Cal watched Denahi tear off into the kitchen after his toy with an uncharacteristic absence of expression. She was used to withholding her feelings from colleagues, to a certain extent. The first week of training with the common force at the age of fifteen had taught her that the heavily masculine environment would allow only partial self-expression. It was okay to laugh, to be cheerful, to banter, to square up to a challenge – but softer emotions, like sadness and fear, had to kept behind closed doors. As a woman in a man’s world, Cal would never have been taken seriously if she’d run from a challenge or shed a tear. She’d learned to conceal such feelings behind mock wrestling matches.

Around Flynn, there was no need to hide. He was the only man in their profession who not only accepted the inevitability of such ‘weaknesses’, but encouraged healthier ways of expressing them. Cal didn’t need to have to be constantly on top form to keep his respect. She could just be herself.

“I don’t think you’re boring,” she told him quietly, keeping her eyes fixed on Denahi. He came plodding back over to them with distinctly less energy than he’d had only a few seconds before and collapsed on the rug, chewing his toy.

She was still watching Denahi when she felt Flynn’s hand close over hers, the palm warm against the back of her hand. Cal rolled her hand over and took hold of his, interlocking the fingers. She was certain that if Flynn couldn’t hear her heart thumping in her chest, then Den would. She quirked an eyebrow at the dog, half-expecting him to pass a bumbling comment, but he remained silent. Flynn spoke instead, breaking across the distance with a gentle note of concern. He was only a few inches away on the sofa, but it may as well have been the Xaran desert between them.

“Nothing.” She smiled, but still couldn’t quite meet his eye. “I’m happy for you.”

Hopefully he wouldn’t hear the hollow ring in those words. Why couldn’t she inject some enthusiasm into them? They just fell flat.

At least Flynn seemed to know what to say in a genuine way. His words were hesitant, catching in his throat occasionally, tantalising. If Cal didn’t know him better, she’d have supposed he was teasing her. I want to see more of you, I’d miss you were the sort of phrases which, on Xara, pre-empted an application to court. But Flynn didn’t mean that, because this was a friendship to him. And to Cal. That’s what she wanted. If her Xaran adventure in the Omniety contest had taught her one thing, it was that her toleration for eventual inevitable marriage had dipped. And she certainly didn’t want to pursue anything right after getting a promotion.

It was only when Flynn mentioned uniform that she looked at him properly, trying to imagine him in it. Green was a popular colour in the Volcano against the earthy tones of the Volcanic ker, but it had a different effect against Flynn’s pale skin. Cal glanced upwards, meeting his eyes, and felt a familiar spark of lightning tingle down her skin. It had struck her, when she’d first met Flynn, that his eyes were almost the same colour as Buddy’s. Buddy was the entire reason Cal was anything other than a long-married farmer’s wife right now. The memory of that day was as crisp as if it had been yesterday. She’d stood on the side of the mountain, in the spot her ancestors had found their futures, and she’d stared into the eyes of the wild beast: a creature of storm and night. To her other side, the comfort of familiarity – an Earth aja – had offered her a second option. She could have stuck with what was safe then, but she chose Dark Lightning. One moment of courage for a lifetime of adventure.

“Were you ever going to ask to court me?” The words were hesitant, but once they were out Cal felt the weight of the fear lifting from her shoulders, and it got easier to keep going. “Was that ever on the cards? And if it was, is it off the table now?” She bit her lip. “Because you’re a scholar. Your dad was a scholar. And I’m a peasant,” she twisted her hand in his. “Lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to find Dark Lightning in the wilderness, but still born on a farm.”