DISCLAIMER: Hagaren is Arakawa's.
Pairing: Olivier Armstrong/ Major Miles
Prompt: Worth It
Rated: K
He watches quietly, from her side. He sees every move she makes and quite a few that she doesn't, given away by the crease in her brow and the way she hesitates for only a moment. He knows her mask inside and out but has yet to breach it, for he knows she's not ready for such an intrusion and it is certainly not his place to impose. He knows how she sees him, though he doubts she has any idea of how he sees her.
Ill-tempered. Blunt. cold.
Cunning. Brave. Strong.
Above all, always strong.
What he feels is a multitude of emotions, some of them less appropriate than others, all of them kept close to the vest. The admiration, the respect, the fear, the trust; secrets he'll keep tucked under his pillow, to be visited only on sleepless nights.
It's not love, but it's the closest he'll ever come to feeling it. And perhaps it satisfies, perhaps it doesn't. But when he sees the slight flash of emotion in her stony blue eyes, he thinks that either way, maybe in the end, it'll be worth it.
A/N: These are getting shorter and shorter... oh dear. And this one is bordering on stream of consciousness, which is a first for me.