Busting Out for the Umpteenth Time

Why did he sound so surprised? Images of him smothering her with a pillow, or chasing her with cutlery, or holding her head underwater, or using that blow torch on her face instead of the creme brulee, or...well, it was pretty convincing! ...not that she was going to admit it, now. Nope.

"N-no, I wasn't, I just...wanted to hear you say it..." Her weak excuses ended at the forehead-flick, and she paused in surprise, meeting Giles' terrified eyes after taking note of the meltdown his projection was going through. Did he find her as terrifying as she had found him? Sure, he had good reason to be frightened; after all, in their society, such action would not be tolerated, but he had also done worse when she had really riled him up.

"What do you think I'm going to do to you? Or...what are you afraid of me doing to you?" She prodded his forehead in retaliation, pinning him with her curious gaze.

-----

"That's somewhat reassuring, and yes, really." Tink. Tink. Mining was always so monotonous, even when he had a decent reason to do it. "Oh, you heard me correctly. I've always loathed this job, and there's nothing I would love more than to leave." Finally telling someone the truth was liberating, and refreshed Ichabod in ways he had never comprehended. Heck, he didn't care if he went to jail, either...it was just nice to let it out, even though he didn't think about it when he let it slip.

"Hug him? No...no, that's not it." An awkward blush rose across his nose, and he shook his head, continuing on. "He offered to take me with him to see his home city, when his craft is repaired. I doubt I'll be coming back once I leave, since there's not much here to make me happy." Tink. Tink. And there was the prize, gleaming below the dusty stone he continued to chip away at. Just a bit more to go, and they would have their gold.

"W-Who... me? No way. I'm not afraid." But the quivering mass in the corner said otherwise. He turned to yell and throw a fork at it. "Knock that off!"

The projection disappeared but was left with a red tint to his bronze colored skin as the bounty of food arrived.

"N-Nevermind. Let's just eat so I can fix the hovercraft and we can get home, Okay?" He avoided conversation for the rest of the meal except to randomly mention how much Steve liked those oven mitts. When they were done, he thanks the staff and cooks and led her back to the hovercraft.

"You know... I'm not sure this will hold 4 people. It might, but you're oddly tall, so I can't make any promises." He smiled. "Are you sure you want to invite the girl?"

---------------------------------------------

Orion let the idea of him leaving forever hit her. They weren't particularly close, but if he left, there would be no one to cook and clean for, and her and PJ would be back to the shack.

"O-Oh yeah? F-Funny story..." She whispered, clearing her throat. "You see, they told me i could come to. But the only way I'm allowed to get on the ship is if I do it secretly and neither of us tells them about it. Weird plan, right? ha ha, guess I'll see you there. Oh. And I'm glad you don't want to hug Giles. I think you could hug someone more muscular if you wanted."

She gave him a thumps up.

"Stop by my house when you finish and I'll show you the photograph. I've gotta go pack!" Orion headed off with PJ while wondering how many plants she could fit in her bag.

Well, Ako wasn't about to argue with food. She happily wolfed down her fair share and seemed in incredibly high spirits by the time they left, enough to give the staff her compliments in a very humble manner. Oooh, food was so magical. They weren't as great as Giles in the kitchen, but she never expected any less. By the time they reached the hovercraft, she was humming a light tune, and actually shot Giles a grin at his teasing.

"I'm positive that I want her to come. If we won't all fit, I'm going to stay here and you're going to take them home. It's all a part of my plan, remember? I did say 'please'." After all, if she went through enough portals, she was bound to end up somewhere kind of near home. Eventually. Mountain-nose and Orion didn't have the same kind of perks. "Everyone here isn't worth her time, and I want her to be celebrated, not...stepped on. She's a smart woman, and she deserves it, probably more than a brat like me. Now, how far away should I be from this clunker when you start working on it?" Resisting the urge to kick the broken hovercraft, Ako rested her hands on her hips and settled for staring at it.

-----

Women...were difficult to understand. Ichabod watched Orion go, nodding dumbly to her words out of an inability to be coherent, as a man should. He still had a job to do, though, and found himself chipping at the rock more fervently until, at long last, he had collected a sizable amount of gold. It was most likely more than they needed, but he hadn't seen the extent of the damage, and didn't have a good estimate of how much gold it would take. Remembering Orion, he set off towards her home instead of the hovercraft, the memory of her shocked expression and choked words disturbing him more than he expected.

