so yeah... @outstandingblue - Tumblr Blog

Promises to Keep

Nineteen - What's Real?

recom!miles quaritch x fem!na'vi oc

There's a thin line between a nightmare and a dream. And a dream can become a nightmare within seconds.

cross-posted on ao3 here and wattpad @/beanswolo content warning: nightmare, fire, blood, death, angst, hurt no comfort, then hurt with comfort, fluff, explicit language, touchy miles, touch starved men have my heart word count: 5.8k

Fire. It was everywhere - fire all around. The heat was sweltering as the flames licked at his exposed skin. Miles spun in a circle in a weak attempt to recognize something - anything. He didn’t know where he was as there was no familiarity among the darkness past the flames.

There was rushing water and groaning metal, but it was too dark in the night and too bright from the flames to actually see anything. His ears rotated on either side of his head, trying to pick up any sign of life. Nothing - no Recoms, no Spider, no Jiniraa.

The fire was surrounding him on all sides as it slowly worked its way in, constricting him like a vengeful snake. As the wall of flames grew closer and closer Miles could see his untimely ending. Well, maybe it was a timely ending. He’d cheated death once already. Maybe it had just finally caught up with him.

But this couldn’t be the end. No. He needed to think fast. His instincts told him to run, but there was nowhere to run. The other side of the flames was a complete mystery. Was there even anything on the other side? Who’s to say that the grass isn’t greener on the other side?

Regardless, it was do or die. Or maybe it was die and die. He could sit here and let himself be roasted to death or he could try and get through the fire. Maybe it would give him a chance. He could cheat death once more.

A quick survey of the shrinking circle only helped a little. He found a discarded rifle laying on the ground - the crudely carved “JA” on the butt of the stock was evidence it wasn’t his. He had no clue where his own rifle was, but at least this meant at some point Ja was here. That meant the others were here as well. The clip was full. That wasn’t a good sign.

His stomach twisted. There was no sign of the medic near his fully loaded weapon.

Why would Ja not have his rifle? Where is everyone else?

A series of angry embers began to scorch Miles’ exposed skin as he cursed and rushed to brush them off. Over the roar of the fire he began to hear something - someone. A quick moan of pain. Someone was out there. He didn’t think before slapping his cheeks and bouncing on his feet, already regretting what he was going to idiotically do.

“Now or fuckin’ never,” Miles muttered under his breath, setting his jaw into place as he slung Ja’s rifle over his shoulder. Adrenaline masked most of the pain, but not all of it. Miles cursed, patting off his pants as they began to char in certain places. Sweat poured into his eyes as they frantically looked around, trying to find the source of that noise. The whimpering. He couldn’t find anything.

Maybe it was his subconscious creating a fake scenario in a desperate attempt at self-preservation.

There was no time to dwell on the thought as Miles pulled the rifle back in front of him. If Ja was here, everyone was here at some point - Jiniraa and Spider were nearby.

The thought of their possible deaths crept up the base of Miles’ skull, making his short hairs stand on edge. He wouldn’t allow himself to dwell on it. No. He wouldn’t believe they were dead unless he saw their bodies. Bile almost crept up his esophagus at the thought of finding their corpses.

In regimental silence, Miles scoped out the area. He quickly began to find bodies. Small bodies - humans. Clothed bodies. No sign of Spider. Then he started finding larger, bluer bodies. In all his years in the service as working in the RDA, Miles grew accustomed to seeing the corpses of his comrades and subordinates, but seeing the bloodied and mutilated bodies of his fellow Recoms felt different. This was their second chance at life. Their second death.

He tallied three Recoms, but none had the same cause of death. Prager had a spear through the chest Ja was crushed against the metal deck, Zdinark had an arrow embedded in her thigh and her face was split into pieces.

Dead twice. God must really hate them. Miles almost laughed to himself, trying to cope with the situation. There was no time to mourn. Not when he only found three bodies. He continued to search for others, hope slowly drying up as he passed more bodies, more blood spills, but nevertheless he pushed on. He had yet to see any sign of Lyle, Mansk, Spider, or Jiniraa.

