Huffing as she ran Jenna Stone tried to keep pace with the driving beat of the aggro-synth blaring in her headphones.
She looked down as she ran and made a face as she took in the sad state of her running shoes. Her lower back confirmed with painful throbs what her eyes told her. It was time for a new pair.
That and maybe a breast reduction. These fuckers are killing me.
She could already feel the support wire of her bra cut into her as she moved. It was bad enough nothing fit her right, not to mention the cold stab of anxiety she felt every time someone's gaze would flicker in that certain way.
Despite a lifetime of such issues the feeling of unease never quite abated.
As if you should accept being leered at!
She rounded the bend of a footworn path cutting a line through thick scrub brush and picked up the pace as she approached a decline in the terrain. The Sprawl rolled into view like a festering dark brown scab under a dirty brown bubble that served as a shield protecting the scavenger
Almost home
She knew Grandma would be waiting for her to get back before starting supper. Then it would be off to the shop to work on some busted hunk of junk being used way past its service life. Jenna smiled as she pictured Leon growing steadily more impatient with a piece of gear as it's inner workings befuddled him to the point of a tantrum. The thought of him throwing things around made her quicken her pace further as her feet kicked up little clouds of dirt.
Pilgrimage my ass, this feels like banishment.
Loure nar Konesh thought bitterly as the shuttle door opened onto Korlus. The scene before him reminded him of a vid of early Quarian colonialism. Antigrav carts laden with various goods hummed as they were pushed down a dusty unpaved road bisecting a town composed of wood sided buildings. Here and there was the tell tale sign of modern technology as prefab buildings broke the line of wood structures at seemingly random intervals.
The street was lined on either side with raised wood platforms to keep people out of the mud when the rainy season came. Various stalls of questionable construction pressed in from the walkways as peddlers hawked their wares to passersby. If he could take his mask off he would bet the air smelled like animal manure. His eyes instinctually flicked down to a small readout projected on his visor that gave suit information. His seals were at 100%, filters at 80%.
"What Boshtet thought there would be anything of value on a backwater planet like this?" He said to noone in particular as he took his first tentative steps on his new home.
Grandma shooed Jenna away as she brought the last of the dishes into the small kitchen.
"I'll see you at 9 dear." She said before humming tunelessly while she toiled away at the sink. Her grubby red and white polkadot apron swaying with her every motion on her tiny frame.
Jenna gave her a quick hug before peeling out of her running shorts and top and making her way to the small bathroom in their ramshackle hovel. An audible sigh of relief escaped her as the heater kicked on and water dribbled feebly from the showerhead. Inspecting herself in the mirror she frowned as she lifted her breasts to see thin red lines under each. Her frown deepened as looked back at the scarred ebony frame staring back at her with hazel eyes and wild natural hair.
The weak stream of water stung as she bathed. They were out of medicinal salve, meaning she would have to wait for the next supply freighter before she could stock up on much needed supplies. Jenna finished and quickly changed into a (thankfully) shapeless jumpsuit before bidding goodbye to Grandma one last time and making her way to the shop.
Loure gave up on finding work for the day as the sun began to set, The crimson glow of the biodome was as a good a signal as any to cut his losses and find a place to sleep. According to the information he had gathered before arriving there was a motel at the end of the thoroughfare.
He arrived at its security mesh screen door and knocked lightly on its metal frame. Lights burned in a few of its two storied windows. Something gooey and chunky left a slick on the bottom sill of one of the windows. Loure felt queasy as he wondered about it's potential origins.
"What?!" Barked the intercom set into the doors center. A red light came on as a small lens set into a protective glass dome swiveled to him.
"Ah yes, I would like to rent a room for the night. I have the credits."
Rule no.1 of pilgrimage, if possible pay upfront for goods. Do not become indebted to others, Quarians included.
"You're wearing one" Came the gruff voice.
Loure looked down in surprise to see the red light had turned off.
"Hey" he exclaimed and beat on the door frame with a gloved fist. "I just want a room!"
The light snapped back on.
"Pound on my door again and I will come out there and make your room a fucking broom closet, capisce?"
Loure hung his head in defeat and took a step back.
"Bosh'tet" He grunted to the extinguished light. He stood there for a while, uncertain of what to do for a while before hooking his thumbs into the shoulder straps of his pack and slowly walking away.
