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Year One: The Barton-Rogers Renormalization Part One

Operations' Workout Room - 10:10 AM

Angela jogs at a speed that others consider a sprint when being chased by ferocious and starving wildlife. Some people nearby have tried to match her pace but gave up after a yard or to prevent themselves from flying off and crashing against the wall. Angela would barely glance over to spare them the embarrassment but she mentally applauds their effort. It was and safer than what she saw people attempting to lift at the other side of the gym.

The same happens to Xavier but he isn't observant enough to notice. That's why she notices everything.

Tired of running in a straight line, she decides to turn on the incline. To her surprise, when she pushed the button mid-run, the tip breaks off. Angela yelps because, although a little snapped, it hurt her entire nail. People turn heads and she bites down on her lip and keeps her stride.

That counts as a loss for her bet with Merida. Whatever. She has nine more. Merida's more reckless anyways. She's fine but now staying on flat land.

-o-

Wakanda's General Hospital - 11:15 AM

Now that Iqadi is at a proper age, one of her new royal tasks is to represent her father in her many state duties and carry out important work in public service areas. It's a chance for her to better understand the wide spectrum of her country and understand their interests, problems, and concerns. Imanu is by her side since he's still under the same training for this work.

Today, they're visiting their biggest hospital branch, specifically looking at the newborn intensive care unit. Iqadi and Imanu plan to look at the current birth technology and general delivery plans. Their main goals, and those on behalf of the royal family, are focused on improving maternal and infant mortality. Wakanda's numbers are already well compared to the rest of Africa but there's always room for improvement and they hope to share their research.

"Don't be scared to ask questions," Iqadi whispers as they walk through the hospital hallway.

As usual per royal protocol, Imanu walks behind Iqadi since she's the direct heir. As usual per her request, she allowed him to walk by her side. As usual per his response, he said he was fine. As unusual per his actions, he was walking closer to her.

"You went to California for this?" Imanu asks.

He reaches forwards to take her hand. Iqadi stops walking for a moment and notices that he's referring to her manicure. Iqadi stretches out her fingers to show her green nails.

"You know that I did," Iqadi responds, holding his hand. "And I didn't mean those kinds of questions. Now focus."

"I am," he responds.

Iqadi smiles as she squeezes his hand. "Not on my nails. Now hush."

Imanu smiles as she looks ahead and follows their guide. He stays by her side, matching her steps across the tiled floors. Some doctors and patients wave excitedly and Iqadi and Imanu return the gesture. It's the simple things like a warm welcome that make this work enjoyable.

"Were you born in a hospital?" Imanu asks.

Iqadi sighs with a smile. At least he was asking a somewhat relevant question. "Does the hospital wing in the palace count?"

"I'd say so," Imanu responds.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

Iqadi looks at him. "There's always a reason behind questions. Do you think about having a baby?"

"I've had my mind on other things but I'd be lying if I said it was never a thought. Why, do you?"

Iqadi smiles a little. "I have to think about the future."

She looks ahead and looks through a window at the wall. On the other side, there are rows of newborn babies in incubators. Iqadi stops following the guide and walks closer to the window, letting go of Imanu. She rests her hands on the ledge and takes a second to stare at every single swaddled baby. Iqadi's seen many before but now, for some reason, she feels more amazed.

She knows she has to have a baby one day to make her heir, but she never considered being pregnant and motherhood. She's only nineteen. She doesn't have to be concerned about her biological clock. She can't deny that looking at these babies make her want one. And Imanu's thought about it before. Iqadi pictures herself holding one, rocking it in her arms, and it gives her a warm feeling through her bones. She knows that Imanu would look cute holding one, that's for sure.

"Iqadi?" Imanu calls, approaching her from behind.

"And the future is adorable," Iqadi finishes, holding his hand again.

-o-

Academy Courtyard - 11:37 AM

Between classes, Xavier and Orchid walk through the Academy courtyard, passing by other students going in various directions. Xavier was heading back to his dorm to change out of his training uniform while Orchid came from the cafeteria. They ran into each other on the way and now they're here.

"How are things with you and Brody?" Xavier asks her.

Orchid shrugs casually. "It's not the high school romance I've strived for but we're, what's the term, booty calls? Like we show up to each other dorms when we call and, ya know…"

Xavier nods quickly. "I get it." He clears his throat. "Is that what you want?"

"It's a work in progress." Orchid smiles, hugging herself around the waist in excitement. She turns to face Xavier, grinning brightly. "But he's an actual prince, Xavier. Let me tell you."

Knowing how blunt Orchid is, he shakes his head. "You don't have to."

"He lets me finish before him and he'd stay up for me if I said I'd be late."

And she didn't hear him. " … how romantic."