That’s when he heard it - the same whimper somewhere around the corner. Since escaping the ring of fire, he must’ve traveled three hundred feet, so there was no way he heard such a weak sound over such a vast distance. Not even those finely tuned Na’vi ears were that good, yet here it was.

Rounding the corner, Miles jumped over a fallen beam to approach the sound. As Miles closed the distance, he realized why there was a familiarity to the noise. His heart dropped to his stomach as his senses took the sight in front of him. Blood. It was everywhere - encroaching from every angle as it filled his nose, took up his vision, and he almost swore he could taste it on his tongue by the sheer volume in front of him.

He dropped to his knees as any semblance of strength was robbed before hastily crawling over to Jiniraa. She barely registered his presence until his hand replaced her own, firmly pressing against the gushing wound on her chest. The warm blood slowly pushed through his tight fingers.

“Ma Miles…” she sweetly smiled up as she whispered, as if the pain wasn’t even registering. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn’t feel any of it.

Miles cursed as her blue skin was a dozen shades lighter than its normal hue, even as the nearby flames cast an orange glow around her body. In any other circumstance, Miles would’ve appreciated how the warmth complemented her soft beauty.

“The hell happened?” Miles barked out as he repositioned himself to press further into the wound. Her head rolled against the ground, falling to the side with a delirious smile. Miles panicked, momentarily sacrificing the pressure to grab at her chin with a bloodied finger. Her chest continued to shallowly rise and fall, but it was clearly becoming more difficult with each painful inhale.

“Eyes on me, yeah, you keep those eyes on me,” Miles commanded, trying to figure out what to do. His voice cracked at the end as reality settled in. His tail lashed out and smacked against the groaning metal beneath the pair.

“I am sorry, ma Miles,” Jiniraa whispered, bringing a single shaking bloodied hand to cradle the side of his face. “Please stop crying.”

Crying? He hadn’t even noticed the tears streaming down his face until they landed on Jiniraa’s own as her eyes began to close again. Please.

Her body was completely limp as Miles scooped her to his arm, resting her on his folded legs, “hey hey hey hey, goddamn eyes open.”

“I know it does, I know. Just keep your eyes open.” God, please, no. “You’re going to be alright? Fix you up all good.”

He knew he was lying, but he clung to the idea of her being okay. This is what he was afraid of.

“Spider?” Jiniraa asked, choking on the words.

“He’s safe, okay? He’s okay,” Miles lied right through his teeth. He had no clue where Spider was. Spider could be bleeding out right now, but he lied. He lied to protect her consciousness during the final few moments. It was the least he could do.

Jiniraa began to cough and the small smile crept back onto her face, glad the Spider was okay. Red stained her teeth. So much blood.

“Fuck,” Miles choked on the word as saliva collected in his mouth. He was out of options. There was nothing he could do. He was truly and utterly powerless. He couldn’t stop this.

“Ma Miles,” Jiniraa beckoned Miles to bend down, glancing down to his lips, “take the pain away.”

With quivering lips, Miles laid his lips on hers. He may have imagined the taste of blood earlier, but now it was hitting him full force. Miles pulled back to brush the hair out of Jiniraa’s face. He tried to whisper soothing words, but they came out as incoherent mumblings. It didn’t matter - ringing was already settling deep in her ears.

“I-” Jiniraa began, but was unable to finish as the breath caught in her throat. The light seemed to leave her eyes as her pupils expanded to hide the majority of the delicate green iris.

“Sweetheart? Hey! Wake up! Please…” Miles shook her body, but received no response.

When he looked down the expanse of her chest, he found a horrifying sight: his knife sticking out of her ribcage. All bloodied up and taunted him. It was all so real.

Miles woke with a jolt. He found himself surrounded in the familiar darkness of his room, but it took a moment to register as everything flooded back at once. It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare. The worst nightmare in a long time. They came almost every night, but they never elicited this visceral of a reaction. He could still feel blood on his hands, taste it on his tongue.

Jiniraa slept soundly next to him, luckily rolled over to face the wall. For once, she wasn’t curled up to his chest to sleep, so he didn’t wake her with his bolt upwards. He took a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose and attempted to steady his breath. He may not have woken her up, but if he didn’t get his breathing under control it was only a matter of time before she picked up the sound - her ears were already beginning to twitch.

