Raven POV
I'd finally decided to take a break from our shield problem and found myself sitting in the compound's kitchen sipping a cup of coffee. Looking around me, Octavia and Seph were discussing the laws that governed most packs and how she could use it here with mages also living here, and Dani and Nyx were flirting with one another while they made lunch. I kept glancing at them as they flirted. For some reason, I couldn't seem to get them out of my mind ever since they flirted with me the day we tested Nyx's powers. I was feeling very conflicted about how I felt about the attention they had given me.
The annoying thing was the simple fact that they flirted with pretty much every woman in the compound and Clarke just let them continue their behavior even after bonding with them. I couldn't completely understand why and that bothered me.
"You're staring at them again," Octavia teased, bringing me back into focus.
I looked at her sharply and shook my head, answering, "I just don't get it."
"What don't you get," Seph asked.
"Those two," I said gesturing to them. "I mean they're with each other and with Clarke, but they flirt with every woman they come across."
"Not every woman," Octavia pointed out. "They only flirt with the ones that are receptive to it. If a woman tells them no or if they know the woman has a partner, they won't flirt with them."
"It's who they are, Raven," Sephy told her. "Neither one of them have taken anybody up on their offers since they bonded with Clarke. And trust me there have been offers, but they're madly devoted to her and each other."
"What do you mean that this is who they are?"
"Well, I'm not sure how to explain it. They've always been a flirt since they became teenagers and they've always been pursued. It's like they have some kind of scent that women are automatically drawn to, or at least the ones who are also interested in women."
"So, you're saying that they can't help themselves," I asked still very confused.
Seph shrugged, "I honestly don't know, but if they've been flirting with you and don't like it, just tell them no. They'll back off."
"They haven't since the day we tested Nyx's powers."
"Then don't worry about it," Seph said with a smile.
"That's the problem. I can't seem to to stop thinking about it and that has me worried."
Seph leaned back in her chair and said, "Oh, you've got that kind of problem."
"You're not daydreaming about them are you," Octavia said, worried but with a gleam in her eyes.
"Why would I…no. Absolutely not. I like guys. I'm attracted to guys," I said stubbornly.
"Don't protest to loudly, love," Sephy said and laid a hand on my arm. "You keep doing it and people are gonna start believing you just don't want to accept it."
"And don't just find a guy to prove that you don't like women or kiss a woman randomly to see if you like it. Just stop obsessing over it. They haven't flirted with you again and won't unless you give them something that they can interpret that you're interested," Octavia said, soothingly.
"Breakfast is served, ladies," Dani said as she began to lay platters on the table.
I leaned back far enough that I almost toppled my chair, but she caught it and righted me.
"Careful, Raven," she said with a smile. "Wouldn't want to ruin that beautiful, brilliant mind of yours."
"Don't say that," I said crossly.
There was a look of confusion on her face and she asked, "Don't say what?"
"Don't say that about my mind. Brilliant yes, beautiful no."
"I don't understand," Dani said looking at Seph, "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, Dani," Sephy said, coming to my rescue. "She's just having a hard time with the shield problem."
Dani nodded, but I don't think she believed it, "Sure. No problem."
"Are you guys still having difficulty expanding it that far," Nyx asked as she sat down opposite me.
I nodded, thankful for the distraction and said, "It's not the length of the foundation that's bothersome, it's getting it to either maintain height or turning it into a dome. It always collapses."
"How high are you trying to make it?"
"We were thinking the height of the the strongest drone."
She nodded, "Which is anywhere from three to five miles in the air."
"Right. No matter what we've tried, it won't stay up."
"What if I created a five mile tower in the center of the territory? Would that work?"
"It might, but I'm afraid that it might still collapse somewhere in the middle."
"Then it might be a good idea to build towers at greater heights between the borders until it reaches the center."
"What do you mean," I asked curiously.
"Mmm," she said thinking and then moved the platters from the table and taking the crispy bacon, started to tear them up.
Dani protested, but then got quiet. Nyx must have said something through their mind link. In a simplistic way she created a circle with the smallest pieces and left a whole slice in the middle. She then laid out larger and larger pieces at certain distances until they met the big one. Next, she took the syrup and with a look at Sephy and Octavia, started dribbling lines between the pieces of bacon. It was an interesting diagram. From the smallest pieces, several of them would meet up at a larger piece, then another circle was drawn around those larger pieces connecting them much like the foundation of the shield. She repeated the process until they all ended up meeting the central piece of bacon.
"Okay, now imagine that these pieces of bacon are standing up right," Nyx said and pointed to the smallest pieces. "Those are the ones that will be at the borders. From there, they'll converge onto a larger piece and those pieces would then act as a stepping stone. You repeat until you get to the central piece. It would look like one of those plastic toys that have different size rings that sit around a pole. Maybe a step pyramid, but I think you get the idea."
I stood up and walked around the table, taking the diagram from every angle and my mind went to overdrive as I imagined the poles and then laying the shield on top of them. I examined it for weak points, but the way she had designed it actually made it stronger. At least to my eye it did. I still needed to build a model and test it out, but this may be the answer we were looking for.
