Flowers and Gears

[BanditKing]

The ride to the Hydroponics was quick and easy besides the tightness. There was no air resistance on their face so it was a mystery why he had her wear them. As for him, he wore his mask on the side of his head as he was lost in thought thinking of possible problems with her system while still keeping an arm around her to keep her safe.  Her face was so close to his that she might be able to see his eyes. Up close, one could see that his pupils were surrounded by a very faint tint of yellow. It would almost make it appear that he had sunflowers in his eyes.

When they finally arrive, Lucky releases her from his arms and helps her unstick to his body. He gets himself out of the pod and looks down at his watch. “1:30 seconds. A fifteen second delay with two people. Sorry about the cram session. Figured this was a huge emergency we need to fix asap. So, which of these guys is misbehaving for you? We will see if I can set it straight.” He gives her a wide grin as he adjusts his tools.

[Harmony Frost]

Despite his rough appearance, Dr. Bloom noticed that Lucky could be rather gentlemanly in his manner. The careful way he held hee waist during their short ride in the vent was evidence of that fact. Ivy passed his goggles back to him, and waved gif him to follow her. “It’s this one over here. The one for the torch flowers. They’re temperamental plants, you have to keep their climate just so but the rewards….” She motioned to a fully grown torch flower with flaming petals.
 

“When we harvest this it can be synthesized into thermal energy, or material. Very useful and very important.” She fished out a pair of thick gloves. “I’d suggest you wear these or some sort of protective gear. Not all flowers are delicate and these burn you,” Ivy warned. “They also make the pod very hot,” she added fanning herself lightly. Unfortunately the way each pod was designed, he had to fix it from the inside. She pointed to the faulty Climate Control system panel and he would readily see the glitching numbers on the screen and an exposed jumble of wires and cables and some leftover tools on the ground. Evidence of her own poor attempts at fixing it.  “So, think you can help?”

 

 

[BanditKing]

He walks behind her examining all the other flowers and plants as she was speaking. “I’m all familiar with the properties of the torch flower and greatly appreciate it. Does people in my field a great service and has had a huge impact in history replacing a great number of energy sources.” He goes up to examine the flower with a smirk on his face. “It is the first time I get to admire it in person though…” He sees her offers the gloves and shakes his head. “Unfortunately I can’t use those gloves for the kind of work I am seeing here… I would not accuse many plants of being delicate. Roses have their thorns, nightshade is horribly poisonous, you got your flytraps, there is also the sandbox tree with the exploding seeds… anyways… I might be overdressed for this… don’t want to overheat…”

He starts taking off his jacket and then his shirt revealing the several small scars across his muscled body as well as a large one right down his chest. He also now was wearing a chain necklace she didn’t see on him the last time the met. He took that off as well so the metal wouldn’t overheat and burn him. He does put on gloves but they are a bit thinner than the ones she offered. He then gets himself into the pod and gets to the wires.

He examines the cords for some time until he finally comes up with a diagnosis. “That’s the problem! You got yourself a ruptured temp regulator and the system is trying to draw energy from the other pods. It’s a good thing you called me now. This could have been a domino case. It also looks like the error caused a number of minor systems to fry and pile up into a bigger mess. Yeah… I can fix this. I’m going to start removing all of this. You know this room better than I do. Head to the lab area of this section, the place where you study new plants. There should be storage for replacement parts there. Get me… a regulator A-142-Thermal, a 769 hydro detector, a solar sim 485, and wires 4 conductor and 6 conductor.”

[Harmony Frost]

Ah, yes, of course he’d be familiar with the torch flower. Although Dr. Bloom hadn’t expected this much recognition and respect from him. Not that she didn’t think he was capable of it, but most people praised the results of the flowers, not the flowers themselves. They were thankful for the fruits of the labor, but not the seed that bore it. Lucky was different though, in many ways it seemed. She frowned slightly at him turning down her offer of the gloves, but when she saw his pair she understood his reasoning. Plus, she was far more impressed by his knowledge of various plants and the obvious respect for them. Frankly she found it made her strangely hot under the collar….

 

Or was that just the torch flower’s doing?

 

Her mouth dried slightly when he began to shed off his jacket and shirt, prepping himself to work in this heat. He was very fit, and the scars that littered his skin made him seem even more rugged and handsome. She was biting her lip, and questioning the tightness in her belly when his sudden outburst jolted her back to the task at hand. “Oh wow, I’m glad I spotted this early! We could have had a disaster on our hands! And thank you so much Lucky! I’m happy we have someone so clearly competent on our shift,” Ivy beamed at him. She patiently listened as he rattled off a list of items he would need, carefully committing them each to memory. “….769 hydro detector, a solar sim 485, and wires 4 conductor and 6 conductor…..” she muttered to herself. “I’m on it!” She declared, scampering off to her lab to do just as he asked. It was a quick enough search and everything was blessedly organized and labeled so she brought back each item confidently. “Okay, here we are. Everything requested. Do you need anything else or should I get out of your hair?”

