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Using a dishrag swiped from the sink, Rob wiped the dust and sweat from his face as he crossed the kitchen to the fridge. He lobbed the rag back toward the sink, where it landed with a slight clatter atop the dirty dishes. Opening the fridge, he peered in, contemplating what to serve Aitana to drink. He didn't have but a couple of bottles of water; most everything else in the fridge was beer, along with some food items and leftover Indian takeout. Beer was good -- couldn't argue with beer to cool down after working all morning -- but it might be a bit too much. They still had work to do, after all.

The two had been busy most of the morning working on expanding the studio in the basement of Rob's house. With the addition of Sidney and her DJ and recording gear, the makeshift room was becoming a little cramped, what with Rob's musical instruments and his own recording gear and what passed for an office already in there. He of course had to show her all of the instruments he had down there before moving them or covering them up for protection, and he demonstrated his prowess with each one, including the drum kit. If there was one thing Rob enjoyed, it was showing off.

Taking out the wall that separated the studio from the laundry area had been fun. It was barely attached to anything and had practically come down in one single piece of framing and drywall. Since Rob wanted to add some additional soundproofing insulation in there too, they had torn down the drywall on the rest of the walls and removed the old soundproofing, such as it was. Demolition was fun and quick work; adding the new wall and door and soundproofing was the project for the afternoon. Aitana proved to be a hard worker who definitely knew what she was doing when it came to construction work, and Rob was glad for the help, as well as the company.

The blond man cut through the dining room and back into the living room of the small Victorian with two bottles of cider. "I hope you like this stuff," he grinned at Aitana, handing her one of the bottles. "It's hard cider. A bit lighter than beer, more refreshing. Tastes all of apples." Plopping down on the smaller of the two couches, he took a hearty drink out of his cider and sighed happily as he relaxed back into the cushions. "What do you think?"

It wasn't clear whether he was asking about the cider, the house, or himself.

Rob watched Aitana stretch and took a drink of his cider. Her outfit left little to the imagination, not that he was complaining. He'd dressed for the closeness of working in the basement as well, a worn white tank top and long khaki cargo shorts, both of which had seen a lot of construction work around the house. His toolbelt, not as nice as hers but still functional, lay in a heap on the floor where it had fallen when he'd removed it. Frankly he liked her outfit better. On her, at least.

Reaching back, he undid the hair elastic holding his dreads out of his face and shook them out, raising a light cloud of drywall dust. "Yeah, I'm fully of big ideas, aren't I?" he grinned at her. "The basement studio, the record label, getting the band back together…" He was beginning to doubt that the last was ever going to happen, though -- he was just too busy with everything else these days. That included patrolling at night as Puck. It was amazing to him how the time flew when he was out on the prowl for youma and Negaverse agents, especially when he was out with Aitana's alter ego Juno.

He liked everything about Juno: her fuku, her athleticism, her toughness, her fighting style. He liked everything about Aitana too, for that matter.

"Very glad I called for reinforcements." He took another drink and stretched himself with a contented groan. "I probably could have done it myself, but with having to frame out a new wall it would have bloody well taken forever. And I can't have that. I've got music to make!" Though most of his music-making these days was busking, he still wrote songs and arrangements of songs in the studio.

"With your help, we should be done today. Thanks for coming over," he smiled at her.

With a little lopsided smile, Rob nodded his head in acknowledgement of Aitana's compliment. "Thank you. You should hear me when I really get going." His smile grew into a grin. "That was only part of it too -- like I said at the bar the other day, I'm one of those blokes who can play anything you put in me hands. Though I like guitar and drums the best. They're the most physical, like percussion. I've used me guitar as a drum before while busking." He tapped out a quick little rhythm on his lap for emphasis.

Then she teased him about his height, or lack thereof, and he pulled a mock scowl, though he couldn't keep from smiling no matter how hard he fought it. "Oi!" He knew by her wink that she was only winding him up, but he went for it anyway. "I know how to use ladders and stepstools to take down a wall! And I ain't that short," he growled. "I've seen shorter." Hell, that Dark Mirror he fought on the night he was awakened was several inches shorter than he was! He wasn't going to tease her about her height, however -- he didn't know how she'd take it, and he didn't have a death wish.

"I'm pretty good at making up excuses to skive off work," Rob grinned wickedly. "And I'm really glad you came over, seriously. Makes for short work -- no short jokes, love," he preemptively admonished with a shake of his finger at her, still grinning.

He finished off his cider and waggled the bottle at her. "You ready for another one?"

Rob grinned delightedly at Aitana. "I definitely will do," he nodded. Inwardly he was beyond thrilled that she wanted to hear him play. He was really proud of his skills as a musician, and doubly proud that he could make a good living off his music if it came down to it. He didn't actually need to -- his parents made plenty of money and would be more than willing to help their only child if he fell onto hard times. But life was uncertain, as he'd learned at an early age when Sidney's parents were killed in a car accident and she was sent away to America. It was best to be prepared to take care of yourself.

