Aya's star was shining brightly across the horizon, casting the capital in a striking golden hue of twilight. The waterfalls roared in the distance, creating a gentle mist sparkling in the last rays of light of the day. That, combined with the exuberant array of colours the local flora provided, created a scene of urban beauty found nowhere else in the Heleus cluster. Today however, nobody in said city could give a damn about their beautiful surroundings. Today it was just one person that had their full attention. That person wasn't even Angaran, instead he was from a species hailing from far away, from another galaxy even. But he had changed everything for them, made it possibly to hope and live towards a future worth living again.
As people looked on, boulevards packed with Angaran citizens trying to get a glimpse of the Pathfinder, even the Moshae standing next to him seemingly temporarily forgotten, Scott seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, the crowd seeming even bigger then when he first set foot on the planet several months ago. He managed to keep up a good show for the populace though by smiling and waving exuberantly towards the crowd.
Inwardly he was just counting the minutes until it would be over. He wasn't a politician, had no desire to be one and while he appreciated the enthusiasm people seemed to have for what had been accomplished, he didn't feel any special nor deserving of the parade held in his honor. None of it would have been possible without the help of his crew, SAM and many denizens throughout Heleus after all. Yet, here he was, having become a symbol for change in the cluster.
After a while they arrived near the spaceport near the eastern cliffs, the port itself along with several layers of the city were constructed in such a way that it almost looked like a giant staircase of foliage and infrastructure straddling along the canyon.
Things had started out well enough, as well as could be expected as far as Scott was concerned. As soon as the Tempest touched down in the morning he was greeted by a giant escort guiding him, part of his crew and representatives of the Andromeda Initiative towards the Resistance HQ.
He once again met with the Angaran leadership. He had to suppress a laugh when both Ambassador Rialla and Jaal made some thinly veiled insult towards Director Tann over the official vidcom when he tried some of his usual transparent political games.
However, mostly he had just kept an eye on the Resistance Leader. The Angaran himself had just curtly acknowledged him once he arrived, not giving anything away expect for the fact that Evfra grabbed him by one of his arms and slowly swirled his thumb across Scott's skin. He didn't know if it was an Angaran custom or just Evfra's somewhat awkward attempt at showing affection in an official capacity. Regardless it distracted Scott long enough through the day to entertain himself during the most boring moments. Imagining what else those nimble fingers could do to him.
Evfra for his part just seemed his usually stoic and distant self during the entire proceedings after the initial meeting. Although he could swear he saw several intense gazes from the Resistance Leader while he was addressing the Angaran leadership and the accompanied Initiative delegation.
Suddenly noticing that the route they were walking was taking a familiar corner and thus reminding him it wasn't over yet, he realized his internal musings weren't enough to distract him fully.
'God, why does this have to take so long?' Scott thought to himself, finally getting frustrated at all the formality. Fortunately, as they fully turned the corner, the gateway of the spaceport came into full view; the last official part of his visit was about to take place. Taking a quick look around; he could see Efvra walking a bit behind him, having purposefully taken some distance. He seemed slightly annoyed by whatever Govenor Peraan was whispering close to his face. Scott kept making short stares toward him, hoping he'd get his attention, even if just for a few seconds.
Luckily it seemed to work; the second Efvra's eyes met Scott's however his seemingly permanent scowl softens a bit. Scott could swear he even saw a very tiny smile on the leader's face. The Govenor however kept demanding Evfra's attention and he broke contact with Scott, his usual grumpy features returning immediately. Once again leaving Scott alone with his own thoughts as they all continued to walk through the gateway of the spaceport.
He could see the transport in the distance that would take him and Evfra away from all the official business and – finally – towards somewhere on the planet where he'd have his very first vacation since arriving in Andromeda. He needed one, badly.
After waving one last time towards the crowd he turned to the Moshae, making sure he was within hearing range of accompanied dignitaries.
"It has been a great honor to return here once again Moshae, I hope the new friendship between the species of the Milky Way and the Angara will continue to strengthen." Scott said in his most serious but heart felt tone he could muster.
The Moshea smiled gently at his words, she knew it weren't just words alone, he meant them too. Taking a quick glance at Evfra, him seemingly starting to look a bit annoyed and impatient, her smile grew even wider. 'Of all her students, it just had to be him.' She thought to herself. Evidently quite amused. Not wasting any time, she quickly thanked him and the Andromeda Initiative for what they've done and what could be hoped to be achieved together in the future.
After that Scott quickly said his goodbye's to the remaining crowd and told Cora & Jaal to take good care of the Tempest while he was on vacation. Obviously both didn't commit to any promises; it's still Heleus after all.
Walking up towards the entrance of the transport, he looked around to discover that while he was saying his goodbye's, several Angara soldiers had already transferred his bags on the transport. And Evfra was waiting for him, standing in the doorway. As soon as Scott got to him he turned around and moved into the transport, Scott quickly followed him into the ship, not wanting to stay a second longer.