When he reached her home, he gave the door a brief and uncomfortable knock, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead and shifting uneasily.

"The plan, eh?" Giles grinned back. "I guess I'll have to make it fit all four of us then. You know, maybe cut out a sunroof for you head. The usual. Oh, and I know you, so stand back far enough that you can't kick it."

He laughed then rolled up his sleeves and got to work. With his arms elbow deep in wires and gears, he tilted his head towards Ako.

"Well, while you're hear, hand me that bag right there. Pull out my screwdriver and toss it this way." He blinked for a second the grinned. "This might be the closest I'll ever see you to doing actual work. Oh my, Miss Ako, I wish I had my camera. Care to wash some dishes we me when we get home."

He smiled more, but then his projection reappeared and started blowing kisses at Ako.

"D-Dammit, no!" Giles flailed and fell into the pile of debris, trying to kick his projection while covering his face. "S-Stop that!"

----------------------------

"Come in." Orion was inside putting things into her tiny satchel while watering all her plants. "I don't have room for, so I'm going to sneak them into the fields to be planted. I think they'll like it there."

Once her chores were done, she motioned for him to take a seat on the leaf bed and she handed him a picture of the ocean. A little girl was playing in it and there were boats on the horizon.

"Pretty, don't you think? When I get there, I'm going to stand in it for as long as I can." She smiled, the started unbraiding her hair to brush it. "Do you think we'll be leaving soon? What are you going to tell your maids? Don't worry, I'll take care of you on the ride to the shiny city. I promised. Are you hungry? I can cook something real quick if you like."

PJ came over and laid in Ich's lap, curling up for a nap, apparently accepting him as a step father. Orion continued to watch him carefully while brushing her hair. Then she said "Test number two." and held her arms open to see if he would willingly go in for a hug, or cry. She figured those were the two options in this experiment.

"I could deal with a sunroof. It's too dark down here, anyway. And I'm pretty sure I could kick this thing from a mile away with my death-legs. No dice." Clicking her tongue, Ako faked a kick at the machine, then spun around to survey the passer-bys. She was just starting to daydream about feeling warm again, or rather, far too hot, when Giles requested her help.

"Hm? Ah, sure." Seizing the bag, she rummaged through it, finding the screwdriver and handing it over before plopping the bag between them. His words made her realize that he was right, and she blushed, sticking out her tongue in his direction. "I do plenty of work! It just involves coming up with master plans far too complicated for you to understand." The sudden appearance of Giles' projection was startling, and for a moment Ako thought she had somehow ticked him off before she noticed that it didn't have a knife this time. In fact, it seemed rather enamored with her.

"...wait, what?" The implications of the blown kisses had her daydreams come true; she was, indeed, quite warm...even if it was just concentrated in her face. "If...if you wash, and I dry, will it make you stop that?" Pointing loosely at the projection, voice tight with embarrassment, Ako attempted to diffuse the situation. She had absolutely no idea about how awful her word choice was.

-----

Ichabod tentatively entered the house, looking around him just in case there was anything queer, like rock-catapults that Phillip had inspired to counterattack against miners. Not that he thought...that a rock could organize that... He focused on Orion and took the offered seat, accepting the picture absent-mindedly.

"I imagine they'll be well cared for, there." When he turned his sight to the picture, however, he was stunned into a momentary silence. It was beautiful, moreso than their lake, or any other site he had witnessed in the underground. "Yes..." he agreed, voice low and gravely. For a long breath, he stared at the photograph, unmoving, until life returned to his limbs and he held the photo towards Orion, eyes drifting from her face to her hair. "Giles needs my help with the craft, and this gold, so we won't leave until both are delivered. I'll leave my maids a note; they'll be fine. One less man to care for. Thank you for...this." Waving his hands ambiguously, Ichabod found himself looking at her face once more.

"No need to trouble yourself now, though." Unthinkingly, he began to pet PJ as the dog claimed his lap, then paused his ministrations for a moment to ponder what he had done. Apparently deciding that no harm was being done, he continued, remembering how much he had wanted a dog when he was a child. They were hard to come by, and thus, reserved for the higher-ups, but maybe he could have one on the surface. Adventure, a job he enjoyed, a dog, inspiration...life on the surface sounded so promising. Seeing Orion move from his peripheral vision, Ichabod turned his gaze towards her, unsure of what it was that she was trying to do.

