You agree to the plan. What do you have to lose?

(This chapter originally by "MightyHalberd")

"We're nowhere near the lab, are you sure this is the right place?"

"I rewired this whole section myself, Gunna," you whisper. "And please keep your voice down, what we're doing is technically illegal." An exaggeration on your part honestly, but you didn't want to get in trouble if you had the choice.

"Sorry!" she said sheepishly, side-stepping underneath the camera overlooking the hall to switch on the handheld device you gave her earlier. "Okay, it's on, go!"

Quick as a whip, and ignoring the voice of reason in your head calling you every single synonym for 'moron' that you could think of, you darted to the side panel and wrenched off the screws so you could stick your hands inside. Counting off the carefully bundled wires, you found the junction between the main power and the lab Gunna wanted off the grid. The obvious move would be to pull the plug, but you had a better idea; a special capacitor on the wire to interrupt the connection for about a half an hour before it burned out. Delicately slipping the tiny round bead into place, you caught a slight spark and heard the whirring of the backup electric motors.

"Attention, critical power failure in Bio-Lab 4. All personnel report."

"Got thirty minutes," you tell her, reattaching the panel. "Do what you have to do." Gunna gave a little leap of delight and clumsily ran down the hall, making sure to press the necklace into your waiting hand before heading off, hips bobbing along behind her. Getting to your feet, you couldn't help but feel you've been duped as you slip on the cheap-looking pendant and string around your neck, staring at it like you would a cheap gift from a cousin you didn't particularly care for.

"Ugh, more power failures."

You turn sharply to see Garwa stepping out of the nearby elevator, unaware of her sister passing by a few seconds ago. "What do you consider the odds to be that this will be an easy fix Mr...Zam..." Garwa trails off, her pupils seeming to grow larger as she's drawn to the pendant around your neck. You try not to wince as Garwa stomps up to you, hoping against hope this wasn't all just some cruel prank by a jealous sister. "Where...did you get this?" Her voice was cool and calculated, almost stilted, but you could see her accusing finger shaking as she pointed at you.

"Uh...Gunna gave it to me," you admit, bracing for a beating at the very least. Garwa gasped, pressing her hands against her mask in...horror? Delight? "It's not bad, is it?" you dare to ask.

"No! It's...that's a pendant of surrender! She's relinquished her right to you as her mate."

The tool you used to remove the panel slips from your hand and clatters to the floor. "So...that means you-"

There was a sudden cracking sound as Garwa, with much more urgency then you'd ever seen her use before, reached back and snapped a tube off the back of her mask. There was a sharp hiss sound as water poured down her uniform, and for the first time, she removed her helmet.

Seeing her face for the first time, you could see that Selanians really were shark-like; a sharklike, stubby snout for a nose, her mouth hanging open to reveal a row of sharp teeth. You could see traces of her newfound chubbiness in the fullness of her cheeks, but that was secondary to the rising blush in those cheeks. She's...oh god, she's so...

"Uh, your helmet...?" you manage to stutter out.

"I can manage for thirty minutes or so..." she says, her voice soft and musical without the stern tone or the rebreather to mask it, though that might just have been your own bias talking. "First, I wish to partake in human romantic rituals."

She places her hands on your shoulders.

"I...I demand that you kiss me, Mr. Zambak!"

Your heart pounding against your ribs, knowing what was about to overtake you, you mutter out the only thing your brain can comprehend.

"C-call me Michael."

Your meet with such passion that the two of you slip and fall, Garwa on her back and you on her soft, plush, body. You don't care about that now, only about your lips on hers, your arms wrapped tightly around one another, the warmth of her body against yours.

It felt like this could last forever. You hoped it would.

Panting, Gunna reached her spot at the end of the residential corridor, her rebreather hissing as she bent over to catch her breath. Hearing a gurgling sound, Gunna glared at the bulging belly she sported around her waste; she wasn't against this extra bit of padding on a good day, but boy did it make moving around a lot harder.

"I can't believe this, we're going to lose an entire week's work!"

"Less whining, more running!"

Gunna moved out of the way as two scientists ran past, a shiver running down her neck when she recognized the two from her long and lonely lunches on this side of the station. Swallowing anxiously, the selanian pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket, reciting the words to herself as she waited.

She heard the heavy breathing, then the slowly pacing footsteps. Gunna peeked around the corner, knowing it had to be her. It was. Her name escaped softly from her lips as Gunna watched her approach.

"Brianna..."

Michael's botanist friend, the one who started this whole berry situation, moved much slowly as she rapidly sped towards three hundred pounds on the scale, but she was no less beautiful in Gunna's eyes. Tall, elegant, that perfect blonde hair, those luscious lips and by the rivers of Krawn, those CURVES; Gunna would have worshiped at this woman's feet if she asked her too. But ever since Gunna first saw her and fell head over heels for that whale of a woman, she'd been surrounded by those two cronies of hers, stopping her from getting the nerve to go up and talk to her, let alone express her feelings.

Well, those two weren't there now, thanks to that power failure. Brianna was all on her lonesome, and Gunna couldn't last one more day pining for her. Not while she had this one chance to win her over. Drawning herself up, Gunna stepped out from the hallway and approached Brianna as the big botanist struggled with the key card to her room.

"E-excuse me." Gunna winced as her voice cracked and Brianna turned to face her, eyebrow raised. Now or never; with much fanfare, the selanian pulled out her paper again and began to read.

"I-I was adrift in the ocean, lost to tides. I thought the seas to be cruel, until their currents brought me to you." Gunna glanced up; Brianna didn't seem disgusted based on that expression. A good start, perhaps? She continued to read. "Truly I...must be blessed, to find someone of such grace, such beauty..."

Gunna continued to read, moving through the words she so carefully and painstakingly crafted as a gift to the botanist, an expression of every passionate thought she had about her. It was rough, translated from her native Selanin to a human tongue, but she kept going, flowing through the words with as much passion as she could muster.

"...and I would relinquish my heart a hundred times over...had it not been lost to you since the first time we met. But know that as the seas are endless and constant, so too...is the love I hope to share." Gunna finished with a flourish, daring to glance up. A spark of hope danced in her chest as she saw Brianna looked surprised, her mouth in a little 'o' shape. "Do...you like it?" Gunna stared anxiously as Brianna seemed to come around, looking at the shorter woman softly.

"I...yes, I did like it," she said at last. "It was lovely."

"I know it's so sudden," Gunna went on, breaking into a bit of a ramble. "But I just saw you and I was like, wow you're so pretty and I tried and tried to find time to talk to you but nothing ever worked and I just froze up cause I'm a goofy dumb idiot and I can't think straight when I'm thinking about you so I was just like-"

"Gunna!" Brianna said loudly, quieting the selanian. "How would you...like to read it to me again?"

"What? Oh, of course!" Gunna grinned as she pulled out the paper again. "Uh...I was adrift it-" she began, but Brianna pressed her hand on top of the paper to stop her.

"No no, I mean, read it to me again...in the morning."

"H-huh?" Gunna asked as Brianna took her by the hand, opening her apartment door and leading her inside. "You mean you want me to come back tomorrow or...?" The door slid shut behind the two, and there was a slight rustling sound and the pneumatic hiss of a mask being removed.

"Ohhhh, I get it!" Gunna's voice sounded from behind the closed door. "So are we going to order in or something? I haven't had dinner yet and...ooh...aah, Brianna, your hands are c-cold!"