A/N: Man, I suck at crossposting... Anyway! I wrote this for Femslash February. Not meant to take place at any particular point, just a cute interlude that came to mind that I think can slot in pretty easily in the background at a few different points. Enjoy!

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"Arrrg!" Kat shouted, throwing herself back in her chair so hard that she almost tipped over– but it kept her from throwing her project across teh room, so that was something.

She only remembered that she wasn't alone in the room until she heard Paz's quiet, "Er…"

Startled, almost falling again, Kat hastened to sit up and bend back over her work, as though staring studiously at her latest failure erased both the failure and the embarrassment. She hunched her shoulders up around her burning ears as she heard Paz's soft footfalls approach.

"Still having difficulty?" Paz asked, voice gentle.

"Even that sounds better than how I'm doing right now," Kat grumbled, burrying her face in one hand and using the other to gesture at what was little more than a mess. "I mean, just look at this!"

Paz laughed, not unkindly, as she wrapped her arms around Kat's shoulders and nuzzled her hair. "Forgive me, mi amor, but it all looks the same to me until you put it together."

Kat snorted and leaned into the embrace, head lolling onto Paz's shoulder. She knew that wasn't strictly true– Paz had helped her with these designs, after all, pooling her knowledge of biology with Kat's mechanical expertise. But she also knew that she herself would be lost among the innards of an organic creature despite the principles she'd applied to her own work, so she was content that Paz wasn't just trying to make her feel better.

"It's all starting to look the same to me, too, at this point," Kat admitted, turning to press her face into Paz's neck and inhale her scent. "I feel like I don't know what I'm doing."

"Perhaps this is because you've slept only ten of the last thirty-six hours?" Paz suggested.

Kat hummed, a drawn out sound like she was thinking about it. Paz laughed, the sound reverberating through Kat's lips as she pressed a kiss to Paz's throat, and pulled back to give Kat a small shake by the shoulders.

"It's no wonder you can't get anything done," Paz insisted, just soft enough not to be scolding, "when you're as tired as you must be. Sleep, come back to your work fresh."

"How can I sleep when I know this is sitting here unfinished?" Kat protested, though she stayed flopped back in her chair, pouting at the ceiling. "It mocks me, I tell you."

"Also a sign you need sleep, if you ask me," Paz said, giving Kat another little shake. "Come, at least have a nap. That is what you brought the cot in for, yes?"

"I guess so," Kat relented. She let Paz guide her out of the chair and towards the cot with an arm around her shoulders, leaning against Paz's side. Wariness tugged on her bones, trying to pull them out of her skin and into the floor; she hadn't realized how tired she was until she'd gotten up.

Yet, as she'd suspected, laying down brought no relief. Instead, knowing her project was still lying unfinished on her work bench across the room, a restlessness came over her. She glared over at the parts and pieces she'd left under her desk lamp, silently urging them to give her some peace.

"Shh," Paz soothed, sitting beside her and running a hand through her hair. "It will all be there waiting when you get back, Kat. Rest now."

Kat opened her mouth to insist that she couldn't rest after all and was surprised by a yawn instead. Paz smiled down at her, sweet and indulgent, still running that hand through her hair; the fingers of her other hand were tangled with Kat's, thumb brushing over her knuckles.

"Rest," Paz said again, quiet but firm.

Kat let her eyes flutter shut and did as she was told.