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“You can’t prove a thing.” Raven rolled her eyes, exhaling a sigh dramatically, “your entire field is built on hypotheses that have yet to be proven.” She straightened her black blazer so it showed off just the right amount of the low-cut red silk tank top beneath, then placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “Science is about experimentation and results.”
“Science is about explaining what has yet to be explained.” Lexa finished containing her massive amount of wavy hair into a complicated braid, ignoring the dramatics of the person she shared the stage with. She’d been rushed, there was a last minute hitch in some coding at the Large Hadron Collider that required her attention before attending this debate, she simply did not have time to properly groom herself and make it on time. Luckily, she remembered to change out of her sweats and into her charcoal three piece suit, so she didn’t look like a complete schlep compared to Ms. Reyes, who was always polished, before she literally ran out the door to get to the auditorium in time.
“String theory is doing it’s best to prove itself without having the right language to work with. We can agree on the breakdown that happens when you try to put relativity and quantum mechanics together. Two things that have been proven, we as mathematical and scientific communities can agree on, seemingly do not relate in a way that they should.” Lexa took off her black horn-rimmed glasses, by the time she remembered she was wearing them it was too late to put her contacts in, and cleaned them with her green pocket square. “We agree that in order for certain maths to prove their plausibility and longevity, there needs to be additional dimensions in order for math and physics to be accurate.” Lexa put her glasses back on and pointedly stared at her peer, “Ms. Reyes, it’s not as if we haven’t been given data from the tests of our hypothesis, the problem resides in the data not proving the hypothesis false, which implies that there is something worth looking into here.”
“Usually data is able to narrow things down, point to a result, or at least make a definitive statement as to whether it is a functional theory to work with.” Raven raised herself up to sit on the desk behind her. This was supposed to be a discussion, not a debate, after all. But Raven was known for being intensely passionate about her field. “All your data has been able to provide is further questions, more unknowns, rarely any answers.”
“Honestly, if string theory is wrong, I’d like to know by now.” Lexa sighed out dramatically and looked towards the auditorium. The stage lights were so bright and the auditorium, which she knew was packed full of people, was so dark she couldn’t see a single person. She knew how to play to a crowd, but she much preferred not actually seeing the individuals. She heard some chuckles. “I’d like to be able to move on to the next possible explanation.”
“I take it you’re not in the camp that believes it should be taken as true just because there’s no good alternative.”
“Sometimes I prefer talking to you more than my fellow colleagues, Ms. Reyes.” Lexa rolled her eyes, “I’m certainly not interested in declaring that the earth is flat. I don’t need to be right, I need the truth. You risk breaking science as we know it if we were to start taking mere theories as fact.”
“You’re in the science of trying to prove your ridiculous theory.” Raven stated.
“I want to prove string theory true or false,” Lexa nodded. “I don’t want a gold star sticker stating that I’ve tried. Ideally, I want it to be true for the alternate seems honestly depressing to me, but an answer is an answer and we could move to the next plausible explanation.”
---
Lexa walked into the green room backstage, unbuttoning the top buttons of her dress shirt with one hand and grabbing a bottle of water with the other. The discussion hadn’t been horrible, it wasn’t a war and she had to keep reminding herself of that throughout, but she’d been distracted. Her brain kept going back to the endless frustrations provided by the Large Hadron Collider. Unfortunately, those endless frustrations fed right into the exact sort of problems Lexa loved to solve. She wanted to roll up her sleeves and dive nose first into her laptop and notes and find out the why behind what went wrong back in Geneva, she was sure that at some point these things that were unexpected issues would result in a guide to explaining this hypothesis she’s committed her life’s focus to. Lexa took a sip of water then put it down, took off her jacket, and started rolling up her sleeves.
“I really enjoyed that loaf of bread metaphor.”
“I’m starving, I forgot to eat today.” Lexa turned to find a smirking Raven Reyes leaning against the door frame, arms and legs crossed because she was most comfortable looking like a pretzel and not the polished and poised persona she presented on stage.
