XXXXII.
Cora steps onto her tiptoes to slide her helmet onto the very top shelf of her armour locker, pushing it with her fingertips until it is as far as it will go and locks into place with a positive click. She glances around her and to the bench behind her, letting her eyes move over it to make sure she has stowed all of her armour and hasn't missed anything. Cora spots that her boots are still discarded at her feet, so she crouches down to retrieve them and places them into the bottom of her locker beneath her armour plates. She glances over her shoulder when she hears the distinctive sound of the rest of the team finally coming to join her, the echoing of their boots against the floor getting louder as they get closer to coming through the door to the locker room and armoury.
Cora smiles to herself when she hears the sound of Scott laughing with Liam about something, glad that despite how tired they are all feeling from their day, Scott is still smiling. She is also sure she can hear Peebee talking at Vetra, her voice loud and fast as she chatters in the corridor. When Cora is finally sure everything is in order, she stands in front of her locker and takes hold of the door to close it with the palm of her hand. She takes another look over her shoulder when she hears them reach her.
"What took you so long?" Cora smiles when she watches Liam enter first, closely followed by Scott who's eyes immediately meet hers and he gives her a small smile.
"Peebee got distracted." Liam laughs and she notices that he heads straight for his locker and opens it, stashing his own helmet and start removing his armour.
"Again? We've been to Kadara before." Cora giggles and hears Liam laugh at her response and can hear that he's trying to get undressed as quickly as he can and knows he's been complaining about how hungry he is for a few hours.
Cora lets her eyes rest on Scott when she watches him approach his locker beside hers and press his hand against the panel to open it, reaching up to store his helmet and then lowering his hands to begin removing his armour. She lets her eyes move down his body, noticing how dirty and sandy his plates are but also admiring the way it fits his body. Cora smiles to herself when she notices he has caught her looking at him and gives her a not very subtle flirtatious smile.
"I'm desperate for a shower." Peebee sighs as she and Vetra step through the door and into the room. "But there is always a queue." She huffs drawing Cora's attention away from Scott and to the other side of the room when they enter.
"I'm desperate for some grub." Liam laughs and Cora looks over her shoulder when she sees him moving and sees he is finished changing. "You joining us for dinner Pathfinder?" He asks and she notices his eyes are on them and he's talking to both her and Scott.
"I could do with a shower too." Cora sees Scott's eyes on her and sees him smile at her, but then he glances over his shoulder at Liam who looks at him expectantly. "Okay, Liam." Scott sighs lightly. "Dinner does sound good." He nods and Cora watches him lifting his armour off of his body and forcing it into the restraints inside his locker before bending to undo his boots and shaking them off of his feet.
"Did Vetra cook?" Cora whispers and sees Liam grin and shake his head. "Then count me in, too." She nods seeing that their answers have satisfied Liam and he is wandering back towards the door. "We have to eat with them sometimes." Cora begins, glancing around and noticing that everyone else has left and it is just the two of them.
"I know." Scott laughs quietly and she watches him packing the last of his armour and boots away and that he is left just wearing his black under armour. "I really like it when it's just us." He adds and she watches his attention turn to her and give her another smile.
"I do too." Cora smiles when he leans closer and kisses her cheek softly, letting his mouth linger against her cheek. "But, your team might be wondering why we are missing so often." She laughs.
"I think they might be wondering why you don't use your bunk." Scott grins and she watches him reach his hand to the back of his neck and unfasten his under armour and begin peeling it off of his arms and roll it down to his waist.
"Liam doesn't use his bunk." Cora giggles and lets her eyes travel over his chest for a moment, noticing that the light hair on his chest and beneath his belly button is damp from sweat. "Neither does Peebee, and I have a bed in the Bio Lab." She nods, almost forgetting what she was talking about when his eyes meet hers and sees him smile.
"That's true." Scott nods and she watches him closing his locker. "Not that you've ever slept in it." He chuckles when he glances at her and sees her shaking her head lightly at him. "Do you really think they didn't see us in the shower on Veold?" Scott grins at her, making her smile when she remembers that the night they'd spent together had been the only thing good about that mission. "They definitely saw us in that bunk together." He laughs, but that was a week ago and none of the team had mentioned it.
