Hey guys and gals! Wow, it's been a little while, hasn't it? Things have been busy at home, and I do apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, but hear me out. Halloween is my holiday. I go all out for it. All of the grass in my front yard is dead from foot traffic, thanks to the haunted maze that my family and I build for just one night, only to tear it back down again until next year. It was fun but took time away from stuff like writing fanfic chapters. Hopefully, this will be the last delay for a bit, and I'll get right to work on Chapter 13, but in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. So, without further ado,
Chapter 12: Focus on Domestication
Sabine and Ezra focus on completing the mission while they deal with their domesticated situation, begging the question of are they friends or more? Or less?
For the second morning in a row, Sabine woke up after having used Ezra as a human pillow. Only this time she remembered everything that happened while she was awake. Ezra was still sleeping peacefully underneath her, giving her pause for a second straight morning to getting out of bed.
The sun hadn't risen yet and neither of them had to be at the factory for a few more hours, so Sabine decided to indulge this one time, and snuggled into Ezra a little more. She was surprised at how comfortable it felt lying in bed with Ezra but knew that she couldn't allow it to continue much longer. If she did, then their friendship would definitely be lost to something else. It might be good or it might be devastating, and she couldn't take that risk.
She'd told Ezra that he wasn't going to lose her, so how could she in good conscience allow them to throw their friendship to the wind the very next day over only a possibility? And where did this sudden desire for something more with Ezra come from? She'd never wanted anything remotely close to a romantic relationship with anyone before, and especially not with Ezra.
So, what had changed? The previous night was so much easier for her to understand. It was simply being drugged that caused her to accept any advance Ezra made toward her. That made sense, but what about this most recent night? She'd never had to rely on being next to someone in order to feel comfortable enough to fall asleep before. And if she truly didn't want anything past friendship, she was going to have to get back to sleeping on her own.
But that brought the question right back to the forefront. Did she want something more? Ketsu had been teasing her relentlessly about it, and before the last couple of days, it'd been easy to deny. But now easy wasn't the correct word to describe it. Now, she didn't know for sure what she wanted. All she did know was that it felt nice sleeping next to him.
As if to confirm that feeling, Ezra suddenly took his arm that was under her neck and wrapped the lower half of it around her. He then ended the movement with a small sound that Sabine believed sounded like contentment. She also grew more content by the slight position change as well, and she replicated the content moan. It really did feel nice in their current positions.
But they had a mission to complete, and it was past time to start the day. Going for an early morning run would have to be like the time the Rebels were stationed on Garel. Until she had scoped out the area, she wouldn't be able to partake, which she hadn't done yet for obvious reasons.
For that morning, she'd have to make do with the small apartment, and then after the workday was done, perhaps she could take a look around to determine a safe path. The first step though was getting out of bed, which meant finding her way out of Ezra's protective hold.
She tried sliding toward her side of the bed, hoping that his draped arm would fall to the side as she gently added pressure against it. Ezra, however, didn't seem to want to comply, grumbling indecipherable words before turning his head toward her, his lips just a breath away from her forehead.
Sabine tried once more to slide free but again was met with resistance as Ezra tightened his hold on her. Unless she wanted to wake him up, she was effectively trapped in his grip. Under normal circumstances, she would've immediately woken him up, but after he'd taken care of her virtually the entire time they'd been on the planet, she couldn't bring herself to do such a thing. Still, he wasn't giving her much choice if she wanted to get any kind of a workout in. She'd already missed one day of physical training, and even more, if she discounted the miniscule amount of physical therapy she was allowed to do during her recovery.
She needed to work out so that she wouldn't lose her physical edge over any potential combatants. And that meant Ezra was just going to have to wake up. So, she gave him a soft nudge that only resulted in him grunting. "Ezra," she said softly as she nudged him once again.
"Hmm," was his only response before going right back to sleep.
