Sonya felt the cool night air on her skin as she took another drag from the cigarette tucked between her fingers.

Her body was still aching to a small degree, letting her know that, once again, she had overdone it.

And yet, she hadn't felt this relaxed in years.

She hadn't felt this good either.

Then again, it had been two- maybe three years since she had last gotten laid to begin with.

And that thought alone brought a quiet chuckle out of her as Sonya moved to pinch the space between her eyes, exhaling a cloud of smoke from her lips as she did so; the lingering feeling of heat on them was yet another reminder.

Two years post-divorce, and Sonya was pretty confident that she still had her life under control.

Her workaholic attitude got worse, admittedly, but things in the Special Forces were picking up and she needed to be on top of it to keep it under control. Business got a lot better now that she was more focused, now that she had less commitments and distractions outside of it. And Sonya supposed that it was that line of thinking that had had her signing the divorce papers and handing them back in before the lawyer had even left the room.

Was it healthy? No.

Did it work for her? Yes.

But Christ- one fucking day separated from her work, one day without supervision, and she just had to throw it all out to the wind, didn't she?

Of course, Sonya couldn't really blame the person she was four hours ago.

After all, she was pretty certain that when she had walked into her hotel room back then, it wasn't like she had any intentions of doing what she did- what they did. It wasn't like any of it had crossed her mind beforehand.

Or maybe it had; maybe she did have those intentions and just didn't want to own up to it yet.

Because even now, four hours later, Sonya still couldn't blame herself either.

And she sure as Hell wouldn't take that time back- or even change her own actions.

It felt like it had been a long time coming.

Sonya just wished that the circumstances were different.

The timing was almost perfect, but that was only because they were isolated, because they were away from anyone and everyone who would make this complicated- or at least, even more complicated. Once the two of them were back in their circles again, she might feel differently about it, despite her feelings about it now.

Dropping her hand, Sonya glanced down at the quiet street below her.

She watched as the faint headlights came and went without stopping, just barely flickering into her sight before they were gone again.

She found herself wondering just what exactly the people driving around were thinking.

Their lives seemed pretty simple from the topside looking down- at least in terms of the big picture that was going on around them, that was going on behind the scenes.

The people here were worried about last-minute grocery shopping, or catching the last bus before it left the depot- or maybe trying to catch the last plane out after midnight.

They weren't worried about Outworld civil wars, about two Kahns willing to sacrifice their own kind just to exterminate the other in battle. Nor were they worried about a second war brewing in the Netherrealm, in a physical manifestation of Hell; a second war that consisted of old friends and past allies.

Those were things she should be focusing on now, but she wasn't- she couldn't.

Sonya cut her thoughts short as she heard the sliding glass door open up behind her and heard her companion stepping out to join her on the balcony. She had no doubts that he had already gotten an idea of what she was thinking about, but she knew he would keep it to himself- unless prodded otherwise.

"I didn't know you smoked," Kenshi remarked.

And she shouldn't be surprised it was the first thing he picked up on.

"Barely," Sonya answered, as she took another drag before she let her arm dangle over the side of the railing. "I bought a pack two years ago and I'm still working my way through it."

Whether or not that was related to another event two years before, she wouldn't confirm nor deny.

"I save them for special occasions," she finished.

She was a bit of a health nut, maybe.

Or an extremist, as Cassie had once called her.

Either or.

After getting her body damn-near destroyed during the Tournament, Sonya tried to keep it in as peak condition as she could manage- which was getting harder to do as the years went on, and with each new injury she sustained.

But two or three smokes a year weren't going to kill her.

If anything, she earned it.

"You're welcome."

Sonya rolled her eyes at the comment, only to hear him chuckle behind her- as though he knew exactly what her reaction was. She felt his hand brush against her back and knew that Kenshi was trying to set her location; a fact that was proven as she felt the warm touch of his lips on her shoulder next. A gentle touch, just a minor transfer of heat before he pulled away.

Before he moved to stand next to her, bracing his arms against the metal railing just the same.

