Simon could hear voices above him, and the sound of a door closing upstairs. He didn't waste time heading up to Kate's room where she was busily going through her clothes as Lauren watched her warily from the corner. When he entered the room, Kate looked up at him nervously. He gave her an encouraging smile, then stood next to her desk where Spot uncurled from his sleeping spot and butted his head against Simon's arm.

Seph entered the room a few minutes later, neatly scrubbed and wearing a white buttoned down long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. His hair was still wet and a few locks fell over his forehead though he seemed hardly to notice. As Kate helped Lauren into the bathroom with a fresh set of clothes, Clark showed Seph to the spare bedroom which was across the hall from Kate's. The room was quite a bit larger than hers and had a large window facing out to the back of the property. Androids had no need for sleep, and there was no significant reason for them to have a room to live in, though Seph seemed to appreciate that they now had a more comfortable place that they could effectively hide in.

Lauren was in the shower for quite a while. Simon suspected she was probably taking the time to consider everything that had happened to her since she was given time alone. When she finally emerged, it was strange to see that she'd let her hair down and was wearing Kate's clothes. He recognized the blue shirt in particular, and couldn't help the mild regret that he hadn't noticed it before although he knew he wouldn't have disagreed with them openly for letting her wear it. Clark handed Simon a small stack of clothing he'd borrowed from Richard's closet, and Simon narrowed his eyes as he accepted it.

"I'd like to continue wearing this shirt if I can," he said as he moved down the hall towards the bathroom. Kate walked with him.

"It's probably ruined," she said. "Plus it's kind of boring anyway." She paused at the door with him, and seemed to wait for him to enter. He gazed through the open doorway, then looked at her.

"I've never taken a shower before," he said. Kate stared at him.

"Rea─ wha─" She let out a breath through her nose. "How did you get clean before?"

"Household cleaning products," he said, throwing another glance into the bathroom. He looked back at her and opened his mouth to continue but found himself frozen at the focused expression on her face. He acknowledged it carefully, noting the way her eyes were narrowed, the slight tension in her lips, and the way she seemed to be drawing her shoulders up as if preparing to move. He met her eyes, and then unwittingly felt his mouth pull into a sideways smile.

Kate let out a frustrated breath. She cast a quick glance down the hallway, brushing her hair behind her ear. Then Simon caught a glimpse of her furious face before she pushed him through the doorway and stepped after him, closing the door behind her.

She shook her head as she moved past him though he could see her smile. "Never taken a fucking shower before…"

"It's not standard procedure for androids," said Simon as he set the clothes down on the counter. "A quick rinse in the sink was all I ever really needed."

"So you really have no idea what to do here?" she said. "Seph and Lauren seemed to do just fine."

Simon tilted his head, unable to stop his guilty smile. "The AP700 is a far more sophisticated design than the PL600."

Kate narrowed her eyes at him, and he recognized her forced smirk. "Are you saying you're dumber than them?"

Simon raised his eyebrows as he looked at her. Then he stepped closer to her so that she had to gaze up at him. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that," he said quietly. "'Irrevocably complicated' seems a better choice of words."

She dropped her gaze, and he felt his thirium pump skip when she smiled. She moved into him, and he tensed as he felt her hands against his stomach, pulling his shirt up. Her hazel eyes met his, and despite himself, he let out a helpless breath at the failed strength in them. Her lips touched his, and she paused there.

"Strip," she said.

He gave a soft laugh, realizing afterward that it sounded more nervous than he intended. He followed her hands as he pulled his shirt off of himself and dropped it on the floor next to him. Kate stepped back, and he felt a mild apprehension as she seemed to avoid his gaze. Then it vanished as she wrapped her arms around herself and pulled her shirt inside-out over her head. When she unbuttoned her pants, she threw a glance at him, the self-confidence restored in her hazel eyes.