"I work hard!" he protested, trying to look put out by her remark that he was irresponsible. "Busking is hard work!" Sure, it was fun, but it was also work! He had to write the song arrangements for acoustic guitar and practice them til he could do them in his sleep, then go out and perform for hours at a time to people who for the most part just weren't paying attention. Hard and unrewarding to the average musician! But Rob was no average musician. "You'll see when you come out to watch me play."

Shifting on the couch, he stood and crossed the room to take the empty bottle from her. "Oi," he grinned, not falling for her feigned expression of innocence, "size doesn't matter! Good things come in small packages, you know." He then drew himself up to his full height and struck a very manly pose, feet shoulder width apart and fists balled on his hips, pushing out his chest as he gave her a wry crooked little smile. "Besides, it's not what you got, it's what you do with it that matters."

Grinning the grin of the well-pleased, Rob's chest (and his ego) puffed out a little bit more. "Thank you. I do love kicking youma arse." It was good, really good, to have one's fighting prowess verified by someone as kick-arse as Aitana (and Juno, for that matter). Of course, fighting youma was one thing. He really hadn't been put to the test against actual Negaverse agents, save for that captain whose youma Juno had dusted. Oh, and that little pipsqueak of a Dark Mirror. But they hardly counted.

Then she mentioned a 'girlfriend' and his face flushed red and he sputtered. "Girlfriend?" He thought for a moment. He didn't have a girlfriend… "Oh, you must mean Sidney! She's not my girlfriend," he laughed, as if the thought of dating Sid was the funniest thing ever. "She's my housemate. A childhood friend from England -- we've known each other since we were little kids. Our mums were close friends." Dropping the macho act, he shook his head, dreadlocks flying. "She was in a bad situation in New York and needed a place to escape to. So I offered her up one of the spare rooms here. I take care of my friends," he shrugged.

"Guess you will," he smiled back, returning the hip bump. He wasn't much of one for being watched over, but somehow, because it was Aitana, he didn't seem to mind. And it was true, he was a bit trusting of his friends -- his basically good nature had bitten him on the arse in the past. But in his mind, friends were as good as family, and you took care of family.

He leisurely headed off to the kitchen with Aitana in tow, once more cutting through the dining room to get to the fridge. The Brazilian was definitely counted as a friend; he would take a bullet (or a swipe of youma claws) for her, and he figured she would do the same for him, even as tough as they both were in a fight. She was unique and special to him, both as a friend and a patrolling partner. And her accent was too cute and funny.

Tossing their empty bottles in the recycling bin with a clatter, he opened the fridge and rummaged around for two more ciders. "Here we are," he announced, holding his prizes aloft. "Think I'm going to have to get more cider soon. We're almost out." He popped the tops off both bottles and handed one to Aitana, then gently tipped the bottom of his bottle so that it clinked against hers. "Cheers, love. To good times."

It's been said that many hands make light work. That was surely the case with the studio project. If Rob had been doing the work by himself, it wouldn't have been done for days. With both him and Aitana working on it, the studio was almost done. Where before there had been a makeshift room with cheap soundproofing and a wall that wobbled when you touched it, there was now a proper room with a door and thick soundproofing insulation, with enough room for both Rob's and Sid's gear. The best part as far as Rob was concerned was bonding with Aitana as they talked and laughed and swapped stories. She was really an awesome person, and he found himself growing quite fond of her. They were definitely birds of a feather in a lot of ways. He considered her the first real friend he'd made since coming to Destiny City.

And she was hot, ridiculously attractive in fact, but he wasn't thinking of that right now.

Lost as he was in screwing in a drywall screw, Rob completely missed the subtle hint in her words when she brushed his shoulder with hers and mentioned sparring again. He did glance over, flashing her a grin, but the predatory expression on Aitana's face was lost on him. "No, we haven't," he agreed with a nod. "Heh, I'd love to collect some new bruises. The last batch you gave me were fairly spectacular."

One second he was fastening a slab of drywall to a stud, the next he was being manhandled (rather pleasantly) by Aitana. Surprised, he released the trigger of the screw gun when she grabbed his wrist, and it fell harmlessly to the floor as he was rather forcefully turned by his waistband to face her.

Then he suddenly felt her teeth nibbling on his ear and her breath on his neck, and his world kind of exploded in pleasure.

His free hand raised up to caress her tanned arm. "I think I would like both," he murmured, still a bit taken by surprise. He had no idea she felt that way about him. Not that he was complaining -- goodness knows, he'd had his share of fantasies about the tall Brazilian. He just never thought anything would ever come of them.

For once, he was happy to be proved wrong.