At 02:40, Kael woke with his throat dry enough to feel like he had swallowed sand.
For a few seconds he didn't move.
The room was dark except for the thin blue line of the wall display near the door and the softer spill of academy night-light bleeding through the window. Helius Prime never went fully dark. It dimmed. Shifted. Breathed quieter. Outside, the training towers stood like sleeping giants against the night, their edges silvered beneath distant security beacons. Somewhere far below, a transport cart hummed through a maintenance lane. Metal answered metal in a faint hollow rhythm that barely reached the dormitory floor.
Beside him, Ryven was warm and still.
Kael stayed there one second longer than necessary, staring at the outline of him beneath the blankets.
It had become dangerous how familiar this felt.
Not strange anymore.
Not temporary.
Familiar.
The room smelled faintly of detergent, machine oil from discarded pilot gear, and Ryven beneath it all—clean, grounding, recognizable enough now that Kael noticed the absence of it faster than the presence.
That realization should have concerned him more than it did.
Instead—
thirst won.
Kael pushed the blanket down carefully and slipped out of bed.
The floor was cool beneath his bare feet. Not cold—Helius regulated temperature too precisely for that—but cool enough to wake the rest of him properly. He rubbed one hand through his hair as he crossed the room, immediately making it worse.
"Tragic," he muttered to himself quietly. "I sleep for two hours and somehow wake up electrocuted."
The compact drawer beside the shelf slid open with a soft mechanical hiss.
Kael grabbed a water bottle, twisted the cap loose, and drank half of it immediately.
The water hit hard.
Cold.
Sharp.
Good enough that his entire body nearly sagged in relief.
"Oh, thank God," he whispered dramatically.
Then—
the datapad flashed.
Kael stopped mid-drink.
Suspicion arrived instantly.
At this hour, there were only a handful of people insane enough to contact him voluntarily.
Worse—
most of them were related to him.
He picked the datapad up.
The first message was from Krysta.
Of course it was.
The text wall looked less like a sibling message and more like a classified deployment survival manual written by a deeply judgmental goblin with trust issues.
Do NOT forget the backup patches I packed for you. And the signal wraps. And the insulated med strips. And the snack case. Yes, I know you were planning to "just grab food there." No. Also bring the wrist brace. I don't care if you think you don't need it. Also also, if Ryven forgets anything useful, that becomes your problem now. Tell Cassian I already sent his list. And Caleb?
Don't get stupid.
Kael snorted softly.
That last line was bolded.
Naturally.
The second message came from Cassian.
Are we leaving at the same time? They said our evaluation windows "overlap" and I no longer trust anybody's definition of overlap. Also Krysta sent me a list. It's longer than legal documentation. Help.
Kael grinned despite himself.
His thumbs moved quickly across the screen.
To Krysta:
I packed it. Mostly. Probably.
You sound like Mom.
He paused.
Then added:
I'll bring the wrist brace.
After another second—
To Cassian:
Yeah, same departure window. You're with us.
And if you ignore Krysta's list, that's a personal death wish.
Three seconds later, Cassian replied.
Rude.
Kael huffed a laugh through his nose and locked the screen before either sibling could continue emotionally escalating at two in the morning.
The room settled quiet again.
He set the datapad beside the water bottle.
Then glanced back toward the bed.
Ryven still hadn't moved.
From here, in the dim blue dark, he looked all long quiet lines and shadow. One arm beneath the pillow. Dark hair loose across his forehead. The blanket had shifted low enough to expose one shoulder beneath the thin black sleep shirt stretched across muscle that honestly felt disrespectful at this point.
Even asleep, Ryven looked composed.
As if his body didn't know how to do careless the way Kael's did naturally.
Kael should have gone back to sleep immediately.
He knew that.
They had training in a few hours. Deployment prep after that. Seventy-two hours had already become less than that, and Helius had a special talent for punishing cadets who mistook exhaustion for romance.
Instead—
Kael sat down carefully on the edge of the bed.
And looked at him.