After a solid bout of staring, he decided that he had no clue what was going on, and raised his free arm hesitantly, wondering if she was trying to get him to do an awkward dance. He wasn't much of a dancer.

"I-I'm trying!" Giles yelled while pathetically throwing his screwdriver at the projection, causing it to roll it's eyes then fade away. Giles layed there, stunned for nearly a minute before speaking up. "That... was nothing, okay? Don't read into it. Just like how I don't plan on killing you even though the projection acts that way."

He grumbled nonsense to himself before getting back up and returning to work on the hovercraft. He refused to turn around and look at Ako, though even from behind his ears were visibly red. He really wished Ich would hurry here to be a buffer.

-----------------------

Orion blinked as he raised his hand, the gave him a stare like maybe he was special too.

"What are you doing?" She asked, lowering her arms. Well apparently he failed the test. She then took his hand. "You want a palm reading? Is that it? Well I don't know how to do it, but Phillip is an expert."

She ran her fingers down his hand and shook her head.

"Yeah, I have no idea. I'll let him figure it out." She then put the rock in his hand and returned to rebraiding her hair. "Mmmhmm, I see, oh? You think so? Should I tell him? I don't know about that. Phillip! Don't make stuff up. You sure? Okay. Ichabod? Phillip says you will soon be in an accident, but not to worry becuase you'll probably live a long life, either that or you'll be hungry in an hour. It's hard to tell. There's also something else here that I'll tell you about when you're older. i don't think you're ready for it."

She smiled and patted his shoulder before grabbing her bag and heading for the door.

"Let's go fix that machine so we can go to the surface."

"Uh. Right..." Ako walked a few paces off then settled herself on the hard ground, telling herself that she kept looking at Giles to make sure he was still working. She made note of his blazing ears, the observation making her own flare up in response, like some sort of synched morse code. A large part of her missed the camaraderie that they had maintained so easily before. Later, when she wasn't so flustered, she would get her answers.

-----

"Well, I...not....okay." Tangled up in her questions and his own foolishness, Ichabod relented to letting a rock read his gloved palm, wondering what was going on in Orion's head to allow her to comfortably converse with said rock. "An accident? They do happen. I'll just...trust your judgment." Removing PJ from his lap by scooping the dog into his arms, Ichabod stood, walking towards the door. "Yeah...I imagine they're wondering where we are..." That and he was definitely ready to leave.

It didn't take them long to reach the crash site, and Ichabod felt an uneasy twang in the air once they arrived, though he didn't know what to do about it. Clearing his throat to draw their attention, he approached Giles' side, setting the bag of gold down between them before placing PJ on the ground as well, urging the dog to go to Orion.

"Took longer than expected, but there it is. Let's get this hovercraft of yours fixed." Settling himself next to Giles, appreciative of the straightforward male company, Ichabod began surveying the damage and worked on what he recognized.

Akosua, meanwhile, perked up immediately when Orion came into sight, and the gangly girl leapt up from her seat on the ground to embrace her friend.

"Good, I thought you weren't coming, for awhile! Ugh, so happy you're here! I thought I was going to die from being so quiet, you don't even realize...well...yeah, you weren't there, but regardless, I'm glad to see you. Nosey didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

Ichabod stiffened where he sat, but made no comment.

Giles let out a sigh or relief when Ich showed up. He smiled and handed him a couple tools of his own.

"Hey. Good to see you. So, I've been working, and it doesn't actually look that bad. If we add the gold like Orion mentioned and use some of your steam powered machines for energy, we should be out of here by the morning. You ready for this?" He grinned, sensing an adventure for all of them. "Though, remember that when you get to our city, your role in society will be... erm... different. Orion will probably enjoy it. Even though she's a little... different, she'll still be treated with more respect than the richest men in our society. Though those are usually only rich becuase of their wives money. Haha, you get used to it."

He pointed out some things for Ich to work on but kept sneaking glances at Ako who was now being hugged back by Orion.

"Akosua!" Orion grinned hugging their girls waist tightly. "We're going to be going soon. I'm so excited. Tell me more about what it's like up there. And we'll be friend right? Can I sleep under your sink?"