Kenshi had temporarily re-dressed, at least slipping into a pair of sweats that seemed to fit him just a little too well. He kept his torso bare for the time being, more than likely still cooling off from the shower he had just taken.

Their hotel room was high enough that no one from the ground would be able to see them- and they had no neighbors on either side of them either, at least for this night. Well, technically his room was to the right of hers, but was obviously empty for the time being.

Tomorrow would be a different story though, given that was when the rest of her team would be arriving and joining them on international grounds.

For now though, it was just them.

Which gave her plenty of time to take note of the thick scarring that cut his torso into patches.

Scarring that had already gotten well-acquainted with her hands and lips.

Sonya watched as Kenshi turned his head away from her; his attention caught by something in the distance- and she noticed the heavy patches of red that covered his neck and part of his shoulder.

She really could've gone a little easier on him.

And that wasn't counting the still obvious impressions of where her hands had gripped at his arms, grabbing and digging at his biceps.

"You want one?" Sonya offered, breaking the self-made distracted silence.

"I don't want to break into your stash," he replied.

She made a light scoffing sound before she knocked her arm into his and offered the smoking cigarette she had to him. And she watched as Kenshi moved his fingers to her wrist first, making contact, before he accepted the offering- and slowly took a drag from it as well.

There was something special about seeing silver clouds spiral from his lips when he breathed out.

"I take it you're done throwing up then?" Sonya mused.

Kenshi gave a quiet laugh at the question, which lead her on to what his answer might be.

"It passed," he assured, as he moved his other hand to run through his still-wet hair, slicking it back with the motion. "I've tracked you in battle before; between the years, we have more knowledge about one another's tactics than any amount of recorded combat data could prove. And yet, I still didn't anticipate you to be so... involved."

Sonya found herself a little smug with the remark. "You did seem surprised."

"You'll have to forgive that I initially took you to be disconnected, with all things considered."

She supposed she couldn't fault him for thinking of such.

Despite being fully involved with the base, or perhaps because she was always involved around the base, she could seem distracted, or disconnected at times. Sometimes it looked like she was just running on auto-pilot when she was working- and it felt like it too.

There were times where she would realize that two hours had passed, that her work had been finished, and yet she had almost no recollection of actively doing it; it was like some aspects of her job were worked on at a subconscious level, while everything else was finished with her full attention. She could be in the middle of a phone conference, juggling paperwork at the same time, and then be surprised when her out-box was full and ready to be mailed off to the proper recipients.

There was never any doubt that she knew what she was reading and signing in the moment, but it still felt like whiplash to realize just how easy it was for her to burrow in and not come back out.

So, in terms of things on a personal level, Sonya could understand why he wouldn't have predicted her to be the one to throw him onto the bed first.

Nor could he have predicted her to do the things she did- as intensive as she did.

Then again, she couldn't say that she could've predicted it either.

"I didn't realize you would get so overworked," Sonya replied.

"It's called sensory overload," Kenshi reminded.

"I know what it is."

"Then act like it."

Rolling her eyes once more, Sonya moved to take his hand before she pulled it towards her- and took smoke from the cigarette while it was still tucked between his fingers. And she leaned away, savoring the heat in her mouth, she kept her fingers around his hand as a test.

Kenshi's senses were heightened beyond that of a normal human being.

Not only due to his blindness, but due to his telepathy, due to his control over telekinesis.

Everything about him skill-wise operated on his senses, on the connection between his mental and physical form.

His hearing was the most sensitive, which made it the easiest way to overwhelm him.

She had seen him get incapacitated by a high-frequency white noise before- something she would later akin to like a dog whistle, much to his dismay.

His sense of touch was probably even more sensitive than his hearing, but it was far more challenging to use against him. It was why he dressed as heavily as he did, to reduce the impact of touch against him, and reduce the impact of touch he gave out.

Everything about the man was a learning experience.

And considering that she knew all of this information about him beforehand, Sonya supposed she could've taken some of it into account when they were wrestling one another's clothing off.

Then again, it was hard to keep a straight head in the heat of the moment.

