authors note: hey guys!! day 2!! I hope you like this little art and the following drabble! I think i like this art more than yesterdays... idk, trying to speed run leaning how to do this stuff!
The call came at an unreasonable hour.
Seris had learned, in the weeks since they met, that this was simply how it went with Tech. He did not operate on a standard cycle. He operated on curiosity, and curiosity kept no schedule.
She answered anyway. She was still at her desk, a half-drafted amendment spread across her screen, a cold cup of tea at her elbow that she kept meaning to deal with. The blue flicker of his projection filled the low light of her office.
"I have a question," he said, by way of greeting.
"Hello, Tech."
"Yes. Hello." He adjusted something off-screen, hands never fully still. "You referenced the Helerian Concord during the Senate session this afternoon. I was observing the transcript."
Something warm moved through her chest. "You were reviewing Senate transcripts?"
"I review a considerable amount of material. The question," he continued, determined to return the conversation to its proper track, "is whether you invoked the Concord as precedent or as pressure. The distinction carries significant strategic implications and the transcript does not make your intent clear."
Seris leaned back in her chair, studying the small blue figure of him. "What do you think?"
A pause. She had learned to read his pauses too, in the weeks of intermittent calls that had accumulated without either of them formally deciding to begin. This one meant he had already formed a conclusion and was deciding whether to offer it.
"I think," he said carefully, "that you knew the citation would be challenged and that you wanted it challenged. The subsequent debate shifted the chamber's attention away from Rampart's provision in subclause nine, which would otherwise have passed without scrutiny." Another pause, shorter. "It was well-executed."
From Tech, this was an extraordinary compliment.
"Thank you."
He accepted this with a slight nod. Then he picked up something from his workbench and began to examine it, and she recognized this too: he was staying on the call. He simply needed something for his hands.
"The provision didn't pass," she offered.
"I am aware. I said it was well-executed." The faintest thread of something... admiration maybe, moved through his voice. "I do not give assessments I do not mean."
"I know you don't."
The silence that followed was not uncomfortable. That had surprised her, the first time it happened a few weeks ago. A politician's silence was almost always a weapon or a wound. Tech's silences were simply spaces where he was thinking, and he did not seem to require her to fill them. She found this to be a breath of fresh air.
"The others are well," he said eventually, unprompted. "In the event you were going to ask."
She had been going to ask. She smiled at the surface of her desk. "How is Omega?"
"Currently asleep, which is the appropriate state for someone of her age at this hour." A beat. "Unlike certain senators."
Seris looked up.
The corner of his mouth had done that thing again. The slight shift. The almost.
"I had work to finish," she said.
"You have work to finish every time I call."
"You call at unreasonable hours."
"I call," he said, making a factual correction, "when I have something to say. As it happens, you work at unreasonable hours." A beat. "As do I."
Seris looked at her amendment rather than at him. "It is nice," she said, carefully, "to have the company."
Tech said nothing. He picked up a different instrument and returned to his work.
Outside her window, Coruscant burned through the dark, a billion lights that never went out. Seris pulled her amendment back toward her and began to read. The call stayed open, but neither of them said anything for a long while.
Thank you again @clonexocweek for this event, it's been great to see soo many people participating!
Pairing: Commander Wolffe x OC (Sadhbh m'Lir)
Prompt: Star Gazing
Note: I'm so happy I managed to get this finished tonight! It's not my best work but I'll fix it later :)! The constellation was my favourite to come up with! I drew waves and a vortex to symbolise the sea which is where Sadhbh's surname comes from. And who could resist making a wolf constellation :)?
Summary: After another late night hookup, Crosshair lets Tulip stay the night. His morning doesn't go the way he thought it would. Turns out, it was pretty nice after all.
Warnings and Tags: Modern au, Swearing, Mentions of sex, (barely) friends with benefits, Two shitheads ignoring they're in love, Crosshairs being immature
The night prior had Crosshair staying up till three in the morning. It had been around midnight when he'd sent that text. And it had been around twelve thirty when she was at his front door. It had been around two fifty when they finally finished and laid down to rest.
It had been two fifty five exactly when Crosshair agreed to let her stay the night. He had looked at her worn out frame and decided she was in no state to drive.
Tulip had stayed over before. It wasn't uncommon but he didn't prefer it. It was complicated, those nights were when he got his best sleep. The thing was Crosshair really didn't want her getting the wrong idea. He was already slipping up himself.
Crosshair was always the kind of person to sleep in. He would spend the entire day in bed if he could. It took several alarms to wake him up everyday, or rather afternoon.
But now Crosshair had passed out beside the girl he'd called in the middle of the night for a fuck. Usually, whenever they did this, she was gone by the morning. Whenever she woke up in the middle of the night, she'd grab her belongings and leave. Tulip was never one for staying over on her own terms anyway. They had both been very clear in their arrangement.
Neither one of them were looking for a true relationship. Their relationship was almost strictly explicit, every conversation they shared was surface level pleasantries if that. Crosshair had absolutely no intention of taking anything further than that. She was a 'man eater' and he was a 'player'. There were only so many ways this could go.
At eleven in the morning Crosshairs phone buzzed on his bedside table. He almost always kept it on 'Do Not Disturb' but he'd turned it off when he was expecting Tulips answer the night before. Biggest mistake of his life.
Hunters caller ID showed on the screen as his phone angrily vibrated against his nightstand. Crosshair tried to ignore it but ultimately failed. As soon as the call ended and went to voicemail he was already awake.
Crosshair pulled himself out of his bed with nobody else in it. Just how he expected. He suspected Tulip would have left an hour or two ago by now. He picked up his phone off the counter.