I impulsively hugged Nyx who blushed and chuckled, before I sat back down again.
"Can I eat the bacon now," Octavia asked.
I laughed and said, "Yes. Nyx, this is brilliant. How'd you come up with an idea this quickly?"
"It's how her mind works," Dani said smugly. "You give her a problem, tell you where you're having the difficulty and almost instantaneously she's got an idea."
Nyx shoved Dani as she got up and got a wet rag to clean up the syrup.
"Is that true," I asked Nyx.
"Something like that," she replied, blushing which was kinda cute. "I have a certain way of looking at a problem and the more data I have, the more easily an idea forms in my head. It doesn't necessarily mean it's doable, but at least it's an idea and allows other's to think a bit more outside of the box. It's how Ben came up with his idea for the bugs. I complained loudly enough that there had to be a better way for me to put bugs in place without coming across someone and having to either disable them or kill them. Planting bugs is risky."
"So, he invented a program that gave the bugs parameters to find the best spots to spy and the automation to get there," I said appreciatively.
"Yeah," she answered. "Now, all he has to do is look up the schematics of the building, input that into the program. Then I add my two cents as to where the most likely places would give us intel, which he adds and then they're ready to do their job."
"Which keeps you safer longer," Seph said with a certain look in her eye.
Nyx scowled at the look but didn't say anything. There was a story there and I wanted to know about it sooner rather than later.
"Anyway, that's why I could build you the messy diagram," Nyx said as she plucked a piece of errant bacon from the table.
I sat there looking at her and realized that there's way more to Nyx than people knew about or maybe didn't even appreciate. Seph coughed and brought me back to realizing that I'd maybe looked at her for too long and quickly averted my eyes to the food on my plate.
"Um, thanks for showing me that," I said as a took a forkful of egg. "That'll help."
"Sure, no problem," she replied. "Always here to help."
There was a thunk under the table and I looked up to see Sephy and Nyx glaring at each other. There was a bit of head nodding and shoulder movements and then Nyx sighed and finished eating. I could've sworn she was stealing glances at me the entire time.
With an idea in my head and a stomach full of food, I headed back to my lab. When I was halfway across the courtyard that would take me into the Town Hall, someone called out to get my attention. I stopped and looked around and saw a guard walking over to me.
He approached me a little out of breath and asked, "You're Raven, right? One of the techno mages?"
"I am," I said curiously. "Is there something I can help you with?"
He blushed and rubbed the back of his head and said, "Um, yeah. You see, I've got this music player and it's kinda old. Nearly a hundred years, I think. Well, it started glitching out recently. I took it to a buddy of mine who's also a techno mage, but he'd told me that if he fixed it, I'd lose all my music and I don't want to do that. Ya see, it was my great-great grandads and it's one of the few things we have of his left. So, to lose the kind of music he used to listen to, is not something I'd like to lose."
"For sentimental reasons," I said.
"Yeah, yeah that's it. Exactly," he said brightening up. "My buddy, he just doesn't understand and the way it's glitching I can't really place the music somewhere safe, you know."
I nodded, "Do you have it on you?"
He reached in his side pocket of his pant leg and pulled out a music player that was indeed quite old. Definitely over a hundred years old. He handed it to me and I turned it over in my hand. It was weird using my power like this. I asked myself what was causing the glitch and I could see the wiring and computer chips until I came to the problem which was simple enough to fix for me. But as his buddy pointed out, it would cause a memory purge and he'd lose all the music. So, my next question was about how to save the memory without corrupting the data. Again, my mind showed me exactly how to do it.
I looked up at him with a smile and said, "I can do what you're asking."
He whooped, making me laugh, and picked me up to swing me around. When he put me down, I took a step back and took a moment to regain my balance.
"Thank you, so much," he said earnestly. "You have just made my day."
I laughed again and said, "Why don't we step into my office and I'll get this fixed for you?"
"Wait, hold on," he said taking a step back, "You can do it right now? Like right, right now and it won't take long?"
"Yes, I can and no it won't take more than maybe ten minutes to do."
"Hot damn, I could kiss you right now," he said with a huge grin on his face.
"Please don't do that," I said smiling. "It's just something I can do."
He became serious and said, "I know, but you're one of the council members and I'm sure that with everything going on, you're pretty busy."
"That's nice of you to take that into consideration, um…what's your name anyway?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry. My momma would kill me if she knew I'd forgotten my manners," he said, clearly embarrassed, and held out his hand. "I'm Thomas Caster, but my friends just call me Tommy."
I took his hand and was surprised when I felt something weird. I shook it and quickly let go, hoping I didn't hurt his feelings. I looked up at him and smiled slightly and nodded my head towards Town Hall.
He followed me silently and I would occasionally glance over at him as he took everything in. He was kinda handsome in that backwoods kinda way. His hair was a bit shaggy and he had day old scrub on his face, but he held himself straight and projected a sense of pride in what he did. He also seemed like an easy person to be around, like you automatically relaxed when you were near him. Everything about him said that he was a good guy and probably trustworthy.
