was here.
And outside the busy world kept on turning, the rain kept on pouring and the sun still shone. Yes, another day had come and gone, but there was still tomorrow, another day together.