The mid-afternoon sun was warm and golden as it spilled into the Amber Room, empty aside from Dianne on standby, curled up on her favourite couch and engrossed in a book, and Paul, quite happily sitting sprawled on the floor next to her, his hands in his lap, eyes shut and head tipped back on the edge of the couch, as she absently ran her fingers through his hair in an impromptu scalp massage.
Destiny, Harmony and Melody were on a target practice run and Karen was in the Room of Sleep, giving the two of them a rare opportunity to be openly affectionate with each other and relax together in a semi-public space. Paul was all but sure the colonel knew about them and had told her so, but since the Old Man hadn’t said anything yet, they felt it best to keep up the fiction of being nothing more than good friends around others.
“How are your plans for furlough coming?” Dianne asked as she turned another page in her book.
“Just waiting on confirmation for the dates, not booking anything until I’ve got that,” Paul murmured drowsily, very relaxed. “You?”
“The same. All I’ve confirmed is when I’ll be home,” Dianne replied, setting her book aside. “My parents are so excited to meet you, as long as both of our leaves are confirmed.”
“The same.” Paul smiled up at her. “My mother has been pestering me for weeks about when I’ll bring home this ‘mystery woman’. I’m looking forward to introducing the two of you.”
Paul and Dianne had felt their relationship had progressed to the point where it would be appropriate to be ‘officially’ going out together, for personal as well as security reasons. With that in mind, their respective furloughs had been carefully planned weeks ago, juggling favours and swapping duties to make sure they’d both be able to take a few days of leave at the same time. Scarlet would be going first, staying in London for three days, then Rhapsody would go on leave two days later to divert suspicions. The plan was for them to meet her parents in their London house, then travel together to meet Paul’s. He’d return to base the day after, and she would be returning two days afterwards.
“I hope it all goes well.” Dianne fretted, biting her lip. She’d heard so much from Paul about his parents, the irrational fear that they wouldn’t like her or approve of her had been festering for days now.
Paul opened his eyes and looked up at her, seeing her concern. “Love, they’re going to adore you.” He caught her hand and kissed her knuckles gently. “It’s the meeting I’ve got after I get back that we need to worry about.” He grimaced faintly, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “I’m bloody terrified of talking to the Old Man about us. You know how he thinks of you and the other Angels as practically his daughters, and he had inches-thick files made on all of us before we were recruited. He probably knows about every time I skipped class in school and the one time I snuck out to the back of the bike shed to smoke.”
“He’d have said something about it if he didn’t approve,” Dianne reassured him, touching his cheek gently. “Like you said, he probably knows about us already.”
“Mm. I know.” Paul leaned into her touch. “Adam and Karen have decided they’d better come clean to him too, Adam’s going to be coming with me to the meeting.”
“Strength in numbers?” Dianne asked, amused.
“Yes,” was Paul’s reply. “It’s the Old Man. If all else fails I can throw Adam at him as a distraction and run for cover.”
“You know Adam’s probably planning to do the same thing to you,” Dianne teased.
“Oh most likely.” Paul grinned, enjoying the banter. “But I’m quicker than he is.”
“Isn’t it a little patriarchal though? Asking him for permission to go out with us?” Dianne asked curiously.
“Yes, in some ways.” Paul nodded. “But it’s required, military speaking. We’re the ranking officers, the requirement is on us to declare the relationship with people who are technically subordinates, and the consequences fall on us if it’s deemed an inappropriate relationship, since we’re the ones who should know better.”
“Ah.” Dianne turned it over in her mind. “That makes more sense, I suppose.” She leaned down and gave him an upside down kiss. “For luck,” she told him with a soft smile.
He reached up and stroked her cheek with calloused fingers, smiling back at her. “Do you think I could have a few more of those?” he asked, grinning. “I think I’m going to need it.”
“Of course.” Dianne smiled and leaned down again. “As many as you need, my love.”