The city isn't great for star gazing so he packs up her telescope in fancy space packaging. She's still nervous about flying with it, considering what has happened, well, every single other time she has flown with him. Dangers untold and hardships unnumbered. He tells her to wear her boots on their date but when he spreads his wings he scoops her up in his arms. She obviously doesn't object. But she asks about it anyway. If he's doing the flying, why the boots?

"I can make the landing smoother on my own." He explains. Her eyes darted to the package strapped to his side to give his wings freedom. His eyes followed her. "I knew your majesty would be concerned."

She smiled, touched by the thoughtfulness. And aso amused.

"Why fly me at all then? You're the one who said I should practice with the boots." She asked, her smile arch and teasing.

His eyes scanned the sky so they wouldn't have to meet hers but his lips twitched a bit in that infuriatingly-hard-to-read way. Was it a tiny smirk? Was he amused? Was he bashful? She felt his shoulder shrug beneath her arm wound around his neck.

"Your majesty doesn't know the way." he said.

It sounded logical, sure, but there was really no reason she couldn't have followed him through the sky. He could easily outpace her but he wouldn't. Their flying dates involved a lot of catch-me-if-you-can, Caine chasing her through the air but she knew he held back out of caution. Keeping an eye on her, reading to plunge after her should she falter. Before she could inform him that she could handle a safe enough glide over the darkened suburbs, his voice rumbled through his chest, "Time to turn those boots on, your majesty" They had arrived.

Caine had faith enough in Jupiter's flight training (he had trained Her Majesty himself, after all) to drop her unceremoniously from his arms the moment her boots were activated. And not feel TOO treasonous for being amused by her startled yelp. She had learned well though. She only dropped a few yards before she gained control, using the momentum to swing in a tight circle behind him. When she came back around she attempted her best withering glare at him for the prank. It always sends the best of them running when a princess, space princess, has that really killing look. But he doesn't seem repentant and she can't blame him. Already a happy grin has crept up to replace her scowl.

It's a perfect night. Balmy and warm even with the sun down. They are circling idly above a cornfield and glancing down she notices an odd flattened clearing in a field of corn. Crop circles. It had taken her a moment to get her bearing but her eyes had adjusted to the darkness during the flight there until she could almost pick out the freckles on Caine's shoulders in the moonless night. Now she could just make out the dark bulk of Stinger's house, surrounded by hives, off at the edge of the field.

Jupiter snorted. So she didn't know the way, huh?

She regarded the clearing conveniently left by one of the eight or nine different people who had abducted her or attempted to abduct recently. An exaggeration she knew but was it really so far off the mark? Caine's thought process here wasn't a mystery at least. The crop circle would make an convenient if ironic place for stargazing. Smashed flat to the ground, it wouldn't be hard to level the tripod legs on the surface. And the corn that towered over her would block out what little ambient light there was from the house.

It was also the place Caine felt most secure on the planet. Jupiter may own it and all Keepers answer to her now, but mercenaries can slip through Aegis orbit artillery. And Earth had other threats to Jupiter. Having Stinger nearby let Caine relax his guard. Only fractionally, of course.

With a staying gesture her to Jupiter, Caine circled lower, scanning for hostiles. No trouble had been detected on the ground for weeks but there could be sleeper agents left lying in wait for centuries with an occasional recode. Detecting no threats from his vantage point in the air, he tucked in his wings and dropped quickly towards the ground. Jupiter didn't even have a chance to suck in a gasp at the abrupt fall before Caine wings had spread and snapped taught, cupping the air and slowing his speed so smoothly that his landing was as gentle as lover's kiss. How could a man made of so much raw muscle and power move with such grace?

Jupiter watch his shadow move through the night as he prowled the perimeter of the clearing, scenting the air and peering down darkened rows of crops. He raised a hand to wave her down when he completed his circuit. When she landed, the corn stalks beneath her boots rustling, he had already removed the telescope from its protective shroud and set the tripod upright on the ground. He stepped back as soon as he knew it was solidly upright. She would want to inspect it, of course. Fuss over it and make sure it hadn't taken any harm from the humid air or impact resistant polymer foam.

Jupiter moved in, hovering over her shiny baby, muttering in Russian as she reassured herself. It wasn't that she didn't trust Caine. Caine probaby valued her stuff only slightly less than he valued herself. Which was a helluva lot more than he valued most anything else, including himself. It was just that after everything that had happened, the telescope ironically felt like it grounded her to earth. It was an attachment to her earth life that never would have come to her if she had grown up an Abrasax. No need for telescopes in space.

Also, it was a connection to her father, in a way. She didn't have many of those and often wished she could coax more stories about him out of her mother. She wishes now that she could tell her mother everything that had happened. For a lot of reasons but especially so Aleksa could tell Jupiter what Max might have thought of everything out there.

When she turned back, confident in the safety of her instrument, she was beaming and Caine let the peace of the country night wash over him finally. He had stayed alert on the flight, attentive to his cargo and scanning the skies around them for threats. None would pass with the Aegis alert above but Caine would never lose the habit of being ready for action. Where before it was a matter of survival, now that readiness was even more important with Jupiter's safety in his hands.