Really looked at him.
The room was quiet enough that he could hear Ryven breathing. Slow. Even. The faint rise and fall of his chest visible beneath the low academy light.
Kael rested his elbows against his knees, bottle hanging loosely from one hand while he studied the face he already knew too well.
The straight bridge of his nose.
The severe line of his mouth softened by sleep.
Dark lashes against pale skin.
The faint crease near his brow that only disappeared completely when he was deeply asleep—
or staring at Kael like he had forgotten the rest of the galaxy existed.
"You really are stupidly handsome," Kael whispered.
Ryven didn't move.
Kael's mouth curved slightly.
"Good thing you barely smile," he murmured. "I'd have to start physically fighting people."
Still nothing.
Somehow that made the quiet easier.
Safer.
Like the night itself had leaned closer to listen.
Kael looked down at his hands briefly before glancing back up.
"You know," he said softly, "the first time I fought you… I knew."
His voice lowered further.
Not because he was hiding it.
Because this part felt fragile in a way combat never did.
"Not the bonding part," he added quickly. "I wasn't that dramatic yet."
A tiny grin flickered across his face.
"Though apparently I should've been. Could've saved myself an incredible amount of emotional suffering."
Ryven remained motionless.
Kael exhaled quietly through his nose.
"But I knew there was never gonna be anybody else."
The words settled gently into the room.
Simple.
Bare.
True.
Outside, somewhere deep within the academy structure, a distant system bell marked the quarter hour.
Kael barely heard it.
His attention stayed fixed on the person in front of him.
"I was fully prepared to chase you across the Federation, you know that?" he whispered. "Whole galaxy if I had to. Publicly embarrass both of us repeatedly."
His grin deepened slightly.
"Thought bonding would happen years later." A pause. "Thought I'd have to work harder for it."
His gaze moved slowly across Ryven's face like he was memorizing him again.
"Who knew you were easy to get."
Nothing answered him except the low mechanical hush of academy ventilation and the distant pulse of nighttime systems through the walls.
Kael's expression softened completely this time.
"I'm glad it happened this way," he admitted quietly. "Really glad."
There it was.
The truth beneath all the teasing.
The thing he carried differently when no one else was watching.
His hand moved before he thought about it, fingertips brushing lightly against the blanket near Ryven's wrist.
Not quite skin.
Close enough.
"You have to stay safe," he whispered. "Who's gonna take care of me if you don't?"
The smile he gave afterward hurt around the edges.
"Wherever you go, I go." His voice dropped even quieter. "You're stuck with me."
His throat tightened slightly around the last words.
Enough that he had to swallow before continuing.
"Love you, Ry."
Smaller now.
Still certain.
"There'll never be anyone else."
The mattress shifted violently.
Kael barely had time to blink before a hand caught his wrist hard enough to stop him cold.
Then Ryven surged upward.
One arm hooked around Kael's waist and dragged him sideways fast enough that the water bottle slipped from his hand and rolled across the blankets. Kael let out a startled sound somewhere between a gasp and a laugh as he was pulled fully against a chest that was suddenly very awake.
Ryven held him tight.
Too immediate for sleep.
Too deliberate.
Kael stared at him in shock, hair falling into his face from the sudden movement.
"You're awake?!" he hissed.
Ryven's arms tightened slightly around him.
"I heard the drawer open."
His voice was rough with sleep.
But definitely awake.
Kael blinked at him.
"You were awake this whole time?"
Ryven's ears were already turning red.
Dangerous sign.
"No," he said carefully. "Not at first."
Kael narrowed his eyes immediately.
Ryven held his stare for one measured second.
"…I was going to ask if you were hungry."
That got him.
A grin exploded across Kael's face so quickly it almost looked dangerous.
"Oh," he said slowly.
Ryven immediately realized his mistake.
Too late.
Kael leaned closer until their foreheads nearly touched.
"I am hungry."
Ryven knew that tone instantly.
His hands flexed once against Kael's waist.
Kael smiled wider.
