Page 153 of Every Almost

"On track. Charlie's adjustments are integrating cleanly."

"Good." Reyna nodded once to Maren, and followed her on through the bay, completing her rounds while Maren went through the standard checklist. Reyna checked consoles and readouts and asked questions about coolant cycling and the status of the secondary thrusters.

But Charlie felt her across the room the entire time.

When the rounds were complete and Reyna and Maren made their way back to where Charlie and Tavi were working, Reyna paused once again.

"Torvax, ensure that... whatever these specialists are doing... that they get everything they may need to ensure it is completed how they want."

"Understood, Captain," Torvax responded, his fingers already dancing across his datapad.

"Hey, thanks, Cap," Tavi said, his fist extending up to Reyna. She just stared at his hand, her brows furrowing.

"What am I supposed to do here?"

"Pound it," Tavi said, matter-of-factly.

"I beg your pardon?" Reyna said, completely stunned.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Here," she said, grabbing Reyna's attention. "Hold your fist out, like this." Charlie demonstrated with her own hand. Reyna looked from Charlie to Tavi, and back again.

"I'm not walking into a trap, am I?"

"Like we'd even tell you," Tavi answered, smirking.

"That doesn't bode well for my confidence in you." Tavi laughed at that.

"Please?" Charlie said. Reyna looked over at Charlie, then sighed and raised her fist.

Charlie grinned, moving her hand towards Reyna's, bumped it, and pulled away with the full explosion gesture, complete with "ahhs."

"See?" Charlie said, a smile dancing across her lips. "That wasn't so hard, was it? And now, you know how to 'pound it.' Something we humans do when we celebrate or offer a proverbial pat-on-the-back for a job well done."

Reyna smirked, one eyebrow raised at Charlie. "Hmm. Well, thank you for the lesson."

"Anytime," Charlie responded. "I'm always here."

Reyna held her gaze for moment, then nodded once. She spun around and began walking with Torvax alongside and left through the bay doors.

Charlie turned back to the console and picked up a wire connector, turning it over in her fingers. She realized shecouldn't remember what she'd been working on before Reyna walked in.

"You okay, Charlie?" Tavi asked, tilting his head to look over at her.

"Yeah," Charlie responded. "All good."

She put the connector down and got back to work.

As Charlie spentthe afternoon working on their passion project, still riding the high of "Don't Stop Me Now" playing through a datapad speaker, she felt good. She was working, she had great company, and she was in among the stars. If only Katie were here.

Someone cleared their throat behind her, pulling her from her thoughts.

Charlie turned to find the man named Orion standing there. She hadn't interacted with him much since she landed on the Emberkind, but recalled how he and Reyna recommended interviews together about Earth. She took in his warm bronze skin and amber eyes that immediately made her feel calm. The expression he wore sat somewhere between scholarly interest and barely contained excitement.

"Charlotte Wickett," he said.

"That's me," Charlie said, wiping her hands on her pants. "But please, call me Charlie."

"Charlie," he repeated, smiling at the correction. "Orion, the librarian."