The smell of cooking food finally roused the Kit from her slumber. She slipped out of the bed and walked towards the galley, her sleepy mind not yet registering where she was until she was almost half way there. Her pace slowed as she began to fully awaken, this wasn't her old ship and it definitely wasn't a safe place, so why was she acting so calm? The events of the previous day slowly drifted back to her as she stood there in the passageway, her first instinct was to run and try to find a safe place should she need to escape but something in the way this human had spoken to her, along with the fact that he hadn't just tossed her into an airlock like some vermin stopped her. Spending almost two weeks crammed in an escape pod wasn't all too good for her hygiene and she had always been meticulous about keeping clean whenever possible. She surveyed with dismay the grime caked jumpsuit and wrappings that she wore, one of the paw wrappings frayed from where she had snagged it working deep inside the pod’s guts in her attempts to keep herself alive just for this moment. Gathering up her courage she straightened her dirty clothes and started towards the galley again, intent on getting something to eat and then perhaps a chance to get clean.

Inside the galley Rick was busy cooking over a portable stove, humming to himself as he cooked. Upon noticing he had an audience however, he turned and smiled at the Kit "So, you are finally awake I see. Did you sleep well? I bet you are hungry." He didn't wait for her to respond, instead just filled a bowl with the stew he had been cooking and offered it to her, holding it out in his hand for her to take. The Kit eyed him warily, nodding at his questions before cautiously taking the bowl and sniffing at the contents curiously. Rick filled a bowl for himself as well, taking a big bite to prove that there was nothing wrong with it as he noticed her hesitation, smiling kindly. "So, do you have a name?" he asked her, watching as she began picking out the bits of meat from the meager stew he had fixed. Not having much on hand he had done his best to fix a proper meal but if this Kit was solely carnivorous, it could pose a problem in menu selection. The Kit looked up and shook her head, her previous life, before the escape pod, she had been called many things including Kit, Pet, Fox, and a few others that she did not wish to recall, but none of those had seemed like a name only a general reference so she just waited for him to pick up on one of those, as humans generally tended to do, to give her a label to answer to.

Rick just nodded in response, cursing as the emergency cooking unit began to sputter. The built-in unit had gone out on his last run, the haul only pulling in enough credits for him to head out on another run without repairs or fresh supplies. This haul had proved to be lucky, with enough raw materials left for him to afford repairs if all went well at market. Still, the emergency stove was temperamental. He had already needed to repair it twice on this trip, and wasn't too sure how much longer it would last. He had a fair stash of nutrient paste bars in storage, but he had hopes that he wouldn't have to resort to those, as their bland pasty flavor was less than appetizing. His mind on the damaged cooking unit, Rick didn't notice the Kit had moved, her meal forgotten as she approached him looking at the unit curiously. Suddenly, a small wrapped paw reached into his line of vision, startling him as it took the cooking unit from his hand. He watched the Kit as she examined the unit, her small claws working over the casing, unscrewing the small fasteners then working over the complex electronics inside with what appeared to be a practiced calm. Rick watched in amazement as the Kit worked her claws over the unit, not sure if he should let her potentially ruin the last source of hot meals but deciding to see how this played out. After a minute, the Kit smiled and closed the casing with a quiet click, refastening the screws and handing it back with a proud look on her face. Rick took the unit and examined it, turning it on to find that to his surprise, the flame was now a constant glow as opposed to the sporadic flicker he had been used to these past weeks. Setting the unit back into its receptacle, he watched as she returned to her meal as though nothing had happened. He shook his head and smiled, carefully separating some of the meat from the pot into a bowl and bringing it to her. "Here you go Spark, you earned it. I think that name suits you well, what with your talents for electronics." The Kit looked up at him, one ear perked curiously as she contemplated that a moment before grinning up at him and exclaiming as only she could "Sp'ARK!" Rick just laughed, heading back to the cockpit to check on their heading, before heading off to sleep himself knowing that the kit... Spark... He corrected himself, wouldn't get into any trouble while he was asleep.

