ic All-Access Pass (IC)

[Gizmo]

With an amused smirk, Ellie conceded the point. "Well, maybe you should just feel my forehead," she drawled, feigning a sudden faintness and fanning herself with one hand. Hopping up onto the edge of the counter so that her feet swung back and forth freely, the teenager held up a single finger in warning, moving her head in an exaggerated serpentine motion. "Just remember, macking on Robo-Me is still cheating, and I am so the jealous type."

[Fox]

The engineer pouted, leaning on the counter and toying with her bottle. "Mmh. Unfortunate. Suppose I'll have to scrap plans for an attractive gynoid harem. Would have shared, you know," she noted, pointing at Ellie with her bottle. "Equal rights. Only fair - not cheating if you're present. Still. Suppose some things aren't meant to be." She sipped from her bottle, wryly adding, "Will have to make do with the real, attractive, athletic version. Somehow."

[Gizmo]

Ellie scoffed at the suggestion. "Please, a robot harem would just cramp my style. No bedside manner." Sliding off on the counter almost as soon as she'd perched herself atop it, the young woman stepped forward to link her hands loosely around Mara's waist. "And 'athletic' is really just your way of alluding to my butt again, isn't it?" she teased, leaning in for a lingering kiss to make sure a mechanized replacement wasn't too tempting a notion.

[Fox]

Mara made an amused hum into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Ellie's waist as she enjoyed the softness of the medic's lips. When the moment finally broke she stayed close, leaning her head up to touch foreheads. "No fever," she quietly teased, amused eyes looking into the opposite pair, "but seem a little flushed. Should look into that. And only might be alluding to your butt. Haven't seen it in person. Could just be wearing very clever pants."

[Gizmo]

"Heh, I hardly think I'm the smarty pants in the room," Ellie countered, moving her hands up over Mara's shoulders and around her neck. She kept her forehead resting against the engineer's, closing her eyes for a long moment and swaying back and forth slightly as though dancing, enjoying the closeness. "Besides, these pants might be great for acrobatics," she pointed out wryly, reopening her eyes, "but they don't leave a whole lot to mystery."

[Fox]

The corner of Mara's mouth tugged toward being a grin, swaying with Ellie in her kitchen. "Are very good pants," she conceded, tapping a finger on their waistband. "Probably even better during acrobatics. Distract your opponents. Know it'd work on me." She seemed awfully amused - and a little distracted - by the idea, and gently shook her head. "Just saying. Best part isn't the pants, it's what they contain."

[Gizmo]

"Smooth," Ellie drawled, her dry expression giving way to a pleased smile despite her efforts. "Flattery will get you everywhere, you know." Straightening her neck momentarily, she kissed Mara's forehead before moving down further to the other girl's mouth, trying not to think too much about being alone together in the expansive warehouse. She pulled away slowly for air so that her upper lip broke contact before the lower half, the latter of which she bit lightly to contain a broad grin.

[Fox]

Mara licked her lips, body filled with that lazy, giddy energy that so often followed a good kiss, shifting a little on her feet. never get tired of that "Apparently," she noted, a little flushed. "But only tell the truth. Have a very nice butt, in very nice pants. Have a very nice everything. But think my favorite part so far...." She trailed off, completing the sentiment by leaning up to give the taller girl a soft, long kiss that started with a gentle brush of the lips and proceed into something a little more passionate.

[Gizmo]

Making a husky sound in the back of her throat, Ellie closed her eyes again and returned the kiss with equal fervour. She let her wrists slide over Mara's shoulders as her hands slid down the inventor's back, teasing their way down the fabric of the t-shirt before abruptly skipping down to the inner knees and lifting her off of the ground. Locking her arms under Mara's slender weight, Ellie continued the embrace unabated, tilting her head slightly to one side as blonde hair fell about the edges of her face.

[Fox]

She made a surprised noise through the kiss as she was suddenly picked up, her eyes blinking open as Ellie lifted her into the air...and then fluttering closed again as she enjoyed the advantages of her new height. One hand brushed her hair out of their faces as the other traced up the medic's back to her head, running her fingers into the short hair there and holding her head close; Mara legs wrapped a bit around her carrier's body in reflex, the world falling away and beneath her notice.

[Gizmo]

Turning subtly into Mara's fingers, continuing the intensifying kiss until she grew lightheaded. Ignoring it for another long moment, she was eventually forced to move and hastily set her companion down on the kitchen counter, breathing heavily as she leaned forward slightly with her hands planted on either side of the heroine. "Huhf, wow..." she managed to murmur as she tried to catch her breath. "Who, haah, who cut the break lines on that one, huh?"

[Fox]

Mara sat back a little on the counter, leaning back on both arms as she got fresh air into her lungs and tried to get her brain - and eyes - to focus again. "Mmh," she managed, when he tongue was back to being useful for talking. "That was...." wow - don't even - makes me want to - counter could support the weight - probably not a good idea - why? - mmh "....very...good. Need to flatter more often, maybe."

[Gizmo]

Ellie kept her hands flat against the countertop as she leaned forward, making a bit of show of enjoying the view as Mara reclined in front of her. "Gonna wind up flattering all night if we don't watch it," she joked slyly as she recovered her breath. Tempting as that was, fears that thing were moving too quickly made her hesitate. She really liked Mara, and with things going so unbelievably well an irrational part of her worried she was going to manage to screw it all up. "So, ah, did you want to show me the rest of the place?"

