Sunday night: the care and feeding of geniuses

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He's not a genius, or a doctor, or a superhero, but you don't always need to be to help out: some time after Kitty vanishes into the server room to crunch code, Jamie brings her food and support and manages to strike a balance between giving her space to work and not letting her work herself into the ground.

And he steals a cookie, because sometimes you just have to steal a cookie.



Still sorting through the raw data Forge had given her, Kitty was completely engrossed in her computer. The sooner she could take in all of this information the sooner she could really get to work. The sound of the door to the server room opening completely failed to reach her as she switched between files and the text document she'd opened to keep notes in.

Jamie slid into a chair next to her, arranging the tray well away from any of the computer equipment, and nudged her shoulder gently.  "I bring offerings of food to inspire the incredible genius that is you. Most of it is even non-astronauty, but I can go get the ice cream wafers if that'd work better."  He grinned slightly.  "Hope you'll forgive that your caffeine is in one of Miles' old sippy cups, I figure Doc McCoy would actually string me up if he knew I'd brought food in here in spillable containers."

Kitty looked up, startled. "Oh, hey Jami... oooh, food." She grinned at him before snagging one of the carefully wrapped sandwiches. "How much do I love you right now? So much. How go things in the world above ground?"

"Well, I'm all about finding new and different ways for you to realize how much you love me.  That's a perk of my day."  Jamie shrugged.  "It goes.  Everybody's kinda tense, not that I can blame 'em, the school got a wide-angle blast of the old wigginses the past few days.  Even Alex--apparently Lorna didn't tell him she was going to Florida, and he's doing that thing with the strikeout font he does when he's freaking.  How's things in the world of the groundbreaking advances in computer science?"

"Yeah, I can imagine they're tense. Didn't have a chance to get past the first two top priority emails from Forge and Paige before I came down here, but from just the subject lines on everything else... Wiggins may not even cover this one." It was weird that Lorna hadn't told Alex, but there were bigger priorities on Kitty's mind. "I need Doug. We seem to have found the worst time ever to take holidays, and, loathe as I would be to admit it any other time, there's only so much breaking of ground I can do without him."

"I haven't seen him at all since we got back but as soon as I do I'll deliver him.  Possibly gift-wrapped."  Jamie snorted.  "I don't think there is a good time to take a vacation around here.  You'll do fine to start with, though, I'm sure.  I'd offer myself as a sounding board but I don't think 'blank and utterly confused' would be all that helpful."

"Given the state of my inbox when I got back, I imagine Doug will have the same. But hey, if his first reaction on opening some of them isn't to come straight down here, feel free to gift-wrap him." The sandwich was disappearing rapidly, although she was very careful not to lose any crumbs. "I've got a good idea where to start, but the offer is appreciated. Given what Forge is saying, we're going to need a vastly more efficient way to store data, and to get systems talking to each other, so I've been working on some designs. I need Doug as much for a second voice going 'That's nuts, it'll never work, let's do it' as for his genius with languages."

"See, and all I could manage is a 'I have no idea if that'll work but if anybody can get it to it'll be you, go for it.'  Not quite the same."  Jamie gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.  "Forge is definitely shopping at the right store for a miracle, though."

"Mmm," Kitty said noncomittaly, leaning into Jamie's hand. "I hope you're right." But now was decidedly not the time for a crises of confidence. Shaking her head, Kitty said, "Thanks for the sandwiches."

"I'll bring some more in a few hours," Jamie promised, "and maybe something a little more substantial."  He grinned.  "And I won't interrupt you mid-thought, but if you're in imminent danger of waffleface I'll make sure you fall asleep somewhere comfier than this, hmm?"

"Thanks," Kitty said, smiling at him. "They've offered us berths in some of the unused rooms, but I think I'd feel too much like I was getting in the way if I were sleeping down here not just because I'd crashed out on the keyboard."

"Well, isn't it lucky you have choice of two comfy beds right upstairs, and somebody to make sure you make it that far?"  Jamie leaned in for a quick kiss.  "Anything else you think you'll need? Otherwise I'll leave you to your computification and I'll see you in a few hours."

"No, I'll be all right for now. Just Doug whenever he gets in." Kitty sighed. "Love you, by the way."

"Love you too.  Good luck, and let me know if you start running in circles and need a break."  Jamie gave Kitty another pat on the shoulder and stood, snagging a cookie.  He grinned. "And before you protest, I brought one extra cookie because I knew I'd probably grab one on my way out."

She laughed at that. "Well, at least you planned ahead."

Comments

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MA says that when she and Doug get in, she and Jamie need to go on "Make sure all the genuses are cared for" duty, cause well, Forge and Paige are both too busy to take care of the other and all that.

Because while the girls are responsible genuses, the boys aren't.

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Jamie calls that a plan.