Work Text:
A critical point of a differentiable function of a real or complex variable is any value in its domain where its derivative is 0.
Adam groaned and copied down the definition into his notes, the sound of his pen dragging across the paper satisfying even four hours into a study session. He hadn’t meant to be studying- He had come back to the Barns for the weekend as a surprise to Ronan, not to study, but one of the cattle had given birth just the week before and Ronan had gone out to make sure that everything was alright, leaving Adam with little more to do on his hands than go back to revising for the Calculus module he was taking. Adam didn’t mind the amount of maths that he had to do for his Engineering degree- A lot of other people did, though. Adam was pretty sure that they were in the wrong course.
He opened up the sample exam that his lecturer had e-mailed to his class, and then paused to crack his knuckles before he got started with it. As he did, he felt his binder move slightly and winced, reaching up under his hoodie to adjust it slightly.
He heard a creak in the floorboards. “Adam, you should really take that off.”
Adam didn’t startle at the voice, surprisingly, just pushed his glasses up on his nose and turned to look at where Ronan had come in. Ronan had already taken off his boots downstairs, and he was in the process of taking off his dirty overalls, dropping them into the laundry basket before coming over to press a kiss to Adam’s neck, glancing over the papers in front of him. Adam hummed and tilted his head slightly.
“Sorry, love. Time got away from me- you know how I get when I’m studying.”
Ronan huffed a laugh into his hair, and then straightened up, pulling on some cleaner sweatpants and reaching for a shirt. “Yeah I do, you fucking nerd. Come on, get changed and move the study session downstairs, I’ll make dinner.”
“Mm, you’re too good to me.” Adam pushed the chair back and stood up, stretching out his back before pulling his hoodie off over his head. Ronan winked at him before he left the room, and Adam smiled to himself before easing the binder off, taking the deepest breath that he had in hours afterwards. Then, since he was already half-undressed, he turned on the shower and grabbed clean clothes while the water heated up. That was another thing, about coming home to the Barns- Constant hot water, without having to wait for it. It was something that Adam had slowly started to take for granted, living with Ronan as much as he could, which came as a shock to him. He hadn’t ever expected to take luxuries for granted in his life. It had been a pipedream at best, but he supposed that Ronan was a bit of a pipedream too.
After showering quickly, he pulled on fresh boxers and one of Ronan’s old hoodies- it was black, and soft, and it had band name across the chest that Adam only recognised from some of the older CD’s that Ronan put on sometimes. Adam loved it, and he stole it as much as he could before reluctantly giving it back when it stopped smelling like Ronan’s laundry detergent.
Too warm for sweatpants, Adam gathered his study materials and then padded quietly down the carpeted stairs to the kitchen, where he could hear Ronan pottering around, getting ready to make dinner. His boyfriend brightened considerably when he saw him and crossed the room to press a kiss to his forehead.
“You really love that hoodie, don’t you?”
Adam nodded into his chest, and then pulled back to put his laptop and notebooks down on the desk. “Not as much as I love the guy who wears it all the time.”
Ronan went pink and then rolled his eyes. “Sap.”
Adam opened up the tabs that he was using again on his laptop and flipped his notebook back to where he had started his sample exam. “Guilty as charged. What’s on the menu then, Lynch?”
Ronan went back over to the counter and picked up the knife that he had been using, grabbing an onion and cutting the top of it off. “I was thinking stir fry? I’m running low on some stuff, so I’ll have to get groceries tomorrow morning after Mass.”
Adam hummed and put down his calculator, copying the answer down from it carefully. “That sounds great, I’ve been basically living on plain pasta, maybe some cheese if I feel like it.”
Ronan winced and then shot him a look. “Remind me to make some food tomorrow that you can take back with you for the week, I got some new Tupperware for you.”
Adam snorted and turned to the next question, chewing on the end of his pen for a few seconds. “Your maternal instincts are showing, babe.”
“I’ll stop feeding you when you start eating properly, Parrish.” Ronan pushed the diced onion into the pan with his knife, and then started to chop up whatever vegetables he could find lying around, adding them to the pan as he went. It smelled fantastic, and Adam tucked one of his legs under him and forced himself to focus on his exam rather than going over to Ronan and bothering him while he cooked.
His focus was soon broken though, when Opal came rushing into the room like a whirlwind, leaving only a split second for Adam to reach out and pull her into a hug, only barely stopping her from crashing into the wall.
“Adam!”
