a little bit of maintenance

She removed the metal casing, setting it aside with mild care. Mas was zoning out, staring off into the distance as though it were a staring contest. Kris worried about her now and then, it was easy to forget Mas could suffer; she was ever so quiet about it.

"You're going to give me grey hairs one day, pal," she said, softly; almost to herself as she opened her kit. 

Mas's eyes flicked to hers. Kris noted the dark semi-circles under her eyes, exhaustion picked at her dear friends already fraying threads. Yet, after a brief moment of hesitation, she lays her head on her arm and smiles.

"There you go getting all sentimental again, one would think you have a soft spot for my old bones."

"You ain't old. Sol is old, you ain't."

They were quiet as Kris worked. Blue light sparked from her tools, she pulls out a fried strip of wiring, replacing it with a scavenged set. They'd need to get back to Mas's cyberneticist, Jacobi. Kris wondered how he was doing; he was a gentle soul living in the unpredictable maw of Dagna - witch city capital. 

She sighs. It's not like Mas can't do the maintenance herself; she was alone for how long before Kris ran into her. Kris smirked at the old memory, they had scrapped something fierce. A lot had changed since then. Still, Kris wondered why Mas never shoved her off and did it herself these days.

Maybe it was best not to look too closely. Let a good thing happen, who knows when that would change?