I could tell Aviva was on the verge of cracking. Every little mistake she blamed on herself even if it wasn't. She yelled at me today on the verge of tears. She was stressed out.

"You never listen to me, Christopher! I tell you something and it goes in one ear and out the other!"

Frankly, I did deserve to get yelled at and so did Martin after taking her unfinished invention for a spin and as a result almost destroying it. But Martin had gone off again leaving me to explain ourselves.

"Hey, we were just testing it out."

"You could've killed yourselves! You saw how the damn thing blew up! I told you tomorrow, I need to finish an attachment for it, and what do you do?! You leave with it!"

I didn't want to say anything because she was right.

"What'll it take for you to listen?! For one of you to get injured terribly?!"

"Aviva we're experts."

"How many times have I heard that Chris? That's your only excuse!"

"Don't you trust us?"

"I won't if you keep taking my stuff without at least telling me!"

"I'm sorry Aviva."

We ended our conversation there.

/

Later that night, I saw Aviva sitting on the roof. I climbed up and sat next to her. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

That peaceful silence. I could hear some crickets and frogs.

She broke the silence after a bit.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"I-"

"About anything. We're friends Chris. We used to tell each other everything and now it's... I know it's supposed to be professional but we're childhood friends CK. I miss my best friend."

I looked down at my shoes.

I had no response.

"We live together yet we're so distant now. I miss talking with you about everything."

"Is that why you've been so separate recently?" I frowned.

"That and well, I genuinely haven't been feeling too good lately."

"Sick?"

"Not really. Emotionally. I don't feel like a valued part of the crew at all."

"You are, you're the brains of this entire operation."

"I know my job is important but I don't feel important. I feel like I'm just being used for my manpower and nothing else."

"That's not true, that trophy we gave you for Christmas."

"A year and a half ago?"

"Oh."

"It's not that I don't value the gifts you guys give me it's just-"

"We don't say thank you enough."

"Not really. You two are so demanding at times."

"And you save our asses just in the knick of time."

"Just once in a while, I'd like to be stopped and told how much you two appreciate it."

"We're so busy saving animals we forget you're human too."

She nodded. "And humans have emotions."

I looked her in the eyes. The moonlight right behind her showed her simple innocence. The glow highlighted her beautiful tan skin and olive eyes. I couldn't formulate a thought beyond it.

I brought her hand up gently and kissed her knuckles. It was soft and delicate even after years of heavy tool use it was still carefully manicured and kept tidy.

Never been a fan of nail polish.

"CK...?"

I put her hand on my chest near my heart. "Even if I don't say it often, I appreciate you so much. You mean a lot to martin and me. Really."

I wanted to get it out of my mouth but it was difficult.

So I went with the next best thing.

I planted a kiss on her lips. We started making out and the moment my hands slipped she slapped me. "Don't you ever kiss me without consent again!"

"I'm sorry I don't know what got into me!"

"Listen Kratt you better buy me dinner before you try anything funny."

She slid down and went back to work.

I was stunned but not surprised. I held my cheek and shook my head.

I feel like I should've just given her a hug.

I suppose I should genuinely buy her dinner now after kissing her like that... Next time we're in a town. I peeked down and saw she was smiling, giggling to herself. I think she liked that kiss too and just slapped me out of surprise. She's so beautiful.

I don't know what I'd-i mean we'd do without her.