Whisper - Lesedi Valentine's AU Scenario (Patreon)

Silence permeates the training room of the facility until the beat of my punch cracks through the thick silence. My fist strikes the padded mannequin with a wallop that sends vibrations wobbling all the way up my arm into my shoulder. I stumble back, shaking out the ache in my bandaged fingers.

I should have stopped ages ago. But the familiar beat of training is soothing in its own way, even as my lungs burn with exertion and my body begs in painful strains for me to stop.

I continue on.

At least I try. As I swing my fist at the well-beaten training dummy, a hand whips out and grabs my wrist, halting the motion with graceful ease.

I glance to one side to find Lesedi smiling at me. Slight wrinkles crease around her bright eyes, her lips curled up in perfection.

My heart thumps in my chest for a whole different reason.

“You have been in here for hours, [Name],” she states, letting go of my hand which I drop back to my side.

I slump down on the nearby bench, beginning to unwrap the bandages, and let out a low breath. “I’d planned on being here for a few more too.”

“All to avoid a day made for happiness?” Her voice is as soft as her continuing smile which now edges into amusement. She sits on the bench beside me. I shiver at her closeness.

Gritting my teeth, I stare out across the empty training room, sunk into the shadows of the night, only one spotlight glowing above the door on the opposite side. “Valentines isn’t my thing.”

“Why? You have plenty of people to share it with,” she states. It’s true. There are many people in my life I love, and Valentine’s is a time to celebrate that love as well as those who indulge in the romantic side of it.

But it’s the romantic side of it that’s giving me grief.

Gazing at Lesedi, an ache forms within me like a well no one can fill but her. We’ve known each other many years at this point, working together multiple times as Unit Bravo and Unit Alpha have teamed up. And each time I find myself drawn closer to her, and each time she leaves I find myself feeling the loss of her presence cutting that bit deeper.

But she has never shown any interest, so I’ve kept silent.

At that thought, I clear my throat and glance away. “So do you. Why aren’t you enjoying it? I imagine you have a plethora of secret admirers.”

Her hand slides onto mine. “Some more secret than I would care for.”

Confusion catches me before I can stop it. The emotion then bubbles into a hope I’m not sure I want to let free within me.

My throat thickens as I flick my gaze over her awaiting expression. “…What do you mean?”

She laughs, breaking through the falling silence between us with an ease that she always seems to exude. “I mean, I gave you ample opportunities to ask me to do something for Valentines, and you missed every single one.”

I blink a few times. “Wait…What?”

Her hand draws away from mine, leaving a tingle on my skin that turns into a wave of anticipation. “Do you remember after our last mission I mentioned that new restaurant in the Big City, and how I would like to sample the food there?”

I blink again. “I thought you were just making a comment.”

Her smile brightens, amusement truly catching her now as her eyes glimmer. “Or how I mentioned it might be nice for someone from the town to give me a tour around Wayhaven?”

“You were talking to Nat at that time. I thought…” My words stumble as I frown and shake my head. “Are you saying all those other times you said stuff like that you were dropping hints too?”

“The time I asked you to help with my research late that night. The offer I made to aid in your research on kelpies. Or perhaps when I asked for company while waiting for my computer search to finish…”

Wow…I rub my hand over my forehead and wince.

She leans back, still managing to give an air of grace as she takes on the more casual position. “Perhaps the problem was I should have just asked outright.” Her gaze finds mine with a half-smile. “But where would the romance have been in that?”

“Because realizing how clueless I’ve been for years is obviously so much more romantic,” I state through a laugh.

She leans in closer, stifling my laughter as heavy breaths stutter from me. “Considering how you’re making my heart dance right now, I would say that was a fair statement.”

Her lips are so close to mine, a whisper of breath between us so thick with anticipation I can taste the bittersweetness of it on my tongue. But she draws away before I can sample it.

“So how about it? Do you wish to seize this moment and find the romance in the night?” she asks, standing up and offering a hand out to me.

I do seize it. I slide my hand into hers, drawing her in closer towards me as I stand beside her. “We only have a couple of hours of valentines day left.”

She traces her fingertips up my arms. It’s a touch I’ve imagined so many times but never with the fierce, needful reaction my body has to it now.

“Then we best make the most of them,” she suggests, wetting her lips in a motion that makes me swallow hard.

Outside in the corridor, roses and tulips line the hallway, spilling out their honey-scented aroma. But inside the training room, something much sweeter and brighter blooms between the two of us, tantalizing in its promise of what might be to come…