“I finally got around to hiring a personal assistant.” Raven shrugs, “Octavia doesn’t understand a quarter of the shit I say, but she makes sure I get enough food, water and sunlight.” She motioned a thumb to point over her shoulder, “I know a place if you’re interested.”
“It better not be a gardening store.” Lexa nodded her agreement despite her words. “I’d been doing well since Anya’s departure, this week has just been a bit more chaotic than most.” She found her well-worn leather messenger bag, a gift from Anya, put the strap over her shoulder and indicated that Raven should lead the way. Lexa followed after remembering to pick up her suit’s jacket.
“You talk about her like she’s dead.” Raven snorted.
“She got married and became a teacher.” Lexa’s nose wrinkled, “not even a professor, but a teacher, Raven.”
“You do realize that what we do out on that stage is, essentially, teaching, right?” Raven opened the door for Lexa to pass through. “Besides, someone needs to spawn the future yous and mes.”
“Yes, yes.” Lexa sighed, “Victory stands on the back of sacrifice.”
“For someone in such a vague and purely theoretical field, you sure are black and white about life in general.” Raven laughed. “It’s not a war, Sweets.”
It was a beautiful spring day. The air was crisp and clear, it was still early enough in the year for the plants not to be blooming yet. Something Lexa was quite thankful for, she loved how beautiful the campus they were walking on was, but she was severely allergic to the plants that tended to grow on the west coast and definitely did not want to be out and about in the air in which they flung their breeding ways.
“You were purposely trying to rile me up there a couple times.” Lexa admonished, “do not pretend to not enjoy going into battle against me.”
“Pfft, what battle?” Raven bounced her shoulder against Lexa’s. “You say battle, I say foreplay.”
“You forgot it wasn’t a debate, again, didn’t you?” Lexa looked at Raven with affection.
“I might’ve forgotten to actually stick to the cards Octavia provided.” Raven shrugged and shot a look out of the corner of her eyes, then rolled them, “okay, I did keep forgetting that it was supposed to be a guided discussion, but you know how I get and you’re so damn sexy when you let your passion show. Even if it’s about something completely ridiculous that I don’t agree with at all.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Lexa said with a smile, then leaned over and pressed a lingering kiss just below Raven’s earlobe. “It is good to see you. It has been too long since we have been able to do this.”
“What, fight?”
“Enjoy each other.” Lexa spoke fondly.
“We would be able to enjoy each other more if you got yourself another personal assistant.” Raven raised a brow. “Someone to keep your life on track, someone who fed and watered you too.”
“You know how I feel about commitment.”
“I do, it’s why we work so well. Complete lack of strings.” Raven smirked, “pun completely intended.”
“I hate you.”
“Yes, and it feels so good when you show me how much.” Raven’s voice practically purred as her smile turned cheshire. It was wiped off as Lexa surprised her with a kiss on those same lips.
“I do miss Anya’s ability to remind me what day it was, and that sleep is an important factor in being functional and intellectual.”
“Excellent. Let’s eat, and then work out our differences through dessert,” Raven smirked as she opened the door to the restaurant for Lexa. “When we’re all done, I’ll get Octavia to hook you up. I think she knows someone who’d be perfect.”
---
Lexa was surrounded by pages and pages of notes, neatly organized into piles pertaining to a specific grouping she had designated. The room was dimly lit, just enough soft light to be able to read what was on the pages before her. Her laptop sat open in front of her on the bed, between her legs. She was bent at an angle that couldn’t have been healthy, but she was completely absorbed into the lines and lines of code on the screen. There was half of a celery stick dangling from her mouth, having been forgotten in the middle of a train of thought. She didn’t notice the bed shifting next to her, or the amazing job the papers did in staying in place on the sheets beside her.
