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Chapter Text

       Cro McGovern was an intelligent adult woman with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, and was supposed to have been on her way to a direct doctorate (skipping the year needed for a master’s) so she could be a professor at the university she earned her degree at. Dr. McGovern had a nice ring to it, after all.

       However, that’s not what happened. Instead, she was just a Ms. McGovern at some run-down elementary school.

       Initially she considered quitting after the first day, but toward the end of the week she ended up meeting Mr. Elliot, one of the other teachers in the “Skool” she taught at. He seemed to be the only other teacher in the entire school with any level of kindness in his soul, so the two of them latched onto each other as work friends almost immediately.

       When she first started, she and Mr. Elliot were both general teachers who picked up classes for kindergarteners that the veteran teachers didn't feel like doing.

       Now, years later, Cro was the school’s main math teacher, specifically aiming for middle school level mathematics like pre-algebra. While teaching math was her dream career, it definitely was more of a dream aimed at young adults who already understood basic mathematics, not preteens who still struggled with their times tables. Nonetheless, she tried her best with what she was given.

       That’s why a particular Dib Membrane stood out to her. He was notably more attuned to mathematics than his peers by a wide margin, seeming to know just about everything currently being taught for his level.

       It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone, however, that he was this intelligent. His father was the great Professor Membrane , the super-genius with his own company where he makes his many inventions. Kids aren’t exactly like their parents all of the time, but Dib was most certainly following his father’s footsteps, at least in terms of academic skills.

       Although, the issue did arise that Dib always felt bored during class. It wasn’t like Cro could speed up the class, as everyone else still needed to go at the current pace, but she didn’t want to see Dib’s potential go to waste. Perhaps there was a way to put him on an excelled track?

       The only issue with that was that she wanted Professor Membrane’s direct permission for it; technically the Skool didn’t require it (it didn’t have much regulation to begin with), but it was important to her that the parents were up to speed on what was happening with his child. However, he was never one to show up in-person, instead opting for a hologram that his kids would drag around, but that also wasn’t effective as he could never spend more than a few short minutes around before needing to go back to his work.

       So, Cro had a plan: if Membrane couldn’t make the hours she set, why not have him set the meeting hour himself?

       The next parent-teacher meeting was upon them, and Cro decided she was going to speak to Membrane about meeting him personally. At the moment, though, she was sitting beside her friend, Mr. Elliot. “Hey, Andy,” Cro asked, “have you seen the Professor yet?”

       “No ma’am!” Mr. Elliot responded. “Gee, he might be running late, I don’t see Gaz either… or Dib.”

       “Well, hopefully he comes soon,” Cro huffed. “You know how I feel about confronting parents about stuff.”

       “Look on the bright side! It’ll be good news if you tell him, right?” Mr. Elliot placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I know I love hearing how well my kiddo here does!”

       He placed a hand on his son Spoo’s shoulder, who looked up at Cro with a toothy smile.

       Mr Elliot smiled back at his son before continuing his thought. “I know you’ll do fine! It’s your job, after all.”

       “That is true,” Cro nodded. “I’m sure it’s just nerves, I’m still getting used to all this. It hasn't been often that I've had to confront parents much further than whether their kid is doing alright or not.”

       “It took me a while too, you’ll be alright.” Mr. Elliot placed his other hand on Cro’s shoulder. “You’re one of the best.”

       Cro smiled, murmuring a quick thanks as she brought her attention back to the crowd. Within a few minutes, she spotted her star student, Dib, from across the room. He was by another one of his teachers, accompanied by a purple-haired girl (she learned this was Gaz, his sister, from Mr. Elliot) and a floating hologram of the Professor himself. She could feel her palms growing sweaty. This was it; she was going to be a responsible teacher tonight whether she wanted to get over her anxieties or not.

       “Ah, Ms. MsGovern!” Membrane exclaimed, his hologram floating closer to the nervous teacher. “I hope my son is performing to expectations?”

       Cro nodded, trying to hide her anxious shiver. “Actually, it’s something I’ve been meaning to speak to you about, one on one.” She momentarily glanced over at Mr. Elliot, who was busy speaking to another teacher.

       Membrane had been looking off-camera the entire time, presumably preoccupied with something else, but turned his attention back to Cro when he heard her response about needing to meet out of class. “Oh?” He darted attention back and forth between Cro and whatever he was working on.

       This was good; she at least had some of the Professor’s attention. Normally this was an impossible feat. “Uh, yeah… I know you can’t make my normal office hours, but I think this is an important discussion to be having. When’s the soonest time you’ll be available?”

       Membrane’s normally boisterous attitude seemed to have died down. Cro could feel something in her throat swell up; why did he seem so dull all of the sudden? Was she overstepping her boundaries as a teacher to ask this of him?

       Membrane looked down, flipping through a notebook. “None of my hours would be convenient, unless you happen to be awake at two in the morning.”

       “Oh, I can do that!” Cro confirmed, despite most certainly not wanting to do that. “Your son’s education is important. Would that be okay for two in the morning tonight, then?”

       Membrane nodded, jotting down what Cro assumed was what he was mumbling: “Tonight… two in the morning… meeting…” Membrane looked up. “Where shall I meet you?”

       “Anywhere’s fine, I think I could get into the Skool around then.”

       “Room?”

       “Uh… my office is in room 207, if that works.”

       Membrane nodded again, finishing his note. “Alright. If there’s nothing else, I have other teachers to be speaking with now.” Membrane’s hologram turned to Mr. Elliot, who was still directly next to Cro. “Ah, yes! Hello, I hope my dearest Gazlene is doing alright in your class!”

       Dib looked up at Cro. “Um…” he asked, “is there something I should be worried about?”

       “Worried?” Cro shook her head. “Of course not, Dib. I know you’ll really appreciate what I have in store for you.” She looked over at Mr. Elliot and noticed the hologram of Dib’s father had already floated off. “Oh shoot, Dib, looks like you gotta go. We’ll talk later about it once I discuss stuff with your dad, okay?”

       “Alright!” Dib ran off to catch up, allowing Cro to finally catch her breath.

       Mr. Elliot rubbed Cro’s shoulder comfortingly. “You did it, friend! You even got him to pay attention to you for more than five seconds!”

       “I don’t know how, but I really did, huh?” Cro laughed weakly. “He must really be excited to hear what I have to say about his son.”

       “Well, friend, you’ll have to let me know how that goes for you! I’ve never had the privilege of meeting the Professor in-person…”

       “Of course!” Cro gave Mr. Elliot a quick hug. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, right?”

       … Right?

       Two in the morning? Why did she agree to two in the morning!?

       Cro was at the Skool mere moments before she was supposed to meet the Professor. She headed to her office — Room 207 — with a freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand. While she was a night owl, she typically would be going to bed at this point. Thank goodness parent-teacher night was on a Friday, yeah?

       She took a sip of her coffee, but her nerves made it harder for her to swallow properly. By all means, the Professor was a celebrity. The most important person Cro had met before then was only popular on her campus as the head of the university. Professor Membrane, however, was internationally known; if there were aliens out there (like his son Dib loved to claim during class), they’d probably know of him too. Privately meeting this man was a major deal.

       Footsteps could be heard approaching the door, causing Cro to stiffen up. This was it; she was about to meet the man of science himself.

       The door creaked open. “Ah, hello?” Membrane called out.

       “Hello!” Cro waved, ignoring how fast her heart was racing now. “Feel free to sit down, I’m glad you could make it.”

       Membrane obliged, politely sitting down in the chair across from Cro.

       Cro cleared her throat. “So, uh, about Dib—”

       Membrane slammed his hands on the table. “I don’t want to hear it!” he boomed, shocking Cro enough to almost knock her out of her chair.

       “Wh… huh?” Cro asked, a pit forming in her stomach.

       “How dare you bring me into this office and think you can lecture me on my son’s poor performance!? My son may have his problems, but one thing he isn’t is a fool! ”

       “A fool? Professor, please—”

       “It isn’t him who is failing you, but you who is failing HIM right now!”

       “I’m only failing him by keeping him in my class instead of moving him out!” Cro tried to rebuke, but her vague choice of words only pissed the Professor off even more.

       He leaned in even closer, practically towering over her at this point. “My son does NOT need to move down in life. The only direction that boy will be moving is—”

       “Up! I know! He is moving up, Professor!” Cro squeaked nervously, cowering into herself.

       Membrane moved away, sitting properly in his seat again. “... Oh?”

       “Yes, I called you in here because he’s doing far too well in my class for me to feel comfortable with him staying at this grade level. With your permission, sir, I’d like to have him take a placement test to put him in the proper class level.”

       Membrane cleared his throat awkwardly. “Ah, well, um… it seems there had been a misunderstanding.”

       “Respectfully, sir, that’s why I said I was calling you in, right? I told you he was doing well.”

       Membrane scratched his head. “I don’t recall you mentioning his performance at all, only that you needed to see me. Your nerves implied it was something terrible.”