The hustle and bustle of the day was long gone, replaced by the sigh of a steady breeze punctuated by the occasional outburst from a bar lining the main thoroughfare. Loure found himself staring longingly at the double doored saloon style entrances of each establishment before being scared off by the angry stare of a patron either coming or going.
He had yet to spot another quarian since touching down but he had it on good authority we was not the first to ever visit the planet. With only the hiss of his breathing pumps to accompany him he passed into the outskirts where all the industrial yards were, hoping to find a wreck or dumpster to use as a shelter.
A corrugated steel hanger loomed above him from the other side of a short wire fence. Checking to see if anyone was around he quickly scaled the fence and set off towards the rear lot of the hanger where he could see various heavy equipment standing vigil like a heard of some ancient herbivore.
An electronic chirp made his ears perk up as his suit relayed a boosted version of the sound to his ears. He couldn't recall seeing a single avian analog since he had landed. He began the search the darkening skies for the source of the sound. Then something bumped into him.
He heard another chirp and looked down to see a quadrupedal security bot at his heels. Its status lights blinking rapidly.
Uh oh
A high pitched squeal began to come from the robot as it crouched and began to shake. The familiar whine of charging capacitors altered the pitch of the whine as it leapt forward, taking his knees out from under him. The squat circle of its head pressed into him as he fell, releasing a high voltage shock into the quarian.
He remembered screaming in pain before blacking out.
"-it was trespassing, just shoot tha sum'bitch an call it a day." Came the drawl of a human male.
"I think Dogmeat taught him a lesson, no need to go murdering hapless idiots." Female this time.
"Suit 'yerself. It's yer problem now. Do whatcha need to be doin and get back here. I need help with this damn venturi fitting." Came the male.
"I told you Leon it's for the wrong model, it wont fit."
"Well we're bein paid to make 'er fit. An take the pump incase it gets froggy."
Loure slowly opened his eyes, careful not to move an inch as he took in his surroundings through the blue tint of his visor. He was on a hard surface, raised from what he could tell. Probably a work table of some kind. The exposed stringers supporting the sheet metal roof were shedding patches of brown paint as rust spots erupted from them. Long fluorescent lights burned from cheap industrial housings that hung on chains.
His body felt like every square inch had been beaten with a meat tenderizer. His readouts were garbled, hopefully from a software glitch. He tried to move just a little but found he was immobilized. The table he was on emitted a dangerous sounding *creek* as he moved a little more.
"Like I said, yer problem now." The sound of receding footsteps echoed in the cavernous hangar. Bright eyes hovered into view surrounded by the darkest skin complexion Loure had ever seen on a human. Full lips were pursed in annoyance as she scrutinized him.
"You must not be from around here. The last time I saw a Quarian I was 14, that was 7 years ago." Came a soft voice. He was sure the lips had moved but he could not escape her eyes. The voice seemed to slide silkily into him as if spoken directly into his mind.
"You're lucky I was here when Dogmeat got you. Leon would be putting your body into a trash compactor by now if not." She continued.
The eyes hardened as he felt something being pressed against his head.
"Now I may have spared your life, but don't confuse kindness for weakness. I will not hesitate to blow your head off if you try anything." She slid back out of view and the pressure abated slightly.
"I'm going to untie you. Like I said, try anything and you are done for."
It was a monumental effort to sit up once the cargo straps being used to immobilize him had been removed. She had freed his hands and stepped back to allow him to untie the rest, keeping the muzzle of a very large and crude looking shotgun pointed in his general direction.
Loure groaned as he worked a kink out of his neck and sat with his feet over the side of the work bench. He made sure to keep his hands within view and rested them on the edge of the bench as he looked down at his feet and breathed deeply.
"Thank you." He finally said as he looked back up to see her leaning against a large green filing cabinet that was dented and scratched all over its surface. She wore black leather work boots that were falling apart, the laces were untied and tucked into the cuff of the boots. A oil smeared blue jumpsuit hid her average frame as she cradled the shotgun in the crook of an arm. The look of annoyance had not abated but something in her eyes had softened.