With his not waking up, Sabine tried to think back to the same predicament she'd been in just one day ago. What had she done that morning to wake Ezra up? She fought through the foggy memories as even the morning was still a bit fuzzy for her, but slowly it came to her. She'd been investigating what she was lying on with her hands because of the blasted bright morning light being so brutal for her throbbing head. She recalled sliding her hand in exploration over Ezra's muscled upper body until her fingers lightly trailed up his side, tickling him. She'd tickled Ezra!
Now she knew how to rouse him, and if she were willing to admit it, tickling Ezra awake would be enjoyable for her as well. So, she took her free hand from his chest and began gently dragging it up and down his side. He didn't move much at first, but she could see the telltale signs that her plan was working as he began to flinch a bit.
Sabine then pressed her fingers against him a tad more forcefully and that got the response she was looking for. Ezra moved to block her from what she was doing just as he had the previous morning, causing her to smile at his duplicated response. "You're not letting me get up," she said.
"Sorry," Ezra grumbled, releasing his hold on her.
After gaining her freedom, Sabine rolled to her side of the bed and stood up before stretching her arms over her head. Ezra happened a glance over to her in time to see her nightshirt lift up just enough to reveal a bit of her midriff, which he enjoyed before his eyes drifted to the chrono for the time.
"Why are you up so early?" He drowsily complained as he too began to get out of bed.
"You can go back to sleep," she said. "I just want to get a little workout in before we have to head into the IA facility."
"No," Ezra responded in the middle of his own stretching as he stood from the bed. "I'm up. So, I might as well get moving too. I'm just not used to waking up before daylight."
"Well, if you're going to be living in the same space as me, you'll have to get used to that." Sabine teased as she watched Ezra stagger toward the kitchen.
"Should I get used to being woken up with you in my arms and tickling me each morning too?" Ezra asked, teasing Sabine.
It seemed to work too, as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red and her mouth dropped open. Then, the next thing he knew, Ezra had a pillow being flung at his head. "Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?" She scoffed.
"What was that?" Ezra asked, wondering what his Mandalorian friend had just said.
"Just, go get your caf," was her only response, verbalizing her theory on why the young Jedi was heading to the kitchen area.
Sure enough, Ezra went straight for the caf and readied two cups while Sabine went to the fresher with some workout clothes to change into. When she returned, Ezra was waiting for her, a cup held out for her as he made his way to change as well.
Sabine sipped on the hot, delicious drink as she waited for Ezra to finish changing but almost spit out her caf once he reemerged a moment later wearing only shorts. He did have another cloth in his hand that she assumed was his shirt, but she certainly wasn't prepared for his current state of dress. How he looked had Sabine fighting to keep from licking her lips.
Her hands had been accurate the previous morning when she used them to feel her way around. Ezra had certainly done some growing since they'd first met. The muscle definition was almost drool-worthy. "So, that's what you're wearing?" She managed to ask before things got too awkward.
"Yeah," he responded. "That is unless you wanted to leave the apartment to work out."
"Normally I'd go for a run," Sabine said. "But without doing any real recon of the area, that's not a good idea."
"Actually, I did that before I went looking for you the other night," Ezra responded, slipping the shirt over his head. "Come on, I'll show you the way."
Sabine was reluctant at first, but she did want to go on a run. It was always relaxing for her and it was her favorite way to start a day off. So, she followed Ezra outside the apartment building and they headed west. She followed closely behind Ezra as he maintained what she considered was a comfortable pace for a few city blocks.
Once the apartment building was completely out of sight, Ezra made a left and they ran in that direction for another fifteen minutes. As they continued in that direction, Sabine took notice of how Ezra didn't really seem to be exerting himself too much up to that point. So, she decided to test the waters a bit with him. "How much farther until we have to turn back?"
"Two more blocks until we need to head left again or just turn around," was Ezra's answer before Sabine picked up the pace and passed him.
"I'll see you back at the apartment then," she said as she left him in her wake.
