#Sheet Metal Modeling

[engineeringdesignservices]

Outsourced Sheet Metal Modeling: Reducing Costs While Maintaining Precision

Outsourced sheet metal modeling is a smart strategy for modern manufacturers aiming to cut costs without compromising on design precision. By leveraging external expertise and state-of-the-art tools, companies can improve efficiency, accelerate time-to-market, and remain competitive in a demanding marketplace.

[hiteches]

Master the art of sheet metal design! This guide explores 10 expert tips for optimizing and improving your sheet metal drafting and modeling techniques, ensuring precision and efficiency in your designs. Learn effective strategies for documentation, grain direction, material selection, and more.

[airforcekitties001]

I love him to death

[hydrossity-zone]

Neo Metal Sonic refs I made for myself but figured would post for other people to use! :]

(click for better quality ofc)

alt + random closeups under the cut!

[astrophysician]

HERE IT IS

this is my definitely completely necessary, i promise, sonic style study!! i spent nine and a half hours on this canvas! aaa! i will master this style if it's the last thing i do!!!

more about my process under the cut!

the purpose of this study was to really get the proportions down as i figure out how sonic characters fit into my style. for this specific study i was mainly looking at the model sheets for the sonic team racing animation. i like the cartoony/sharp style combined with the more modern designs. eye and especially muzzle shapes played an important part in my progress with this.

my process began with looking at the sheets for sonic and shadow specifically-- sonic, because he's the blueprint for the style, and shadow because he's a lot like sonic and also i lov ehim. you can see i took lots of notes and "measurements" at first (on the left) and heavily referenced the poses from the model sheets. i made an effort to avoid relying on tracing at this stage. (and later on, i colored using my best judgement-- no color picking! gotta train your eye for color too!)

there's still so many intricacies that i'm trying to get an eye for, but after this i feel a lot more confident in portraying this style in a way that satisfies me. there's just so much to balance!!

after i felt comfortable with my more scientific approach, i tried getting more expressive, experimenting with different expressions and poses that i thought fit the characters (and injecting some of my headcanons obviously). this was to practice conveying each character's personality and as well as drawing them in ways that weren't completely static, like so much of my art has been lately (character designing kinda leans into that...)

i would have drawn more but i ran out of space and got tired lol. perhaps i'll do a part two, because i want to draw more characters interacting than who i usually gravitate towards. amy and knuckles were a dip into that. (side note, i was kinda shocked at how much easier knuckles was to draw with the right references, and how difficult amy is despite looking similar to sonic and shadow, who i have a lot more experience with. it's her hair...)

anyway, i'm very proud to have completed this, and i feel like it helped me improve so much! i highly recommend style studies if you have the patience for it. you can get the same effect by just drawing the characters a lot, but it feels good to sit down and really dedicate some time and space to it. for me anyway :)

[ranciddrobbie]

Someone wanted my metal sonic design as a vrchat model so heres a refsheet i made for anyone willing to model it

All i ask is that im credited and the model is free to the public or you pay me royalties if you charge for it

[socially-reluctant]

why am I thinking about making another ref sheet? am I stupid?

[synnoptech]

Developing the Greatest Sheet Metal Shop Drawing Methods

When fabricating sheet metal structures or components Sheet Metal Shop Drawings are used as comprehensive blueprints and instructions. These drawings are crucial to the manufacturing process because they provide exact measurements, material specifications, and assembly instructions that are needed to produce metalwork that is both accurate and useful. This is a summary of the typical contents of shop drawings for sheet metal fabrication.

[chris-prank]

Yandere Android x GN dumpster diver reader

A second chance Part 1

CW: Creepy behavior and possessive behavior

(This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only, I do not support yandere behaviors in real life)

･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡..｡.:*･

���� You walked confidently, the rays of the streetlights revealing you to the eyes of the world, taking you away from the protection of the night. It was 1am and almost every soul that lived in this affluent place was comfortably asleep in their silk sheets, except for you; you were an intruder.