       Cro felt her face grow red. She never did verbally say how Dib was doing, did she? Plus, the professor was busy during the parent-teacher conference, so it’s entirely possible she nodded and he didn’t see it. “Ah, n-no, I just get anxious meeting parents one-on-one, actually.”

       “In that case…” Membrane sighed. “I apologize for the misconception. Now, you mentioned a placement test for Dib?”

       “Right, uh, that…” Cro took a sip from her coffee, trying to swallow her nerves. “It would be an independent test, as the Skool doesn’t provide a whole lot for excelling students, but I would be willing to write up an exam based on this year of math alongside the next few years of a typical school career. I’d suggest trying to set something up with his other teachers if you can, but I can handle Dib’s math portion. If—” she held up her hands defensively. “If that’s alright with you, of course. Your permission for this is why I called you in here.”

       “Of course!” Membrane agreed enthusiastically. “I greatly appreciate anything that will help my dear son excel above and beyond!”

       “Great, awesome!” Cro let out a sigh of relief, placing her hands on the table. “Only thing is that Dib would benefit from a tutor through this all. While I’m sure he’s more than capable on his own, he’s only just a boy, so having someone older to guide him through this experience would be beneficial, I think. I wouldn’t mind helping, but—”

       “Perfect!” Membrane reached over and grabbed one of Cro’s hands to shake it. “Starting Monday, you’ll be Dib’s new tutor, then!”

       “That’s not—”

       “It would be on school days after classes, only for an hour or two of course.”

       “Sir, please —”

       “Of course, you will be fairly compensated for your efforts. That would be, er…” Membrane stroked his chin (or so Cro assumed, as his face was covered below the eyes by his lab coat). “Fifty dollars per hour?”

       DId he say fifty per hour? “… Actually, I think that’s perfect!” Cro grinned, albeit she was questioning if selling out was truly the call. “Monday, on school campus?”

       “You’ve got it!” Membrane nodded. “If there’s nothing left to discuss, I should be heading home before work.”

       “Oh, no, you’re all set,” Cro confirmed, standing up from her desk.

       “Wonderful!” Membrane also stood up, and it was even more apparent now just how tall he was now that Cro was standing upright. Was he a world record holder? “Thank you again for agreeing to tutor my son through this program. I just know he’ll do spectacularly!”

       “Yeah, heh, of course!” Cro agreed, still quite intimidated by Membrane’s sheer height. “Have a good night, sir!”

       “You as well!”

       And with that, Cro had her first physical interaction with one of the most famous people on earth. He was charming, he was overly emotional, he definitely jumped the gun on things, but at the end of the day it was because he cared about his son. In a way, she found that endearing.

       Now for her to prepare for Monday’s session.

Chapter Text

       It was Monday before Skool, and Cro found herself in Mr. Elliot’s office, the usual for a weekday morning. She had just finished explaining everything to her coworker in regards to what went down after the parent-teacher conference.

       “Gee whiz,” he huffed, slapping his hands onto his thighs. “Sounds like you’ve got a busy schedule now, missy!”

       “No kidding, Andy,” Cro groaned before chugging down more of her morning coffee. “As much as I like the extra pay, it only dawned on me these past two days just how much extra work I have to do now. I barely finished the placement exam for Dib a few hours ago!”

       “My goodness. Did you at least get any rest?”

       “I tried. Probably got about two to three hours at most.”

       Andy whistled. “Shucks, friend, good luck staying awake.”

       “Thanks, I’ll need it.” Cro finished her drink before placing the empty flask into her bag. “Catch you later.”

       “You as well, dear!” Andy waved as Cro walked off to her first class.

       The morning was fine, really. None of Cro’s other classes were that complicated. She taught the kids, they asked a few questions if needed, and they’d all move on with their day.

       Then came the afternoon, when Dib’s class would be during. The class itself was fine, no big deal. She only had to pull Dib aside to remind him of the placement exam. His father should have filled him in, yeah?

       As the students were leaving, Cro caught Dib shortly before he ran off after that weird kid with the green skin condition. She reminded him about the exam which would be in her office, which he quickly acknowledged before speeding away.

       As Dib ran out of the room, Cro could feel the nerves creeping up on her even more. Thankfully this part seemed incredibly hard for her to mess up, so it’s not like the Professor would jumpscare her again with a misconception, right? Unless Dib scores poorly of course, in which case not only is she going to perhaps have her head served on a silver platter, but she’ll also most likely lose out on that sweet extra few hundred dollars per week! The horrors of someone barely on a liveable wage!

       Cro shook her head, mentally waving off her anxieties. Of course Dib’s gonna do just fine. This is Dib Membrane . The only way he could perform poorly is if he straight up refused to take the test.

       She instead focused her attention on getting herself ready for the last class of the day, moving to wipe down the blackboards.

       Finally, it was the end of the day. Cro made her way to her office, plopping into her office chair the second she could. She took out everything she’d need for the placement test: the exam itself, a calculator, and some spare writing utensils.

       The door to her office creaked open. “Ms. McGovern…?” a voice called out: Dib’s.

       “Yes, in here,” Cro confirmed. “Come take a seat.”

       Dib walked up to the desk, hopping into the chair across from his teacher. “So… what exactly is on this test?”

       “It’s a series of math questions, ranging from what I’m teaching you now up to precalculus. You don’t have to get everything right, of course. All you have to do is try your best, okay?”

       Dib nodded. “How much time?”

       “Ninety minutes. You can use this calculator all you need, although please don’t use the actual graphing function on it, since some questions will ask you to plot equations. Okay?”

       “Alright. Can I start?”

       “You can start…” Cro watched the clock behind Dib as the minute hand hit 12. “Now.”

       Dib focused on his test, immediately seeming to speed through the questions. Meanwhile, Cro tried to keep herself occupied, but found herself still nervous with what was to come after this test.

       It only took Dib around half the time to finish. He flipped over the test and scooched it closer to Cro. “I’m done,” Dib stated plainly. “What now?”

       Cro grabbed the test, placing it in her bag. “I’ll grade this tonight. You’ll meet with me tomorrow — same time as today — to discuss the results. Alright?”

       “Ok!” Dib got out of his chair and scampered to the door. “Bye, Ms. McGovern.”

       “Seeya!” Cro waved.

       Once the door was closed, she let out a huge sigh. Dib finishing fast meant two things: either he was getting it all right, or he was getting a whole lot of it wrong.

       Either way, her first plan was to get an early dinner. On top of her normal work, grading this and then making a tutoring plan accordingly was going to give her a late night.

       Back at home, Cro took the test out of her bag and placed it on her desk, and then pulled the answer key out of her top desk drawer. Curiosity had been getting the best of her the entire ride home, so it was time to finally see just how smart the son of Professor Membrane truly was.

       Cro flipped through the test thoroughly; it looked like Dib had gotten literally every answer right. She was shocked, considering how little time it took him to finish. Everything was correct . Should she test him further? The few tiers of calculus would be college-level courses, and the boy was thirteen .

       She slumped further into her chair. Maybe she should write a calculus exam equivalent to calculus courses 1 through 3 before going any further. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised he would have excelled this much, but that was on her for not planning enough.

       The next day, Tuesday, was similar. She met Dib after Skool, made him take the test, went home, and graded the paper. Perfect score again . She felt insane, honestly. She had a college degree, and yet he was doing better at thirteen than she did back in her early twenties. How did he even know this stuff at his age?

       After Skool Wednesday, she met with Dib again with some questions. Dib entered the office and hopped into the chair. “So, how’d I do?” Dib asked.

       “Perfect score,” Cro confirmed, sliding over the graded test. “Where do you even learn all of this?”

       Dib shrugged. “I do a lot with technology, and for science you need to know a lot of math. Took a bit to learn, but it wasn’t that hard, really. I’d say it was a breeze, actually.”

       Cro could feel her eye twitch. “ Awesome! ” she strained. “Look, how about instead of me testing you again, you just tell me what you want to learn, and we’ll do that, okay?”

       “I mean, sure,” Dib responded, “but I don’t know what I would need to do at this point.”

       “Well, what do you want to learn? It could be related to your tech hobby, or you can branch out.”

       Dib thought for a moment. “Well, I did want to pick up on cryptography… but I don’t think—”

       “Oh, that was such a fun class for me!” Cro chuckled. “I’d love to help you with that.”

       “ You’ve taken it?”

       “Of course! One of the better classes in college, honestly.”

       “Awesome!” Dib brightened up for a moment before the joy rapidly drained from his expression. “Man, but dad would be so upset if he found out why I wanted to learn this.”

       Cro tilted her head to the side. “Why wouldn’t he want you to learn it?”

       “Because I’d use it to communicate with people about paranormal stuff,” Dib grumbled. “Maybe even see if I can decode alien transmissions.”

       Aliens? Cro wasn’t about to debate a boy about the validity of extraterrestrials, but she was about to get that fifty dollar per hour paycheck. “Well, you could always tell him it’s for the love of the subject in general? In college, I took the class just because I could.”

       “You really think that’ll work?” Dib questioned. “I feel weird lying to my dad.”

