A roll of receipt paper, a printout of their latest experimental readings, curled around Vlad's ankle, and he was pretty sure he had ink smudged all over his face - he certainly felt grimy enough - but he couldn't gather the energy to move, even to go to the bathrooms.
"Why did we decide to do this during finals week?" asked Vlad, tracing shapes in the dorm room's popcorn ceilings.
"I think decide is a bit too strong of a word," said Maddie, attempting to rake her hair back from her face. She winced. "This is the last time I'm getting a perm."
"It looks good, though."
"It's too much work. I keep breaking teeth off my brush."
"I was about to ask how your hairstyle equated to breaking teeth."
Maddie snorted and threw a slipper at him. It was one of Jack's, so Vlad dodged.
"Eww," said Vlad, "I don't know how you can stand to touch that." He was finally motivated to stand, but only to flip Jack's smelly slipper off his dorm bed. "I don't even know why he has those. We live in a closet. Where is he walking around that he isn't going to put shoes on?"
"I don't know," said Maddie. "I think it's kind of homey."
"If you say so," said Vlad. He picked the printout off the floor, and dropped onto his bed. The covers crinkled beneath him. "This is promising, though, isn't it? Imagine what we'll be able to do if this works…"
"I know," said Maddie. "It'll be the advancement of the century. Better than transistors." She sounded entranced by the very idea. "We'd be famous. We'd get so many grants."
Vlad rolled onto his side. "Maddie," he started.
The dorm room door opened. "I've got three nuclear-hot combos from Wings of Fire!" said Jack.
"Aw, man! Come on, you know I can't eat that," said Vlad.
"Right-o, Vladdie my man! That's why I got you the mild combo! With blue cheese!" He tossed a baggie to Vlad. "Oh," said Vlad, "but you said three…"
"Three for me! Here's your order, Mads." Jack set himself on the one (functional) chair in the room, and passed a fourth bag to Maddie, who was lying on his bed. "Eat up, guys! Science doesn't stop for empty stomachs."
"God, Jack, you eat like you're trying to feed an army."
"Hey! I'm still growing!"
"I hope not! If you got any bigger, there wouldn't be enough space for me in this room!"
.
"Do you ever wish that times like this could last forever?" asked Jack, later, once Maddie had gone back to her dorm.
"What, and stay stuck in college forever? Jack, if I become one of those guys who's always living in the past, I need you to show up and slap it out of me. We're moving on to bigger and better things!"
"Yeah," said Jack. "Yeah! You're right, V-man! On to the future!" He pumped his fist in the air.
Vlad mimicked him with his own, significantly scrawnier limp. "Yeah," he said, a smile on his lips. "The future."