It was a bright evening on Port Ivy as Jim accompanied Kate in the library. The two had just finished up a study hour together, and Kate was wandering the shelves with the intent to put the books she’d borrowed back in their proper place.

“You know, you could have just dropped those in the bin up front. The librarian would have taken care of them,” Jim said.

“I knew where they belonged. I might as well save the librarian some time,” Kate replied as she slid a book back in its proper place.

Jim shook his head with a small smile, Morph resting on his shoulder. Normally, the pink shapeshifter would need to hide from any passerby’s so Jim wouldn’t get into trouble, but deep in the stacks, no one was around to notice.

“Hey, give me one so we can hurry up and meet Onyx for dinner.”

“Don’t you ever think about anything other than food?” Kate arched an eyebrow but passed Jim a book from her arms.

“We’ve been working hard all day, and I’m hungry,” Jim argued as he read the spine and glanced up at the shelves. The two worked in silence for a little while longer, Morph helping distribute a book that had been pulled down from a particularly tall shelf. 

“Last one,” Kate held up her final text. “Are you sure you survived this trying ordeal?”

“Ha ha,” Jim said dryly as he came closer, looking down at the book in her hands over her shoulder. Kate squinted, frowning as she turned the book over.

“Can you tell what the last name is?”

Jim reached out to tilt the book toward him, both holding it now as he, too, frowned at the illegible print on the spine.

“Uh, something xerbly?” 

“Very insightful,” Kate rolled her eyes, but she was now hyper aware of Jim’s body pressed up against her, hovering over her shoulder, his warm breath near her ear. They’d only started dating a few weeks ago. While they’d shared a few kisses here and there, most of their interactions had been consumed with coursework as usual. It was so rare they had any time alone.

Jim lifted his head, about to return a snarky retort when the words dried up on his tongue. Kate was close. Very close. He could see the light flecks of gold in her sunset amber eyes that he enjoyed so much but rarely had time to cherish. 

“Uh,” he stammered. Dating really had never been something either had committed to before. Kate was Jim’s first real partner and he was hers. As such, Jim still sometimes worried he was overstepping in wanting to kiss her as much as he did. “We can…probably…”

“Bring it to the front…” Kate trailed off, leaning forward. Jim caught on quick as he closed the distance.

“Yeah, in a minute,” he muttered, their mouths meeting in a soft kiss. However, whereas before they might have kissed for a brief moment before pulling back and resuming their studies, Jim was mildly taken aback when Kate turned more fully toward him and deepened the kiss. His blood thrummed through his veins at the contact as his hands left the book in hers and slid around her waist, fingers pressing into her hips. He was acutely aware of how alone they truly were. It was quiet among the dusty shelves as Jim kissed Kate’s soft mouth. Her soft, perfect, tender mouth. She sagged backwards against the wall of books behind her as Jim followed, arms sliding more fully around her back now as their kiss heightened, evolved. Jim wasn’t sure what was happening, but he knew he liked it. He liked it a lot. When her tongue touched his, running across his teeth, Jim was pleasantly surprised. His own mouth drew her lower lip between his as he gave it a soft suck only to dissolve into another sensual kiss.

For Kate, she had never felt so blissfully unaware of her surroundings. The entire universe melted away. All of her fears, stressors, assignments faded into a faraway fog. Even now, with some anxiety about their newfound relationship, there was a wild and rebellious part of her that really liked kissing Hawkins. She liked it a lot. She felt his hands slip around her back, hands interlocking there, arms drawing her closer while her own free hand (not occupied by the book) ran fingers across the back of his neck and through the short hairs there beneath some of his scruff. They momentarily parted for breath before Jim eagerly leaned forward again to capture her lips. 

He was so lost in the sensation of her warm body hugging him close, her kisses both demanding and intimate, he nearly missed the small annoyed chirp near his ear, drawing him from his reverie.

“Hmm…” he muttered against Kate’s mouth, enjoying the feel of her hips under the tips of his fingers. He could go on kissing her forever. “Morph?”

Morph released another squeak as Kate started to pull back.

“Jim,” she sighed. A small thrill went through Jim at the sound of his name spoken so breathlessly. He wasn’t sure what that meant. “We should get dinner,” she whispered, pulling back further now as Jim finally surfaced for air, winded at the contact. 

“Um, oh, right,” he stammered, awkwardly untangling his arms from her hips as the two stepped back. Morph shifted into their teasing make out session as Jim frowned and reached for him. “Morph, cut it out.”

