Ruby Stardust (Ruby Rose fanfic)

NINETEEN (ISELEN POV)

I lean back on my chair while looking at the vegetal wall with a critical eye, botanists and technicians on this ship have followed my instructions to the letter but I always like to check the work after it's done: sometimes, things that look beautiful on a piece of paper doesn't look like that in real life. The green shade of small ferns, acorus and mass canes get mixed with the vibrant red of some begonias and colourful bromeliads... Maybe I should add more purple hearts... or a touch of yellow...

"I like it." Ruby gets closer and pours herself a glass of water, sitting next to me and putting her arm over the back of my chair, her fingertips rub my shoulder while she stares at the garden I designed for her in the break room, well, for all the soldiers but above all for her.

"You like everything I design," I answer rolling my eyes but leaning back on my chair even more to be able to get closer to her. My mate chuckles and nods.

"That's true but it's because you're really good at your job. You've been watching that wall for half an hour frowning and no soldier dares to come into this room because they don't want to disturb you but it's time for a break and they'd like to know if the can come here to eat something and relax. They don't understand where the problem is, either... They're all thrilled with the garden, even Antares."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I was getting in their way. Tell them they can come in whenever they want..." I answer getting up a little surprised, this is the first time Ruby admits somehow that her cousin doesn't like me, or rather, he doesn't like to see me wandering around his control room. At least, Antares got his rank back and is the head of the army again, he's too busy working right now so he has a good excuse to ignore me.

"I still don't understand what the problem is," Ruby shakes her head while walking towards her chair in front of Kullat's bigger screen and points at it with her index so I sit down, she leans her butt on the edge of her table, crossing her arms over her chest, determined to know what's wrong with me and how to fix it.

"It's a matter of balance and harmony of the composition, I feel that something's missing on that wall but I don't know if I should add more plants of those same colours or add something new like a subtle touch of yellow, for example. Don't worry, this kind of block happens from time to time but in a couple of days, suddenly, inspiration will come at the most unexpected moment... This is how artists work. Everything is all right."

"Are you sure?" my angel asks biting her lower lip and frowns but her eyes are still the most beautiful in the entire universe even if they sparkle with suspicion.

"It's not a problem, babe, but part of the creative process. And talking about art..." I take a piece of paper from my pants pocket and unfold it carefully, putting it on the table while my mate stares at me with curiosity. "I've drawn this for you with a little help from Alrisha because I'm not Leonardo da Vinci, to be honest. I've added some subtle touches of colour but we can change it if you don't like it."

"For me? It's gorgeous..." Ruby looks at the drawing baffled and rubs two small white flowers with her index.

"It's your new tattoo, my love, you told me that Anunnaki usually get a tattoo when they find their partner and I should pick out a design that had a special meaning for me... I knew I was going to choose a flower, obviously, and humans tend to get roses tattooed all the time but I'd picked out jasmine flowers because the Madagascar jasmine was the first thing I gave you as a present... It's not very big so I don't think you'll have a problem to find a spot on your skin for this design..."

"For the Goddess' sake, Iselen..." Ruby takes the piece of paper and looks at it with her mouth wide open.

"Do you like it?" I ask hesitating.