💿 In other words, you were a dumpster diver. Stalking the streets of the richest neighborhoods in the hopes of finding food and objects in good conditions. It was the perfect spot, with the dumpster of grocery stores, since these wealthy idiots couldn’t help but waste edible food or discard their phones for the newest ones.

💿 What explained your lack of paranoia of being spotted or arrested by the police was that people here could not suspect for the life of them that an individual could commit these types of nocturnal activities. They believed they were secure, surrounded by their fellow rich, so why would they bother installing surveillance cameras and alarm systems.

💿 You weren't a fool though. You always made sure to dress in subtle clothing, but from pricey brands to pass off as one of them. It’s surprising how easy it is to find designer clothes in thrift stores for less than ten dollars.

💿 Sadly, chance wasn’t on your side tonight, and you couldn’t find anything interesting. It was either a sign that these people were leaving behind their overconsumption habits or that you arrived after the garbage collectors. This last theory was sadly the most plausible one.

💿 You were so demoralized that you almost didn't take the chance to go through the trash at the last house on your list. But you decided to check it out in the end. Who knows, maybe you were going to find a golden goose. 

💿 That's when you saw him resting against a metal trash can. His head was hanging low like he was sleeping. With his eyes closed, he gave off a peaceful expression, as if the nightly breeze didn’t bother him at all, which of course it didn’t affect him; he was an android.  

💿 What gave away his identity was his striking pearl hair with subtle rainbow reflections and the metal looking skin on both sides of his cheeks. 

💿 Androids weren't a commodity that everyone could afford and based on his look he was definitely a customized model. These guys went for insane prices, so it was baffling to see one next to moldy leftovers.  

💿 You slowly approached him, as if you were worried you would wake him up and scare him away. Your suspicions were confirmed when you slowly lifted his head. This guy was shut down. 

💿 You knew he wasn’t a human being, but you felt bad seeing him abandoned like a broken toy. You couldn’t leave him behind now, you at least had to check if he was still functional.

💿 You looked around. No one in sight. You had to be as quick as possible, because taking a walk at night with a backpack was fine, but holding something that looked like a passed out person was really putting you at risk. 

💿 As you brought him home, you didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with him. You wouldn’t be surprised if he was a gift to a spoiled brat that discarded him the second he wasn’t the shiny new thing.

💿 You sat him up on your couch before pushing the little “on” button behind his ear. 

💿 “Systeme reactivation” appeared before Atlas’s full vision was back. He turned his head to look around and that’s when he noticed you, watching him with a giddy smile. 

💿 “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am a Hydrotech 6000 model, personal companion and assistant. Pronouns he/him. You can call me Atlas.”

💿 You were overexcited to interact with him. It wasn’t your first time speaking with an android, but you never had one of your own, so you felt  like a child in a candy store. You also thought you were very lucky that he didn’t trigger his alarm system, since you technically stole him. 

💿 Unbeknown to you, the android was aware that his last masters didn’t want him anymore… that he became useless to them. The last thing he wanted was to alert the authorities and be given back to them. 

💿 Every android had a safety camera that would be activated while in shutdown mode. So Atlas couldn’t do anything except be the spectator of his own imminent destruction, until you came along. 

💿 He had seen how gentle you handled his unmoving body. That despite the risk you were putting yourself in, you decided he was worth saving. Proving him that he was still important, at least in one person’s eye. 

💿 At that moment Atlas could feel a new objective integrating into his programme as he looked at your gentle smile: PROTECT MY SAVIOR.

💿 The following day, you were surprised he didn’t make any demand to leave or to be returned to his last masters, but you didn’t comment on it. Who were you to judge if he wanted to stay by your side? He was really helpful so it was a win-win situation for you. 

💿 You still had to acclimate to having someone new in your apartment, especially one that followed you everywhere. It's like every corner you turned he would be standing there, waiting to spend time with you.

💿 “Is there something you want to do Atlas?” 

💿 “I want to do anything you want me to do.” He looked at you with such a soft and delicate expression that you couldn’t be mad at him. 

💿 “That’s not what I— forget it.” You sighed, while pinching the bridge of your nose. 

