In the comms room, Eiffel yawned as he dutifully listened to static. Occasionally he would remark something, and cast his eyes up to the ceiling as though he was talking to her. But Hera didn't reply.
It wasn't because she was also currently having a conversation with Minkowski about the state of engine two. She had the capacity to hold thousands of conversations at once. And it wasn't because engine two was actually overheating and she was trying to fix it. If at this point Hera couldn't deal with that, she didn't deserve to be brought back online at all. 'Useless' would not be enough to describe her.
It was enough now.
Sometimes she just wanted to listen to Eiffel's breathing. Take note of the subtle changes in oxygen level, before her systems compensated for them. Know that his heart was pulsing under layers of bone and tissue, and wondering how she'd feel if it suddenly stopped.
There were few things that happened on the Hephaestus that Hera wasn't aware of, but there were things she didn't know. Especially about Eiffel. Like what he was thinking when he'd fall silent and stare at nothing. Why he kept breathing. And why he kept talking to her, even when she didn't reply.