"Didn't plan on it, but I'll keep that in mind," he said, returning his gaze to the book in his lap. He flipped to a dog-eared page and began reading. For someone with as exceptional of a mind as Ryan, his reading was severely underdeveloped. He knew every word in the damn dictionary, why couldn't he read any faster? "Anyways, I'm lookin' for the right vertebrae for the wires to go into. Hit the wrong one and you can paralyze me, so I'm makin' sure that doesn't happen." He didn't linger on her gender for a moment. And why would he? His mother was light years smarter than his father and his father would admit that. His sister was just as smart as he was, although she devoted herself to literature instead of science. The ingenuity it took to dress as a man and convince professors that she was impressed him, even if he wouldn't admit it for the world. "I'll have to build a new arm, as well. This one's beginning to rust in the interior and it would take longer to replace the necessary parts than it would to just replace the thing as a whole."
And that was that.
Thea back on her bed, staring at Ryan for a long, long moment expression unreadable. He had accepted her without question. Just like that, as if it was the most common thing in the world. Why couldn't anyone else do that? Why couldn't anyone else believe–
"Thea." She said suddenly, voice quiet and uncertain. "I'm Thea Renaud… Marius is my oaf of a brother." A slight smile. But before Ryan could say anything more, she reached over and brought down a leather journal from her collection, quickly looking through the pages before stopping at one.
"You're going to need a better diagram first off." Plopping her book over his own, Thea tapped the page with a slim finger. The writing within was neat and meticulous, the drawings even more so. Thea's own research journal, well loved and a bit ratty, but everything within was as perfect as she could make it. Leaning over so she could see, the chemist pointed to the spinal diagram. "We would have to incorporate a few vertebrae actually. C6 to T1 should do it. Connecting the wires to the nervous system will be tricky–I'll need to do more research–but I'd prefer it to actually sticking something in your brain. Safer and easier to repair should something go wrong."
Flipping the page showed another diagram, this time of a human male from the back, waist up and with both arms extended. Thea pointed to several different spots on the shoulder area. "Putting the wires closer to the bone would be ideal…and have the connection to the artificial arm at the joint. I'm just not sure– Ah–would you tell me how bad the damage is to your arm? Or even better would you mind if I had a look at your injury?"
Ryan snorted at the word "Arm." "I don't got an arm there, but sure."
It was a painstaking 45 minutes of disconnecting wires and unscrewing bolt. Every once and a while, Ryan would let out a loud grunt, particularly when the wires inserted into his waist had to be pulled. But, he got everything disconnected and gently lowered his arm onto his bed. He wasn't joking about there not being an arm. Not even a stump. It stopped right at his shoulder, covered in horrible scars that were stained purple and red. It was a miricle he even survived the explosion.
Thea's rapid blink was the only outward sign of her shock. She'd seen horrific injuries since she was a child, but it was incredible that he not only survived the explosion that did this, but the fact that there were wires sticking out of his skin. How was he not constantly fighting off infection? Or bleeding? Ryan must have a kind of salve that prevented that.
She stepped closer, eyes sharp and intrigued as her fingers gently probed the scars. "Good news." The mutter coming from behind Ryan as she moved around him. "Despite all the scar tissue, most of your joint is still intact, from what I can tell and feel…" A series of fluttering pokes around his scars and a soft 'hmmm.' His skin was warm to the touch–
Thea stepped back around, bunching up his shirt in her hand to get a closer look at the wires around his torso, tutting quietly at them and the areas where they entered his body. Propriety was nothing when Thea was in the zone. "Just to be safe, we can put a stabilizer around the bone. My idea will work!" Hopefully.
"You said brain?" he asked, fully processing what she said when explaining where the wires would be placed.. "Like, the thing that makes the rest of my body move? What the hell happens if you fuck up and poke a wire in the wrong place? And how the hell will you make it so that I can actually use this arm like a normal one?"
The idea that the human brain used electrical waves was a well-known fact for almost thirty years at that point, but ways to actually harness the energy roaming around someone's head had never been figured out. So. What she was suggesting was for them to make history. The thought made Ryan grin wildly. Imagine one of the most important scientific experiments being done by a woman and the son of a blacksmith.