Orion looked a little embarrassed, asking for so much wealth as a sink sleeping area.

"More than ready." Ichabod accepted the tools, giving a faint nod to Giles. "Oh, I expect that it will take some getting used to, but I'm not as brassy as that woman of yours, so I doubt it'll be as difficult on you. Your city sounds crazy, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. Any other culture shocks I should be warned about?" Working around to the parts that Giles pointed out, Ichabod allowed himself to loosen up with his work, but noticed that his partner was distracted. Quietly, he followed the line of sight to the two girls, wondering what had transpired while they were away. Giles didn't seem particularly annoyed, at any rate.

"She do something to you while we were gone?" The question was quietly presented, so no eavesdropping could occur. Not that it would, anyway, with how much volume Akosua was emitting.

"Will we be friends? Ha! Of course we will, silly! And no, you're not sleeping under my sink; I'm going to make sure you get your own bed. A real bed, that is comfortable and not made of leaves. You can pick what room you want to sleep in when we get home! Hm, what's to say about home, though...oh! So, we have a bunch of crazy-annoying technology that I break constantly, but Giles is probably the best repairman on the planet, so that's only really a problem if you're with me in an elevator or something. During the day, it's freakishly hot, and at night, it's freakishly cold, but that doesn't matter when we're home, since we have heating and cooling units...um..."

Pausing to take a decent breath, Ako tapped her chin thoughtfully, then realized that she felt like she was being stared at. She glanced behind her at the men, who both seemed to be studiously working...hm.

"Well, as I was saying..." her attention turned back to Orion, and she continued to describe her home city, unafraid to use her long limbs to emphasize any and every point she felt she was making. She was also very excited to be heading home.

"It's hard to explain any more of the city. I guess I'll walk you through once we get there." Giles smiled until the incident was brought up. He lowered his voice and leaned over also. "W-Well, you see. My projection sort of acted a bit romantic towards her. That never happens. it's usually trying to kill her. So now it's really awkward. I told her it's not a big deal, but I can't even make eye contact. I just hope she doesn't fire me over this when we get home. There's a big no dating rule for the Powers. I guess they're afraid that the child will be freakishly powerful or something. Oh well, it'll pass."

He turned back to working, still feeling awkward about it.

Meanwhile, Orion was staring at Ako for an awkwardly long time before speaking.

"...you... you'll let me live with you..." She whispered, not believing it at first. "that's... that's the best gift in the entire world! I've gotta tell everyone!"

By everyone she meant phillip and PJ, and then she ran over to Ich.

"Ich. Ich. Ich. Ich." She whispered over his shoulder until he paid attention. "I'm going to live with Akosua!"

Giles blinked.

"Yeah... but... I live in the room across the hall... and Ich will be staying in the room attatched to that. This house is getting too crowded and awkward!" Giles held his head and worked fast.


They were able to get it up in running just a handful of hours later.

"Everyone ready?"

Ichabod felt like he would be better suited to giving Giles advice if he were either a woman or a homosexual. Sadly, that was not the case, and Giles would have to settle for what he was given.

"It's just your projection, right? Can't be too bad. If it gets worse, just...I don't know...leave the city for awhile so you don't have the rules around anymore." Heck, that's what he was doing, essentially...but for different reasons. For some reason, Orion was intent on snatching his attention, however, so he didn't have much time to mull it over, instead tilting his head in her direction to let her know he was listening. Her news was...not news.

"Don't be such a wimp about it!" Ako piped in, grinning nonchalantly in Giles' direction. She made a point of keeping Orion entertained while the repairs were finished, and eagerly leapt up from the ground, where she had been doodling in the dirt for Orion's benefit, when the time had come for them to leave.

"Yes, yes, yes, five million times yes! We've had hours to be ready, so we had better be ready, aaaaagh!" Splaying her fingers as she held her arms above her head, Akosua stretched, then flounced over to the hovercraft. "C'mon, Orion, Doc Hawk, hurry up, go, shoo, in! You too, Giles." She herded everyone to the vehicle forcefully, dying to feel the blaze of sunshine on her skin again. Actually, speaking of sunshine...