Miles pulled the thick blanket off both of them. His skin was clammy from sweat and he needed to cool off as he swung his feet to sit on the side of the bed. With a quick glance, Miles did a once over of Jiniraa’s bare form, utterly spent from their night before. It had been two weeks since they made their mating bond and they had yet to slow down. There wasn’t an inch of skin that hadn’t been subjected to his mouth and vice versa. Jiniraa was inexperienced at first, but she was quickly learning what she liked.

He must’ve held up the blanket for too long as Jiniraa rolled over to seek out his warmth. Her hand lazily reached out trying to find his normal sleeping spot, but came up empty. Miles cursed as her eyes began to flutter open. He hastily turned towards the door so she wouldn’t see the distress etched on his face. Even in the darkness and from behind, she was amazing at reading him especially after they created their bond.

“Ma Miles?” Jiniraa tiredly questioned. Her voice was soft from sleep. Miles grunted in response, unwilling to turn around. She shifted around in the bed to sit on her knees, slowly closing the distance between them before running a soft hand up the expanse of his back. “Why are you awake?”

Miles ignored the way her touch left his skin buzzing and yearning for more. Jiniraa continued to stroke his back, feeling the way he was shaking beneath her touch. Before they mated, Jiniraa already knew how desperate Miles was for physical touch and it increased tenfold since they sealed their bond. While some of it was intimate sexual touching, the majority of it was simple and lingering touches. A kiss to the hairline here. A possessive hand at the base of her back. Asking her to fix his braid when he grew too frustrated. Setting her between his legs during meal time in the field.

Miles relaxed into her touch as she waddled on her knees to press her bare chest against his back. His tail - as out of control as ever - attempted to wrap around her waist and establish another point of contact. Her knees settled on either side of his hips, hooking her chin on Miles' shoulder as she wrapped her hands around his shoulders to rub circles into his chest. Miles had yet to move, allowing her to wrap herself around him. He wasn’t going to complain.

The intense stare Miles had directed to his hands had Jiniraa worried, but she remained silent. He was a stoic man and needed time to think about things. He would open up to her eventually.

Minutes passed. Miles' breath would pick up for a few beats before settling back down. Not once did he relent on trying to burn a hole in his hands with the scrutinizing gaze. Jiniraa waited behind him, trying to rub at his skin. She’d travel over his shoulders, down his arms, into his hair and repeat the process over again.

“You should go back to sleep, sweetheart,” Miles finally offered in a gruff voice before clearing his throat, “didn’t mean to wake ya.”

Jiniraa shook her head, pressing a soft kiss at the hinge of his jaw, “not until you are okay.”

Miles shook his shoulders gently , trying to encourage Jiniraa to let go but she wouldn’t move. He murmured, “I’m fine.”

“Then why are your hands shaking?” Jiniraa whispered. Miles’ tensed under her touch as she saw how the dim light reflected off his glossy eyes. She tried to take his hands into her own, but he resisted. “Let me take the pain away.”

Miles froze at those words - the same ones she whimpered as she was bleeding out. Jiniraa gently grabbed Miles' chin beneath her long fingers, coaxing him to look at her. He resisted the gentle tug, roughly pulling his face away with a snarl, “don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Jiniraa yielded, slowly sliding back on the bed. Miles cursed himself for reacting as harshly as he had. He never got the thermostat fixed in the room, but that wasn’t the reason he was cold. No, without the warmth of her soft skin against him, Miles felt empty as he reverted back to old habits. Quaritch habits.

In reality, Jiniraa had grown a thick skin to Miles’ abrasive personality the longer she lived with the Recoms - she was undeterred by his snapping as she laid back down in the bed. She watched as Miles tried to sneak a glance over his shoulder, smirking as his tail jolted when he realized she was already watching - waiting - for him to finally break down those walls.

He was quick to cover his slight embarrassment with a lopsided smirk as he rolled his shoulders to emphasize the well-formed nature of his back and shoulders, “what? Like what you see?”