"We need to do a shit load more research, but…." Ryan's expression shifted from that of shock to careless excitement. "Let's do it."
"We're really–We are really going to do this. Poke around in your brain and give you a fully automatonic arm." The words slid out from between her lips in a breathy laugh, as she leaned back and brushed a hand through her hair. She had purposely glossed over the whole 'let-me-cut-open-your-brain' part of her game plan, but Ryan obviously was smart enough to pick up what she was throwing out.
Thea couldn't help the excitement that coarsed through her. A project like this would take months and all the knowledge that she had in her repertoire, but she was practically itching to get started. Ideas zoomed through her mind and although she was confident in her abilities, Thea knew she couldn't do it alone. Begrudgingly, she had to admit that Ryan may be just as smart as her.
God what a smile– "If it is alright with you, this would be a fantastic project to submit to the faire at the end of the year. I wouldn't mind submitting it as a joint effort." Thea could swallow her pride…at least for the time being.
"Makes life a whole lot easier for me," he said with a shrug, taking his shirt from her hands and pulling it down again. Ryan didn't like people looking at his torso, especially if it was just to look at the wires. Even guys like him cared somewhat about the way they looked. Coming up from a rough past, he struggled with hubris. Always being the biggest, strongest, and smartest guy in the room had a way of getting into a guy's head. The explosion was the first time he ever felt….dumb. Just making an explosion for the hell of it? It costed him his arm. In a way, the metal arm was a reminder that he wasn't too big, or strong, or smart for death. "All I gotta do is build a new arm and get cut open." He was selling himself short. Why? This idea wouldn't even be happening without him, right?
Because he wanted Thea to take the credit for it. Give her the proper recognition that she deserved. He felt like he was in the way of it. So, on top of building the arm, he would have to figure out a way for her to take most of the acclaim. Tricky tricky.
"Because that is so little to do." Thea said with an eyeroll, sarcasm dripping from each word. She was smiling though, that teeny tiny smile that lit up her eyes like fireworks instead of her features. The chemist took back her journal, placing it on her nightstand just in case Ryan wanted to look at the diagrams again. Or–or was curious about her other research projects.
There was an awkward silence as the two of them stood there. It was easy to talk about their passion for the sciences, but everything else…. Thea shifted her feet and coughed, just to make a noise. "It is getting pretty late. We should–I should get some rest. Been a long day…" She looked up and over her shoulder at Ryan, shrugging as he met her glance. Thea opened her mouth to say more, but a shadow passed through her expression and she thought better of it.
"Goodnight, Fairfax." A quiet mumble as she tucked herself into bed.
It was dead quiet for about 20 minutes before…. "Do you think you could teach me how to be a man?"
It took the question a few moments to push through the veil of exhaustion that hid his brain away from the outside world. He sat up from the pillow and ran a hand through his hair. Teach her? Am I the right guy for this? It's not like I'm the best example for a man.
But he was the exact type of guy she'd been trying to be. Constantly annoyed, intimidating to be around, and the type of guy people would avoid walking on the same side of the street with. Could he teach that, though? It just came natural for him.
"I guess I could," he said, scratching the side of his neck. "What do ya need to learn?"
Thank god they had turned out the light because Thea's mortified blush was enough to make her face bright red. She really did not like admitting that there was something that she wasn't good at, something that she just couldn't wrap her head around… This was killing her.
"Just how to act–what to say and how to say it. How to make sure that the rest of the world doesn't look too closely at me." Thea's voice was uncommonly soft in the darkness. She didn't want–couldn't–admit that she wanted to be intimidating. To be not only the smartest in the room, but the strongest…at least mentally. Thea didn't want to be second guessed ever again. "When and how to punch someone's lights out." The light tinkling of her natural girlish laugh surprised even her.
"See, there's a lot of threatening to face punch as a guy, but a distinct lack of actual punching," he said, frowning slightly at her giggle. Distinctively womanlike. "You walk with your thighs too close together." How did he know this? Well….he watched her walk. Was it weird? "Guys are a lot looser. Don't sway their hips hardly ever."
