Rory was far from becoming one of Rocket's most loyal supporters. The people here were far too rude for her liking, and their actions were...often questionable compared to the diligence of her equally bloodstained brother (@calhoun).

But, at the very least, she couldn't deny the enjoyment the work provided her. She wants exactly creating the turbines she had imagined, but what she WAS inventing and tinkering with was at a higher caliber than what she was often used to back at Slateport.

Challenging designs with the oddest if quirks hidden with their blue prints-- they made even the duller days more exciting than she had originally hoped. Today was no different.

As she had a pocket of time to spare, she was stowed away in one of the various labs the facility had to offer. Hunched over a table, she was giving a schematic a sharp glare when she heard the click of the door open.

The easy smile was initially preparing to use to greet the individual was interrupted mid way into it's creation, as the identity of said individual was revealed be no other than Valley himself.

Turning, she looked back down at the table, doesn't her best to hide away the splash of red that now ran down her cheeks. "Mhm..."

Rory gnawed at the insides of her cheeks.

Normally, it wasn't too difficult to have a conversation with Vallen. If anything, it was too EASY at times, which further added to his charm. But that was only when she was emotionally PREPARED to speak to him.

Talking to the love of your life who doesn't know he's the love of your life takes a lot of work. And, without doing some staring back at the mirror motivational pep talk, there wasn't much courage to scrounged up at the knack of time.

"Um, no, actually. They're Lionel's." She gave a nervous chuckle, as her eyes kept glued to the half-finished schematic. "Oh! You don't know who he is. Um, he's actually a part of my new team. Great guy-- you should definitely meet him..."

By the time she dared to look back up, he was already gone and out of sight.

"busy?"

A sharp squeak piped out from her throat. Driven by surprise, her hands had knocked over all of her pencils from the table.

She let out a deep breath.

"Not really..."

brown eyes.

The nickname ran a shudder down her spine.

"No," She shook her head. Slowly, Rory was internally gathering the courage to meet his gaze. It was hard, but with enough self-motivation, she was finally able to make the leap.

"I was just fiddling with an idea..."

Sketched out on the schematic was a barebones outline of a kyorge-inspired jet-powered boat. Eraser marks could be seen skidded down the sheet, each one signaling one of her many spurts of muse, or her doubts of inferiority.

"Nothing crazy."

A light of interest sparked in her eyes, loud and bright, with the heat of fiery passion. She turned to look back up at him.



In an instant, she went off on a 5-minute spiel, answering both his question and much more than he could've ever asked for. Throughout all of it, she'd get jittery with excitement, sometimes hopping a bit in her seat, or using her hands to make wildish gestures to emphasize her points.



All to end with a simple,



"If that makes sense."



It was then she finally noticed the sheer proximity of their faces, and... just their faces! Nothing else. Certainly not their lips. Again, she turned, this time in the opposite direction. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she used her hands to shield her face.

"I'm fine," she squeaked, small and meek, like a mouse scrunching away from a hungry cat. 

"I just-" before she could finish her sentence, Vallen's calloused hand reached for her forehead. The rough touch of his skin sent a spasm of heat where he laid his hand. Embarrassed, the tornado of emotions sent Rory scrambling out her seat. 

With fridgety movements she moved towards the opposite side of the table. 

"I'm fine!" This time, the repeated words were a lot more strained. "Just frazzled from working all day."

Dinner?

Her heart lept out of her chest.

"Food would be great," she nodded, her hand naturally moving to pull back her hair behind her ear. "But, um, could we maybe get non-cafeteria good?"

Cordon was great, but he could only do so much with so little.

Slowly, Rory approached the tabletop once more, gently peeling off the schematic from it's surface and rolling it up for the next day.

She was timid, but wasn't at the same time.

To put it simply: she was when she was around him. Only him. No one but him (and the 50 other guys she had a crush on prior to him).

"There's this Thai place in Slateport I always go to," she suggested, her face puckered up in thought. "Or maybe we could get sushi?"

While the gears in her mind churned, she manuevered back around the table, right up to the small bookshelf they had pressed up against the wall. There she slipped her rolled up schematic - a project left for another day.

She turned back to him.

"What do you think"