#>aurora

set in the early timeline -- years before, when Aurora was young and before Diego and Andreas were born.

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The transmission ended, and Romeo tilted his head to cast an apologetic smile towards Aurora. But she’d already turned her head away, the slight softness of her features that he’d been graced with moments before gone as her face hardened back to it’s normal state.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” She stated more than she asked. Though she probably couldn’t have understood the words of Romeo and the other Guardian speaking back and forth, his tone as he’d tried to argue was one of disappointment. Aurora was intelligent enough to pick up on that.

Romeo let out a breath, wishing that he didn’t have to tell her the truth as he answered in her tongue. “They’re calling us back to the city early, since the negotiations went by more quickly than they expected.”

She nodded, once. Throwing her legs over the side of her bed and coming to sit up straight and proper. He reached out and touched her shoulder with his fingertips, chest aching. They’d only been able to spend a single night together when there was supposed to be three more to come. But the reef diplomats had been surprisingly generous with the meeting and Romeo’s small team of liaisons had finished their job early.

“I’m sorry, my darling.” He breathed out, and she finally looked at him again, eyes sharp as she simply said.

“Don’t.”

And Romeo pressed his lips together, but he didn’t take his hand away. As their eye contact lingered, the daggers began to fade from her gaze. An exhale, nostrils flaring, and he could swear she was physically trying to hold her composure in that moment.

“Don’t apologize to me. It’s just how things are.” She finally said, less sharp, voice quieter. Romeo’s fingertips made small circles on her skin and he wished that it didn’t have to be. Trying not to linger on the thought, he pulled his hand away completely. He had plans that were messed up, now, from having to leave early. But he could at least improvise.

Gently, quietly, he brought his hands together, twisting at a ring that he had been wearing on his pointer finger until it came off.

“Aurora.” He said her name to catch her attention again as she’d looked away during the silence. When she did glance his way, he reached out to take her hand and bring it closer to him. Wordlessly, he took the ring and slid it onto her finger instead.

“What are you doing?” She asked, jerking her hand back a little late and bringing the ring up to her face, studying it. “What is this?”

“Something to remember me by.” Romeo told her, and she looked at him almost with suspicion. He reached out to take her hand once more, in between his own, running a thumb over her hand gently as he looked down at the ring.

It seemed simple. A silver ring with a rather large, black stone set into it. Both plain and flashy at the same time.

“I couldn’t possibly wear this. It’s not practical.” She said to him, and he let out a small huff of laughter. It seemed typical of her to say something like that.

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want. But please, my goddess, keep it.” He said. “I only bought it because it reminded me of you.”

“How…?” Her brows were furrowed with confusion, and he smirked just slightly. The question that he’d been hoping that Aurora would ask him.

“Because –”

He cupped the hand so he could bring it up to his face, pressing his lips against the stone for a long few seconds, longer than a simple kiss needed to be. But when he pulled away, again, the reasoning was clear. The heat from his mouth had changed the stone, the black fading where his lips had been and revealing the stone’s hidden color.

A beautiful shade of blue, sparkling and gleaming for a second before the cold of the room began to fade it back to black.

“It reminded me of your beautiful skin the moment I saw it.”

“Romeo…” She said his name, trying to sound annoyed, but he took note of the slightest darkening of her face as she pulled her hand away from his, closing it into a fist. But her thumb touched at the stone gently and he felt like, even if she wouldn’t admit it to him, she would keep the ring as he wanted. “You should go, before they begin to search for you.”

A sigh. “Probably so.” He said, but he didn’t move to get up right away. Instead, he shifted to close the gap between them, touching Aurora’s face. Leaning in, he intended to kiss her, but her lips met his before he had even leaned in that far as Aurora took control of the moment.

The kiss was long and full, both of them slow as they moved. Words implied that couldn’t be spoken out of fear and duty, an aching that was mutual and not fair for either of them. Star-crossed lovers from across the solar system. He always hated to leave her, and their time together was always much too brief.

Eventually, the kisses had to come to an end as well, Puck beeping quietly to him only to signal that the others were calling him again. He pulled away, tapping her open lips with his index finger twice and offering what he could of a smile, despite the ache in his chest.