He grinned and then pulled him closer, letting her sit on his lap as he worked. “Hey, Opal. How are you doing?”
She gripped the string of his hoodie and kicked her legs a little. “Kerah showed me how the baby cows learn to walk today, and I helped him paint the new fence.”
Adam looked over at Ronan, who grinned before explaining. “Another cow had a calf today, Opal helped me out cleaning it off and making sure it was healthy. The fence is green now, the leftover paint from that shed we painted during the summer.”
The frying pan spat, and Ronan yelped before turning back to tend to it. Adam watched him for a moment, before pressing a kiss to Opal’s hair and reaching for his calculator again. “That’s really cool, honey. I missed you, this month.”
Opal took one of his pencils and started chewing on the end of it. Adam had no doubt that she’d have the entire pencil eaten by the time he was finished the question- he almost laughed. She chewed for a couple of seconds and then leaned against Adam’s chest. “You should come down more often, then. Kerah gets sad when he’s alone.”
Ronan’s voice was sharp. “Opal, Adam is busy in college.”
Adam just held her tighter. “I’ll try and come down more often, sweetie. You guys should come up and visit me too some time, my roommate is going away in a couple of weeks.”
Opal broke off the end of his pencil and then grinned; Adam smothered a laugh in her hair. “Okay, Parrish.”
Adam poked her in the stomach. “That’s Adam to you, gremlin. Now, wanna show me what you’ve been learning? I’m pretty much done with this calc work.”
He turned to a blank page in his notebook, and then gave his pen to her- the pencil that she had been working on was on its last legs, it seemed.
Opal took it carefully and then moved to sit straighter in Adam’s lap, bringing the pen to the paper and starting to trace out clean, legible letters. Adam’s heart swelled with pride as he watched her, but he didn’t interrupt her.
It had only been a couple of months since she had asked Adam to start helping her with reading and writing, while she had watched him writing a particularly tough essay one night. Technically, as one of Ronan’s dream things, Opal knew everything that Ronan knew, but apparently, things like writing didn’t translate so well that way- she had watched him writing out his notes with rapt attention. She took to it quickly though, and after just a couple of months, her writing was clear and even, a rounded cursive style that was endearingly childish. It wasn’t much, just a quick the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, but it showed that she had been practicing on her own time. He wondered what types of things she had written so far.
“Good job, sweetheart! Are you finding anything difficult still?”
Opal shook her head and grinned. “Kerah showed me how to use the dictionary when I find hard words.”
Adam smiled softly. “That’s good, then. Do you want me to find you some more books to read, then?”
She nodded and then put the pen down, wrapping an arm around Adam’s neck. Adam hugged her back easily, only pulling away to put her down when Ronan came over, laden with plates of food. He put his stuff away, leaving room for the plates before helping Ronan to get everything they needed for dinner.
Ronan stepped around Opal as he handed the cutlery to Adam, dropping his hand to ruffle her hair. “Are you eating people food today, gremlin, or are you all full up on tree bark and other random shit?”
Opal stuck her tongue out at him but stole some of the stir fry anyway, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table beside Adam, happily using her fingers to pick up pieces and pop them into her mouth. Adam smiled at her, and then curled his foot around Ronan’s leg, taking a bite.
“Mm, Ronan you’ve outdone yourself.”
Ronan took a sip of his water. “I’ve gotta keep myself around somehow, don’t I Parrish?”
Adam rolled his eyes. “As if you could get rid of me now.”
“I thank my lucky stars every day.”
Adam grinned and then took another bite. “I bet you say that to all the boys.”
“Oh yeah, the cattle love to hear it.”
Opal whined softly and then reached for the water jug. “You guys are so gross.”
Ronan gave her the middle finger and then leaned over to press a gentle kiss to Adam’s lips, pulling back as she whined again. “Fuck off, Opal.”
“Fuck off.” She repeated happily, and Adam gave Ronan a look.
Ronan grumbled. “Don’t fucking say that shit, gremlin.”
Adam kicked him in the shin, and he yelped. “Two against one isn’t fair, Adam you’re supposed to be on my side.”
Adam patted his hand and filled his mouth with stir fry. “I am on your side, baby.”
Ronan sighed and then kept eating. “I hate this fucking family.”
Adam snorted and stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork, waving it at him. “You’re a shitty liar, Lynch.”
He put it in his mouth and then turned his hand over to allow Ronan to take it. He did and brought the hand to his mouth to kiss Adam’s palm before twining their hands together.
“Yeah, I really am.”