Sasha finally looked up, meeting Vivienne's stunned gaze across the lab floor. Sasha's expression wasn't triumphant, it was simply focused. The look of a scientist who had just confirmed something groundbreaking.
"So, it seems," Sasha said, her voice quiet but carrying across the suddenly silent lab, "that Dr. Stellan's boyfriend is not just a distraction after all."
Vivienne didn't reply. She walked closer, analyzing everything with her own eye.
__
Back at the Lyceum.
Professor Anya's lecture went on and on, a steady stream of dates, decrees, and doctrines that blurred together in Zaeryn's mind.
He jotted notes sporadically on his data slate. Despite how advanced this world was, Zaeryn always found it stupid that students still had to write down notes on data slates, sometimes even with pens.
And he had no choice but to write. He might not like note taking, but he liked being a good student, so he listened to the teacher as she taught and wrote down notes.
