part II
Words:15614
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They weren't hiding whatever they were, they just mutually agreed that at work they only focused on work. Occasionally they'd steal a kiss when they knew they were alone and they continued to go get coffees together and spend late nights in the office, but they made sure they stayed professional.
For 2 weeks they were both super busy with their own things, Dan was working on the robots software and the outside design. He had 2 copies of the bot, one that went through all the testing and the real one that had all the adjustments made to it as they went along.
Meanwhile, Phil had meeting after meeting discussing the samples they needed, how many, and how they would react in their 5 year journey back to earth. They were concerned that the heat from the plutonium battery would make the samples hot and possibly have them evaporate before they got back to earth, making the mission pointless.
Without a single solution for 2 weeks, Phil called in the smartest person he knew. Still in his meeting, surrounded by 12 of the "smartest" minds in NASA and Louise, he calls down to Dan's lab.
"Howell here." He answers.
"Uh, hey. Are you busy?" Phil asks, the whole meeting listening.
"Always, but I can make time. What's up?"
"I need to pick your brain, can you come to the office?"
"I'll be right up."
"Okay."
Louise knows there's something between them, she won't talk about it but she's always lurking and listening in. So when Dan walks in with his head down looking at his phone, "yes dear," Louise chuckles.
"Oh," Dan looks up and steps back.
"When I said I needed to pick your brain I meant me and twelve other people, I should have specified." Phil says, embarrassed and concerned that everyone knows they're together now.
Dan pulls his computer chair up to the desk next to Phil, "what do you need?"
"We're having some trouble thinking of how the samples will survive their 5 year trek back to earth." Jessica, a biophysicist, asked in her over exaggerated New Yorker accent that often got on Phil's nerves.
"Yes, we're worried the heat from the battery you're packing to keep the bot warm will cause them to evaporate over time." Another man, possibly named Arthur, adds.
"I can make it so that the bot has enough power to drop the batteries and climb aboard the rocket again. Then it could be powered down and stay chilled on its trip back." Like always, he doesn't skip a beat. The answer rolls off his tongue in a matter of seconds.
Phil smiles and leans back in his chair, a look on his face like 'yeah I know my boyfriend's a fucking genius.'
The whole room goes silent for a moment, "how the fuck did we sit here for 2 weeks debating this and you figured it out in 2 seconds?" Jessica's high pitched voice of pure disbelieve rang through the office.
"I was already planning on leaving the batteries behind because they wouldn't be safe returning to earth after 10 years in space." Dan admits. But also Phil had been ranting about that problem the other night, and Dan had been thinking of an answer for him.
The meeting adjourned and everyone but Dan left the room. "I'm sorry about that." He said turning to Phil and placing his hand on Phil's knee.
"It's fine, dear." Phil said, mocking Dan for his earlier actions, resulting in a playful smack.