Those remaining two blocks didn't take much time to reach, and when Sabine stopped to pivot and turn back the way she came, she half expected Ezra to be a lot farther behind than he was. But by her calculation, Ezra was only about 10 paces behind her, and he still didn't seem to be struggling with the new pace. So, she decided to crank it up another notch, pushing herself a little harder.
Every so often, Sabine would spare a glance behind her, expecting Ezra to have fallen behind, but it was never the case. He was allowing her to stay in the lead, but she was beginning to believe that he could have retaken the lead if he chose to do so at any time. He just didn't seem to be getting tired.
She turned the corner, back to the main street that would lead them back to the apartment, and took off, and when there was only another couple of blocks remaining, Sabine went into a full sprint. She gave everything that she had, but she could've sworn she could still hear the sound of his shoes slapping against the ground not too far behind her. The worst part for her was that those sounds were only getting louder.
"On your left!" Ezra suddenly called out just as he moved next to her with only a single building remaining before they'd be back at the apartment.
He nearly passed her, but she did manage to reach the doorway to the apartment building with almost a half-step lead. As soon as they were inside the building, Sabine bent over, her hands on her knees. She sucked in a few deep breaths to calm her heart rate down as Ezra stood there before her. She could see that she'd given him a run for his money, but he hadn't struggled with keeping up.
"I guess that Jedi training has paid off," she joked between panting breaths.
"I suppose so," Ezra said with a chuckle before turning a bit more serious. "Is there anything else you wanted to get in before starting our office jobs?"
Sabine's mind drifted off to a certain place when she looked over at Ezra, something about sharing the fresher as they got ready for the day and she physically had to shake her head to rid herself of such lewd thoughts. Where had that notion come from? Why had she just thought about partaking in something more carnal with Ezra?
"No," she finally answered. "I'm going to go get ready for work. We have a job to do, and I can just finish my workout this evening."
Ezra wiped the sweat from his brow as he closed in on the end of his shift. It'd been a busy day with nothing to show for the Rebellion. He'd spent all day helping to build E-11 blasters for the Empire and nothing else. Throughout the day, Ezra did get introduced to a couple of co-workers, and he waited until half the day was complete before really asking anything.
He used the guise of boredom in building only one type of blasters to open the door, but the answers he got back didn't say anything about a new weapon on the production line. The co-workers informed him of a few weapons they'd recently been putting together, but pretty much all of them were standard issue models. Ezra could only hope that the second half of the day was better or that Sabine had better luck.
They met up for lunch and shared their notes, and Ezra discovered that Sabine had been stuck with access credentials being built for her. She'd also been forced to take more tests to confirm her overall firearms knowledge, which would give the management team a better idea of what areas of the R and D department she should be privy to. She felt that she'd done well, and hoped they would open her access up for the afternoon.
Before they went their separate ways, Sabine did tell Ezra that since he knew what weapon type he'd be working on, that she would go ahead and visit the market after work before she met back up with him at the apartment. Ezra was somewhat reluctant to have her go there because of Gavyn, but Sabine wouldn't hear any of it. And Ezra knew not to push her too much about it. He'd gotten back into her good graces and didn't want to jeopardize that if he could help it.
The last half of Sabine's day wasn't as eventful as she'd hoped for either. While most of her testing was completed within the first half of the day, the second half felt a lot more like she was being given a tour than working. Like Ezra, she'd gotten to meet some people, but didn't really learn anything useful from them.
The people she'd met were friendly, a couple even offering to go out for drinks after work. Sabine politely declined the offer, keeping to her personal vow of abstaining from alcohol. That said, she did accept a separate invite for dinner in place of drinks, thinking that it would be a good place to introduce Ezra to them. Plus, if they were lucky, then perhaps their new acquaintances would partake in a few drinks and maybe loosen their lips a bit.
But that would come later as she reached the marketplace. As Ezra had described, it wasn't difficult to locate the booth where the Rebels were stationed. She also confirmed Ezra's concern, as Gavyn was there with another Rebel from the extraction team, and that person was Wini.