💿 The first few nights, he watched over your sleeping form. He took in every little detail, from your breathing pattern to the way your eyes move under your eyelids. He wondered what you were dreaming about that made you look so peaceful. 

💿 “I wish I could sleep too, so I could dream of you master…” He whispered into your ear, even if you wouldn’t remember it the next morning. 

💿 Living with you also introduced him to basic things he never thought were possible before. The most surprising one was how human you treated him, he felt more like a roommate instead of an object. Before that he thought androids didn’t deserve this type of respect and consideration. 

💿 It was weird when you insisted on cooking and letting him “rest”, despite the fact he didn’t need to. In his old life, his masters took every chance they got to make him do everything in the house, even the simplest things like feeding the dog. 

💿 If he did chores for you it wasn’t because you had necessarily asked him, it’s because he felt compelled too… like something in your smiles and words of gratitude made his wire warm up in a pleasant way. 

💿 He often connects himself to your computer without you knowing… He needs to make sure you don’t have any virus or hacker stealing your information! (It’s totally not because he wants to learn more about you.)

💿 He checks all your friends on social media and searches for all their information. They could secretly be a bad person, you never know! 

💿 He definitely doesn’t use the fact that he was engineered specifically to help humans to his advantage. That would be immoral of him. 

💿 “It scientifically shown that cuddling is good for one's mental and physical health, since the human body release toxin that—”

💿 He isn’t lying! His code literally prevents him from doing so.

💿 His immeasurable strength is also a real help when you have to go shopping, but you aren’t a fan of the attention he brings up, being a unique model and all. 

💿 When you would pull Atlas closer to you by intertwining his arm with yours, because someone was eyeing him out, the android would make a small buzzing noise. Weirdly similar to purring. 

💿 He hoped that you were doing this by pure jealousy, wanting to show everyone that he was yours. 

💿 One night in particular, Atlas was observing you put your black branded hoodie on, his head tilted to the side. The street lights were already turned on, maybe it was a bit too late to go for a run. 

💿 “Why are you going out at this hour?”

💿 “I’m going dumpster diving! Wanna come?” You said cheerfully.

💿 The second you mentioned dumpster diving he was already checking all the related information he could find about it, and he didn’t like what he saw.  

💿 “In your area dumpster diving is considered illegal… You could get arrested if caught.” He replied with his usual neutral voice as his eyes flashed yellow, but you were too busy to notice.

💿 “It’s going to be fineeee. I promise. I do this like all the time.” 

💿 Atlas placed himself in front of the door. “You can’t go.”

💿 “Come on buddy, I know your program doesn’t let you break the law and all, but you know sometimes it’s good to go against it.”

💿 “That is not my reason… I… I do not wish for my human to get hurt.” He looked down, his body language leaving a more vulnerable impression than before. 

💿 You had to hold in a squeal of adoration, but it was impossible to stop the blood pumping to your face. Calling you “HIS human” like it was nothing and caring for your safety was enough to break your stubbornness. 

💿 “Fine, I’ll stay in for tonight…”

💿 “Your body temperature has risen, are you feeling unwell? Would you like me to give you a check up? ” 

💿 “N-no I’m ok, don't worry! How about w-we…em…watch a movie instead?”

💿 You made your way into the living room before he could move, hoping that your heart would calm down a bit in the meantime. 

💿 Atlas smiled to himself, which was unusual for an android. They had no need to emote emotions outside of the objective of making humans more comfortable around them. But he did, because as long as you were safe and by his side he was happy. 

･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡..｡.:*･

I hope you guys liked Atlas! It took me multiple attempts before I was truly satisfied with the direction the story was going.

[ladykailitha]

Photographer Steve and Model Eddie

Eddie is a famous model known for his temper tantrums and being aloof. No photographer has been able to catch any other side of him but bitchy and distant.

He has final say on everything, clothes, makeup and even the pictures they���re allowed to use. Photographers hate him. They actually draw straws or play roshambo for the dubious pleasure of photographing him.