 

 

[BanditKing]

“Ah. No need for thanks. Just doing the job. I’m sure you are just as awesome if not more awesome than I am when it comes to the plant science stuff. Not to mention you are damn fine to boot.” He was saying all of this while he was already starting to remove some of the wire and devices. The screen was not glitching as much now but it was starting to show error messages instead for items not being detected.

By the time she got back, he had already gotten out most of the fried and damaged materials. There was a strong burnt smell coming off of them. Lucky himself was already breaking into a sweat from the intense heat. The sweat was adding a reflecting shine to his muscles.

He looks to materials she brought and checks over them. “Alright! Hydro detector! Solar sim! The wires! Wait! You missed the main guy: the temp control. Regulator A-142-Thermal. Not bad though. Back when I did the simulation training with people, not even a quarter of them were as competent as you. Keep up the awesome work, Daisy.” With a screw gun and wire cutters, he grabs what she did bring and immediately gets to work adding them in. Some of the errors on screen were starting to vanish.

[Harmony Frost]

There was something about a hardworking man with glistening muscles that made any woman’s knees weak. And without the climate regulator functioning it was getting pretty hot in the pod. The other strap on her overalls started to droop and her cropped shirt was getting even more sheer now that she was sweating so much. Sighing she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail to keep most of it off her neck. Her mood deflated slightly when he mentioned she’d forgotten a part and she pouted, “Aww darn, I thought I brought everything back…. And it’s Ivy, you know that right?” She said, just in case he wasn’t merely teasing with all of these nicknames. But just as quickly she was smiling again, a mischievous expression on her face. “Hmmm, okay, I’ll be right back with that A-142-Thermal, Felicity,” she stressed, figuring two could play at that game. At this, she skipped happily out of the extremely warm pod and began frantically searching for the correct part, not wanting to hold up on any of his progress. She came back just as fast, flustered, but still beaming. “How about I go fetch us both some cool drinks while you work? I can’t let you work under these conditions without offering a little relief.”

[BanditKing]

The man was so buried in trying to get the job done that he didn’t notice her strap coming down or the sheerness of her clothes. He had plenty of time to be a drooling horny bastard after he finished the job she gave him. “I know what your real name is. I know everyone’s. It’s… kind of one of my personal rules to not call people by their birth names. The people who gave me mine were just doing it to fill a birth certificate. Didn’t actually care for me, especially when I had a medical situation at three days old. But that’s old news we don’t need to depress you right now.”

He smirks when she gives him the nickname when she leaves, though he was trying to think of what the nickname was a reference to. He gladly takes the last part when she returns and gets to work on it. “Thanks! Yeah! I would much appreciate a cold drink if you are offering. I can’t turn down such an invite from a sweetie. I just have to get this piece in then restart the pod. Then I can run a self diagnosis on the system to see if there is still any issue.”

He finishes installing the last piece then exits the pod. Was his body that tan before going into the pod? He goes up to the monitor and starts a full reset. The lights on the pod go off and then everything starts coming back to life. He waits until the monitor returns the. He enters the program to scan the entire system for any other problems.

Edited April 18 by BanditKing

[Harmony Frost]

There was a lot more to unwrap with this hunky engineer, that was for sure. She wanted desperately to ask him more about the names thing, but his dismissal of the topic made her hold her tongue. No need to bring down the mood. Plus they weren’t that well acquainted and she’d hate to upset any of her colleagues. So instead she went on her way to the kitchen, got some ice cold water and fruit for them both. “I’m back!” She announced as she re-entered the garden. She could see Lucky working away in the pod. “So what’s the verdict?” She asked, “and maybe you should step out of the pod for a second? I don’t want you to pass out from the heat or something.”

[BanditKing]

He noticed her expression when she held back her questions. It would be just them and the rest of the crew for a whole year and maybe other years of shifts. If she wants to know, he will answer any questions she has. That is after he finishes this project.

He smiles when she comes back with the water and the fruit. It was actually giving him some ideas of to make something for her. He gets out of the pod of the pod with his now tanned, maybe slightly burnt, body. “All fixed! And… I did a little bit of rerouting to not only avoid this issue next time, it is now working even better than before.” He points at the flower. “You keep being hot and spicy.”

Rather than grab all of his clothes, he just grabs his necklace and puts it on before joining Ivy with her offer of drink and snacks. “Is there a nice spot you have in mind for our little date to enjoy this? A favorite pod of plants to have a picnic with?”