       “It’s not a lie , Dib. Are you not interested in the subject outside of, well… alien stuff?”

       “Well, yeah , I guess I am.”

       “So there you go! Easy solution.”

       “Huh. Guess that could work, then.” Dib cracked a small smile. “So, do we start that tomorrow?”

       “Yep! I’ll talk with the board, we can have your math class turned into a free period for the time being. Is that alright?”

       Dib nodded. “Thank you, Ms. McGovern!”

       He got up from his seat and ran toward the office door, but Cro called out to him before he could leave. “Actually, could you give me your father’s contact information?”

       Dib looked confused. “Doesn’t Skool have that information already?”

       “Your dad gave his work number. Anyone who’s tried the number gets put on hold indefinitely.”

       Dib let out an understanding nod before pulling out his flip phone and reading off Professor Membrane’s personal number. “Is that all?”

       “Yep, thanks,” Cro confirmed, getting the last digit into her own cellular device. “Have a good day, Dib!”

       Dib waved, finally exiting the room.

       It was time for Cro to go home and give Dib’s father an update.

       Back at her place, Cro kicked off her boots and took a nice seat onto her living room couch. Once she got comfortable, she dialed the number Dib gave her earlier, making sure it actually worked .

       Brrring… brrring… brrring…

       “Hello?” Yep, that was the Professor.

       Cro cleared her throat, instinctively fixing her posture to be upright. “Good evening, Professor. It’s Cro McGovern from the Skool. Dib’s math teacher.”

       “Ah, yes, I recognize you! How did you get this number?”

       “Dib gave it to me, I hope that’s alright.”

       “I did mean for this to be a personal number for close contacts only… but I suppose this is fine.” A loud chatter could be heard in the background. “Ah… I’m quite busy right now, will this be long?”

       “Not really, just wanted to give you a quick update on—”

       A crash could be heard on the Professor’s end, causing him to let out a shriek. “How about we discuss this sometime else, yes? Saturday, noon?”

       “Uh, yeah, sure. Where should I—”

       “Perfect! I’ll be at your place but I have to go goodbye— ” Professor Membrane rambled the last few words rapidly before promptly hanging up.

       “Wait, do you even know where I—!” Cro tried to get in, but it was too late. She should text him her address, but first she needed a drink.

       She got up and got herself a large cup of water, only processing just now how dehydrated she was. Hungry too, at that…

       She pulled out a delivery menu from a local pizza place and ordered herself something. Saturday at noon, huh… It was interesting that Membrane wanted an entire in-person meeting for what was going to be a thirty second update, but at the very least he was willing to make time to discuss his son’s life.

       While waiting on the food, her phone buzzed again. Update from the pizza place, maybe?

       Nope. The Professor just messaged her.

       She opened the text: it was her address, followed by «Is this your current place of residence? Yes/No».

       She wasn’t sure how he got that so fast, but she assumed it was a fairly public record, so she was slightly less creeped out about it now than she was five seconds ago. She texted back a quick yes and slid her phone into her back pocket, only for it to go off again. That fast?

       «Excellent! I will be there at 12:00pm this Saturday. Good night to you!»

       Cro felt a smirk form on her face. «Good night to you too, Professor! I will see you then.»

       Saturday came faster than expected. The past two days at Skool involved Cro getting Dib started on a cryptography introduction while she worked away planning the rest of the lessons for the year. The weekend was both a blessing and a curse because of this.

       She had rolled out of bed fairly late, as she forgot to set an alarm, so she only had around forty minutes to get ready for the Professor coming over. She threw on a casual pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but dressed up a little with a beige cardigan. She combed through her hair but otherwise didn’t bother doing anything special with it.

       She was impressed with how quickly she managed to get dressed. Maybe she had enough time to tidy the living room—

       Ding dong!

       Crud, that was the doorbell; he was here! Cro rushed to the door and opened it to see Membrane standing there in his typical lab coat getup. “Good day to you, Ms. McGovern,” he greeted.

       “You as well,” Cro nodded. “Come on in.”

       She led the Professor to her living room, silently cursing herself for not waking up soon enough to clean her house. Membrane sat down on the couch cautiously, as if he was worried he was going to break it or something.

       “Can I get you a drink?” Cro offered.

       Professor Membrane shook his head. “I’ll suffice without anything, thank you very much.”

       Cro got herself some water and sat down on the other side of the couch. “So, I actually didn’t have much to meet you over, admittedly,” she started. “I just wanted to let you know Dib’s placement.”

       “Go on,” Membrane nodded.

       “He’s got a college-level understanding of mathematics. It’s honestly impressive how much he knows at such a young age.”

       “Of course! I would expect no less from him.”

       “So, because of that, I figured the best course of action was letting Dib choose what math he was interested in. Cryptography came up, and—”

       “Yes, Dib did inform me of that. It was a subject you learned in college as well.”

       “Yep, that’s what I told him.”

       “Very impressive…” Membrane clasped his hands together. “I do know you also took interest in statistical analysis.”

       “… That is also true,” Cro confirmed, “although that I didn’t mention.”

       “Oh, I know that!” Membrane waved his hand nonchalantly. “I did a quick background check on you shortly after hiring you, but there are some tidbits I would like some elaboration on.”

       “Um…” Cro took a nervous gulp of her water. “I mean, sure , if you think this would help.”

       “Wonderful!” Membrane pulled out a notebook. “First, could you check over these details?”

       Cro looked at the notebook. Full name, address, height, weight, date of birth, birthplace, relatives, blood type, allergies, x-rays? When did she ever get those done? “Erm… yeah, this is right, I think.”

       “Wonderful!” Membrane took the notebook back and flipped around a few pages. “Alright, now for my specific questions… Since we were on the topic of education earlier, let’s start there. You received a bachelor’s degree, and then later a teaching certification, but in between there was a period in graduate school. However, you have no degree on record?”

       Cro could feel her heart sink. “Ohhh… that?” Despite this being her house, she really wished she wasn’t here right now. “I, uh, dropped out. Wasn’t doing as well as I was hoping.”

       Membrane let out a hum. “Unfortunate, truly. Your records show you did quite adequately before then. No matter, you still have many years ahead of you.” He glanced down at the notebook again. “So long as you’ve sorted out that little smudge on your record concerning your behavioral issues.”

       “A smudge?” Cro squinted, a little put off now. There was no way he was talking about her issues with…

       “Your record shows a history of temper management problems. Obviously, it would be a foolish choice on my end to hire someone irrational that could put Dib in harm’s way over trivial issues.”

       Cro felt her eye twitch. Was he serious?

       Membrane adjusted his goggles, continuing his train of thought. “You appeared normal enough during our initial meeting, however it is still possible that I lucked out and you could still be erratic or insane in nature.”

       “ Excuse me? ” Cro scoffed. She was peeved at this point, but she knew lashing out would only prove his point. Instead, she opted to try and explain her standpoint. “You know, it’s not like I’m cured or anything, but I’d like to think I know more about myself than some piece of paper talking about me from… what, ten years ago?”

       “Seven, actually,” Membrane corrected. “Your issues followed you throughout your academic career. My hope is that you’ve calmed yourself by now, but there’s simply no telling if this smudge has even disappeared. For all I know, you could be much worse off, especially given your records don’t specify if you were ever treated for—”

       “I’m fine , Membrane,” Cro grumbled, a harsh rasp in her voice. “I found a way to deal with it, end of story. No amount of research into me is going to tell the full story, you know. I’ve figured it out by now, I’d like to think, especially given I’m around annoying little kids five days a week.” Although, if he kept going, she felt like he was going to reverse her progress at this rate.

       Membrane, seemingly unphased by Cro’s attitude, simply jotted something down in his notebook. “So, this isn’t negatively affecting your current public romantic relationship with your coworker, a Mr. And Elliot? ”

       “What!?” Cro ran her hands through her hair. “What on Earth does my dating life have to do with Dib!?”

       “I don’t want poor influences around my children, Ms. McGovern, so your treatment of a partner that Dib is exposed to regularly is something I concern myself over. I’m sure you understand—”

       “ Poor influence!? ” Cro let out an angry groan. “I haven’t understood a word of what you’ve had to say about me, sir , and now you’re straight up telling lies about my life? Who told you I was ‘currently dating’ Andy, a gossip circle?” She stood up, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Okay, look, here’s your damn answer. Andy was my first work friend. We dated for, like, a week , and then stopped because we didn’t want to complicate things especially considering he has a son. Not to mention ,” Cro leaned down in front of Membrane, jabbing his chest with her index finger. “My personal life is absolutely none of your business.” She scowled, standing upright again. “This was already weird at first, but I won’t be tolerating such… invasive, unprofessional nonsense from you! I’ll be seeing you out, now.”

       Despite most of his face not being visible, Membrane looked absolutely flabbergasted. “Erm… alright then,” he complied hesitantly, putting away his supplies in his pocket before standing up. The two walked toward the door in near silence, spare Cro’s stomping. Right after stepping out of the door, Membrane turned to face Cro. “I’ll contact you later about—”

       “Don’t bother,” Cro spat, slamming the door in his face before she said anything further. She turned around, slumping onto the floor with her back against the door. She curled into a fetal position, head buried into her arms. ‘There goes that fifty dollars an hour…’ she thought to herself. ‘What am I going to do now?’