Who would've thought that explaining how to be a guy would be so difficult? Maybe it was because she was actually….attractive. For the first time in forever, he actually felt genuine attraction towards someone. She was pretty, for one, even with her hair being that short. Her intelligence was mindblowing. And her fierceness. She didn't back down from anything, something so rare in women at that time.
"You try too hard to seem unreachable. Too many insults, not enough ignoring," he said, attempting to get that train of thought to derail.
Thea nodded, even though she knew Ryan couldn't see her. "More stoicism. Less insulting. Violence only in the most dire of situations. More relaxing. Less….swaying….of my–ahem–hips." Christ. How long had he noticed that she wasn't a man? Apparently long enough to have a list of things that she was doing wrong. Long enough to watch her hips…
Thea's cheeks burned so hard she was surprised they weren't glowing in the moonlight. Just in case he was looking, she turned to her side, facing the wall. Should she be wary that she was sleeping in the same room as a strange man? Something in Thea's chest tightened–But Ryan wasn't exactly a stranger now. Right? And definitely wasn't a handsome stranger. Because she hadn't noticed. Not at all.
"Anything else?" Good. Her voice sounded bored and monotonous.
"You're trying too hard on your voice," Ryan said after a moment of thought, laying his head back down on the pillow. "You got your tongue in the back of your throat and it makes everything sound weird. Other than that….nah. You look like a convincing man even with your feminine features," a hint that he found her pretty, if she managed to catch it, "you got the height for a man, and you're just as smart as any of those dickweeds. All in all, you did decently."
With that, he rolled over onto his left side and went to sleep, his right arm pressed against the bed to make sure he didn't just roll onto his face an suffocate himself. It was a familiar position, so he feel asleep fairly quickly.
Around 2:45, their door was slowly opened, the light immediately falling over Ryan's face and waking him up. His brain was processing the situation faster than it took the would-be hazers to slip into the room. Thea didn't have her binds on. Nor did she look particularly manly curled up in a ball like she was. So, he would have to get these two out of the room. Easy.
"Take two more steps and you'll regret it," Ryan growled, a deep-voiced guttural sound that stopped the two third-years dead in their tracks. The big man stood up from the bed, his one armed body looking lopsided and absolutely terrifying. Like a horror movie in real like. "Get the fuck outta here."
The door was quickly shut and footsteps sprinted away.
"Mmmwhut?" Thea mumbled, sitting up just as the door clicked shut again. Her curls were all over the place, sticking out in a messy halo of gold. Despite her eyes still being shut, she had turned her face towards the sound, her features illuminated by the soft moonlight still streaming in the window. Any and all notion that she could still, perhaps, maybe be a man fled right out along with the hazers. Thea just looked too soft and right now she looked as sweet as apple pie.
She blinked, yawning and rubbing a hand across her face. Finally, she was able to focus on her roommate…who was towering over their beds looking like a damn wraith in the darkenss. Thea nearly lept ouf of her skin. "Jesus Christ Ryan! What the fuck are you doing?!" Ridiculously, since she was fully dressed, Thea grabbed her blanket and pulled it up to her chin. As if the damn thing would protect her from whatever the hell was happening.
He didn't answer, still staring at the door with a murderous gaze that nearly glowed in the low light. Should he tell her? Did she need to know?….Not really. The idea that someone nearly waltzed right in to the room while she slept would scare her way more than he would. He never cared about being thought of as weird, so he didn't saw a word as he walked back over to his bed and laid down, choosing to keep the covers underneath him.
He woke up to the sound of a voice blaring through the hidden speakers. "Class starts in an hour, students. Time to wake up."
"They couldn't have made that shit any louder," Ryan grumbled, rubbing the top of his head as he sat up and put his feet on the ground.
