“Just Sal’s research and some of my theories,” Tech said. “I’ll fill you in a bit later.”
“Yes,” Sal said. “Right now I want to hear about you two. How long did you work together before you hooked up?”
They glanced at each other. Rev said, “A year and a month cause that first afternoon was right after the ice vikings and that was three weeks after we had our one year team party where Slam had too much to drink and ripped out the wall and Ace put a lock on the beer cooler which reminds me I gotta get him to take it off because after last night I could really use a drink.”
“You and me both,” Tech said. Rev shot him a look, but he shook his head minutely.
“So how did it happen? Glances in the locker room, a moment in the middle of a spectacular battle, a touch, a look, what? Who made the first move?” Sal leaned forward and smiled.
Tech chuckled. “You have too much imagination. Rev started it, one afternoon…”
Sal liked to talk as much as Rev, but not quite as quickly, so it was an hour later that they walked back into the control room, together. Lexi swung around on the command chair and twitched her ears. “About time,” she said, and winked at them.
“We’ve just been out at coffee with an old friend of mine,” Tech said.
“But if you could stand to stay on duty for another half hour or maybe an hour we’d really appreciate it we got a couple things to discuss we could do it after our shift if you got somewhere else to go and speaking of that where is Ace right now and everybody else?”
“Ace and Duck are down in the danger room,” Lexi said. “Slam is out at some wrestling match again. And sure, don’t worry, I can handle things here.”
“Thanks,” Tech said, and waved to her as they walked through the control room. She waved and turned back to her monitor, where he saw about twelve different chat windows up.
Rev was pulling him down the corridor on the lower level when Tech stopped him at the kitchen. “Hang on,” Tech said. He ducked into the small room.
Rev followed him in. “What’s up looking for a little snack I thought you had something to eat at the coffee shop I could use a little something though any of those sandwiches left from yesterday’s delivery?”
The large silver beer cooler still had Ace’s lock on it. Tech reached up to it with his powers. “You should’ve just told me you wanted a beer,” he said, as the lock clicked open.
Rev’s beak split in a wide grin as Tech floated one of the bottles down to him by the metal cap. “Aw I shoulda known but I didn’t even think of it thanks cutey this is better than coffee of course I don’t usually drink coffee it makes me sort of jittery this is great even my favorite you gonna have one?”
He’d been debating that. “Yeah, I think I will.” He floated himself down a bottle and opened it with his powers as Rev opened his with his hands.
The beer tasted good, cold and refreshing, the smooth taste melting away some of the tension of the day. Rev’s appearance had helped a lot, and as he walked down towards the bedrooms with Rev, he smiled. “Why’d you come to the coffee shop?”
Rev paused and looked at him, and inclined his head down the corridor. “Your room or mine yours is closer by about two steps but mine’s already got some of your things in it aw heck yours is closer let’s just go there if that’s okay with you nothing in there I shouldn’t see?”
“No,” Tech grinned. “It’s okay.” He swept the door open with a flex of magnetic fields.
His wall was covered with erasable boards on which he’d scrawled formulas, some as long ago as his first months on the team, ideas he’d never finished. Rev examined them all in about a second, took another drink at the closed window, and dashed over to sit on the bed. “Why you keep your window shuttered what kinda music you got in here nice sheets I like the pattern come on sit down.” He patted the bed next to him.
Tech grinned, closing the door and activating some soft music with a sweep of his paw. The soft lights over the music remained on as he dimmed the room lights and sat down on the bed next to Rev. He felt no need to repeat the question that still hung there.
Rev finished off his beer and set the bottle on Tech’s night table. “I’m not mad at you I just need you to trust me about our work it’s not so the others don’t know it’s just so I feel like you believe I can do whatever needs to be done I gotta say I thought it was really sweet you wanted to introduce me to Sal so I didn’t think I should pass that up and he’s a nice guy we should have coffee with him more often only no coffee for me of course.”
“Of course.” Tech laughed. “Well, I do trust you, but I’m not going to stop worrying about you. That’s the way I am. And whether you think so or not, I think what we’re doing is changing things. I worry about everyone else, and if one of them got hurt I’d worry, like when Duck got shot, or when Ace was almost killed by those vikings, but… you have a nice body there. I’d miss it.”
“Nice body ah now you’re just playing with me I know I’m too skinny no matter how much I work out I just burn off everything bang bang bang the good thing is I can have two ice cream sundaes without putting on
