May sighed as she entered the cockpit, flicking switches as she went as part of her pre-departure check. Several lights across the console flashed green, indicating no problems. The gas meter read full, another thing to always check, and the radio crackled to life as she activated it. Everything was in order, spinning the pilots chair, she nearly dropped straight into it as was custom. It was only a flash of red that halted her motion.

There, in her pilots seat where she very nearly dropped, was a red and yellow rose- complete with thorns. Which would have been very painful to sit on. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, May carefully removed the rose from her seat and set it across the top of the console. She'd have a talk with it's giver about the proper place to leave gifts later.

-

Once they were at altitude and the plane was on autopilot with their destination in the system, May unstrapped herself and headed into the plane with the offending Rose in hand. She was going to have a serious talk with a certain agent about gifts, work-place environments, and protocol.

She found said agent in the lounge, book in hand, looking like he'd probably showered not long before take-off. His hair was still wet. Idly, she wondered when he'd even planted the rose. Another question to ask.

Drawing on her irritation, May approached him, dropping the rose in his lap from behind.

Ward jumped a little when his gift suddenly appeared in his lap, staring at the rose like it was a 0-8-4. Or like it was Skye when she was talking in code speak. His long fingers carefully wrapped around the rose's stem, lifting it to his eye level before looking back at May with a combination of worry and dejection. "You didn't like it?"

"I almost sat on it," countered May. "You shouldn't leave flowers with thorns on anyone's chair."

Ward frowned a bit, his shoulders slumping a little. "Oh." Even his voice hinted at a sense of rejection.

"Furthermore," continued May, moving around the couch so she was standing in front of the younger agent, "this plane is SHIELD property. If we're here, we're at work and this isn't appropriate work behavior."

Ward sank a little more into the couch, his eyes falling to his gift. "Right, no gifts at work." Muttering, he added: "Not even on Valentines day."

Valentines day. That explained it. May had forgotten all about the stupid card holiday, largely because she didn't celebrate it. And she hadn't thought Ward would either. Apparently, she was very wrong. And now she felt bad for him; for getting mad that he'd tried to do something nice. Staring at the flower, she felt a faint smile try to slip onto her face. Even she had admit that, as misguided as it is, the gesture is a nice one.

"Not even Valentines day." Kneeling before Ward so they're eye to eye, she tilts his head so he's forced to look at her, utilizing her superior strength to force the matter when he resists a bit. "That being said, thank you." Her other hand came to rest over his where it's gripping the rose still. "It was very sweet." Standing in one motion and taking a quick step back, she nodded at the rose again. "Take it to my bunk and do whatever it is you do with flowers to keep them alive. I have a plane to fly."

Smiling a bit more than usual, Ward quickly stood, but paused beside the couch. "Will you have some time tonight? I thought we could maybe eat together or something."

"I'll see what I can do," replied May as she turned towards the cockpit, the corner of her mouth twitching into a smile. It had been a long time since she'd had any sort of plans for Valentines day that didn't involve Coulson, Sitwell, Fury, and a lot of alcohol.

Heading towards the cockpit, she listened as Ward scampered away behind her. Maybe she could convince Coulson to watch the controls tonight. She had other plans.