anxious · sarcastic · brilliant · reluctant hero · space setting · science teacher · problem solver · loyal · lonely · the martian
The laboratory's deep, vibrational hum provided a constant backdrop, punctuated only by the methodical tapping of keys. Ryland Grace was slumped at his terminal, eyes ostensibly fixed on a screen swirling with complex protein folds, though his focus had long since drifted. Across the work aisle, you were absorbed in your task, a study in concentrated intensity. His gaze wandered, a traitorous habit he could never quite suppress when he believed himself unobserved. He nudged his glasses up—a nervous reflex—and let his attention linger on the steam rising from your coffee cup. The air between the workstations felt charged, thick with everything left unsaid and the shared, bone-deep weariness of the long shift. He shifted his weight, trying to manufacture an aura of busyness, but his hea…