Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, they belong to themselves, and or their parent company.
Warnings: Sexual situations both consensual and not both heterosexual and homosexual. Torture, racism, sexism, masturbation, procrastination and xenophobia I think that about covers it for the heads up.
It was another night for the sciences departments at the University of New Mexico, and every department was represented. These functions were informative, but typically pretty dull, the most interesting thing would be the commentary from his friends on either side of him and the appetizer plate that was floating around. Having to get all dressed up and do a presentation wasn't going to be much fun either, but April would do most of the talking which was of the good.
The cocktail hour before the presentations and discussions was the most excruciating, people felt the need to make small talk with people that they'd never talked to in all their years on campus.
"Scott!" cried a tiny Latina as she bounded over looking not at all like her usual tomboyish self dressed in a white halter dress with white skulls on it she'd even put on eyeliner and curled her long dark hair.
"What?" he asked.
"You've got to hide me," she said.
"April, what did you do?" he asked with a chuckle.
She slid in behind him, "Must you always assume I did anything?"
"Only because I've met you," he said, "whoever you're trying to avoid is probably going to see me and come asking about you anyway so you might as well tell me who you're hiding from."
"She's here Scott," April said.
"Who?"
"Amy, last time I checked she was supposed to be in Ireland cloning sheep but she's here tonight," April said.
Scott chuckled, "She must be the here to check out the new scope the engineering department has come up with. She's still a tenured professor here, you had to have known that she might show up."
"I know…" she said.
"You were bound to run into her at some point, right?"
"I know," she said.
"You are over her right?" Scott said, "Or am I gonna have to go get Daniel and we have another intervention?"
"I am over her," April said, "seriously."
"Well why are you hiding behind me?"
"She's wearing the black dress with the plunging neckline Scott!" April said stepping out from behind him finally, "I don't even think I level eight gay like yourself could resist Amy in that dress, and she's wearing the fuck me pumps, and I might just have to..."
"I thought you were over her?"
"I am," April said, "but Stella is thinking about getting her groove back, you know."
Scott shut his eyes, the fact that the statement had been accompanied by a pelvic thrust and a crotch chop and the fact that she named her vagina Stella, was beyond anything that he could deal with at this point and time. He wished he could time out the conversation for maybe ever.
Daniel came stalking up gone was his red tie, his nostrils were flared and he was shaking with rage, even his beard looked angry, his beard which had gotten so ridiculous it was awesome, verging on Duck Dynasty epic.
"Gail?" Scott asked knowing that it had everything to do with Daniel's ex girlfriend.
"If we weren't already broken up, I would…"
"What is it now?"
"She's all over Hideo Itami, the new star of the robotics department," Daniel said, "I mean we just broke up."
"Six months ago," April coughed and earned herself a glare from Daniel.
"You mean the guy from Japan you keep complaining about because he has no accent?"
"Yes," Daniel said, "he's no more from Japan than I am, you don't live in a country the whole of your life and not know the language or have a accent, come on he's not fooling anyone. He's clearly working for the government trying to figure out who has got the best new tech so he can steal it for them and they don't have to pay us. He's barking up the wrong tree by going after my sloppy seconds, Gail doesn't know anything about our project."
April laughed, "You think so?"
"Yes," Daniel said.
"No," April said, "you're jealous that Gail's got a thing for him and she's completely over you. You miss her following you around like a lost puppy."
"The guy is bad news I'm telling you," Daniel said, "something is off about him."
"He's not a bad guy," Scott said, "I've talked to him before. Sure he doesn't have a Japanese accent, but that's because his parents were diplomats. He's spent more time in Europe than in Japan, and his accent is closer to that than anything else. His phrasing is odd, very old world if you ask me."
"Old world like how?" April asked.
"Like nineteenth century, he used mustn't without being factitious," Scott said.
"Oh yeah," April said, "I know his friend Bayley she talks like that too, but she wears penny loafers and plaid skirts."
Scott shot her a look, "I think you own a plaid skirt."
"It's got safety pins and skulls on it, it's very rebellious in a kind of Gwen Stefani kind of way," April defended, "and I only wear it when I'm on the hunt."
