Kenny glanced back to where Benny was working, and frowned to himself. Normally Benny zipped right through his projects with unbridled enthusiasm, but it didn't look like he'd made an ounce of progress since the last time Kenny peeked over to check on him. Instead he was staring morosely, the equipment he was working on still only half-assembled. Now that he thought about it, Benny had been in such a state since they arrived a week ago... "...Something on your mind?" Kenny ventured. Benny jolted out of his stupor.

"Oh, hey Kenny. Did you need something?"

"You've been staring into metaphorical space for at least ten minutes now. You were so excited to finally get up here again, but you've been... moping, ever since." Kenny moved to sit beside him. "As your coworker, and as your friend, I'm getting very concerned by your uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm."

Benny tapped his screwdriver against the work table. "It's been... a very unexpected six months." Kenny nudged him to elaborate. "So you know my sibs have been setting me up with every single guy they could find, right?" Kenny nodded. "Well... After being walked out on for like the thirtieth time I decided I'd had enough and... and asked Bad Cop to pretend to date me for a while so they'd finally lay off."

Kenny blinked at him. "Bad Cop?? Really??"

Benny gave him a sardonic grin. "Yeah, the idea was to piss Denny and Jenny off enough that they'd finally leave me the hell alone. I just... wasn't counting on Bad Cop actually becoming a good friend. You know, he's actually really sweet? And I don't even mean Good Cop." He finally glanced back up at Kenny to see a somewhat amused look on his friend's face. "What?"

"Is that what you kids are calling it these days? 'Good friends'?"

"The hell are you calling a kid," Benny grumbled. "And what are you on about anyway?"

"I was halfway right. Only 'moping' isn't the right word." Kenny gave him a wild grin. "You've been pining."

"Have not," Benny growled, giving him a shove. "C'mon, this is Bad Cop we're talking about."

"Who you just called 'sweet'." Benny turned bright red.

"I guess I did, didn't I..." he murmured. He sighed. "Nothing I can do about it, though."

"Why not?"

"Cause we 'broke up' a couple weeks before the flight. It was a mutually beneficial agreement; he was having the same problem as me, with his folks trying to set him up on dates. He never once showed any interest in possibly making it real, and why should he? I know I'm annoying, I probably drove him up the wall talking about spaceships nonstop. He was just too nice to say so."

Kenny shook his head. "Man, that's so surreal..." He patted Benny's shoulder. "Word of advice? Tell him, when we get back. Whether you think it'll go anywhere or not, you'll probably feel better just to get it off your chest. In the meantime, try to focus on work? You've been wanting this for too long to let getting lost in your own head over a new beau mess it up for you."

Benny heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Yeah I guess you're right..."

"Of course I am! Now would you get that thing finished already? We need it." Benny snorted and flipped him off, earning a laugh in response. "If you hurry, we might still have time for a spacewalk." That seemed to light a fire under Benny's ass. He got back to work in a hurry. Kenny smirked and nodded to himself, satisfied. Benny would be alright.