"All the way," she said as she stepped out of her shoes. Simon gave his head a small shake, unaware that he'd been frozen as he was watching her. Kate turned away from him as he carefully removed the rest of his clothes and set everything in a small pile on the counter. He turned back as Kate ran her hands through her hair so that her bare body stretched. He couldn't help but admire the shape of her as though he were looking at her for the first time. How small and delicate her features were, the way her hair fell over her shoulders, the fragile structure of her neck and how it met the sharp angles of her collarbones, and the slender curves of her body that were hidden so well by the loose shirts she wore. She was perfect.

Kate made a face as she twisted to pull at a knot in her hair. "God I need to brush my hair after this." She looked at him, and her eyes widened as she seemed to finally notice that he was watching her. Simon continued to gaze at her, letting his gentle fascination show in his expression. Then she bit her lip, brushing her hair back behind her ear as she drew her shoulders up though her smile was still obvious.

"Come on," she said, and she moved into the shower, throwing him a hint of her defiant glare again.

Simon entered the shower after her, gazing up at the tiled compartment. It was all electronic and connected through the network. He accessed the controls remotely as he explored the different components. Kate let out a sigh in front of him as she moved towards the panel.

"This is how you know you have too much money," she said. "When you don't even need knobs to turn─"

A spray of water burst overhead as Simon activated the main shower nozzle, and Kate let out a scream. She was already barrelling into his chest by the time he realized his thirium pump was racing in shock. He wrapped his arms around her as she panted heavily. "Kate," he said. "What's─"

"C-cold!" She pushed him further back, her hands against his chest as she turned to look behind her. Simon looked up at the falling water, then adjusted the temperature.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was testing the controls on the showerheads."

Kate let out a laugh, and she held her hand out under the water before stepping underneath it. Simon watched as her normally messy hair flattened and darkened, and she brought her hands up to wring her hair out. Then she stepped out of the cone of water, gripping him by the shoulders. Simon let her guide him forward under the water, and he raised his head as he became soaked in a matter of seconds.

He looked down at her, and was startled by the way her eyes were narrowed and her lips pulled slightly sideways in an unnerved curiosity. He tilted his head. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she said. "It's just a little weird. You don't close your eyes underwater."

"There's no need for me to," he said. She turned to the panel though she still kept her gaze on him, now blended with mild humor.

"Sure," she said. She held her hand underneath a chrome dispenser and a creamy blue soap filled her hand. When she moved towards him again, she threw him another perturbed glance. "Could you um… do it anyway?"

He breathed out a laugh, and closed his eyes. He felt her hands in his hair as she scrubbed with her fingers, and the soft soap ran down his body. He bowed his head as her hands drifted lower over his chest and across his shoulders. After the soap was rinsed from his hair, he risked opening his eyes slightly to see her move around him, her face drawn in a sharp focus as she began to scrub his back. He turned his head to watch her, aware that he still had a wide sideways smile. Her hazel eyes flicked up at him.

"What?" she said.

"Are you enjoying this?" said Simon. Kate laughed as she tilted slightly, scrubbing the back of his shoulder.

"Actually, I am," she said. "It's kind of nice taking care of you for once. Makes me feel like I'm not a totally helpless human being and I'm actually pulling a bit of my weight in this relationship."

A deep shame burned through him. He turned to face her and she stopped what she was doing to gaze up at him, her eyes widened in slight surprise. He slid his hand along her neck and held her carefully. "I want you to stop that," he said.

Kate's eyes tensed briefly. "Stop what?"

"Stop berating yourself," he said. "You saved my life today, and the lives of three other androids. When you bring yourself down like this, you undermine how much I appreciate you. I wouldn't tolerate anyone who insults you, even if that person is you." He smoothed his thumb over her cheek as she stared up at him in shock. He leaned further into her. "Can you do that for me?"

Kate seemed to be frozen. Then she swallowed and nodded. "Yeah."

Simon smiled. "Good."

He continued to watch her as she seemed to reorient herself, and she looked away as she brushed her wet hair behind her ear. When she met his gaze again, her hazel eyes had regained some of their confidence. "So does that mean you want me to stop washing you?" she said.

Simon breathed a small laugh and looked down at himself. Most of the soap had rinsed away, and he could feel his hair trying to stand up as it began to dry. He looked at her, and tilted his head. "What do you think?"

