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"This is pointless," Lilith said, her voice annoyed but not quite as harsh as Mary would have expected since they were lugging heavy equipment and other things up a hill in the middle of the night.
It wasn't like Mary didn't understand Lilith, even when she did raise her eyebrows and side eyed Lilith, who simply rolled her eyes and kept on walking. Making sure to keep up with Lilith and Jillian, who was walking a little in front of them, obviously a lot more enthusiastic than both Mary and Lilith, Mary couldn't suppress a smile. Both her and Lilith might have been sceptical about this entire operation but Mary also couldn't deny that she was curious, and even excited. And she knew Lilith was as well.
Mary had never before taken the time to go stargazing, but when Jillian had suggested going out today, to observe a rare meteoroid shower, Mary had only hesitated a little. It had been difficult not to get swept up in Jillian's enthusiasm for science. Especially since it came with a promise of some privacy for just the three of them, which was rare during a long term mission like this, where they were all pretending to be people they were not.
And while a part of Mary agreed with Lilith that stargazing was possibly an activity that was pointless and a waste of time, the part of her that was excited for it was currently louder. Maybe because they were already here now, but also because it truly sounded like a good break from their routine. Something to make this mission a little more interesting than simply waiting for the other shoe to drop while Lilith and Mary protected Jillian, who was supposed to meet with some super secret informant soon.
And while Lilith and Mary weren't truly science students and Jillian was not a professor as they were currently pretending, it couldn't hurt to learn some things, right? Things that weren't shooting or fighting. Shannon always encouraged Mary to be open to learn new things and while Mary did prefer to learn with Shannon by her side, as she assumed Lilith would prefer to have Camila by her side, it did not mean Lilith and Mary could not have some fun without them.
Mary knew as much as Lilith protested, a little break away from their routine was also something that would be beneficial to her and appreciated. They had bonded in these last few years working together as agents of the OCS. Both of them were no strangers to violence. On the contrary, they had grown up with it, in different ways. Mary's father had been brutal and had hurt her mother until she couldn't take it anymore and had killed him. From then on, Mary had known she needed to be able to fight to make it in this world.
For Lilith, the violence had been more structured, meticulous, logical. Her mother had wanted her to be an agent and had trained her from a young age to be the best. And Lilith had moulded herself in her mother's image, training harder than anyone Mary knew. But Mary was one of the few people in the world who knew that inside of Lilith, there was a gentle, caring person her mother could only silence but not fully erase.
The first time Mary and Lilith had gotten closer, it had been a surprise for both of them. In the middle of a tense situation, they had gotten into an argument and eventually, after they had realized they had both been right, the tension had released in a kiss that Mary still remembered fondly and cherished. Since then, they had learned that being intimate was a good stress relief for both of them. Especially when they were on their own, or, like right now, with only one other person.
That made Mary wonder how exactly the night would go. Jillian had certainly shown interest in extracurricular activities, so to speak. Though for now, they hadn't gone any further than brief kisses, all of them sticking to their own individual bedrooms at night. Even when that mostly was to keep up appearances, since Jillian was pretending to be a professor. It was already possibly questionable that they were living so close to each other, but they only had adjacent places in an apartment building close to the campus, so it was justifiable.
Visiting each other at night would not be. Yes, they had ways to be discreet and even basically invisible to everyone else when they wanted. After all, they weren't experienced agents for nothing. But there was always a risk and it wasn't worth it simply for a hook up. But there was nothing stopping a professor from taking their TA's to set up a class during the night. Well, they still hadn't particularly talked about it anywhere, but theoretically, if anyone saw them go out at night, they had an easy explanation, since as Jillian's TAs, it was logical that they would help her set up things for a possible excursion with the whole class.
Which was why they were now lugging all this equipment up the hill in the middle of the night. To have a little time for themselves and maybe also set up a class up here, though Jillian hadn't been that optimistic for students wanting to join them in the middle of the night. Mary chuckled to herself, thinking about how Lilith would react if there were a handful of students who would want to join them tomorrow, when this meteoroid show was still going to be visible.
As much as neither of them had been very excited about this assignment that would mean they had to interact with students a lot, it had been smoother going than Mary had expected. Funny enough, Lilith had proven to actually be a pretty good TA. But maybe that shouldn't be so surprising, seeing that she had trained her entire life not only to be the best fighter, but also to adapt to any and every situation she might be thrown into. Mary herself had struggled a little with not scolding students for asking the same question for the fiftieth time and complaining about the smallest inconvenience, but she tried hard to be approachable. So far, at least none of the students had complained, so they were doing something right.
And in any case, they wouldn't be here that much longer. Hopefully at least. Mary sighed, climbing up the rest of the hill. At the top of the hill, Jillian greeted both of them with a wide smile.
"Good, you can put the blanket on the ground and set up the telescope. Be careful to put the stand straight not bent," Jillian said, quietly, even when they were quite far from anyone they could be disturbing. But Mary understood. It felt wrong to be loud and disturb the quiet night all around them.
Saluting playfully, Mary earned a chuckle from Jillian who was already taking out the telescope parts. Together, they set everything up just in time for the meteoroid shower to start. Mary had to admit, it was a pretty impressive sight to see those shiny trails of light coming down like a myriad of shooting stars. Jillian explained some scientific facts about what exactly they were seeing but Mary only paid half attention to it, eager to get to the next part of the night once the meteorite shower had stopped.
It was clearly not only Mary who was looking forward to actually lie down on the blanket and cuddle while stargazing, since Lilith now stepped back from the telescope and gave Mary a poignant look. Mary got her hint and agreed with it. The night truly was perfect for some action under the stars, warm but not to hot, with a very small breeze. Grinning, Mary nodded and gestured towards the blanket.
"Maybe we can lie down? We can watch the stars some more," Mary said, barely bothering keeping the innuendo out of her tone.
Jillian, who had been puttering about with the telescope, now looked up. The mild confusion in her eyes immediately changed to interest when Mary raised her eyebrows, conveying with her look what exactly she was talking about. Letting out a small nervous but excited laugh, Jillian nodded eagerly.
"Of course, I would love to. We can put everything away later," Jillian said, giving both Mary and Lilith intense looks.
Both of them nodded as well and they all went to the blanket. It was a little awkward at first, to find a position for all three of them to be comfortable in, but they made it work. Cuddling into both Lilith and Jillian, Mary raised her face up to the sky, taking in the sight above her.
"Wow," Mary let out, not even realizing she had said anything.
The stars in the sky above them seemed like they were simultaneously incredibly far away and still so close that Mary felt like she could just reach out and touch them. Something inside of her chest started blooming, as she was lying there together with two of the people she knew best and who knew her best. It was as if the universe itself was telling Mary to breathe and to take the time to simply enjoy things.
Kissing first Lilith and then Jillian, Mary vowed that she would do just that.