look at me still talking when there's science to do

Jakob set his beer glass down on their table and wiped the foam off his upper lip with the back of his hand. "String theorists are full of it. Give me loop quantum gravity or give me death."

"Physics' answer to intelligent design." Audra's eyes sparkled in the dim yellowing light; she picked up her rum and coke and knocked half of it back, sliding one hip up onto the polished wooden edge of the pool table.

"A little more fun at parties and they can usually count to twenty-one without taking off their pants, but you get the idea." He tried to hit the three ball and missed, the cue ball bouncing fruitlessly off three sides. "How is it fair that you get to show off your ass to distract me, again?"

"Stop bragging about how biology is just applied chemistry and I'll stop flashing you when you're trying to shoot pool."

"But it is."

"That doesn't mean you should lump me in with the chemists."

"You're better than they could ever hope to be, darling. Better than they could dream of being. Chemists all get hard-ons over Mr. Wizard and that Girl Genius from comics, they don't actually have a life." He looked around furtively. "There aren't any chemists actually at this conference, are there? I bruise like a peach, it's really very ridiculous."

She grinned across the table and wiped her chalk-dusted hands off on her jeans before leaning in to take her shot. "Don't spread it around too thick, I left my hip waders at home."

( based on this xkcd strip. )

judgement (fabian/jakob)

"You ate my cereal." Fabian suffering an artist's block was routinal, grouchy and indignant, which just went to show that absolutely nothing was impossible in science, just varying degrees of statistically improbable.

"I did no such thing." Jakob shrugged and leaned against the breakfast bar, studying his own rippled reflection in the stainless steel fridge. He took a quiet step forward, closing the gap between them as gently as possible.

"You did. I saw you -"

"I do live here. You think you'd have noticed, sleeping in the same bed and all, but I know sometimes you get distracted." Another step.

"-with a bowl-"

"Shocking! What an utter bastard, that Jakob Vanderschpiegle is, carrying bowls."

"eating something."

"You do know there are other, better tasting things to eat in this kitchen besides that cereal? Like plywood?" A third step. They were almost touching now.

Fabian swirled on his toes and screamed, top-of-his-lungs-lack-of-sleep vibrant. "You ate my fucking cereal."

Jakob slammed their mouths together, knocked Fabian ass-first into the fridge, held him there with lips and tongue and hands until the crankiness melted away.

"I bet the kids ate it." Jakob breathed, biting his ear.

"I'll find something else." Fabian dragged him toward the pantry.

---

elaborate (audra/fabian)

Audra is not one for elaborate gestures. She works in shades of subtle: gradual shifts on the evolutionary scale, minor tweaks of acids and bases. But tiny things cause elaborate changes, like Mendel's peas which changed the thoughts of billions, but their descendents were still eaten last night with lemon and butter.

Fabie is not exactly subtle. Huge canvases, too many piercings, brightest colours and black vinyl pants. He's nearly a caricature of an artist, of a modern bohemian, and that's the way he likes it. But large things trickle down, reduce; a tiny brush painting watercolour birds for her, a post-it-note doodle in her lunch signed with his crooked smile.

---

journey (audra/jakob)

They take planes and trains and automobiles to the same conferences; physics and biology aren't the same, of course, but closer than some. They write papers together, names twinned together in the abstract as well as reality. They argue semantics over linguini. Both share a deep-seated suspicion of chemists.

They twist together in the bed at night, feeling not so alone, but still one-third lonely.

Jakob's eyes fluttered open, revealing the usual smears which were the stuff of his morning before he put his glasses on. They were dark smears though, not light ones, and that was good. It meant it was early yet. It meant he still had time.

His fingers slid around on the slick tent floor for a moment before he finally found his glasses (nestled in the baggy jeans and black sweater he'd set them on the night before) and he lay still for a moment, going over his plan one more time.

All he had to do was get across town, get into the house, get what he'd come for and get back before anyone noticed he was gone.
( Continued. )

This is part of the alternate-timeline Amsterdam that Jakob lived in before he met Fabian (and by extension everyone else.) The present government rules from Berlin with notions of prosperity and peace and an iron fist smashing everything that's different. They haven't overtaken the Netherlands as yet, but a lot of smaller countries have fallen under the Rammstein propaganda. Lack of loyalty, in this case, can easily get a lot of people killed or worse.
( Onward. )

( Say the secret word and the duck comes down ... )

