@hitorimaronāĀ replied to yourĀ post:Ā Iāve got the day off and absolutely nothing to do,...
Whoaaa, honestly anything?! What about something sci-fi-ish? :D No pressure though, whatever will be awesoooome!!
I dunno why, but sci-fi au automatically reads as space au...
Jupiter is beautiful in the morning. Ā Actually, Jupiter is a big, roiling mess of gas and radiation at any time of the day.Ā But, in the morning, when Derek has just woken up, and heās sipping a warm cup of not-coffee, getting ready for a long day of work, Jupiterās roiling mess is outstandingly beautiful.
For one hundred and fifty three days heās woken up to this view, but todayās the last day. Ā The research mission is complete, the scientists have collected all they need. Ā Soon theyāll be hurtling through space, back on earth. Ā Derekās gotten to know the crew well these past months, heās worked with them before, transporting people and equipment to the outer planets. Ā Heās going to miss Ericaās untameable bed head, Isaacās acerbic personality, and Boydās quiet voice in his ear. Ā But really, the person heāll miss most of all is Stiles.
One of the scientists, sent to collect readings of Jupiterās radiation levels, Stiles is funny, and smart, and Derek has it bad. Ā Real damn bad. Ā At first he couldn't stand Stiles, but after only days of being crammed together in this tiny tin can of a ship, Derek would be a fool to deny that they grew on each other.
Derekās head of engineering, and Stiles is some flavour of astrophysicist, but they both love space something silly.
Derek floats down the engine room, and looks over Ericaās fuel calculations. Ā Thatās where Stiles finds him.
āHey,ā Ā Stiles says, only to whack his knee against the doorway. Ā āOuch.ā Ā Thatās Stiles; clumsy, even in zero gravity.
āHey yourself,ā Ā Derek says, Ā āWeāre breaking out of orbit in a little over an hour.ā
Stiles chuckles, kicking his legs out so he floats on over to Derek. Ā āIāll keep my barf bag handy.ā
āPlease donāt throw up in my cockpit.ā
āIām properly motivated not to,ā Ā Stiles says, Ā āI know with the gs weāll be under itāll just splash right back.ā
Derek makes a face.
Stiles cracks his knuckles, something he only does when heās nervous. Ā āI was wondering, what do you plan on doing when we get back home?ā
Derek hums. Ā He skims down his tablet, going over Boydās engine check. Ā āOh, I donāt know, grab a burger somewhere, I guess.ā
āMy buddy Scott makes the best burgers ever,ā Ā Stiles says, Ā āHe does this thing where he takes turkey bacon, slathers it with mayo, and sandwiches it between two angus patties, then covers the whole thing in jerk seasoning.ā
Derek looks up from his tablet, to Stilesā eagar expression. Ā āNo offence to your friend, but that sounds like the most disgusting thing Iāve ever heard of in my life, and Iāve smelled samples from Uranusā atmosphere.ā
āI know it sounds bad, but itās actually pretty good. Ā Last time we were in the Mojave, taking some cosmic readings, we grilled them right on the Jeepās hood after it crapped out on us.ā
Derek laughs. Ā āLooks like you could have used an engineer.ā
āOh?ā Ā Stiles quirks a brow. Ā āMr. Rocket Scientist knows how to fix a problem with a common Jeep. Ā Iām surprised.ā
Derek smirks. Ā āI know engines, let me guess⦠you were in the desert, which means a fine grit sand, so the air filter must have been clogged.ā Ā Stilesā jaw drops. Ā āSo I was right?ā
Stiles rolls his eyes. Ā āYou engineers...ā Ā He trails off. Ā Chewing on his lip, he looks out the big observation window to Jupiterās big red spot swirling below. Ā āBut seriously, we should hang out, not just when weāre out in space. Ā When we have solid ground beneath our feet, and our hair doesnāt look like a mess. Ā Well, my hair mostly, I donāt know how you always look so put together. Ā Gravity would be nice.ā
Derek smiles down at the⦠ceiling? Ā Yes, gravity would be nice for once. Ā āIād like that. Ā If you ever wanted to take me out to the Mojave, I promise if our car stalls Iāll be able to get it up and running in no time.ā
Stiles grins, and reaches out to take his hand. Ā āItās a date.ā














