In a way, it was the hug that did Aoba in. Not the first one, so casual as they walked back to the ship, but the one that came at the end. For all of the insistence that Declan would be back soon and wasn’t going anywhere he was unfamiliar with, dangerous or otherwise, the hug made it feel like a parting in a way that Aoba hadn’t felt when he’d been briefly left behind for those partial-day missions.
And then there was the whole business of his own return home actually being in sight. A lead had paid off, answers were gotten, and after this Aoba would have the maps that he needed. He could go home to Granny and everyone else. He wanted to, and he needed to, and he could come back around to the City any time afterwards, but…this was it. After all the weeks that he’d been here, going home was going to happen, rather than just being the goal they were questing for.
The drawl startled him out of his vague stare into the distance, jerking him around. He may have never seen Mac in person before, but that face—or more importantly, that style, that manner—was unforgettable, even when he’d only encountered it across holographic screens.
Also Mac had flirted with him pretty hard, Aoba suddenly recalled. Now that he’d practically managed to forget, irrelevant as it had seemed to be. It came back to him now.
“Who’s gloomy?” he spluttered, hoisting his bags with his gear and Ren (who he was pretty sure he’d spotted giving Ghost a personal farewell too, huh).
no subject
And then there was the whole business of his own return home actually being in sight. A lead had paid off, answers were gotten, and after this Aoba would have the maps that he needed. He could go home to Granny and everyone else. He wanted to, and he needed to, and he could come back around to the City any time afterwards, but…this was it. After all the weeks that he’d been here, going home was going to happen, rather than just being the goal they were questing for.
The drawl startled him out of his vague stare into the distance, jerking him around. He may have never seen Mac in person before, but that face—or more importantly, that style, that manner—was unforgettable, even when he’d only encountered it across holographic screens.
Also Mac had flirted with him pretty hard, Aoba suddenly recalled. Now that he’d practically managed to forget, irrelevant as it had seemed to be. It came back to him now.
“Who’s gloomy?” he spluttered, hoisting his bags with his gear and Ren (who he was pretty sure he’d spotted giving Ghost a personal farewell too, huh).