Jayce took the opportunity while his charming travelling companion was otherwise engaged to make a quick change. Standing, he stretched, rubbing the kinks out of his back. He’d been travelling on various transports for the last couple of days to get back to the Resolute, to the point he was having dreams about an actual bed.

Looking over his shoulder to make sure Catriona was still talking to the pilots, he shucked his boots and clothes quickly. Rooting in his pack, he managed to get his uniform pants back on before he heard a gasp behind him.

Catriona wasn’t expecting to suddenly be face to face with a shirtless bear of a man but having come back from the cockpit just a few feet ahead, that’s exactly what happened.

He was big. And while he was taller than she was, which wasn’t too hard since she was only 5’7”, if she thought he was massive while sitting down in his chair, he looked even more imposing with his shirt off and standing up. His muscles had muscles, and everything was so finely defined that he clearly spent a lot of time and effort in taking care of himself. This kind of physique wasn’t something anyone could have just from going to the gym. His body was a reflection of his will and discipline.

And she had to admit, he looked really good.

His broad muscled chest was easily almost twice the width of her own body, and perhaps it was her past unexpectedly making a resurgence but she kept having this impulse to reach over and touch his chest. How she managed to resist that, she didn’t know.

Even his thighs and legs were massive, the corded muscles underneath his skin hinted at by his trousers that were neither too loose nor too tight. The man didn’t skip leg day even once.

The cockpit was somewhat separated from the passenger cabin but not by much, so Catriona was mindful of the volume of her voice when she uttered a sincere compliment.

“Wow, you have an amazing body,” she gushed. “You take really good care of yourself.”

Andrews was blunt to a fault, and he used that to his advantage. When no one (not even him at times) knew what was going to come out of his mouth, he could use that to his advantage. But her murmured comment sent a rush of warmth through him.

”Errr… thank you,” he managed, as heat flared over his cheeks. A blush, seriously? What the hell was with that? Still, she was watching him so he stood up a little straighter, unable to help flexing to show himself off.

Catriona’s smile broadened when she saw the color on his cheeks and suddenly, it was like all those years ago when she was apprenticing in the hallowed halls of the central shrine. Before long, she had closed the distance between them, seemingly mesmerized by the play of muscles rippling under his skin, but at the very last moment, she managed to stop herself from reaching out with her hand, in an effort to see the state of his body.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her turn to blush as she pulled her hand back. “It’s an old occupational hazard. You must occasionally get some stiffness in the muscles here and here, don’t you?” She asked as she gestured towards his upper chest and shoulders.

He froze as she almost touched him, the air between them thick with sudden tension.

“Yeah,” he admitted, his voice rough as he tracked her movements like a hawk. “And in the lats.”

“I think some heat treatment that goes into deeper tissue with massage would do wonders for you. It would also help get rid of some stiffness if you overdo it sometimes,” she said with a chuckle. “More magnesium and vitamin E would also be nice, maybe supplements if you can’t get more in your diet.”

He looked down at her with surprise. “Yeah? The physio’s I’ve seen on and off keep banging on about stuff like that. It helps?”

“The heat therapy would quite immediately will,” she said. “Though it will have to be constant since you regularly maintain your physique. The same with the diet but while it won’t yield immediate results, it will help keep your muscles more resilient and quicker to heal in the long run. You should see a doctor about that.”

Not wanting to be tempted to touch again, Catriona turned to retrieve her donut, or at least what was left of it and demolished it in one more bite before picking up a still-warm brownie and indulged. “Not many people in your position tend to have physiques like you do. But considering the uniform you were wearing before, I guess your reason for maintaining your body in that state must be more practical than I thought.”

He looked at the dusty uniform by his pack and his lips quirked. “That, and wait until you see the Resolute’s CO. Dude could make a galactic bodybuilding champion want to hide under a rock.”

Realising he was stood there in the middle of the shuttle naked to the waist while she ate the donut and watched him like he was a snack, he snatched up his undershirt and pulled it on. Dressing quickly, he watched her. “That kind of knowledge is specific. You had issues yourself?”

“Oh my, so the command team on the Resolute are both big strapping gentlemen,” she said with a smile and offered him the box of brownies as soon as he was done putting on his uniform.

“If only I had you both during some particularly difficult negotiations I’ve had before, it would have gone a lot more smoothly,” she said with a chuckle. “Simply standing there and being your charming selves would have spared me and my team so much headaches.”

At his question, she shook her head. “No, I’ve never had those problems. Rather a long time ago, I was the one who helped people.”

He tilted his head as he did up his uniform jacket and reached up to clip his rank to his collar. So she’d had a career before the fleet. Interesting. But there was a hint of something that crossed her face that warned him not to press too much on that.

”Oh yeah, Mason and I can play dumb grunt to perfection,” he grinned. “Just call if you want someone glared at.”

She smiled back. “Lovely! Then if the need ever arises, I shall kindly rely on you both. I’m afraid my presence isn’t quite as imposing or I would have gladly used it to my advantage already.” She lifted her arm and stared at her bicep as she flexed it. “Perhaps I should consider improving my physique as well.”

He grinned. “Well, if you ever need a spotter, I’m your guy.”

Not long after that, they received an announcement from the cockpit that they were on now entering the flight control zone of the Canterbury, which meant that they were now communicating with flight control for their approach. Catriona smoothly did away with the leavings of their snack with the practiced motions of a professional, and in no time at all, she’d put away everything back in her carry-on.

Rather than sit where she originally sat down, she chose to sit next to her new friend and buckle in. As the shuttle made its approach, she took out a compact from her purse and retouched her tinted lip gloss before one last check of her reflection to make sure she was presentable. It wouldn’t do to show up with crumbs on her uniform or some caramel sauce smeared on her cheek.

Realizing Jayce might have the same problem, she turned and gave him a quick once over before taking out her packet of disposable wet wipes and extending it to him. “Since we can’t wash our hands,” she offered with a smile.

”On final approach to the Canterbury now, sirs,” the pilot called from the cockpit.

“Thank you,” he rumbled in a deep voice, managing to hide his surprise as he took it and cleaned off his hands. She wasn’t at all what he expected from his opposite number on the Canterbury. “I can already see I’m going to like working with you.”

“Likewise! It was a pleasure to meet you.”