A fiery energy burned in Kate's eyes. Her smile grew wider, then her hands were against his chest as she pushed him back under the water. She bit her lip as she moved around him, grabbing another handful of creamy soap before lathering it into his hair again. This time he chose not to close his eyes, though he bowed his head and let the water escape mostly from his forehead. Kate scrubbed his hair carefully.

"What's your─ I mean─" She slowed for a moment before scrubbing again.

"What?" Simon straightened as the soap cleared from his hair, and Kate began cleaning his body.

"Nothing. I was just going to ask─" Again she slowed, then resumed. "What's your hair made of? And how did it disappear when your skin turned white?"

The question caught him off guard. Kate seemed to notice and she immediately went back to scrubbing. "I'm sorry, it was a really dumb question," she said. Simon drew in a deep breath, remembering the anxiety he'd felt when he'd retracted his skin and the look Kate had given him. It was something he still didn't quite understand, and he knew it was unreasonable for him to assume it was a negative reaction. And after the statement he'd just made, it seemed hypocritical for him to not answer her truthfully.

He let out his breath, and felt his shoulders relax. "It's made of a transparent flexible polycarbonate," he said. Kate slowed her scrubbing and she turned her head slightly towards him. He straightened and continued. "It will retract automatically when the projection is removed from the scalp which is what gives androids the appearance of human skin. The silicone that covers my chassis is transparent. The projection is the same technology used in television screens and in fabrics. It's how we are able to disable only certain parts of our skin for interfacing."

Kate looked up at him, her eyes narrowed in fascination. "So your skin is basically like a tv screen?"

Simon lowered his gaze as he felt the apprehension burn through him again. "In a sense."

For a while, Kate was silent. Then he heard her sigh. "Show me."

Simon looked up at her, his thirium pump hammering. "Show you?"

"Yeah, show me." She made a motion towards him before putting her hands on her hips. "I want to see it."

Simon tensed his shoulders as he acknowledged her demand. Again, he argued with himself that this was asking the questions he was afraid to have answered. Before he could talk himself out of it, he bowed his head and raised his fingers to his temple. He could vaguely see the flesh tone melt away from his hand and the white plastic spread down his body. He stood motionless, completely exposed in front of her and unable to meet her gaze. She was quiet. Then she reached out and ran a hand carefully over his collarbones.

"This is what you really look like…"

Simon breathed in sharply, choosing instead to stare at the slate tiles of the shower wall. He closed his eyes as Kate moved into him, and he felt her hands travel down his chest, her fingers tracing the edges of the panels. He couldn't hide the tension in his body as she explored it. She was witnessing every part of him that made him different from her. The one thing he couldn't change. As much as he wanted to hide it from her, he couldn't bring himself to make her ignore it. She deserved to know as much of his truth as there was for him to give, even if it made him horribly flawed.

Her hands slid along either side of his neck, and he felt her turn his head towards her. When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him with the same expression he remembered from the workshop. Her eyes were bright and narrowed as she seemed to study him closely. He couldn't read it. It was a blank blend of fascination and focus, and he felt himself shrink underneath it. Before he could withdraw from her, he felt her thumbs graze his cheeks, and her mouth tensed in the faintest hint of a smile. Then her hazel eyes drifted over his face, and she let out a soft breath, giving her head a small shake.

"God, I love you," she said quietly. Simon's breath froze in his chest. Then she pulled herself into him, and Simon had only a brief glimpse of her warm smile before her mouth closed over his.

He breathed in deeply against her cheek as he absorbed the feel of her, hardly believing in her reaction. She opened her mouth and took his again, pulling herself further into him so that she slid her arms over his shoulders. He let the burning thrill take him, and he wrapped his arms around her, bringing his hand up into her hair to hold her closer. The cascade of water fell over them as he leaned into her, and her skin became satisfyingly smooth. The water was encasing them, shielding them from the outside world. Bringing them together under one organic, transparent skin. Just as he was beginning to lose himself in her, her breath hitched and she roughly coughed through her nose.

