Except that it would be the first night the two slept in the same room together, because against all odds, Declan had time off. So the regular bed and the trundle would be occupied. But that was for later, and during the meal the two were able to talk casually as if it were something they'd done for ages. Two weeks over video gave them an ease to it, segueing naturally from millions of miles to less than a meter apart.

When the meal finally concluded and Declan finished telling Aoba about a time he and a group of other Guardians fought all the way through a Cabal stronghold on Mars and accidentally cleared the whole thing out when they were just supposed to "investigate", the Guardian paused to consider something.

"Aoba," he murmured, gathering up dishes and setting them in the sink, the water hissing as he rinsed things. "Do you want to learn to fight or use weapons?"