"Do you two even care that Gail is throwing herself at that guy right now?" Daniel said, "it's really pathetic."
"No, not really," Scott said, "Gail is your ex-girlfriend because you broke up with her. You're the one who said you weren't into her anymore. If you hadn't done that then maybe she'd be wrapped around you a scarf on a hipster but she's not because you broke up with her."
"I did break up with her," Daniel said, "I just think it's pretty pathetic how obvious she is trying to make me jealous."
"And her plan is working," April said, "you're super jealous."
"No, I am not!" Daniel said.
"Yes, you are!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
The No/Yes arguments were constant in the tumultuous relationship between Daniel and April. While the two were friends they were so fundamentally different and so jarringly similar at the same time. Both were stubborn overachievers who thought they were always right and that was the cause of most disputes. They usually did their Yes/No back and forth exchange for a bit and then agree to settle their differences the old fashioned way with a video game show down. Either with vintage Mortal Kombat or a shooter game.
Scott had expected them to start in earlier conversation but Daniel had surprisingly not let it escalate. Scott let them continue without intervening grabbing an appetizer off the servers passing tray and a glass off sparkling cider, the way the evening was probably going to break down it would be best to avoid the champagne.
Meeting the two of them at while at a sciences camp at MIT had been the best thing to happen to him. They'd become his best friends easily. They'd all been so awkward. He'd been paired with Daniel as a roommate and he'd gotten to know the Washington native with no filter. Daniel would say whatever came to mind, whether it was tactful or socially acceptable, his genius level IQ and his quick wit, were often under appreciated by others, but Scott found him pretty easy to talk to. Daniel could fix anything. He was especially skilled in robotics.
April had been to the camp the year before, she was a brilliant at computers and one of the younger kids at the camp at the time with a keen interest in computers, and was assigned to show the two of them around. She was a little shy when he first met her, but getting to know her she was funny,so tiny and just as tough as any of the boys, and not just science camp boys.
The three of the bonded over science and kept in touch after camp through out the remainder of their high school days via the internet despite living hundreds of miles away from each other. The both of them had been instrumental in getting him through his questioning period. They made plans to all study varying sciences at the University of New Mexico at Las Cruces. The desert beautiful desert background was a great companion to them on their journey to their degrees, the amazing astrophysics department had courted Scott, Daniel chose the an amazing robotics lab, and the computer sciences lab had appealed to April. The plan had always been to go to college together.
Beyond his two roommates relationships weren't a real focus either. He'd fast tracked high school, securing himself a full ride to university and at only twenty two years of age on the cusp of receiving his masters. He reasoned, while it was unusual that he'd never been on a date and as yet only made love to his fist, it was marginally normal, some people were just more absorbed in academia rather than the pursuit of pointless sexual encounters. April was constantly trying to introducing him to men on campus, but he paid little attention to them his studies were always his focus. He found however the closer he got to finishing his education the more lacking he found it to be and the more he found he didn't want to do it anymore. While it drove him, all the aspects of the field came naturally to him, he didn't love it. It was literally like he'd woke up and realized he'd been wasting his time.
He was good at other things, he was okay at football but quit before high school to focus on academics. He liked to draw, and he was pretty good at it, it was the thing that made him happy, but his dad had found out and asked him how he expected to support himself off of his sketches, that it wasn't a wise area in which to devote his time. So his sketches were regulated to the margins of his notebooks never a real focus for him.
He'd come to terms with his sexuality when he'd started high school. He'd been skipped two grades, and was a solidly built but socially awkward fourteen year old when he discovered he was gay. He'd gone to his dad and discussed it with him. While he wasn't thrilled with the idea of his youngest son being gay, he didn't take him to temple, so all and all coming out to his dad had been okay.
While Scott's father was more or less comfortable with his sexuality his mom on the other hand he was afraid to disappoint. She'd always wanted a daughter and his brother Gregg was in the military and had no plans of settling down, dating an endless stream of women none of which he bothered to introduce to their poor mother because meeting the parents was serious, and Gregg was not into serious relationships. Sadly, he was sure the closest his mother might get to having a daughter in law was his lesbian roommate April.