She drew back from him, coughing heavily and leaning on him for support. Simon held onto her, the skin texture unwittingly flowing back over him as he watched her gasp for breath in between each cough. His mind scrambled as he frantically brushed back her hair, and she raised a hand to him as she moved sideways out of the water. Her coughing eased though she still seemed to fight for air. Simon watched her in trepidation as she made a face, squinting harshly. Then she closed her eyes as she sucked in a heavy breath, and sneezed.

Simon let out a nervous laugh as she straightened, smiling guiltily.

"Yeah. Great," she mumbled, and coughed again. "That'll be a perfect epitaph. Drowned while making out in the shower." She ran a hand through her hair as she laughed. Then she turned away from him to gather soap in her hand. She threaded it through her hair and massaged it. "If I die, I'm going to die clean."

Simon smiled as he watched her, his awe growing as she threw her hair back and stepped into the cone of water. Her features were even sharper under the spray, and Simon couldn't help but admire how she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, turning slowly to let the water collect in her hair and fall over the arch of her back. She was brushing her hair with her hands so that her form was elongated, and for a moment Simon wondered if she had any idea how beautiful she looked. It occurred to him as she turned her head to the side that she would never do this if she knew. What he was seeing was almost forbidden. But it was her true form, whether she wanted it to be or not.

Kate let out a sigh as she stepped out from the cone of water and she wrung her hair out. A frantic tension was gripping Simon as she threw an exasperated smile at him.

"I feel like I've gone through ten gallons of conditioner since I've been here," she said as she turned back to the dispensers. "But if I didn't I'd probably just have to shave my head─"

Simon quickly moved forward and caught her hand before she could activate the dispensers. She froze, staring as though mesmerized. She was facing away from him, her head bowed though he could guess her expression by the tension in her shoulders. It was filling him with that burning thrill. The familiar terror and excitement that he was never ready for. He stepped closer to her so that his cheek barely grazed her hair, and he felt his heart quicken at how close she was to him. How vigilant she seemed to be of his every movement. As if she was anticipating the same thing, and she didn't want him to stop.

He slid his hand along her waist as he pulled her slowly into him, her back pressing against his chest. His cheek met her hair, and a helpless wave of longing fell over him as he closed his eyes and tilted his head further against her. She was beginning to move. He felt her body shift as her breathing deepened, and her hand slid over his to tighten it on her waist. Her slow surrender was encouraging him to keep going. To run his hand along her side and feel every sharp angle of her body. To explore her the way she had explored him in his most vulnerable state.

He was still holding her outreached hand, and he pulled it in to press his lips against her knuckles. She drew in a deep breath as he did, and the way she tensed her body sent a frantic thrill through him, forcing him to keep moving. He tilted his head and closed his mouth against the side of her hand, running his fingers down to her wrist so that he traced every delicate ridge. He moved his hand to her shoulder and felt the fragile architecture of her neck and collarbone, smoothing his thumb over the angle of her shoulder to her upper arm. He needed to feel all of it. To know all of her. With a debilitating longing, he closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to the side of her neck, tightening his hands on her as he felt her draw in a deep breath and drop her head back. Her hand found his hair, and she closed her fingers into it as he travelled further up her neck, touching his lips below her ear. She was turning her head towards him the more he moved, and when he reached her cheek, she twisted slightly so that her nose brushed his. He felt her pull him in, and he leaned over her shoulder as he closed his mouth over hers.

Her body tightened, and her fingers slid further into his hair as he caught his breath before taking her mouth again. As she brought her arm up to pull him further into her, he could feel her body stretch and open up. He took the opportunity to slide his hand up her side, taking in every detail of her stomach to her upper body. With an almost blinding desire, he brushed his fingers over the curve of her breast, feeling the soft shape of it before closing his fingers around it. Kate's mouth opened against his as she let out a helpless breath, and the frantic motivation it ignited in Simon had him drawing himself up behind her.