"Orion, keep those goggles I gave you on, okay? Hrm...if I had any clothing to spare, I'd blindfold you with it, schnozzy. You're going to want something to keep your eyes shaded when we go, because mole people aren't suited to sunlight..." Pacing and gnawing the end of her thumb, Ako overlooked Ichabod's unhappy frown at her nose comments, though the man merely growled to himself and rummaged around behind his head amongst his nest of coats. After a bit of prying, a heavy hood was pulled over his head, and he boarded the hovercraft.

"Problem solved." He really wanted to leave before he wanted to hit her again, because once they were gone, he would be unable to. That and he didn't really want to, since he respected Giles and Giles seemed to fancy her, or something. The man must have had a screw knocked loose.

Giles sulked into the hovercraft, already regretting his decision to take all of these people home with him. Suddenly this town didn't seem too bad. But, one look at Ako told him that throwing their guests overboard was not an option.

"Alright, everyone get in, and no one touch the control panel unless I show you what to do. Akosua is not allowed near it for any reason. Even if everyone else is dead, she's not allowed to touch anything." He grumbled, still acting a little awkward while starting the machine up.

Inside the hovercraft was just one circular compartment for them to sit, surrounded by glass, like a big bubble. But it wasn't very big at all. About the size of an elevator. So when they all sat down, there wasn't much room if someone decided to get restless.

"It's a couple days trip back to the city, so we'll have to take breaks now and then." Giles replied, as the craft flew up through the hole in the ceiling. "Ichabod, take my goggles, you'll want to see this. and I'm used to it."

He tossed him the pair and as soon as they were up to the surface Ich would see the desert stretching on and on for as far as he could see.

Orion smiled at the view while covering PJ's eyes since he lacked goggles.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Ako sighed, seating herself as far away from the the control panel, and Guiles, as she could. One wrong move could have her breaking either of them. She began to wonder if they should find lap buddies to free up space, but looked at Ichabod and shook her head disapprovingly. No way was he touching her, or Orion, unless Orion wanted him to, in which case she was still nuts. Giles wasn't an option either, for several reasons, so Ako was stuck regretting her incredible height while trying to draw it all into herself as she sat.

Across from her, Ichabod attempted to keep his muscular bulk to himself, and focused on examining what he could from his vantage point, accepting Giles' goggles with a gruff, "Thanks." He put them on, but his eyes still stung at the sudden change of light, despite the goggle's quick compensation for it. Once he adjusted, however, the rest of the world tuned out. They were on the surface. Light spilled over his lap from the clear panels of the hovercraft, and it was warm, even through the fabric of his pants. His silence was awe-stricken as he stared over the sandy horizon, his visibility of the barren land stretching forever until a shining pinprick glared at him through the goggles, the tech city. It was so far off, yet he could still see evidence of it! And there was...there was no land above their heads, just an unfathomable blue, oh, it was better than he ever dreamed!

Throat dry, Ich found himself swallowing thickly, feeling even paler and grungier compared to the clean contrast of the surface. He didn't even notice Akosua staring at him.

"You two are going to need SPF 9000 to keep from frying. Hm. I'd give you some sunscreen if I still had it." Frowning at the thought of her confiscated bag, Ako hugged her knees, then turned her attention to Giles. She stared at him openly and unblinkingly, as if trying to bore a hole into his skull. That wasn't really the case, but he was still being awkward, and it made her feel awkward, which was uncomfortable. And they were going to be stuck in this tiny hovercraft together until they made it home. She really needed to perfect her portals.

"SPF?" Orion wondered what this magical product was while pulling herself up with Ich's shoulders to get a better view. "Will this SPF make me blind again? If so, I think I'm okay without it."

Giles eye twitched for some reason.

"SPF will not make you blind. And if anyone would ask, I can tint the windows the not let in so much light. And once again, if anyone bothered to ask, I have your bag with the spf and oranges from the jail. So please, stop moving around so much." He turned to look over his shoulder and froze when he saw Ako staring. His cheeks went red as he narrowed his eyes. "W-What do you want?!"

He looked back at the steering device and grumbled and turning this thing around if they don't knock it off.

Orion propped her chin on Ich's shoulder while looking out at all the warm looking sand.

"Akosua? Can we run around in it during our break? I'll eat that SPF stuff if you want." She whispered.

