... It had been two days, and they were still in the thick of it. Nova really hadn't expected there to be that much debris, spread out over that much space. He could tell from how William was acting that he hadn't expected that, either. He was pacing and studying a display of the radar readings.

" William, I'm coming in," a familiar voice called.

" It's fine, we're not up to anything," he called in reply. " I'm just trying to figure out how much longer this is going to last."

" Up to anything..." Nova mumbled to himself, vaguely incredulous. Wasn't like they'd been going around committing crimes. Half the time William was too cagey to get ahold of if he wasn't being absurdly clingy.

Kirie walked in, not carrying any of the papers Nova was accustomed to seeing her with.

" Where's the manual plugin, William?" she asked.

" Follow the cord," he replied, nudging it with his foot; the thick cable was plugged into the display he was looking at, and was plugged in behind his desk half the room away.

" Honestly... I thought you said it would be less than two days," she complained, walking over to the desk. " Lyena, could I have the chair?"

He rolled his eyes.

" Fine," he said, and simply got back up on the desk and laid down. " It's not as comfortable as it looks, you know."

If she was upset with his lack of manners, she didn't show it; instead, she sat down in the chair and rolled it to where the back was flush with the wall, close to the outlet. She took off her right glove, and her hand underneath was a smooth, plasticky white, articulated; she rolled up her sleeve to expose a port, and fished in her pocket for a moment, drawing out a cord.

" I can feel you staring, Lyena," she said.

" No I'm not," he immediately replied.

She plugged her arm into the wall.

" Kirie, are you really gonna take my chair?" William complained lightly from here he was still pacing in circles.

" You weren't using it," she replied.

" I was," Nova pointed out.

" You're always up on the desk anyway," William said in turn.

" You won't get me a comfortable chair."

" Tell Kirie what kind of chair you want. Tell her."

" Evon wood and with garvish cushions?"

" You see! He's going to bankrupt us-!"

William made an undignified noise as he tripped over the cord to his monitor, and fell flat on his face.

" Ah, William, are you alright?" Kirie asked, concern evident; Nova figured that if she wasn't literally plugged into the wall, she would've ran over to him.

" He's fine," Nova waved her off.

" No, I'm not, my boyfriend is a gold digger," he whined, still laying facedown on the floor. " Also I think that broke the clasp on my cape."

" You're not dead, get up."

" Don't want to."

Kirie sighed deeply and slumped back in her chair.

" Oh... You two really are alike."