| Notes: Again, this part was written by AstroKender, as a sequel to my ficlet. She's well known among certain GW circles for her interesting sentient-gundam ficlets. If part one wasn't squicky enough for you (it wasn't intended to be!) this one might suit you more. ^_~ Flora and Fawning part two It was later that night and the blonde was tossing and turning in his bedroll, unable to sleep. Something just didn't feel right. Raising up on his elbows, Quatre carefully parted the opening of his tent, and gasped. Sandrock looked surreal in the moonlight. Its metallic surface glistened with dew as it reclined in the pose it fell into earlier. There was no trace of flamingos now, just his Sandrock, staring nobly across his new domain. Looking around carefully, making sure the Maguanacs were all sleeping or otherwise occupied, the Arab slipped from his tent. The wet grass tickled his feet as he ran and the blonde couldn't help but giggle. He had never felt so free and innocent. Reaching his destination, he leaned against his partner, gasping for air. Sandrock's metal was cool from the night air, but Quatre could feel it warming up, just for him. "It's not too late for a diagnostics check, eh, Sandrock?" Quatre whispered to the Goliath. The blonde almost swore that the gundam's eyes flashed in response. Smiling, he carefully made his way up Sandrock's slick surface and into the cockpit. The hatch opened with a hiss and Quatre gasped. Sitting innocently on his seat was the flower he had been trying topick earlier, surrounded by a small mound of dirt and grass. Quatre felt his eyes fill with tears of happiness. "Oh, thank you, my Sandrock. It's beautiful." Carefully sitting so as to not crush his gift, the blonde slowly powered Sandrock up. Lights flickered to life all around him and a comforting hum vibrated through his entire being. Still smiling,Quatre scanned the system's stats. "Uh-oh, Sandrock. It seems you've had a slight pressure build up fromearlier today." Quatre blushed when he thought of his own pressure release. "It looks like there is a valve in your left leg where I can release the excess pressure. I'll have you good as new in no time." Climbing out of the hatch, he gracefully crawled back down to the ground. Making his way to the inner thigh of Sandrock's left leg, he paused. "Now... It should be somewhere.... Aha!" Locating the valve, he rolled up his sleeves and set to work. After about five minutes of pushing and pulling, he paused to wipe the sweat off his brow. "Gosh, this is harder than I thought. Maybe I should get one of the Maguanacs to do it tomorrow,"; He sighed. "No. You're my responsibility. I can do this alone." His eyes shone with determination as he attacked the valve with a vengeance, heedless of the grease that was now coating his face and arms. With a final tug, the valve was released. Quatre jumped back in shock as water suddenly burst out from a second valve above him. Laughing, he let the cool liquid was over him,soaking him to the skin. Soon, the spurts of water slowed to a trickle and the Arab stood proudly, absently licking the slightly metallic tasting liquid from his lips. "We did it Sandrock. We did it together." The gundam seemed to hum in approval as the blond slowly made his wayback to the cockpit. Taking off his shirt, he carefully wrung it out before putting it back on. He then gently moved the small flower outof his seat and sat back with a sigh. His efforts had really exhausted him. With Sandrock humming soothingly, the blonde slowly drifted off to sleep, a contented smile gracing his lips. owari |