Lightning flashed brighter than the sun. Thunder rumbled loud enough to shake trees and rattle windows. Rain came down in sheets, pelting everything below in the torrential downpour. Cold air poured through the little valley, the wind howling eerily as it went shrieking by.

To Owen-B096, the weather could not be more perfect. There was something magical about a thunderstorm on a dark night, and he was reveling in it. He stood beside the window and watched the flood of rain pour down over the city below with a wide smile on his face.

"Having fun?" a voice asked from behind him. He didn't have to turn his face to recognize that it belonged to Hazel-A302. She'd been his partner and teammate for the better part of two years now, and was the single most important person in his life.

He listened to Hazel's soft footfalls as she padded over beside him to observe the rainstorm. They stood in silence for a moment, listening to the rain's onslaught against the mobile outpost's windows, before the smaller Spartan shivered.

"It's freezing," she lamented, wrapping her arms around herself. "How are you not cold?"

Owen smiled again. "All I need to stay warm is to have you by my side," he answered with a wink.

The overly sappy line only earned him a roll of Hazel's eyes. "You're ridiculous," she muttered as she turned away from him. But she didn't turn fast enough to hide the smile his cheesy compliment had brought to her lips, and her dispassionate words lost their bite. Hazel wandered away, leaving Owen alone once more.

His solitude did not last long this time. Soon he heard a gentle grating behind him and turned to find that Hazel had dragged one of the couches of the Outpost's personnel lounge around until it faced the window. When the furniture was positioned more to her liking, she came back around to Owen's side.

"Sit," she ordered, pointing with one hand at the couch.

"Yes ma'am," Owen replied easily, collapsing onto the padded cushions with a sigh.

Hazel watched him fall into a comfortable position with a bemused smirk before disappearing out of his view again for a moment. She was only gone long enough for him to begin to wonder where she went when she jumped over the back of the couch and landed beside him, dragging a large blanket behind her.

The Spartan from Alpha Company twisted until her feet - which were always ice cold - were wedged beneath her teammate's leg. Then she pulled the blanket over top of both of them. They sat like that, sharing body heat beneath one blanket, for several seconds before Owen lifted his arms and rested them on the back of the couch. Never one to miss an opportunity, Hazel leaned forward to snuggle in against Owen's chest and rest her head on his shoulder.

Owen briefly considered making some kind of joke about how inappropriate it was for a superior to be cuddling with their teammates, but managed to exert an almost unprecedented amount of self control and kept his mouth shut.

"Thanks," Hazel breathed against his chest, her breath tickling the base of his neck.

Owen twisted his head until he could look down at her. "For what?"

"For not saying whatever you were thinking a second ago and ruining a nice moment," Hazel answered. She tilted her head back and gave him a peck on the lips before reclaiming her earlier position.

Owen held the joke in as long as he could. If someone were timing him, it may have been a full minute - his personal best - before he was compelled to ruin the moment with his terrible humor anyway.

When he inevitably lost the fight and opened his mouth, he felt a slender finger rest over his lips in the universal symbol of 'shhh.'

"Don't," Hazel warned sleepily, her breath heavy and steady as her eyes slid shut.

Owen weighed his options. He knew from experience that if he ignored her warning and made the joke anyway, Hazel would hit him on the arm and go to sleep alone. For once, Owen managed to make the smart decision.

He shut up, and pulled his arms tighter around the woman beside him.