After falling asleep with flushed cheeks, dreams came and went.

There was a long sequence of a bus ride, where he sat by the window and tried unsuccessfully to watch the world as it slid by. Every few minutes, they arrived at a new platform, and the crowd around him changed, and a new stranger would sit in the seat next to him and steal his attention. Every time his eyes caught something to focus on, there was someone new tapping on his shoulders.

He woke up to his watch with his heart racing and body buzzing with anxiety. It took several deep breaths to calm down, and only after that could he convince his legs to swing over the bed so he could start getting ready for work.

Jareth’s eyes swam back and forth between the window and the surrounding seats on the ride to the lab. He didn’t get to sit alone, having been joined at the same platform he entered from, but at least, in reality, there were no stops between his own and work. And his row partner didn’t grab his wrist or his shoulder. In fact, she didn’t try to talk to him at all. Her back was to him as she spoke to someone in another row.

Jareth didn’t mind.

The anxiety didn’t care enough to fade away entirely, but still, he didn’t mind.

It took him several moments to get off the bus, and then he meandered his way into the lab.

He double-checked the records from the day before and was pleased while also uneasy at his disassociation.

Time Task 1:45 P.M. Print specimen stickers. 2:00 P.M. Apply specimen stickers to test tubes 2:45 PM Print Relic Stickers 3:00 PM Apply Stickers to sterile boxes

The sheet went on through the rest of the afternoon until his usual clock-out time. After that, he had recorded the last line of the day and logged out, which meant he wouldn’t have an angry conversation in someone’s office soon. He hoped, at least. He had taken a slightly extended lunch to harass Hellen, but it shouldn’t be a huge problem.

Otherwise, he figured it was going to be a problem twice. It wasn’t like Jareth routinely planned on skirting the rules, but he didn’t plan on avoiding a conversation with Hellen that day. He did, however, plan on doing it in the cafeteria instead of outside his door. A small change in his original plan, but he figured it would give him more time and more of her attention.

He opened the log for a new day and put down the time of his first print. His inbox was fairly thin, but it wouldn’t last long, and he knew it. Within a day or two, he would have a backlog to scramble through - just like always. It didn’t matter what station everyone was on. They all waited as long as possible to do their part.

As he looked over at what was on the desk at that moment, he shook his head. It was a little silly to think he’d even be noticed for moving around more than usual for a day or two in a row. If anything, he was one of the most productive workers in his pod.

----------------------------------------

Jareth stood outside the cafeteria doors for almost five minutes before Hellen walked up, one of her light-red eyebrows was raised. It almost made her look suspicious, but her lips were curled upwards in an amused smirk, which fudged the effect.

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Instead, she just looked curious.

Which made sense. Who among the lab workers, especially the divers, weren’t curious? Which one of them didn’t want to just spend their time touching other people’s things and invading nature’s infinite space?

Well, aside from actual space. The rumors of astronauts and generational ships did swim among the general population, but it had been beyond his lifetime since there was any proof they existed. If the government was doing the work, then they were hiding it very well.

“You keep this up, and I’m going to start thinking you have a crush on me or something.” Hellen stopped a few feet in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyebrow had dropped, but her smile was fuller than before.

“Just talking to an old friend.” Jareth blushed. He only knew because he felt his cheeks and forehead get warmer than the rest of his body, but not boiling. At least he had a glimmer of hope that it had been a brief shade of pink rather than a deep red that sat on his face for the world to see.

“Friend?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “Does that mean you’ll pay for my lunch today?”

“Wouldn’t that make it a date?”

“Sure.”

At that, the heat flashed across him again. Deep and searing, making him feel like a hormonal teenager again. The conversation was not exactly going as planned, and he hadn’t even gotten it started yet. His jaw clenched while he tried to figure out how to save face, but the burden was taken away from him.

“Let’s go them, Asket. You’ve got my attention.” Hellen lifted her chin slightly. She also dropped her arms back down to her sides and walked through the doors into the thick of feeding time for everyone on the same shift as them.

He quickly pushed off the wall to follow her.

The noise level changed the second he entered the cafeteria - as always. It shifted from a jumble of sounds down the hallway and into a clash of conversations and shuffle of objects. Plus, all the people walking around who didn’t pick up their feet, letting their shoes slide along the floor — one item on a long list of pet peeves.

His ears were full of distractions, but Jareth kept his eyes on Hellens back. He watched her ponytail bounce as she marched down the aisle, smack in the middle of the two red chalk lines, and into line. He watched her hands point to the menu when she ordered her food with confidence and no hesitation.

Then, despite his effort, he had to scramble to find her after the gruff lady behind the counter handed him his tray. He had ordered mac and cheese — his current comfort food — and an extra-large cup of fizzy dark liquid.

Both shuffled around the light gray piece of faux-plastic as he moved away from the food counters. His eyes swept left and right until he saw her sitting at a familiar-looking table with a smug smile on her face.

It suited her.

It distracted Jareth enough that he had sat down and unwrapped his silverware before he noticed they were at his usual table, and he wondered if his face didn’t blush just a bit at being seen like that. It didn’t feel sweet — it did, however, feel taunting.

“You have a bit of a sound barrier over here,” she said when he had settled in.

“That’s why I sit here. It’s a few inches too isolated for most folks, I guess. It’s always been empty.”

There was less than a minute of silence between the two as they started eating their food - forks lightly clinking against the plates and bowls and the sound of the room filtering in with various conversations.

“Were you really just vying for a meal this whole time, or did you have something to talk about?” Hellen asked, breaking the brief moment.

Jareth spat out half a mouthful of his drink onto his tray, narrowly missing his food. "No, no," he said as he grabbed at the ineffective napkins kept on the table.

"No, you don't have any more questions?"

"Fuck, Hellen, one second!"

She laughed. A deep, whimsical laugh. "Ok, I'm sorry, I'll let you clean up your mess. I guess I could even do you a solid and start talking about the shadow I saw today."

His eyes flitted up towards her as she finished her sentence but were drawn immediately back down when the palm of his hand grew cold. Jareth cleared his throat to give himself a second to figure out a real sentence to respond with, but it turned out unnecessary — thankfully. Hellen had made him feel more flustered than he had felt in quite a long time, and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

"It was huge. Maybe ten times bigger than me. Maybe more, but it was so far away I couldn't really compare very well," Hellen said and then took another bite of her food.