Kyzil Plateau - 23 Days Remaining

The clear night sky shimmers as the moonlight reflects off the desert sands, giving the planet a soft blue glow. Saros takes a deep breath as approaches the garage, hoping that his plain grey shirt and jeans isn't too informal for this. His communicator lies active in his hand as he reads over the texts from the previous days, and the sight of the words brings a smile to his face.

Hello Nova! Wanted to check on you, since

I haven't heard from you in a few days.

You doing all right?

It's been crazy, but yeah.

Sorry I haven't been texting, been busy lately.

Clank's been teaching me all sorts of stuff.

Turns out I'm a pretty decent shot with pistols,

and he's showed me some really cool gadgets and blueprints.

I'm learning more about this hero stuff every day!

I just hope that all this training is enough.

It will be, don't worry.

I've seen you peeved,

and I know that guy's gonna

get much worse than I did.

I'm sorry about that,

I know that was harsh of me.

You didn't deserve it.

Water under the bridge,

I was trying to make a joke.

Cheer you up.

'Water under the bridge'?

What does water have to

do with me snapping on you?

It's an expression, means that

it's done now, and over with.

The past doesn't matter anymore.

How bout this: Tonight, i'll come over for

a movie, and that'll make it even?

Alright, if you're sure. I'm sure there's

something around here that's interesting.

Sounds fun! I'll see you tonight then.

Saros takes a deep breath, gathering the courage to knock on the door. The deep thud makes the entire door vibrate with each strike, and the young man can hear someone walking towards the door. With a beep, the door opens from the other side. Saros nearly goes into shock at what he sees. Nova's hair is down, the corkscrews falling around her shoulders. Her brooch is attached to her black tank top, and a dirty washcloth lies in the back pocket of her jeans. Her scars are still covered by thick concealer, making their shape hard to distinguish. There's a bit of soot on her face and arms, and she's wearing rugged brown gloves. Despite the makeup, she seems a bit more confident than before. She was so quiet before, so withdrawn. But now..

"Hey, Saros. It's good to see you...Hey, you okay? You look kinda pale."

Nova reaches a hand out, waving it in front of Saros's dumbstruck face. The movement snaps him awake, and he lights up from cheek to ear as he struggles to find words. "Uh, yeah, pretty-good to see you too! I'm fine, all good."

"Okay, if you're sure. Come on in, I'm about to help Clank make dinner."

Nova leads Saros inside, shutting the door behind them. In the main floor of the garage is an idle blue lombax starship, surrounded by blueprints. The dirty rag is placed on a nearby rolling pallet, and Saros seats himself in front of the holovision. Nova follows, sitting next to her guest with a tired huff. "So, you've been busy, huh?"

"Yup, sorry I haven't had time to freshen up. Lost track of time. I don't have a lot of time before fighting Nefarious, and I've been studying today, but Clank told me that I needed to rest before the next training set. Tomorrow we start on two handed weapons, like shotguns and stuff."

"That's gotta be tough. Don't be working yourself too hard, now. Hey, what about that ship over there?" Saros points to Aphelion, and Nova leans up to see what he's looking towards.

"Oh, that's Aphelion. She was teaching me how to make repairs on her earlier, showing me what all the parts do and stuff."

The man raises an eyebrow at her, whistling and nodding. "A lombax ship, huh? Those things are pretty old and complicated, I'm impressed."

Nova giggles at the comment, sitting up as she looks to her guest. "Good thing she's not active to hear that one. I actually said something like that when we met and she tore me up for that."

Saros chuckles a bit as Nova's laugh ceases. Rising from the couch, the woman stretches a bit as she turns to the kitchen with a wave. "I'll go check on food, I'll be back."

Saros watches the swing of her hips as she moves to the kitchen, quickly scolding himself for staring. He hears them speak lowly, and Nova returns wearing thick, disposable gloves, similar to the ones from the bakery. She's holding a clean rag, and scrubbing her face.

