The hay felt cool and soft beneath her bare feet. The breeze tickled the base of her neck, and the sun felt warm on her arms. The smell of freshly cut alfalfa and hay filled her nostrils. Though even being here was a distraction from her work, Sif couldn't help but allow a beaming smile to fill her face.

In her right hand she carried a bag of tools, in her left a basket. She hadn't planned to take a long lunch today, but the opportunity had presented itself and she wasn't one to deny herself this simple pleasure.

Not anymore, anyway.

Sif smiled as she finally neared her target - a stalled-out swather in the center of an expansive hay field. Of course he'd broken down about as far from the road as possible, and naturally he just so happened to have forgotten his tools when he left this morning. But she supposed she was glad that it had happened this way - if he had made things easy on her, then he wouldn't be Mack.

"I'm starting to think I need to hire a mechanic who actually knows what they're doing," she chided the pair of cracked leather boots protruding from beneath the swather. "Maybe if I did, I wouldn't end up spending half of my time driving spare parts out to you."

"It's this blasted hydraulic hose," the owner of the boots shouted back, his gentle western drawl muffled by the tractor-sized blockage between them, "I can't get it to keep pressure." The man inside the boots grunted as he began scooting back out from beneath the swather, eventually revealing a grease-covered cowboy with messy dark hair and a smile that could melt even the coldest hearts.

"Besides, I like having an excuse to see you during the day," he grinned.

Sif rolled her eyes, even though they both knew she was more than susceptible to his easy charm. She held out the tool bag so that he could see it from where he sat beneath her. "I assumed as much," she answered, her own Nordic accent at odds with his, "so I grabbed a replacement hose. You should only need to replace the last eight inches to fix your problem."

Mack's grin grew even brighter. "I don't deserve you," he breathed happily.

"I know," Sif answered. Then she tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear and added, "But get up here and kiss me anyway."

Mack was on his feet in the time it took to respond, "Yes ma'am," and suddenly she was in his arms, being dipped backward and feeling the cowboy's lips pressed gingerly but passionately to hers. Sif smiled into the kiss and let the basket and tool bag drop to the ground in favor of entwining her hands in his dark hair.

Eventually the pair parted for air, though they kept a hold of each other. After going so long being denied the physical sensation of touch, Sif was keen to make up for every second she'd lost. She leaned her head forward to rest it against Mack's chest, breathing in his scent.

Aftershave. Engine grease. Enough androstenol in his fresh sheen of sweat to make her dizzy on her feet. Mack.

Her Mack.

"So, what's that for?" the tall man asked, pulling Sif from her thoughts. She looked up to find that he was staring pointedly at her discarded basket, the sparkle in his eyes telling her that he knew very well what it was for.

"I was taking a break for lunch anyway," Sif answered as coolly as she could muster, reaching into the basket and producing two sandwiches.

Mack took the sandwich she offered him with another bright grin. "I don't deserve you," he said again.

"I know," she answered again, as she always did. "But with enough time, maybe you'll get there."

She smiled to herself as they sat down beside each other in the shade cast by the broken-down tractor. With enough time. They didn't get enough time before. Now, they had all the time in the universe.

Looking at the dusty, grease-covered cowboy beside her, Sif knew that there was no one else she could possibly rather spend it with.

In my headcanon Mack and Sif are in Heaven, and that is a Harvest-themed afterlife where they get to live and take care of all of the colonists that didn't make it off-world.

Alternate title is "All AI Go To Heaven"