After him, two Angara pilots walked into the transport as well along with several other soldiers, the last one closing the door of the transport. As soon as the door was closed, Scott suddenly felt two large arms grabbing him around his waist. Slightly surprised but definitely not annoyed, Scott almost immediately leaned into the embrace. He could almost feel Evfra's muscles right through the clothing as he increased his grip on Scott. He could hear Evfra sigh loudly, resting part of his chin on Scott's right shoulder, looking at his face as best he could.
"Finally...I've missed you a lot." Evfra said, his face had softened quite a bit.
"I've missed you too." Scott said, sighing himself as he gently tried to change around within Evfra's embrace so he could hug him too. Fortunately, Evfra took the hint and let go just a little as Scott turned around and grabbed him. For a little while, they both just stood there, enjoying the gentle but firm hug. Not saying anything until one of the soldiers interrupted them.
"Were ready when you are, Sir." The soldier said. "Good, take off immediately." Came the short reply from Evfra. Scott for his part suddenly realized they still had an audience. For a brief second he was unsure if he had overstepped his bounds.
He quickly remembered however that it was Evfra himself who started it. Evfra noticed Scott's short hesitation however.
"They know of our...connection." Evfra said, with a slightly amused glint is his eyes.
"They'll take us towards our place for the week and form part of the squad that will be on guard duty. Don't worry, they've got their own quarters nearby, we won't be disturbed. "
With that answer Scott could swear he saw the soldier smiling as he went back towards the front of the transport, closing the door towards the front compartment, leaving him and Evfra alone in their part of the transport.
Both quickly took their seats, sitting next to each other. Barely a minute later, the craft had taken off and it didn't take long until they were high up in the atmosphere, well on their way towards the destination. Once the transport stabilized, Scott turned to Evfra sitting next to him, wanting to know a bit more about where they were going. Which was conveniently also a good topic to start up a conversation again as Evfra for his part seemed content with just staring intensely at the Pathfinder.
"So where are we going exactly? And what does this little vacation home of you look like?" Scott said his curiosity clearly audible as he posed the question.
Evfra seemed to like the question as he stopped his staring and perked up a bit, raising himself to sit straight up and told Scott that they were going towards the main southern continent which was largely devoid of the intense volcanic activity spanning large parts of the planet. It was perfectly tropical, had beautiful beaches, gorgeous flora, nice weather and best of all no large settlements nearby with people to gawk at both of them. The 'vacation home' itself was a large villa edged on a cliff along a fresh lake with a beautiful curved bay sprawled out in front of it. In other words, potentially one of the most romantic spots on the planet. 'That brilliant, sneaky bastard'. Scott thought to himself.
Feeling completely content as Evfra talked about some ideas about what they could do during their week-long stay, Scott decided he wanted to do something to show his appreciation right now.
As Evfra talked, he didn't notice Scott's hand shooting upwards until he could feel a warm human hand touching him on his cheek. He immediately stopped talking, staring into Scott's eyes. Scott then leaned a bit forward and upward and pressed his forehead against Evfra's.
"The place sounds gorgeous, and I'm sure we will find more than enough to do. For now though, I just want you." Scott said with a deep breath and a small chuckle. He had managed to surprise his Angara this time. Evfra seemed to like that very much.
He quickly broke the contact, stood up from his chair...and dropped himself straight onto one of Evfra's legs, practically sitting in his lap. Scott quickly leaned towards Evfra and pressed his lips tightly on Evfra's mouth.
Evfra didn't even have time to process what was happening. The human was fast. He managed to catch up as soon as he felt some very warm lips pressing against his own. He quickly adjusted his legs a little so Scott could sit comfortably on one of his thick legs. After that he started kissing back.
For several minutes they both just kept kissing and feeling each other up. Both their hands were gently caressing and exploring across their bodies as they lost themselves in the moment. It felt so incredible good yet strange to the both of them.
Evfra decided to explore a bit further and broke the kiss, slightly nibbling on Scott's lips, only to move to the human's exposed neck and starts kissing and moving across the soft skin. He could hear a heavy sigh escaping Scott's mouth as he did so. His little exploring was clearly being appreciated.
Fortunately, Scott wasn't the only one enjoying it. Evfra was captivated by the slightly salty taste of the human's skin, the feeling of Scott's hair gently brushing against his own face and fingers whenever he got close.
After a while, Scott managed to turn the tables and started doing some exploring of his own as he kissed Evfra along his wide neck. Scott had to laugh for just a second when he was able to practically press his entire face into the folds of flesh on both sides of Evfra's face. Evfra for his part didn't even seem to notice much as the feeling of Scott's firm lips kissing, the wet and warm tongue moving across his skin took up all of his attention. For the very first time in years, Evfra had lost all reason to worry, for now he could just enjoy the moment, being cared for by someone he had come to love dearly. The pleasure of his lover's kisses and gently touches spreading throughout his body. It was enough, for now.