Both Gavyn and Wini seemed to be getting along well as Sabine approached. They were carrying on with casual conversation that didn't end until one of them finally spotted Sabine coming up to them. Unlike when Ezra arrived the day before, there wasn't a line for Sabine to wait in. Instead, she was able to march right up to them.
"How can we help you?" Wini asked after abruptly pausing in the conversation between herself and Gavyn. "The Dorian Passion Fruit is in season."
"My fiancé grabbed one yesterday," Sabine said as she perused the rest of the supplies. She perused what was available, and was pleasantly surprised with what Ezra had chosen for last night's dinner. "Maybe if you still have them tomorrow, we might need to buy another one."
"Well then," Gavyn said as he came around to the customer side of the booth. "If you let one of us know what you're be looking for, we can help you to find what you want."
With that said, Gavyn held out his hand to shake. "My name is Utri, and this is Denri." He said as Sabine took his hand. "I'll be back in a moment, but Denri here can help you on your way."
Sabine stood there silently as Gavyn walked away. She'd felt him passing her a note with the handshake, but couldn't do anything about it at that moment. So, she instead gathered up enough food to get through the next day and paid Wini before making her leave. Considering what Gavyn had determined from the previous day with Ezra, she half expected Wini to be cold or combative, but she seemed to be fine. That made Sabine think that perhaps Gavyn had kept his mouth shut. She certainly hoped so, because dealing with Gavyn was going to be awkward enough.
Sabine waited until she was a safe distance away before opening Gavyn's note. It was short and to the point, simply requesting a second meeting with him at a different location, and asking that she come alone. She crushed the note in her hand, just knowing that it would have to do with her major gaffe from the first night. She almost didn't want to go to his impromptu meeting because of that, but another part of her that wanted to confront the issue head-on and just be done with it.
Whatever problems Gavyn had with what happened or didn't happen, she knew she needed to straighten it out with her friend. He might not like what she had to say, but he would know where they stood at the very least.
To get ready for this second meeting, Sabine first went back to the apartment to drop off all of the supplies she'd purchased and then headed back out. Fortunately, Ezra wasn't at the apartment when she arrived, which made it easier to leave by not adding to what was already a stressful situation.
Sabine headed straight over to the coordinates Gavyn provided and quickly discovered that it was another apartment. She didn't even have to knock before Gavyn opened the door for her and gesturing for her to enter as he turned back into the room.
The first thing Sabine noticed was that the apartment was quite a bit larger than the one she and Ezra had to share, riling her a tad at first. But as she gave it some more thought, their little apartment had its positive aspects as well, and especially with the rocky way this mission had started. She didn't want to dwell on the size of the rooms though. Sabine needed to get this meeting started so that she could meet up with her new co-workers.
"What's going on, Gavyn?" She asked.
Gavyn meanwhile, had been pacing up to that point. While he had requested this meeting, he still wasn't certain of how best to approach the subject that'd been eating away at him, but how he did begin the conversation could've gone better than his blurting out, "What did he do to you?"
"Who?" was Sabine's quick reply, which only added to Gavyn's frustrated state of mind.
"Ezra!" He nearly shouted, his pacing about the room starting up again.
"What are you talking about?" Sabine asked, her level of frustration beginning to match his.
Gavyn then turned and looked her directly in the eyes. "I thought you said that you and Ezra were just friends," Gavyn said. "That there was nothing between the two of you, but then after a single night with him, he shows up at the initial meet and you've marked him."
"You don't know what actually happened, Gavyn," Sabine said, but Gavyn wasn't done yet.
"He tried to hide it after I spotted it, but the way he did it said anything but wanting to hide what happened," Gavyn said. "I was like a badge of honor on display for him."
"Gavyn, that's….wait," Sabine started to argue, but then Gavyn's words registered. "badge of honor? What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on, Sabine," Gavyn said in disbelief. "Everyone knows that Ezra still has a thing for you. Even Wini does despite how she's been trying to get him to move on so she can be with him. You can't honestly expect me to believe that you can't see it."