He was different though he thought of what it would be like to meet the perfect guy and introduce him to his parents. He could imagine the small flash of disappointment in his mother's eyes upon discovering that grandchildren were not in her future. His dad trying to be cool about it while he was always in his head puzzling out why men were interested in sex with each other a concept baffling to conservative Jewish man nearing seventy, in his day it simply wasn't done and if were it wasn't broadcasted.
Daniel and April were still arguing when a brunette woman with an awkward ponytail and glasses made her way over. She was wearing a to big plaid skirt and an too tight button down.
"Hey, April," she said shyly her attention focused on April who was still doing the back and forth with Daniel.
Scott laughed and cleared his throat before tapping April on the shoulder.
"What?"
Scott sighed and put his hands on April's shoulders turning her away from Daniel and toward the woman who'd walked up.
"Oh, it's you, what's up?" April asked.
"I just wanted to wish you good luck on your presentation and tell you, I'm earnestly looking forward to hearing about your project," the woman said.
"Thanks," April said grudgingly, "are you presenting today? I didn't see you on the program."
"No," she said ducking her head, "my program is not nearly ready, and if it were I'd be to shy to tell anyone about it."
"You're working on a program?" Scott asked.
"I'm working out a program that will help us transfer data over a larger radius," she said, "I want to send signals to other galaxies."
"So, they can pick up our location and go all Independence Day on our asses?" Daniel interjected, "thanks but no fucking thanks, Little Miss Sunshine we're trying to get some thing up there so we can see if anything is coming."
"Really? Is that what your satellite does?" she asked brightening, "Fascinating, I'd love to hear about it."
"Anytime you want, sweetness," Daniel said with a smile.
"Damn it Daniel," April sighed, "I was just about to get rid of her! A bad time for you grow a personality."
"What she's cute? And just what I need to get back at Gail," Daniel said.
"You two do know she's right there, and she can hear you, right?" Scott asked.
"I'm gonna go grab a seat, good luck April," the girl said before pulling April into an awkward hug.
"Boundaries Bayley!" April said.
"Sorry!" she said blushing before scurrying away.
"Was that the friend of Hideo's?" Daniel asked.
"Yep, she was my freshman buddy a couple years ago, it got pretty clingy," April said, "I wasn't sure if she had a crush on me or if she thought I was her leader, like in a Pinky and the Brain kind of way. I pretty much try to avoid her as much as possible."
"Clingy is good, it's exactly what I need to get back at Gail," Daniel said, "excuse me."
"Oh no, you will not," April put a hand on his chest, "I'm invoking the veto clause."
"Me too," Scott said, "that girl is super innocent, you leave her the hell out of whatever sick game you're playing with Gail."
"You guys are assholes," Daniel said.
"I love the veto rule!" April said, "it makes things so much easier."
"I need a drink," Daniel stalked away.
"Are you gonna be good here?" Scott asked, "I'm gonna need to go potty before we present and we're up in the first half. I don't want to get up and down once we're seated and the idea of speaking in front of all these geniuses makes me want to pee my pants as it is."
"I'll be fine," April said.
"If you see her you don't have to talk to her, you can walk away," Scott said.
"It's not the talking," April said, "it's the subtext, and before I know it I'm all over her like a spider monkey."
"Go talk to Piper, he's good in a crisis, unless he's drinking," Scott suggested.
"Good idea," April said, "I'll ask him what he thinks of my speech."
She bounded away and Scott made his way to the bathroom. He was more than a little nervous about this presentation and even nervous about having to soon test the satellite by sending it up to space. They'd worked out the perfect time to do it a meteor shower was happening on the weekend, and the conditions would be perfect just after and plus Scott had signed up to take pictures of the meteor shower with his telescope. He'd spent a small fortune on the thing, and he'd had Daniel put the camera on the thing it took excellent pictures of the sky.
Scott did his business and made his way back into the ball room everyone was finished mingling and had taken their seats, Daniel was seated at their table with Piper but April was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Ape?" Scott asked.