       There was only one thing to do in situations where Cro felt angry and upset: go have dinner with Andy.

       “… And then on top of all that, he then had the audacity to ask about our dating life! ” Cro grumbled, shoving her face full of meatloaf.

       Andy let out air through his teeth. “About us? Gee whiz. Hey, you didn’t happen to tell him about me being…?”

       “I barely wanted him to know about our relationship history, so no. I didn’t spill about you being gay, you’re good.”

       “Phew! That’s a relief, I still haven’t told anybody else yet.”

       “Don’t mention it,” Cro sighed, putting her fork down and placing her head in her hands. “You know, even if he had it coming, I feel like I still messed up big time lashing out the way I did.”

       “I’m sure he’s seen worse,” Andy reassured. “Come on, he’s a famous guy. How many people do you think he’s seen in his lifetime? I’ve seen him speak his mind with people on live television, Cro. If he didn’t say anything mean to you, you’re fine.”

       “I’m worried about how long it’s taken for him to officially fire me,” Cro huffed. “Like, I get I gave him that message already by literally slamming the door in his face, but who knows if he even figured that out? Plus, for all I know, he could be trying to get me fired from Skool as well for my behavior. All I know is that I’m dreading the moment my phone goes off regarding—”

       As if the universe was plotting against her, her phone let off a loud buzz. She slowly pulled it out of her pocket, hoping it was anyone else coincidentally texting around now, but was unsurprisingly let down. “It’s him,” she murmured. “Should I…?”

       Andy nodded. “Take your time, dear.”

       Cro read the message in full.

       «Good evening, Ms. McGovern. It has come to my attention that perhaps something I said had come off as intrusive to you. For this, I apologize. My intentions were not to be unprofessional; I am hoping to simply provide my children with the safest possible environment. On your own terms, I would like to learn more about you as a person. I will be making dinner tomorrow night, and you are invited to spend it with me.»

       Cro lowered the phone, eyebrows raised.

       Andy cocked his head to the side. “So, does he know you quit?”

       “Worse, he apologized and then invited me to dinner at his place tomorrow.”

       Andy’s eyebrows also shot up high. “I don’t think I’d call that worse, dear!”

       “It is to me, ” she groaned, slouching back. “Now I have to see him again, and I’m starting to feel like a total b-word for acting out as much as I did.”

       “Everyone makes mistakes, dear, even someone as wonderful as you.” Andy stood up and moved behind Cro to give her a hug. “If he’s learned from his own mistakes, then good for the both of you! And remember: if he hasn’t learned, you’re welcome to leave and come talk to me, m’kaaay? ”

       “Alright, alright,” Cro nodded, cracking a weak smile. She pulled out her phone to reply. «I appreciate the apology. Dinner sounds like a good place, and I’d be willing to share about myself off the record. Just text me the time and address.»

       Membrane quickly complied, sending his home address along with the time: 6pm.

       Cro put her phone away. “I’m almost suspicious about how well it worked out. Has he ever given this much care to any other worker?”

       “Beats me, dear, but maybe he sees just how special you really are, yeah?”

       “You’re just being a kiss-up” Cro giggled.

       “I mean it! You’re my everything,” Andy doubled down, moving away from the hug so he could move his chair closer to Cro and sit down. “Be kind to yourself, he’s reaching out for a reason. Who knows! Maybe you two can actually get along as coworkers.” He chuckled. “Maybe even more…?” He batted his eyelashes teasingly.

       It took Cro a second to process what Andy meant. She rolled her eyes with a snort.  “Come on, we’re not in a romance novel, Andy. Let him and I learn to tolerate each other before you jump the gun.”

       “I’m just being a tease, dear. I don’t expect anything one way or the other, just that you’re happy in the end, okay?”

       Cro leaned her head on Andy’s shoulder. “Alright, I’ll try.”

       But will she succeed?

Chapter Text

       Dinner at the Membrane household; that was the plan for tonight. Frankly, it didn’t feel real to Cro — this past week or so has been an absolute fever dream in her mind. What she thought would get her fired managed to get her invited to dinner. She could barely fathom what would happen if they both did get along.

       She decided to dress up for the occasion, opting for a black turtleneck dress, dark tights, black heeled boots, and a dark grey jacket to cover her arms. She even wore her fancy rose-scented perfume that she almost never used; she wanted to impress, after all.

       Cro approached the front door of the house, feeling her knees grow weaker the closer she got to the door. Was she going to collapse before she could ring the bell? She sure thought she was going to, at least.

       Thankfully she didn’t, and was able to succeed at making her presence known. The door was answered by Gaz, the Professor’s daughter. She glared at Cro menacingly before turning her head inside the house. 

       “DIB!” Gaz shouted. “It’s for YOU.” 

       She turned away from the door and went back inside, soon being replaced by Dib.

       “Hi, Ms. McGovern,” he greeted.

       “Hi, Dib,” Cro smiled nervously. “Uh, your father invited me to dinner tonight?”

       “Yeah, I know.”

       It was a little awkward between the two, but thankfully the boom of Professor Membrane provided a much-needed interruption. 

       “Come on in!” Membrane boomed.

       Dib led Cro into the kitchen, where four plates had been set out at the dining table. Cro sat down, Dib sitting down to her right. 

       “So,” Cro asked, “what’s for dinner?”

       “Spaghetti!” Membrane exclaimed. “I programmed my wonderful Foodio 3000 to handle all of the cooking around here.”

       The robot — Foodio 3000, apparently — dished out the spaghetti from its chest cavity in wondrous glee. Cro could only watch in awe, wondering how such a feat could have been achieved. A robot that can make something edible according to whatever recipe it’s given?

       As the food was dished out, Membrane sat across from Cro. 

       “Gazlene, honey,” he called out. “Dinner’s ready!”

       Gaz could be heard letting out a huge sigh before shuffling her way into the kitchen, sitting to the left of Cro. Gaz was always a mystery to Cro; she never taught a class with Dib’s sister in it, and thus this was maybe her second or third time interacting with Gaz. She always seemed to be in such a grumpy mood, compared to Dib’s overly polite attitude. She almost had to wonder how those two could be siblings. 

       Everyone dug into the spaghetti, with Cro especially intrigued by what the chef robot had in store. It only took her a few bites to understand the limits of advanced technology; sure, the food was edible , but it wasn’t good . She tried her best to hide her disgust, especially given she was a fairly picky eater.

       Cro looked around to see if anyone else felt the same way. Dib and Gaz both seemed fairly neutral to the food, and Membrane seemed to actively enjoy it. Maybe her taste buds were broken? Or maybe bad taste was hereditary. Who knows!

       Cro took a large sip of water to wash down the bite that had stayed in her mouth for at least a good minute. Surely this had to be his newest invention, if the quality was so low. It’d explain why nobody seemed to react, right?

       “So… is this robot a new work in progress?” Cro asked.

       “Work in progress? All creations are works in progress!” Membrane exclaimed. “There’s always room to push the limits of science.”

       Cro, initially confused by the answer, realized that maybe she needed to be specific. “So, then, how long has this one been around?”

       “Oh… I’d say about a year or so?” Membrane pondered. “The original Foodio was created for the purpose of solving world hunger, but this model was made solely for my household. When I’m at work, Foodio 3000 handles the kids’ meals to keep them healthy and growing properly!”

       Cro tilted her head in confusion.“So you’re not home for dinner that often, I take it?”

       “Unfortunately, my calling to science has meant I spent long days and longer nights in the office. I have multiple androids around the house dedicated to keeping an eye on the children. Not to mention, I have my ways of communicating with them in the house at any given moment.”

       Cro looked around the house, only now taking in just how many androids this house was littered with. What did the kids’ mother think about this? Come to think of it, Cro didn’t ever recall there being a second parent to the kids. Maybe she was just busy?

       “And I’m assuming there’s no second guardian around to watch them while you’re working?” she asked.

       Gaz grimaced a little, while Dib looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

       Membrane’s demeanor seemed to harden. “What exactly do you mean?”

       Cro wasn’t dumb, and she knew Membrane wasn’t either; he just wanted her to say what she meant. “I, er, wasn’t sure if there was a mother in the picture— or another father! I didn’t mean to assume.” She cleared her throat nervously. “Not that I judge the single parent life, you know, ‘cause my best friend’s also—”

       Professor Membrane put his fork down and responded plainly. “I have raised these kids on my own for as long as I’ve had them.”

       Cro cleared her throat. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to intrude on anything sensitive. It’s just that I think the kids could benefit from having a… well, a person in the house.”

       “My advanced technology has been performing quite a satisfactory job with the children. Do you find a problem with how I choose to raise them?”

       Yeah, probably, given a robot can’t exactly give nuanced attention to kids like they’d need .

