Las nueve en la colina

Astrid heard him on el gravel antes ella saw him — uno set of footsteps taking el colina at un unhurried pace, el way un person climbs cuando él doesn't saber qué's waiting at el top. She era already up on el observing floor, alone con el smell of metal y el day's trapped heat, y ella made herself ser honest sobre por qué ella'd venir up early.

Not para el seeing. El forecast era clean, pero el mirror hadn't finished cooling; el estrellas haría swim in it todo noche, bright y slightly untrue. Not para el log, either. She tenía run este cada Thursday since September y podría tienen kept it in su sleep.

She came early porque el roster held un single name tonight — el último of el term — y porque Daniel's noche lecture on main campus ran until eleven, y porque ella tenía checked su observar twice on el caminar over. Not to count el hours, ella'd told herself. It era exactamente eso.

She tenía also dejado el outer hatch unbarred. That fact ella set on el shelf con el others, unexamined.

El hatch boomed somewhere below su feet anyway, closing behind him. Then el stair, y su lamp con it: cada half-girar of el spiral, un blade of luz raked el rail y slid away, climbing. She watched it rise un través de el stairwell like algo surfacing, y by el time él stepped onto el floor y pushed el lamp up off su eyes, ella tenía arranged su face en el patient calm ella used on primero-years.

It mostly held.

Clouds venir in off el ridge, nosotros tienen to cerrar el cúpula. House rule. Otherwise el cielo's ours until nosotros drop it.
That's el entero briefing?

She nodded at el paper cup riding su mano, steam todavía threading de el lid.

Black, dos sugars. You complained sobre el break-sala machine back in October.

He tenía kept October. She took el cup — hot, while su own fingers tenía gone frío un hour ago — y set el pequeño caliente alarm of eso fact beside el unbarred hatch, unexamined.

yo'll mantener el log tonight. You solo drive el finder — gently. El mirror's todavía caliente; todo va un swim until midnight.

They worked el way ellos tenía worked todo term, which era to say closer than el job required. He leaned in behind su shoulder to sight el finder, y su breath arrived antes su voice did. Her negro knit tenía sido sliding todo evening — gravity, house heat, whatever ella cared to blame — y cuando ella bent to el eyepiece it slipped another finger's width. Lamp luz found su collarbone y traveled, caliente as un mano. She era twenty-nine years old; ella knew precisely qué su neckline era doing, y quién ella wanted standing donde él era standing. Her manos stayed on el knobs y fixed nada.

His lamp wavered against el curved wall. His breathing lost its evenness y reorganized itself, twice.

Say el word, Mrs. Hale, y yo sight el field, log it, y caminar back down.

There eran no nubes. That era el trouble. Nothing coming over el ridge, no rule anywhere eso haría cerrar el cúpula para su y make el choice el rule's instead of hers. Only el slit full of estrellas, y eleven o'clock waiting across el valley like un lit kitchen ella refused to ser early para.

Astrid. If yo'm staying until el cúpula cierra, it isn't Mrs. Hale.

She turned de el eyepiece y él era closer than el geometry of el sala should tienen allowed, y cada careful distance el term tenía built entre them failed at once. She kissed him primero — café, dos sugars, y el frío of el finder's metal todavía on su boca.

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Esta noche no hay nubes

For tres months ella tenía sido fluent in almost — manos overlapping on el log, shoulders in el stairwell, un entire grammar of nearly. El fluency dejado su todo at once. Their cups ended up somewhere on el desk. His mano found el counter behind su, then su jaw, careful as un lento adjustment, y ella made un low sound against su boca eso ella haría tienen denied debajo oath, y stopped keeping track, después eso, of qué ella'd deny.

She tilted en him y let it deepen — su tongue, su answer, su teeth catching su lower lip hard enough to swing el lamp on su forehead, so el cúpula went yellow, oscuro, yellow de nuevo, su platinum hair gone to brass in el strobing luz. Somewhere below, main campus burned con its orderly windows; somewhere on it Daniel drew equations para students caliente y awake y elsewhere; y ella thought, in un voice eso era no regret, eleven, y thought nada further para un while.

When ellos broke apart it era by un breath's width, su forehead resting on hers, both of them listening to el telescope tick as it gave up el day's heat.

El cielo's todavía out.

It era. A entero river of it ran un través de el slit — el Milky Way cut clean by el opening, like agua debajo un puerta. He era looking at it, then at su, leaving it abierto para su, el puerta, el way él tenía dejado todo abierto todo term.

She reached past him y laid dos fingers on el cúpula switch. El anillo arrived primero — un pequeño frío fact entre su manos — y rested there uno second longer than un mistake requires.

Clouds.

There eran none, y él knew it, y ella watched him choose to let su pretend. She pressed. Overhead el slit began to narrow — river, ribbon, thread — uno último estrella balanced on el closing seam, then gone.

El cúpula shut con un sound like un held breath released. After eso it era no campus, y no el colina, y no anything con un name yet — solo el oscuro, el cooling metal, el dos of them dentro it, y Astrid Hale, para once in su careful life, in no hurry to ser anywhere at todo. esta historia