Looking around Loure saw the typical riff raff of a repair shop. Tools were strewn about various components as if the workers had all decided to leave mid task. Cork boards lined some of the walls with various diagrams plastered about them. There were a few holo displays on the walls as well but they were either powered down or flickering spastically as they began to fail.
"Get moving." The steel in her voice snapped his head back to her. She motioned towards a steel security door with the muzzle of the gun.
"Please, I was only seeking shelter for the night. The hotel wouldn't take me. I'll gladly pay you if you let me sleep outside in one of those wrecks." He pleaded.
The corners of her mouth were tugged down further as her brow creased as she considered the request. A clatter from the far end of the bay drew her attention.
"Guddam sum-bitch, git the fuck in there." Leon yelled from the back of a hanger. They both looked back at one another as the sounds of frustration abated.
"I tell you what, your people are supposed to be tech whizzes. You figure out how to get a Mk4 Elkross Combine Venturi to fit the articulating nozzle of a Version 7 Asari thruster and pay me. Then we can talk." She said as a sly look came over her features.
Loure nodded. "Is the Version 7 a Heavy or Light model?"
"Heavy."
"Do you have a welder, plasma cutter and the old Venturi?"
She nodded. "We got the tools, and most of the Venturi. Owner ran the hauler out of fuel and crash landed it, sheared the cone off at the base."
"The base is all I need."
"Get to it then." She said dismissively. "LEON! Quite breaking my stuff I'm coming back there with our guest." She shouted as she beckoned him to walk in front of her.
"Aww hell no, get that thieving respirator out of here." A small squat man, barely higher than Loure's chest, rounded the damaged cargo hauler. His bald head gleamed in the lighting of the hanger. His light brown skin was pockmarked with really bad acne scarring. If Loure had to guess his age he would place him in his 40's. Small beady looking blue eyes burned with anger as he wiped his hands with a rag. He wore the same type blue jumpsuit as the woman.
"If ye aint got the stones I'll shwack 'em for ya." He spat.
"We're passed that. This is his penance for trespassing."
Leon shrugged and tossed the rag into a bin. He produced a small white box from a pocket and removed a slender white tube. Lighting the end of it on fire as it jutted from his mouth he hopped up onto a bench and waved to the hauler as if presenting a show horse. The angry look had not abated, but the corner of his thin lips were being tugged in amusement.
"Don't fuck this up or it's yer funeral Hoss."
Loure nodded weakly to the angry little man and approached the hauler. He tapped at some controls on his forearm, resetting his suits operating system as he surveyed the damage. The Venturi they were try to fit to the module was just about the same size but the hollow shaft it lid onto had a tapering edge, preventing it from seating. Loure set about cutting off the mounting flange off of the partially destroyed venturi and mounting it to the new one.
The humans looked on with mild interest as they occasionally pointed at something and conversed amongst themselves.
"Yea, it will work until the weld pops 'an the whole assembly detonates from the back pressure." He overheard the man say as he worked.
The woman was watching him very intently.
"The weld won't be near the source of heat and doesn't have to withstand pressure. It's just to hold the mounting flange in place. When this thing is pushing thrust it actually compresses the flanges against one another, not apart."
The male rolled his eyes and walked off, hands over his head in defeat as the woman smiled. It was a beautiful smile. The flash of white teeth contrasted so nicely with her features Loure briefly lost focus and yelped as the cutting torch he was using burned a finger.
Her smile died as concern etched her features.
"You ok?" She said, setting the shotgun down.
He turned off the torch and set it down. A dull throb started in his hand and worked its way up his forearm. Jenna approached the injured Quarian and beckoned him to let her see the hand he was nursing. There were no punctures as far as she could tell, just a small discoloration of the metal sleeve that made up the outer layer of his suit. She looked up to see glowing eyes squinting in pain.
"I'll be ok." He grunted. Embarrassment eeking out the feeling of pain in his hand. He withdrew from her touch and turned away from her, picking up and starting the torch again. Jenna stared at the Quarians back for a while before hesitantly walking away.
Lourse finished cutting and welding the flange onto the nozzle and turned to ask for help seating the awkward piece of metal on the articulating nozzle. There was noone there.
"Hello?" He called out. The shotgun lay neglected on the hand cart the woman had placed it on. He approached it and hesitated.
