Disclaimer: I do not own Megami Kouhosei nor any of the characters featured there. I just borrow them for my personal recreation and, hopefully, yours.

Notes: This is a series of short/long drabbles and not an ongoing fanfiction per se. There will be 6 or 8 of them, all featuring one or morefamiliar characters. Mainly, they'rea possibletake on the future of the series and not necessarily what I really believe that will happen. Read with an open mind and I hope you enjoy it!

Pairings: There's a clear hint of Rio/Phil here.

Random stuff: This one s very short, but then again... it is a drabble. ;)

My eternal gratitude to animechick13 for reviewing, and a friendly wave to any lurkers. I know you're out there.

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Rioroute and Phil Phleira

"Are they still out there?" she asked.

"Yup. Don't know what could they be doing, though," he replied, getting his face closer to the glass.

"Well, what does it look like? Jeez, Rio, sometimes you're just—"

"He's just floating there, while she walks around, dragging him by the cord," he cut her off. "Oh, looks like they're coming back in!"

The red headed Repairer somehow managed to bite down her annoyance at being interrupted, by quickly getting off her chair and rushing to the door, all in one fluid motion.

"Where are you going?" Rioroute asked, half startled by her sudden vigour. The candy bar he had been eating dangled dangerously from the tips of his fingers, threatened by gravity.

"To meet them, of course! Make sure they don't go tinkering around with the Ingrids or—"

"They are allowed to "tinker" with their Ingrid, Phil," said Rio reasonably. Almost too much so for his usual slapdash self.

But Phil wasn't feeling very reasonable at the moment. That was twice in the interval of five minutes that her Pilot cut her off in the middle of one of her tirades. And for what! To tell her that those two brats –not to mention the other two, the red-eyed horror and his mousy Repairer- could in fact be allowed anywhere near the Goddesses.

"Rioroute Vilgyna," she started, advancing on him, yellow bow quivering, "don't you tell me that you trust them anymore than I do, because I'll know that you're flat-out lying!" Phil stopped only an inch away from his face and jabbed an accusatory finger at his chest.

The Agui-Keameia Pilot grinned impishly at his Repairer. She really was cute when angered. "I don't know if I'd trust them with my life yet, but they have every right to move freely inside the ship, without us following them around." Really, thought Rio, I'm impressing myself. Maturity wasn't one of his prominent traits. Well, not one he showed often, anyway.

"Besides," he added as an after thought, "Erts trusts them, this Zero kid and the girl. And if they've all made it this far..." He didn't finish, afraid of Phil's murderous look.

The girl –her right hand index finger still digging into Rio's chest- seemed to hover angrily over him for a moment and then her temper faded, as she exhaled a long breath. Shakily, she sat down on the windowsill and leaned on her Pilot.

"Fine. Point taken," she admitted between her teeth. "I guess I'm just still upset about it," she paused. "I'm going to miss Leena," Phil stammered, her green eyes filling up with angry tears . "And Kazuhi."

Rioroute stared at her for a moment, thinking about all the things he was going to miss and about the brief time they still had there, as active Pilot and Repairer. For a moment, he looked at the half-eaten bar on his hand and then put it down on the sill. "I'm sure they miss you too, Phil," he said, as he gingerly placed an arm on the girl's shoulders, wondering how long would his arm last on his socket after she noticed it.

It was surely a sign of doom when not only Phil didn't rip his arm off, but leaned her head on his shoulder and rested there, silently admitting defeat.

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Comments, criticism and flames welcome. :)