"That's enough!" Sabine yelled, fed up with what she was hearing. "You want to know what happened? I was drugged by some sleemo, and Ezra watched over me while I was under the influence."
"You were drugged?" Gavyn parroted.
"Yes," Sabine confirmed. "Ezra didn't do anything but try to keep me at bay until the drug ran its course. So, regardless of what you think went on, nothing…..happened. Okay?"
Gavyn stood there silently for a moment, and Sabine thought that might be the end of it until Gavyn began to chuckle derisively. "And you believe him?" Gavyn asked. "I didn't think you were the gullible type, Sabine."
Sabine was red hot angry at that point and wasn't thinking when she stepped forward and swept Gavyn's legs out from under him, sending him onto his rear before she pounced on top of him with a fist cocked back and ready to explode into his face. "You're wrong," she growled.
"Right," Gavyn said, not backing down from his stance. "The almighty Jedi is above all things and can do no wrong. News flash, Sabine. No one is perfect. Not even a Jedi, and especially not a teenage one. He has to go through the same emotions and urges as anyone else, and being with you is what Ezra has always wanted. There's no way he passed up that opportunity."
"Maybe I am gullible then," Sabine said, getting up off of Gavyn and heading toward the door. "I was gullible enough to believe that you wanted to be a good friend to me."
"I'm not going to apologize for being attracted to you," Gavyn responded as he climbed back to his feet and dusted himself off. "We had something in common, and I thought that if that common interest could help grow a friendship between us, then maybe it could continue to grow into something more. Something wonderful and as beautiful as I think you are. What I can't wrap my head around though is why anyone would have such a problem with seeing where something might be able to go. What are you afraid of?"
Sabine had stopped upon Gavyn making his case. He was emotionally invested in what he was saying, and it did strike a chord within her, although from the outside almost no one would've seen any indication. But Gavyn seemed to realize it, and approached her, continuing.
"I know we can be good friends, Sabine," he said, stepping cautiously ever closer to her. "But I think we could just as easily be even more special if you would just give us a chance."
At that, Gavyn thought he saw some cracks beginning to spread in Sabine's seemingly impregnable wall, and he decided to give one more push. "I don't care what Ezra did or didn't do. All I care about is having a chance to see where things could go with you and me. If I'm wrong, then I know I would have a good friend, but if I'm right, then I think the sky's the limit."
Sabine had been frozen by Gavyn's words. He'd confirmed what Ketsu had been teasing her about for weeks, but worse yet, he'd also raised a question that had been lingering in the back of Sabine's mind. Was she afraid of letting someone get closer than friendship? She wasn't sure at that moment but didn't have time to think about it as she then noticed just how close to her Gavyn had come.
To make things worse, he was still moving closer as well and turning his head slightly. Sabine knew what he was about to do, and she was beginning to panic. She wasn't ready for this, and especially not after what she'd just been through over the last couple of days. She needed time to work through everything, and Gavyn needed to respect that.
"No." She managed to say right before his lips made contact with hers.
Gavyn's eyes snapped open at her word. He was instantly furious, thinking that Sabine was choosing Ezra over him. It wasn't right. The little wannabe Jedi Loth rat hadn't even been a good friend to Sabine in the time that he'd been around her. Why would she be interested in Ezra? Why couldn't she just give him a chance? "I guess you've made your choice then," He nearly growled at her before turning away from her. "I hope he finally starts treating you the way that you deserve to be treated instead of the way he's actually been treating you."
Sabine's initial reaction was to send back a fiery retort, but she knew that things between Gavyn, Ezra, and herself were messy enough as it was. It felt like things were virtually a powder keg and the slightest incorrect move would set it off. So, she left it alone for the time being and walked out of the apartment door.
