"Darling" never quite felt right on her tongue.
"Dar-lin'," she drawled at the mirror.
"Dah-ling one," she tried to mimic him…Nah, it only felt right coming from him…Some words were just uniquely him.
Ryder was grateful Sam stopped inquiring about some of her more "out there" eccentricities. Trying to find a word for her…"honey"…nah….for her Jaal was one of them. She liked to taste the words out loud. See how they felt. How natural they were. Jaal's voice could make any word sound natural. Dearest, darling one. They'd grown on her fairly quickly all things considered.
"Hm…baby. Hot stuff. Snookums," She couldn't help devolving into giggles.
Heh, nope.
She went to her bed. Laid back on it. Let's see. What comes to mind when one thinks of Jaal?
'Is someone bringing us snacks and drinks?'
'I really miss my family at time's like these.'
'Just one more thing to take apart and figure out.'
Cute.
If she was honest.
Sweet. Even.
…"Sweet cheeks!"….
Maybe for special occasions.
Armor wasn't a particular speciality of Jaal's. Not that he couldn't handle it but weaponry was his preferred area of expertise. It being Remanent wasn't helping. He'd been working on modding the armor for a few hours now at least. The issue was making certain Milky Way mods compatible with the experimental Remanent armor Ryder developed. He'd wanted to surprise her but the whole endeavor was turning out to be more of a slog than he anticipated.
It was..frustrating to say the least.
He heard his door open. Too focused to turn to his visitor.
"Hey there, workaholic," Ryder came over and hopped up on an unoccupied section of his workbench.
"I hate rem tech," he said flatly.
Ryder worried her lip for a moment. Why is he so cute when he's grumpy?…
"To be fair, I do too. Specifically fighting it."
"I wanted this," he gestured to the strewn parts of glowing tech armor, "To be a surprise for you."
She tentatively gripped his upper arm. Rested her head against his shoulder, "…Sweetheart."
She felt him shift after a moment. He moved to stand between her knees. Stroking her neck he kissed her briefly, "Once more?"
"Sweetheart." She smiled.
Another kiss, "Again."
"Sweetheart," she breathed softly.
A deep kiss.
"Sweetheart," it was rolling off her tongue.
Hands sought the hem of her shirt, raising it up. Her's unfastened his rofjiin.
"Sweetheart."
Zippers and buckles were undone.
"Darling," his husky voice chimed in.
Clothing hit the floor.
"Sweetheart."
"Darling."
Sweetheart.
Darling.