Scrounging around the small kitchen Jenna managed to find a small plastic bag. Filling it with ice she paused before leaving, rummaging through her memories to see if there were any more substantial medical aid she could provide. When she drew a blank she wrapped the bag in a towel and made her way back to the mech bay.
As she rounded the corner she spotted the quarian fiddling with her shotgun. Her stomach knotted as she ducked behind a corner.
Great, you just armed an intruder because you're a sappy goober.
She looked around frantically for Leon. She didn't want to call out and alert the quarian so she crept along the wall out of sight of her potential adversary and made her way to a tool bench. Hefting a steel pipe she set down the bag of ice and crept back towards the damaged hauler. She paused as she heard the telltale snap-hiss of a cutting torch being lit and peeked around the dented and rusting nose of the hauler.
The Quarian was back at work cleaning up some rough welds on the articulating module, the shotgun sat on the tool bench where she had left it.
Maybe he sabotaged it.
She set her jaw and stepped out, pipe in hand. The quarian started at her sudden appearance and dropped the torch, raising his hands above his head.
"What? What I do?" He said, panic edging into his voice.
She didn't answer as she strode past him to the shotgun and inspected it. It didn't look tampered with, but from what she heard quarians were crafty buggers.
She looked up at the quarian, his hands still above his head as the torch dug furroughs into the duracrete flooring at his feet.
"Turn that damn thing off, and what were you doing with this?"
He slowly lowered his hands and stooped to pick up the torch. Flicking it off and setting it down on a cart with his uninjured hand he glanced from the human to the item in question.
"The feed mechanism was broken, it would have fired out of battery and blown up after the first shot." He said plaintively.
"I fixed it."
She set the pipe down and picked up the old shotgun. The quarians hands shot back up as she pointed it at him and racked the slide. It ejected the thermal clip as smoothly as it did the day it rolled off the assembly line. Begrudgingly she set down the shotgun and stood for a while, arms crossed as she regarded the quarian with narrowed eyes.
"Ya know, if Leon had caught you, you'd be dead right now."
The quarian relaxed slightly, his glowing eyes blinking rapidly as he favored his burned hand.
"I bear no ill will. I am grateful for being allowed to redeem myself." She said as he avoided her gaze. She was irresistible when she looked mad.
"Are you done?" She said trying to change the subject.
"Oh yes. I just need help getting it seated."
"LEON" She called over her shoulder.
The short angry looking man came strolling up from the other side of the bay, hands in his coverall pockets.
"This ingrate done jackin things up?" She said as he came to her side. He smirked as he noticed the quarian nursing his hand.
"Got lippy eh? Whadja do Jen? Smash 'is fingers with a hammer?"
"It was my fault, I got careless-" Loure started.
"Shaddup, ain no one talkin to ya."
Jenny wrinkled her nose at how prickly Leon was being but pressed on.
"He says he's done. Could you help him out while I go grab something?"
"Eh"
That was Leon for "Yea, sure whatever." She thumped the short man on the shoulder and went back to the ice pack. "Play nice." She called over her shoulder as she walked.
She came back to see Leon lifting the venturi onto the nozzle with a jack stand as the quarian kept the flanges aligned. They mated perfectly with a click and the quarian set about bolting the two pieces together.
"We'll I'll be a pyjacks uncle." Leon said appreciatively as he stepped back and watched the quarian finish up.
Jenny hid her smile as she rubbed at an itchy spot on her nose with the crook of her arm.
"Can we keep him? I promise I'll feed him and pet him and love him and call him George." She teased the gruff man.
He placed a half burnt cigarette into his mouth and lit it before shoving his hands deep in his pockets.
"So long 'as he works for room and board. I dun know about having him live in 'ere. Theres a mothballed yacht out in 'th yard he could use."
Both Jenny and Loure stared at the ball of anger in shock. He made a face at the sudden attention at looked up at Jen, an accusatory eye narrowed as he spoke.
"Wha? Jus 'cause I'm an asshole it dun mean I'm heartless. But like I says, he jacks up and it's yer ass. I get sole ownership of this biz."
Jenny mulled over the proposition. As she regarded the quarian. He seemed to shrink visibly from her withering gaze. It was a big leap of faith to take, but she had a feeling.
"Just room and board. We're not responsible for food." She finally said.