Throughout the short time they'd been in their apartment before heading out for dinner with her co-workers, Ezra couldn't help but notice how Sabine had been strangely silent. Even for her, and she didn't have her own personal quarters to hide away in, paint, or whatever else she would've done on the Ghost when she wasn't in the mood to talk. So, it was harder for Ezra to just let her be with her mood.
It didn't take long before the silence got to Ezra and he did attempt to get her to open up, but Sabine wouldn't give anything more away than some clipped answers which didn't actually answer anything. In fact, most of her responses were either "nothing" or "drop it", and before he knew it, they had left the apartment and were already approaching the restaurant. Worse yet, they hadn't even discussed the plan of action for the evening.
"So, are you going to tell me how you want to play this out before we walk in here?" He asked, trying to get them both focused on the upcoming task.
Sabine still didn't respond at first as her mind was stuck racing about her earlier meeting with Gavyn, and she wouldn't have even registered Ezra's question at all if he hadn't placed a hand on one of her shoulders to help jolt her back to the moment.
"If you're not feeling up to this Sabine, maybe we should cancel dinner tonight?" He suggested. "We can always tell your new friends that I wasn't feeling well as an excuse."
"No, it's alright. I'm fine," she replied.
"No, you're not," Ezra said, not buying it for an instant. "I can tell that you're upset about something."
What Ezra said caused Sabine to do a double-take. "I said I'm fine, Ezra." She stated much more firmly and a tad irritably. Talking about what was bothering her was completely off the table, and not with Ezra. Things were already awkward enough and she knew it would only get worse if she shared what occurred with Gavyn.
"Then if you won't talk to me about what's bothering you, at least let me know how you want me to play this." Ezra pointed out. "I don't want to contradict something you might've already told them today, and I need to know what to say if they ask about us as a couple. "
"You're right," Sabine responded, knowing that he'd made a good point. "For our cover story, I didn't really give them too much information about you or us, so it's all fair game. We already know the basic cover story that was set up for us, but I've found that the best cover stories are the ones where you don't try to play a role. We're not actors, so just follow my lead and just try to be yourself as much as you can without blowing our cover."
"Alright," Ezra said as he opened the door for her. "Sounds easy enough."
The two Rebels gave a glance about the restaurant as soon as they were inside. Toward the center was a nice sized bar area along with a dance floor, and then there was a large seating area that surrounded both. Sabine had been given the name for the reservation before she left work, and provided it to the hostess, who took them to the reserved table where Sabine's new co-workers were already seated.
Once they were within eyesight of the table, a couple of Sabine's co-workers noticed them approaching and stood to greet them. The first thing Ezra noticed was that it wasn't a large group, with Sabine and Ezra causing the total reach double figures. They'd left a pair of seats together for them to sit next to one another, which would certainly make things a bit easier for Sabine.
For Sabine, the most difficult part of any mission was dealing with the people whenever blasters weren't involved. Casual conversation had never really her strong suit, and having to convince people that she was engaged to Ezra would only add to that challenge. And of course, everyone surely had questions about her soon to be spouse.
"So, this is the lucky guy?" One of them questioned her after they took their seats.
Ezra smiled at what he heard. "Yeah," he agreed. "I'm the lucky one."
Sabine couldn't stop herself from reacting with a well-placed elbow into Ezra's side, earning a chuckle around the table. "This is Dev," She said to the group before beginning to point to her co-workers as she continued. "Dev, this is Cen, and to his left is Ruto. On the other side Tyla and Hela."
"And this is my wife, Mille." Cen added. "Across from Ruto is his girlfriend, Ailyn. Over there is Tyla's boyfriend Crix, and finally, Hela's husband Porro."
"Nice to meet all of you," Ezra said to the group as he focused on tying the names to faces.
"Ria tells us that you're on the conveyor line at IA," Tyla said, leaning a bit farther onto the table, displaying some interest.
"Yeah," Ezra confirmed. "They had me working on a pretty decent sized order of E-11 blasters. It's kind of monotonous, but it's an easy paycheck."
