Retrospectivity

[go_endeavour]

Bee has scarcely left the workshop and already Endeavour is thinking about what happened back in Florida all those years ago.

It wasn't like what had just gone on. There was nobody telling them that Columbia had popped a hole and disintegrated upon reentry. Endeavour - back when she was inanimate but artificially sentient - had heard the workers

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[nottabeater]

He's not too happy with being left behind. He wants to be out there; wants to be making sure that the humans didn't make a mistake and Jazz is really reparable. But they aren't all soldiers here anymore. There are non coms who need protecting. And while he knows Bee is a cagey and seasoned fighter he also knows how shaken she is right now. And she's got that sparkling to protect.

-We've got someone utterly helpless in the middle of what could turn out to be another slagging war,- he thinks moodily as he goes into the workshop.

Then he sees how Endeavour's sitting and hurries over to her, his arms going out automatically in offer of comfort.

-And Endeavour. We promised her a safe place.... Slag.-

[go_endeavour]

She just leans against him, not in the mood to say... well, anything.

What she'd like to talk about is too soon, too inappropriate for the moment, and too much wishful thinking.

But then she reasons that the silence will most likely bring on more confusion and hurt.

"Ever feel," she says quietly, staticky voice and all, not moving her head from his shoulder, "like you're completely useless?"

[nottabeater]

"Yes," he says honestly. "Too often."

[go_endeavour]

She frowns slightly. "Even though you most certainly aren't?" A little laugh to cover up those damn tears. "I mean, you... well..." She staticks over a little bit and then tries again to form a coherent sentence.

While reflecting on the fact that she never seems to be able to speak properly when Ratchet's around.

Lovely.

"You're very good at what you do," she says after a moment of collecting her thoughts.

[nottabeater]

He tilts his head slightly, studying her face as he wonders at what he just thought he heard in her voice. "Well, that's alright, then."

[go_endeavour]

"Yeah. I know." She grins her self-assured grin. "I just wish I had more interesting things to tell you."

If she could blush, she would.

[nottabeater]

"You're not boring...." His 'brows' go up quizzically.

[go_endeavour]

She laughed. "That's not what I meant. I know I'm not boring, I just rarely have much to say. I used to get eight minutes of thrills once or twice a year, if I was lucky."

[nottabeater]

He looks at their hands, then back up to her. "Endeavour... you're a beautiful and absolutely amazing femme, and I enjoy being around you more than I've ever enjoyed any other femme's company. But it's too soon. You're too new. I don't want to take advantage of that newness."

-Because you mean too much,- he adds to himself.

[go_endeavour]

She looks away again, grinning to herself. "Okay. Okay. Just... wanted to know. If I was just being stupid."

Yes-but-not-right-now was perfectly fine in her eyes.

"Can we at least keep on like this?" she asks quietly, optics narrowing as her grin got even wider. "I like this. And it doesn't bother me at all."

[nottabeater]

"You're my friend," he says quietly, with a soft smile. "And you're not stupid."

[go_endeavour]

"Alright. So. How are you doing?"

She feels rather embarrassed that the past few minutes have been all about her.

[nottabeater]

"Yes." He turns the bit of Allspark over in his hands, trying to see some sign of... something.

[go_endeavour]

"Good to know."

[nottabeater]

"You thought I had to repair everything?" he asks absently, frowning as he failed to see any difference in the shard.

[go_endeavour]

"Well... yes. I guess I don't understand fully what it is I am yet."

She folds her arms over her chest.

"D'you want to get out of here?"

[nottabeater]

He tilts his head quizzically, wondering at her confusion. "What is it?"

[go_endeavour]

She grins slightly. "Nothing. Just... more of what I said earlier. Someone worrying about something other than the state of my thermal protection system..." She shakes her leg and a few black silica tiles fall to the floor.

Endeavour picks the tile up in her hand and inspects it closely, then hands it over to Ratchet. "Here, have a look at this."

It's very light.

[nottabeater]

He scans it and nods. "We've got a bit of this in the make up of our armor and outer body parts."

Then he lifts his head again and looks at her. "Is it all loose?"

[go_endeavour]

"Really?" She arches an eyebrow. "Silica-based, just the same?" She holds her hand out to get the tile back and shrugs, picking another tile from her elbow.

"They're loose. Which, as you can imagine, is the prime reason our turnaround time sucks. All I need is a bottle of glue."