"I couldn't get out of that shower block fast enough. They didn't need to see that much of us." Cora smiles at him and hears him chuckle at her words. "We need to be more careful." She adds and notices he grins and nods lightly, knowing he had no intention of going that. "Are you thinking about that shower?" Cora giggles quietly when she notices he has that look in his eye.
"I might be." Scott smiles. "Can I have a kiss now they've gone?" He smiles and she notices he quickly checks they are alone before he leans towards her again.
"Just a little one." Cora giggles and lifts her hand to his chin and draws his mouth to hers, pressing her lips against his in a soft kiss. She feels him lift his hand to the back of her head and pull her closer, his mouth opening hers. "I'm all sweaty." Cora whispers when he breaks their kiss and she feels him stroking his fingers against the back of her neck.
"Just how I like you." Scott smiles and she feels him drawing her into another kiss. "Want to go shower together and then pretend we didn't?" He chuckles making her laugh too and lift her hand to stroke his cheek briefly.
Cora nods and feels him lowering his hand from her and watches him turn and step away from her, not able to keep from smiling when she notices that he almost instinctively holds his hand out to her and motions with his head for her to go with him. She laughs quietly and can tell that he's noticed that her hand isn't in his when he looks back at her.
"We can't hold hands." Cora giggles and watches his eyes lower to his hand and then shake his head and sigh dramatically making her laugh again.
"I thought we were going to tell people about us?" Scott laughs and she sees him smile at her when she moves to catch up with him and begins walking at his side.
"I don't think us holding hands is the best way we could do that." Cora smiles at him as they walk together back through the door and into the corridor that leads to the main section of their ship. "You might need a team meeting." She adds as Cora feels his fingertips brush against hers every few steps, making her smile to herself when she feels it.
"Maybe once we've had a shower." Scott chuckles and she notices he wrinkles his nose at her, knowing he has no intention of calling a team meeting. "One where they aren't about to walk in on us." He adds.
"Sounds like they're having fun." Cora whispers, lowering her voice as they walk past the crew quarters and galley and they can both hear laughter and the rest of the crew all talking together.
"See they won't even notice we aren't there," Scott whispers and she sees him smile innocently at her making her giggle quietly and shake her head. "Follow me." He mouths and smiles as she feels him take hold of her hand and quickly head towards his door, taking her with him.
Cora glances behind her towards the sound of their teammates, making sure that no one has heard them sneaking past and then turns her attention back to Scott. She watches as he quickly lifts his hand to gain access to the room, making the door slide open when he presses his palm against the panel. Cora can't help but giggle when she feels his grip on her hand tighten and he motions towards the room with his head, he lifts his finger to his lips and grins before creeping inside and drawing her into the room with him. She feels him let go of her hand and just as quickly as he's opened it, authorise it to close and lock. Cora laughs when she hears him let out a large sigh and lean his back against the door, glad that they now have the privacy from the rest of the ship that they so badly want, even if it is for a few hours a night.
"That was close." Scott chuckles when she sighs and shakes her head at him. "You think anyone saw us?" He grins and she watches him step away from the door and take hold of his under armour in his hands and continue to wriggle his body out of the tight material.
"I think we're good." Cora giggles and reaches her hand to unhook her mesh armour layer at the base of her neck. She sighs quietly as she fiddles with the fastening, struggling to get it undone so glances up to find Scott to help her. "Baby, can you get this for me?" She asks and hears him moving back towards her.
"Sure.." He begins and she feels him close behind her and that he replaces her fingers with his own and undoes it for her. "All done." She hears the smile in his voice and then feels him kiss the skin that he's uncovered on her shoulder.
"Thank you." Cora smiles and looks over her shoulder at him. She watches him nod and turns to walk away from her and towards the large glass shower on the far side of the room.
Cora can't help but smile when she realises how quickly he's got himself out of his armour so she very happily lets her eyes take in the sight of him in all his naked glory when she watches him move to open the door of their shower before he leans in to activate the water. Cora hears the sound of the water running and notices that he is testing it with his hand and then feels his eyes on her. She quickly begins pulling her own under armour off her arms and rolling it down to her waist, peeling it off of her body and down her legs with her hands, trying to match him until she is down to her underwear.
