🐺 ~PROJECT SAC-1~ ⚔️

Chapter 40 - Okay, Surprises Never Stop 😮‍💨

(DAY 155 w/ THE BAD BATCH)

Talla didn't know there was such a thing as not being able to sleep because you were too hyped up, but in a good way. It had never happened to her in her short history. Instead of being too hyped up after a grueling battle, Talla was hyped up for what the future would bring, because it could actually be GOOD! To not just live mission to mission, that sounded really good. Let's face it, she didn't think breaking the rules could actually feel so right. And who knew the blasted desert could be so romantic?

Call it the honeymoon phase, but right now Talla could care less. The Kaminoans, the War, the broken rules, potential punishment, it was far from her mind when she was with Hunter, and she loved it. And since the Lawquanes already knew about her and Hunter's secret little crush thing going on, she figured it'd only be a matter of time before they officially told them and in turn the brothers, so Talla wasn't exactly shy about waltzing into the kitchen the next morning and upon finding Hunter making his caf, her face lit up and she attempted to interrupt with a hug from behind.

Only to be put off when he jumped and abruptly kept her arm's length, looking at Talla as if she was crazy for even considering an innocent hug! And he hurt her shoulder in the process!

'What, did I smell bad? No that's not possible, Tech let me wash up last night and I remembered deodorant.' On the verge of humiliation, heat rose to her face. "I'm sorry, did I misread one of the many signals you gave me last night?" One of them Talla briefly pulling back and rather forthrightly asking if they were more than friends now, and he'd said an unmistakable 'yes' before lip-locking with her again.

To her question Hunter jerked his head no, and thank the force he saw no one else was in the living room as of yet, and sealed them shut in the kitchen without suspicion. "Look, can we keep -" He sharply gestured between them, "This under wraps for a little while?"

"Why?" It was hard not to ignore the pang of perceived rejection in her fluttering heart, and instead of another sarcastic remark Talla's voice was small when asking, "Do - do you regret it?" As per usual Talla averted her face and crossed her arms as if to physically hold herself together. 'First kiss(es), first relationship, well, that felt good for about all of twelve hours.'

But his tense cautiousness eased into the first small, endearing smile he didn't have to hide anymore. "Not a chance." He chuckled, unable to stop from reaching out to her.

'Oh, so there is no need for humiliation then.' That dilemma aside, Talla raised her head high, demeanor turning cheeky. "Then what, do you happen to have a wife stashed away on some backwater planet too?"

And for the first time ever, it rubbed off on him and Hunter didn't become tongue tied, rather he went so far as to tease back with a small smirk of his own, "Considering you could snap my neck like a toothpick I'd say you'd be the last person I'd ever admit that to, hm?"

He wasn't expecting a bashful grin for a reply, nor Talla getting flustered enough to have to downturn her cute little face turning pink, giving a goofy little laugh, "Aw, I think that's the first compliment you've ever successfully given me." Eyes briefly flitting up to his she reached out to the front of his tunic to mess with. "Go on."

Flustered Hunter hesitated, then did go through with cupping one side of her face and pressing his lips against her hairline, murmuring near her forehead, "I want to push off all the teasing, just have a little time for us to get used to this without all that chaos." Force knows they had enough of that as it is. The odds were infinitely stacked against them, so why shouldn't they take a little respite when they could? It was within their nonexistent rights, he'd say.