Just in Time
Word Count: 1,385
Rating: K+/PG, I think
Warnings: None
Summary: While they're in London, Kent invites her to a presentation, and she's almost late for it.
Author's Note: This actually was the original start to a crossover idea I had involving Code:Realize. I could go into length about the connections and my ideas for that world, but I won't. I just cleaned this up a bit so it would stand alone, more or less, as I think I've finally convinced myself not to write that fic. I'll just be finishing my other AU and that's it.
I did talk some about that story on my tumblr if anyone's curious.
Just in Time
"Am I too late?" she asked, running up to the tallest man in the room. She waited for him to turn around as she caught her breath, but when he did and smiled at her, she found herself breathless all over again. She'd never admitted to him just what that smile did to her, and she probably never would. "Work ran late, and I didn't have time to change."
"It's fine," he said, his eyes shifting down like he'd just noticed her uniform, and when he did, he flushed a little. "Um, you're in time. They haven't started yet."
"I'm glad," she said with a smile, since she knew how much he'd wanted to share this with her. That was Kent. He loved learning, and he loved showing new things to her. She'd found so much more joy in the experience since she got to know him, and going along with his latest interest or experiments was always worth it, even when they were boring or went wrong. He was always so fascinated, and watching his enjoyment was almost better than getting any of her own out of it.
He reached over and touched her cheek, and she tried not to blush too much and make him aware of how many people were in the room or he'd get flustered again. He was cute when that happened, like when he'd tried to kiss her and bumped her nose, but she didn't want to embarrass him in front of his fellow researchers.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You could be at home resting," Kent said, frowning a little. "I know you're willing to go along with most of my whims, no matter how little appeal they have for you, but you don't have to do everything for my sake."
She covered his hand with hers. "I'm not. I wanted to see this. You were so excited about it when you told me about it, and didn't you say it had a light show?"
He laughed. "That would be what you remembered. Yes, it should have an interesting light show. In fact, that's more than likely to be all that it is, given that they're trying to prove something that can't actually be proven. The existence of a multiverse is theoretical, after all, and there's no way to be sure it does or doesn't exist. It's certainly possible, which is what the 'light show' is going to demonstrate."
"Right." Sometimes she felt like a real idiot next to Kent. He was a genius, and she struggled to do basic math in her head before she started dating him. She'd had to work on that skill and a lot of others to get here now. It was worth it, as she'd qualified to study abroad, where he was, and she liked it here in London, even when she was struggling with the language.
"You wanted to go to Buckingham Palace, didn't you?"
She blinked. "What?"
Kent grimaced. "I'm sorry I haven't made more time to do the things you want to do. You've been more patient than I deserve, coming to all these things for my research or merely my curiosity, and I have yet to take you to one place you mentioned. That is unforgivable."
She shook her head. "It's not unforgivable. If I was really upset about it, I would have told you. You know that. We're better at talking like that now, though before I would have just yelled at you. Called you names, said you were insensitive—"
"Not now."
"No, not now," she said, glad that they hadn't gone back to when they were both too stubborn and proud to talk to each other properly, never admitting their feelings or what they really wanted from each other. They'd come far from there, growing a lot closer as he helped her prepare to move with him to London. "Though... I do still want to see Buckingham Palace."
Kent nodded. "Pick a day that is good for you, and I will make time to go with you. However, if you have a standing bet with Ikkyu about getting me into one of those hats—"
"No," she said, though she was sure he didn't believe her because she couldn't help giggling at that image. Kent was so tall to begin with, and then if he was to put on a hat that was that big—she almost wanted a picture of him like that, terrible as that thought was.
"Hmm," he said, and she reached to take his hand. As soon as she did, he flushed, and she knew she'd distracted him. It was too easy to do when she touched him, and that made her a bit wicked since she did it knowing how he'd react.
"Kent," another man said, coming over to them. He was wearing a white coat over a big sweater—they called them jumpers here, and she didn't understand that, so it had been very strange trying to buy one when she went shopping last week. He stopped in front of them and smiled. "Good to see you here. Would you mind checking a couple figures for me? The device got jostled on its way in, and I need to be sure we've got it properly recalibrated again."
"Of course," Kent said. He followed after the man in the coat, keeping hold of her hand and pulling her along with him. She frowned, biting her lip as she went, afraid to let go but also not sure she should go with him. Kent didn't think it was a problem, but he hadn't asked and what if the scientists didn't want a girl who knew nothing about math or science back there? What if she broke something?
"I swear, I'm going to end up the next Wolfgang Pauli at this rate," the man said, and she struggled to understand his words. The next what?
Kent looked at her. "Wolfgang Pauli was an Austrian physicist. Equipment frequently failed around him, leading his fellow scientists to name this the 'Pauli effect' and state that 'a functioning device and Wolfgang Pauli cannot exist in the same room at the same time.'"
She blinked, and Kent repeated his words in Japanese for her, much to her relief. She had really tried to understand all of it in English, but she wasn't as good as she needed to be, not yet. And Kent's accent made it harder, too, which he knew but she didn't like reminding him of that, because he tried really hard, too, but she knew it embarrassed and frustrated him when he couldn't be understood. He was so smart, and there were some mean people that treated him like an idiot if they thought he didn't understand English, which was hardly fair when she didn't even know how people who spoke it understood Cockney.
Most people could understand Kent just fine, though, so it wasn't usually a problem.
"Hey, professor," another student called out to the man in the coat. "I think we've got it now."
"One more check," the professor said. "Kent here's going to go over our numbers real fast. Then we'll get started. Here, Kent. This is the information you need right here."
Kent let go of her hand to take the paper, his eyes scanning over the numbers that made no sense to her. She looked over at the device on the table, not sure how it worked. All she could see was a box of some kind that had strange holes and carvings on it. She thought it was made out of brass, but she couldn't tell for sure, but it looked kind of like the metal on the telescope Kent had shown her, and that was brass. Actually, now that she thought about it, the tube was kind of like a telescope, too.
She wanted to touch it, but she knew better than that after spending as much time in Kent's lab as she did. Even when he was working, it was nice just to share the same room with him, but when something happened to the experiments, even Kent, who was calm and rational, could lose his temper. She really didn't want to break anything.
She waited, watching him make adjustments on the paper.
He lowered it and looked at the professor. "I believe these adjustments need to be made or you risk injury to everyone on the stage and in the audience."
"Thank you, Kent. What would we do without you?" the other man asked, smiling at him. He clapped him on the back which made Kent frown, and started giving orders to the rest of the people around him.
"Shall we return to our seats?" Kent asked her, and she nodded, taking his hand again.
She really was glad to be in London with him. She was looking forward to this light show, but she wanted to see Kent's reaction to it even more than the show itself. She knew if she asked him to explain what that device did, she wouldn't understand it, much as she tried, but she didn't care.
It was enough just being here with him. Even now, she had to thank her amnesia for giving her the chance to see what she really wanted, and just in time, too, or Kent would have gone to London without her.
"Are you sure nothing's wrong? That's a strange expression on your face."
She shook her head, smiling at him. Though sometimes she still felt like she was missing someone, she was happy here with Kent. "Just looking forward to everything we get to do together."
He smiled back at her. "Me, too."