A New Kind of Experiment

Ship: FennelXJuniper

Summary: After the Archeops incident, Juniper takes Fennel for drinks, where they discover a new development in their friendship.

For Competitive Intern78

Professor Fennel sighed, leaning back in her chair at her desk. It had been a long, but productive, day. The Archen fossil they'd discovered had finally been revived, leading to many new scientific discoveries. Somehow she even managed to evolve into an Archeops! Then Team Rocket tried to steal her, but luckily Ash and his friends were able to fend them off. Surprisingly, they discovered a flock of them nearby, and they allowed Archeops to join them. As much as Fennel wished she could gather more data from her, she knew Archeops would be happier with them.

Just as she was about to get back to work, there was a knock at the door.

"It's open!"

The door opened to reveal her best friend Professor Juniper.

"Hey, bestie!"

"Hey, Aurea. Just finishing up here."

"Great! I was on my way out to the bar. Care to join me?"

"Oh, no thanks! I'm not much of a drinker."

"Oh, come on! You always spend your nights cooped up in the lab, come on and do something fun for once!"

Fennel sat in silence. Alcohol wasn't her drink of choice, but she could use some time to unwind. Plus, it was always better to spend time with friends.

"Alright, let's go."

An hour later, Fennel had discovered two things about her best friend that she had never thought she would. For starters, she was a heavy drinker. The second item?

She could absolutely not hold her liquor.

"H-Hey (Hic)! You're really looking pretty."

"Aurea, don't you think you've had enough to drink?"

"I haven't had enough! Besides, you've barely had anything!"

"I guess I'm just not-"

Before Fennel could continue, Juniper grabbed her by her coat collar and slammed her lips into hers. Fennels's eyes went wide. She never expected her best friend to do that! She was just about to pull apart…

But she didn't. She wasn't sure why, but something about this felt…right. She kind of liked it. After a minute, Juniper broke it off, the shock momentarily shaking her out of her drunken stupor.

"Oh…my…god…"

"Aurea…"

"Fennel, I'm so sorry, I…this was stupid, just forget it!"

"I liked it."

"Really?"

Fennel paused for a minute, then nodded.

"It was…nice!"

"Nice?"

"You're a good kisser…"

"Oh…um, thank you. I-"

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe just the idea that Juniper might have feelings for her. Fennel didn't know what led her to kiss Juniper again, but she did it, and liked it, and if she had to guess, so did her friend.

"Maybe we should discuss this back at home?"

"Yeah…"

The entire drive back was spent in silence, making Fennel wonder if she had done something wrong. Even as they entered the house, Juniper said nothing. At last, Fennel couldn't stand it anymore and broke the silence.

"Aurea, speak to me!"

"That was a mistake."

"No it wasn't."

"I kissed you when I was drunk! I completely invaded your privacy and disregarded your feelings, I-"

"I really did like it."

Juniper sighed.

"I…I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know…if I like boys or girls. I…I never thought about my sexuality before, and I didn't want this to be the way I figure things out."

"What if…it isn't?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…we're scientists, aren't we? What if we…experimented together?"

"Do you mean…"

"Why not? We're both adults, we don't have to make this awkward! And if we don't like it, at least we'll know."

Juniper thought for a long hard minute, before nodding.

"Ok. But…we can still be friends afterward if we don't like it, right?"

"Of course."

A while later, the two of them were in bed, dressed down to the minimal garments.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be. So, do we…"

Before Fennel could finish her thought, Aurea grabbed her bra and began taking it off. She let out a nervous squeak, making Juniper stop,

"Sorry, I-"

"No…keep going. This experiment was my idea, I need to see it through."

Juniper nodded, then kept going. Feeling emboldened, Fennel moved to remove her partner's underwear. Despite how nervous they both were, they continued going, and before long they were completely undressed and feeling each other's bodies. And despite how awkwardly the situation had started…

Fennel liked it.

As the sun rose, both sat in silence, basking in the aftermath of their actions. Nervously, Fennel spoke up.

"So…conclusions?"

Juniper said nothing. She just got up and gathered her belongings.

"Aurea?"

"This was…something. I'll talk to you later."

"Aurea, wait!"

But she didn't, she just stormed out as she continued dressing, leaving Fennel alone once more.

For a week, Fennel tried to contact Juniper, but never got an answer. She wished Aurea would answer, she needed to talk to her. She needed to tell her how she felt, and if Juniper didn't want to take it further she needed to know.

One night, Fennel was just finishing up her work when the video phone rang.

"Who could be calling at this hour?"

Curious, she hit the answer button and was met with…

"Aurea?"

"Um…hi. Sorry I haven't been answering your calls. I've been…busy."

"It's ok."

"You…probably want an explanation, don't you?"

"...Why'd you leave? I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"No, no! You were great!"

"Then why?"

Juniper sighed.

"I…I didn't get the results I thought I would."

"Isn't that part of the scientific method?"

"That's not what I meant! I…I thought this would help me figure out my sexuality, but I'm still confused. I don't know, maybe I like both?"

"Oh. Well…Maybe we need to do something else?"

"Like what?"

"Maybe…go on a date?"

"You…you want to? After I walked out on you?"

"To be honest, Aurea, I still have questions I need answered to. I mean, I liked it, but how far do my feelings really go? So…if you're willing…I want to see where this goes."

Professor Juniper smiled.

"I'd like that."

Fennel returned the smile. Neither one really knew where things would go from there, but if they knew anything about science, the fun was in taking the risks.