This time it was Jiniraa’s turn to remain silent as she returned his smirk with her own, waiting for him to huff and turn around. To finally give in and talk about it. It took two minutes of withholding her touch for him to turn. He held out a lot longer than she expected - even after she swatted his tail away from resting across her waist.

“Really gonna play this game?” Miles goaded.

“You told me to go back to bed,” Jiniraa argued back, “that is what I am doing? Is it not?” Jiniraa mockingly closed her eyes with raised eyebrows. Miles' eyes narrowed at her sarcastic action - she had a point, but he didn’t like it.

He hadn’t realized it before, but her presence was enough to bring him back to reality. His chest was no longer heaving to regain breaths. His skin was no longer clammy. His mind was at peace as her familiar touch and scent infiltrated his body in the most pleasurable way. The way she smiled in their mock argument just made him realize it. Fear wasn’t eating away at his chest anymore, not it was replaced with a familiar warmth. Her warmth.

With a heavy sigh, Miles stood before turning towards their shared Bridgehead bed. Jiniraa peeked one eye open in mild shock as it seemed like he was going to walk away, but once he turned back towards the bed she didn’t even try to hide her pleasure as she beamed towards him.

She expected him to collapse with his back against the bed and pull her into his chest, something he’d done countless times after the exhaustion finally hit after being in the field. When he was no longer in charge, he could just let it all go. All the stress of being the Colonel and he could just be Miles. What she didn’t expect was for him to crawl over the messy comforter and collapse face down on top of her, completely covering her body.

Miles was a furnace and he also outweighed Jiniraa by a hundred pounds or so, so having his weight on top of her was only comfortable for less than a minute. Miles groaned as Jiniraa swatted at his bare back. He burrowed his face further into the crook of her neck, “what, woman?”

“Heavy,” Jiniraa wheezed out. Did she make herself sound more out of breath than she actually was? Yes. Did it make Miles roll over just enough that she could breathe freely? Also, yes. “Do you want to talk now?”

“No,” Miles shook his head - as it remained buried in the crook of Jiniraa’s neck - stubborn as ever. He was enjoying the change of position. He let his guard down around her, even if he wasn’t sharing the details of his nightmare, this was pretty damn intimate for Miles Quaritch. “Just go to sleep. I’ll tell you about it later.”

She tried to protest at first, but Miles wasn’t having any of it as he slung an arm across her waist and hooked a leg over her hips, knowing the familiar weight was the quickest way to make her go back under. Jiniraa’s breathing settled out as she slowly fell back asleep.

Miles remained awake long after Jiniraa’s hand slowed to a halt against his back, unable to continue her comforting stroking in her unconscious state. He stayed still against her shoulder, watching as her bare chest rose and fell with each deep, even breath. He had to keep convincing himself she was alive as images of her bloodied and lifeless body flashed each time he closed his eyes. The corpse with his knife protruding from her chest.

●●●

Jiniraa had grown even more comfortable around the Recoms over the past two weeks, allowing herself to enjoy her time with them rather than simply tolerate it. The bond was for life, so she was stuck with Miles until the day one of them died. While she wanted nothing more than to return to her life in the forest indefinitely, there was a small nagging thought that Bridgehead could be her home for a while - their home for a while - so she may as well make the most of it.

Miles was a team-oriented guy and all of the Recoms were loyal to Quaritch before they were loyal to the RDA. They’d follow him to their graves.

Spider was a different story. He still wasn’t the biggest fan of Miles, but he stopped thinking of ways to try and kill the Colonel in his sleep after mating with Jiniraa. Jiniraa was sick of their ongoing resentment, so she forced her boys to compromise: Miles agreed to refrain from touching Jiniraa in public and Spider agreed to stop hiding Miles' miscellaneous items to get on his nerves.

Miles made sure to have a talk with his team to keep their relationship under wraps while at Bridgehead. That meant no jokes, no information in reports, and especially nothing to the General. The only people at Bridgehead who knew about Jiniraa and Miles were Renia and Bly - and only because Jiniraa told them. Miles was hesitant to even let them in, but Jiniraa insisted it would be okay. Renia was with Mansk and Bly definitely had something going on with Zdinarsk and Lopez.