Ako was going to answer Orion, but Giles beat her to it, being far more irate than she would have cared for. He was like his old self, but different, because his old self would never go red in the face for catching her staring.

"I want you to chill out, sheesh. Orion doesn't know any better, so don't be so snippy, and I'm sorry for not having the foresight of a psychic, okay? Jeeze. We just left, and you're already such a grouch." She was going to give him a good talking to when they got home, but not now in front of her mole-people. Her attention turned to Orion and an uncomfortable-looking Ichabod.

"Now, SPF means Sun Protection Factor, and the higher it is, the more your skin is protected from the sun's rays. If you don't have a lot of melanin, your skin cells get baked, basically, and then your skin will hurt and peel off and be red for awhile. It's very unpleasant. That's why you want to wear sunscreen or a lot more clothing than I do. And if you have a good pair of shoes on, you can run around in the sand, but it's very hot, and will burn you if you're not careful. You don't eat sunscreen, you rub it onto your skin. Hm...what else do you need to know...it's a lot hotter out there than it is in here, so you can't over-exert yourself, either, or you'll overheat and get sick." Nodding sagely, she pinned the two of them with a look, then smiled.

"When we stop, I'll get you some sunscreen from my bag that Giles has oh-so-nicely saved for me." She still sounded irritated with his attitude, and was also frustrated with her own.

"Thank you." Ichabod offered, wishing that there was enough room for him to escape Orion's touching. They weren't married, and he wasn't ready for the intimacy, which showed through the coal streaks on his face through the growing blush lighting up his nose. He decided to try and reason with her.

"Orion...could you sit to yourself?" Resisting the urge to remind her that they weren't married, since he felt she would take it the wrong way, Ichabod twiddled his thumbs uncomfortably.

"I'm not being a grouch..." Giles grumbled against the steering device, which wasn't helping his case any. "I'm just not great with this many people in such a small space, okay? Flying here alone in it was hard enough."

He took a deep breath and pushed her bag over towards her without making eye contact.

"We'll be stopping in a couple hours to sleep until it gets dark again. So... just behave until then, okay?" He sighed, then checked on the coordinates and other things he didn't really need right now, just as something to do.

"Thank you so much for the SPF so my skin doesn't fall off. And thank you for the ride, Giles." Orion added, to make the driver feel better. Giles just grunted in response.

But when Ich demanded more space, Orion's bottom lip began to pout and a sudden fussy look overtook her face.

"B-But I want to see outside, and I'm short and I want to see outside...." She frowned, not seeing what the big deal was. Her feet thumped up and down in a little fit before she relented and rolled over to lean against Ako. Then, in a whisper, she made her threat. "Someday, I'll be really tall, and you'll want to lean against my shoulder to see outside, but I'll say no, and then you'll be sorry. Then I'll say yes, becuase I'm sorry."

It was a pathetic threat on so many levels.

Ako accepted her bag with a mumble of thanks, then pulled out an orange, peeling it expertly until the succulent sphere was bared to the world. With a bit of maneuvering, she managed to split it in half, juice dripping down her fingers and filling the craft with its citrus scent. She placed one half of the orange into Orion's hands, hoping to lift her from her sullen mood, and made Ichabod take the other.

"It's delicious, I promise. Eat." Rummaging in her bag a bit more, she found her sunscreen, then began to apply it to Orion's bare skin liberally. Ichabod didn't know if he should feel more guilty, or confused, but the fruit in his hands did smell nice. He didn't know that Orion was merely trying to see over him... Discovering that the orange half could be divided into smaller segments, he pulled one off, then carefully popped it into his mouth. The sweet yet tart taste startled him, but it was satisfying.

"Uh...Orion." he attempted, trying to get her attention. "You can...I didn't realize I was blocking your view. If you want to...lean on me to see, go ahead. When we stop, I'll let you sit where I am so you can see better." He awkwardly ate another orange wedge, staring out at the open sand.

"There, that should do it for what I can reach..." Ako rubbed the last bit of sunscreen into Orion's cheeks before capping the bottle, seeing that Ichabod had enough clothing to cover him. Plus, she didn't want to touch him. She wiped her hands on her thighs generously before fetching another orange and peeling it, as well. It took a lot of stretching and discomfort for Ichabod, whose space was being violated, but Ako managed to place half of the peeled orange into Giles' lap, careful not to touch the control panel. Returning to her prior position as quickly as possible, she began to eat her orange half, face red and unsettled. He really needed to quit being so...that. Whatever he was being. It was rubbing off on her.