[Harmony Frost]

Yup, he was definitely charming. Not only had he fixed the problem but he also took preventive measures against it ever happening again. Dr. Ivy couldn’t help but to give him a thousand watt smile, beaming up at him as if he hung the moon himself. “You are incredible. Thank you so much for your help. You just saved this ship a lot of hassle, which I’m sure you know.” At his suggestion of a picnic she nodded, “Actually I know the perfect spot, there’s a grassy patch that’s perfect for us.” Leading the way, she set the tray of drinks and fruit down first and then sat down herself. Even without him saying so, it did sort of feel like she was on a date. However he was just doing his job and she was just being a gracious host in her lab. Still….it wasn’t easy to deny the appearance of it all not to mention her own attraction and if she wasn’t mistaken Lucky liked what he was seeing too. Unless he was this flirtatious with everyone. “And look, there’s some aloe Vera nearby. I could rub some on your skin for you to relieve the heat. You’re looking a little toasty and you could wind up with heat rash if you’re not careful…” 

[BanditKing]

He follows her to the pod. Now that his job was done, he was back to admiring her sexy curves.  Aside from looking damn fine, he couldn’t help but admire that high energy smile of hers. He had to quickly readjust his pants a little while she wasn’t looking. “It’s part of the job you gave me. It wouldn’t be right to let it go bad and endanger us. Duty aside, these plants are your passion and I can’t imagine watching you lose a part of your dedication to something like this. It’s those things that make us feel alive.”

He watches her take a seat in the grass and setting the trays down. He gives a grin when she mentions the rub. “Oh? Offering me a massage on our first date? That’s quite daring of you, Flower. A little faster than most Earth relationships… so I guess I’ll have to keep up… but we can do that after the drink and snacks.”

Rather than sit across or sit close to her, he sits down right next to her and takes hold of her. Without another word in, he lifts her up and plants her sideways on his lap. “There we go… you got the best seat in the house.” He grabs the water and starts drinking, his Adam’s apple bobbing with each gulp followed by a vocal sigh of relief. He then goes for one of the fruits and examines them. “Didn’t have much access to these growing up… you wanted to ask me more about my past stuff, didn’t you? It’s ok. I’ll be an open book for you if you want. If you ask, I’ll answer. I do expect the same in return, though.”

[Harmony Frost]

“Well no, I didn’t exactly mean it that way…..wait, is this a date?” Ivy stammers, feeling her face heat up at being teased so much. She really was only thinking about his health. She knew how sensitive skin could be and she only wanted to help him as a thank you for all of his hard work. But hearing him call it a date two times in a row was certainly throwing her for a loop. But she didn’t necessarily oppose to it either. She just didn’t want Lucky thinking this had been her goal all along. Although she wondered if he even cared at this point. As if answering her, Lucky simply grabs her and plants her in his lap as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 
 

Ivy was stuck, should she scramble off his lap? But that would seem rather rude, right?

She shifted uncomfortably for a second, but eventually decided that it must be okay if he put her there himself. Silently she reached for her water, watching warily as he drank and picked up a piece of fruit. He started to call her out on what happened earlier. Seems he noticed that she hadn’t been satisfied with his answer and was dying to know more about his past. But she didn’t think he’d be such an open book. “Well….only if you really don’t mind? And of course, I’ll answer anything you’d like. Umm, well, can I know why you won’t call people by their names? Like, I get not using your own for whatever reason but everyone else…?”

[BanditKing]

He notices her shifting about. Maybe he was a bit too forward with her and she didn’t like this. He takes a hand off of her in case she wants to get off of his lap. He simply looks over the entire room, admiring all the plants growing out in the cold vastness of space.

He takes a moment to think out how to word his response to her. “I guess it just comes naturally to me to give people nicknames. I don’t know people’s histories and some people here might be like me trying to leave Earth behind, sometimes that includes their old selves… but I can’t really use that as an excuse, can I? No, I guess it’s just that it comes natural to me like breathing to throw around nicknames.” 

He chuckles a bit to himself. “Hell, I don’t think I would even call my own wife by her name if I had one. I would probably call her Honey or Dear or Sweetiepie. And our kids… I might never call them by their names… I would call them everything based on how they live: their hobbies, their favorite sports, their dreams. I would even embarrass them in front of the other kids with their nicknames. Yeah, kids and grandkids…. And I will stick with them until they are ready for their own paths…”

At this point, he realizes he was the only one talking and shuts himself up. “Sorry about that. I spilled way too much, huh? Enough about me for a bit. What about you? What do you hope to do once we find a planet out there?”

