#it finally worked

The rain's finally cleared up by the time the research team is gearing up for the day. Tauro peels back the edge of the tent flap, grimacing at the water that runs off the sturdy material and down his arm.

"It's going to be treacherous today," he calls over his shoulder to the others, "all of you watch your step, and if the Engineer tells you to stop something, stop!"

The man in question blinks, lifting his head at the sound of his name. When he sees who called him he smiles, hazel eyes twinkling.

"Aw, Tauro, you'll get me all poked up," he chuckles. Tauro ducks his head a bit to hide the heat rising in his face and shrugs.

"Always time for a good safety speech."

Behind the Engineer and to his right, Setari raises an eyebrow. Tauro widens his eyes at her in the universal signal to not, and she rolls her eyes at him, plastering on a cheery smile and joining the Engineer at the map table.

"What section are we checking today?" she asks. The Engineer blinks at her, surprised. No wonder, they went over today's workload yesterday in the daily debrief. 

Tauro scoffs quietly. She's so obvious.

The Engineer doesn't seem to mind, though, launching into a fast-paced recap of what they went over yesterday.

"These two outcroppings are what we should focus on the most," he says, pointing at their site map, "until the ground dries out it's too risky to try much more than that. We don't want to dislodge anything or have anyone fall."

Tauro nods. Most of the useful information from any artefacts comes from the context in which they were found- it's no use finding a vase or a painted tablet if it isn't where it's been laying for the last however-long it's been since it was put there. The Zonai ruins have already been stripped of some of their context just by the manner of their arrival- it's been hell trying to piece everything back together to see how it all fits.

The Engineer goes on a bit longer; Tauro watches him, appreciative. It's so nice to have someone on the crew who's as excited about all of this as he is and takes his job so seriously.

The fact that he looks like that doesn't hurt, either- the Engineer reaches up to casually brush a stray lock of hair behind one of his curiously short ears and Tauro's mouth goes dry.

Setari catches up to him on the way to the worksite. "'Always time for a good safety speech?'" she repeats. "Come on, that was pathetic."

"And you're any better?" Tauro smirks. "He's going to think there's 

something wrong with your memory."

"My memory is fine- and I seem to remember a certain someone missing the second half of that spiel because he was too busy ogling-"

"I was not-"

"Tauro? Setari? Am I missing something or are you just barking at a knot?"

Barking at a- Tauro blinks, confused, but Setari just smiles. "Just some friendly conversation for the walk! We're alert, don't worry."

The Engineer frowns. He doesn't seem convinced. "If you say so."

He jogs ahead, calling out to one of the younger researchers who's struggling to carry their equipment across the rain-slick terrain. Setari snorts.

"Your face-"

"Shut up," Tauro groans. "What did that even mean?"

"Something to do with goofing off, I think. I wonder where he gets this stuff."

With a thoughtful nod, Tauro agrees. "Must be slang from his home country."

"Mm. Gosh, I wonder what it's like. You don't think everyone there looks like him, do you?"

Setari bites her lip, eyes turning in the direction of the Engineer, who's leaning over to look at something another team member is pointing to on the ground. Tauro elbows her in the arm. "You're incorrigible."

"No, I just have eyes."

Fortunately for Tauro's sanity Setari was assigned to the second site.

Unfortunately for his sanity the Engineer was assigned to the first.

Tauro's internal monologue for the day involves a lot of screaming.

It was a good shot they got started so early in the morning- by midday the sun is beating down so heavily that people have had to start taking turns sharing the minimal shade for water breaks wherever they can find it. Tauro wipes his brow with his forearm, shaking his head back to to get sweat-damp hair out of his face. He turns at the sound of his name being called, trotting across the field to join one of the junior researchers at the base of the ruins.

"What is it, Dela?" he asks, leaning over to peer at what she's uncovered. It looks like pottery, or perhaps a smooth stone. Something carefully carved, and then painted with intricate designs.

"I'm not sure, but it looks important," Dela responds. "I've cleared away the soil around it, but it's heavier than it looks. Could you help me bring it over to the cart?"

"You already got everything about this location marked down?"

He only asks to be extra sure- Dela nods, holding up her notebook. "It's all in here!"

Tauro grins and gives her a high-five, then scans the artefact for the best way to pick it up. "Okay, I'll take this wider end if you can lift the short one?"

"Got it!"

They get into place, and Tauro counts them down to lift the heavy artefact into the air.

Dela wasn't kidding, it's way heavier than it looks. Tauro takes as much of the weight off of Dela's scrawny arms as he can, bracing the artefact against his stomach as they slowly make their way over to the further-examination cart. About halfway there the wind finally, blessedly picks up, providing a nice break in temperature and also blowing his hair directly into his face.