Thea didn't get much sleep after she'd been startled awake, choosing instead to keep an eye on both the door and her roommate. She didn't know what had happened, but the way that he had glared at the door made her think something had come through it. Perhaps she would inquire about getting a lock for it…
The chemist was already dressing when those damn hidden speakers squawked, having given up on sleep to take first turn the the bathroom. No need for Ryan to have to wait for her to put on her binds and what not. Thea attempted a new way to style her hair this morning–copying William's since his locks were about as long as hers–the curls were pushed back more, instead of hanging about her chin and neck, giving her a more stern look.
"Good morning." She said to the mechanic cursing at the speakers as she tied her boots. Thea was also trying a new voice, letting her natural rasp come through more than deepening it. Sure it made her sound more boyish than manly, but she was obviously taking Ryan's advice.
"Mhph." A morning person, Ryan was not. It was hard to blame him, though. Imagine having a very pleasant dream. Nothing close to a wet dream, but something just normal enough to make everything memorable and cozy. Then boom, you're woken up by an annoying voice coming through a speaker that you can't find and would get in trouble if you fucked with it. The pain didn't come immediately, but creeped up on his body like a poison, sinking into his joints and muscles like a knife slowly going through warm butter.
He chose his working arm for the day, reaching underneath the bed and pulling out the smooth, less complicated arm for the day. Even if it was the first day, he had a feeling that they'd still be doing a lot of hands-on work. He attached it a surprising speed, his hand working without guidance underneath his shirt to attach each wire to the correct spot. After 20 minutes, he stood up and tested the artificial limb out. It moved a lot less fluidly than its counterpart, but it still functioned as advertised.
"Voice sounds alright," Ryan said once he finished. "Better than yesterday. But assholes don't say good morning. Don't say anything, in fact."
"And there I thought we were becoming friends." Thea arched a brow sardonically, her brother's easy smirk plastered on her features. Her eyes were doing that shimmer again though, the one that made you think that she was grinning like an idiot on the inside.
Thea was leaning against the wall close to the door, a jacket draped over her arm. "I was going to invite you to lunch and everything. I'm devestated." The sarcasm kept rolling off her tongue, easy and fluid. A hand dramatically clutched at her chest as Ryan looked up to glare at her.
Ryan just rolled his eyes, choosing to not bring up the fact that she completely misunderstood what he was saying. It was him giving her advice, but if she was going to act like that, she could go suffer.
Every student that was accepted into the school received a pamphlet that told them their scheduled for the year. Ryan had looked over the paper once, memorized it, then tossed it into a puddle in the street, but most of the students that were in the halls had their noses buried into the papers, trying to find their fist class. Ryan's was Mechanics, something that brought the smallest hint of a smile when he read it. Thea branched off at a junction in the hallway, leaving him slightly worried that she would slip up. He doubted he was the smartest person in the place and he figured it out before he walked in on her. All it would take is one fuck-up and it was over.
Anatomy was the first class of Thea's day and there was almost a spring in her step as her excitement got the better of her. Thankfully, she was the kind of woman–er man–that was quite skilled at keeping most emotions under wraps. Thea had almost invited Ryan to lunch with her, but decided better of it as they had walked. Didn't seem like something he would be interested in, or something men did. Perhaps it was just understood that since they were roommates they would eat together? How did one navigate the thought process of a stoic man?
Ryan did acknowledge Thea's nod of farewell with a barely perceptible one of his own as she branched off to the physical sciences wing. Well, that was that. Was that a hint of worry in his eyes though? Thea shook her head, sliding into a high desk that she was claiming as her own. No use in fretting over that right now, she had to focus. Double time.
The professor breezed through the door with all the grace of a winter ice storm and Thea took a deep breath. "Here we go."
The classroom was an utter mess. Papers were scattered most of the corners in the room, most slightly rumpled and many with water stains on them. The desks were haphazardly placed in front of an operating table still covered with fresh blood. The professor himself was a reflection of his classroom. He wore thin-framed glasses that slid down his nose ever two seconds, requiring him to push them back into place every time. His hair was a mess of flowing white hair, the hairline receding back on his head like it was admitting defeat to his forehead. His name was Orville Udo, but most called him Professor U, for unorganized.
