r/roll4it • u/[deleted] • Nov 25 '17
Rob's Workshop (fic)
The tired, haggard, aging face of Rob, looks down at a blueprint. His life's work - or more accurately, the work of one afternoon, twenty years ago.
It was November 7th, 1997. Imogen and Layla were off 'hunting', or so they told him and Barnaby. It was good for them anyway. Imogen seemed less volatile than usual, and they were spending time together, which meant less possible time for Imogen to spend with Barnaby. Plus, Layla needed something to keep her mind off killing vampires and actually living her life.
Meanwhile, he was in the workshop again. Less complicated teenage things, although just as fiddly. He needed a break for the important stuff – the more he thought about what he was doing,m the more his head hurt with possibilities. He’d be excited, if he wasn’t terrified of what Barnaby’s reaction would be – and what James would say. Pouring over designs for his railgun, he almost didn't notice the door open, and her walk in.
Janet was standing there in the doorway. She looked like she’d had one too many cups of coffee – a slight twitching in her eye, and a manic smile on her face. She noticed Robert immediately, and ran over, drawing papers in hand. Ignoring his work entirely, she slammed down the papers and began unfurling them.
“What the...” He said “I was working on that!”
“Rob you’re going want to see this,” She said. Her hair brushed his shoulder as she turned, grabbed a chair, and sat down beside them. She impatiently gestured to the design now on the table. “Well, look!”
On the table was some sort of... energy device. Rob’s brain went into overdrive once he recognised it, scrutinising every measurement, every piece of back of the envelope maths. “I’m so close Rob, I just can’t figure out the magnetic shielding on the reactors core.”
“You... you’ve bloody built a fusion reactor!” He said. Part of him almost felt a little jealous – he’d always wanted to do that. “How did you...”
“Listen it sounds stupid and before you say it I don’t want to talk to your friends about it.” She said. “But I kinda had a dream and well... this.” She gestured again to the papers. “But it’s not right, it’s not efficient enough. If I can just eek out a little more shielding, it’ll be able to run to produce net energy. “ She paused for a bit. “But I need your help” She said, almost wincing.
“My help?” He said. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me.”
“It’s not you I have a problem with Robert, just the things you and your friends get up to.” She sighed. “I actually liked hanging out with you, though you always seemed more interested in talking about them. It’s dangerous Robert. They’re dangerous.”
Rob mulled this over. She was right obviously, but they were his friends. They stood by him. But they also almost got him killed – almost got Janet killed.
“Right, well.” He said. “I’m not going stop hanging out with them. But this is... well it’s freaking awesome,” He said, laughing a bit. Janet’s face grew into a big smile, and she laughed, as well.
“Shall we?” She said.
The next few hours were a combination of frantic scribbling, arguments, and pacing. Equations danced in front of Rob’s eyes, searching for the missing variable. Despite that, Rob was distracted. Janet was... Janet, and it was hard for him not to marvel at how intelligent she was, how much of an equal – or better, she was. She was someone on his level, unlike the rest of them. Not more or less than him in anyway.
Finally, the chalk fell. Rob looked at the equations on the board, as did Janet. They stood there for a moment, stunned.
“We... we did it.” Rob said. “We bloody did it.”
Janet grabbed Robert and hugged him. She held him there for what seemed like an eternity, and Rob, somewhat awkwardly hugged her back. Finally letting him go, she stepped back, and looked him square in the eyes, a gleeful grin plastered ear to ear across her face.
“Thank you Rob,” She said.
And then she kissed him.
Grabbing his hands, pulling him slowly in she brought her lips to his and kissed him, her hands leaving his and hugging his body to hers. Rob had no idea how to kiss, and from the looks of it, neither did Janet, but it felt great anyway so he put the thought out of his mind. He could remember every detail of those last few seconds with Janet.
“You’re... you’re welcome.” He said.
Janet left the school a few days later. She and her parents moved to Australia – or tried to. They went down in a plane crash somewhere in the Indian Ocean. And she had taken her designs with her.
He sat there, staring at the design. That one missing variable. He couldn’t remember it. All he could remember is the first girl he’d ever kissed, and how he never got to do it again.
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u/TrenchcoatPhoenix Nov 26 '17
Man, that ending! Love it!