To his relief, they see Merida approaching them. At the sight of a girl who could help or listen, Orchid waves her over. Xavier's glad that it's Merida and not his sister. As if this conversation wasn't weird enough for him. He's never going to imagine being one end of this conversation and his sister the other. Never.

"Merida!" Orchid exclaims. "What should I do?"

Merida shrugs. She isn't even sure about the issue but that doesn't matter. "Just fuck him, I couldn't care less."

Xavier wonders why he's still here. Although these two girls are some of his best friends, he can't help but ask why.

"Good advice," Orchid tells her.

-o-

Operations' Weight Room - 11:45 AM

After her workout, Angela went to the showers to freshen up. Everything was going great in there for a shower. Even when she dropped the shampoo bottle, it was fine. It didn't even break or spill open. Stark was right on this type of shampoo. As always.

Then she bent down to pick up the bottle. When she grasped it, she heard a crack. For a second, she thought it was the bottle despite it being plastic. Please, no. That was expensive! Her eyes flutter towards a small green item following the water into the drain. Angela looks at it for a second before recognizing it as a piece of her nail.

At least she didn't feel it break. But she'll notice where it fractured when she massages shampoo in her hair.

-o-

Atlantic Residence - 11:59 AM

Merida closes the door behind her with her foot before kicking off her sneakers. She tosses her bag by the foot of her desk and takes off her jacket. All she wants to do now is sleep. It's barely noon and she isn't even tired, but she wants to sleep. She sort of believes her bullshit that says it'll make up for a future all-nighter.

Merida heads over to the ladder to climb onto her bunk. Somehow, maybe because she's tired, she grabs the rung wrong. Because her foot was already in the air ready to climb, she immediately lost balance. In an attempt to save herself, she fails and falls to the ground.

She didn't even stick the landing. Merida lands funny and curses to herself in a medley of languages. All she wanted was a ебля nap. She yanks her arms out from under her body and the first thing she sees in a broken nail.

Merida groans. Worst nap ever.

-o-

Cafeteria - 12:22 PM

With damp hair, Angela approaches Daniel and James in the cafeteria. They see her arrive and sit next to James and she notices that they're in the middle of a conversation. Angela watches them and, based on their faces and fragments she picks up, she can tell the general mood of their conversation. James is complaining about something and Daniel's calling him out on it. So small talk.

"My prof is so bad," James whines. "I haven't learned anything all term."

Daniel doesn't even look up from his notepad. "Maybe because you haven't been to a single class all term."

James grunts, trying to think of a comeback. He looks at Angela and sees her grinning. She was right. Then James lights up because seeing her gave him a rebuttal.

"...because she's so bad!" James finishes.

Not a good one.

"How's your day going, Angela?" Daniel asks, clearly not wanting to deal with James anymore. She can't blame him.

"It could be worse," Angela says. She shows them her hands and the broken nails are evident. When she gets back to her dorm, she'll either remove them or smoothen the edges. She and Merida shouldn't have skimmed out on costs for the manicures but it was too late to fix them. At least they didn't contract a disease. "Look, I'm about to go crazy."

"So the nails were for Britney!" James exclaims.

Angela ignores him, hating how much that makes sense. James can see her holding back because she's biting down on her lips.

"I don't get it," Angela says to Daniel. "I'm doing everything I usually do but now I can't function."

"You're renormalizing," Daniel says.

Angela blinks. Not only did she not understand that but he came up with that conclusion so quickly. "What?"

"Your natural nails have changed but every other variable - your routine - remains constant."

Angela nods slowly. Those words went over her head but whatever. All she got from that was that it's her manicure's fault.

"While you're here," Daniel starts. He grabs his bag from beside him and pulls out his scientific calculator for her. "Can you reset this?"

Angela isn't sure what she was just asked but James takes out his phone and starts recording. This will be a memory … and something Emily will laugh at. Angela takes the calculator and searches the back for the reset button. She uses the pinky nail as a pusher but the tip unexpectedly breaks. Daniel's jaw drops as he mumbles an apology and takes his calculator back. He still wants to burst out laughing. James is holding back laughter as he continues recording his girlfriend's simmering outburst. Emily will love this. Angela screeches and James zooms in on not only her face but on Xavier and Orchid who stop mid-step on their way towards them. They look at this whole situation with so much confusion.

"I will never understand manicures," Orchid mutters to Xavier. "Is it safe to approach?"

Xavier watches James continuing to record, Daniel sitting cautiously, and Angela banging her head on the table. "Yeah, I think it's fine."

*coughs* foreshadowing *coughs*

To determine who lost and nail (and ultimately won the bet), I flipped a coin. One girl was heads, the other tails. Each flip meant they lost or broke a nail. And for anyone who's curious, my green nails are still in great condition (minus some minor chips). (As I'm published this, which is about four months after I wrote this chapter, my nails are a whitish-green. They're in perfect condition since I just did them yesterday).