"Were you wearing that this morning?" Scott gives her a playful smile when she approaches him and she watches him motioning towards her black lace bra and knickers.
"No, I changed halfway through the mission." Cora sighs and smiles at him back and hears him chuckle. "Why, do you like it?" Cora whispers and notices that his eyes move down her body and then back to her face.
"I like it a lot." Scott smiles and she feels him close the gap between them. "You look so amazing." He adds and she is sure she feels herself blush. "All that hard armour and I get to see what's underneath," Scott whispers.
"Are you still talking about my underwear?" Cora giggles and sees him shake his head and grin when she unhooks her bra and removes it, letting it fall to the floor at their feet. "You've seen me in these before." Cora gives him a smile when she sees he's watching her so she tucks her fingers into the waistband of her knickers and wriggles out of them too.
"I know.." Scott grins and she watches his eyes take in the sight of her again. "But, when a very average guy like me somehow manages to convince a complete and utter babe like you to be with him.." Scott continues and she hears a smile in his voice. "It's nice to keep reminding myself that I'm doing something right." He adds with another grin and she sees him carefully stepping into the shower and moving under the stream of water, letting it run down his back and over his body.
"You do everything right, trust me." Cora giggles and steps over the lip and into the shower herself and to the space in front of him, sighing quietly when the hot water comes into contact with her own sore back. "You didn't do any convincing." She smiles and watches Scott smile and lower his eyes. "Is that really what you think?" Cora asks and lifts her head to make the water run cover her back and wet her hair.
"Maybe." Scott laughs quietly and she watches him rubbing the water through his hair and then fixing his eyes on her. "You don't agree that you're the hottest woman I've ever met?" He grins and she watches him lift his arm to reach for the soap from the holder.
"I think you have a very high opinion of me, Ryder." Cora laughs and she sees him shake his head and grin. "But, you are definitely the hottest thing I've ever seen." She giggles and sees her words make him smile. "Can I ask you something?" She asks and sees his nod.
"Anything." Scott nods and she watches him squirting soap onto his hands and then holding it out to her too before dropping it to the floor at their feet. "You know that." He smiles and she feels his eyes meet hers.
"It's something Alec said." Cora begins, waiting to see what Scott's reaction might be but she notices he just nods. She lifts her hands and runs the soap through his hair, lathering it beneath her palms until she is sure she's covered his head completely.
"What did he say?" He asks as she watches him lean his head beneath the water to rinse it clean and then notices that he begins rubbing the soap into his chest.
She lets her hands move over her body for a moment, soaping her skin to give her a moment to think and then lathers it into her hair with her fingertips. Cora's attention comes back to Scott when she feels him lift his hand to her face and tilt it back with his finger, using the other hand to rinse her hair and not get water in her eyes.
"He said that I got under his skin." Cora sighs and she sees Scott nod, looking like he remembers him saying that. "That I got in his head, and Sara said the same thing about me getting into your head." She adds and notices that Scott frowns and shakes his head lightly. "Harry did too I guess." Cora sighs and feels Scott's hands on her hips so glances into his face, watching the water making his skin glisten.
"As much as I don't want to think about it.." Scott smiles. "Alec did love you, in his own way." He nods and she watches him lift his hand to run through his wet hair. "So, it's not really surprising you would be on his mind a lot." He gives her a small smile and Cora feels him drawing her into his arms.
"But Harry says I'm a distraction.." Cora sighs and wraps her arms around him in return, letting her hands rest on his back. "He thinks I get what I want by getting in your head." She adds and sees him shake his head again.
"That's not true," Scott whispers and she feels him lift his hand to stroke her hair, feeling the water running down them both. "I value your opinion because it's yours." Scott smiles. "Because you have experience and knowledge that I would love to have. I need your guidance and help with this." He laughs making her smile lightly and nod.
"I wouldn't ever try and influence you." Cora sighs and feels Scott backing her up against the glass wall until her back is pressed against it. "It's just hard because I love you and want what's best for you." She smiles when Scott dips his head to kiss her softly.
