Knock, knock.

"Come in."

Krayonder pushed Specs' door open, surprised to find all the lights out. He was less surprised, however, to find her sitting at her desk, working franticly. Papers, notebooks, and various cans of coke were spread all over and the only light in the entire room came from her laptop. She was alternating between drawing on a sketchbook and running some complex equation through the computer.

Her eyes were red and bloodshot, her hands shaking as she looked over at him. "Hello, Krayonder."

"Hey, Specs… How long have you been in here."

"Well, I started working at six-"

"You've only been here for an hour?" He asked, confused. Her curly hair was completely in tangles, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"No, I started working at six in the morning."

"Dude!" he exclaimed. "You've been working for thirteen hours? Did you even take a brake or anything all day?"

She looked at him embarrassedly. "No…"

"Specs!" she winced as his eyes grew wide in shock. "That's really unhealthy, man! You can't just stay in a dark room in front of a screen all day! That's like, gonna seriously gonna screw you up!"

She pressed some more keys on the laptop, biting her lip. "Oh, like I'm not crazy already." she kept having to start over on what she was typing, as her hands were shaking so much that she kept messing up.

"I'm serious!" he spun her chair so she was facing him. "You gotta at least go out and eat something!"

She glanced back at the screen reluctantly. "Do I have a choice?"

"Nope," he lifted her out of the chair and stood her on the floor. "Now, you are coming with me to the mess hall, and you're gonna eat some food. Got it?"

With one last look at her desk, she nodded. "Fine."

They walked down the hall together, headed for the mess hall. At first, Specs was having a bit of trouble walking because her legs were so stiff. Krayonder really worried about her sometimes; aside from him, she never seemed to talk to other people much. He had no idea how she hadn't gone completely insane by now. He would never be able to last more than five hours without human contact, even if the contact was Taz's knife in his back.

They walked into the mess hall. Krayonder got a hamburger and some fries, and Specs got a meatball sub. They sat down, just the two of them, at a table. Specs didn't feel that hungry, but the second she bit down onto the juicy meat, she realized that she hadn't eaten anything except a bowl of cereal all day.

"Mmmm."

"Pretty hungry, huh?" Krayonder asked, smiling at her.

"I haven't eaten much today."

He looked at her in amazement. "What were you doing that was so important that you forgot to take care of yourself?"

She looked down at her plate, avoiding his eyes. "It's- it's nothing, really. It's just a personal project."

"If it was "nothing" you wouldn't have risked your sanity for it." he smirked. "What is it?"

She smiled, a twinkle suddenly in her hazel eyes. "Well… I'm designing a starship…"

"No way! Really?"

"Yeah…" her cheeks turned a light pink.

"That's so cool, man! So, like, what is it gonna look like when it's done?"

"Well, I'm still working out some of the dimensions, but…"

She went on telling him all about her plans. As she talked, the twinkle in her eyes grew and grew, until they were completely sparkling. That was what he really loved about her; that sparkle. It was what made her beautiful. She got so passionate about everything she did, and whenever she felt that excitement, he'd feel it too. It felt good, and it made him feel important, because she didn't usually show that passion around anyone else. It made him feel special.

They finished their dinner, and they walked out of the mess hall. Specs started to head back toward her room, but Krayonder grabbed her arm.

"You know if you go in there, you're just going to get back to working."

"I ate some food-"

"But you didn't truly relax." he interrupted. "You need to completely unwind, man. And I got, like, the perfect idea!"

A couple minutes later, the two of them were at the pool by the gym, both dressed in swimsuits. Specs felt slightly awkward when Krayonder kept stealing glances at her as he turned on the jets in the hot tub. She was just wearing a solid blue one-piece, but it was still less then she usually wore around him.

The hot tub started bubbling up, and they climbed in. The instant Specs slipped into the warm water, she let out a content sigh. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

Krayonder smiled. She looked so beautiful when she was at peace. He just wished that she would be like this more often, and that he didn't have to tell her to relax. That was probably why they fit together so well though; she took things too seriously, and he treated everything like it was a game. They evened each other out. He wouldn't have gotten anywhere without her, and she would've gone crazy without him.

So it was a good thing they were together.

"Thank you so much." she sighed.

"Aw, it's nothing really, man."

"You have no idea how much this means to me; that you care enough to make sure I take care of myself."

"Well, of course I care!" he scooted closer, putting an arm around her. "I really like you, Specs. You're the whole reason I'm even sitting here right now! If you hadn't stayed up all those nights tutoring me while we were at the Academy, if would've never even become a ranger!" he shifted slightly so he could look her right in the eye. "And more than that, you are the most kind, smart, funny, beautiful person I've ever met."

She bit her lip as she looked up at him. Her glasses had fogged up, so he couldn't make out the expression in her eyes.

"I-I'm… What?"

"Kind, smart, funny, beautiful, supermegafoxyawesomehot, beautiful…"

"Y-you real-really mean tha-that?" she stuttered.

He took her glasses off so he could see her eyes; tears had started to well up in them. He put his hand on her cheek and wiped them away with his thumb.

"I wouldn't make something like up," he whispered, his lips so close to hers. "I love you too much."

He pulled her close to him, and their lips collided. He ran his free hand through her auburn curls, as her hands found their way to his sides. He could feel her grinning against his lips, which made him start kissing her harder. As the kiss intensified, he pulled her on top of him so she was straddling him. His lips left hers and started kissing all down her neck and collarbone, causing her to gasp and sink her nails into his shoulders tightly. It hurt, but it was a good kind of hurt.

"Ohhh," she moaned. "I love you, Krayonder."

"I love you too, man," he said, his hand on her thigh.

They suddenly heard a muffled gasp. They both looked to the door in time to see a flash of blonde hair disappearing behind the door. They could hear February's laughter as she ran down the hall, no doubt to tell anyone who would listen about what she saw Specs and Krayonder doing in the hot tub.

Specs laughed, her cheeks red. "Perhaps we should move to someplace a bit more private."

"And where exactly were you thinking?" He asked, one eyebrow raised in an attempt to look seductive, but he just looked goofy.

"Maybe your room?"

He kissed her forehead. "Sounds awesome, beautiful"