If it was possible to be both supremely uncomfortable and at the same time infinitely comfortable in someone else's presence, that was Kyle. Never someone who felt at ease in unfamiliar situations, particularly social ones, the only thing that ever seemed to cancel out that acute discomfort he felt in new surroundings was the comfort he felt when he was near her. A concept as foreign to him as everything else, but never one that immediately sparked his anxieties. It had been that way from the beginning, and miraculously, Kyle had never thought to question it.
He simply accepted it, as she seemed to accept him, now. Or at least, that's what he found himself hoping.
Even breaking from their usual routine (for the second time - the first being their more recent nightly visits) was not a source of anxiety for him, much more accustomed to the rigid structure of his upbringing inside the Resistance. Kyle had learned to accept this about their situation too, maybe even embrace it. Just as the very nature of the Force always changed, they had found their own balance together, and Kyle felt a sort of strength in it that made him more sure, even in situations that were completely unfamiliar to him. It was unlike anything he knew.
Inside the Resistance, there was no question of who was in charge. There was a strict hierarchy, of which Kyle had his place in. No one below him dared to question his authority and Kyle never stepped a toe out of line from who outranked him. There was no hierarchy here between him and Freya, no one person in a role of leadership, they gave ground to each other willingly and without question. Even now, Kyle readily gave it up to her, content to follow her lead even though they would be entering into more foreign territory. The ease with which he did so stunned him.
The comfort of their silence settled into him like a glove, walking beside her even as she led them both to their destination. When she finally broke the silence, it was such a bizarrely innocent question that Kyle immediately looked down at her with an eyebrow mildly raised in surprise. Down, because he was several inches taller than her and somehow that difference was noticed more readily outside of the confines of their training where size didn't necessarily mean an advantage over the other. Though for a person of smaller size, she'd learned how to use it well.
"Should I be?" There was a peculiar note to his tone in response that could almost be construed as amused, in an amiable sort of way. Freya's question baffled him, as if Kyle was at once unaware that she might notice things about him the way that he noticed things about her now, looking down at himself after a pause as if to reconsider his answer with something a little more honest. "The sun and I have our differences."
It wasn't quite the same as admitting that as a child the feeling of sunlight on his skin bothered him the way that most physical contact had always seemed to and he'd just gotten in the habit of it, but it was closer to the truth than not. He didn't even think about the way he dressed anymore, most days, used to the sweltering heat inside his clothes and thought it must still be preferable to direct sun exposure.
The light changed and he crossed with her, the contrast of his leather jacket and combat boots to her more acceptable summer attire sparking the smallest bit of self-consciousness in him. He didn't voice it, just let it quietly gnaw at a small area in the pit of his stomach, distracting him so that Kyle wasn't fully aware of what he was doing until they were in front of the bookshop she'd indicated and was holding the door open for her expectantly. As if the action came naturally though it certainly didn't, or at least, it never had before. Today was full of surprises.