"I know you do." Scott smiles against her lips. "I feel the same, that's why I want the best for you too. It's what you do when you love someone." He whispers making her sigh when she feels his blue eyes meet hers. "If that means you're always on my mind, I'm okay with that." He smiles and she hears him sigh happily when she places her hand on the back of his neck and drags him into another kiss.
"You are always on my mind too." Cora smiles against his mouth. "Especially when we're suited up and all I'm thinking about is how much I want this." Cora giggles when his eyes meet hers and she can see he's thinking about it too.
"Turn around.." Scott grins so she does as he asks and turns her back to him, sighing when she feels him place his hands on her hips and his chest against her back pressing her against the wall.
—/—
"Sorry guys.." Cora hears Scott's voice so glances up from her bowl and her task of spooning her food into her mouth, and notices that their Pathfinder has joined them. A few minutes after her, to not cause any further suspicion they had decided and now here he was. "I had something I had to do.." He adds and she smiles to herself, it had been her he was doing against the wall of his shower and they'd been in no hurry for it to be over.
"Hey, Ryder." Gil begins drawing her attention to him and she watches him stand from his chair. "I've made dinner." He continues and Cora sees him motioning towards the large pot on top of the stove that they've all been eating from. "It's Gil's Surprise, attempt number six-hundred and three." He chuckles and she notices that he hands Scott a bowl and then begins ladling large amounts of the stew into it.
"This looks great." Scott laughs and she sees him give Gill a grateful smile and pick up his own spoon, making Cora realise she is halfway through her own and despite the unoriginal names of Gil's dish, it was delicious, so she lifts another spoonful to her mouth.
"Is there any more?" Liam asks and Cora feels him shuffle out from his seat beside her on the cushioned bench and get to his feet, taking his bowl with him towards the kitchen.
"Loads, so help yourself." Gil chuckles and Cora sees him lower himself to his seat again opposite her and go back to his conversation with Vetra and Doctor Lexi who are both eating their food too.
Cora turns her attention back to Scott and sees Liam lean towards him and say something to him, lowering his voice so that only Scott can hear him. She notices that it makes Scott smile and then his eyes find her, she watches him approach the table and slide himself into the space next to her where Liam had previously been sat and lowers his bowl to the table. She immediately feels the warmth from his shoulder against hers through his t-shirt.
"Can I sit here?" He grins at her before she notices he begins tucking into his dinner, making a positive noise when he tastes the food and nods his head in appreciation.
"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice." Cora giggles quietly and sees him smile and shake his head lightly, knowing they were spending too much time looking at each other so she looks at Gil and gives him a small smile.
"Can Gil cook every night?" Liam laughs and Cora watches as he drags a chair to the end of the table next to Scott and sits back at the table, realising that he had purposefully let them sit together and that other than Lexi, Liam was the only person onboard The Tempest that knew about them being a couple, and not just a fling like the rumours that had been circulating about them.
"He has my vote." Cora smiles and watches Scott nod in agreement at her side and notices that he's almost finished. "I'm a terrible cook." She giggles quietly and reaches for her mug of coffee, taking it in her hand and lifting it to her mouth to take a sip.
"You're actually really good." Scott chuckles and Cora freezes when she hears his words, knocking her knee against his beneath the table to make him realise what he has just said. "I mean I would imagine she is." He nods quickly trying to cover what he's said and she sees him glance at her and then back to Gil.
"Did you save any for me?" Cora hears Peebee's voice before she sees her, watching as she steps into the room and heads straight for the kitchen. "Is this Gil's surprise?" She asks and Cora watches her spooning it onto a plate. "Because we still don't know what the surprise is." She laughs and moves to lower herself onto the chair next to Gil.
"It's best you don't know." Gil laughs and Cora watches his attention move back to Scott. "Ryder, I was just talking to Lexi and Vetra about the re-population programme that the Initiative has." Gil begins and Cora notices that Scott nods and looks at him.