       “Well, then.” The professor clasped his hands together loudly. “Do you suppose you could do any better?”

       Did she say that thought out loud? Uh oh. That’s what she supposed she deserved for having a naturally assertive mentality. Curses! It was time for the old backpedalling trick. 

       “I mean, maybe, but you know I have such a full plate!” She awkwardly eyed her literally full plate in front of her. “Plus, I wouldn’t want to intrude. I just meant in general , you could really use some human hands on deck. I didn’t mean myself specifically.”

       “Why not yourself? It isn’t like you have anybody to take care of at home.”

       Cro felt her eye twitch at the reminder, a sudden temper slowly arising in her. “Yeah, you’d know that, wouldn’t you? Given your nosy deep dive into my personal life.”

       Gaz casually excused herself from the table. Dib looked like he wanted to do the same, but for some reason stayed put.

       Membrane let out a huff. “Remind me, how much does your job as a teacher make you?”

       “What, that’s not in the big file you have on me?”

       “It is,” he said, pushing in his goggles, “but I don’t have it on hand.”

       Cro sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “About fifty grand annually. Why does this matter, do you wanna gloat about our socio-economic differences to prove a point?”

       “Certainly not.” Membrane whipped out a check book, scribbling something down. “So, since you’d make just over four thousand dollars a month, how does… eight thousand a month sound?”

       Cro squinted. “For… what, exactly?”

       “Watching the kids after school, of course.”

       “What!?” Cro and Dib both exclaimed, Dib nearly jumping out of his seat.

       Membrane motioned for Dib to sit back down. “It’s like you said, yes? Children need interaction with others to stay properly stimulated. Plus, hiring you means I don’t have to look into other nannies extensively to make sure I’m not letting some insane person watch my children.”

       While Cro hated the idea of playing parent full-time to two entire children, eight grand a month was too good not to pass up to… what, supervise two middle schoolers? 

       “Alright, I’ll bite. Is it just the five weekdays?” she asked.

       “Weekdays after school, and any weekend that I might be stuck in the office for overtime. Nowadays I try to take weekends off, but you never know when the office will need me. In those cases, I’ll compensate you for the extra work.”

       Cro felt like she was in a fever dream. Was she seriously milking the richest and most famous man alive for everything he was worth, all because she sucked at keeping her mouth shut and minding her business? She almost felt a little guilty.

       Keyword: almost . She was barely getting by before she met this man. She wasn’t about to turn down a blessing like this! 

       “Sounds fine and dandy to me!” she agreed.

       Cro leaned over the table to shake the professor’s hand; he grabbed hers tightly and the two shook it out. He then handed her the first check of eight grand, which she handled with extreme care.

       Sitting back down, Membrane cleared his throat. He motioned for Dib to leave the table, which Dib gladly complied with. Membrane then spoke to Cro. “Now, then, the real reason I invited you here. I wanted to learn more about you on your own terms. Care to share?”

       Cro nodded, taking a sip from her water. “Sure, but… what would you like to learn that you don’t already know?”

       “Well… what got you into your field of work?”

       “You mean teaching? Ah, I’ve always wanted to teach, honestly. Ever since I was a little kid, I was always helping the other students in my class figure out what the teacher’s couldn’t drill into their heads. I guess it just comes to me naturally.”

       “Interesting,” Membrane nodded. “Were any of your family teachers as well?”

       “Just my grandfather, but otherwise no. My family’s actually a big engineering family, but I could never get into all of that physics mumbo-jumbo.” Cro waved her hand dismissively.

       Membrane began to chuckle. “What is physics if not applied math?”

       “You know, my parents asked me the same thing. I really couldn’t tell you, honestly. I’d swear up and down that all of my math was right, but it’d never line up with my peers.” 

       Cro took a small sip of water. “I’m not sure if you saw on my record, but I tried going into my family’s legacy for about half of my college experience before switching out of it.”

       “I did see that, yes. It’s a shame, truly. I’m sure a mind like yours would have been spectacular at Membrane Labs.”

       “Please, you’re being far too generous there,” Cro snorted. “I try to be innovative, but I don’t want your labs having any more accidents than they probably already do.”

       “Accidents are part of the process, Ms. McGovern,” Membrane hummed. “If we never fail, how do we learn?”

       “Okay, yeah, some failure’s fine. But me? In regards to engineering? You’ll find me failing more than I would be learning.”

       “Sounds like you simply haven’t had the proper teacher.” Membrane shrugged. “Well, no matter! You still have that graduate degree to pursue, yes?”

       Cro choked on her own spit. “You— you mean the one I dropped out of ages ago?”

       “Of course! Why not go back now? You never explained to me why you dropped out of your program,” Membrane spoke with a sincere tone.

       “Well… it’s nothing that crazy, just had some disagreements with the professors there, no big deal.”

       “Disagreements about…?”

       “Oh, boring stuff, just… you know.” Cro looked away anxiously, hoping enough non-answers would make the topic go away. “I don’t wanna get you caught up in the semantics.”

       Membrane looked like he wanted to push the topic, but something in his mind clicked and he decided to hold back; Cro figured he remembered this was supposed to be information she revealed on her own terms.

       Cro, feeling a bit awkward with how the conversation abruptly ended, decided to follow up with another comment. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t considered going back, though. Just probably not to the same university.”

       Membrane perked up. “For what type of degree?”

       “I’d probably start with a master’s to ease back into it. Hopping into the Ph.D program off the bat was probably another reason I wasn’t keeping up as well, so maybe starting off with a shorter goalpost could help? I still do want to be a professor, eventually.”

       “So, the Skool is a temporary place of employment?”

       “Ideally, yes. It’d be sad not having Andy in the office anymore, but public school was never where I wanted to spend the rest of my career teaching.”

       “I see…” Membrane nodded. “So, what exactly will—”

       An alarm on his watch went off. “Oh, looks like it’s getting late.” He stood up, dusting off his lab coat. “Apologies, but you’ll have to tell me about your future pursuit of education another time.”

       Cro stood up as well, and Membrane walked Cro to the front door. “Uh, so,” Cro asked, “about that nanny job—”

       “You’ll start tomorrow after Dib’s lesson with you.”

       “Alright, and what about Gaz? I could probably keep her in my office while I run Dib through his lessons.”

       “That would be superb!” Membrane exclaimed. “Tonight I shall forward you information regarding the needs and typical schedule of my children. Should anything go wrong, you have my number.”

       “Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for that. Thank you again for the job offer,” Cro smiled. She turned away, walking out of the house and to her car to get back home.

       Once she had left, Membrane closed the door and let out a deep exhale, sitting back down in the dining room.

       “Dad,” Dib perked up, startling his father. He was leaning against the door frame, with an eyebrow raised. “If you wanted to get us a new mom, you could’ve just said so. I mean, come on, she’s already my tutor!”

       Gaz stood next to him, idly playing on her Game Slave . “Yeah, or is this some sort of weird experiment where you finally try going on dates for once?”

       “Kids,” Membrane stood up a bit too quickly for someone like him. “Isn’t it about time you two go to bed?”

       “Okay, dad, have fun with your not-date plans.” Gaz walked away, with Dib giggling beside her.

       A date… huh . Membrane scratched his chin, before ordering Foodio 3000 to clean up, as he retreated to his lab, a new idea popping into his head.

       “… And now I’ve got another job. Crazy, right?”

       Cro was on the phone with Andy, filling him in with what happened at dinner.

       “You bet!” Andy replied with a loud exhale. “You’re tiring me out just thinking about it. A teacher, a tutor, and a nanny? That’s what it’s like being a parent, except now you get paid for it!” He let out a hearty laugh.

       Cro sighed. “Yeah, it really does feel like I’m being roped into parenting these kids.”

       “Be careful, he might pay you to do just that if you’re not careful!” Andy snickered.

       “Isn’t that what this nanny business is at this point? It’s just parenting without commitment.”

       Andy could be heard giggling on the other end. “That is how it seems, doesn’t it?”

       “No kidding.” Cro sunk back further into the couch. “Well, let’s hope it stays at just this. The extra money’s nice, but I like having time to myself .”

       “You’ve got weekends off, right? We’ll be just fine, dear.”

       “Unless he’s super busy, yeah. I’m sure we’ll be fine, just…” Cro closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. “I am so going to need a drink this upcoming weekend.”

       “You said it, dear! Half-price margaritas will be on me, alright?”

       Cro smiled. “Yeah, sure, alright. See you tomorrow, Andy.”

       “Good night, dear!”

       The line went silent. Cro closed her phone, placing it back in her pocket.

       It amazed her just how much she was doing just for the dollar.

Chapter Text

       Monday afternoon: Cro’s first official day of babysitting Dib and Gaz.

       She had just finished tutoring Dib, while Gaz sat in the back of the room playing on her Game Slave that she brought to Skool with her.

       She led the kids out of her office and into the parking lot, where she and the kids got into her small black car.

       “Mind the mess,” Cro apologized. “I didn’t get to clean as much as I’d have liked.”