And unfortunately, Kenshi had learned firsthand that she wasn't the quietest, nor the most gentle when it came to certain actions.

Sonya had gotten complaints before about being too loud when she trained, whether it was alone or with a partner.

And that aspect had a tendency of carrying over.

"Should we talk about what happened in there?" Sonya asked, prodding at the subject that she still wasn't certain should be talked about.

At least, not right now, not so soon after.

But at the same time, despite the lack of them, pillow talk made for honest conversation.

And it might take some of the current load off of their shoulders.

"We can," Kenshi offered, as he pulled her hand with his own and took another drag from the cigarette himself.

He didn't seem to savor the smoke as much as she did.

His lips expelled it as soon as he pulled the cigarette away.

"We've been through a lot together, Sonya," he spoke. "Been through a lot separately as well, but even then we always ended up in the same place. It's still a little hard to wrap my head around it, admittedly. It's been in the back of my mind for awhile, I won't deny that, but as of recent it's been... fairly more prominent. It's difficult to put into exact words, but I think, despite how we may feel about this later on, this felt like it was bound to happen- like it's been a long time coming."

Short and simple.

And very fitting coming from him.

"It's something we can both agree with," she nodded.

And admittedly, just as he had confessed, the thought of taking their relationship beyond a professional one had been in her mind a lot recently. Sonya had tried to curb it, telling herself that it was just another distraction for her to take care of, for her to ignore. That it was just some kind of side thought based on how much time they were spending together; time spent dealing with Special Forces ordeals, and time spent doing non-work related things, which wasn't often.

They had spent plenty of time alone together and never once had either of them even showed a sign of crossing that boundary.

And yet, two hours after landing in Germany, twenty minutes after they had walked into their hotel rooms- it was like all Hell broke loose.

Sonya still wasn't entirely sure where the emotion had come from.

They had spent plenty of international trips together- but this was the first one where the rest of her team was arriving a day later than she had.

She was still pretty convinced it was because they were completely separated from any and all who would be affected by this sort of hook up, by this sort of relationship- whatever exactly it was.

"Are you worried about how this is going to look to everyone else?" Sonya continued.

"Not right now, but the thought is there," Kenshi replied. "I take it you are?"

"That's a word for it," she remarked, as she rubbed the pads of her fingers across his knuckles. "I'm trying to imagine who would be the most pissed off with me if they found out- and right now, it's a toss up."

He chuckled, no doubt amused by her broach of what should've been a serious subject.

"I think Jax will be angry with me the most," he spoke. "Cage will not take it well either. I consider him a close friend, and I know he feels the same, so... knowing that I'm here with you makes it a little difficult."

"Would you change it?" Sonya asked.

"No."

A bold answer.

She admired it.

"Would you?" Kenshi countered.

She pulled his hand back to her and took another drag from the cigarette, delaying her answer.

This time, she blew the smoke down towards the street below them- and watched how it filtered between the faint headlights.

"I'm not going to live the rest of my life trying to save someone else's feelings," Sonya finally answered. "Believe me, I know how it sounds- and I know it's much easier to say than it is to do. But I'm forty-nine, for Christ's sake- it'll be a miracle if I make it another year at this rate."

She squeezed her fingers around his hand once more, feeling the heat from the shower still on his skin.

"Besides, I'm sure I've got time for one more divorce in me," she finished, and almost immediately felt the way he seemed to tense up. She didn't have to look at him to know why. "You can laugh at that."

"Don't say that-" Kenshi started, and despite her assurance, he was still trying to fight back a laugh. "We can have- we can have a better conversation about this later. Let's just enjoy what's here now."

She found herself chuckling at his attempted recovery.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked.

"I haven't felt this relaxed in years," Kenshi replied, "- but I think we could better enjoy ourselves if we went back inside."

Sonya humored him as she leaned against him, before she turned and brushed her lips against his shoulder. "I think we could enjoy ourselves out here- with you in that patio chair in the corner."

Kenshi didn't give a direct answer, but he did snuff out the cigarette between them.