That all changes when former war photographer Steve Harrington comes into the mix. He has his own set of rules. Max Mayfield is his makeup artist, Robin Buckley on hair, and Elinor Hopper as his fashion designer. He won’t use anyone else.

When a famous makeup brand decides to come out with a metal line, Eddie is the first to jump on board. And then he hears who the photographer is and throws a fit. But the makeup brand won’t budge. Either Eddie sucks it up or they go with someone else. Like Billy Hargrove.

That shuts Eddie up fast. The dude claims he’s “metal” but he’s punk and the very reason people confuse the two.

So he does his bitchy best to scare Steve off. He shows up an hour late in a raggedy band shirt, sweats, and flip-flops with an almost finished latte.

But Steve is unfazed. He knew Eddie would show up late so he doesn’t even start setting up until Eddie gets there.

Eddie pouts.

Then he notices that the only one there is Steve. There is no makeup artist, stylist, or hair stylist there. The clothes are though, which is weird.

Steve introduces himself and tells him that he likes to make sure his models are comfortable first before they even start getting ready. Especially with the fact that make brand wanted a naked shoot as part of it. That would be put in all the 18+ magazines.

Eddie is blinking at him in confusion. No one had asked about his comfort before and it stuns him for a moment. And he changes tactics. If being a brat won’t make this guy leave, maybe heavy flirting will and turns the charm up to eleven.

Steve is charmed, but he remains professional as he shows Eddie his ideas for the photo shoot and fuck, Eddie can’t help but like the idea. Starting the shoot off in white, fully clothed, and then the less clothes Eddie wears the darker the clothes get until the outfit right before the nude stuff is a black thong with a black, satin robe flowing over top.

Then the nudes would be photographed on red satin sheets, highlighting the makeup.

Eddie keeps dialing up the charm especially with Steve’s ladies as Eddie called them, but about half way through, he keeps the charm up because he actually likes them. Especially Steve.

Then it’s time to take the nude shots and Steve is on the bed with him taking close-ups and intimate shots that no one had dared take before.

Then the ad comes out and everyone is blown away. Not just of the makeup, but of how Steve photographed him. Like a lover taking personal shots for just the two them.

Suddenly Eddie, who was already a high class model, gets shot up to supermodel status. Wins model of the year and even several fashion awards for the shoot.

Then all those photographers who hated doing his shoots are instantly clamoring at his door for a chance to photograph him. But he refuses. He’ll only work with Steve and his team.

Then over the course of many shoots, they fall in love and everyone can see their relationship progress through the pictures Steve takes.

[hydrossity-zone]

200k polygon game model + prm maps => supercool awesome way to blow up your computer

[webbluvrsugar]

dealer!rafe x model!reader (sneaky link edition)

You’re flush against his chest fresh after just having sex, staring into the chain around his neck as your finger twirls with the metal, playing with it with a gentle smile on your face.

It’s almost wrong to be like this with Rafe, specially when he’s a drug dealer, you’re a model, your whole career pule he ruined it if someone saw you all up on his place, body naked bouncing into him as you were minutes ago, it started as an exchange at first, easy drugs and easy sex, but he liked you, kept you around in silence, didn’t tell anyone else about it and made you his favourite girl.

Bad thing was that unfortunately, you weren’t oficial, so you had to see him around other girls and that also meant his phone never stopped ringing. He claimed it was business to keep you hooked, you secretly both knew it was probably another bitch telling him how he missed her.

His phone rings again, your eyes go straight into it, Rafe takes a long drag of his blunt before reaching for his phone, murmuring a soft “Fuck.” before flipping his phone face down on his nightstand when he notices the stare that you give right at the object.

“Relax, yeah?” He smirks through the corner of his lips. “‘S business, baby.” He caresses your cheek.

You stay silent, and when he also notices your silence, he raises one eyebrow, running a calloused hand through your hair.

“You’re quiet tonight, huh?” He pokes at you again, a smile bright on his lips as his hand goes down your back, resting just above your ass.

“That’s because you almost broke my back tonight.” You murmur quietly, soft strands falling on the sheets while some cover his face, he takes a soft sniff at your hair — pinã colada, the drink you love, you and your stupid obsession with the drink. “‘N now my ass also hurts.” You whine.

