"Oh, ouch, let's not do that again, huh?" Aria winced, placing a hand over her ribs which were throbbing far too much to NOT be pre-empting an impressive set of bruises that would no doubt show themselves the next morning. Cover story. Right, like Neta (ESPECIALLY Neta, in fact) or anybody else would believe any kind of cover up they came up with. Though anything would sound better than 'well, we fell out of a tree', she had to admit. Her thoughts on what they would say to disperse any doubts were interrupted as Yerbol pointed out that there was something on her cheek though before she could reach up to wipe it off herself, he had stepped closer and done it for her. 
"Thanks." She mumbled, exhaling a shaky breath of her own as she seemed to contemplate their close proximity while he turned to look back towards the base and mumbled something about them going back. She couldn't help but feel a stab of disappointment that they would have to return to strategising and fighting a war again already. There was just something so perfect about the fuzzy bundle of nerves that sprang to life every time he smiled at her that she had been struggling to comprehend, to find words to express the feeling, for some time. 
"Bol, wait I-" He turned back towards her at precisely that moment and began speaking again, stumbling over his words and repeating himself.
She knew she should have stepped backwards, distanced herself a bit, Roan's words drilled into her skull over repeated training sessions: attachments are a weakness. Attachments are a weakness. And yet her feet were rooted to the spot, and though the mantra pounded in her ears it was as if she and gone entirely deaf to its meaning. 

Aria couldn't be sure what he was trying to say, and maybe she should have asked. But with the threat of another stressful and potentially dangerous sting operation looming over their heads she panicked and reacted on an impulse, stretching up on her toes to press a delicate kiss to his cheek. Just like that, the contact seemed to jolt some sense back into her and Aria jumped backwards. Should NOT have done that. Oops. Her voice cracked slightly as she responded.
"You're really important to me, too. I...I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you." 
Morbidly embarrassed by her lapse in judgement, she quickly ducked past him and began to step back towards the compound before she could do anything else even more reckless (she'd be lying if she said she hadn't considered it), trying to save what remained of the conversation by returning to the topic of their 'cover story.
"Anyone asks, we ran into a pack of those Riika cats and we had to duck through a thicket or something to lose them." She suggested, a reasonably plausible explanation. The golden spotted cats they had encountered in the foreat on their first trip into Zinuthra's wilderness were rather gutsy and they seemed to be drawn to the outskirts of the rwbellion's encampment. In fact, they had become such a nuisance for breaking into their food stores (it seemed the jerky was delicious not just to everybody on base but everything OUTSIDE of it as well!) that Neta and Elara had set up sentries to keep watch for any on the prowl while Roan was too preoccupied with training sessions or combing through history archives to chase them off. Flash grenades or warning shots worked well enough as a substitute in this case.

Alas, they would not escape notice as they skirted the outermost areas of the settlement,  although they would escape too rigorous a questioning from most of the soldiers who simply mumbled a quick greeting before returning to their morning drills. They would not, however, escape Vano's eagle-eyed awareness as she ambushed them from her "cat spotting" perch as they passed beneath it.
"Do I even WANT to know what you two have been up to?" She queried with a raised brow. Aria retorted in her usual manner and provided the previously decided excuse, which Vano apparently didn't quite believe. "Riika cats, sure." She grinned, peering over the top of Aria's head at Yerbol before she dropped her voice to whisper to the younger girl: "When are you two going to stop being so evasive and just ADMIT it already?"
Aria spat another curse under her breath for the resurgence of reddish colour that overtook her face again, punching the Mirialan in the ribs.
"Shut.UP, Vano! I don't know WHAT you're talking about."
Vano's grin only broadened. "Aw, you think noone else has noticed? That's cute, Aria. Really cute. But this is getting painful to watch."

A scowl creasing her brow, Aria dodged past Vano with the intention of making a break for their quarters to avoid any further interrogation. 
"C'mon, Bol. Just ignore her, she doesn't know what she's talking about."