He ducked his head, laughing, but with a blush rising on his cheeks. “I do. Apologies for not coming right out and asking, but I, ah… I didn’t quite know how to ask.” Sin smiled. “Thank you. It’s something like…”
He described an instrument that he would need to solder something—like an army knife, but for a certain kind of chemical reaction that would take place within a chamber, and then he suddenly realized that he was asking Etta for instrument access.
"Oh… Etta, you aren’t going to get in trouble for this, are you?" Sinclar asked worriedly. That was the last thing he wanted to happen.
As her old friend described the instrument he needed, Etta's fingers itched for a pen and piece of paper. It wasn't the heat that was a problem so much as the pressure the whole thing would be under - and the power supply needed - and the containment - and....
So busy was she planning how to arrange the room she needed to fit this all in that she almost missed his (oh so typical) attempt to be a selfless idiot and deny himself something he needed to prevent her from being slightly inconvenienced.
"Sinclar," she said in a tone somewhere between exasperation and pride. For a moment, she heard her mother's voice and had to fight back a small shiver. "There is no way I will get in trouble for doing my job and taking advantage of my non-salary perks. I decide who gets machine access, so as long as I schedule us outside of current experiments we'll be fine. I am the goddess of my mechanical domain." She almost finished the sentence before giggling. That sentence would never be repeated. Ever.
"Trust me, old friend. The only trouble will be finding the perfect songs for a playlist. We're doing this. You free on Saturday night by any chance?"













