literature

TMP: 5-Jean and Ananda

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Walking down the crowded street outside the lab office, Jean wondered for the thousandth time why she still worked there. In the eight years she'd worked with her mother, Rilynn, at Mark Silfer's lab, she'd seen bizarre things. Even been involved in a few of those bizarre things, but she'd put that all behind her—at least in her waking hours.

I wonder if Ananda still has nightmares about what happened, too, she thought.

Jean searched the crowd ahead of her for her old friend's messy brown hair. Ananda wasn't especially tall, but that crazy hair of hers was unmistakeable, and she wore her pocketed, long-sleeved lab coat everywhere she went.

Just like how I always wear my hat, and loose clothing, Jean thought to herself, tugging at the brim of her hat.

The two were meeting for lunch to discuss their latest coworker. Jean wanted to hear her friend's opinion of the lab's new research assistant. All she'd heard was how he was supposedly as smart as Daniel, Ananda's father and the project's creator. Jean just didn't see how it was possible. Daniel was just too brilliant to be surpassed by a student.

Don't tell me she's going to be late again! Sometimes I think she...

"Looking for me?" Jean turned at the voice behind her, seeing Ananda's silly smile.

"Of course I am, it's hard to see through this crowd of people! Why did we have to eat someplace so busy, anyway?"

Ananda smiled again, and said simply, "I like the food."

She's always in such a happy mood. I envy her sometimes for that.

"Well, come on Jean, I'm starving! The line's not getting any shorter, you know," Ananda said, grabbing Jean's arm.

When they found their place in line, Jean asked, "So what's the story with the new guy? I heard he's some kind of prodigy, and that your dad recruited him! Seems kind of odd, I had to beg for the position I finally got."

"That's because your mother didn't want you working there," Ananda replied.

"Nice job dodging the question," the redhead growled. "How does this guy know so much about the project anyway?"

"He's been researching it almost as long as we have, and he has some new ideas to prevent the kinds of problems that happened last time," the brunette replied distractedly, scratching at her arms through the sleeves of her lab coat. "Let's see... what do I want to eat today..."

"That's great," Jean replied, quickly becoming frustrated with her friend. "I'm sure Daniel will appreciate that. No one wants a bunch of--"

"Don't say it. Don't you dare. Not here. Never mind your opinion of it all, you keep your comments to yourself when we're outside of the lab, Jean Meridus."

"Yeah, sure Ananda. Whatever you say, as usual," Jean grumbled, turning away from the other woman.

Always so secretive. I've accepted it, made it part of my life. Why is that so hard for everyone else?

The two of them reached the front of the line and collected their meals. Jean noticed the restaurant owner looking at them both strangely, and she knew he was trying to figure out why it seemed like something was odd. Out of place.

Unusual. Freakish. Bizarre. Disturbing. Frightening. Pick your adjective, they're all correct.

When he flicked his eyes up to her hat, she turned her back on him so his gaze wouldn't linger too long, and stepped back into the crowd. She saw Ananda give him a small smile before she too turned away.

Trying to make up for her earlier comment, Jean said, "You know, Ananda, I really would like to talk about this. Can we eat here and talk, or do we need to take our food back to the lab?" She desperately wanted to hear the details about the new assistant, not only because of what it could mean for the project, but because of what it could mean for her.

Ananda looked around for a moment, scratching at her arms, and then answered, "We could talk here, I guess, as long as we don't do anything to draw attention to ourselves or the conversation."

The pair made their way to a table at the edge of the patio, where the traffic from the busy street would further mask their voices. When they were seated, Jean immediately asked, "So, is it true then? That he's come up with a way to reverse things like... what happened in the accident?"

I have to know what will happen. I have to know what they'll all decide.

"To be honest with you, Jean, I don't know much about his skill as a geneticist. I've heard the same rumors as you as far as that goes, but I have no idea about whether they're truth."

"Wait, I'm confused," Jean said, shaking her head, "I thought you were the one that introduced the guy to Mark, Daniel and Alex in the first place!"

"Well, I was," Ananda mumbled, blushing a bit, "But that was 15 years ago."

"Fifteen...years... You mean he was there?" Jean tried to remember who had been in the lab that day, but all she remembered was the pain. "Is that why he's researching this so heavily, so that he can have his life back to normal? What wonderful incentive! Shame the infamous Mcinei brothers couldn't do it themselves!"

Jean continued to glare at Ananda, waiting for the defense that always came, but the silence stretched on until she began to feel uncomfortable.

"You're right, Jean," Ananda sighed. "I'm sorry."