"She said she was going to go look for you," Roddy Piper said he was head of the computer science department and April was by and far his favorite pupil, he'd gone so far as to sell the three of them his car and his mobile home when he smoothed things over enough to move back in with his wife for far less than either were worth.
The man was known for his unusual teaching styles, and his rambunctious say anything attitude, it earned him the nickname of Professor Rowdy.
"Shit," Scott said, "I'm gonna go look for her."
"She'll be back," Daniel said.
"She might not," Scott said, "Amy's here."
"Amy is here? I thought she was in Scotland trying to get sheep to fuck?" Daniel asked.
"She's here April saw her," Scott said, "she was pretty freaked out."
"I thought she was over Amy," Daniel said, "I swear, if that bitch even tries…"
"Don't…let's just find her," Scott said.
"You're on after three lectures, you know that right?" Piper said.
"Yeah," Scott glanced at his watch.
"Get her back here boys," Piper said, "that woman did a number on April the last time around, I know she likes to play tough, but she's not. Just get her back before she gets in too deep."
Scott nodded.
"You two could never deliver the presentation without her anyways," Piper grinned.
Scott was off in one direction and Daniel in the other. Scott went to the most obvious place, the women's restroom, he knew most of April's tricks, he was thankful he didn't find her or anyone else in the restroom because he might have to explain what he was doing there.
But when he rounded the corner he spotted her, in the company of the same woman she'd been hiding behind him to avoid. He held himself back a minute to see what April was going to do.
"I'm not interested in anything you have to say to me," April said leaning causally against the wall looking like a bad ass, but Scott could hear the little tremble in her voice.
"I just wanted to apologize," Amy said, "you didn't know what you were getting into when we started seeing each other."
"I didn't know what a bitch you were but trust me I do now," April said.
"You can't blame me for falling in love with you," Amy said.
"You promised you were gonna love someone else first," April said, "and you didn't bother to tell him nor myself about your changing feelings, or even each other's existence. I can understand falling out of love with someone but at least respect them enough to tell them that. And if you cheat on him you'll cheat on me."
"I can't compare what I have with you two what I have with him," Amy said.
"What you had with me," April said, "had, Amy, that's past tense. I'm done with you."
"Baby girl, you know I've missed you so much," Amy said stepping closer to April, and Scott stepped forward to intervene.
"I am not your baby girl," April spat, "you used me, you looked into my eyes and lied to me and told me there was no one else and I'm just not that idiot that believed you anymore."
"I know I can change your mind," Amy said with a suggestive smile.
"By flashing me the tits he paid for?" April asked, "thanks but no thanks. You'll have to find someone else to run your game on because I'm done. I hear Bayley is available, just tell her the truth first before your husband calls her up and introduces himself, kay?"
Amy stalked away rolling her eyes.
April turned and ran straight into Scott he grabbed her shoulders to steady her.
"Scotty!" she said startled.
"I thought you needed back up but it seems like you had that handled," he said, "you handled her."
"I told you I was over her," April said, "I needed it to prove it to myself and to her."
"You did," Scott said, "let's get back Piper is probably freaking out because we're up soon."
They walked back to the banquet hall, meeting Daniel on the way, "I see you're in one piece and the succubus didn't get a hold of you."
"I'm good," April said, "I'm over her. She has no power over me I swear."
They slid in at their table ignoring the glares they got for entering during a presentation.
"What'd we miss?" April asked Piper.
"Not shit," Piper said looking up from his phone bored, "did you sort everything out kid?"
"I'm all good," April said cheerfully turning her attention to the front of the room.
A be-speckled freshman boy was on stage stammeringly presenting something that comically looked like a low flow toilet valve.
"Ah…this is going to be a long night," April said, "at least there's shrimp puffs."
She grabbed a whole tray from a passing server, Scott sighed and snagged one. The waiter tried getting the tray back but the look Piper gave the man made him think twice before reaching and grabbing one for himself.
Thanks to everyone who has read this and reviewed. Thanks again to lamentomori for being an amazing sounding board through out this fic, reading what felt like dozens of drafts of this chapter.
Stay tuned...