But for now, Caine put it from his conscious thoughts and let his senses tune in to Jupiter. The sight of her bathed in starlight as his pupils widened to take in more light. Her hair fluttered slightly in the breeze and she tucked it back behind her ear. Her scent drifted to him on that wind, complex and unique. Tersies tended to smell more than most the gyre. No Regen or sonic showers meant scents lingered and mingled and filled up the planet's atmosphere until everything was permeated with a base scent of earth dirt and ocean salt. Jupiter was highlighted with notes of citrus and coffee and the spices that season the dishes of her Russian heritage. He had come to know the complexities of that scent well while tracking her.

It floated to him now on a background of the scent of corn stalks and evening dew. The night was quiet but his ears could pick out the hum of bees and chirp of crickets. He had done so much fighting in hostile environments and dead planets and the cold depths of space. The Earth was so warm and full of life. It was easy to see why Jupiter valued it, even if she hadn't experienced many other planets yet.

Caine unfolded the packaging he'd used on the telescope. The foam-like substance was slightly tacky, designed to stick when folded over on itself in layers, but rigid enough to form pockets where desired. It was common enough in cargo transport, easily formed into bags and boxes of various sizes, all resistant to impact as well as most known molds and bacteria. Now, unfolded to its full extent and settled upon the ground, it made an acceptable picnic blanket. Satisfied his queen would be protected from the damp chill of the ground and pokes from stray cornstalks, he offered Jupiter a hand to see her settled on it.

Jupiter tilted her chin, playing at her most regal as she sank to the mat in what she hoped was a graceful manner. Being ruler of the galaxy came in handy when she patted the spot beside her and Caine sat. She could tell he was hesitant to, but he had no reason to refuse. None that she would accept, that is. And none that he wanted to bring up. The difference in their station would get in the way someday. But for now, in the sheltered environs of Earth, it was easy to avoid thinking about the rest of the universe. Easy to pretend a Royal could love a Splice.

So Caine sat beside his Royal on a thin foam mat over the dirt on a quaint little backwater world and watched her peer through an antiquated tube of brass and glass to glimpse the most distant light of stars she probably owned. In time her naiveté would be dangerous. For now, she delighted in pointing her viewer at a star and asking him about it. It took a few minutes for the infonet to translate the Tersie names and coordinates. While they waited she would tell him about the origin stories of the constellations and the Greco-Roman myths associated with the names of stars and planets.

Finally Jupiter stumbled across a system she did in fact own as part of the holdings willed to her by Seraphi. The name Jupiter knew it by meant nothing to Caine, but when the infonet returned the name Zojonan, Caine recognized it instantly as a bustling system of business and commerce class planets. Jupiter was used to thinking of space as huge. There were so many stars in the sky, what are the odds that she'd pick one of hers? Better than she expected, apparently. Caine explained how certain parts of the 'verse were better for human populations, areas of lower background radiation and with younger suns, so the skies in those quadrants could get crowded. He didn't mention that it was better business sense to keep Harvest planets close to refineries and commerce centers. Cuts down on transport costs and the risk of piracy.

Jupiter frowned, overwhelmed once again by the implications of everything she had experienced and everything she now owned. So many lives in her control. So many of them listed as little more than cattle waiting for a profitable slaughter. She shuddered, never willing to lose her revulsion at the ways of the greater galaxy.

A warm arm slipped around her shoulder; a broad palm slid down her arm, smoothing over her goosebumps. With a sigh, she melted against him, letting him pull her close and comfort her. Jupiter sat back against Caine's chest and felt his nose in her hair. She let the contentment of the moment, of being in Caine's arms with no assassination or kidnapping attempts to pull them apart, soothe her fears for a moment.

She felt Caine's chest swell beneath him as he took a breath to speak. He hesitated and she knew he was grappling internally, unsure if he should say something she might not want to hear. Jupiter didn't want to hear it, she was sure. It was bound to be about things she didn't want to deal with, things she wasn't equipped to deal with. Things she knew she had to face regardless.

"Your majesty owns a good bit of the sky visible from Earth."

She shifted against him, straightening and holding herself tense. . The knowledge didn't sit well with her. It was one thing to know you own entire solar systems. It was quite another to look at them shining out of the black at her.

"We could visit them, if you wish." Caine's voice was a deep rumble she felt against her spine. "You majesty may enjoy shopping at the Helix."

Jupiter made an inquiring noise, not ready to admit her curiosity, nor ready to dive in to everything that life would bring. But she didn't like not knowing either.

Caine settled her back against him and told her about the planets of the Zojonan star. The Helix was an artificial ring built around the fifth planet. She finally relaxed her body against his as he explained the fifth planet was too tectonically unstable for the surface to be settled. It was mostly volcanic. But habitats in low orbit could use some space technology the translator couldn't sort out to tap the geothermal energy and heat. When Caine finished a rundown of the shops the fancy space mall had, selling everything from space fruit to space underwear, from guns to warships, he fell quiet so he wasn't pushing her.

The silence stretched but didn't oppress. Jupiter kept her eyes trained to the stars overhead. Caine kept his focus on the woman in his arms. Finally she drew a heavy breath that ended in a sigh.

"I'm not ready yet."

Her voice was so quiet and soft but full of emotion. Fear of what was out there, insecurity at her ability to face it, embarrassment at her own perceived weakness. And regret that she wasn't strong enough to take on the whole damn galaxy right this instant.

He didn't say anything and she was glad for that. Instead he pressed his lips to the top of her head and drew in her scent. His wings rustled behind him, stretching until they wrapped around her on each side, bringing the world in so it contained no more than the two of them. But he left their heads uncovered so she could still look up and see the stars.

For all her fears of the unknown, Jupiter Jones would never stop looking up and dreaming.