Looking up from the tangle of wires and circuitry, Lalna adjusted the goggles on his forehead and sighed in frustration. He had been trying to get this faulty transfer node working all day, and was beginning to get annoyed.
"I don't see why it's not moving the stuff...might as well just build a new one," he muttered under his breath. "I guess it didn't cost too much." He stood up, legs weary from kneeling down to work on the machinery, and stumbled over to the chests on the ground floor of PandaLabs. Although he hadn't intended the building to look...well, cute, he couldn't exactly object to Nano's new name for their base. Once that girl had made a decision, it was final.
Rummaging through the containers, the scientist searched for the required parts. As he was doing so, he heard footsteps behind him, accompanied by the pattering of dozens more small legs. Lalna looked behind him to see Nano coming downstairs, followed closely by the newly-constructed Luggage.
"How's it going?" She seemed happy, he supposed. She'd been gardening all morning, out in the sun whilst Lalna worked on a new item sorting system indoors. Sorting systems, as he often loudly complained, were the bane of his entire existence.
"Not well, I'm afraid. This bloody transfer node configuration..." He shook his head in irritation.
"Ah. How about retaking the castle then? You said we would." Nano smiled sweetly, in the way she normally did just before disembowelling whoever refused her requests.
"Yeah, yeah...it's a difficult project, okay? I need to modify an arcane bore in order to wash away the flux so it'll be safe. Proper tough magical stuff, you know. Complicated. Yeah." He shrugged, hoping this half-baked explanation would satisfy her for now. It didn't.
"Lalnaaa..." She folded her arms. "We are not getting rid of the flux, I told you. I like it!"
"You may like it, but it hurts me! I can't live in my own damn castle if there's that much flux." Lalna didn't like arguing with his companion, but this was a matter of safety. Not that he'd ever given that much thought to it, but certain death was just a bit too high-risk.
"What about a sorta magical hazmat suit? You made those during the war, didn't you, for your reactor?" He sighed.
"I suppose I could...alright, I'll get to work on that. Can you grab me some leather? And some osmium?" Nano silently chided herself for starting Lalna off on yet another of his science projects as he rambled on. "Oh, I'll also need Order Shards for the...tell you what, I'll just give you the blueprints. We'll work on this together, how about that?" She looked up, surprised. Usually it was just "Nano, do this" or "Nano, bring me these". They'd never truly worked together on something before. Maybe he reciprocated her feelings...no, there was no sense in fantasising further about that. She smiled again, this time a more tender, genuine one.
"Alright, sounds good. Where do we start?"