[Fox]

Mara leaned back a little further, blushing a bit. "Not a lot more to see...generator, storage room, loft. Bedro--"

Something was thunking against the side of the counter. what? - ah - just had to interrupt - fine "And, mmh. This." The engineer pushed herself back on the counter a little, bracing herself with her legs and arching her back to reach down and grab something on the floor outside the kitchen. "Don't think you met. Where were you hiding...?" She pulled herself back up, flat on her back and holding up a largish hamster ball filled with electronics and a single camera eye, which turned and focused on Ellie when she came into view. "This is Puppy."

[Gizmo]

Biting her lip and looking studiously upward as Mara bent nimbly backward, Ellie blinked a few times at the sphere of plastic and electronics. "I... guess it would have to be," she noted after a beat. "Or, ah, 'he'? Are we pretending he's actually a dog?" Considering how brilliant Mara was, the medic didn't think it was too unlikely that the odd little robot was at least as smart as an actual canine, but the etiquette involved escaped her.

[Fox]

"Mmh. No," Mara replied, shaking her head. "Not smart enough...mostly. Was a gift. Improve it sometimes; good at finding its way around, but...." She set it down on the counter next to her, where it rolled around for a moment before dropping right off the edge and falling to the floor. After a moment's disorientation it made a beeping noise and trundled off toward the workshop shelves. "....not very smart yet. Working on that. Also can't get up stairs - loft and...bedroom."

She blinked, snapping back out of babbling and engineer mode to look up at Ellie and their position. "....mmh...s..sorry."

[Gizmo]

"Oh, aheh, s'fine," Ellie coughed with a competing flush and smile, straightening away from the countertop and reaching out to give Mara a hand up. "So, you got a robot ball thing... and named it Puppy?" The taller girl's nose crinkled with amusement over a broad grin the incorporated her entire face. "Under all that technobabble, you've got an adorable streak a mile wide, you know that?"

[Fox]

Mara ducked her head a little, but accepted the hand to help pull her into a sitting position. "Not...very good at naming things. Small, cute, bumps into things...seemed appropriate?"

She pushed herself forward to let her legs dangle over the edge of the counter, tapping a finger on her leg and trying not to focus too much on that recent kiss. "Mmh," she pondered, to break the silence, "could give you the rest of the tour. Really is not too much to see, though." She started ticking things off on a hand. "Small wine stash, hidden exit, storage, computers, roof, loft, personal...space. Think the television's currently connected. Don't watch it much."

[Gizmo]

Wisely failing to mention that the description Mara had given Puppy applied to someone else in the room as well, Ellie shrugged. "Well, it's not much of a tour if I don't even see the second floor," she pointed out with a sardonic smirk. Idly considering the added height the other girl's perch granted her, she coughed lightly and brushed a few loose bangs behind one ear before suggesting, "Might be a decent movie on or something?"

[Fox]

Sliding off the counter, Mara nodded and led Ellie over to the spiral staircase in the corner of the kitchen, insisting that she go first ("good manners"), and unabashedly enjoying the view as she came up after. The stairs, while steep, had apparently been replaced with something custom-built and easier to climb, and in short order led up into the loft. One side was waist-high - well, slightly more than waist-high, for Mara - railing offering a pretty good view of the rest of the warehouse; the floorspace was mostly dominated by a comfortable-looking L-shaped couch that offered good view of a large, wall-mounted television, itself next to an ajar door that clearly led into a bedroom and a wide bed with dark blankets.

By and large it reflected its owner's general belongings: comfortable, with a touch of character but few frills.

[Gizmo]

Ellie gave Mara a flat look at the insistence that she climb the stairs first, but conceded without argument, purposefully adding an exaggerated sashay to her ascent with a smirk. Reaching the top, she looked over the railing, reflecting on how much Mara liked the freedom of being up high and looking down at the world. Turning back to the rest of the room, she carefully didn't pay undue attention to the adjacent room before taking a seat on the couch, bouncing up and down slightly as she tested the cushions. "This is so cool," she grinned, a little embarrassed that she still lived at home.

[Fox]

"It's...home," Mara noted, looking around with the sort of critical eye you give your living area when you have a guest. She sat down next to Ellie, folding her hands in her lap. "Used to be an observation area and office space," she explained, remembering what it looked like before she touched it up a bit. "Needed someplace...comfortable. Reinforced the walls, got a good deal on furniture." She paused, dryly adding, "Moving a big bed and couch and television is much easier when you can bend space."

[Gizmo]

"Ha, I'll bet it is. Was wondering how you got this all the way up hear," Ellie noted, patting the sofa. With so much of her height accounted for by her legs, the difference between the pair was considerably less pronounced when they sat next to each other. Taking advantage of that fact, the younger teen shifted a little closer and rested her head on Mara's shoulder, nestling into the crook of her neck with a contented murmur. "It's very 'you'. I like it a lot."

[Fox]

She hesitated for a moment, but eventually Mara relaxed, blushing a bit and sliding an arm around Ellie's back. "I...like it too," she admitted, settling back into the couch a bit. "Good to have your own space. Very...freeing."

She sat in silence with Ellie for a little bit, then, until the growing concern of being a bad host finally outweighed the contentedness of snuggling on the couch. "Mentioned...movies? Don't have much here, but could try to find something on tv, or online...."

[Gizmo]

Ellie made a small, pleased sound as Mara's arm rested around her shoulders, somehow managing to shuffle a little closer on the couch as she hooked a pinkie into the fingers of the hand still in the engineer's lap. "Mm, if you want to," she responded to the suggestion of watching a movie, taking a warm, fuzzy moment to recall that it had technically been her suggestion in the first place. "M'good either way."