"Hey you." The voice that picked up was sleepy and slow and Shepard made sure to keep her voice soft as she replied.
"Hey babe... mhhm, I could get used to this." She'd left San Francisco late the night before and today was to be the first time they were apart following a whole two weeks together. Well, more or less, Trish had still had to work during the day but they'd made the most of every moment they had together. Nikki wasn't sure if it was her words or her tone of voice or just Trish's brain finally waking up enough to process earlier details but there was sudden movement and her view of an only partially duvet covered body transformed into a face.
"You're vid calling? You never vid call!"
"Never been close enough to not get lag before." She replied with a shrug and a smile. Trish's own grin faltered slightly as she caught sight of the uniform. Nicola sure looked good in it, but after two weeks in civvies (the majority of which they'd had to go out and buy) it was a sobering reminder that they wouldn't get to see each other in the flesh again for a very long time.
"Have they told you what your next posting is yet?"
"Yeah, I got another week here in Vancouver to make sure my EVA and zero-G training is still up to date before I ship out though. Hey do you remember stargazing on top your house back on Mindoir?"
"Yeah... Why? What's that got to-"
"Shh, I'm reminiscing." The look on Trish's face had the soldier biting back a laugh.
"You what?" Oh I definitely need to use vid call as much as possible.
"Reminiscing, you know: to recollect, remember, revisit..." The glare was priceless. "What? You spend as much time staring out the window during Standard literature and language as me you're bound to pick up a few synono-nonono-nyms." The civilian's laugh brightened up the room even though they were nearly 1300 kilometers apart.
"Wait, why look out the lit class windows? That was just the parking lot."
"Trish, I looked out all the windows at school! History had the best view though."
"You're an idiot."
"Yeah I know, but I'm your idiot." It rolled off the tongue without any thought and Trish felt her heart warm.
"Yes you are and I love you for it."
"That reminds me, reminiscing!" Any negative thoughts that might have threatened as Nikki completely glided over her admission barely had a chance to be felt before they were overtaken by a swirl of confusion at her next words. "Do you remember what you said when I asked how much you loved me back on Mindoir?" Trish was completely lost now as she desperately tried to think back, eyes widening suddenly as the memory hit.
"That's not fair, we were teenagers! I didn't know you were going to grow up and get a job traveling all across the galaxy."
"Come on, tell me what you said then... Please?" She looked at the screen and the wide smile shining back at her, the glint in the eye that made her just know Nikki was up to something and she sighed in defeat.
"I said I love you to the moon and back."
"You never said which moon."
"What? Nick... It's too early for this, my brain's not working yet. Does all this reminiscing have a point?"
"My next posting... Luna base 3." Trish's mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of a response, finally settling for a groan.
"All that... I hate you!"
"Love you too babe." The only response was a lifted arm and raised middle finger towards camera and the mechanic couldn't resist chuckling.
"That's it. I'm not talking to you anymore."
"Yeah right. I give it a week. One week of looking up at the night sky, watching the moon shining back at you and thinking: 'I wonder what that insufferable bitch is up to now."
"What'd be the point of looking at the sky? You don't even ship out for a week!"
"Details Trish, details." She waved a hand dismissively. There was another groan on the San Francisco side as an alarm started blaring, Trish flopping her arm around until she hit the right button to silence it.
"I've got to get ready for work."
"Hey I'm not stopping you!" Nikki grinned and it took her a moment to process what she was seeing as a pillow flew towards the camera, looking very strange happening an inch above her wrist and cutting out about a foot away from her, the image suddenly changing to a tilted view of the bedroom floor. She couldn't have stopped laughing even if she wanted to. "Was that supposed to hurt me?"
"No, it was supposed to shut you up. I warned you my brain doesn't do mornings... I've got to go, can I call you after work?"
"Sure. Send a text through first though in case I'm busy. Have fun at work."
"Yeah right. Hey Nick?" she waited for an acknowledgment before she continued. "We should vid call more often." The marine's face lit up.
"Definitely."