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SDFHSDJKFHDSJKF BOOTS IT IS ANON BOOTS IT IS
“I need to bypass replicator regulations so I can get taller boots.”
Reno looks up at an almost glacial speed from her workstation, as if speeding up will confirm her worst fears as to who’s at the other end of the question. (Michael suspects she’s just glad it isn’t Tilly.) “And you’re asking me?” she asks the shorter woman, who so far has been keeping a blush off of her cheeks through sheer willpower alone. “You couldn’t figure it out yourself?”
(The truth was, Michael could’ve easily gotten her taller boots with a screwdriver and a few choice threats -- she’d done it before and she most certainly would do it again. But the reasoning for the boots was less clear-cut, and logically, she could only benefit from having a second pair of eyes on...whatever was going between her and Georgiou. Right?
Right. That, Michael tells herself, and Reno’s least likely to ask questions.)
“No,” she says instead, and Reno’s eyebrow settles from one of incredulity to one of deadpan disbelief. “Perhaps. But I figured it would be better to have engineering eyes on it rather than set the Discovery back a few hours if I didn’t manage to bypass regulation.”
Reno nods in that same deadpan disbelief. “Uh huh. And why do you need the boots, Burnham?”
Of all the questions she could’ve asked. “I...” Had the temperature suddenly rose ten degrees? “I need...see, the boots...”
“It’s okay, Burnham,” Reno snorts. “Take your time.”
Michael exhales. She can feel Reno’s stare burning a hole in her uniform. “I’m pretty sure Georgiou’s conspiring to be taller than me,” she mumbles, and averts her gaze. Even as the words fall out of her mouth, they feel stupider than the time she’d accidentally burned through two decks over a jar of dropped acid. “I can’t let her be taller than me.”
For a long while, Reno does nothing but stare. But Michael can’t quite bring herself to look the senior engineer in the eye, so the awkward silence will have to do. Finally: “You want me to bypass replicator regulations so you can top?”
Michael cringes, and a loud cackle fills the bay.
“Oh, for that golden moment alone, I’d build you a replicator, Burnham.” Reno’s already halfway through the doors, a wrench twitched in beckoning. “But for what it’s worth, we all thought you were dating Tyler, so...” The doors to the turbolift slide shut silently. “Glad to see you upped your standards.”
every day i grow closer to finishing this title
