He'd thought she was asleep. She was curled up in his arms, eyes closed, a tiny smile on her face. He smiled too, stroking her hair, and looking up at the ceiling. Without thinking, he murmured, "How did we end up like this?"

"You started it..." came a drowsy murmur. She raised her head to look at him sleepily, still smiling. Reaching out, she ran a hand down his cheek. "Regretting it?" He chuckled, pulling her close again. "Not at all." He ran a hand gently up and down her back. "Why would I ever regret this?"

She sighed, snuggling back down into his embrace. "I don't regret it either.." she agreed. Then she smiled. "Although, maybe Natarle has a few regrets.." He raised an eyebrow at that, peeking down to see the rather impish look on his lover's face. "The Lieutenant? How do you mean?" Murrue giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Because I got you, and she didn't. She liked you, you know? I think that if she could see us now...that she'd be jealous." He blinked, blue eyes wide. "Liked me? She did?"

"Yep. She'd never have said anything, but I saw the way she looked at you sometimes." She poked his chest. "She liked you." Mwu grinned at that. "Hey now. Not so bad being liked by two pretty ladies..." Murrue tipped her head to one side. "Oh? You think she's pretty?"

"Well, sure, kinda.." he mused, looking at the ceiling again. "She has nice eyes. But she's not really my type, you know?" The young woman beside him didn't look convinced. "Your type? And what exactly is 'your type'?" Mwu smiled, tracing circles into her back through her nightdress. He didn't answer her dry questioning, just gazed at her. Murrue met his gaze for a few moments, then looked away, a faint trace of pink to her cheeks.

"So," he continued airily, still stroking her back, "you think the Lieutenant would be jealous? And what do you mean, 'you got me'? You mean that if she'd stayed on board the ship, there'd have been a fight on for me?" That was a flattering thought...but his ego was quickly bruised by her laughter. "What, you think you're God's gift to women now?"

"No!" he replied quickly, trying to cover himself. "I..." Murrue kept laughing, rolling onto her back. Her pale face was flushed red from her giggles. "And here I was thinking that you weren't as egotistical as you seemed at first. Guess I was wrong..." He scowled at that, folding his arms. "Well, excuse me.."

Murrue turned her head to peek up at him, suppressing more giggles at his obvious pouting. Shaking her head, she moved up to kiss his cheek. "You're cute when you're mad.." she whispered in his ear, resting her head on his shoulder. The blonde man didn't respond at first, then sighed. "That was mean.."

"Well, what do you expect when you say something like that?" she asked, nuzzling closer. "You were kind of asking for it.."

"Yeah.." he whined, "but it was a flattering thought.." He pulled her close and began to draw patterns on her back again, his sunny smile returning when she arched into his touch, her sigh of contentment almost a purr. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"No..." she murmured happily, "you're not.."

"You think the Lieutenant would be jealous of you? She was jealous that she didn't get to be captain, after all..." he mused. Murrue's lips curved in a smile. "She could have been captain if she'd wanted. She seems better suited for it. It does make me wonder, though. If she'd been captain, and I'd stayed down in the hangar with the mobile suits...what would have happened?" Mwu grinned. "Not much difference, I don't think. She'd have been more interested in her job than in me. And since I spend a lot of my time in the hangar anyway...you'd still have been the one I noticed." The auburn-haired woman blushed, but she looked happy. He couldn't help pushing it though, wanting to know for sure. "If she ever had tried though..would you have let her?"

His captain giggled, snuggling closer. "Once I'd figured out how I felt? Not a chance. What about you? If Natarle had ever told you she liked you, what would you have done?"

"Hmm." was his reply. He scratched his chin, deep in thought (or pretending to be.) Murrue huffed a little. "Is it that hard to come up with an answer?"

"Well," Mwu hedged. "She is pretty. And it's always nice to be told by a pretty lady that they like you..." But even as he pretended to struggle with the decision, he already knew his answer. He looked to where his lover was watching him, inwardly smiling as he saw that despite her nonchalance, she really was worried about his answer.

The Lieutenant is pretty, sure. But it's a cold kind of beauty. The way her eyes could narrow to chips of ice when she was shouting out orders, or when Murrue made a decision she didn't approve of...no. Even if she really did like me, it wouldn't have worked out.

Murrue, on the other hand...it was like comparing night with day. Everything about her was warm and caring, her eyes, manner, voice...all of it. Even when she was mad at him, (which was kind of scary) he still found her adorable. There was no doubt as to who he would have chosen.

"I'd still have chosen you." he replied, caressing her cheek with a finger. "Nobody else." Murrue beamed, delighted, and hugged him. Mwu chuckled. "You were worried, huh? Silly.."

She could never compare to you. Because I was drawn to you the moment we met...

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( Was this too weird? It was OOC, but...You can tell that Natarle sort of liked Mwu (proves she has taste XD) and I do think that's another reason why she always seemed to be mean to Murrue-san. 'Cause she could tell that Mwu liked our favourite captain.

Hope it's not too bad. Please read and review! )