Kyle wasn't one for civilian life.

Constantly being on the field and at base can change a man, and he was a really good example. He couldn't stay at home during his leaves, got bored so quickly he thought something was wrong with him at first. Well, that may be the case, but at least he wasn't sick.

He just couldn't find it in him to get reintegrated to civilian life on each one of his leaves. Nobody was waiting for him at home or anywhere, so why bother ?

Kyle would just spend his days off-base training and going on runs, sometimes maybe running errands on foot to fill his day a bit more. But it was always the same old routine, and it was starting to get annoying.

So, one day, he decided to go to the café that had just opened down his street, he had heard the coffee and pastries were good, so why not see for himself ?

What struck him wasn't exactly anything he could taste. Well, he would tell Soap your smile tasted like lemon curd the first time he saw you behind that counter, that he drank each one of your word like a man in a desert presented with the sweetest nectar known to mankind.

Because Kyle had been lovestruck.

You seemed to glow in the monotony of this small café, surrounded by brooding people arguing over the price of a simple coffee, and it was all it took for his heart to do backflips.

Never in his life had he been so enthusiastic at the sheer idea of going home during his leaves. Kyle would drop by the café on every occasions he had, cherishing every small conversations with you that seemed to get longer each time.

And the best day to this date ? When he ran into you at the bookshop.

You both talked for a bit, you told him what your favorite book was. And like a man on a quest, he bought it and read it, over and over and over again.

Even if he knew the book like the back of his hand by now, he kept rereading it all the time, trying to find pieces of you in every letters, in every corners, in every words he found himself drowining in every night.

Just to feel closer to you.