What he hadn't expected was the pair of shoes he saw in his peripheral vision on the floor. His phone felt like it weighed a ton with the speed at which his hand dropped. One thing was for certain, Crosshair didnt wear three inch plaform boots.
...Was she still here?
There was a cemented crease in his brow as he exited his bedroom. Keen ears listened for any noises that could lead him to a conclusion. His socks slid against the floor as he poked around upstairs. It wasn't until he was passing the stairs that he heard a steady hum of noise from down there.
As Crosshair made it down the stairs he could hear it a little better. It was music... and he definitely knew who was playing it. Her love of 1980's hairmetal was something he only learned from the t-shirts he'd taken off of her. Now it appeared the sounds of 'The Saints of Los Angeles' were reverberating through his kitchen.
He turned the corner to find a scene he couldn't wrap his head around. Standing in his kitchen holding a bowl and a whisk was none other than Tulip. She was still wearing her clothes from last night. Her black and blue hair was tied back but Crosshair thought she looked just as good as did last night. It was a thought he shook from his head rather quickly.
He observed the situation in silence. Her back was to him and she hadn't noticed his presence yet. She was still humming along to the music that came from her phone speaker. Crosshair listened to the quiet chiming of the timer on the oven. She'd been making something. She spun around and turned off the timer with a single oven mitt on she reached into the oven and took out a cookie sheet. Crosshair couldn't place what it was. After a few more seconds he decided that maybe he should actually step in.
He slipped into the kitchen, standing only a few steps away. "Morning." He told her calmly. Crosshair made his way to stand before the coffee pot. He knew he had startled her; he could tell by the way he heard her breath hitch and the way she tensed.
Tulip turned to look at him, sliding the tray on the stove. "Hey." She told him simply. As Crosshair turned his back, Tulip tried to analyze his posture. She was trying to read him. "I made muffin-tops" she said trying to explain the mess around her. "I got kind of bored, and I figured you'd start charging me rent if I didn't do something." She said picking up her phone and turning off the music.
"Is that right." Crosshairs hand stopped moving as he reached out into the cabinet for a mug. He processed her words slowly. What the hell was she talking about? He sighed and finished pouring out the rest of his coffee. "What gave you that impression?" Cross asked.
"The fact this is the fifth time you've called me this month." Tulip answered quickly. She put down the oven mitt and let it sit on the counter. "It's the eleventh, Crosshair." She pointed out.
The man stopped stirring his coffee.
Did he really? He thought back on it harder. Maybe he had. He didn't even know what to say. She wasn't wrong.
"So it is." He said turning around with his mug. Crosshair took a sip as he looked at the two baking trays. "I thought you said you made muffins?" He asked her as he stared at them curiously.
"I did." Tulips expression said everything else she didn't. Crosshair could read her easy enough, her nonverbals were very loud. Her expression was asking him if he was stupid.
"Where's the rest of it?" He asked her.
Tulip half heartedly rolled her eyes. "Glad to see you listen when I talk." She said sarcastically. "They're muffin-tops, you know, the top part" she clarified.
Crosshair rolled his eyes as he listened to her. This was exactly the behavior he was trying to avoid. In that exact moment he made the decision that he'd refrain from calling her for the next while. As pretty as she was and as much as he matched her energy, he wasn't doing this to himself.
"They're still hot." Tulip said to him. She shifted on her feet, after looking at him and seeing his expression, she felt a lump in her throat forming.
She could see it written over his face. He was biting back some kind of remark. Tulip knew him well enough to know he was probably pissed off about something. No doubt it was about her.
Tulip knew how he felt about things. She wasn't stupid. It wasn't like she was limiting herself to only him, Tulips roster was more than full. But there was a reason she came every single time he called. Tulip was not a girl who chased, Crosshair was the first time she'd actually gone after a guy before. She had no intention of anything too serious with him. At the very least she thought they could be friends. If he was going to keep calling her in the middle of the night than she thought, they could at least have that. Apparently, she was wrong.
She knew exactly what was coming next. It was Crosshairs usual trademark speech.
"I'm not your boyfriend." Crosshair finally stated as he looked over the scene before him.
"I never said that you were." She shot back near immediately. Tulip began to clean up the kitchen, she'd started before but she tidied up whatever was left.
"You're acting like it."
"I act like this with my friends." She told him. "Just because I do something nice doesn't mean I'm in love with you. Eat your fucking breakfast."
Crosshair was learning what she was like when she was pissed off. It was a very odd display. Sometimes when he would see her, she was sweet as could be. Other times she was snippy and sarcastic. She always warmed up to him in the end. It was almost funny how much of a turn this had all taken.
He stepped closer to her, nearly caging her against the counter. His eyes met hers, he always wondered what the hell could have been going on inside her head. Crosshair placed his mug down to the left of her. Silently he grabbed one of the baked treats off the tray. They were definitely still warm; it was nearly burning his fingertips.
"Thanks." He finally said as he moved himself away from her. Crosshair took a bite and found himself pleasantly surprised.
Tulip actually saw it on his face. She stood there smiling to herself. "You're very welcome." She told him.
The girl finished cleaning up and turned off the oven. Crosshair stood holding his food and his coffee mug, he looked oddly relaxed.
"I mean it." He said again. "Thanks." He repeated. Brown eyes looking over to her.
Tulip knew that was his way of apologizing for his attitude. She took it for what it was worth. She smiled back at him.
"No problem Crosshair." She hummed.
Hi!!! I promise they actually like each other! This is the most quality time they've ever had! They'll get there eventually 🫶🏻