"Aye." Leon grunted as he stubbed his cigarette out on the tool bench.
"Basic rate for pay, anything over he keeps?"
"Eh"
"That sound good to you No name?" She said as she hefted the bag of ice.
"It's Loure Nar Konesh, and yes." He said as immense relief washed over him. A small part of him resented being regarded as a pet of some kind but he had effectively managed to score both work and a place to stay.
A small victory, but a victory none the less.
He looked down in surprise as something thumped into his chest. He scrambled to catch the ice pack and sighed gratefully as he pressed it onto his singed finger.
"You start tomorrow, 0900 sharp. Most vendors open up at 0600." Jenny smiled.
Food was a hassle, working with the male was a hassle, keeping his suit together was a hassle. Everything was a hassle. But it was a burden he bore proudly. He was eking out a living and doing fairly well-ish.
It had been 2 months since he had jumped the fence and had gotten shocked. Jenny had offered to allow him to set up shop inside the mech bay but he had elected to stay in the abandoned yacht. He had spent the first two weeks sanitizing and repairing leaks so he could pressurize the inner hull. The next two weeks was gradually purchasing and installing the components for a sterilization field in a clean room he had turned one of the rooms of the ship into. After that it was simply a matter of getting a small Eezo core to power the place.
A knock at the hatch startled him as he ran some of his suit scrubbers though an ultrasonic/UV cleaner to recycle them.
"Yes?"
"It's Jen. whatcha doin all cooped up in there?"
Loure stood and panicked as he surveyed the general disarray the galley was in.
"Hang on, just one second!" He shouted as he hurriedly scooped components and empty food pouches into whatever space he could find.
Jenny smiled as she heard him banging around inside the decrepit Yacht. She'd come to visit the Quarian only a handful of times. Aside from the occasional supply run he was seldom seen outside the "Cosmic Casket" -as they had come to call the skeletal wreck. The hatch swooshed open, releasing a gust of cool dry air that was a welcome change from the arid planets' blast furnace climate.
Sure the place had a biodome that shielded the denizens of The Sprawl from the worst of the heat. But it could still get oppressive inside. Jenny thought to herself as she smiled and walked up the ramp to meet a fidgeting Loure. Her stained navy blue jumpsuit clinging to her full figured frame from sweat.
She strode into the galley and raised an eyebrow at how new everything looked. The Yacht had been of Asari design and was only 150 meters long from Bow to stern. But that was with it's exterior hull, which had been stripped for scrap decades ago. What remained was a patchwork of hull plates cocooning the inner pressure hull that vaguely resembled the curvaceous lines of the yachts former glory. The ship was at least 300 years old but the interior looked almost brand new aside from the welded and epoxied patches dotting the interior at random.
Jenny could hear the low hum of an Eezo core somewhere to the aft and smiled as she saw that the majority of the the control panels were illuminated, as well as what looked like a medical control panel that looked out of place from the general style of the rest of the ship. She turned to the Quarian who was tapping at the side of his blue tinted visor.
"What's wrong?" She said as she set a small bag down on the cushy looking seats. There were smart gel seats many ages ago, but their active agents had solidified a century ago. The bag made a *clink* sound as she set it down.
Probably as hard as duracrete now She mused.
"My display is starting to go bad. I need to get at it but I've yet to install the interior controls for my clean room." He said distractedly as he shook his head and gave the side of his helmet a sharp slap.
"So hats what that is." Jenny said as she slid onto the bench seat next to the bag. It was as hard as duracrete. Loure looked over to see her pointing at the out of place medical control panel.
"Yea. It's been a little Bosh'tet to get working, but it does finally. I can get some real repairs to my suit done." He said as he walked over and sat across from her. He eyes flicked over the 8 inch tear in his suit that had been patched with adhesives and duct tape.
She grinned and he laughed as he noted what she had looked at.
It had been an accident of course. But Loure had sworn he had offended a deity that day since he seemed to have experienced an above average amount of inconveniences. The day had started with Dogmeat's memory being wiped on accident when it had backed into it's charging dock and grounded out somehow. Jenny had programmed some behavioral mimicry algorithms to resemble something she called a "dog," So he was caught by surprise when it's usually playful leap for attention (or in this case a discrete ID verification program) turned out to be a near lethal electrical attack.