"Oh!" Dela gasps, as he coughs, spitting out hair. Tauro shakes his head, trying to clear his face, but it's no use. He can't get it out of his face like this, and with the weight of this thing he doesn't think they could lift it again if they set it down.

Dela's just going to have to guide them.

"Goodness, that's some pumpkins there!" the Engineer exclaims, suddenly leaning over from Tauro's more-blinded side. "I haven't seen a painted fragment that large before."

Tauro grunts, arms beginning to scream with the weight of it, and the Engineer's pretty hazel eyes widen in concern when they land on him.

"Your hair! Oh no, can you even see? Let me get that for you."

He reaches up to his hair, pulling out the tie holding back his short ponytail, and reaches over to Tauro's face. Tauro's already motionless, but he's not sure he could move if he tried as the warm pads of the Engineer's fingertips drag gently over the skin of his forehead, curving over his cheekbones and behind his ears to gather his hair into a neat ponytail at the back of his head.

Tauro swallows dry air. He doesn't think he's blinked this whole time. He doesn't want to, really, not when the Engineer's face is so close to his, pink tongue pressed between his lips with concentration as he secures the hairstyle.

"There," he says, like nothing out of the ordinary has just happened. 

"That should do you for a while- my, doesn't that look nice."

Dela nods, flushing slightly as the Engineer looks to her for confirmation. He grins and slips his hands under the artefact, taking some of the weight himself. "Alright, let's get this where it's going, shall we?"

The three of them shuffle the rest of the way to the cart, offloading the artefact with a grateful sigh as the weight finally drops away from their exhausted limbs. Tauro scrubs a cloth over his face to clear the sweat and stops mid-motion when he notices the Engineer resting a hip against the cart, watching him with curious eyes.

"Something on my face?" he asks. The Engineer shakes his head, smiling so his eyes crinkle at the corners.

"Nothing of the sort. You simply have a nice face, is all. I hadn't seen the whole thing at once before."

Tauro's brain takes a running leap off the nearest cliff. "O-oh. Um- thank you?"

His friend leans closer, enough that Tauro could count the faint freckles that have been slowly spreading and darkening across his fairer skin. 

He has very long lashes.

"Your eyes are very lovely," the Engineer says gently. "I haven't seen many people in this country with blue eyes."

"Really?" Tauro barely manages to respond. He can barely breathe. "It's quite common in my home village."

The Engineer smiles. "You'll have to take me there one day."

There's a small freckle on his eyelid, just below the ridge of his brow.

Tauro is going to scream.

Or faint.

Most likely faint, actually, he's awfully woozy all of a sudden. The 

Engineer's eyes widen. "Tauro?"

His knees give out.

He tries to tilt himself backwards, he really does, but he seems to have found himself standing next to the last mud puddle left from the night's rain. Tauro pitches forwards, colliding heavily with the Engineer as he darts forward to catch him. He doesn't hit the ground, largely thanks to the Engineer's impressive arm strength, but he does wind up with his face squished into a very warm, impressively soft something.

There's a heartbeat under his cheekbone.

Oh dear.

"Are you alright?" the Engineer asks. Tauro feels it resonate through the Engineer's chest and into his own skull.

"No." he rasps.

The Engineer shifts, leaning down in front of him, and Tauro has to fight down the urge to flail as with an arm around his back and legs he's lifted bodily from the ground. That does mean he doesn't have the brainpower to repress the startled yelp that escapes his throat, but the Engineer just chuckles and starts walking.

The Goddess really has it out for him today.

"Amare, could you get some water for Tauro please?" he hears the Engineer say. "I think he's had a bit too much sun."

"Yes sir!"

The boy scuttles away and Tauro giggles somewhat hysterically. Isn't enough that the kid's face looks like a beetle? Does he have to move like one too?

"Hang in there, Chuckaboo, we're almost to the shade."

Tauro laughs harder. It makes his head spin. Woo, that was not a good idea. "I have no idea what that meaaanss."

The Engineer sets him down on a blissfully cool patch of grass and leans over him, concernedly pressing his palm against Tauro's forehead. 

"I'll explain it sometime when you don't have heat exhaustion."

Amare returns with several bottles of water and the Engineer nudges himself into Tauro's side to hold him up while he takes slow sips of his water.

"How's that?" he asks after a few minutes, checking Tauro's forehead again. "Feeling any better?"

More clear-headed, at least, if still rather dizzy. Tauro nods slightly to prevent his head from going wild again. "Mm, yeah. Thanks, En."

Bright pink blooms over the Engineer's face. "What?"

What did he say? Tauro processes his words for a moment and nearly drops his water. "Sorry! It just slipped out, I won't-"

"No, no, that's not it!" the Engineer gasps. "I like it!"

Tauro blinks. "You do?"

"Yeah!" the Engineer- En- takes one of Tauro's hands in both of his own, gripping it tightly between their chests. His eyes sparkle with happy light. "It's yours now, you can have it."