Cassian threw her another lopsided smile. "Sounds great."
Hard to believe how little he'd smiled the first days of their acquaintance. What a difference it made, toward the end of it all, when he began. Now for real, again, was the possibility of him that had nearly been killed by war: the person he should have been if he'd been born in peace. Warm, funny, loving. The remnants of that person always lived under the apparently cold, downcast soldier, which was what made him a commander people followed, even to a suicide mission.
Now, he swept up his empty plate, took a final swig of caf, and impulsively pressed a lightning-fast kiss to the top of her head before turning to bring the dishes to the sink. How many of his fellow soldiers or spies ever got to see him like this?
The person he'd been forced to be would descend again, of course; not just in sleep but in waking nightmares and ingrained behaviors. But right now, for a beautiful moment, with her, he got to be that peaceful self.
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Hard to believe how little he'd smiled the first days of their acquaintance. What a difference it made, toward the end of it all, when he began. Now for real, again, was the possibility of him that had nearly been killed by war: the person he should have been if he'd been born in peace. Warm, funny, loving. The remnants of that person always lived under the apparently cold, downcast soldier, which was what made him a commander people followed, even to a suicide mission.
Now, he swept up his empty plate, took a final swig of caf, and impulsively pressed a lightning-fast kiss to the top of her head before turning to bring the dishes to the sink. How many of his fellow soldiers or spies ever got to see him like this?
The person he'd been forced to be would descend again, of course; not just in sleep but in waking nightmares and ingrained behaviors. But right now, for a beautiful moment, with her, he got to be that peaceful self.