He woke up to Leon bent over him, hands in pockets with a cigarette pressed between his lips that was more ash than tobacco.
"Well ain tha 'a shame. Coulda used the extra money from the organs." He said as the stub in his mouth waggled and rained ash down on him.
Next was his drink tube snapping off at the coupling, forcing him to use his EMERGENCY INDUCTION PORT, to get sustenance.
And then, for the grand finale, a miter saw Jenny was using came apart and launched it's blade at him. He remembered how bug eyed she had been, frozen as the ruined tool whined down. It struck him at an oblique angle but still managed to crack the plate armor on his bicep and cut the dense fabric beneath.
What followed was a panic stricken couple of days as he feared an infection. Having his display scrambled by Dogmeat prevented his readouts from functioning. This was compounded by the fact that he had to take all his immune boosters through his EMERGENCY INDUCTION PORT since his primary induction port was broken.
He figured if something from the suit puncture didn't kill him, the taste of the meds would.
Presently Jenny was grinning at Loure as he became nervous once again at her attention.
"I could man the controls for you if you like."
The offer had caught him off guard.
"No, I'll be ok, one more paycheck and I can buy the control panel for the inside."
"Stop being so fiercely independent for once. Let me help."
Loure searched her face in confusion.
Why are her lips a different color?
"Oh and I brought some goodies." She said as she turned and rummaged through the cloth bag. She produced feed pouches and a vacuum sealed meal packet and laid them on the table. One was a pouch of filtered turian wine, another a premium quarian food paste and the meal packet was a luxury meal packet from a space liner for turians as well. He hefted the packet and saw a small Migrant Fleet stamp on it's pull tab. All of the items almost totaled a half months pay in cost.
"I figured we never had a housewarming party for you so I improvised." She said in a small voice as she laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them.
Loure sat in silence for a long while as he held the meal packets. His expression unreadable from behind his blue tinted mask.
"I cant take this." He said finally.
Jenn wrinkled her brow and leaned in closer.
"Well I sure as hell won't gain anything if i eat it." He nudged the wine packet in his direction. Loure couldn't help but be taken by how the shafts of dull orange light flooding the cabin made her wild hair look like a flaming halo.
Why has she painted her nails? That's a really nice color teal.
"I don't know what to say. I've never been given anything." He said as he grew nervous again.
"How about thank you" She smiled as he slid the wine packet closer to himself and inspected it.
"Uh, thank you."
Only the steady hum of the Eezo core made noise as they sat in silence for what felt like an eternity.
"I don't know how to repay you." He said demurely.
"You can start by letting me help you fix your helmet. Hop in the chamber, I'll run the control panel."
Loure set the meal packet down gently, his stomach grumbling, and blinked at her in surprise. She was normally helpful when ever she could be. But it had always been work related. Sure he thought her to be attractive, for a human, but such things just didn't happen.
"Sure, ok. Let me show you what needs to be done."
Her ebony features lit up and he felt a rush of excitement at the way she slid out from the bench seat and moved to the controls.
Much to her dismay the small view port set in the door was frosted glass. All she could see of the quarian was his silhouette as he sat through the scrubbing sequence and slowly began shedding his suit.
Well no obvious tentacles. She grinned as she pressed closer to the glass. Loure froze and looked at the view port making her shy away and giggle. She went back to the control panel and waited until he radioed he was ready to start the opening sequence.
When he had emerged she noticed his visor was a bit more transparent. She could just make out a slender nose and brow.
"Spirits you don't know what a night and day difference wiping my visor out makes. It's like getting a new pair of eyes." He said happily as he checked over the medical panel.
"I got the display working again but i feel like I need a second pair of hands to fix this tear. I address it next week when I get the remote control installed." He continued as he plugged in the drink pouch and took a tentative sip. The wine was unlike anything he had ever tasted before.
Jenny stood patiently by the table, her hands clasped in front of her.
"Thank you again so much. I feel so much better now." He as he blushed. Thankfully she couldn't see it.
"So I guess I'll see you Monday then?" She purred.
"Definitely, I'll be able to do some circuit board work now that I can see what the hell I'm doing." He set the pouch down, wanting to savor it later. She beamed at him again and turned to the hatch, his eyes admiring her figure as she cycled the lock and slipped out, casting a longing stare as the hatch closed.