"Oh yeah?" Scott asks and then she feels his eyes on her. "Have you finished?" He whispers to her and motions towards her bowl so she nods, watching him stand and take them both over to the kitchen. "I don't know much about that programme." He adds and approaches the table again.
Cora smiles to herself when she feels him slide back onto the bench next to her and she has the familiarity of his warm body again at her side, noticing that he lowers his arm and then feels his palm on her knee. She takes a moment to look at him and sees him give her a small smile that she returns, wishing she could kiss him and have his arms around her. Cora briefly checks that no one is watching them and lowers her hand to wrap around his beneath the table, noticing that he lowers his eyes and can't help but grin.
"Wait, there is a programme for that?" Peebee laughs and Cora turns her attention back to them and watches Gil glance at her and nod. "Do you have targets to make or something?" She adds making Gil laugh.
"Of course there is." Liam laughs and Cora watches him leaning back on his chair until the front legs are off of the ground. "They like to control everything." He chuckles. "That's why they sterilised us all." He continues making Cora nod lightly and lower her eyes, even if it was temporary.
"Temporarily put a stop to reproduction." Lexi chimes in from her end of the table. "If we are going to be accurate about it." Doctor T'Perro smiles and shakes her head at Liam, making Cora sigh lightly at their words when she remembers how much it had failed to stop her from getting pregnant all those months ago.
"There aren't exactly targets." Gil chuckles and Cora smiles when she hears what he's said, and then feels Scott squeezing her hand gently. She wonders for a moment if it's a squeeze of comfort with them talking about babies and Scott knowing it is a difficult subject for her. "Some people did sign up to make the next generation of AI members." Gil nods and Cora feels his eyes on her so she looks away. "I have a friend that signed up." He adds making Cora nod.
"I believe the Turian's have a similar programme." Vetra begins and Cora notices that Scott lets his attention turn to her. "It will take some time to repopulate on the scale of our home worlds." She adds.
"That does sound interesting." Scott nods and smiles.
"You have a girlfriend in the Andromeda Initiative don't you, Scott?" Gil asks making Cora remove her eyes from Scott and looks back across the table at Gil. She notices that Peebee and Vetra are looking interested too and waiting for him to respond.
"Uh.." Scott begins and she sees him sigh lightly. "I do have a girlfriend in the Initiative." He nods and Cora feels him fidgeting at her side so she squeezes his hand and notices his eyes flicker to her for a moment.
"Oh, where does she work? Have we met her?" Vetra asks and Cora watches her lean forward and nod. "Was she already on the Nexus or the Hyperion?" Vetra continues and Cora is sure she can feel Scott shrinking at her side with all the questions he was getting.
"No, she came with me on the Hyperion." He begins with a nod. "She works in.." Scott continues. "Um.." He mumbles making Cora lower her head and lift her hand to her mouth to hide her smile when she hears him struggling.
"Human resources isn't it mate?" Liam begins and starts laughing. Cora sees him grinning and shaking his head at them, motioning with his head towards the others.
"Wow, human resources." Gil smiles. "How long have you been together?" Gil asks and Cora notices he leans closer to Scott across the table.
"Quite a while now, we actually met and got together on Theia." Scott smiles at them. "She's pretty amazing." He adds and Cora feels his eyes on her again and she can't help but smile, feeling a blush on her cheeks.
"That must be hard with you being away so often?" Gil adds with a grin. "It's lucky you have Cora as your second so you have someone to spend your time with." He chuckles. "How does your girlfriend feel about that?" The engineer Cora motions towards her as she hears Scott cough quietly and clears his throat. More rumours about them, no doubt.
"She uh.." Scott replies quietly, still struggling to respond. "..is fine, I guess." He mumbles quietly and lowers his eyes.
"Leave Scott alone." Lexi laughs lightly. "You're making him sweat with all these questions and he's had a long day." She adds and Cora sees her giving them both a sympathetic smile, making Cora wonder why they were asking him and suddenly so interested about his girlfriend and where they'd met.
"We're just asking." Peebee grins at them.
"Why are you all so interested anyway?" Cora asks, watching their eyes all turn to her. "You all know who Scott's girlfriend is, don't you?" Cora asks, suddenly realising why they are all grilling him and trying to make him confess. She feels Scott's eyes on her and she then notices the rest of the team start laughing and nodding.
