"Come on, let's go for a walk," Mars smiled, reaching over and lifting her skirt off the keyboard, before sliding off the desk and onto her feet.
Wiping away his tears with his stained gray sleeve, WS79 looked up at Mars from his hunched position, sniffling as quietly as he could. "W... What...?"
Standing in front of the door, Mars unfurled the skirt from it's half fold, stretching it out between her two outstretched arms, holding it around her waist. The zipper on the skirt jingled gently as Mars fumbled for it. Reaching behind her back made her back arch backwards gently, producing a small grunt of irritation from her. Over her shoulder, Mars looked over at WS79, returning her smile. "A walk? Nothing crazy, I just want to show you something that might interest you. Besides, this office is getting a little boring, don't you think?"
"Um..."
A click signaled that the zipper had successfully found it's metal track under a hidden white flap, just below her utility belt. Mars breathed a sigh of relief, zipping the full circumference of her waist until the zipper stopped just short of where it began behind her. She zipped the two loose flaps together until the perfect conical shape of her white skirt held. When she finished, she went to the desk and picked up the tipped over COMM on her desk and clipped it around her wrist.
"Let's go. That's your new order. Go for a walk with your superior," said Mars. Her thumb activated the touchpad in the door's archway and opened the door.
The bright light of the hall that flooded into the office made the room perceptibly darker. Where WS79 sat behind the desk made the room darker. Stepping up from the chair, wiping his eyes one more time, WS79 peeked into the light, shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of light by holding his hand out in front of his eyes. He finally stood up fully beside Mars, squinting and looking over at her expectant expression from behind his hand.
"Come," said Mars.
Down the hall, where Mars followed around a corner to the left, pausing gently and taking a step back, looking over her shoulder. Seeing WS79 follow somewhat slowly brought a smile to her face. She visibly looked left and right down either end of the hall, then looked back down to WS79.
"A little faster please," chuckled Mars. "This is totally regulation, if you were wondering."
WS79 nodded, hastening his pace. Walking on the left side of the hall nearly brought his shoulder into another grunt's shoulder, before he quickly sidestepped in a kneejerk reaction, proceeding to clip another grunt's shoulder. He barely got out the first syllable of the apology before the grunt had moved along a little more. Then he looked back to Mars, cheeks lighting afire when he saw her stifle a giggle.
"What do you have to be afraid of? I mean, seriously? Do you forget who you're with, and where you're at of all places?" said Mars.
Alongside Mars, just barely finishing rounding the corner of the hall, WS79 stopped, exuding his nervous breaths and exchanging them for much calmer ones. He looked up at Mars and past her, then looked to his shifting feet as he stood beside her, waiting for her to continue.
"What do you think it means when I'm with you? Or, when you're with me, rather. Do you think it makes a difference?"
WS79 choked, trying to swallow a thought. A thin layer of sweat formed over his brow, not from speedwalking after Mars.
"It means," WS79 began, staring down the hall ahead of them as he gathered his words. "I mean... I guess I still don't understand..."
Mars raised an eyebrow. Her lip curled up into a twisted smirk as she fought to stifle a chuckle. She failed. A snort of laughter came through her nose, then through her mouth as she could no longer contain the laugh. Her body flinched, jolting forward briefly, holding her stomach in her hand.
Starting to walk down the hall, Mars turned back to WS79. "Heh..." she breathed. "Aren't you starting to wear out your welcome, hm?"
WS79's face turned bright red. "I... I..."
"Don't you get it?" asked Mars. Looking back over her shoulder at WS79 as she continued to walk, she made eye contact with him, eyes flaring with interest. The smirk she wore faded into a reassuring smile. "The place isn't defined by the place, it's defined by the people in it. The people define the place, right?"
WS79 followed slowly. "I guess..."
Mars stopped in the center of the hallway, turning back to him. "Think?"