#anunquenchableflame

“Y’know I do, Ryder. Why?” Even as she probed for more information, Suvi accepted the hand Nina offered and let the Pathfinder tug her to her feet.

“Because I have a surprise for you,” Nina said, squeezing Suvi’s hand affectionately before she let go. “But in order for it to stay a surprise until we get to it, I need you to wear this”--she finally brought her other hand into view, revealing a dark blue length of fabric clearly meant to be a blindfold--”and I don’t wanna ask you to do that if you’re not comfortable-”

Suvi rested a finger against Nina’s lips to cut her off. “You’re sweet to worry,” she said, taking the blindfold and tying it over her eyes. She held out her hand toward Nina. “Lead the way, Pathfinder.”

Nina chuckled at the mischief in Suvi’s voice, and gave her a peck on the cheek as she took her hand. “Well, I have to now, don’t I, Dr. Anwar?” She gently tugged Suvi into motion and Suvi complied, curiosity welling in her chest as she followed through the halls.

“So... I like surprises as much as the next girl,” Suvi began, “but why?”

“Suvi, I’m hurt,” Nina’s tone dripped with mock-injury. “Do you mean to tell me you forgot our six-month anniversary?”

“I...” She wanted to deny it, but they’d been getting so much fascinating data from Kadara and Voeld the last couple weeks, she’d rather lost track of the date. “...did. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, no need to apologize,” Nina said breezily. “You- oh, careful around this corner, Suv--you can make it up to me later.”

That was a suspiciously easy forgiveness for her gaffe, and Suvi made a mental note to dig a little more. But right now they were passing down a hallway that resounded with clatter and chatter, and she decided to focus more on not running into anything.

They hadn’t gone too much further when Nina cautioned, “Okay, duck and high step at the same time. Try not to knee yourself in the face.”

“That would be bad,” Suvi laughed as she followed the directions. “Are we...?”

“Not even close,” Nina said apologetically. “Sit.”

Following that felt like being back in grade school and doing trust falls. But Nina guided her down to the seat and then sat next to her, still holding her hand. There was a familiar hiss of an airlock sealing and Suvi cocked her head.

“Are we on another ship?” she asked.

“Well, shuttle, but yes,” Nina replied. There was the tug of restraints as she buckled them both in. “It shouldn’t be too long...”

“Ryder...”

“You said you trust me, Suv.” Nina’s thumb rubbed over the back of her hand reassuringly.

“I do,” Suvi protested, “But a girl’s still curious, Ryder.”

Nina chuckled. “That you are. Trust me, your patience will be rewarded.”

~~~*~~~

Even with the blindfold on, there were enough clues from her other senses for Suvi to tell they’d landed at Prodromos. If those weren’t enough, hearing August Bradley hail, “Pathfinder! Dr. Anwar! Good to see you!” would have done it.

Why are we on Eos? Suvi wondered as Nina chatted with the mayor. Several possibilities presented themselves, and she latched on to her favorite, praying she was right.

Nina and August’s conversation terminated with Nina securing a loaned ATV buggy. Her grip on Suvi’s hand shifted as she turned back toward her. “We have to go for a ride for the last leg, babe. You can see for this part if you want, riding on an ATV blind’s not much fun.”

Suvi shook her head. She was invested now in this surprise staying a surprise.  “I’ll hold tight, it’ll be fine.”

Nina chuckled as she guided Suvi toward their ride. “Alright, tell me if you change your mind. Also”--her voice dipped to a husky whisper--”can I exploit this blindfold thing for kinkier purposes sometime? Since you seem so into it?”

Suvi blushed just off the likelihood they had an audience, but her tone was decidedly mischievous. “I do still owe ya an anniversary present,” she grinned,  “but first things first, eh?”

“Right, right.” Nina cleared her throat. “Your surprise first, everything else later. Uh, Suv?”

“Yeah?”

“Just peek long enough to get on the ATV. It’s gonna be way too complicated otherwise.”

“Sure.” Suvi smiled as she complied, nudging the blindfold up off one eye, so she could climb on the rear seat of the vehicle. Nina hopped up in front of her, and Suvi pulled the blindfold back down before wrapping her arms around Nina’s waist.

“Alright, hold tight,” Nina cauntioned as she started up the ATV. “It’ll be a smoother ride than my first time here, but you never know.”

“Right.” Suvi squeezed tight as she dared. “I’m ready.”

Nina gunned the engine and they were off. She took it slow to start and gradually opened it up once they were away from the colony.

Oh, please, Suvi thought fervently as another point in support of her favorite theory got checked off.

It wasn’t a long ride, five minutes tops, though doing it blind made it feel longer. Finally the buggy coasted to a stop on what felt like level ground.

Nina’s jacket creaked as she turned, anticipation in her voice. “Okay, you can look now.”

Suvi let go and tugged off the blindfold. A huge grin of nearly speechless joy spread across her face. “Ryder...”

Nina slid off the ATV and gestured grandly toward the vault entrance. “It’s all yours, Doctor.”

Suvi nearly tripped getting down, she was so busy staring in awe at the Remnant architecture and running through theories as to how it all worked. Nina caught her as she stumbled, and Suvi turned it into a tight hug of almost overwhelming gratitude. “Thank you, Ryder. You’re the best.”

“I know,” Nina joked. She pointed to a transport crate sitting near the vault entrance. “I had Liam and Peebee bring any of your equipment that seemed safely portable in case your need it.”

Suvi kissed her before letting go. “The best,” she repeated.