"But not for food."
Ryven froze completely.
Then the red at his ears deepened with brutal efficiency.
Kael nearly laughed straight into his face from sheer affection.
"There it is," he whispered delightedly. "Knew it."
"Kael."
"What?" Kael murmured innocently. "You listened to the whole thing. Serious breach of privacy."
"You said it sitting beside me."
"You could've announced consciousness."
"I wanted to hear what you'd do."
Kael blinked once.
Then twice.
That answer hit harder than expected.
"Oh," he said softly this time.
Something warm cracked open inside his chest so quickly it almost hurt.
Naturally—
he covered it with trouble immediately.
Kael shifted, swung one leg over Ryven's hips, and settled astride him with a grin sharp enough to qualify as psychological warfare.
Ryven inhaled.
A visible inhale.
Kael placed both hands against his chest, feeling the warmth beneath the thin fabric of Ryven's shirt and the much less steady heartbeat underneath it.
"Gotta make this count," he whispered.
"Kael."
That single word had changed.
Lower now.
Rougher.
Kael kissed him before Ryven could say anything else.
Not gentle.
Not careless either.
It landed with all the pressure of the last few days folded into it—the countdown toward deployment, the exhaustion, the fear neither of them said aloud, the impossible relief of still being here together afterward.
Ryven made a rough sound against his mouth and came up to meet him instantly, one hand sliding behind Kael's neck while the other tightened against his waist hard enough to make Kael shiver.
There.
That was his Ryven.
All control until suddenly there wasn't enough left to matter.
Kael smiled faintly against his mouth.
Then kissed him again.
Slower this time.
Ryven answered differently now—not reckless, not desperate, but deep enough that Kael felt it everywhere at once. Their mouths parted and met again. Kael's fingers curled into Ryven's shirt. Ryven's hand flattened against his back, warm and possessive and careful all at once.
Outside, Helius remained Helius.
Lights on timers.
Corridors humming.
Schedules waiting like sharpened steel.
Inside the room, the night narrowed.
Reduced itself to warmth and breath and the quiet drag of fabric against sheets.
Kael rested his forehead against Ryven's eventually, both of them breathing harder now.
"Say it again," Ryven said quietly.
Kael stilled.
For all his teasing—
that landed straight through him.
His expression softened in a way no one else ever got to see. He brushed Ryven's hair back slowly, looking at him like this mattered more than everything else combined.
"I love you," he said.
Ryven shut his eyes briefly like the words physically struck him.
When he opened them again, there was nothing guarded left.
"I know," he answered, because of course he did.
Kael barked out a breathless laugh.
"You're impossible."
"And you talk too much."
"Liar." Kael smiled faintly. "You like it."
Ryven looked at him for one long second.
"…yes."
That answer hit harder than any dramatic speech could have.
Kael kissed him again for it.
Longer this time.
Slower.
Less teasing.
More truth.
Eventually the energy left him all at once, the way it always did. One moment bright and impossible to contain, the next completely boneless as sleep dragged at him in real time.
He collapsed sideways against Ryven's chest with a muttered complaint that made absolutely no sense.
Ryven adjusted him automatically.
Like breathing.
Like instinct.
An hour later, Kael was asleep again.
Completely.
One cheek pressed against Ryven's shoulder, one arm thrown across his waist like a claim already made and never intended to be surrendered. Every few minutes he shifted slightly in sleep.
Always closer.
Never away.
Ryven stayed awake longer.
He held him tighter this time.
Not enough to wake him.
Just enough to feel the weight of him there.
Warm.
Reckless.
Talkative.
Stubborn.
Beloved.
The room had gone quiet again except for their breathing and the distant hum of nighttime systems through academy walls.
A few more nights.
That was all.
A few more nights before deployment.
Before evaluation.
Before the next part of their lives stopped belonging entirely to Helius and started belonging to something larger—
and far less forgiving.
Ryven lowered his face briefly against Kael's hair and closed his eyes.
When sleep finally took him—
his arms never loosened.