“Jiniraa to Colonel,” Miles’ voice came through the earpiece firmly stuck in her ear. Although she hated the piece of technology at first, she found it somewhat useful at times like this when she was separated from Spider or Miles in Bridgehead.

“Yes, Miles?” Jiniraa answered, catching the attention of Lyle and Zdinarsk who were rolling their stiff muscles out after their workout a few feet away.

“What’s your location?” Miles' voice was tired. She could imagine him rubbing at his slack jaw.

“I’m in the gym with everyone.” There was a pause as Lyle began to stand up, slowly packing his stuff up as he already knew what was coming next.

“Have Wainfleet bring you to my office.”

“Office?” Jiniraa questioned. She’d never been there before, only hearing about the cold room when Miles complained about the General before they fell asleep.

“Yeah.” His voice softened at the end into a whisper as the conversation ended. “See you soon.”

When Jiniraa turned to ask Lyle to escort her, he was already standing in wait. Jiniraa’s privileges had grown significantly to the point where she could walk around certain sectors without company, but she’d never been in Miles’ office - he did his best to keep her out of that area even if she didn’t know it.

“What did the boss want, princess?” Lyle asked, groaning as he pulled his cut off over his sticky chest.

“He wants me to come to his office?” Jiniraa’s voice lifted at the end, growing increasingly confused as she tried to think of reasons Miles would want her to come to his office. Why didn’t he come looking for her himself? What could be so important that he would take her into arguably the most dangerous sector? What if the General or one of the RDA loyalists saw something?

Lyle shrugged at the hanging question before cocking his head towards the door. Jinraa waved to Spider, who was trying to learn something Prager called the ‘dragon pistol squat’. Although his relationship with Miles had a slight setback, Spider was the most comfortable around Prager and Lopez, always trying to get information or partake in crude jokes with them.

The walk towards the administrative area was relatively quiet. Lyle continued to glance over at Jiniraa as she took in the newer sights and sounds with a curious face.

Lyle glanced around as they turned the corner to a different corridor. He’d taken the long route towards the administrative wing to avoid as many people as possible. Shortly after mating with the Colonel, Jiniraa began wearing traditional Na’vi clothing both on top and bottom. Her quickly made bottom replaced the torn loose-fitting pants she donned before, but were made of the excess material. Spider’s collection of stones had been carved and tied in long strands to hook around her hips. She actually looked like a Na’vi now, not a weird half-Na’vi stuck in Bridgehead clothing or her non-traditional pants.

Lyle knew the Colonel almost better than Miles knew himself - the only way to describe the way his eye twitched when Bridgehead humans gawked at his mate was nothing but deadly. Until Miles settled down a bit, it would be better to just avoid the crowds. Plus, just because Jiniraa was more comfortable around the Recoms certainly did not equate to being comfortable around the humans. If anything, she’d become more comfortable at being flat out hostile with them, confidently baring her teeth and growling at them when she caught their invasive stares.

“So,” Lyle dragged out with a whistle. Jiniraa glanced up at the Corporal as he scratched the back of his neck. “How’re things with the boss? Honeymoon still goin’ strong?”

Jiniraa cocked her head to the side, “honeymoon?”

Lyle stumbled over his words, “yeah, you know, like married couples happy after they get married and everything. They normally go on some sort of trip, but you guys had a shotgun wedding I guess. No trip for you.”

“Shotgun wedding?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lyle waved her away, not wanting to explain. He came to a sudden halt in front of a door - normal by their standards, but large by human standards. “Boss’ office.”

“Thank you, Lyle,” Jiniraa gave her appreciation in a quiet voice, slightly bowing her head. Lyle’s lip twitched once before spinning on his heel and heading in the direction they came from.

Jiniraa’s knuckles lightly tapped at the door in quick succession. She took a step back as she could hear shuffling from the other side begin immediately. Miles might’ve sounded drained and exhausted over the comm, but he looked worse than he sounded. His tiny ears were dropped down, his skin was dull and baggy around his eyes, brows were furrowed, lips chapped from constant biting and picking.