He was already breathing heavily as he pressed his open mouth to her temple, letting go of her hand to run his down to her thigh and pulling her gently open for him. Her shoulders rose and fell, her hand gripping tighter in his hair as she obediently moved her leg to the side so he was able to bring himself further underneath her. His own frantic energy seemed to be fueling her. She pressed a hand against the wall as he supported her hip, giving him a moment to feel how much she burned for him. How much he needed to claim her for his own as if they had never been in danger of being ripped apart. A brief shadow of the panic he'd felt that morning flitted through his system, and he breathed out sharply against her cheek as he arched his pelvis upward, sliding himself into her.

Kate clenched her hand into his hair, and her gasp sent a wave of ecstasy through him that sparked the familiar burst of excitement in his core. He pulled her further into him by the waist as he began to roll his hips into her, and his breath hitched when the pleasure started to climb. He was hardly ready for it, and he closed his eyes as he tilted his head against her and wrapped his arm around to grip her shoulder tightly. It took him a moment to adjust to the electrifying slick sensation of her, intensified by the way she clutched his hair as if terrified he would stop, and how her body flexed and relaxed with each roll of his hips. She was putting his system into overdrive by how much she wanted him. With an agonizing effort, he surrendered control, and he felt his software reorganize itself as he let her carry him higher.

He closed his mouth against her neck, and she dropped her head back onto his shoulder as she gasped for air. She seemed to grow weak against him, and he moved forward with her as she pressed herself against the tiles, letting go of his hair to scrape her fingers against the wet wall of the shower. Simon ran his hand along her arm as he continued to roll his hips into her, and clutched the back of her hand, threading his fingers through the back of hers. He arched back slightly, repositioning himself as he took on a new angle deeper within her. The way Kate drew her shoulders up against the wall, her eyes clenching shut, and how she moaned softly at the pumping of his hips gave him an unstable sense of power. She was accepting everything from him, willingly and without question. It was unconditional, yet everything within him was engaged in a desperate need to prove to her how much he needed to have her. To feel her. To love her.

He ran his hand along her back and over the arches of her shoulder blades, clenching his other hand tighter over hers as he slid in and out of her. She seemed unable to find a steady threshold, dropping her head back only to turn it again and press herself further against the tiles and drag her nails down the surface of them. Her helplessness made him want to fill her deeper. To carry her with him along this sensual journey to the place where he could fall with her. He smoothed her wet hair away from her neck and leaned forward, closing his mouth against it. When he drew back, her hazel eyes had opened, and she was gazing intensely at the way his hand was clenched over the back of hers. As if the view of their hands was giving her a representation of how he was loving her body with his own. The knuckles of his fist were defined over the slender shape of her fingers as if those parts of them were connected in their own form of intercourse. Simon pressed his cheek against Kate's hair, breathing into it as he watched their hands flex into eachother. Then he let the flesh texture of his own fall away to leave the gleaming plastic surface exposed and contrasted white against the color of Kate's tan skin.

He felt her shoulders draw up, and she tilted her head back slightly as she panted harder. A stunning euphoria drifted through him at the change in her reaction to him. Before he could stabilize it, she twisted in his arms, bringing his hand with her as she rotated to face him. The sudden cessation of the feel of her had him frantically taking advantage of this more satisfying access. He closed his mouth over hers, pushing her up against the wall as she wrapped her arms over his shoulders and pulled herself into him. He was pressing his pelvis against hers, and when she drew her leg up, it immediately spurred him to hook his hand underneath her knee to bring it further up onto his hip. The arch of her body invited him in, and he let out a soft groan against Kate's strained gasp as he slid into her again.

There was greater freedom here. A deeper way for him to feel how much Kate wanted him. Her fingers threaded through his hair and her voice broke through her heavy panting against his mouth, driving the sensual climb that she was building for him. He was still able to take it further. With a desperate burst of energy, he pushed her higher against the wall and tilted his pelvis underneath her, holding her carefully in place by the hips. She helped him anchor her, gripping herself tightly against his waist with her leg and pulling herself further onto him. Then her mouth fell open, her eyes clenching closed, a tense cry escaping her and staggering his precious ascent as he began pumping himself into her, bouncing her on his hips.