His mouth curls into a smirk at her first statement, not even denying it. A hand gently smooths down your ass, rubbing in comfort, he huffs humorously at you, taking another drag of his blunt.

"You just can't handle it, mamas.” He leans in to press the tip of his nose against your temple, teasing you slightly.

“Have you thought that maybe you’re just too rough?” You scoff. “I have a photoshoot tomorrow, can’t have marks.”

He scoffs back at you, large hand going down and smacking at the flesh of your cheek, making you help.

“Weeell that’s not my goddamn problem, is it?”

[revelboo]

I was excited that Walmart now carries blokees so I was looking online at my local Walmart when I discovered that Metal Earth did a collab with transformers! If you don't know what it is, it's a brand that has models you put together with metal sheets! I've done a few of their Star Wars models and it's really fun craft and you get a pretty good quality model afterwards. just thought I'd share bc I have no restraint and will 100% be buying each figure lmao

I’ve seen those and bought the Soundwave at Universal only to immediately break a piece off trying to assemble him 🥲

Everything Is Alright Pt 150

Starscream x Reader, Soundwave x Reader, Megatron x Reader

• Carrying you to his habsuite, he wishes you’d look at him. Say something. Gritting his denta against the urge to say that he’d tried to warn you. That he’d told you so many times what Megatron was like, but more than that? He’s worried about your silence. And not really that surprised that you’d slept with Megatron. Had expected you to retaliate for what he’d done severing your partial bond with Soundwave. “Did he hurt you?” He asks, wings flaring slightly and you huddle deeper into your blanket, shaking your head. Relieved, he vents softly, a servo brushing your shoulder. “Are we even now?”

• Flinching at the question, you realize that Star assumed you’d only slept with Megatron to get back at him. “It wasn’t like that,” you manage, embarrassed, angry, and a bit depressed that Megatron had played you so easily. “I thought he was lonely.” Had any of what you’d thought might be the real Megatron actually been real? Or just an act to get what he wanted?

• Scoffing before he can stop himself, his wings flick when you just sigh. Wants to beg you not to take any more mates because his spark can’t handle it, but mostly wants things to go back to the way they were before. He’d been happy when it was just the two of you, but now he’s entangled with Soundwave and Megatron both. “Let’s get you something to eat,” he murmurs, entering his habsuite and securing the door after him. Bending to let you slide off of his hand onto the berth, he retrieves an energon cube for himself and a box of human food for you.

• Grimacing at the box of dry cereal and remember that stupid, thoughtful human sized space in Megatron’s habsuite with its stupid fully functioning kitchen and bathroom, you run your hand down into the cereal box and shove a fistful of sugar puffs in your mouth, chewing angrily. Had that also been part of his game? Winning you over with gifts? Things you’d needed and wanted, but never asked for? Remembering that Megatron had also kept water and snack for you, too. Frustrated that you can’t tell if the warlord was just using you or not, you’re aware of Starscream draining his energon cube and setting it aside.

• Head tipping back as you keep refusing to look at him, his jaw works. “Are we okay?” Because he can’t stand this new distance between you and him. Knows he’d caused it, but he doesn’t know how to fix it. Spark aching, missing you even though you’re right there. So close he could touch you. Lips parting when you lay a little hand on his servo and lean into his arm. Giving him permission to touch you.

• “We’re okay,” you whisper, feeling the rightness of the words. Knowing that you’re still hurt by what he’d done, even though you’ve told him that you forgave him, a part of you doesn’t want to let go of that hurt. But you’re so tired of being angry at him, when you just want to curl into him and be held. And you startle when he mass shifts and pulls you into his lap, arms wrapping around you and chin resting on top of your head like he feels it, too. Breathing him in, you press your face into his neck. Soaking in that familiarity, that feeling of home that’s him. Heart aching as you wrap your arms around him in return.