Orion pouted but let Ako slaver her face with sunscreen. Then she stared at the orange for a long minute before putting the entire half in her mouth. Her eyes widened at how delicious it was.

The yummy fruit was helping her get past her tantrum when Ich spoke up. She tried to glare a little, but she couldn't stop smiling with the orange in her mouth, so the attempt to be scary didn't really work out. Besides, she was tired of being evil, so she let him continue while she finished eating the orange.

"R-Really?" She whispered while licking her lips. "Well, if you say it's okay."

She crawled the tiny space of distance between them and moved to sit in his lap while pressing her face against the glass to see outside.

Meanwhile, Giles was eating his orange.

"T-Thanks. Um, Ako, can you come over here for a second. Don't touch anything." He whispered, waving her over. When she got there should would see that the navigation screen was blank. Giles then leaned in towards her ear so the other two wouldn't be able to hear. "I didn't want to worry them, but we've been lost for over an hour..."

Ichabod found his first true taste of a woman's ability to manipulate his emotions without even trying as Orion settled on his lap. And they still weren't married. At this rate, though, he might have to marry her, if only to cease the scandal of their constant touching. Very intrigued with his orange, all of the sudden, Ichabod continued to eat, hoping it would last him long enough for Orion to become tired with their surroundings. His final decision left him with staring out into the landscape, as well, amazed with how far it stretched.

Ako, meanwhile, stared at Giles some more, but she was surprised when he beckoned her over. Did her orange give his mood a flip? Maneuvering past Ichabod and Orion, she settled herself next to Giles, looking at him warily. At his news, her eyes flickered to the navigation panel, then widened marginally.

"What?!" she whispered shrilly, grabbing Giles' arm as she stared at the screen incredulously. Her eyes turned to his face, questioning. "What are we going to do? It's getting dusky...should I try to find a portal closer to home when we land? How can we be lost? I didn't break the navigation system, did I?" She didn't touch it!

While seated in her Ichabod perch, Orion decided to talk about every little thing she saw, or thought she saw, like a dragon that was actually just a prairiedog. Mostly was explaining this to PJ who was asleep and couldn't care less. When she finally stopped seeing new things to mention she peeked over to see Ich's interesting expression.

"Is something the matter?" She whispered, looking confused. "Did I hurt your feelings? Are you going to cry? Oh no... I don't know what to do when people cry. Please don't."

She then smooshed her hands against his face to hold back any tears that might be coming, then she pinched his cheeks up into a smile, hoping that would solve everything.

Giles was trying to shush Ako more.

"No so loud..." He hissed, pulling her in closer. "Okay, I think once night falls, I'll be able to figure things out based on the stars, or at least repairing this thing, so don't do anything stupid, alright? And don't let them catch on. Last thing we need is for them to panic. Everything's going to be okay."

He reached up and ruffled Ako's hair before shooing her away.

"Hey guys, we're going to be settling in for the night now. Hang on while I land." He called out to the awkward mole people.

"Huh?" Ichabod had been listening to Orion chatter on, and when she stopped to talk to him directly, he felt a bit lost. Then, he remembered that she was sitting on him. "Oh, dear," he sighed, sounding like his mother and shaking his head. "No, I'm not going to cry, and you didn't hurt my feelings; I'm just out of sorts." She had other ideas, though, and was smooshing and pinching his face eagerly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Really." It came out sounding odd since she was twisting his mouth about, but he gently drew her hands from his face, glad that he was at least wearing gloves. It was bad enough that they were still sitting together like this. But he was still holding her hands, wasn't he? The thought made him release her immediately, disgruntled grumbles working from his throat at his embarrassment.

Ako turned her head and watched them for a pause before turning her attention back to Giles.

"I never do anything stupid. You should know that by now." She ruffled his hair in return and began to smooth hers out, taking a seat behind him to watch the awkward pair. Ichabod had choked out a quiet, "Okay" and bracing himself where he sat, unsure of what to expect. Flying wasn't something that happened when you were underground, after all.