The stars above them twinkled with the knowing mystery of constellations unseen from one's birthplace - exotic and deep, as though different stars carried more meaning, somehow. The sand beneath them was still warm from the day's heat as they neared eleven o' clock local time.
Frank Sinatra had probably never expected his music to be played here, under the foreign skies of a planet he never knew existed. But romance is universal. He probably would have agreed to that sentiment, in any case.
"You look lovely tonight." Fabian murmured.
"So do you." Jakob replied with a chuckle. "I like the tiara. You always did want to be a faerie princess."
"It's a failing." They swayed gently to the crooning coming from the stereo. I've got a crush on you ... sweetie pie ...
"Regrets?" Fabian asked softly, following the gentle steps of the dance.
"Not a one." Jakob turned to the woman who was standing beside them both and raised an eyebrow at her, laughing; she was mischeviously expectant in her short silver gown and bare feet, the lights from the town nearby outlining her deep blue hair. "Yes, schnookie?"
"It will be my turn soon, I expect?" she laughed. "I mean, it's my anniversary too, not just yours."
"You can have a turn." Fabian stepped aside, straightening his smoking jacket and tiara. "Go ahead."
"Yes, but that's hardly fair. I want to dance with both of you." Audra pouted. "Damn dichotomous thinking. What's a woman with two husbands supposed to do on the dance floor?"
"It depends on how quick you are." Jakob chuckled, looking at both of them thoughtfully. "Okay ... hm. Well, I suppose the only way to do things is for Fabie to stand there - put your arm around Audraschnookie's waist ... like that, and I'll stand on her other side ... there. Now take my hand."
Fabian did so, nuzzling Audra's neck playfully, and she laughed.
"There!" Jakob nodded approvingly, peering over Audra's shoulder at Fabian. "Just like always. A spirited dance, with Audra in the middle. And I'm leading, because you step on things and trip."
The song continued; the three of them began to dance, first awkwardly and then more fluidly, leaving spinning wet footprints across the sand.
"What happens when we dip?" Fabian asked suddenly.
"We'll figure it out somehow."

Today's 15minuteficlets challenge ...

The cut is because I don't want to give away the 15minuteficlets word. But it's not /that/ long. :-)

( The secret word is: )

The sky was hanging black with ominous clouds. As they stared out the huge glass sliding door, a huge raindrop spotted the sunbleached concrete - and then another, and another, until the ground was a wet, shiny grey-black and the sand beyond was three shades too dark.
Jakob sighed, turning away from the window. "I guess we'll be staying in?"
"No way." Fabian set his face at a determined angle. "No way - I'm going out."
"Schnookiebaby, it's pouring." A bolt of blue lightning streaked across the sky, as if to illustrate Jakob's point.
"I don't care." With a flourish, Fabian jerked the balcony door open and darted across the concrete patio to the beach, a streak of pale blonde hair and baggy lavender t-shirt, running through the rain.
Jakob stared after him for a moment, and then turned to the beach house's resident cat, who was sitting on the chair cleaning itself fastidiously. "I married an idiot."
"Come on, come on, it's great!" Fabian shouted from the beach.
"I suppose this is what they were talking about when they said for better or for worse." he informed the cat, and stepped outside into the downpour.

Fabie was right; the rain was warm, the huge drops stinging slightly as they landed. Jakob could feel his gelled hair flattening against his forehead, and his glasses were more raindrops than lenses, at this point.
"You're going to catch your death." he yelled through the storm.
"I don't care." Fabian screamed back. "Isn't it great?"
A huge clap of thunder swallowed Jakob's response, which was something like 'you're insane'. Fabian laughed gleefully, standing with his sodden streams of hair dark around his face, his arms outstretched, worshipping the rain gods and the bounty they provided. Jakob stood still, shaking his head, a smile on his face.
Suddenly the world turned upside down; Fabian pounced, leaping onto Jakob's chest and knocking him backward into the wet sand. Their muddy, entwined bodies skidded, lips meeting warm and friendly in the cooling rain.
"Let's go inside." Jakob breathed, wiping the wet sand away from Fabian's eye.
"Yes." Fabian grinned, sitting up. "I'll race you back."
"When I catch you ..."
"If you catch me." Fabian snickered, scrambling to his feet, dancing backward.
"When I catch you." Jakob's blue eyes glittered, "I am going to eat you. After I wash the sand off you, that is."
Fabian's giggles trailed through the rain as he began running back toward the house.
Jakob chuckled to himself and let Fabie get a nice head start.
Half the fun was in the chase, anyway.

Topic: music.
(I know. This is supposed to be Jack-and-Allanna month. This hit me out of nowhere. I couldn't resist it. :-D Yes, of course they were listening to this CD.)

Date night.
Fabian turned, straightening as he hit 'play' on the stereo. "There."
"Whatcha putting on, schnookiebaby?" Jakob drawled from the sofa, patting the empty spot between his knees invitingly.
"Sinatra." Fabian sat down and wormed his way up to rest his head on Jakob's chest. "That okay?"
"It's fine." Jakob stroked Fabian's long blonde hair gently, kissing him on the forehead.
They sat silently for a while, enjoying the comfort of each other's silence.
"You know something?" Fabian spoke up suddenly.
"What?"
"This song is kind of like how we met." He began singing quietly in a soft tenor voice. "Strangers in the night ... exchanging glances, strangers in the night ... wondering in the night, what were the chances we'd be sharing love before the night is through..."
"Kind of." Jakob chuckled, still petting his hair. "But it had a better beat to it."
"So kind of like the Chemical Brothers does Frank Sinatra then."
"Kind of, yeah."
"That's ... kind of weird." Fabian wriggled further up Jakob's chest, kissing the hollow of his neck. "It's true, but it's kind of weird."
"I love you."
"I love you back."

Finally.
From proposals come weddings, obviously.
Looking at that older piece I'm surprised at how much my style's changed for the better. Woot. :-D

( Hardly a white wedding .... )