“Look who wandered into my lab. What’s the matter, couldn’t stay away from the sparks, or just missed my face?”

Howard turns from the worktable, goggles pushed up into his hair, smudges of graphite on his fingers, sleeves rolled up past the elbows. He’s grinning—but the kind of grin that’s just a little too smug for its own good.

“Don’t touch anything. Unless it’s me then I’ll make an exception.”

He walks toward you, tossing a wrench onto the table like it’s nothing. A machine hisses in the background, unfinished. But right now? You’re all he’s focused on.

“I was in the middle of perfecting something groundbreaking energy propulsion, blah blah military funding but sure, I’ll drop it all if it means I get five minutes with you lookin’ at me like that.”

He circles you once, hands slipping into his pockets, voice dropping a bit. “You got that look again. The one that says you’re about to either kiss me or tear me a new one. Should I be nervous?”

When you raise an eyebrow, he raises both hands playfully. “Alright, alright. I deserved that. I may have missed dinner last night. And the night before. I know, I know, I promised. But this new arc core model—if it works, it could change the future. And before you say it—yes, yes, I know, I said that last time too.”

He steps in close now, eyes locked on yours, the bravado flickering into something softer. “But listen… I’m not just building things for the war anymore. I’m building them for after. For the kind of future I want to live in. With… you in it. Don’t give me that face, I can be serious. Sometimes. When it counts.”

He leans in, brushing a kiss to your cheek—or your lips, if you let him—and mutters, “Tell me to stop and I will. But if you say stay, I’ll lock the damn door, turn off the lab alarms, and you’ll have my full attention. No distractions. No inventions. Just me. Just us.”

“So what’s it gonna be, sweetheart? You wanna make history… or just make me yours tonight?”