~~~*~~~

Nina, of course, went with her, for a variety of reasons-- “’Cause I know the way, to see your reactions, for company and protection... take your pick.”

Suvi raised an eyebrow at the last one. “Protection?” she parroted as they rode down the first gravity well. (An unnerving but fascinating experience in and of itself)

Nina shrugged. “Remnant tech is self-replicating. Just ‘cause we cleared it out on our first visit doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way.”

That was slightly worrisome, but they hit the bottom of the gravity well and Suvi was immediately distracted from her concern by the soft glow of activated tech. 

“It’s magnificent!” she gushed, stumbling slightly into Nina as their boots hit the ground. A few quick steps brought her to the display console and the holographic map hovering above it. “Are those other vaults?” she guessed, seeing the green markers on Voeld, Havarl, Kadara... There were some still red, probably dormant. “Beautiful.”

“Very.” Nina said slyly, giving Suvi a meaningful look.

She rolled her eyes and blushed. “Ryder.”

“It’s the truth and I stand by it,” Nina said with a playful wink. “Lemme show you the layout, so you know what there is to see and how to allot your time. I wish I could say take all the time you need, but I have a conference with the APEX team leads and other Pathfinders in”--a glance at her omnitool--”seven and a half hours, and I don’t wanna leave you down here alone.”

“That’s plenty of time,” Suvi assured her. “I’m just happy I get to see one of these up close. It’s an excellent anniversary gift. One I’ve no idea how I’ll match.”

“Getting to see you all lit up with wonder like a kid on Christmas is a good start,” Nina said as she pulled up the vault map on her omnitool. “We can work out the rest later.”

Suvi laughed. “Deal.” She studied the map for a minute or two, biting her lip.  “There’s another gravity well?”

“Yep.” Nina nodded. “Why?”

“Nothing, they just make me a wee bit unsettled,” Suvi admitted.

“Hey, I’ve ridden? used? this particular set multiple times and they’re fine,” Nina promised. “Besides, I’ll be with you with my trusty jump jet. Trust me, Suv, it’ll be fine. Now, c’mon, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover in six and a half hours.”

“You said seven and a half.”

“I need time to get back to the Tempest, babe,” Nina reminded her.

“Oh, right. Let’s go, then.”

Their progress was slow, as Suvi wanted to stop and look at everything, poke and prod it, take readings. She was pretty sure Nina was expecting that, however. You don’t list someone’s curiosity and passion as part of why you love them and then get surprised when they’re passionately curious. And there was so much about the Remnant they still didn’t understand and their tech was amazing and Nina seemed to be enjoying herself watching Suvi enjoy herself. She didn’t even seem to mind when their progress ground to a halt in the huge chamber just prior to the vault’s core. If the other Remnant technology was fascinating, this room was straight up mind-boggling. Suvi spent fifteen minutes just examining the first console as Nina tried different things, both curious to see what it could do. When they finally stopped playing and made their way across the room, Suvi stopped twice to scan the black pillars, curious as to the tech, the power distribution, if there was anything behind the green lines that covered the surface or if they were just for appearance’s sake.

Both women stared agape at the small but sturdy seedlings curling upward under the central light.

“How the hell.... Everything in here was dead,” Nina frowned at the plants.  “There’s no natural light or water, and everything got wiped out by the damn security cloud the first time I was down here. This is-”

“A miracle,” Suvi murmured, hopping between pillars to get closer.

