Windfall

Chapter 6 "Slow Burn"

Pearl sat in a chair in the library of the Monolith, looking through a book on the moons of Jupiter, reading a chapter about the moon of Io. She gently flipped another page, and there was a knock at the door. Pearl lazily waved her left hand with a blue mist, causing the door to slide open, revealing Flint standing in front of the doorway. He slowly passed through the threshold, planting his hands on his hips.

Pearl; "Hey, Flint... How's Quincy?"

Flint sat in the seat beside Pearls', resting his hat on one of his knees after crossing his legs.

Flint; "Welp... If it weren't for them ancient alien nanobots flowin' through his veins, he'd be a goner... Though, as uh right now, I'm sure he's wishin' he was."

Pearl; "But he's gonna make it, that's what counts."

Flint; "Yeaup... And how 'bout you?"

Pearl; "... Huh?"

Flint; "I mean, how're you doin'? What do you think of the whole caboodle?"

Pearl giggled a little, resting the open book in her lap.

Pearl; "Well... I wouldn't call it a caboodle... But, I've put up with much worse, I'm sure we can figure it out."

She ended the sentence with a gentle smile, running a hand through her auburn hair to move it out of her face. Flint raised an eyebrow and paused a moment before looking to Pearl.

Flint; "Define "worse"."

Pearl shifted uncomfortably in her seat before clearing her throat and closing up the book in her lap.

Pearl; "Hey, uh, can you do me a favor? Can you start looking up automated defenses for the town?"

Flint nods a little with a sigh, setting his hat on the table between their chairs as he stood.

Flint; "Yeah... I'm on it."

As Flint went over to the computer, Pearl stared at Flints' hat a moment before setting it on her head. It was much too large for her head, and it fell over her eyes. She steadily got a goofy grin on her face the longer she wore the hat.

Flint; "Looks to me like there's some drones for sale from Qowld... Sure 'Suka'd like to buy local like that."

Pearl couldn't contain herself anymore and started giggling quietly.

Pearl; *giggling throughout* "That sounds great, Flint."

Flint; "Whatcha laughin' 'bout over there, chuckles?"

Flint turns around to see Pearl wearing his hat and he lets out a little laugh, going over and placing it back on his head.

Flint; *playfully* "Gimmie that. Should get you one, y'all make it look good."

Pearl laughed in return and got up, following him over to the central computer.

Pearl; "Ooooh, those are really cheap! We could get one for everyone in town!"

Flint; "Yeah... Nothin' to indicate quality... I'mma order, eh... Twelve, and we'll see how they turn out."

Pearl gently and slowly reached for Flints' hat and put it on once more, smiling to the point of stifling a laugh once more. Flint waved a hand and continued looking through offers.

Flint; "Consider this a free rental, I'm buyin' you one soon."

Pearl; "Hehe, deal."

Flint continued to look through drone offers, pondering one temporarily from the DSR before deciding on an offer from a company called the Kaine-Ripley corporation. Pearl lifted the hat a little to see the drones on sale.

Pearl; "Oooooh, those look fancy. Built-in weapons, near-singularity AI, self-repair kit."

Flint; "... You had to go fer the most expensive one, didn'ya?"

Pearl; "I mean... They look high quality."

Flint; "The standard is a quarter of a million, Pearl. Per unit. Two hundred and fifty thousand Denarii."

Pearl; "I think it's worth it, don't you? What we're protecting?"

Flint; "Yeah... But it's gonna hurt... If the Apparatus Inc. don't do so well, we'll look into those."

Pearl; "Oh, alright... I, personally would spare no expense."

Flint nodded a little as a thought came to mind, and he slowly turned to face Pearl, her grin going wide as the cowboy hat atop her head sank back down over her eyes.

Flint; "Speakin' of sparin' no expense... Do you, uh... Wanna head out for lunch sometime?"

Pearl slowly lifted the hat away from her eyes, revealing a look of shock and surprise.

Pearl; "W-well... Flint, I-"

Flint; "You don't have to answer it now, don't worry yer pretty little head. Nothing too serious."

Pearl; "I mean, I'd love to, don't get me wrong... It's just... Last time I went out, it didn't go so well."

Flint; "Oh... I-I'm sorry, hun."

Pearl; "It's fine, you couldn't have known... It was a long time ago."

Flint; "Well, I hope he wadn't a jerk."

Flint gently rested a hand on Pearls' shoulder, following her back to the chairs.

Pearl; "Oh, not at all... He was a Naftisologist-"

Flint; "What's that?"

Pearl; "Oh, kind of an obscure field. He studied Drekar."

Flints' eyes go wide and he gestures by pointing his thumb behind himself.

Flint; "Like, what Lekse is? Big ol' pyramid?"

Pearl nods with a gentle smile and rests her hands in her lap, Flint resting his hat in his.

Pearl; "Yeah... They were either dead or comatose from wounds, but yeah. He was nerdy, he was kind, he was... a little eccentric, but I loved him."

Flint; "I uh... I ain't nothing like him... But I hope you end up thinkin' as highly of me as ya do him."

Pearls' smile widens a bit, reaching over and laying her hand overtop of Flints'.

Pearl; "Well, you're doing a good job so far... Where at?"

Flint; "Eh?"

Pearl; "The date... Where do you wanna go?"

Flint; "Oh, uh... Ermak was suggestin' an Aludian joint that opened up downtown... Fena Yemek, I think it was called."

Pearl giggled a little, retracting her hand.

Pearl; "An Aludian suggesting an Aludian restaurant? Sounds a little biased."

Flint; "It'd be a change for me, unless you wanna take a day trip back to Earth for proper Texas barbecue."

Pearl; "I think eating local is a great idea. Does noon work?"

Flint; "High noon sounds mighty fine... Just hopin' I got a tail feather left."

Pearl giggled a little and stood, taking the book on the Jovian moons with her.

Pearl; "I can foot the bill if you can't. I'm gonna keep doing research for our trip to Io. See you tomorrow!"

Flint tipped his hat with a smile as Pearl left the room.

Flint; "See ya tomorrow, partner."

Flint turned his attention back to the computer, still smiling as he confirmed the order for the drones to Mercury from Qowld.