"…so Chloe and I tried to open it", Eli explained.
Rush frowned at the mention of Chloe's name. He bit his lip and busied his hands with punching the control panels heavily.
"But it still wouldn't open! So Chloe walked around the door, trying to see if there was another way in, ya know?" Eli continued. "So I went around in the other dire-"
"Eli!" Rush interrupted loudly, causing Eli to jump back a little. "Come here." It was an order, and Eli obeyed immediately. He stood up and walked to Rush's side.
"Yes?"
"I thought you might be able to help with this." Rush opened a console that was storing a ton of numbers, written in Ancient.
Eli nodded. "Okay, yeah. Just give me a minute." Rush made no effort to move, so Eli just craned his head over Rush's shoulder.
Rush felt Eli's warm breath on the back of his neck and he closed his eyes, goosebumps spreading down his arms. Eli reached over to scroll down the list of numbers, resting his arm lightly on top of Rush's. Rush breathed out, controlled.
Eli broke the moment by saying, "Oh, okay. If I can find some paper, I'll write it all down for you. What are these numbers for, anyway?"
Rush resentfully pushed himself away from Eli. "It's nothing." He waved the question aside and dismissed Eli.
Eli had turned to the door to leave, but called, "Hey, I never got to finish my story!" Rush grumpily kicked Eli out of the room and tried to focus his attention and frustration on something productive. Something productive that wasn't centered on mauling Chloe.
Eli sat down across the table from Chloe. Dinner was the normal powdered soup. Chloe was gracefully stirring her soup around, frowning at it. "So…" Eli started, trying to make conversation. "You okay?"
Chloe looked up at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Matt is feeling sort of sick, I think he has a cold. I'm pretty bored. There's really not much to do here."
Eli nodded absentmindedly. "I'm sorry about Matt. I hope he feels better."
Chloe smiled. "So how are things in the genius world?"
Eli almost laughed. "Well, I think Rush is mad at me. I don't know why. I really wish we could work together without me annoying him or him being-" Eli stopped as he saw Rush enter the cafeteria out of the corner of his eye. Rush started to walk towards the dinner line, but he caught Eli's stare before he could go far. Rush saw Eli and Chloe sitting together at one of the tables. Chloe was giggling. Rush huffed and sulked out of the large room, making his way to his own quarters instead.
It was an hour later when Rush heard a knock on his bedroom door. "Come in."
It was Eli who appeared in his room. He appeared slightly uncomfortable as he played with his thumbs.
Rush spoke. "Yes, Eli? Did you come here to tell me something or did you just want to stand there?" Rush snapped. He felt a tinge of guilt and shame for talking to the boy like that, but he was still sulking from earlier in the day.
Eli blushed. "Sorry, I guess I just wanted to talk to you." He turned towards the door to exit, but Rush stopped him.
"No, it's fine." Eli smiled cautiously. Rush was sitting in front of his desk, and now pulled his glasses off. Eli warily sat down on the edge of Rush's bed. Rush scooted his chair closer to the bed, so that he was only inches away from Eli.
"I know I can be really annoying", Eli started, "but I really want to be a part of this entire thing. I want to work with you without us being at odds all the time. Chloe said I should probably-"
Eli was stopped suddenly by Rush springing forward and crashing his lips onto Eli's. Eli was shocked when Rush pulled away. "I don't care about Chloe", Rush growled.
Eli nodded, his mouth hanging open just a little. He leaned forward carefully, keeping eye contact with Rush the entire time. Eli gently placed his hand on Rush's neck and pressed their lips together again, savoring all of it this time. When he reluctantly pulled away, he said, "Neither do I."