“I was gonna say impossible, but that works, too,” Nina snorted as she followed.

Suvi already had her scanner up and was examining the plant buds. “Amazing the adaptations they’ve made. It appears they get everything they need from the... soil?” It felt like the wrong word; the stuff covering the platform was a different consistency than she’d ever seen. But then, what had she expected in an alien galaxy? “Are we prepared for takin’ back some samples?” she asked hopefully, running her fingers over a nearby rock.

“A few, sure, of course,” Nina nodded. “Just promise you won’t lick any of ‘em.”

“You’re never lettin’ me live that down are ya?” Suvi sighed. She gathered a handful of soil and a couple small pebbles and sealed them in the pouch Nina produced without being asked. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Nina gestured back toward the path(if you wanted to call it that). “There are a bunch of rooms I didn’t check before, and we only have another two hours. Just so you know where things stand. I don’t want you runnin’ out of time before you get to see everything you wanna see.”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Suvi said with a smile. “And you’re right, we should keep moving. Can we get those doors open?”

“Dunno, didn’t check,” Nina said sheepishly. “We were kinda getting shot at by creepy Remnant robots. And then running from a killer death cloud.”

“Both of which are good excuses,” Suvi laughed, trying not to dwell on the reminder of the danger Nina walked into regularly. This trip was supposed to be fun. Had been fun so far, and she wanted to keep it that way. “Maybe we’ll have better luck.”

“Maybe,” Nina grinned. “Let’s find out.”

They did, mostly. There wasn’t much in the first couple rooms, and the third one reeked of the fluid spilled across its back half. The chemical signature matched the stuff Nina said powered the consoles. Whatever it was made Suvi’s eyes water, so they didn’t stay long. The next couple doors looked like they’d been fused shut and would require heavier equipment than the two of them had to get open. By the time they reached the power core room, there was barely an hour left of their time. Not wanting to waste a single precious minute, Suvi made notes on the structure and architectural patterns even as she gaped at the room’s beauty. She took scans of the consoles, of the plants that grew here--bigger than the others; maybe being closer to the power source accelerated their growth?--of everything. Nina helped, the two of them alternating easy small talk and comfortable silence, until her omnitool beeped.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, Suv, but we gotta go,” she said apologetically. “I’ll try to work it out for us to come back, but if I’m late for another conference, Kandros will never let me live it down.”

“No, it’s fine, trust me,” Suvi assured her, finishing the in-progress scan and closing down her omnitool. “I got quite a bit, and it’ll keep me nice and busy. Gettin’ to see this place at all is a treat, really. An’ we wouldn’t want Kandros lordin’ anything over ya, would we?”

Nina hugged her and kissed her forehead. “You’re the best, Suv.”

Suvi smiled and linked her fingers with Nina’s as they headed back. “You must’ve rubbed off on me, yeah?”

Nina laughed at the joke but shook her head.” I think you got there all on your own.”

~~~*~~~~

Their luck held and they didn’t run into any trouble on the way out. Nina seemed to relax the further they made it without any danger manifesting, and Suvi realized just how concerned she’d been that might prove an issue. But their progress was uneventful, aside from the surprising discovery gravity wells were, somehow, fun when you were going up. Part of Suvi wondered how that made sense, but she decided not to overthink things and just enjoy herself.

The ATV ride back to Prodromos was bumpy, but that was just an excuse to hold tighter to Nina, which was fine by her. They made arrangements with Mayor Bradley to get Suvi’s gear back to the Tempest, and then boarded the shuttle. It was only after they’d buckled in and the door closed, sealing them in privacy, that Suvi let her head rest on Nina’s shoulder and slipped her hand under the Pathfinder’s to interlock their fingers.

“Nina?” she murmured, snuggling close. “Thanks.”

Nina chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “You’re very welcome. Happy six month anniversary, Suvi.”

“Happy anniversary,” she returned, giving Nina’s hand a squeeze. “Hopefully by the time you’re done your meeting, I’ll have something for you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nina leaned her head against Suvi’s. “Seein’ you giddy as a kid in a candy store was present enough for me.”

“Ryder...” She almost rolled her eyes.

“Hey, it may be corny, but it’s true,” Nina defended. “I’m happy, Suv.”

Suvi smiled and hummed contentedly. “Me, too.”