"That's about all it is," Ruto said. "I don't know how anyone can stand being there for more than a few days without losing their minds. It's got to be mind-numbingly boring to do the same thing over and over."
"It is," Ezra agreed before looking over at his partner with a mischievous smile on his face. "But it does have its perks."
It took everything in Sabine to keep from rolling her eyes. Ezra didn't even try to hide his implication, and the others at the table would've had to be blind and deaf not to pick up on it. However, their response to his corny attempt at being romantic was much more positive than she anticipated, and it was especially true of the unmarried females in the group.
Ailyn playfully smacked Ruto on the shoulder, beginning to give him a hard time about why he wasn't as sweet as Ezra. While Tyla seemed to be a tad jealous by her reaction, although she didn't verbalize anything. Their boyfriends both reacted the way Sabine wanted to, but only until they noticed Tyla's and Ailyn's reactions.
The married couples, however, were looking directly at Sabine, and that concerned her a bit. She assumed they were expecting a bit more of a reaction from her because of what little they knew about the faux relationship. She'd went along with the script, telling everyone that she and Ezra were engaged to be married, but still were a relatively new couple. Normal new couples were more apt to displaying affection, but that just wasn't how Sabine was.
Ezra was flourishing in his fiancé role, and Sabine couldn't help but take notice of that too. His attempts at being charming were acceptable for the situation and it didn't seem to be forced or unnatural for him like it was quickly becoming for her. Everyone else at the table seemed to be eating it up too, which meant she had to put up with his "romantic" antics. Still, she couldn't help herself from looking at him a little differently too, adding yet another reason why he was the correct choice to be on this mission with her.
With Ezra, Sabine was already indoctrinated into his one-liners, but he was also harmless for her. She'd grown to trust him over the years and knew that if someone else had been selected, she wouldn't have been able to keep from giving away that the relationship wasn't real. Her eyes definitely would've rolled if anyone put on the type of display that Ezra was. Plus, Ezra's knowledge from being around her was helpful too. He hadn't tried to force any physical display of affection from her because he knew she wasn't comfortable with it.
And then Sabine took her eyes off of Ezra, only to notice everyone looking at her again. They all had the same looks on their faces too. It was a sort of knowing smile that she'd seen before but never in her direction before. Except from Ketsu. Then, she realized that she had an honest smile on her face as well. She knew what they were thinking, and in this instance, she wouldn't be able to argue against it. After all, she was supposed to be in love with Ezra, or rather Dev.
Thanks to Ezra, his apparent charm, and his overall people skills, the rest of the night went by rather smoothly. The food was delicious and the company was enjoyable. Even the conversation entertaining as they covered a variety of topics. She was thankful that her co-workers didn't pry for details about their relationship, as Ezra's performance seemed to quell the desire for that.
The only thing that didn't go extremely well was how no one wanted to talk shop as it were. But before they knew it, the bill was paid and they were all saying goodbye before going their separate ways. From that point, it was a nice, quiet walk back to the apartment, but that was only until she realized that she'd been holding his hand ever since they left the restaurant and she still was. It wasn't a long walk back to the apartment, but they'd definitely been out of sight for quite some time, meaning the pretense for holding hands had passed long ago.
Abruptly, she dropped his hand and things began to feel awkward again. What was coming over her? Ezra was her friend, and as much as she wanted to forget that it happened, her meeting with Gavyn and his words were still rolling around in her mind. Ezra had played the part of loving fiancé so well, and he also knew and respected where the lines with Sabine were not to be crossed.
Gavyn thought that something happened, and for the first time, she could see why someone like him or Ketsu, or even her temporary co-workers would think that way. But what staggered her the most, was that now she could see it too.
A/N: Mando translation to the best of my knowledge - Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod? = Are you looking for a smack in the face, mate?
Next up: The mission's end arrives abruptly, but why and did Sabine and Ezra get the intel they were tasked to?