"So, how's food?"

"It's almost ready, but Clank kicked me out of the kitchen for being 'too filthy to eat this meal, and certainly not clean enough to help prepare it'. I usually do help, I like to cook, but I'm normally up to health code standards. So I figured I'd clean up first."

Saros chuckles at the impression, and stands up to meet Nova. She pauses in her scrubbing as he gets close, caught off guard by the sudden close contact. "Here, you missed a spot. Let me." The man gently takes hold of the rag, and Nova watches his face soften into an expression she's never seen before, and doesn't know how to read.

"Wait, wha-"

The cloth scrubs stain on her cheek. Nova goes stiff, her eyes wide as dinner plates. As the rag moves, the uncomfortable ball of raritanium returns to her throat. Her face burns as she's too thrown off to move. What's he doing? Why's he wiping my face? I can do it myself.

He places a thumb on her cheek, freezing in his tracks as Nova suddenly turns back to the kitchen. She's distracted by the whirring of metallic joints coming from the kitchen. Clank stops, looking up to the situation the two markazians are in. There's a bit of a teasing note to his voice. "Am I interrupting something?"

Nova takes a few steps backward, the lack of movement from before catching up with her as she nearly slams into the wall. "No, no, you're fine. I was just cleaning up a bit before dinner. Yup."

"I came to inform you two that dinner is ready, but I can give you a few moments if need be. Hehehehe!"

She's already halfway to the kitchen as she speaks up, her body still tense from the contact from before. He's a friend, but the strange physical closeness he seems to be looking for is a lot to process so suddenly. With a nervous smile, she turns to Saros and Clank for a split second. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving, how 'bout you, Clank?"

Nova manages to miss the doorway, smacking her face against its edge, and knocking the remaining breath from her lungs. She shakes her head as she reels from the impact, muttering something unintelligible as she rubs her forehead in annoyance. Saros sighs dreamily, looks down to Clank shrugging, then follows.

…

Two bowls of hearty stew are placed on the coffee table, and Nova glances down at Clank with a questioning light in her eyes.

"Hey, Clank, we have some old movies somewhere, right?"

"There should be a selection in the bedroom closet, yes."

A nod, and she turns away to search for them. There's a shuffling noise of various items being moved around, as well as Nova mumbling to herself over her findings. "Let's see here...no..uh, definitely no,..Wait." A gasp. "No way…"

Nova moves back into the living room with an arm full of dusty movie cases and the biggest smile on her face. "Clank, is this the series you and Ratchet were in? Can we watch it?"

Clank nods, inviting her to bring the films over with a hand extended to the holovision. "I do not see why not. I have not seen Secret Agent Clank in quite some time. I am surprised you found those, as they were fairly deep in storage. You may play them if you wish."

Saros blinks with a double-take as their words process. He points to Nova's companion, surprised by a sudden revelation. Clank...lombax ship..wait a minute... "Wait, 'Ratchet'? So you're the Clank? My history professor mentioned you two before. You two were great heroes back in the day."

Nova wordlessly hides her face behind the movie stack, cursing her slip of the tongue. Thankfully, Clank picks up on her slack and answers with a lot more grace. "Yes, I am, and we certainly were. It is good to hear that people remember us as such."

"So where have you been all this time? You know, before you met Nova."

"I tended to personal business, but now my place is here, aiding Nova in her quest to defeat Nefarious."

Saros hums in understanding as he nods, deciding not to pry any further. He chuckles at Nova's struggling with the stack. "Need help with that?"

The woman completely brushes off his offer, already placing the volumes on the floor next to the holo vid player. "Nah, I got it."

Scanning the labels, Nova picks out the first volume, removing the disc and placing it in the player. She settles herself on the couch with her food, sitting next to Clank as she grabs the remote to press play. Saros seats himself on the other side of Nova, joining the other two in watching the intro.