[Harmony Frost]

“Would you really want a wife?!” Ivy blurted out without thinking, blushing furiously as she shrank in his lap. “Uh, I mean….er….” She cleared her throat, and shifted again, looking up into his eyes. “I guess I never pegged you as the type. But I’m starting to learn more and more about you. You sir, are full of surprises,” she complimented. “And you know what? I think I sort of understand where you’re coming from with the whole nickname thing. Although I don’t think I can count on myself being as consistently creative as you seem to be,” Dr. Bloom added chuckling. Hopefully glossing over her earlier faux pas. She seemed to be doing that a lot when she was around him. Luckily he was taken it all in stride.

When the attention got turned back around to her, she blinked, “I didn’t think you were talking too much,” she reassured, subconsciously leaning into him. “And while I wasn’t trying to leave Earth behind, I was eager to do something that mattered, if that makes sense? As a botanist, breakthroughs are few and far between even amongst the most brilliant scientists. I’ve had my share of achievements but nothing has ever felt….groundbreaking. Plus I come from a pretty pampered lifestyle and I’ve hardly had any real sense of adventure. And I never really get to interact with new people so, well, this felt like a win/win!” She said in a bright cheery voice. “This is my chance to make a difference in the world. Make new discoveries both in botany and in personal terms as well.”

[BanditKing]

Lucky can’t help but laugh at her reaction to his dream. He gave her his utmost attention as she spoke, not ushering a single syllable to interrupt her. He didn’t like her shooting her self down on lack of creativity. She certainly had it and he might get determined to prove it to her. He would even find a way to make it fun for her. Perhaps if they found materials for his hobby corner, he could encourage her to get in touch with an artistic part of herself.

He just wraps his arm back around her when she leans in, he was not aware of it until she finished speaking. He was not sure what to do with this limb so he decided to just let it be unless she shows discomfort again. He does not hesitate to speak when she finishes. He just speaks out his mind.

“It makes perfect sense. You are not just doing this for yourself, but also to keep the science of botany well renowned.” He falls back and looks up at the ceiling as though he was looking to a cloudless sunny day or a starry night sky. “You know… your story reminds me of another girl who was in the same spot as you. A pampered and sheltered life where she felt like her accomplishments felt so routine. She was closed off from the just about everyone and everything until one day she was taken to another world that was cold and lifeless. She met new people and learned new things. In the end, she took this new world and made such great changes that even impressed the cold hearted man who brought her there to be his bride.” He points a finger up at her. “Yeah… you do make a fantastic Persephone…”

[Harmony Frost]

It was rather comforting how casual he was. Easy. He had a way of saying and doing things with a certain lightness that juxtaposed with his sturdy frame. It made Ivy feel comfortable. Like it was okay to just sit here and rest. Not to mention that the way he spoke was different too. Sure, he could be blunt and even gruff, but there was kindness in his tone most of the time. And occasionally he was quite flirtatious. She never thought she’d witness so many shades of a personality in a single afternoon. It left her curious and wanting to see more. Intrigued by his story, Ivy settled into his lap more closely tucked into his chest. Idly reaching for a piece of fruit which she bit into with relish. The juice dribbling down her chin. 
 

Emerald eyes twinkled with interest, and a slow smile formed as she started to recognize elements of the story. “Me? Persephone?” Ivy echoed, extremely flattered and more than mildly surprised. “You are a very smooth,” she quipped, lightly pecking his cheek. She wondered if in his little story, he was meant to be the god of the underworld. A bold declaration to be sure, but that seemed to be his style. “I can only hope that I’m able to do those things. Who knew you’d use your tongue as well as you do with your hands,” she praised, sliding from his lap. “Perhaps now is a good time for that aloe treatment? If we wait too long it won’t be nearly as effective,” she pointed out. 

[BanditKing]

Good with his tongue and hands? He might just have to prove to her just how good he really was among other things. As she mentioned the aloe treatment, he thumb goes up to her chin. It trials up to her lips collecting the fruit juice. His thumb lingers a moment, tracing over her lips, before he pulls it back and brings it to his own mouth. He sucks on it for a quick moment before popping it out of his mouth. “Ah! That’s some good fruit! Alright, Seph! I suppose I have no choice but to let you take care of me. I am now in your care.”

He twists his body to lay down, starting with showing her his back. He was just fit from the back as he was from the front. His bare skin was now a bit tan and was shining from sweating in the pod. He would have a bit of fun with her when she got to different parts and lightly flex his muscles just to get her reactions. Much of his body was tight from maybe either the long time in the pod or whatever stress he came with from earth.

in the middle of her work, he speaks up. “Not creative, huh? I don’t buy it. I think you have the potential and you just haven’t realized it yet because of how bored you are with your wins. If you want to give me a chance to prove it, I can help you find that creative side of yours. I promise you’ll have a whole new thought of yourself by the time we are popsicles again and when we do land one day. You have my word.”