Kate looked wildly embarrassed at the display. She straightened up, trying to appear back in control by fussing with her uniform, but Jim knew better. It was subtle beneath the two tones of her face, but there was a small dusting of light pink across her cheek bones. It somewhat matched the color of her lips which Jim would very much like to continue kissing…

He turned away, tickling Morph before releasing the shapeshifter who trilled. 

“So, um, last book—?” Jim struggled but Kate was already shaking her head.

“I’ll just bring it back to the front,” she said hurriedly.

“Finally,” Jim teased, falling into step beside her as he fell back on familiar banter.

Kate shot him a shrewd look but said nothing which was unusual. Jim supposed both were still rather flustered as if they had been caught doing something scandalous…which Jim supposed they sort of had. While a lot of their classmates had begun to speculate about the nature of Jim and Kate’s relationship, Jim really didn’t want any of them to stumble upon he and Kate making out in the library.

Making out with Kate. The thought sent another hot spark of desire straight to Jim’s gut. He could see Kate brushing her lips with her fingers as if noticing how swollen they now were as she practically threw the book into the slot built into the front desk. Such mishandling of literature was also unlike her considering that she treated books with such reverence at times, Jim suspected they were more protected than a newborn babe. 

They made it out into one of the hallways of the main campus building. While Jim wanted nothing more than to ease into a careless meander beside her, Kate seemed ramrod straight as she took pointed steps down the hall.

“Can you slow down, Blake? You’re acting like we set fire to the library,” Jim quipped as Kate slowed. More of that light pink blossomed on her face.

“No, I’m not,” she argued, flushed. “I just want to make sure we haven’t left Onyx waiting.”

“Okay, but earlier you were ready to take all night to re-home books,” Jim scoffed. Kate soured, narrowing her eyes at him in the way that meant Jim was treading on her patience. “Look, I just…”

A passing group of students caused Jim to lower his voice.

“I didn’t mean to freak you out…”

“I’m not freaked out.”

“Um…good?”

Jim wasn’t sure how to respond as he furrowed his brow. She certainly looked freaked out. But then Kate’s ears flicked and her face seemed to turn a brighter shade of that pink just as another group of cadets passed them. As Jim scrutinized her, it finally dawned on him.

“Were you worried we were going to get caught?” he shot her a crooked grin. Kate snapped him a look. Her amber eyes were so fiery, Jim was afraid he might combust. 

“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous,” Kate retaliated.

“So…you’re cool if we try that again sometime?” Jim teased.

Kate’s hand came out and shoved his shoulder. Jim laughed, the giddy tension after their intimate moment in the library now making him wobbly, carefree. And, to his surprise, a small snort suddenly escaped Kate in turn. They walked, and Kate relaxed as they did, allowing their shoulders to bump. Truthfully, Jim wasn’t sure why it mattered who saw them. It wasn’t hard to tell that he was head over heels for Kate despite how insane she drove him regarding their coursework. Any cadet with eyes could clearly see that their chemistry had grown exponentially since the start of their first semester. But he knew it was important for Kate to feel in control, for her to maintain her privacy. So, to assure her he’d meant no harm, he carefully let his knuckles brush with hers as they meandered. The invitation was clear, and Jim’s grin only widened as Kate interlocked her ring and pinky fingers with his as they swayed somewhat in their gait now.

“So after dinner I should probably get started on that navigation assignment,” Kate cleared her throat once both had settled their nerves. Coursework was a welcome familiarity in the turbulent new throes of a relationship. They were still learning how to exist not as heated rivals or as tentative friends but as actual partners.

“Right, that’s due next week, huh?” Jim asked, hyper aware of how her shoulder brushed his. “If you want, we can set up in the barracks mains.”

“That sounds good,” Kate agreed, his fingers warm between hers, doing their very best to draw her far and away from all rational thought. “Do you think Onyx will join?”

I hope not, Jim thought, then felt wildly embarrassed he had. Truth-be-told, he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to study at all this evening, but any opportunity to be next to Kate was always a treat now. A sudden fantasy of tipping Kate back on one of the loveseats and kissing her mouth again seized Jim in full. He shook his head, trying very hard to dispel the thought of her lips…the slope of her hips beneath his hands…her fingers threading his hair…

Cold water. That test in astrophysics. Scroop.

“I, uh, I don’t know,” he cleared his throat. “I can ask.”

“If he’d rather not, though,” Kate started before cutting herself off, humiliation gripping her for even thinking to box Onyx out. But, then again, Jim had a very soft mouth… “I just mean—”

“Yeah, no, I got it. He’s probably going to be busy anyway,” Jim lied, more guilt snarling in his stomach. He didn’t want to exclude his closest friend at the academy, but then there was Kate…her tongue exploring his teeth…his hands wound around her back…

Jim released a small, long breath through his nose.