Anything recognised as her material is the property of the author Tamora Pierce. I do not own anything.

I just wish I owned good ol' Dom-i-kins.

#

Dom was smiling at her across the mess hall. Kel wanted to deny it; she didn't want to look. But in the end, her gaze was pulled from her dinner and up to Dom's slender form. She found herself staring. Once again, his company had come in from the rain, he was soaked through. His hair was a tangled mess on the two of his head and his boots were muddy and his breeches were torn.

He looked so…appealing.

"Hey," he said with a grin and sat down next to her. Neal, Yuki, and everybody excluding Kel greeted him enthusiastically.

Kel just sat with her head down and chewed at her food anxiously.

What on earth…? she thought, puzzled. I'm never anxious. Why should I be anxious? I have nothing to be anxious about.

"Kel," Dom said finally, and she looked up to find the whole mess hall had cleared out. "Can I talk to you? I mean, this is so awkward now, and it used to be…so easy…"

She looked down. "That was before," she murmured, and then her hands flew to her mouth in shock. She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Stupid, Kel scolded herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

But Dom just sighed and put his head down on his folded hands. "I know," he agreed quietly.

"Dom," she whispered, "I think…I think…"

Which was just the moment where Neal came in, once again ruining their moment, and yelled at them to come play chess.

Kel grabbed her glaive and followed Neal out with a murderous expression on her face, chess the very last thing on her mind.

#

"Hey," Dom said friendlily, "again." He pulled back a chair and watched as Neal and Merric began to have the Chess Game of All Time.

Their words, not Kel's.

She smiled at him, relieved that the tension had lessened a remarkable amount. Sitting down next to Dom, together they shared a commentary of the chess match, and succeeding, unceasingly, to annoy the players like they had never been annoyed before.

"It's nice to see them back together again," Yuki said. When Neal and Merric looked at her in shock, she grinned. "I mean, as friends."

Meanwhile, Tobe had entered the room, carrying something quite familiar.

"Bananas," Dom hissed. "I needed those bananas. Hand over the bananas!"

Poor Tobe stared at him, looking startled and bewildered. Kel couldn't stop laughing. Dom smiled sheepishly at her, blushing slightly, before kissing her on the cheek and leaving the room.

He took the bananas with him.

#

In her room, Kel was dreaming about wrapping her arms around Dom; being pulled to his chest; his lips next to her ear.

She woke up, hot, flustered, and decided.

#

Dom couldn't stop his mind from continuously straying back to Kel. Her lush lips, her lustrous hair, her wide eyes and determined set of mouth.

He woke up the next morning, knowing just what he had to do.