His heart hammered as she flattened herself against the wall, giving him a spectacular view of how she was falling apart for him. She brought her hand up to slam it against the wall over her head as if she were trying to find purchase on something, clawing her fingers into the tile and stretching her body out before him. Her throat was bared, collarbones defined, her chest heaved as she moaned with each breath. Simon risked letting go of her hips with one hand to run it up her torso, an electrifying excitement burning through him as he caught one of her breasts and palmed it. She was loving everything he was doing to her. Drawing it in. Absorbing him within herself. Crying out as proof of how much more she wanted from him. Her voice echoed through the tiled room, and the sudden realization of it had him ratcheting back somewhat and becoming vaguely aware that it was a bit too loud.

He pressed his hand over her mouth and slowed his hips, bringing the ambient roar of the shower back into power. Kate opened her eyes, seeming to force herself to find him. When her questioning eyes met his, he gave her a guilty sideways smile, narrowing his eyes at her in a clear accusation of what she'd been doing. He felt her smile grow under his hand, and when he removed it, she pulled herself into him and closed her mouth over his. He held her steady, slowly rolling his hips into hers as he took her mouth and letting the pleasure in his core stabilize itself in the slick motion of himself inside of her. He loved how much he could feel the aching desire in her. How she moved gently with him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He loved the feel of her hands in his hair as if she couldn't take in enough of him, and how she released his mouth only to gasp against it in compensation for not being able to keep her lips on his. He loved how much he could feel her loving him.

She was pulling herself closer into him, her nose running along his jaw and her leg tightening over his hip. It encouraged him to move faster again. He carefully lifted her up to begin rolling his hips deeper into hers, the pleasure rising with his ascent at the increase in stimulation. Her hands clenched in his hair and her moaning resumed, though he could hear her fighting to contain the sound. He wanted her to be loud. He wanted every one of his senses to be dominated by how she needed him so he could climb even higher. They had risked everything to be able to have this, and it was unfair to have even a small part of her deprived from him when they were so desperately wrapped up in eachother.

He brought his arm underneath hers so that he threaded his hand through the back of her hair and pulled her leg further onto his hip. He rocked harder into her. Deeper. He could hear her struggling, her gasps breaking against his ear as she seemed to fight to stay quiet. The sound of her strained moans only made him want to push it further. He tilted his pelvis up and pumped his hips into hers so that her body was jolted with each of his thrusts. Her hands clenched into his shoulders. He felt her nose and mouth against his neck. She was fighting it. Fighting him.

He let out a soft groan as he began bouncing her on his hips again, the wet clapping of their bodies echoing through the room. The aching pleasure in his core was building. He needed her to fall with him. To let him know when she was ready. The brief sound of her cries thrilled him for a moment, and then it quieted as he felt her teeth on his shoulder. Her hands clenched tighter, her breathing sharp against his skin. He moved his hands to her hips, pressing his open mouth to her hair as he drowned in the way she was letting him push her to the edge. The precipice was close. They were about to fall.

Her body clenched, and Simon's breath hitched as his system flashed a minor warning. The shock of it blended with his climb, and it took him a moment to realize Kate was clawing her nails deep into his skin. The thrill was taking over. He could feel it in the way she was gasping quickly through her teeth on his shoulder, and how she repositioned her hands to dig her nails further. Simon closed his eyes as he panted against her hair, pumping harder into her hips. He needed it again. He needed that proof again. It was the only thing he had left to take, and she was reaching so desperately to give it to him.

Her leg tightened over his hip, and for a breathtaking moment, he thought she would cry out. Then her nails dug deep into his back and he heard a quick snap as he felt Kate's teeth close tightly on his shoulder. The sudden flush of her body, the shock of his skin breaking, and the brief alarm in his system forced a helpless cry from him. His body seized as he felt a burst of euphoria pull him to the brink. And with an almost panicked thrill, he felt the pleasure roll inside of him and release itself in one steady wave.

