[color=gray] Rhiannon took a big bite from her omelet as her wife rambled on about their portal. Passion rose within her. For the work they did and for the woman in front of her. She had seldom met a person who was just as interested in bending the existing physical rules of time and space as she was. Sure, many scientists enjoyed bantering about it a little. But rarely one was seriously considering attempting it. With their project being top-secret under the government's thumb, Rhiannon of course couldn't actively talk about her work with anyone except the people who worked with her. And the smartest of 'em all was sitting right in front of her. [color=efd7ad]"I am aware of the electromagnetic field. And we will run it for safety always. But I am not considering sending anything through yet. Let alone something alive. I am hoping we can stabilize the power intake enough to provide the portal with the right amount of energy to turn it on and hopefully interact with the blink drive as expected. Opening the portal for travel without a safe working connection to the blink drive would be mad. We would have no idea where and when we would land and we'd have no way back. If we get a stable enough connection, I might consider putting the first miniature drone through the portal. But I am not expecting the connection to hold and we can't send anything through that hasn't explicitly been authorized. And that means we'd have to sit in a room with stuffy air and thick-ass walls for hours on end with the government people and our boss again and explain every little step of our project. If we send something from this time through and it actually lands in the past... that could cause such ripple effects. But why am I talking about this? You know all that. We've run through millions of scenarios of what might happen - both amusing and terrifying - since we met in college."[/color] Rhiannon reached across the table to stroke over the back of Lisa's hand with her index fingers. [color=efd7ad]"I am positive we are gonna see great progress within the next few months. I am so excited!"[/color] As the alarm rang and the code flashed before her eyes, Rhiannon let out a growl-sigh sound. Not again. [color=efd7ad]"Speaking of the devil... What do they want from us? Do they have to come in [i]every month[/i]. I swear you lift a little finger to test the breeze and they ask you what you've eaten for breakfast the last three weeks, down to the molecular level."[/color] Rhiannon lifted herself off the chair and laid a hand on her forehead to rub it softly. Her headache was already getting a bit better but it hadn't faded yet. She found it impressive how Lisa was coping so well. The woman definitely had more to drink yesterday than Rhiannon. She just could handle more. [color=efd7ad]"I'll get dressed."[/color] She walked a step over to her wife, put a hand on her shoulder, and leaned down to kiss her. She lingered in the moment for a few seconds, allowing herself to enjoy the lips of the person she loved most in the whole world. Then she broke the kiss, gave Lisa a soft smile, and tiptoed back upstairs. Rhiannon's general style could be described as mood-depended. The woman had shown up to work in joggers in a hoodie as much as she had shown up in heels, a blazer, and with a real hairdo. After a few years of feeling a little nervous and slightly anxious every time the external supervisors had come to visit and question or sometimes just watch and take notes (which was worse!), she had begun her battle plan. Her first battle, she showed up in her widest hoodie and leggings, walking through the lab on socks (of course only when no further safety clothing - such as shoes - were required). The supervisors had frowned upon her but said nothing else. From then on, she had made it her goal to wear something "inappropriate" every time they showed up. With the exception being on days they needed something from them or when they were talking about evaluations. Why was that even still a thing? It had become abundantly clear that the government was interested in their work and ready to wait for their breakthrough - at least Rhiannon tried to convince herself of that. The alternative would be to get anxious every time the government's people showed up because it might be the day where they shut them down. Anyways. She had shown up in various costumes before. Her favorite was still the duck costume that she wore and sadly had to undress out of before she could do any real work in the lab because it was just not meant for delicate work - or for holding a pen... But she did show up with it! A little late because she had told Lisa she'd needed to run an errand before. Another one of her favorites was when she wore nothing but a bikini and her lab coat. Granted, she felt a little uncovered but she was still proud of going through with it. The crazy scientist costume had been the favorite of the government people as far as she would be able to guess. They never really let on what they were thinking but she thought she had seen them crack a smile that one time. She was also certain that they were holding bets on her get-ups by now. Of course, she wouldn't know. But she liked to imagine so. Today was not one of those battle days. Instead, she picked out a decent color for her outfit of the day, a simple blouse, heels, and a long but light coat. They had a breakthrough yesterday. It was a serious-clothes day. Once Rhiannon was [url=https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.frauenoutfits.de%2F7737%2Fbeigeeleganz&psig=AOvVaw3CuwkonuVhbyZ3JVA2kFbR&ust=1627203622149000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCNCFnIys-_ECFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD]dressed[/url], she strapped a watch to her wrist and went to the bathroom to attend to her hair. She managed - with a big amount of bobby pins - to put her hair upwards in a way that was still loose enough to look chill but tight enough to not fall out when she walked. She just had to remember to not spin around quickly. That rapid movement might destroy her hairdo. With the heels from her closet finally being worn the second time - the first time having been ages ago - they looked like they were newly bought. As she went down the stairs the heels accompanied her every step with a sound. [color=efd7ad]"I'm ready to leave."[/color] [/color]