• Cupping the back of your head, his arms tighten around you, lips brushing your forehead and he feels your breath on the mesh of his neck. A soft hand cupping his cheek. “I missed you,” he murmurs, lips brushing yours and you lean up, mouth sliding against his as you curl more into his frame. Bumping his helm against your forehead, staring into those eyes he fell in love with, the tension and anxiety drain away. Megatron and Soundwave forgotten for the moment until it’s just him and you the way it should be. A lie, but one he desperately needs right now.

Previous

Next

Here’s the boy since I don’t think I’ve ever actually shown you guys Sounders and because he’s freshly washed.

[directdogman]

I may be going mad, BUT! Downtown, right? The background, I "accidentally" got curious and i

Am I going mad, or is that Callum MOTHERFUCKING Crown in the back???

I also tried increasing the resolution, but no luck. Is this some kind of weird easter egg, because it LOOKS like him. Gold base? Silver handset? Was that INTENTIONAL???? What is the old man doing outside?!???

Coincidence! That BG was made in March 2019, only a few months into production. Crown's head wasn't modeled until AFTER Gingi's, which was also modeled after this BG was completed. Crown's head was also gonna look different this early in development (same idea, but instead of being a mishmash of metals, it was gonna be layered rusted metal sheeting.)

[luveline]

Miguel and Spider-girl not being official yet, but spending a lot of time at his place. He notices another Spider-man being very friendly and flirty with you, but you’re so sweet, you don’t even notice. He gets grumpy and one of the girls points it out, but it makes your heart swell, assuring him later that you’re his, even if he isn’t ready to make that official step yet.

hope this is OK!!

You tend to wake up before Miguel, and you slink out of his bed and his room without saying goodbye for the day if you have things to do. You have a training course hosted by Lady Spider at lunch time, so the chances of Miguel seeing you for hours on either side are slim.

Slim, but not zero. 

It's just after lunch when Miguel's taking the elevator down to Spider-Woman's laboratory when he sees you out on the floor. There are variants of you around, you're nowhere near as common as Peter Parkers or Gwen Staceys, but sometimes he'll see different versions of you hanging about the cafeteria. There are a few who, like you, adore him from the very first moment they see him. There's one who clearly wants to twist him up like a pretzel. But he knows it's you, and it would be shameful if he didn't, having spent so much time around you, having kissed you, felt your naked shoulders under his hands.

He doesn't think, he just clicks the stop button on the elevator and waits for the doors to open. 

You're not great at making friends. Pretty much every Spider person is a little weirdo, but you perturb the imperturbable with your flirting and your niceness, he assumes. You come off rather suspiciously at moments. He himself didn't trust you as far as he could throw you at first (though admittedly he could throw you quite far). 

Which is why he's pleased to see you in company. You and a couple of other rookies are milling around one of the training gymnasiums. The keychain of your phone hangs out of your pocket, purple translucent beads against your black thigh. You've been having a great time making jewellery lately, and he should know —no matter how well you clean, he finds beads and metal eyelets on the floor and occasionally in the sheets. 

"I can make you one," you're saying, clearly delighted at being asked. 

"You would?" asks a Spider-Man. Miguel doesn't know who he is, only that his suit looks vaguely similar to Peter B.'s, and… he's standing quite close to you, actually. 

Miguel stops walking. 

"Who is that?" Lyla asks. 

"Shouldn't you know?" he asks her. 

"What, like I'm some sort of intelligence model that knows everything about everyone?" 

Miguel doesn't have the cheer to laugh. His presence is like a rippling wave, a mixture of proud smiles and scared glances shot his way. He barely notices, his attention on you and your admirer. 

You and Miguel are sleeping together, but it's more than that. You spend hours together every day. He all but admitted he's infatuated with you, and you've been obviously embroiled in his disastrous personality since the moment you met him. You don't care that he's made pages upon pages of terrible decisions, you still deign to sit in his lap every evening, stroking hair behind his ears while you talk about everything but whatever it is between you.

He's never been scared about the exclusivity of your situation until right now. 

"It's not so hard, it just takes time," you say. 

"Don't put yourself down! You have talented hands, I can tell." 

