"So I'll find what lies beneath
Your sick twisted smile
As I lie underneath
Your cold jaded eyes
Now you turn the tide on me
'Cause you're so unkind
I will always be here
For the rest of my life"
-Breaking Benjamin "What Lies Beneath"
She lasted two and a half hours before things started falling apart.
Her walk with Sam had been a welcome diversion; the sun was shining and though there was a cool crispness to the air that was very much unlike Pasadena, it was still a beautiful day.
They cut through a path flanked by trees that served as something of a campus park. It had always been a favorite place for them both: 'A place to appreciate beauty that doesn't come with numbers attached,' Sam had once called it. The leaves now however, had begun to turn; many clung to their branches with the desperation that can only be found by one facing the inevitable.
On cue, one leaf proudly clad in scarlet and gold succumbed to gravity and flitted down to join his fallen brothers upon the ground.
Miranda watched it fall and began to feel something in her chest tighten. She swallowed and went back to pretending to listen to what Sam was talking about.
"So, are you done pretending to listen to what I'm talking about?"
Miranda jerked to a stop, causing Sam to do likewise as she flashed the other girl a grin,
"Busted."
Miranda ran her fingers through her dark hair, "I'm sorry, Sammy, I was distracted," she gestured, "I never realized how pretty the trees are here in the fall."
"Uh-huh, and does the sight of trees usually have you on the verge of tears?"
"I'm not—"
"You are, so don't try denying it, you're a rotten liar, sweetie," Sam reached over and took her hand, placing a kiss on it, "And I love you."
Miranda's expression softened as her lover helped ease the pain in her chest, "I love you too."
At which point Sam lashed out with her hand and slapped Miranda's ass so hard it echoed like a gunshot across the quad.
"
Kono ama!"
she shrieked. You bitch.
"Don't call me a 'bitch' and don't call me 'Sammy'."
"Sorry," Miranda muttered, rubbing her backside.
"Uh huh," Sam smirked and they continued their walk.
They reached a point where their paths diverged: Miranda to the physics lecture hall, Sam to the mathematics department. They cooed and kissed; there had been a time that Miranda was mortified to show affection publically, not because she was ashamed of her sexuality or of Sam, but because it just "wasn't done in polite society" as her mother had taught her. Sam managed to break her of that particular hang-up in less than a month.
"Take care of yourself, Miri," Sam whispered into her ear as the other girl bent over and hugged her tightly, "Pull your twisted self together and go be brilliant."
"You first," a final kiss on the cheek and both girls headed in opposite directions.
It was strange, Miranda mused, they'd been together for years, yet for some reason, there were times—such as now—that the simple act of the two of them parting to go to work was hard on her, sometimes hard on them both.
All this time together
, she thought,
and saying 'goodbye' is still hard,
she shook her head ruefully;
I must be losing my mind.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she rubbed her hands up and down to generate some measure of warmth as she dashed to her class.
The classroom where she and Luke taught was big for its title; closer to a lecture hall as far as capacity went. The pitched floor went up quite a ways and was usually packed to the rafters, even if Luke was letting Miranda do most of the teaching.
Especially
if it was just Miranda.
Miranda made it a habit to be clueless on how attractive she was and frequently clad herself in outfits that could be 'conservative' by the gracious and down-right 'frumpy' by the bold. It was no use; any member of the class that craved female attention hungered for her. In this particular instance, that was all the men and at least half of the women in attendance.
Miranda cleared her throat and cycled through the four clear boards mounted upon the front wall. They were a pain to set up; which is why they hadn't bothered with it when she and Sam had visited Luke earlier; but for the daily curriculum; one required a great deal more working space.
Miranda cleared her throat again and coughed once, absently rubbing at her chest as it began to ache suddenly.
"So, according to Meitner, and when we are working with subatomic particles; it is understood that they can be sub-divided into distinct groups: Quarks, Leptons, Gauge bosons, and...?"
She turned to face the crowd, "Come on, this is an easy one."
A young man named Brian raised his hand tentatively,
"Yes?"
"Um, Higgs-Boson, Doctor Inoue?"
Miranda smiled slightly; she never quite understood why she made her students nervous, it was probably due to her youth and accomplishments.
"Are you asking me if that is the answer or are you telling me?"
"I'm telling you?"
There was a slight ripple of laughter from the assembled students and Brian turned beet red.
"Settle down you intellectual pygmies," Luke roared good-naturedly, "Before I call up everybody's parents and tell them how you're wasting their hard-earned money."
The class laughed out loud at that: everyone in this class was either on a scholarship, grants or had some other means of paying tuition that did not involves their parents.
The interruption had the desired effect though; Brian composed himself and answered more firmly.
"It's the Higgs Boson, Doctor."
Miranda nodded her approval, "Well done, Brian."
"Does that mean the teacher's pet gets himself a bone?" a girl in the back called out.
There was a collective "ooooooh," from the audience.
