When dinner finally ended, Ky admitted to herself that she was both surprised and a bit disappointed. She hadn't really wanted it to end, she had enjoyed herself far too much. If she had had her way, she would have continued things for a few more hours, and she doubted Torian would have minded. But the dishes and the glasses were empty, and she could feel the fatigue from earlier start to infringe again. Remembering Gault and Mako might be back soon, she reluctantly told herself they did need to wind things down and clean up.
She gathered her dishes, only to have him gently take them from her. "Let me," he said, adding them to the small pile of his own. "Least I can do."
"I can help just fine, Torian," she protested, but her voice seemed rather flat and sleepy to her. She felt her eyelids start to grow heavy, but she fought her sleepiness as best as she could. She couldn't let him see her that weak, could she?
"It's fine." He replied with a smile. She did her best to return with a reassuring smile of her own, but with her growing fatigue she was uncertain she was successful. He had barely turned his back and entered the galley before she was considering standing and making her way to her quarters for some sleep. But her head felt heavy, her eyes kept closing on their own, and she began thinking the spot where she was sitting was as good as any to rest on. She fought that impulse, one too many times waking with a sore shoulder and back had taught her that the floor of a ship was not, in fact, a comfortable bed on its own.
"Tired?" He was quick, she gave him that. Having finished cleaning up, he had exited the galley just in time to see her give her head a brisk shake to ward off drowsiness.
She nodded. "It's apparently been a very long day," she replied. She moved to stand, taking the steadying hand he offered.
"Don't forget, you're also recovering from a pretty rough injury there." His statement made her remember her arm; she had totally forgotten about it. She glanced down at the bandage, noted its condition. Recovering from any injury was difficult on its own, add in that she could have lost the arm made it even harder.
Keeping her hand in his, he guided her to Medbay. "Why don't we fix up that dressing?" he asked. "May not be as good at field dressings as Mako, but I've picked up a few tricks." In her fatigue, all she could really do was let him guide her. Once there, she lay on one of the beds, while he gathered the necessary implements.
In her fatigued state, she barely remembered him cutting the bandaging from her arm, or unwrapping it. She did, however, remember the sharp pain that jolted through her arm as he cleaned the wound. She sucked her breath in with a hiss, and her arm tensed.
He noted her reaction. "Sorry," he said. "Too rough. Wanted to make sure it was clean."
She smiled sleepily. "It's all right," she murmured, feeling herself relax as the pain subsided. As he worked to finish cleaning and dressing the wound, she found herself drifting off to sleep.
He could tell by both her breathing and her posture that she was asleep. She had been drifting off gradually the entire time he was tending to her arm -only waking the one time he was too rough when cleaning the wound- but had finally fallen asleep as he was starting to wrap the new bandage over the dressing.
As he put things away, Torian paused as he noticed the slight tremor in his hands. Those nerves that had plagued him earlier in the day were returning. Finishing up the task quickly, he turned back to where Kybrina lay sleeping. His observant gaze studied her face, noting how peaceful she looked as she slept. He frowned a bit as he noticed the cosmetics obscuring both her scars and the dusting of freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. In his opinion -though he was unsure how much it mattered- it made her look too perfect, obscured the quirks and imperfections that made her lovely in his eyes.
She shifted a bit, and he could tell by her expression that she was trying to find a comfortable position. He knew that feeling; for some reason the medbay beds on the ship weren't exactly designed for comfort. He had sat on one while patching himself up after a fight, and while they were decent to relax on for a few minutes to clear one's head, they weren't conducive to sleep.
He knew waking her up to help her reach a more comfortable bed would be nearly impossible. He recalled the one time he had tried to wake her to tell her something important about a target. Still groggy, she had slept through half the message, then yelled at Gault for a solid minute when he asked her for details a few minutes later. It had not been a pleasant sight, and he really didn't want a repeat performance. Instead, he approached the bed, slid his arms beneath her, and picked her up. Immediately, he was surprised at how light she felt; maybe it was all the armor she typically wore, but he thought she would be much heavier. He could feel the firmness of her body in his arms, knew that her softness was misleading. She was lean, well-muscled, and able to take on just about anyone.
He was surprised when she suddenly slid her arms around his neck. He hadn't expected that, and his shock was such that he nearly dropped her. Quickly, he regained his bearings and exited the small room, crossing over to the crew quarters. He had thought about taking her up to her private quarters, but decided against it. He hadn't been invited in her private space before, and felt it would be intrusive to assume an invitation just because she was asleep. There was also the matter of the stairs; he always marveled at how a ship as small as the Mantis had so many stairs crammed into it. He was pretty worn-out himself, so the thought of climbing all those stairs while carrying her held no appeal for him.
Entering the crew quarters, Torian quickly located his bed. He laid her down gently, hearing her soft sigh. He started to straighten up to leave, only to find her arms were still tightly woven around his neck. He gave them a gentle tug, hoping to get them to release, but found they wouldn't. He tried lifting them so he could slip his head out, but failed at that as well.
Devious little thing, Kybrina. He thought to himself. He wasn't sure if she was still asleep, or only pretending to be. It seemed the only way she would release him was if he joined her. This should have been frustrating for him, but instead he found it amusing. Of course, that could have just as easily been the fatigue talking.
Mindful of her injured arm, he settled onto the bed next to her. Immediately, he felt her arms relax, sliding to a more comfortable position against his chest. He drew her close, feeling her breath warm the fabric at the front of the shirt. Was it his imagination, or had he heard a soft laugh come from her? At that point, he was far too fatigued to care. He felt his own eyes grow heavy, and he rested his cheek against the top of her head as he drifted off, unaware of the smile that touched her lips.