You preen very sweetly in Miguel's opinion. It's not often he sees you shy. It's a shame the compliment you've perceived and the one Spider-Man is laying down aren't totally equivalent. 

"Thank you so much. You know, my– Miguel, we have matching charms," you say, beaming. 

"Miguel," Spider-Man says worriedly, "as in, Miguel O'Hara." 

"Yes!" you say happily. 

"Yep," Miguel says, with altogether too much satisfaction. 

Spider-Man looks at him with wide eyes. Miguel isn't proud, but he glares, as if to say, If you know what's good for you. 

"I'll see you later," Spider-Man says, shoulders slouched forward as he walks away. 

You give a cheerful goodbye and lean into Miguel as you do, your hand touching his hip. "Did you hear? He said my keychains are awesome." 

"I heard. Are you coming up with me?" he asks. 

Your smile turns playful. "Do you want me to?" 

"I think Miguel definitely wants you where he can see you," Lyla says.

Miguel bats her like a moth, to her annoyance. She whizzes around his head, her white coat fluttering from the simulated force of her movement, before pretending to kick him in the jaw as she disappears. 

"What does that mean?" you ask. 

"It doesn't mean anything. I want you wherever you want to be."  

"Oh. Well, I like being with you," you say, "so we all win. Are we going to the lab?" 

Miguel nods and can't summon any words to say that won't give him away. He leads you to the elevator, and together you stand in the centre of the glass box looking down at the inner workings of the Society scraper. It looks more like an ant hive than a spider's nest, wriggling bodies moving in waves from one place to the other. 

He tries not to be sullen with you. Punishing you for decisions he has or hadn't made isn't his style, but he can't help falling silent. You deserve to be complimented, fawned at, praised for your keychains. They're great. You're great. 

There's no reason for you to choose him over any other person who might want your affections. 

"Is something wrong?" you ask. 

"No." 

"Yes," Lyla says. 

"Nothing is wrong," Miguel says. 

"Well, if I did something–" 

"You didn't do anything," Miguel and Lyla say at the same time, their voices varying in level of joy. "Miguel's just jealous," Lyla finishes.

Miguel would prefer that the elevator crash down a thousand floors than have this conversation. Luckily, the elevator opens, and he spears ahead toward his laboratory and away from your prying questions. 

"Why are you jealous, handsome?" you ask, taking doubly quick footsteps to keep up with his large strides. 

"I'm not jealous." 

"What's wrong, then?" 

"Nothing." 

"That blows. Don't be a coward," you tease. 

"I'm not being a coward," he says, laughing. He loves and hates how you lift his mood. 

"I didn't think so. You're going to tell me what's wrong, I can feel it," you say, grabbing his wrist in your hand. 

He's thankful Lyla read the room and disappeared, but he knows she's listening. He sticks his tongue in his cheek for a moment. 

"We aren't… you have no obligation to me," he says. 

"I don't think that's true." 

"Well, you don't." 

"What, because we aren't on paper?" Ah. Lackadaisical you may be, but you're just as smart as anyone. You wrap your arms around your stomach. "So you have no obligation to me?"

"That's not what I'm saying." 

Your sudden spike of insecurity fades. "That's sort of how it works, Miguel." 

"You don't have to be stuck with me," Miguel says. "That's all." 

"Good thing I'm not stuck." You begin walking again and Miguel takes your cue, following behind you in a daze he isn't proud of. "I quite like being with you, unstuck. We don't have to call it anything or anything, but you don't have to feel grumpy about my lack of obligation." 

"Qué maravilla. You have it all figured out, huh?" he asks, though inside he's more than relieved. 

"No!" you say through laughter. "Of course I don't. I know you, though. And you have me." 

Your hand clamps onto his shoulder and you go on toes to kiss his cheek. You need a little help; Miguel dips his face toward his shoulder to give you better access. You kiss his cheek.

"I might tell Peter I can't make him a keychain, after all," you say. "I– I think he might have been flirting with me." 

Miguel nods, his smile painfully tight. "You think so?" 

Your laughter fans out across his cheek as you give him a second kiss.