It was raining again.
Not the violent, storming rain he seemed to love -- the moody, grey rain Jeb favored.
It didn't matter, anyway -- he couldn't even see the outside world. He only knew that the last time he'd gotten a glimpse out a window it had been raining -- could it still be? How long had it been since then?
Jeb adjusted his glasses and bent to the microscope again, inspecting the tiny colony of micro-organisms growing there. This colony seemed to be doing quite well compared to the others -- why was that? He referred to his notes, trying to determine what the difference could possibly be.
God, this was such tedious work -- so much less satisfying than working on the avian-human recombinants had been. The end result might be better for the world, in the long run, but it was so... almost boring, spending day after day squinting into a microscope, watching bacteria grow. He wasn't young anymore, and where once this would have fascinated him, now it only made him tired.
Especially given, he reflected as he recorded his observations, that this project wasn't one of his own design. He'd come in right at the middle of it -- he had no familiarity with this series of experiments, and no personal connection (if you wanted to put it that way) to them. So of course they bored him.
He heard the distant hiss of the laboratory door opening, and ignored it, switching another colony under the microscope. This one hadn't been doing so well -- then again, consulting his notes, he found that this one was the one they'd given an especially hostile environment. And compared to the control colony in this environment, this colony was doing surprisingly well. He made a note of it.
"Zis late and you're still at vork?" a voice said in his ear, and Jeb stiffened in surprise. What was ter Borcht doing here?
"Yes." He brought his face away from the microscope, rubbing at the bridge of his nose with one hand. "I was just -- recording some results for the modified Salmonella colonies. Nothing really interesting."
"Zhen vhy don't you take a break?" Ter Borcht's eyes narrowed. "How long haff you been here, anyvay?" He folded his arms across his chest.
"Not long," Jeb answered, glancing down at his notes -- anything to avoid those eyes. "I shouldn't be much longer, if... if you want me to..." he faltered.
"Zis can't be good for you," ter Borcht said, his tone accusing, his gaze still predatory and assessing. "You've been here all day. And you hardly sleep anymore."
You don't either. Jeb held his tongue -- ter Borcht hated it when someone called him out on his own flaws. "I'm sorry. Time just... gets away from me."
"I've noticed. Did you honestly zhink I vouldn't? You're in ze lab all day, every day." He stepped closer to Jeb. "It isn't healzhy."
"I just... I want to get this data collected so we can move on," Jeb said, stammering.
Ter Borcht laughed. "I've alvays liked your attitude," he murmured. "Very... proactive."
"Thank you."
Ter Borcht tilted his head slightly to the side, making direct, intense eye contact with Jeb. "You fascinate me -- haff I ever told you zat?"
Without warning, he kissed Jeb.
It was a typical ter Borcht move -- aggressive, impatient, demanding -- and Jeb answered it as best he could, kissing him back, trying to give ter Borcht whatever he was seeking here.
He must have done some good, because after a moment, ter Borcht broke the kiss.
"I vould stay," he whispered, caressing the side of Jeb's face, "but I, too, haff vork to do." He stepped back. "Come find me vhen you are done. I vant to see you."
And with that he left the lab, not even sparing a glance for Jeb as he stepped out the door.
Jeb sagged back against the counter. Being in ter Borcht's presence was an exhausting proposition -- the man was volatile, mood never stable from day to day, or even moment to moment.
Yet there was something about him that Jeb found irresistible -- even, yes, attractive. Every other mad scientist Jeb had met had that quality -- no matter what kind of person they actually were, others wanted to be around them.
And God... Jeb had never found ter Borcht truly attractive before, but now he found himself longing to abandon this experiment, run out into the hall, find him, and --
And what? He gripped the edge of the counter, then laughed unsteadily, raising a hand to adjust his glasses.
He didn't want to know how that sentence ended.
He turned back to the microscope, but no matter how he tried he couldn't focus -- couldn't think of anything that wasn't ter Borcht -- his lips, the scent of his aftershave, the slight salt taste of his mouth, like...
Like tears. Or the ocean, perhaps.
Oh God. Jeb set his pencil down, hand shaking too badly to write. He'd come here on agreement with Val and the Coalition to Stop the Madness -- he was only here to investigate what the renegade Itex scientists were doing.
He was not here to... whatever that had been. And he was not supposed to get attached to this place, these people -- he'd agreed that, if it were necessary, he'd allow himself to be pulled out of here at a moment's notice.
Yet he couldn't leave, now, without at least knowing why ter Borcht had kissed him, or if there had even been a reason --
Look at you, Jeb, a familiar voice hissed, and he didn't bother to look up, knowing no one would be there. Nothing is ever your fault. It was something you were doing.
Like what? He bent to the microscope again, trusting his hands, his judgment a little more now. Is there something unbearably attractive about the way I look in a lab coat?
There had to be something, or else ter Borcht wouldn't have kissed him at all.
He'd ask, he decided with sudden conviction. Ter Borcht wanted to see him again -- Jeb would ask what was going on.
Or he'd try, at least.
