27-43

t h u n d e r (Noun.)

a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard after a lightning flash due to the expansion of rapidly heated air

Milo frowned at the newfound attitude he was receiving from his superior. She didn't seem like she was going to apologize either, from the look she was giving him. The woman seemed merciless in that moment. He kept his tone low and calm, as to not upset her any more than he already had. "Can you please come help me start up the vehicle?" Thunder rolled from above them. It was a sweet sound, that Elain always enjoyed to hear on Earth. Rain had been a rarity back home, but it was no surprise that it wasn't one here. Neither human turned to see Arcane and his female companion freeze up. "I can barely get into the vehicle bay without your approval."

"Ruopnwod a rof deludehcs erew ew tath wonk t'ndid i," Arcane turned fully to his companion with a frown. "Emoh ot kcab teg. Won." The female didn't waste time exiting and bolting it out the door. His expression didn't falter as he turned back to Elain and Milo's conversation.

After a long moment of staring the taller boy in the eye in a "menacing" manner, she admitted defeat. Of course, she had known that there was no other way to get the buggy out of the vehicle bay, but that didn't stop her from giving him a hard time. "Fine," she decided. "Let's go before it begins to rain and I have to walk back to the front by my lonesome." She began to lead Milo out the door, but paused only to see that the rain had already began to pour down in their area. The biologist, out of curiosity, reached out her hand to touch the droplets, but was inevitably was pulled away from the door by her waist. She squealed in surprise, her bright eyes widening in the direction of the nonhuman.

"Dica," he seemed to be reprimanding her. She hadn't known what for, so her brows furrowed in confusion. She wriggled around to be let down, making him drop her like she burned him. Milo watched the display with his own raised brows. He moved to grab a small beaker, placing it under the rain as droplets fell on to his hand. To all three of their surprise, nothing spectacle happened, though Selcouth's head did peak out from under the porch for only a moment. So why couldn't Elain do the same? Just as she stood up with a frustrated huff to question the creature that didn't speak their language. "Denrub ton erew woh?" They watched Arcane reach out to feel the stored liquid, but as soon as the rain touched the pads of his fingertips he hissed and pulled away.

"What in the world?" Milo reached out his hand to the rain again, so see if anything changed. It hadn't. His peach skin simply allowed to droplets to slide away without a single bit of pain. "Can they not touch the water?"

Elain looked on with excited, wide eyes. What a bizarre little tidbit! "I think they just struggle with precipitation. I could have sworn I saw water falling in the center of their home." The woman instructed him to fill the beaker to the brim, as to be able to run as many tests as possible. "That's amazing," she said with another awed look directed to the big, scary humanoid that was currently cradling his index and middle fingers to his chest.

The biologist ushered for Milo to begin creating a lab and to shut the door, so that no rain or windy chill got in. Then she made herself busy with tending to Arcane's burns. It was odd. Perhaps the rain was similar to acid rain for them? That was what it seemed whilst she was preparing to take care of it. "I hope the rain doesn't go on for too long now. We might lose connection with how weak our antennas have been."

"At least we know who has been messing with them now," Elain shrugged while applying a healing cream to the pads of his finger. He was reluctant when she reached out for him, but ultimately agreed. At least someone in this lab thought she knew what she was doing. She was beginning to cool down, her anger melting away gradually as she finished up doing a task that hadn't required her assistant to be constantly hovering. He seemed to have her social battery running out quicker than it ever had on Earth. A light ding echoed around the room, having her stand up and move away from her temporary patient. Her knees cracked as she did, but she simply moved to lean over Milo's chair and squint at the computer screen. "What's that say?"

Her assistant cleared her throat, "Dear site 27-43. We regret to inform you that our services have been temporarily disabled. In dire emergencies, you may always reach out to Hp7-12. Do not reach out until you have been notified that the issue has been resolved. You may, however, reach out to your brother sites. It is highly encouraged that you begin to ration your meal intake and work hard to keep all systems in working order. Thanks for your consideration, Head Quarters."

There was silence in the lab. Nearly human took their eyes off the screen. Arcane stood and tried to do the same, but Elain started pacing.

"You have go to be kidding me! Hp7-12? They would take six years 'till they were able to help us again," the biologist groaned into her hands, spinning around to let her forehead sit on the cool metal with a quiet thump. "Change of plans. Neither of us are going anywhere, just in case. We need to conserve fuel."

She heard Milo let out a shaky breath. "We're going to die here," he said as though he already accepted his ending.

"No, no, no, mister." She whipped around with a heavy frown. There was no way she was going to be stuck on this planet with a depressed fellow. That was simply not ideal. Another wave of thunder hit, which she nearly forgot about the rain due to the new news. "It is a small security breach, everything will be back in tip-top shape before you know it. We just need to rationalize long enough for them to fix the issue. They must be fine, since they were allowed to actually let out another one of them darn emails." She watched him nod slowly, but his eyes never left the screen.

Arcane ignored their ranting, as he didn't understand their words and moved to her side. With his uninjured hand, he lifted her's and stared down at it like it had answers for him. Elain was too caught up in trying to bring Milo's energy back up. The humanoid creature twisted her hand to face her palm and inner forearm towards him. He lightly traced the blue veins that spidered underneath her pale skin. He must have originally noticed it while she was applying the numbing cream. She still hadn't paid him any mind until she was forced to pull away when he reached the indent of her elbow.

"Hey! Watch it, Arcane. I can't keep a boy from giving up while you're tickling me," the biologist huffed in annoyance. She had to back away into the corner, as it was only a few feet behind her and the only way she could go.

Arcane lifted his top lip into a snarl from his exploration being halted, taking both of her wrists face up and pulling her to him once again. The thunder shook the walls of the laboratory for a third time.