Orion stared at him for a while, just in case he was lying and was planning on crying. But the coast seemed clear once Giles said they would going to land. She saw the others grabbing onto things so she grabbed onto Ich's arm.

Good thing too, because the landing was no where as smooth and Giles had hoped. It was rare that he was allowed to drive anything, and his lack of practice was evident as they nearly crashed into a boulder.

Once the vehicle was to an absolute stop, He took a breath and nodded like that's what was supposed to happen.

"Okay, you can go out and stretch your legs, but then we're going to sleep for a bit." He nodded as Orion and PJ started pawing at the door in unison. Once it was open, the bounded out into the sand, paused, then ran back in.

"It's hot! It's like lava out there!" Orion gasped, jumping back into Ich's lap for safety.

Giles sighed again and pressed a button causing the windows to tint to a dark gray so they could sleep. Then he realized there was pretty much no room for all of them to lay down. He looked horrified. "Maybe... i'll just stay awake..."

Ichabod decided that perhaps flying wasn't something he necessarily missed out on beneath the surface, because the landing was very rough. Very exciting and adrenaline-spiking, yes, but also an experience that made him wonder if they were going to die. Once they had come to a safe stop, however, relief finally found him in Orion's departure. A ruffled Ako watched both girl and dog scurry out, shaking her head at their immediate return.

"I told you it was hot, didn't I? You guys go ahead and chill, I need some sun and stretch." Stepping over Ichabod's legs as he awkwardly held Orion, she approached the door, managing not to break it once she opened it. "If you're not gonna sleep, Giles, then you should keep me company so no power-hungry lesbian bandits steal me." She sent him a sunny smile and exited, enjoying the heat that radiated up from the sand. Thankfully, she had the proper footwear for trekking around in it.

Inside, Ichabod wasn't near as comfortable. He hoped that Orion didn't want to sleep on him.

"Are your feet alright?" The question was extended in a neutral tone as he attempted to nonchalantly scoot her onto the floor beside him.

Giles got up and stretched as well.

"Hmm, I'm sure they would bring you back after they hear how much you talk." He grinned, following her out and taking in the familiar warmth. "It's only been a couple days, but still, I missed the sun."

He walked beside her to see a lizard burrowing into the sand and a vulture in the distance.

"So, what are you going to tell the elders when we get back? They'll want to know why you missed so many lessons. And do we need to hide our guests? I can't imagine the elders being happy about bringing them back with us. Wow, we should have thought about this days ago." Giles laughed.

Meanwhile Orion yawned as she was moved to a more proper spot on the floor.

"No, I have shoes on. It's just the sun. Very hot out there. Like.. Like the aiiiir is hot. That sounds crazy. I'm going to go to sleep now Ich. Wake me up if something exciting happens or if Phillip tries to kill you, okay?" She smiled and layed down beside him, using his leg as a pillow. PJ seemed to approve becuase he came and laid in Ich's lap and took a nap as well.

"Because they'd realize that I'm too good for them. Ugh, I missed it, too. All this dry heat is so much better than that dank cold. I was not dressed for the lack of climate." She gestured to her tiny shorts and midriff top, laughing warmly. Oh, it was good to be back in the desert. Unfortunately, Giles reminded her that she had forgotten a few important details. Her brows knit as she continued walking, a hand coming up to toy with the ends of her hair.

"Maybe if I tell them I ran away again they'll finally give up on me and find a better candidate to rule the world. I just want to tell them to leave me alone forever. I don't know what to do, Giles!" Turning around to face him, she threw her hands up into the air, then grasped his shoulders firmly. "Vacation time? Visiting awkward mole-people family? Deciding you needed some God time to rest and relax? Screw you, Elders!" A rough sigh left her as her hands slid down his shoulders to his arms, and she gripped him momentarily before stepping away.

"I mean, do you think I'm honestly capable of running that technological deathtrap of a city, Giles? I'm so unprepared it's laughable, and nothing they do is going to change that." Staring mildly at the hovercraft, Ako crossed her arms, remembering why she ran away in the first place.

If she had x-ray vision, she would see Ichabod inside, looking disbelievingly between Orion and the door. He sat, subdued, and allowed both girl and dog to nap upon him, leaning back against the wall and crossing his hands over his stomach with a red nose. Sleeping was worth a shot...even though that meant he'd be sleeping with Orion. Oh, dear.