He had no idea what was playing on the screen.  At one time he knew the title of the movie but had not been watching it for some time.  Only the woman sitting next to him held his attention.

The intermittent lights played across the delicate features of her face.  A blue sky on the screen bathed her features in a soft blue haze.  The blue faded from her face and bathed her in a soft yellow.  Darkness blanketed the room and he couldn’t see her face until the light from the screen again brought the shadows to play.

The shadows had been dancing across her face as she slept.  Her face was so relaxed making her look so much younger than she was.  He knew he should have woken her up some time ago and told her to go to her quarters to rest but he didn’t want her to leave.

He knew she had worked a long day and shouldn’t have come in the first place but he knew she had promised Lucas.  She was so good with the boy, never treating him like a child but not treating him like the adult others sometimes expected him to be.  She treated him as Lucas. He knew she loved the boy like a son and she would do her best not to disappoint him.

He couldn’t stop watching the lights and shadows play across her peaceful face.  He knew she had been up early but he didn’t know what she had been doing all day long.  She had been in the labs for sure.  She was always in the labs working on something or other.  He loved to see her face light up with excitement whenever she talked about her research.  Her eyes would twinkle in delight as she made even the simplest things sound exciting.  His enthusiasm was sometimes fueled by hers.

Her hair looked almost black in the shadows of the room but sometimes a light would flash illuminating the flecks of auburn in her hair.  The hair that sometimes matched the fire in her temper was pulled away from her face and only her bangs graced her forehead. Her hair was soft, he knew it was.  His hand had touched it once when he had held her.

Her eyes were hid behind closed lids as she slept.  They were dark brown pools he could get lost in if he allowed himself to.  Her eyes could twinkle with excitement or with mischief.  He loved the way her eyes lit up when she was happy and respected the anger her eyes could hold as they looked at him.  He loved the life in her eyes.  She could make him smile with just a look from those eyes. Those beautiful deep brown eyes.

Her lips he knew were so soft.  He had kissed them once when he thought he was leaving.  He had dreamt about that kiss.  He didn’t want to leave; he didn’t want to leave her.   He kissed her to say good-bye, to let her know she had become so important to him, his lips telling her what his voice couldn’t.  Now as he stared at her lips he wondered what it would be like to take those lips and kiss them, really kiss them.  What it would feel like if her lips were to kiss his lips, his neck, and his chest.

The lights in the room slowly rose to brighten the room, the movie now over.  He got up from his chair and walked over to her as she slowly woke.

“Come Kristin, let’s get you to bed.”  He said as he helped her to her feet and put his hand on the small of her back to lead her out of the room.  Once in the almost deserted hall he puts his arm around her to steady her more.

“Thank you Nathan.” She whispers as she unconsciously snuggles closer to him as he leads her to her quarters.