       “It’s alright, Ms. McGovern,” Dib assured, moving aside a large blanket to reside between him and Gaz, who had already gone back to her gaming console.

       The drive to the Membrane household was only a few minutes, but to Cro it felt like a few hours. The only kid she’d ever supervised was Andy’s son, Spoo, but even then she’d usually have Andy there to help most of the time; she could barely fathom that she was now in charge of two children, all on her own too!

       At the very least, Cro had the list of instructions Membrane had texted her the night before, so she wasn’t going into this totally blind.

       The car pulled up to the Membrane household, and everyone got out to head inside.

       Dib pulled out his house key from his bag, unlocking the door for everyone. Cro followed the two kids into the house; despite being let in — and being hired to be here in the first place — she felt like she was somehow breaking and entering.

       Dib looked up at Cro. “Dad left you a spare key. It should be on the dining room table.”

       Cro nodded, giving thanks before heading into the dining room. She picked up the key, and noticed there was a small note next to it. She grabbed the note and read it closely.

       Ms. McGovern,

       Thank you again for agreeing to this job!

       I will be home late tonight.

       Please assure the children obey curfew.

       Best regards,

       Professor Membrane

       Home late, huh? Cro let out a deep sigh. Of course her first day was going to be a long one.

       She opened up her texts from the professor, examining the list one last time.

       «The following is the basic regime for my children:»

       «1. Make sure their homework is done for the day.»

       “Homework…” Cro mumbled to herself before walking back into the living room to see Dib and Gaz on the couch. “You kids are gonna do your homework, right?” she asked.

       Both kids nodded in acknowledgement before pulling out their designated school binders from their bags and getting to work.

       Cro took this as a time to start her own work, so she moved back to the dining room and started grading homework from her classes.

       About halfway through, she felt a tug on her sleeve; she turned to see Gaz standing next to her.

       “Is there something I can help you with?” Cro asked.

       Gaz plopped her homework on the table. “Dad always checks our work when we’re done.”

       Cro picked up the work. “Like… to make sure you did all of the problems?”

       “… To correct them.”

       One of the texts from Membrane’s instructions came to mind:

       «2. Review their work; point out any mistakes.»

       Darn. She really needed to start reading ahead next time.

       Cro stared at the homework; it appeared to be about science. Her hands started to feel clammy. “Uhhh, yeah, sure,” Cro agreed hesitantly. “Could you give me a bit with this? I’d need to look up the answers.”

       Gaz looked confused. “Aren’t you supposed to be a teacher?”

       “Yeah, for math . I wasn’t exactly all that great in science.”

       “Huh.” Gaz looked at the work. “Whatever, I’ll just ask dad when he gets home.”

       Cro felt her heart drop a little. “Don’t you think he’d be upset with me if I didn’t?”

       Gaz shrugged.

       Cro hummed nervously. “Do you have a home computer? I don’t mind doing this, promise.”

       “Doesn’t everyone?”

       “Fine, where is your home computer?”

       Gaz sighed. “Follow me, I guess.” she stated before walking out of the room.

       Cro followed closely behind, taking a pen and Gaz’s work with her. On their way to the room, they passed by Dib in the living room, who was still working on homework Cro had just assigned him.

       Dib looked up. “Where are you two going?” he asked.

       “Family computer,” Gaz answered. “She’s correcting my homework.”

       Dib looked puzzled, but Cro and Gaz sped out of the room before he could say anything.

       They got to the computer, and Gaz motioned toward it. “The password’s our last name, by the way.”

       Cro nodded, sitting down at the computer desk. She typed in the password and immediately situated herself with the setup. She turned back to Gaz, murmuring a quick thanks before getting to work on correcting Gaz’s homework.

       Laws of superposition… the steps of rock formation… kinetic energy…

       What on earth was a “seismic wave” again?

       Cro could feel her mind melting as she slowly chugged through Gaz’s work. Thankfully, the young girl seemed to be getting everything right.

       It took an absurd amount of time for Cro to correct the girl’s single sheet. She turned off the computer, got up, and handed the work to Gaz.

       “You got it right,” Cro said, letting out a deep exhale.

       Gaz grabbed her paper from Cro before walking out of the room.

       Cro followed her out, heading back to the dining room. On her way, she passed by Dib, who was no longer working on his homework. She turned to face him.

       “Need me to check it?” she asked.

       Dib shot up. “You don’t have to do that, Ms. McGovern. I promise it’s all done.”

       Cro furrowed her brows. “But your father wanted me to check and correct your materials.”

       Dib looked equally confused. “Really? He told me he’d be doing that himself when he got home from work. He told Gaz that, too…”

       “He did? Then why did I…”

       Cro felt like she wanted to curl up and die. “Did he text me the wrong information?”

       Dib shrugged. “It’s possible. Knowing dad, he probably sent you what he does instead of what you should do. Also, we don’t usually really need it. Gaz and I never do our work wrong.”

       “I guess that’d make sense…” Cro mumbled. They were Membrane’s children after all, so maybe correcting their work was just a gesture of reassurance.  She pulled out her phone to read over the rest of the steps.

       «3. Dinner is to be served at 7pm. Foodio 3000 should start 10 minutes prior.»

       «4. After dinner, the children may engage in recreational activities of their choice until curfew; engage their interests if asked.»

       «5. Remember to engage the security alarm in the home lab when working on dangerous experiments.»

       «6. Curfew is at 10pm for both children. Tuck them in; don’t forget goodnight kisses.»

       Spending time in the lab? Kissing the kids goodnight? Unless Cro’s job was about to be replacing the man himself, these were definitely Membrane’s instructions for himself.

       “Yeah, Dib, I think you were right.” She showed Dib the texts.

       Dib read them over, seeming to take mental notes. “Okay, first of all, you are definitely not allowed in dad’s lab. He told me he’s got too many fragile and dangerous objects in there, and that you probably don’t need it anyway.”

       Cro nodded. “That sounds about right. I’m no scientist.”

       “Yeah, I had a feeling. And the other thing is…” Dib grimaced, “you really don’t have to tuck me into bed. I’m a teenager now. I’m not sure why dad even does it, to be honest.”

       “It’s probably to show he cares about you?”

       Dib furrowed his eyebrows before shrugging. “You probably should go get Foodio ready soon.”

       Cro was surprised at the sudden change of topic, but looked at the clock and saw it was half past six. She looked down at Dib with a forced smile. “Hey, uh… do you have food that isn’t prepared by Foodio?”

       “I mean, yeah. Foodio doesn’t work unless you load the ingredients into it.”

       “Good to know,” Cro nodded, although she really wanted to say thank the heavens . “I’ll make something homemade. Dinner might be a few minutes late, if that’s alright?”

       “That’s fine.”

       “Cool, alright…”

       Cro made her way into the kitchen anxiously.

       “Uhhh, Dib?” she called out.

       “Yeah?” he called back.

       “Where can I find the stuff to cook with?”

       “Pots and pans are in the lower cabinet next to the fridge, and the cooking utensils are on the counter.”

       Cro looked in both locations, confirming Dib’s statement.

       “Thanks!” she called out.

       She opened the fridge and examined the contents, wondering what in the world she could make that the kids would also eat. Among the various ingredients, what stood out was chicken breast, leftover pasta sauce, various cheeses, eggs…

       Cro nodded to herself: chicken parm time.

       She noticed a pantry next to the fridge; she quickly ransacked it for flour, olive oil, seasonings, and some bread crumbs—

       Wait. No bread crumbs?

       Cro started to panic. It was already pushing the dinner schedule by making food manually; she didn’t have the extra time to make authentic bread crumbs.

       She glazed her eyes over the pantry again, and a beautiful solution presented itself: a box of saltine crackers.

       She took a hold of them, and began to prepare dinner.

       As she started to brown the “breaded” chicken, Gaz walked into the kitchen.

       “You know Foodio does the cooking for you, right?” she questioned.

       Cro alternated her attention between the food and the girl. “We’re giving Foodio a break tonight.”

       “Why?”

       “Well, uh…”

       Cro thought of an excuse; she couldn’t exactly tell this twelve-year-old that her father’s technology wasn’t up to her standards. “I just prefer making my own food.”

       Gaz stared at Cro for a few seconds, but then turned away without another word.

       Cro let out a sigh. She finished with the chicken, adding sauce and cheese before putting it in the oven. While waiting, she figured she may as well make spaghetti tonight to go with it, and potentially show these kids what that’s supposed to taste like.

       It took until a quarter after seven for dinner to be ready. Cro dished out everyone’s portions and placed them at the dining table, where the kids had been patiently waiting for the past ten minutes. She sat down between the two kids before immediately digging in.

       Dib and Gaz seemed hesitant for the first bite, but soon after gladly ate the rest. This relieved Cro, who was worried that the kids’ taste buds might have been stunted given the last dinner they had together.

       After everyone was done, Cro finally let Foodio participate by cleaning up the table so that she could resume her nightly work once she sent the kids off to do their own things in the house.