It never happens, this isn't Fleet and Flotilla.
"A number 6 spanner and some thread lock." He said from under the console as Jenny sat on the edge of the galley table in the Cosmic Casket. Her legs swung playfully as she leaned over to the pile of tools and picked out the requested items. She dropped the spanner in a waiting armored hand and then the tube of thread lock when it reappeared.
She went back to scrutinizing the immaculate cabin as he worked.
I bet my shack would give him a heart attack. She thought to herself as she recalled the state of disrepair her abode was in. Grandma did her best bit it was getting harder and harder for her to move around as she grew more bowed with age.
Looking down she smirked as his knees twitched in tune with the sound of a bolt being tightened down. She toed his shin, nudging it in the opposite way it twitched in rhythm with his movements.
*BANG* "Ouch! What the?" Loure squirmed out from under the console, rubbing his helmet where he had hit it.
"What's going on?" He said in confusion as she suppressed a laugh.
"Sorry, nothing. I'm just messing with you." She said as she slid off the table and offered a hand up.
"Oh." He started to fidget in that certain way when he was nervous. He accepted the help and tugged at his suit after he stood. The cramped space of the derelict yacht kept distances to a minimum as he awkwardly turned away from her to check over the medical panel.
"Are you not ok with me touching you?" She after she realized quarians were probably the most personal space conscious race out there.
"It's not that I'm not ok with it, my kind just don't typically touch one another." He peered over his shoulder at her as he spoke. And I thought something was wrong." He had that peculiar feeling the back of his suit had been torn away as she stood behind him, a hand on one hip as she politely tried to give him his space. She relaxed slightly, sensing she had not in fact committed some sort of cultural faux pas.
"Ok, well it's showing up green. Lets give this a go." He was excited to see his hard work come to fruition and jumped for joy when the ran a test cycle.
He turned to her and anxiously began wringing his hands. "Y-You don't mind if I?
There came that flutter of excitement as she flashed pearly white teeth at him. "Of course not, this is all for you."
Loure looked down guiltily. "Are you sure? It's going to be a while. You're welcome to come back later. Though I dunno why."
He really doesn't get it does he?
"By all means, please."
He hesitated awkwardly for a second, almost unable to tear his gaze away from her hazel eyes. He turned and stepped down into the re-purposed cabin. The anticipation of being able to fully remove his suit becoming an almost manic scream in his mind. Set sat down on the steel bench seat and placed the tools he would be using to repair his suit on the steel end table across from him so the sterilization field would clean them as well.
He lifted the remote and tugged on the cable it was attached to in order to get it out of the way of the door jam. Just as he was about to hit the close command and ebony had slipped into the door frame. Full luscious lips curled into a gentle smile appeared below twinkling eyes as he head leaned into the doorway.
Loure froze, his hand above the button.
"Got room in here for two?" She said as she took in the polished steel and plastiboard lining of the room. It reminded her of a surgical suite, complete with hard white lights set into the ceiling.
"I uh, I uh, I uh." He was visibly trembling.
It doesn't happen
"I mean if this is too much at one time I'll understand." Her expression dimmed minutely as worry crept into her voice.
"It doesnt happen."
Did you say that out loud you Bosht'et?!
"Only if you don't want it to. Just tell me."
"I. Yes. I would love to have your help." He cleared his throat and set the control box down.
"You'll need goggles and something to cover your hair with or you'll lose them."
A pair of goggles and a bag looking thing with an elastic liner peeked around the edge of the door frame.
Why is she peeking around the door frame like that? He thought idly as his heart rate continued to fluctuate.
"I'm a mechanic too you know." There was a mischievous glint her her eyes, he was sure of it.
Loure blanched in embarrassment. "Ah yes, of course, duh. Well if you are ready we can start. Having another pair of hands is going to make fixing some things seem trivial. Once again I can't thank you enou-"
Her nude frame slid into view. She stood in the doorway for a moment, briefly self conscious. A small whine escaped him like air leaving a balloon which made her smile tentatively, chewing on the corner of her lip as she did so.
"Like I said, if this is too much all at once I can-"
Sterilization cycle engaged, please don all protective equipment.