[oom] A Pot of Tea

[dejah_thoris]

This is the part of the project she enjoys the most.  The design phase, where ideas start to take form and the project takes on a certain life of its own.  She has compiled all the research she needs.  She's relatively certain she's aware of all the issues that must be addressed in the final design.  Now it's time to synthesize these ideas and put her pens to paper.  As form follows function, and evolution has handled refining the design, all she needs to do is adapt the technology to the original biological schematics.  Layers upon layers, she builds up the image, from structure to power, sensors to servos.  She can't help but put her own aesthetic into the work, and in sketching, she decides that she'll have to fabricate several of the parts by hand.

Woola found his way back and was snoozing in front of the fire.  She'd been up since the wee hours of the morning.  The rats had brought her morning meal without her even having to ask.  Now, she sat at her drawing board, her long hair pinned back from her face, speared through with a quill.  At her elbow, a growing stack of dirty tea cups that would have to be addressed sooner or later.

But not right now.  She wanted to get the last few pieces of the external forearm onto the vellum, just as she'd imagined it.

Comments

[2goodarms]

Goddammit, it's difficult to remember why he said let me think about it when she's kissing him like that.

(Maybe he's already made up his mind; he just isn't ready to admit it yet.)

If he stays any longer, though, this is going to turn into a hell of a lot more, in exactly the way she doesn't want. Curtis breaks off the kiss with a reluctant sigh, resting temple to temple with Dejah to regain his bearings.

[dejah_thoris]

That... did not feel like an ending. That felt like the exact opposite of saying goodbye.

She leans against him now, resting against him, stealing every last bit of warmth from his body before he leaves. She feels her breath match with his own.

She has to tear herself away from him, and she's sure the smile on her face is more than a little giddy.

"Tomorrow, then."

[2goodarms]

"Yeah."

Man, it feels weird smiling this much. Not a bad kind of weird, though. Curtis lifts his hand like he's going to wave good-bye, reconsiders, rubs the back of his neck as that smile turns more sheepish.

"See you then."

And he heads for the door.

[dejah_thoris]

She stands pat, biting her lower lip, still grinning. The moment the door closes behind him, she lets slip a huge sigh.

Woola is awake and at her side in an instant, leaning his massive bulk against her thigh. She looks down at him, into those strangely intense, intelligent eyes.

"I like him, too," she whispers to the calot.

Woola closes his eyes and grumbles a purr at the radiant heat of his mistress's contentment.