       Around 9pm, Cro finished her work and figured she should check in on Dib and Gaz. She walked out to the living room and saw Gaz was playing a video game on the TV. Curious, she sat down next to Gaz and watched what was going on.

       “That looks an awful lot like the old Night of the ZomBirds arcade game,” she commented.

       “It’s ‘cause it’s the remake,” Gaz grumbled, focused heavily into the game.

       Cro hummed, watching the screen intently as Gaz plowed through zombie bird after zombie bird.

       Gaz paused the game, looking up at Cro. “What do you want?”

       “Do they… still have the multiplayer option?”

       Gaz suspiciously eyed Cro, but then sighed before getting off the couch to grab the other controller. She handed it to the older woman before exiting the level, heading into co-op mode. Gaz quickly explained the controls to Cro, and then they began.

       It took Cro a minute to get used to the controls, but eventually she was able to somewhat keep up with Gaz. She didn’t want to break Gaz’s focus, but Cro was having a bit of a nostalgia trip seeing a game from her own childhood being remade for the newer generation.

       Her attention to the game was cut off when Dib cut in front of the TV, heading to the kitchen. Cro looked up at him momentarily. “Where are you going?”

       “I wanted some water before bed.”

       Before bed? But wasn’t it still kinda early for that?

       Cro looked up at the clock and noticed it was, in fact, a few minutes until curfew. Crud!

       “Gaz, dear,” Cro explained, standing up, “I think we need to stop for the night.”

       Gaz surprisingly didn’t put up much of an argument, simply turning off the console and heading to her room to get ready for bed.

       Cro peered into the kitchen to see Dib with his water.

       “Hey, uh…” Cro asked. “Are you sure you’re fine on your own tonight?”

       “I should be,” Dib confirmed.

       Cro nodded slowly. “Well then, er, get yourself to bed after that glass. Alright?”

       “Alright, Ms. McGovern.”

       Cro walked back toward where Gaz had gone. She wasn’t sure which room was Gaz’s, but then a door toward the end of the hall opened to reveal Gaz, who was already in her pajamas.

       Cro felt a wave of relief wash over her, since she didn’t actually have to scramble to find the right room. “Are you ready for bed?”

       Gaz nodded, walking into her room.

       Cro followed behind, taking in the decor of the room. Gaz had a lot of video game posters all over her walls, along with posters for various rock bands.

       One stood out to Cro in particular: a poster for Skull Merchants . “Kids still listen to those guys?” Cro wondered aloud.

       Gaz scoffed. “ Duh . They’re, like, super cool.”

       “Oh, for sure! I saw them in concert once, they were pretty cool.”

       Gaz’s eyes widened (which made Cro aware of just how little she really got to see of Gaz’s eyes). “ You’ve seen them live?”

       Cro chuckled. “Yeah, back when I was in college. I went with a group of friends to see them live at the Dark Ages festival.”

       “The super big annual hard rock festival?” Gaz seemed to be glowing, but it turned into disappointment. “I’ve wanted to go, but dad says I’m too young to go alone.”

       “Why doesn’t he go with you?”

       “He’s always busy ,” Gaz’s face scrunched up. “And it’s not like he’s into that stuff anyway.”

       “Hm… well, how about this?” Cro offered. “I’ll talk to your dad when he gets home, and see if he’d let me take you with.”

       “For real?” Gaz’s eyes opened out of surprise, startling Cro for a second before continuing.

       “Yeah, for real.” Cro swatted her hand casually. “I’ve been meaning to go back eventually.”

       Gaz looked filled with childish glee, but then quickly switched back to her more moody demeanor. “Uh, yeah, sure. That’d be cool, I guess .”

       Cro smiled. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. For now though, it’s bedtime.”

       Gaz got under the covers, and Cro tucked her in. In lieu of Membrane’s goodnight kiss, Cro simply opted to lightly ruffle Gaz’s hair. “Sleep well, Gaz.”

       Gaz didn’t respond, simply turning over to fall asleep.

       Cro quietly left the room, walking past Dib’s open room to see him making his bed.

       She quickly waved. “Good night, Dib.”

       Dib, caught off guard, spun quickly to face her and almost fell over. “G-Good night, Ms. McGovern.”

       Cro shut the door to Dib’s room, heading into the living room and plopping down onto the couch. She pulled out her phone to see some texts from Andy:

       «Ex-wife is back at it again. Ugh. :(»

       «You free to call?»

       Cro let out a deep exhale before dialing Andy’s number.

       He quickly picked up the phone. “Hello?”

       “Hey Andy, it’s me.”

       “Crocro!” Andy exclaimed. “Are you home from nannying already?”

       “Actually,” Cro spoke softly, “I just put them to bed, but I’m still at the house. The professor had to work late.”

       “Ohhh, okay. Okay.”

       “Yeah…” Cro sighed. “So, about that ex-wife?”

       “Ugh, right! Okay, so, you remember how I already owe so much in child support per week?”

       Cro reminisced about how she once helped Andy cover child support one month because of a health emergency he had to deal with. “Yeah. She sure makes a pretty penny from that, doesn’t she?”

       “Well apparently , it’s not enough for her! I know for a fact it isn’t going to Spoo either. She’s been suddenly showing up to get him from school with designer purses. No use in pretending, Linda. I can smell a Marino bag from anywhere!”

       “So, how much more does she want?”

       “Double the money! As if she even needs the regular child support payments. She should be paying me , given she now makes twice what I do.”

       “Yeesh… Hey, remind me to never get divorced with children, okay?”

       “Save yourself the headache, honey…” Andy sighed. “You’d better hope this gig with Membrane doesn’t end in that.”

       “What I do here is strictly professional. We’d have to date, much less get married , before we could divorce.”

       “Yeah, yeah, okay…” Andy spoke teasingly.

       The line went quiet for a moment.

       “Sooo…” Andy asked, “how’s the gig been treating you, dear?”

       “Eh, definitely better than expected.” Cro moved to lay down on the couch. “The kids are well-behaved. We ate, then I hung out with Gaz—”

       “Oh, little Gazlene!” Andy exclaimed. “How hard was that to pull off?”

       “Not at all, honestly. We just played some video games and talked about music.”

       “Wow, I should keep that in mind next time I see her in class…”

       “I’m sure you’re doing just fine without my advice.”

       “True, true. My class is still afloat, thankfully!” He let out a soft laugh.

       Cro also giggled before turning her gaze to the clock. “Let’s hope Membrane doesn’t get home too late. I don’t even know if I’ll make it to my house before I pass out!”

       “Well, then, I’ll let you rest before then.”

       “What?” Cro seemed nervous. “Are you sure I won’t get in trouble?”

       “Are the kids awake?”

       “No.”

       “Then you don’t have to be awake either!”

       Cro thought about it for a second. “Yeah, I guess you have a point.” She glanced back up at the clock: quarter past 10pm.

       She yawned. “Well, better go do that now rather than later. Good night!”

       “Nighty-night, honey!”

       The line went silent, and Cro put the phone back into her pocket before getting into a more comfortable position, resting her eyes as she cuddled up. Surely it wouldn’t be a long nap…

       She was awoken by the sound of the front door jiggling. Startled, she jolted up and looked up at the clock: half past midnight.

       The door swung open to reveal the professor. Unlike Cro, he seemed to still have quite a good amount of energy left in him.

       Membrane turned to face Cro. “Ms. McGovern! I wasn’t expecting you to be awake at this hour.”

       Cro rubbed her eyes. “I wasn’t , until I heard the door opening.”

       “Ah, apologies.”

       Membrane quietly closed the door behind him. He turned to Cro, motioning for her to join him in the kitchen, to which she complied groggily. He shuffled through his drawers, pulling out a box of tea bags.

       “Which one would you like?” he asked, holding the box out to Cro.

       She glazed over them tiredly; there were a few grey teas, a handful of fruit teas, and a whole lot of herbal teas.

       “Peppermint tea should help me stay awake, I think.”

       Membrane hummed, pulling out two peppermint tea bags. He started to move toward Foodio, but Cro called out to him.

       “Professor, wait!”

       Membrane turned around. “Hm?”

       Cro glanced weirdly at Foodio. “Do you really need a robot to make your tea for you?”

       “I don’t need to use it, but it’s far more efficient.”

       Cro wanted to fight it, but she was far too tired to debate Membrane. “Alright, sure, go ahead.”

       Membrane turned back to Foodio, dumping the tea bags into it and pressing a few buttons. Almost instantly, Foodio got to work preparing the tea.

       Cro sat down at the dining room table to wait, and Membrane took the seat next to her. Immediately after, Foodio dinged loudly and opened its chest cavity, presenting two mugs of tea for them both.

       Cro took a sip from the cup; it was surprisingly not that bad, but how hard could it have truly been to mess up tea of all things? Granted, it still felt lacking, but she wasn’t complaining like she was last time.

       Membrane also took a sip before deciding to strike up conversation.

       “So, how was your first day with the kids? I hope they behaved for you.”

       “The kids were fine,” Cro confirmed. “Although, I think you might have had a bit of an error with the instructions you sent me?”