"Uh, hello, students," he said hastily, his slight German accent twisting the words as they left his lips, "I am Professor Udo, but most call me Professor U." His hand motions were hectic and honestly spastic and the man couldn't seem to sit still. "I will be your Anatomy teacher for this year. If you treat me with respect, I will provide likewise. However, make my time while you're in class miserable, and your grades will be more disorganized than this room. Understood?"
Thea's brows shot up in surprise followed shortly by the very corners of her lips. She adored him. Something about the disorganized mess of everything about the room and his person made joy bubble up in her chest. Despite the fact that he appeared to be scatterbrained, the bolt of intelligence in his gaze made everyone sit up a little straighter in their chairs, including Thea.
Gone was the oppressive, sterile, slave-driving nature of her uncle and his fellows Thea had grown up practicing with. She only had to prove that she knew her shit and things would go smoothly for her. The muscles of her back relaxed just slightly and she had to look down at her journal to keep her grin hidden.
Professor U took only a single spare moment to discuss the basics of the class before launching into an in depth lecture. Thea's head was spinning by the time she exited her class, hand aching from the amount of writing she had done. But damn did she finally feel that she was achieving her dream. In the back of her mind, Thea wondered how Ryan was doing.
Ms. Westbrook stomped into the Mechanics shop, her toolbag thrown over her left shoulder and a scowl even Ryan had to admire pinned to her face like a parasite. She looked relatively young, around her late thirties, but there was nothing youthful about her aura. She walked like she had the weight of the world on her back, hunched over and grumbling like a gas engine. She wore simple flats, overalls, and a long sleeve shirt underneath. Very much a male outfit. Students began mumbling the moment the walked through the doors, but everyone shut the hell up once the toolbag slammed onto the desk.
"Listen up," the lady growled, turning her fierce eye over the crowd of young men. Her eyes lingered on Ryan's arm for a moment before reverting the the group, something he was used to by now. "I am not here to be your friend. I am not here to make shit easy on you. I believe everyone has to work as hard as I did to get here, and I had to work my ass off. Entitlement means nothing to me. Money means nothing to me. Hard work and intelligence is the only thing that matters."
Ryan liked Ms. Westbrook. They were both grumpy, annoyed assholes and didn't put up with shit. A small grin was on his face as the she began to read the mandatory rules that every teacher had to show to the students.
By the time lunch rolled around, Thea's mind was near it's capacity. Her classes were difficult and intense, the professors even more so. She felt like she was going to pass out from mental exhaustion at any moment, but her eyes shone with a near manic brightness. Goddamn did she love every moment. Finally being able to show her stuff and dive deeper into her passion was a dream Thea had never truly thought she'd been able to achieve and yet here she was–fresh out of her advanced Chemistry course with a fresh liquid nitrogen burn and a bit of phosphorus still glimmering on her left cheekbone. The woman had even kept up appearances well enough that no one had looked twice at her.
Absolute heaven.
But damn was Thea starving. Lingering within the large doorway to the dining hall, the chemist glanced about, looking for that now familiar dull glimmer of a metal arm. A frown appeared on her face as she failed to find it. Seemed that Ryan hadn't made his way down from class yet. Curses.
Thea shifted from foot to foot nervously, wondering if she should just start taking her meals in her room. But–no. If she could fool an entire class she could certainly dine by herself. Nonsense. She didn't need the mechanic as a buffer between her and the rest of the University's male population–but she had to admit it was nice. The man was terrifying enough that most didn't even notice her.
Sighing, Thea made her way to the nearest empty table, choosing the first chair she came into contact with. best get this over with. Just in case anyone decided to make conversation with her, she pulled out her journal and pretended to be enamored by the what was written upon the pages.
"Oi! Renaud! There you are mate. Thanks for grabbin' a table." A hand clamped down on her shoulder, practically making Thea leap from her chair. Tommy, with William close behind. Oh–Curses. Both men sat, their book bags carelessly being thrown onto the table.
"Hello….chaps." Chaps? Was she in primary?! Good lord. Thankfully Tommy and William didn't seem to care as they launched into a full conversation and somehow managed to pull Thea in as well. Much to her general surprise–Astronomy was actually interesting.