From dailyprompt: “Mandatory Holiday.”

After Heroics and before View-Point.

“This really is gorgeous.” They sat overlooking a long valley as the sun rose orange-and-pink, the clouds tiny fluffy things stained as pink as the sky. Breakfast was sweetened with a recent purchase of honey, and their tea was hot and fresh. “I haven’t seen anything like this since I went on vacation with my parents, when I was a boy.”

“There haven’t been any holidays since then?” Rin sipped her tea and watched her prisoner thoughtfully. He was loosening up; she wondered how long that would last.

“Nothing like that. State trips. Visits to other cities. And then war came again, and that was everything. And then you.” Girey looked at her sidelong, smiling.

“And then me,” she agreed, but she couldn’t help but return his smile. His face looked better that way, younger, and she was surprised to find that he had dimples. “It’s been a while for me, too.”

“The war?” he asked sympathetically. “Your people grow really good tea.”

“The war, among other things. But now…”

“Now we have tea and honey,” he teased, “and beautiful sunrises.”

“I guess we can think of it as a mandatory holiday,” she joked.

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