“Wainfleet really just drop you and run?” Miles gruffly asked as he looked both directions down the corridor, rolling his eyes as he found no sign of the bald headed sniper. In a quick and fluid motion, Miles reached forward and grabbed Jiniraa by the waist to pull her into his office. Even as the door closed behind them, he maintained contact as she took in the new room.

The office was overwhelmingly Miles. First of all, his scent was overpowering. There must’ve never been anyone else in here because it was all Jiniraa could smell. It was relatively bare in the decoration department. There was nothing hung on the walls, but a single printed photograph of the Deja Blue team sat next to an unopened frame buried beneath a pile of papers on the corner of his desk. With curious fingers, Jiniraa swiped the photo from the avalanche waiting to happen.

She recognized most of them. Some more than others. She bit her lip as she glanced at those who died in the forest on that fateful day all those months ago. Miles continued to study the changes in micro-expressions as Jiniraa softly sat the photograph on the top of the papers.

The atmosphere in the office became awkward as the silence hung between the pair. Miles’ thumb swiped at her waist once more before removing it to grab the photo himself. With a long breath he studied the faces of those who died already - twice. He led them to their deaths twice. It was only a matter of time before his nightmare became reality and all of the others died, too.

“What is it, Miles?” Jiniraa asked, leaning against the desk. Her fingers twitched as she wanted to reach out and comfort her mate, but after he lashed out at her earlier she hesitated. Miles cursed himself for allowing his old ways to affect the way he treated her.

“Nothing.” Walker. Brown. Fike. Zhang. Warren. “It’s nothing.”

“Your hands are shaking again.”

Miles scoffed, tossing the photograph back onto the desk. He turned his back on Jiniraa to study the wall. The picture floated to the ground, only for Jiniraa to pick it up with delicate hands before softly setting it back in its original place.

“Why did you ask Lyle to bring me here?” Jiniraa questioned, securing her curls back with her bone pin. Miles ignored her as he continued to brood into the wall.

“You wouldn’t have asked-”

“You’re going to die.” Miles blurted out.

Jiniraa was stunned as she replayed his statement three times over. Nope. That’s definitely what he said. You’re going to die. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for water as she tried to respond, but Miles beat her to it.

“You are going to die because of me, just like they did.”

“Miles, I do not understand.”

“Maybe not physically, but you know, like that culture shit. This isn’t your world. Bridgehead is a prison.”

“For you or for me?” Jiniraa probed as she tried to wrap her head around what he was saying.

“For us.” Miles finally turned to look at her. He almost expected to see that shell of a woman he found in the forest, but it was the exact opposite. She wasn’t angry or upset or anything like that. No. She warmly smiled up at him as he closed the distance between them. He traced her bottom lip with his rough thumb, “what you smilin’ at? I just told you you have a death sentence. I know you ain’t used to all the human stuff, but that isn’t good, sweetheart.”

“You said ‘us’. It means you know you cannot thrive here either. We cannot thrive here. You promised to get me out before, right? We are one now. Where I go, you go with.”

She was a beam of light after a long harsh winter, slowly melting away all the ice and snow. Bringing life back to the world. Bringing life back to Miles Quaritch. After leaving his most recent meeting with Adrmore, he spent an hour pacing the limited length of his office before finally caving and beckoning Jiniraa to him. He knew the only thing that would ease his anxieties was her.

“I guess you’re right.” Miles murmured as Jiniraa placed his hand on her chest and mirrored the motion on his own, laying their hands on the other's heart. As Miles blinked he saw that image of Jiniraa’s bloodied corpse with the knife protruding, but her warmth brought him back to reality. This was real. That was not. She was here.

“You can be a good man, Miles Quaritch,” Jiniraa began. Miles stiffly chucked at her accent when she attempted to use his last night. Her glare stopped it from swelling any further. “It will not be easy, but far lesser men have done far harder things.”

Miles scoffed at this, “you comparin’ me to Sully?”

“No. Toruk Makto is a mighty warrior who protected me and the People from the Sky People.” Jiniraa defended her Olo'eyktan. If only she knew where Jake was right now - hiding far away with strangers. At least the kids liked the ocean. Neytiri? Not as much.

“Yeah, yeah,” Miles dismissed, “guess the kid did that.”

