Chapter Text
Margot rolled her neck with a chuckle as she made her way to the galley. She had just come from a conversation with Cora which ended with them having a mini sparring match in the cargo bay, thanks to the request of both Drack and Gil. Margot won, she wanted to believe that it was just because Cora was out of shape or because she found a weak point in the other woman’s stance but she knew the truth, she knew that Alec’s death was still weighing on her.
How can things go so wrong so quickly? Scott’s coma, dad’s death, Habitat 7 – all things that happened in such a short amount of time, so close to each other.
No, she needed to be positive. They got the outpost on Eos, everything was set up. How bad could things get?
She stood outside the galley and quickly tapped on her omni-tool to open the doors, only to find a shirtless Liam preparing something on the counter. He looked to her and shot her a smirk before returning to what he was doing.
Liam confused her, in a good way. She was grateful that he was a part of the team, even though they’d only known each other for a short amount of time she could tell that he cared, about the Initiative, about the team, about her – why else would he have checked on Scott? Stayed with her after Habitat 7?
“Do you ever wear a shirt, Kosta?” she joked as she made her way to the refrigerator for a bottle of water.
“Only when it’s necessary,” she glanced at him from behind the refrigerator door to see the smirk returned to his lips, she chuckled and grabbed the closest bottle of water. She then made her way to the table half sat on the edge.
“Right, because the entire crew wants to see you half naked 24/7,” she joked and he abandoned what he was preparing to look at her, leaning back on the counter behind him.
“Don’t act like you hate it, I’ve seen you sneaking glances when you think I’m not looking.”
“It’s sweet how you think you’ll make me blush, I’ve seen men without shirts before,” her own smirk spread across her lips.
“Ouch, I’m not even special? At least pretend, you’re crushing my ego here, Margy.”
She gave a short laugh, “Firstly, you will never call me Margy, ever–”
“Margy,” he teased with a grin, she shot him a playful glare.
“Secondly, if you wanted to feel special you should take the shirt off for special occasions–”
“What type of special occasions?” he cut her off again.
“If you play your cards right you’ll find out,” she lowered her voice and watched him avert his gaze for a moment.
“Cheeks starting to feel warm there, Kosta?” Margot chuckled.
“You made it work, so can I.” he returned his gaze to her and had the most smug expression on his face.
“Nope, gotta try harder,” she cleared her throat at the end, hoping he didn’t notice.
“So what’s that?” she motioned her head to the two sandwiches behind him. She knew what they were, she just needed to change the subject before she turned into a babbling mess. From a glance, she could see lettuce peeking out from the four slices of bread.
“Oh, just fixing up something for a vid,” he pointed behind him. “Nothing fancy, want to join? I swear I make a good sandwich, you’ve got to try it.”
“I mean,” all awkwardness fading as a grin spread across her face and she made her way to the door, leaving the forgotten bottle of water on the table. “if you insist. I’ll meet you there.”
“Don’t spill anything on the couch!” he called to her but got no reply.
“That woman,” he chuckled to himself as he placed the two sandwiches on a plate and grabbed a packet of chips from the cabinet.
“Hey, you took your sweet time!” Liam set the plate and packet down on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch. He noticed two cups and a bottle next to the food, Margot’s doing no doubt.
“I didn’t even take two minutes, and it’s not my fault you’ve got a big ship,” he leaned back on the couch and watched her kick her sneakers off before crossing her legs on the couch, were those panda bear socks that he caught a glance of?
“What are we watching? I’ve got nothing to do for the rest of the night so make it long.”
“I was going to watch some sappy drell romance but for you, I think I’ve got the perfect thing,” he went through his omni-tool and a moment passed before the opening of the movie showed on the large screen in front of them.
He watched her expression change from slight confusion to utter joy.
“How did you get this!?” she laughed and playfully smacked him on the shoulder. “I love Blasto films! They’re terrible!”
She turned to him with the brightest smile he’d ever seen on her face, it was beautiful. “Where the hell did you get this?”
“I have my sources,” he couldn’t take his eyes from her face, it was too difficult. The way her violet eyes lit up and crinkled at the corners, how she tried to stop smiling but couldn’t, it was too hard to look away from. She was too beautiful
Wait, what?
“Let’s get on with it, shall we?” he cleared his throat and tapped the play button, they watched as a hanar emerged from an exploding shuttle.
“So cheesy,” Liam laughed.
“It’s good, hush!” she scooted closer to him and placed her head on his shoulder. He wanted to put his arm around her but wouldn’t that be too forward? He didn’t want to do anything without knowing if she felt the same.
Come on, Kosta! It’s not like it’s sex, it’s just cuddling.
Cuddling leads to sex…
No, she’s not that type of person, neither of them are.
He shifted himself into a more comfortable position before wrapping his arm around her shoulders, she followed suit and laid her head on his chest.
They stayed like that for most of the movie, both of them moving to get a bite of their sandwiches or a drink from their cups before returning to that position. Liam didn’t know what it was but with Margot, it felt familiar, like it was right. Yes, they teased and joked with one another but that’s what their friendship was, jokes and sarcasm and teasing, he loved it.
“This isn’t weird, right?” he heard her ask once the credits began to roll up the screen. “This cuddling, me being here this late, you’re okay with it, right? Because I can leave if you don’t want me here,” she sat up and looked at him with a serious expression.
“I’m sure you know me well enough by now that I would have said something if it was weird,” he sat up from his half lying position. “It’s not weird, Margy. Don’t worry.”
“I’m glad, I don’t want to lose this. Us.”
“So we’re an ‘us’ now? I haven’t even confessed my love to you yet!” he joked, which earned a punch in the shoulder from her.
“I mean this, our friendship. I don’t want to screw it up because I’m too affectionate for my own good.”
“You haven’t screwed anything up.”
“Good, just have to make sure, you know?” she paused for a moment. “And don’t call me Margy!”
He pretended to think for a moment before answering. “Nope, I like Margy.”
“I don’t like it, it makes me sound like an old woman with vision problems that gives out cookies to children wearing a flowery dress and an apron that has some inspirational shit on it like ‘Live Laugh Bake’.”
“You have really thought about this haven’t you, Margy.”
“You fucking ass,” she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Oh! Old Margy here has some bite to her!” he laughed as she kicked him in the thigh, revealing the panda bear socks. He grabbed her ankle and she kicked a few times before giving up.
“You done, Margy Panda?”
“Liam, you are an asshole and I hate you,” he let go of her ankle and started laughing again.
“Aw, I love you too, Margy.”
“So much love, I almost don’t want to leave,” she picked up her sneakers from the ground and stretched once she stood. “Almost.”
“You cruel woman, how can you leave me at–” he paused to check the time. “almost three in the morning.”
“Easily, I walk out of this room,” she shot him one last grin before making her way to the door.
“I’ll see you in a few hours, Kosta.”
“See you, Margy.”
“Ass.”