He arched himself into her as everything rushed from him. The cascade of his sensual ascent with Kate was all around him, pulling him helplessly with it. Her body was shaking, and he was aware of her teeth leaving him as she dropped her head back and let out a strained yet beautiful moan. She was falling with him. Opening herself up to him so he could release everything into her until he was utterly drained. The shocking relief of it was almost too powerful to withstand as he let his body go, surrendering himself to the current. It was terrifying. Satisfying.

Enlivening.

The euphoria slowly washed back, and he felt himself readjusting. A pleasant exhaustion was settling over him in place of his fall as if his system were recovering from stasis. It left him breathless, his software switching on slowly as he became more aware of himself. His biocomponents were shifting into performance mode as they cooled down, and his body recalibrated to restore control back to him. He gradually returned to reality again.

He could feel Kate resting against him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her face buried in his neck as he leaned into her, panting heavily. He didn't remember resting his arm against the wall though he kept it there as his system continued to reorient itself. Kate had lowered her leg down from his hip to wrap it partially around his calf, her body nearly limp against his as she gasped wearily into his neck. A reflection of his fall with her was written in how desperately she was holding him, as if she hadn't quite found herself yet. With more effort than he expected, he slid his hand up her thigh and around her waist to support her.

She leaned back against the wall, her hands sliding to either side of his neck as she pressed her forehead against his. Simon brushed her now drying hair back from her face as he let her recover. She had done so much for him. She'd worked so hard to show him that she wanted him even when he'd made it difficult for her. It filled him with a glowing appreciation for what she was capable of, and left him humbled in her exhaustion. He would never stop being surprised by how much she was able to make him love her.

He grazed his thumb over her cheek as he pulled away, and her face came into view. Her hazel eyes were half-closed, her mouth open as she panted, and her shoulders rose and fell with every breath. It seemed to take her a moment to reach his gaze and when it did, the awe he found in them was almost questioning. As if she was asking him if she'd done enough. He let out a soft breath as he gave her a small smile, thanking her for falling with him.

Her lips tensed as she returned his smile, and she ran a hand over his chest. He watched as her hazel eyes drifted over him, almost drinking him in before settling on his shoulder. Her eyes brightened in shock.

"Oh─ my god─" She clapped a hand to her mouth.

Simon glanced down at his shoulder. It was difficult for him to see it completely, though based on the blue glow and the warnings he'd seen, it was obvious there was a minor break in his casing. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped him as he formally acknowledged the damage.

"Simon…" Kate touched his shoulder. "Shit Simon, I'm so sorry."

He brought his other hand up to her face, his mouth still tensed in a smile as he pulled her into him, closing his lips over hers. She drew in a soft breath against his skin, and he released her to rest his forehead against hers. He ran his thumbs over her cheeks, touching his lips to her mouth so she could feel his smile.

"I'll be fine," he said. He drew back from her, and threw a pensive glance at the showerhead. "Though we should probably turn off the water just to be safe."

Kate let out a nervous laugh. He felt her hands on his wrists as he accessed the shower controls, and the room suddenly fell silent as the cone of water vanished. It left him feeling strangely exposed, the lack of sound and protective water barrier suddenly opening up the space around them. He lowered his hands to Kate's sides as he looked at her, meeting her concerned gaze. Then he moved forward, tracing his nose along her cheek as he pressed himself into her, drawing his arms up along her back and gently shielding her from the outside world.

She brought her arms up and wrapped them around his shoulders, her hands drifting through his hair. For a while Simon simply held her, absorbing the feel of being so close to her. He pressed his nose into her hair and closed his eyes. He wished he could always protect her like this. That he could guarantee that she could have him whenever she wanted and they would never need to fight to avoid losing everything. But this was all he could offer. It hardly seemed enough.

He let out a soft breath as he rubbed her slender back gently, and he heard her make a noise. She shifted against him and touched the edge of his broken shoulder panel.

"This isn't um…" She laughed quietly. "This won't electrocute me, will it?"

Simon shifted back slightly so that he was able to brush his nose against hers. He narrowed his eyes and gave a questioning smile.

"Just don't put your fingers in it," he said.