He paused, helmet in hand, to gaze after the figure just entering the launch bay. She was dressed in her dark Ranger uniform, giving her the same regular appearance as the rest of her teammates and lending the air of authority to her movement. Her hair was pulled back and her tunic was neat, making her look every inch the professional.
She looked more at home in the garden dome than she ever did in Ranger control, despite the fact that the environment here was almost as foreign. All of the animals and most of the plants were imported, as they served an agricultural as well as aesthetic purpose. But she knew them all by name, and could point to the source of every sound that added its voice to the natural nighttime symphony.
"Carlos. Carlos, wake up."
He blinked, focusing abruptly on Billy. "Yeah? I'm listening."
"Sure you are," Billy said dryly. "That's why you just agreed with me when I told you that gravity acts as a counter-thrust force unrelated to lift. You're going to have to do a little better than that if you want to keep this thing in the air."
She laughed when he tried to imitate one of the birdcalls, and promptly put him to shame by duplicating the sound perfectly. He didn't understand it, and told her so--her voice was adapted for the water. Birdsong was the last thing she should be able to mimic. She only grinned at him when he complained and told him he should know better than to assume by now.
He felt his gaze sliding away again, and he had to smile as she approached. "I know. And I'm listening, really."
"Is your student giving you trouble?" Aura inquired as she joined them. The comment was for Billy, but her amused gaze was directed solely at him. "I will take over from here, if you wish."
"Please do," Billy agreed without hesitation. "Somehow I think he'll listen better to you than to me."
As ignorant as Aquitar often made him feel, he found that he didn't mind being teased by her. Anything that made her smile was more than worthwhile, and she never made him feel awkward or out of place. She always remembered to ask if he had seen or done something before she explained it, going out of her way to treat him like an equal despite her native status.
"He will have to," Aura said with a small smile. "He will never get up in the air if he doesn't."
"Are you sure this I'm going to be able to do this?" he asked, only half-kidding as he settled into the cramped open-air cockpit. "I'm not sure you really want to be in the backseat."
"Anyone can learn," she informed him as she helped him adjust his harness. "With the right teacher."
He had to crane his neck to look up at her, but it was worth it. She smiled and leaned forward to press her mouth gently to his. Her ponytail tumbled over her shoulder as his hand snaked around her neck, pulling her as close as he could to return the tender kiss.
More than anything else, their walks in the garden dome made him feel like he knew her. Away from her Ranger duties and separated from the constant scrutiny of their teammates, she moved more easily and laughed more often. She said things that made his eyes widen. And when she pressed both of her hands to his and leaned close enough that he could feel her heart beating, he knew he had never felt anything more real in his life.