"So, which pack are you from, Tommy," I asked as I looked for the appropriate cable to plug his player in.
"Southern Pack, ma'am," he answered cordially.
I looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow and said, "Ma'am?"
He grinned down at me and replied, "Momma made sure that I had manners. So, unless you tell me to use your given name, I will address you as such. You don't like it?"
"It's not that, Tommy," I replied with a smile. "No one has ever called me that. It's always been Raven, Rae, or Reyes, depending on who's calling me."
"Well, that doesn't seem very polite, if I may say so. A woman as beautiful and kind as you are, should be treated with respect."
That made me blush and I quickly turned to my computer screen to hide it.
"I didn't mean to offend you," he said apologetically.
"You, you didn't offend me, Tommy," I said over my shoulder as I began typing commands into the computer. "I just wasn't expecting the compliments."
I heard the squeaking of a chair and I looked over and saw that Tommy had grabbed a chair and swung it around so that he could prop his arms over the back.
He tilted his head in a way that made him look cuter and I could feel my blush getting hotter, so I quickly turned my head and focused on the little project.
There was another moment of silence and then he asked, "May I be so bold as to ask if I can speak with you honestly?"
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and said, "You can."
"Thank you," he replied. "I actually had my buddy put the glitch into my music player."
I looked at him confused and asked, "Why would you do that?"
Now he blushed and stammered out, "I, I wanted an excuse to talk to you, with you."
"Okay, now I'm really confused," I said and turned to really look at him.
"Um," he said hesitantly. "The first time I saw you, I was floored by how beautiful you are. I wanted to go over and talk with you that first day, but I got too shy. Since then, I've been trying to wrack my brain to get the courage enough to talk to you. Then I found out you were a council member and close friends with the Manassas Pakstoka and your council leader, it made you seem more unapproachable."
"You think I'm beautiful," I whispered.
He nodded and gave me a side grin, "Yes. I don't understand why you don't have a string of men following you trying to get your attention."
"That, my friend," Monty said as he laid his hands on my shoulders, "is because she never leaves the lab except for mealtimes and sleep."
"Shut up, Monty," I said and pushed him away from me.
He left us alone, laughing all the way to his side of the lab.
"You'll have to forgive him," I said and then yelled, "He's an ASSHOLE."
Monty just laughed harder.
"I can understand not wanting to leave your lab when you're working on something," Tommy said quietly. "When I'm working on a motor or rebuilding a machine, I get lost in it so much that I lose all sense of time. But, I'm so happy when I've that motor purring like a newborn kitten or seeing a machine that I've rebuilt or made working like it's supposed to. Those are the moments I look forward to."
"You're a mechanic," I asked pleasantly surprised.
He puffed out his chest and smiled big, "Yes, ma'am. One of the best or so says my C.O."
"Isn't it just awesome to see those pieces come together and work in harmonious synchronicity," I said, dreamily.
"Oh, yes I do," he replied. "You're a mechanic, too?"
I looked at him and smiled, "I've always been more comfortable with machines and computers. They're easy to speak to."
"They are, but I find that most people are just as easy to speak to, unless of course, you're shy."
"Well, you've seen to have overcome your shyness," I said chuckling.
"That's because you're easy to talk to."
That made me blush again and I turned back to the computer. It was done and I gently unhooked his player and handed it back to him.
He took it, but it seemed like his hand lingered over mine a tad longer than necessary and that same feeling seemed to shoot up my arm, warm and tingling.
"It's all done," I said, once I was able to speak again. "Good as new, but you're buddy is terrible at his power. He almost killed it."
He took the player out of my hand and tucked it back into his side pocket and replied, "The jerk. I told him to make it so that it would take a little longer to fix, he must have thought I meant nearly destroyed. That is so, not cool."
"No, it's not. Not with something that means that much to you," I said softly.
"Thank you. And thank you for allowing me to speak plainly to you," he said ducking his head.
"Your welcome. It was nice meeting you, Tommy."
"It was a pleasure meeting you, ma'am. I'm glad I finally got to," he said and stood up.
"Tommy, please stop calling me ma'am. Makes me feel like someone's grandmother. You can just call me Raven," I said smiling up at him.
His smiled widened and said, "I'll be sure to do that the next chance we come across one another, Raven. Hey, if you ever want to test ride one of our buggies, just let me know and I'll hook you up."
I laughed and replied, "I'll keep that in mind, but honestly I've been eyeing Nyx's motorbike a tad too much."
"We got a couple of those, too. Not as suped up as hers, but they are fun to ride."
"Then I might just take you up on that offer."
He nodded and then quickly dashed out of the room. Monty came over and leaned against the desk and gave me a pointed look.
"What," I asked.
"That's the first time I've seen you blush and laugh like that with anyone. You like him," Monty said, matter of factly.
"Whatever. He's just a guy," I said trying to off play the fact that I did find him attractive.
"A guy that purposefully broke something that he has sentimental feelings for, called you beautiful, and loved the fact that you're a mechanic," Monty replied. "He obviously likes you."
"Psh, come on, Nyx's given me an idea how we can keep the shield intact," I said steering the conversation away from Tommy.