“Seriously?” Raven’s voice, in the silent room managed to wake Lexa from her internal computing. The celery stick fell out of her mouth, when it opened in shock, and fell down to the mattress ending up leaning against a naked thigh. Raven snorted and shook her head, “What time is it, Lex?”
“No clue.” Lexa shook her head and stretched her back. She was already regretting being in that position for so long, “You know I don’t like clocks.”
“Yeah, and I still think it’s fucking weird.” Raven pulled herself up, letting the sheets fall off of her bare torso without a thought. “A string theorist who can’t stand the concept of time.”
“It makes sense to me.” Lexa shrugged, and moved her papers so Raven could join her. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“What, with your complete lack of sound and movement?” Raven leaned her head on Lexa’s bare shoulder and looked at the screen of the laptop. “You might’ve subconsciously set off my thinkdar or something.”
“Thinkdar?” Lexa teased, but placed a kiss on Raven’s head. “Sorry, you know how it is, I couldn’t sleep. My brain kept throwing equations, codes and syntax at me.”
“My ego is bruised.” Raven pouted. “I was out like a light, but I couldn’t even rock your world enough to put you to sleep.”
“Aww, Raven, you not only rocked my world, you rocked all of my infinite universes.” Lexa grinned.
“You look like Simba’s dad, by the way.” Raven huffed, moving some of Lexa’s hair away from her face. She ran a hand over her face and moved her head down to the front of the screen. “What are we doing?”
“Something is off in the coding, and for the life of me I do not know what.” Lexa raised her glasses and rubbed at her eyes. “By my notes, and you know how thorough my notes are, everything is correct.”
“Want me to look at it? Sometimes fresh eyes, eyes that don’t believe in your mumbo jumbo in the slightest, might spot something you’re missing.” Raven looked at Lexa, then picked up the celery stick that was still resting against a beautifully toned thigh and winked.
“Yes, please.” Lexa sent a relieved smile at Raven, then leaned over and took a bite out of the celery stick. She then leaned back so Raven could sit between her legs. Lexa doesn’t remember when it became their ‘working position’, just at some point in time it became the only way they would review other’s work or brainstorm. It was practical, efficient, comfortable and comforting. Their lives barely afforded a free moment to themselves, even when free time was available on their schedules it was rare for their brains to allow them rest. The simple act of just holding, or being held by the other, allowed them a precious sort of comfort while still being able to work.
Lexa rested her head on the back of Raven’s as she read over her notes for the millionth time, the gentle clicking of Raven typing on the keyboard provided a delicate music for Lexa to focus with. She lost track of time until she heard a soft snort come from Raven.
“Sweets, don’t kill me, but is that bracket supposed to be there?” Raven lifted the laptop up and brought it towards them, then pointed to what she was talking about. Lexa was silent as she looked at the screen, reading what was before her. Raven watched as Lexa’s eyes stilled at the two open brackets sitting right next to each other. Her nostrils flared.
“Oh, for f-” Lexa’s voice got muffled in Raven’s shoulder as she brought her head down. The mumbles stopped and were replaced by Lexa banging her forehead on Raven’s nape. She ignored the silent laughter coming from the shaking body beneath her. “How are we going to answer the questions of the universe if we faceplant over a tiny bracket.”
“We already know the answer to the question of the universe is 42.” Raven didn’t even attempt to prevent the amusement from showing in her voice, “It’s the question we’re looking for.”
“Shut up.”
“It’s a common mistake.” Raven laughed. She brought the laptop back down, removed the extra bracket and saved the file.
“Shut uuuup.” Lexa groaned. “I’m going to save up all my rage for when I get back to Geneva.” Lexa closed the laptop and moved it safely to the floor, “But right now I’m going to show you exactly how grateful I am of your lack of respect for my field.”
“Math!” Raven purred. She turned around, grinning, “science!”
“Shut up.” Lexa growled, picking Raven up and put her back on her own side of the bed. She then pounced on top of her with a smirk.
“Make me.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely make Raven go boom.”