Log // Catseye, Forge ~ Taking a break...

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

Set in the afternoon, after Forge asks for his iPod. Catseye wanders downstairs to one of the labs, only to find him stymied - and when Forge is reduced to banging his head on stuff, one has to wonder how long that's been going on.

"One thousand nine hundred ninety seven..." Forge watched as the bundle of myomer fibers vibrated under the stress of the metal clamps bearing down on them with great force. Idly, he brushed his metal fingers over the raised pins that were oscillating like small sewing needles. Earlier in the morning he'd realized that not looking at the readouts would save time during the tests, so the breakfast hour was spend with a crash course in Braille.

The beep of the computer brought a smile to Forge's face. "One ton of tensile stress, structural integrity is sound," he commented into his recorder. "Tensile and ductile strength at one hundred percent. Now, raise temperature..."

The readout climbed rapidly, steam rising from the surface of the metal with small pings as the myomer expanded. Frowning, Forge turned the dial higher, feeling the readout under his fingertips warn him of the superheated state of the myomer-

-seconds before the fibers snapped, flying out of the clamps to ricochet off of the protective plexiglass barrier of the test chamber. Closing his eyes, Forge dialed down the machine and smacked his forehead into the protective glass. "Test two, failure at three hundred thirteen degrees centigrade."

"Mrf. Has ShinyBitsBoy been hitting his head on the glass like that a lot today?" Catseye asked suspiciously from where she was, having walked in silently to check up on him and ended up staring over his shoulder in blatant curiosity at whatever he was up to. Hands linked behind her back she didn't move, head tilted to the side as she asked her question.

"Depends. How far back are we considering 'today'?" Forge asked, looking at Catseye's reflection in the glass. "I can't get the structural dynamics right. They work on paper, but... grr!" Angrily, he brushed a set of notes off the counter into a drawer, slamming it shut. "Can't balance heat tolerance with structural strength AND electrical conductivity. It's like a three-sided see-saw. Increase one factor, and the others change. And Paige is on a sanity break and she's the only one who understands this level of molecular chemistry and - grr."

"Catseye," the girl said slowly, bringing out one hand from behind her back and waving something compact next to her head so Forge could see the reflection, "decided to bring this down because Catseye knows ShinyBitsBoy is working on something big and important and that meant ShinyBitsBoy needs this and must have forgotten it. And then Catseye saw the post and figured not being distracted and going now was good." She paused in mid motion, eyeing him pensively. "Catseye also thinks dragging ShinyBitsBoy off somewhere would not be a bad idea, but ShinyBitsBoy might make the whole put on shoulder and carry out thing a bit more complicated these days." She smiled, a touch slyly, as she said this.

Glancing at the reflection of his portable music player, Forge smirked. "Thanks. But I can't spare..." Pausing, he slowly turned around, weighing the wisdom of trying to contradict Catseye on anything. "I mean, this is important. But... the next batch is going to take about fifteen minutes to fabricate, so I suppose I could spare it."

"Good." Trying not to track whatever was going on beneath the glass, Catseye beamed at him, solemnly dangling the iPod just out of his reach. "Because Catseye would still find a way to get shinyBitsBoy to take a break, and since it would have to be a new way, Catseye isn't sure how drastic it might get." He'd already said yes, so it was all play at this point.

Forge arched an eyebrow nearly into his hairline. "Oh really? Well look who's finally acting like a sixteen year old girl after all this time. Been taking lessons from Clarice?" he taunted, theatrically looking around the tall girl. "I mean, next you'll be wearing skirts and going to the mall and talking about boys..."

With a slow blink, Catseye gave Forge a curious expression, all the time back up towards the doorway, iPod still held in her hand like a lure. He might have been working on being in shape of late, but she still had the advantage in terms of height. "Catseye does not mind skirts so much." It was the sort of statement that was safe with Forge, usually, even if he might tease her later on. "Especially the short ones, because they let Catseye move easier," she continued, with ever appearance of blitheness. "And why would Catseye want to talk about boys anyway?"

Playing along, Forge took a swipe for the iPod. "Because that's what girls do. I think." Hopping futilely, he gave a snort of defeat and held out his hand. "It's part of some vast X-chromosome conspiracy to keep us guys baffled and confused. They'll recruit you into it, trust me."

The usual 'Catseye is a cat!' reply hung in the silence for a moment, the girl having even taken her breath to say it, before stopping. Instead, she dropped the iPod in Forge's hand after having taken one more step closer to the door, and then smiled cheerfully. "Catseye can already baffle and confuse anyone just fine on her own, thank you very much!" The last words were delivered in a sing song way and with a definite tone of smugness.

"No kidding," Forge breathed quietly, pocketing the iPod. Looking past Catseye to the door, he smiled slyly. "Race you to the ping pong table?"

Catseye grinned at that, then cracked her knuckles, bouncing a few times in place. "Catseye will get there first and ShinyBitsBoy knoooows it," she crooned cheerfully, even as she took the last few steps needed to put her in the hallway.

Taking a quick step back, Forge looked at the timer.

13:48... 47... 46

"One game," he said to the empty lab, running out after Catseye.