Well, Rob's given his OK for this bit of inspiration. We'll return to our regularly scheduled craziness shortly, once I figure out how Eddie's going to do it...
A.C. observed Noah's semi-depressed rant with a disappointed scowl, watching as the rest of the Stellvians tried to calm him down. Finally she gave a long sigh and interrupted.
"Oh for Big Blue's sake Noah, shut up and calm down."
Noah made to retort, but a glare from A.C. made him pause, which A.C. took advantage of.
"Regardless of everything else, YOU aren't going ANYWHERE until your arm finishes healing. Which will be at least two hours."
"But-"
"Lebia has a lock on her, and she isn't scheduled to go back to Helium until tomorrow. Besides, now I know they're up and about I have to make the offer to upgrade them to current spec. If I can find Agatha, which will be tricky."
"You're assuming they're still together." Takami looked up from the computer console logged into the Hacker Underspace's private network (which was watching Fate reverse-engineer Gina's virus). "When I hacked the passenger lists of the ships from Helium, I didn't see anyone named 'Agatha' on the shuttle Natsuko came up on. Or any blondes the right age, either."
"Did she come up on some other shuttle?"
Takami shrugged. "Who knows? Half the late-teenage or early-twenties blonde Sparks out there call themselves Agatha."
"You think they split up when they ran away from home? I guessed that, given their personalities. Thanks for checking anyway. I'm hoping that Natsuko is still in contact with her given that, of the two of them, Agatha was most likely to figure out their maintenance needs. Otherwise it's the hard way. Getting them to trust me is the tricky part." The cyberneticist gave a half amused, half despairing snort. "Why is it," she asked rhetorically, "that every intelligence I have a hand in bringing into the world is more human than I am?" Shaking off the reflective mood, A.C. straightened up and stalked the few steps over to Noah to poke him in the chest with a well-manicured finger. "Now, I STILL have some work to do. If you're good, and I mean //very good//..." The green-eyed woman purred in that way that raised the temperature of anyone in earshot. Although Noah wasn't having an easy time of it as A.C. was leaning in JUST the right way to give him an enticing look at her cleavage. "I may let you escort me to my chat with her. But," She added as she leaned back and idly tossed her hair back with a sweep of a hand, "that will take some time."
"At least two hours?" Leda asked wryly.
"Smart AND beautiful." A.C. smiled seductively at the senshi. "You really are too good to Noah. If you ever get tired of this big lug, you know where to find me."
"I may be a Senshi, but I'm straight."
"That's a shame." A.C. gave Leda a friendly wink. "Ladies." The raven-haired cyborg walked out with eye-catching seductive grace.
"Boy, Noah." Greenpeace said brightly. "That last time I saw A.C. go that seductive was when she was questioning some Criminal Guild mooks. Of course she likes you, which is why you're not needing a change of underwear from her bad side."
"I nearly need a change of underwear from her //good// side, if you get my meaning."
"Oh?" Leda grinned as she took Noah's available hand. "Is there a room around here where the two of us can be alone and unobserved?"
"Not for another two hours," A.C. insisted, from the hallway.
"It'll be too late then," Noah and Leda muttered in unison.
Their watches double beeped, indicating a new text message. In eerie synchronicity they looked at their watches, blushed, looked at each other, blushed harder, then turned to look out the Galley door with something like terrified awe.
The Forge residents didn't point out how close they were to an intercom station, which turned off.
A.C. observed Noah's semi-depressed rant with a disappointed scowl, watching as the rest of the Stellvians tried to calm him down. Finally she gave a long sigh and interrupted.
"Oh for Big Blue's sake Noah, shut up and calm down."
Noah made to retort, but a glare from A.C. made him pause, which A.C. took advantage of.
"Regardless of everything else, YOU aren't going ANYWHERE until your arm finishes healing. Which will be at least two hours."
"But-"
"Lebia has a lock on her, and she isn't scheduled to go back to Helium until tomorrow. Besides, now I know they're up and about I have to make the offer to upgrade them to current spec. If I can find Agatha, which will be tricky."
"You're assuming they're still together." Takami looked up from the computer console logged into the Hacker Underspace's private network (which was watching Fate reverse-engineer Gina's virus). "When I hacked the passenger lists of the ships from Helium, I didn't see anyone named 'Agatha' on the shuttle Natsuko came up on. Or any blondes the right age, either."
"Did she come up on some other shuttle?"
Takami shrugged. "Who knows? Half the late-teenage or early-twenties blonde Sparks out there call themselves Agatha."
"You think they split up when they ran away from home? I guessed that, given their personalities. Thanks for checking anyway. I'm hoping that Natsuko is still in contact with her given that, of the two of them, Agatha was most likely to figure out their maintenance needs. Otherwise it's the hard way. Getting them to trust me is the tricky part." The cyberneticist gave a half amused, half despairing snort. "Why is it," she asked rhetorically, "that every intelligence I have a hand in bringing into the world is more human than I am?" Shaking off the reflective mood, A.C. straightened up and stalked the few steps over to Noah to poke him in the chest with a well-manicured finger. "Now, I STILL have some work to do. If you're good, and I mean //very good//..." The green-eyed woman purred in that way that raised the temperature of anyone in earshot. Although Noah wasn't having an easy time of it as A.C. was leaning in JUST the right way to give him an enticing look at her cleavage. "I may let you escort me to my chat with her. But," She added as she leaned back and idly tossed her hair back with a sweep of a hand, "that will take some time."
"At least two hours?" Leda asked wryly.
"Smart AND beautiful." A.C. smiled seductively at the senshi. "You really are too good to Noah. If you ever get tired of this big lug, you know where to find me."
"I may be a Senshi, but I'm straight."
"That's a shame." A.C. gave Leda a friendly wink. "Ladies." The raven-haired cyborg walked out with eye-catching seductive grace.
"Boy, Noah." Greenpeace said brightly. "That last time I saw A.C. go that seductive was when she was questioning some Criminal Guild mooks. Of course she likes you, which is why you're not needing a change of underwear from her bad side."
"I nearly need a change of underwear from her //good// side, if you get my meaning."
"Oh?" Leda grinned as she took Noah's available hand. "Is there a room around here where the two of us can be alone and unobserved?"
"Not for another two hours," A.C. insisted, from the hallway.
"It'll be too late then," Noah and Leda muttered in unison.
Their watches double beeped, indicating a new text message. In eerie synchronicity they looked at their watches, blushed, looked at each other, blushed harder, then turned to look out the Galley door with something like terrified awe.
The Forge residents didn't point out how close they were to an intercom station, which turned off.