Rated: G
Pairing: Ash/Hilda
Wordcount: ~500
“What did you need me for?” Ash asked as she entered Hilda’s lab. Her girlfriend texted her not long ago about seeing something she finished.
“This.” Hilda placed her hand on something covered by cloth. It looked bulky, but a lot of her inventions tended to be bulky. Ash had no idea what could be under that white sheet.
“I’m happy to test anything for you,” Ash said. “But isn’t this normally Vav and X-Ray’s thing?”
Hilda averted her eyes and she went a little pink around the cheeks. “It’s not for them.” The sheet was removed without any flourish to reveal a breastplate and vambraces. Two things that were definitely not made for the other heroes, given the fact that their colour scheme was red and gold. The breastplate was an unbroken red with darker bits at the sides. The vambraces were gold, with red etched into them to turn the gold into intricate feathers.
“Woah…” Sometimes with the things Hilda normally made, it was easy to forget she was truly an artist. It was just that she didn’t usually put much artistic ‘flare’ into her inventions. Ash walked up to run her fingers against the feathers. The metal was cool under her touch. Though everything was, but this metal seemed cooler than other materials. Enough so that Ash definitely noticed. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Hilda said with a small, proud smile. Her eyes glittered with excitement as she moved to stand next to Ash and she reached out to run her own fingers along the breastplate. When Ash did the same, she discovered it held the same odd coolness. “I made it with a special metal that shouldn’t heat up too much, even with your powers. So it won’t burn you if you wear it during battle. Not that you burn, but it’ll remain cool on the outside, too.”
“That’s so cool. Literally,” Ash said with a little laugh.
Hilda snorted. She held up the breastplate. It glimmered slightly when the lights hit it. “Do you want to try it on?”
“Help me?” Ash her arms out at her sides when Hilda nodded.
Dark red fingerless gloves went under the vambraces. They were soft, and they seemed to share the same cool quality. Ash moved around a bit once the pieces of armour were on properly and wasn’t surprised to find her mobility not at all impeded. If she wanted to, Hilda could build a full set of armour and Ash knew it’d be as easy to move in as a spandex suit.
“I made special fabric to have the same properties as the metal,” Hilda said.
“You’re amazing,” Ash said honestly. Pink burned Hilda’s cheeks again and Ash reached up to cradle them in her hands, partly just to hold Hilda and partly to let the fabric cool them down. Hilda leaned just slightly into the touch.
“You like them?” Hilda asked.
“Of course I do,” Ash said. “Thank you.”
“I want you to remain safe,” Hilda said.
“With you by my side, I know I always will be,” Ash said. Hilda flushed darker and averted her eyes downward, but there was a small smile on her face.