Spark finished her meal, licking the last remnants of gravy from her lips and claws. She didn't know why this human had sought to give her a real name, but he had chosen a good one and perhaps she could help him out in return. She cleaned up the dishes and placed what remained of the stew in the recycler, not noticing any sort of refrigeration unit available. After cleaning up she went to work, examining all the electrical appliances in the galley, noticing which could be fixed and which were too damaged to repair but could be scavenged to fix others. A few hours later, tired and coated in a new layer of dirt, sweat, and grease the Kit returned to the front of the ship to find Rick fast asleep in his room. Glancing around she found what she was looking for, a small shower unit, more than likely sonic since water was at a premium in space. She had never liked sonic showers, preferring to clean herself naturally if she had the option as the sonic waves tended to throw off her balance and make her nauseous. Her ears were more sensitive than those of humans and the frequency of a sonic shower tended to give her headaches but she was just too dirty for any alternative. Sighing she stepped into the shower, turning it on to be greeted not with the assumed hum and shriek of a sonic shower but instead with a full force blast of ice-cold water, her fur and clothes completely soaked within moments as she yelped in shock. Hearing the loud yelp, Rick jumped up out of bed, not sure what was making such a racket until he noticed the soaked Kit standing in the shower, a priceless surprised and shocked look plastered on her face. Rick laughed, unable to hold back as he moved across the room to adjust the water temperature using the panel on the wall beside the door to the shower. He had installed this unit himself, one of the few luxuries he had been able to afford and though the recycler for the water was small, it had always done the job in the past and on more than one occasion he had been grateful for its soothing cascade as opposed to the tingling itch of a more common sonic unit. Inside the shower Spark huddled in one corner shivering from the cold and watching as Rick adjusted the water temperature. Soon enough she was able to venture back into the stream of fluid, letting the now warm water wash away the icy sting from that first dousing she had received. The walls of the shower were clear plastiform, cheap to produce but providing little in the way of privacy. Rick watched curiously as Spark began to clean the dirt and grime from her clothes, peeling off her paw wraps and letting them fall to the floor. She tossed them to a corner with one foot claw, far away from the drain to keep the water from backing up and over the small lip of the shower unit. Spark noticed Rick watching and wondered if he was going to stay there the whole time she showered, already feeling self-conscious as she continued to wash her exposed paws, pushing her sleeves up to get the fur of her arms and working carefully around the scar on her neck and paying close attention to cleaning the area around her muzzle. Rick frowned as he noticed the scar on her neck, originally hidden beneath her gray fur. He knew what it was, a scar like that was caused by only one thing and that was a vocal rehabilitation surgery. Most of the sentient creatures that were taken as pets were given such treatments in order to keep them docile and quiet though it tended to limit speech badly if not completely and in rare cases had a tendency to inhibit respiration. Noticing her looking at him, Rick took the hint and left the bedroom so she could have a bit of privacy while she cleaned up, deciding to go handle the dishes from the meal not knowing that it had already been taken care of.

Upon entering the galley, he was surprised to find everything not only cleaned up but that a number of things had been pulled apart, their innards strewn neatly into sorted piles. Looking at the rest of the units he was amazed once more to find that Spark had not only gotten the main stove to work, but had also repaired a number of the other devices, some of which had never worked before while he was in command of this vessel. He did take note that the devices that were pulled apart had mainly come from the pile of damaged units he had kept from the previous run, having intended to get an appraisal for their refit but from the looks of things, that would not be happening now. On a lighter note, her efforts would have cost him a small fortune at a standard repair bay and the units that were lost were of little consequence. Overall, he was impressed, even more so when he realized how fast she had done it. He had chosen her name well, and she definitely had a knack for electronics and machinery that was for sure.

Back in the bedroom, Spark was quickly busying herself with her grooming. Having shed her jumpsuit as soon as Rick left, she quickly began to work the worst of the caked-up dirt, sweat, and grime from her fur, finally enjoying the warm water washing over her. After what seemed like forever she was finally clean, her soaked clothing scrubbed out as best she could using the soap from the dispenser on the wall. Now however she ran into a problem she hadn't foreseen when she first stepped into the shower. Having originally assumed that the shower was sonic, she had no reason to worry about finding replacement clothes to wear but now that her only outfit was completely soaked, she was left with the task of finding something to wear to keep her modesty. Usually, she wouldn't mind walking around in only her fur, seeing as how it tended to cover anything that would be potentially embarrassing though in her drenched state, that was hardly the case. Stepping out of the shower she managed to find a towel inside a nearby cabinet to dry off with, wrapping that around herself as she then began to look for something to wear. A quick glance at the recycler told her what she had already guessed, that it was for biological reprocessing only and would be unable to synthesize any sort of clothing. Sighing she stepped over to the closet, looking through the clothing there until she found a shirt that would be long enough for her to wear and keep her modesty but was still short enough not to go past her knees so she wouldn't trip over herself when she walked. Setting her old clothes over the pull-down rack in the shower to dry, she headed out to look for Rick.

In the galley Rick was carefully picking up the piles of parts and placing them into containers, being careful not to get them all mixed up. He knew a little about the machines around him, enough to keep them working but nowhere near enough to do what Spark had obviously done. Most of the parts he was boxing up were unfamiliar to him, but the fact that they were laid out in an organized fashion left him to believe that they were still somewhat useful and as such should be saved. Turning around, with arms full of small containers, he was greeted to the sight of Spark standing in the doorway dressed in one of his extra shirts. The shirt was too big, looking almost like an oversized nightgown on her, with the neckline and shoulders sagging down, her paws lost in the long sleeves. "Well, all clean now? I see you found my closet though I don't think it's your size." He joked, setting the boxes of parts into a cabinet before turning to get a better look at her. "Hmmm, perhaps I could work something out but that will have to do for now. We still have about 3 days until we reach the inner rings so I'm sure we can manage to get something together during that time." Spark nodded at him, the knowledge that in three days they would be back in civilization startled her, not sure what fate awaited her there but for the time being, she was just glad to have had a warm meal and a chance to get cleaned up. Perhaps this wasn't so bad, and if she could work hard and show this Rick human she was useful, then perhaps she would even be allowed to stay and not have to worry about the terrors that awaited her at the end of her journey.