"Of course we do." Gil chuckles. "You two are not very subtle at all." He adds and smiles at her. "We're just pulling your leg, Ryder," Gil adds and Cora feels him relax at her side and exhale. "We know it's Cora." He smiles.
"You guys are so funny." Scott sighs and Cora sees him smile and then his eyes meet hers. "Maybe we weren't as careful as we thought." He whispers and she feels him leaning closer to her.
"Look, I didn't tell them." Liam laughs.
"The number of times we've heard you screwing. It was obvious." Peebee laughs, drawing Cora's attention to her when she hears what she has said and glances at Scott who she can see doesn't know what to say and chokes on his food, noticing the tips of his ears redden. "You two were certainly getting frisky on Veold and Cora was certainly enjoying herself." Peebee giggles.
"Please tell me you aren't serious." Cora sighs and lifts her hand to her face and covers her eyes for a moment, pressing her fingertip between her eyes. She knew they'd likely been caught in that shower, but she hadn't realised they'd all known before that.
"Don't listen to Peebee." Gil laughs. "She's joking, aren't you Peebee?" He adds and Cora watches him shaking his head at her, which only makes Peebee laugh further. "Ignore her." He mumbles and Cora notices his eyes on her.
"How long have you been together?" Vetra asks making Cora glad that she's dragged the conversation away from her and Scott's sex life and back to a more appropriate topic.
"Only about 634 years." Cora giggles and sees Vetra smile at her answer. "Plus, a few months. Well, actually we're coming up to a year.." She nods and looks at Scott who she notices is gazing at her and she sees he nods too. Cora feels him let go of her hand beneath the table and wrap his arm around her, letting her lean closer to him.
"That's great." Gil smiles at them. "It's so nice you found each other during all of this." He adds and Cora smiles in response, glancing at Scott.
"I'm a very lucky man." Scott smiles and she feels his eyes meet hers. "As you can see.." He adds as a grin tugs at the corner of his mouth. "This wasn't what either of us expected, but when you meet that person and you just know they're the one." He adds making her sigh lightly and sure she blushes. "You know there will never be anyone else.." He continues and Cora glances at Vetra and hears her sigh dreamily at Scott's words.
"That's so lovely and romantic." Vetra sighs dreamily and smiles at Scott.
"We were going to tell you all. We didn't want to tell anyone until we'd spoken to the leaders." She hears Scott sigh quietly. "Cora didn't want any of you to think this changes anything," Scott adds and she notices them all nod.
"But, seeing as you already know.." Cora adds and leans towards Scott to kiss his cheek softly. "Stop being so sweet." She whispers and sees him smile.
"So are you two going to be signing up to do the deed for the Andromeda Initiative?" Peebee laughs, making sure to make her voice sound like the AI leaders as she does.
"We want to start a family." Scott nods and she notices he smiles as he says it. "When we've got our home." He adds and she feels him drawing her closer to his side. "I don't know about signing up.." Scott laughs quietly and she watches his eyes meet hers and he wrinkles his nose at her, he'd told her they'd do whatever it took to become parents and she could see in his eyes that he meant it.
"I don't think we need any encouragement." Cora grins at him. "But, I suppose our children will be first to be born here." She adds and notices his smile widens even more. "I'd never really thought about it like that." Cora nods.
"Next generation of explorers." Scott smiles.
"Can you imagine how cute they'll be?" Vetra begins drawing Cora's attention to her, making her smile when she realises yes she can imagine her and Scott's children and how perfect they will be because they will be with him.
"You'll be great parents." Gill nods positively and smiles at them both.
"We hope so." Cora smiles at Scott and can see the look of love and adoration staring back at her, making her realise how much she was looking to the next part of their life with him.
"How many little fleshy things will you have?" Peebee laughs and she hears Scott chuckle lightly and lowers his eyes before looking back over the table at the others.
"Fifteen? Twenty?" Scott laughs and his eyes return to her, the look on his face showing that he was excited for that too. Settling down, building a home, and starting a family. Maybe double figures was a little ambitious, though.