SUMMARY: A moment for Tyr and Beka… would fit into the Eureka Maru universe.
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Characters do not belong to me and I make no money from them. I just make people happy
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Another day, another Drift. Another piece of business successfully transacted, thank goodness, Beka thought. At least she was finally beginning to pull in a profit, even if part of it was due to a certain Nietzschean. Her crew was celebrating and she couldn’t blame them. A successful transaction was always cause for a celebration, not that an excuse was really needed for Harper to let loose. He and Trance were enjoying themselves and that was the main thing.
As for Beka herself, she was in a more melancholy mood. The noise and bright lights of the bar did nothing to quell the feeling that something was missing from her life at the moment. Consequently, she had removed herself from her companions and was stood a little way off from them.
“Something troubling you, Captain Valentine?”
His quiet voice cut through the crowded bar’s hubbub of noise, startling her out of her thoughts. She jumped slightly before turning away from the window to face him.
“Hello Tyr,” she replied. “Nice to see you again.”
“Likewise.” He smiled sadly. “You seem troubled. Care to share?”
Beka shook her head. “Just thinking of business and life. Do you realise its been almost a year since we had to leave Andromeda?”
“Time has indeed passed quickly.” He looked sharply at her. “Do not tell me you still grieve for Captain Hunt?"
She gave a short laugh. “I’ll admit I miss him at times, but that’s about it.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want you wasting yourself over him.”
“Didn’t know you cared,” she replied saucily.
His dark eyes narrowed and once again Beka realised that she had underestimated his opinion of her. Tyr had been a constant source of support for her in recent months, because it suited him to see her and her crew provided for. In his own Nietzschean way he had definitely shown he cared, a thousand times over.
The music in the bar changed tempo, turning from raucous rock to something much slower and more melodic. “Care to dance?” Tyr asked suddenly, holding out his hand.
Beka grasped it firmly and followed him blindly onto the dance floor. He pulled her close to him and she wrapped her arms around his back, feeling the firmness of his shoulderblades beneath her fingers. She felt his hands at her back, pushing her forward and she fell closer into his embrace, resting her head against his shoulder. Although it was the first time they had danced in such close proximity to each other it seemed strangely right.
“Remember the first time we danced?” she asked, recalling his stilted reaction to the time she had asked him to dance with her on board the Andromeda Ascendant.
“It was to that ghastly music of Harper’s. This is much more to my taste.”
She sensed the humour in his voice and smiled against his leather vest. “I can tell,” she murmured.
They drifted in silence to the music. Other couples danced by them but Beka was unaware of their presence. She only knew that she was in Tyr’s arms and that it felt good. “Gotta wonder what your fellow Nietzscheans would say if they saw this,” she joked.
“They’re not my fellow Nietzscheans,” he snapped back. Then his voice softened. “But they would be forced to admit that I have a woman in my arms who is strong, beautiful and intelligent. You are more worthy that many a Nietzschean female, Beka Valentine.”
She pulled her head back and grinned at him. “High praise indeed, Anasazi,” she commented, raising an eyebrow at him. “And a rarity. What’s come over you?”
He returned her smile. “Just you,” he replied simply and Beka felt her heart turn a thousand somersaults. She returned her head to its resting-place, proceeding to lose herself in the music and him. Her heart beat fiercely in her chest and if she concentrated she was sure she could hear his as well. The first and last time they had danced had been back on Andromeda in front of the others; not exactly conducive to the intimacy they were sharing now. But even though they were on a crowded dancefloor, in the middle of a busy bar, it was as though there was no one else in the universe except for herself and Tyr.
“Are you falling asleep on me?” he asked in teasing tones.
Beka’s head rose quickly. “No,” she replied. She couldn’t imagine ever falling asleep in his company. It was then that she realised that the dance floor was emptying. “Oh,” she murmured.
“Perhaps we should move,” Tyr suggested. Not waiting for an answer he placed an arm loosely around her waist and escorted her back to the table where Trance and Harper were seated. They glanced up in surprise, but when Trance attempted to make room for him to sit Tyr dismissed her with a slight shake of his head. Before Beka could sit down he swung behind her, taking her waist in both hands. He placed a swift kiss on the side of her neck and disappeared into the crowd.
“Man, I wish he wouldn’t do that,” Harper whined.
Beka didn’t answer. Instead, she looked to where Tyr had vanished even though she could no longer see him. Her neck burned where his lips had touched her skin and she felt cold without his embrace. As much as she enjoyed the brief moments they were together, she knew they couldn’t continue like this. Either their lives would come together or they’d diverge on a permanent basis. And somehow she knew that without him she’d be incredibly lost.
FINIS