“Ma Miles?” Jiniraa asked after a moment of silence.

“Yeah, baby?”

“What’s a shotgun wedding?”

Damn you, Lyle Wainfleet.

●●●

“Where are we going?” Jiniraa questioned as Miles pulled her through the familiar Recom designated halls of Bridgehead. It had been hours since supper and the skeleton crew of Bridgehead humans paid little attention to the pair as they snuck through the halls. Snuck in a loose sense - pretty hard to sneak around when you’re blue and double the size of most people. Regardless.

“It’s a surprise.” Miles smirked over his shoulder as he rolled them back, catching the way Jiniraa’s eyes flicked to the movement before returning to his face. “You are not sly. Sneakin’ glances?”

Jiniraa’s face burned - not embarrassed because she was shamelessly admiring her mate, but because of his teasing tone. It sent heat straight to the juncture between her legs. Miles knowing hum only made it worse.

It wasn’t necessarily a surprise as they passed through the airlock, but it was always nice to take a breath of actual Pandoran air instead of sipping that supplemental carbon they had to carry around. Jiniraa and Miles spent many hours outside, mostly over at the deserted shooting range to look at the stars. Miles could identify one constellation now, but he could recall the gist of half a dozen folklore stories surrounding the stars. As she shared the stories she heard in her youth, Miles always struggled to stay awake; not because he was bored - no, her voice was just that soothing. It was easier to just listen. Jiniraa didn’t seem to mind. He was bad at reading these stars anyway.

Jiniraa was confused when Miles made a left instead of a right. They were heading in the opposite direction of the shooting range, but his confident gait said not to question it. Her silent questions were answered as Miles summoned Cupcake with that whistle Jiniraa despised. She loved many things about Miles, but his ikran call was not one of them.

Miles greeted the ikran with a pat to the neck, instantly going to check the gear around its neck before forming the bond and mounting him with ease. Jiniraa admired how naturally the movement came to Miles now. If he wasn’t dressed in Sky People clothes and Cupcake didn’t have all that thick green gear on, he would almost look like a hunter. Almost. Maybe she’ll try to get him to grow his hair out a little. He is overdue for a haircut already and the slight curl was beginning to make an appearance.

“You gonna just stand there all night,” Miles mocked with an outstretched hand, “comin’ with?”

“Where are we going?” Jiniraa asked as she hopped up and settled down in front of Miles.

“Nowhere in particular.” Miles answered in a heavy voice as he pressed a quick sloppy kiss to the base of Jiniraa’s ears. While he liked burying his face into her hair, he did enjoy it when she pulled it back with that innovative little carved viperwolf bone. “Nighttime drive.”

So that’s what they did. A nighttime drive - Pandora style.

They laughed and joked as they flew above the trees. They sat in silence as the night drew on. They traced the bioluminescent freckles along their arms. They shared quick kisses here and there. They stayed wrapped in each others arms - the safety of their person.

It would be different in the morning. Everything would be different this time tomorrow, but that didn’t matter.

Right now? Right now it was just them as nothing else was of note. This was happening. This was now. It was real.

And it was beautiful. A dream come alive.

●●●

so it's been a while. sorry 'bout that. life has been crazy recently. very overwhelming and a lot to take in and deal with in such a short amount of time. this story was my escape from a lot of that, but i got very discouraged shortly after writing the last chapter. and honestly i contemplated wiping the story off every platform. thank you to everyone who sent in their kind words to encourage me to continue - even if i did not respond, i did see them.

so that combined with the stress and health issues i've been dealing with is what took this so long to come out. i do apologize for that, but i hope you enjoyed it. we're nearing the end btw. i expect another six or so chapters? no more than nine though based on what i have outlined right now. still playing around with how i want it to end end.

lots of love <3 please provide any feedback you have on how everything is going - good, bad, and neutral. please like, reblog, and/or comment to let me know what you think

taglist - let me know if you'd like to be added

@drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed

@oceandeepthirst2

@bolggerist

@mxddymay

@ttreader

@luciddasher

@sofiebstar

@azilove

@fairycaitlin

@graysonmalik2550

@quaritchxx