"Zero."
Iris loved saying his name out loud, the tip of her tongue nudging her front teeth to shape the sibilant sounds. The earliest artificial life forms, she knew, had spoken with pre-recorded voices through holes drilled in the faceplate - crude, but functional. With advances in technology came the addition of intricate moving parts, vocal chords and synthetic lungs.
"Hmn."
The breeze hustled his gruff reply over to where she lay in the flowers (real flowers!), arms flung behind her head, eyes filling with stars as they pierced the deepening sky above.
"Should we start heading back?"
"Ha, afraid of the dark, are we?"
His eyes, lit from inside, flashed brightly at her as he approached. Her core ached at his presence, as it always did, remembering stolen moments around corners, behind doorways …
"Mm, not exactly," she said, turning her head to hide the colour rising in her face. "But I am starting to wonder if someone has uncovered our trail by this point."
She stole a sidelong glance. He folded his arms over his chest, lips twisting in a roguish grin.
"Let's see, Iris …" he drawled. "Impersonating a superior officer, security pass theft, hacking multiple surveillance cameras … all of which, I might add, was to enable unauthorized entry into a highly restricted environmental reclamation area."
Iris held her tongue neatly in cheek.
He loomed over her for effect and lowered his voice to a serrated whisper. "I could throw you in the detention center for this, Maverick. Or I could just take care of you right here and now."
The hilt of his beam saber glinted menacingly over his left shoulder.
She shivered a little and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "We both know you wouldn't so much as lay a hand on me."
A low chuckle. "Right," he muttered under his breath as he turned to walk away, gesturing for her to get up and follow. "We both know you'd like that too much."