Jean stared at her friend for a moment, unable to speak. "What? Did you just... tell me I was right?" She laughed a little at the frustrated look on Ananda's face. "That's not like you!"

"Yes, that's what I said. You're right," Ananda looked down at her food and continued, "Because if my dad and uncle had kept the lab as securely coded back then as we do now, we would never have been in that room."

Jean agreed with her completely, but thought it was strange to hear Ananda come out and say it. For years Ananda had defended her father, even going so far as to say that what happened had been her own fault.

We were just kids, how could we have known what would happen? Jean thought, and not for the first time. Ananda, Ren, Cal, Kama, me, and... what was his name again...

"Ananda, what's the new guy's name?"

"Aravind Sadurin," the brunette replied, not looking at Jean.

"Oh, I remember him now. That bratty punk that told me I was weird!"

"But Jean, you--"

"Don't say it! I'm not that weird," Jean said defensively. Ananda just grinned at her. "I'm not!"

"Well, he's not rude like that anymore, although you'll probably still call him a punk," Ananda continued.

"I can't believe we have to work with him now. Isn't that just fantastic!"

Jean stopped ranting long enough to listen to what her friend was saying. "He's actually quite nice, now... And we spend a lot of our time together, of course..."

"You've talked to him, then? No one else has been able to find him, never mind talking to him. Does he really work with your dad all the time? I'd go crazy..." Jean laughed at the idea of being stuck working side-by-side with the easily distracted man.

"Sure, Aravind works with Dad all the time, but I see him outside of work every day," Ananda said, blushing again.

"And why, exactly, would that be?" Jean questioned her friend, even though she was sure she knew the answer. "Come on, Ananda, what's the story?"

"We've been dating for a long time now, actually. Since last year," the green-eyed woman finally responded.

"Last year?! Why didn't I ever know this?"

"I knew you didn't like him," Ananda answered, "And besides, I didn't tell anyone. Not even Mom."

"You didn't tell Lissa? That's impressive. I didn't think you had any secrets from her," Jean said, returning her attention to her nearly cold meal.

"Just this one. She'd go crazy if she met him; you know how she is," Ananda said, laughing. "But that's not all, Jean."

"Oh? That's not all? Well, go on. What else?"

"He um... Ah, he, well..."

"Ananda, spit it out already!" Jean shouted, startling the other woman.

"He proposed to me."

"He did what now?"

"He asked me to marry him," Ananda repeated, blushing yet again, making Jean wonder if the color would ever fade from her friend's face.

"I can't say I saw that coming," Jean mumbled. "So, what did you tell him?"

Ananda suddenly became very interested in her meal, pushing bits of food around with the fork until Jean simply couldn't stand it anymore.

"Out with it! What did you tell him!?"

"I didn't answer him..."

"I swear, Ananda, one day, you're going to kill me. All that suspense to tell me you haven't even made up your mind yet!" Jean threw her arms out, punctuating her statement.

"That's not it at all, Jean," Ananda corrected. "I've made up my mind. I'd love to marry Aravind. I just haven't told him that."

Jean sighed and shook her head at her friend's timid nature. "You drive me insane sometimes, you know that?" She saw Ananda nod a little, and both of them burst into laughter.

"Come on, Jean," Ananda said, standing from their table. "We really need to get back and see if any adjustments need to be made to the code sequence."

"Yes, of course, because your man is waiting for you, also!"

"Jean! It's not just that. Dad and Aravind were working on something big when we left, and they think they'll be done with it soon. We might actually have some new work to do."

I still don't know what Aravind is planning to do, Jean thought as she and Ananda walked back to the lab's main building. Will he really try to change everything back to the way it was? I'm not sure if I'm able to change a second time. And who knows if it will even work, we could end up even more animal-like than we already are.

Jean pulled her loose-fitting bucket hat down a little tighter to try and conceal the twitching of the canine ears that had been attached to her head for the last 15 years. The ears weren't the only modification she'd received because of the accident, but they were one of the hardest to conceal.

I don't know about the rest of them, but I'm happy the way I am.
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Oh. I can't believe how long it took to write this. So, so long. Depressingly long.

Also, yes, I know I just skipped 15 years worth of potential story and replaced it with vague references. I'm frustrating awesome like that.

And damn it Jean, why are you so hard to write?!?! *dies*

I'm sorry this is so dialogue heavy, not much activity for there to be when they're just eating lunch. If I can figure out how I'd like to do it, I'll go back and add a few more descriptive details in before I write the next piece. It's nearly 4 am and I need some sleep.
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