She lay on her back under Genrou's main thrusters, stripped to her underwear in the hot engine room, hands slick with oil and brow damp with sweat as she thrust her arms into the engine up to her elbows. Her fingers coaxed the wires and routers into position with tweaks and caresses, delicate in her work.
Goddamn, but she loved this rust bucket and all it entailed. Loved its quirks and oddities. The frayed electronics and pockmarked surfaces. It was her life, her freedom. Without the ship, she was nothing; without her, the ship would only be flying to the nearest scrap heap.
Su pulled her hands from the engine, wiping the grease on them across her belly as she slid out from under the engine. She rose, disheveled, to stand at the control panel for the core, fingers dancing across the wires are she bit her lip, voice purring in her throat. Her fingers flipped across the switches, adjusting the dials. She moved back to the engine, hand smoothing appreciatively across its surface as it slowly whirred into life, echoing her deep purr, bringing a satisfied smile to her face.
"That's my boy."
Music: Further On Up the Road – Johnny Cash