       “An error?” Membrane’s eyebrows perked up.

       Cro nodded, pulling out her phone to show Membrane the wall of text he sent to her the night prior. “I think you sent me instructions for yourself .”

       Membrane looked over the texts, letting out a soft “oh my!” as he read through certain later steps. “How come you didn’t inform me sooner?”

       “Honestly? When you sent them to me last night, I was about to fall asleep, so I wasn’t about to question anything. Plus—” she chuckled softly, “—it’s not like I’m a parent, or anything. I figured it was part of the job.”

       “Have you never babysat before?”

       “Nope, wasn’t really my thing.” Cro took another sip of her tea. “You can thank Dib for catching that, although not before I checked Gaz’s science homework. Do me a favor and check that as well, would you?”

       “Of course! It only takes me a few minutes.”

       Cro thought about just how long it took her and felt a little envious.

       Membrane continued. “Besides that, were there any other issues I need to be aware of?”

       Cro shook her head. “Nothing bad. Only thing of note is that Gaz and I got to talking while I was sending her to bed. She mentioned the Dark Ages music festival to me.”

       “Ah, yes, I remember her mentioning that ages ago! I told her she was far too young to attend, especially seeing as I was far too busy to bring her to a concert when she asked.”

       “Well… maybe when it comes up in the summer, I could bring her?”

       “You wouldn’t have to do all that , McGovern. It’s a long drive, and she’s a young girl. It’d be very crowded and loud! If she wanted to listen to music, I’m sure I could buy her whatever albums she desired.”

       “Please, it’s genuinely no hassle. I went once before, I vaguely know the scene.”

       “You have?” Membrane cocked his head.

       “Sure have! You know my old anger issues you nagged me about on Saturday?” Cro’s tone came off particularly petty when she asked that, but she continued. “Well, I started to get into that sort of music, because I heard it’s a good place to channel your rage into. It seemed to work, honestly! I still listen to that stuff from time to time.”

       Membrane nodded, placing his hand to where his chin would be if not obstructed by the labcoat. “Do you think Gazlene has a similar problem to you, then?”

       “Not guaranteed, no. I mean, you don’t have to have anger issues to like that stuff. It’s just one of the reasons, you know?”

       “I see…”

       “Speaking of similar problems…” Cro coughed. “You said it’d be too crowded and loud. Does Gaz not do good in environments like that?”

       Membrane shook his head: “Fortunately I gifted her the most scientific noise-cancelling headphones, but without them, she usually cannot go to loud events without them, and they’re a bit heavy, so she complains she can’t lug them around forever…”

       Cro tilted her head. “Wait. Is Gaz autistic?”

       “Yes! So am I, and so is Dib! Why do you ask?”

       Cro bit her lip and internally smacked herself. That’s probably why Foodio 3000’s food had such a specific texture and taste! She hoped she wouldn’t get in trouble if Dib and Gaz told their dad that she cooked something different and new for them. But, luckily, they seemed to like it, so maybe there was nothing to worry about?

       “Uh, no reason! Thanks for telling me, though.” Cro smiled sheepishly.

       Membrane clasped his hands together. “Well then, we can discuss the details of this music festival another time. How about we start with you joining our family this weekend for a more casual outing?”

       Cro perked up. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose.”

       “You wouldn’t be imposing! It’s a perfect opportunity to spend more time with the children.”

       “You don’t think I’ll be spending enough time with them?” Cro snorted.

       Membrane seemed taken aback. “If you don’t have any interest, I suppose that’s alright—”

       “No, no, it’s fine!” Cro cut him off. “I was just messing with you, sorry. I’d be delighted to come with. What would you be doing?”

       “I was planning on taking the children out to the arcade for a day out, followed by that one pizza restaurant the kids enjoy… Bloaty’s?”

       “Oh, yeah, I’ve been there once with Andy and his kid! It’s… not the worst there.”

       “Personally I don’t see the appeal of it, but it makes the children happy, so that’s what matters to me.”

       “I’m with you there. I wouldn’t mind coming with you at all.”

       “It’s a date, then!” Membrane exclaimed. “I can send you the details in the morning. For now, though, it’s about time you left for home, yes? Sleep is quite essential, after all!”

       “It sure is, although I’m just hoping I stay awake the whole ride,” Cro half-joked.

       Membrane led Cro to the front door, opening it for her so she could head to her car.

       “I’ll see you again tomorrow!” Cro waved, walking toward her car.

       “Have a good night!” Membrane called out to her.

       Cro got into her car and sped off to get home as soon as possible. She needed her rest, after all.

       Especially if each day was going to play out similarly to this one.

Chapter Text

       The rest of the week had gone fairly smoothly for Cro in regards to watching the Membrane children.

       She tried eating what Foodio made on Tuesday, but on Wednesday decided it was best if she made her own food while the kids stuck to Foodio; although, sometimes, the kids would get small portions of what Cro made, if they desired.

       On Wednesday, Dib tried explaining the alien stuff to Cro again. At first, she only entertained it to keep him busy; after his presentation, however, she started believing that maybe the kid with the skin disorder in her class, Zim, was an alien.

       So, on Thursday, she felt a twinge of distrust seeing Zim at her front door. He didn’t seem to bug off, so she opened the door.

       “Can I help you?” she asked suspiciously.

       “Eh?” Zim questioned. “What are you doing at the Dib-stink’s— I mean, er, Dib’s house?”

       “I work here. What do you need?”

       “May I speak to him?”

       Cro sighed, turning into the house. Dib silently shook his head, which Cro gladly took as her answer. “He’s not looking for visitors right now.”

       Zim looked like he was going to contest it, so Cro preemptively shut the door on him; unfortunately, though, Zim didn’t look like he planned on leaving.

       “Hey Dib?” Cro asked. “Any security system?”

       “Press the button to the left of the door.”

       Cro located the button and pressed it, wondering what the security system entailed.

       Turns out it was just the sprinkler system, but it was enough to make Zim run off screaming.

       Cro smirked. Useful button . She considered getting something like that for her place sooner or later.

       Friday was fairly uneventful, spare Membrane reminding her of the information he gave her earlier in the week about their Saturday trip: wear something comfortable, and be up and ready to go at ten o’ clock sharp.

       … Unfortunately for her, though, she woke up a mere ten minutes before she needed to be ready. What woke her up was a call from Membrane himself.

       She picked up hurriedly, mentally cursing herself out. “Hey! Are you on your way?”

       “I am!” Membrane replied cheerfully. “The children and I just got into the vehicle, and I should be at your house on the hour!”

       Cro yanked an outfit out of her closet. “Awesome! See you soon.”

       Membrane hung up the phone, and Cro quickly threw on her outfit as fast as she could. Thankfully, since she didn’t have to wear anything fancy, she simply opted for black leggings with a matching black graphic tee for Skull Merchants , the band she and Gaz talked about earlier in the week. She also threw on some sneakers and put her headband into her hair.

       She quickly sped through a morning routine of washing her face and brushing her teeth before speeding out the door, purse in hand, to wait outside as if she were ready the entire time.

       Membrane pulled up just as Cro closed her front door. He rolled down his window, waving to her.

       Cro made her way to the passenger seat, buckling up.

       “Good morning!” Membrane greeted. “I hope you’re prepared for a wonderful day out!”

       Membrane was, surprisingly, not wearing his lab coat. Instead, he was wearing a grey turtleneck that covered his mouth, along with black dress pants and matching boots. His rubber gloves were still on his arms, under his loose sleeves; his goggles still resided over his eyes.

       “Yeah, totally,” Cro smiled, trying her best to hide the exhaustion in her voice.

       The drive itself was calm; Membrane had turned on the radio to quietly play the current popular hits. The kids in the back were quiet, mainly looking out of their respective windows. Cro was tempted to take a power nap, but knew it’d be fairly unprofessional to do so; thus, she simply prayed she’d fully wake up sooner since she wouldn’t have an easy excuse for why she was still half-asleep.

       They arrived at the arcade and everyone got out of the car. Cro still felt tired, but she was convinced the overstimulation of games everywhere would fill her with the much-needed energy.

       While walking in, Gaz moved closer to Cro. “Nice shirt, or whatever.”

       “Thanks, I got it ages ago.” Cro tugged at the fabric of her shirt. “I have a bunch of shirts like this at home for a lot of different groups.”

       Gaz simply nodded before going back to minding her business.

       Entering the arcade, Cro was blasted with the sound of kids chattering, along with the music from the army of game machines around the building.

       Membrane swiftly bought both of his kids two game cards.

       “Now, kids,” he instructed, “there should be more than enough in here for you to play as much as you’d like today. Try not to spend it all right away!”

       “Yes, dad,” Dib and Gaz spoke in unison before running off to find their games of choice.

       Cro watched as they ran off. “Shouldn’t we follow them?”

       “Oh, certainly,” Membrane agreed, “but I like to let them feel some semblance of freedom on their special days.”

       The two started walking around, keeping an eye on the kids but also keeping some distance so as to not hover too much.

       Cro watched intently as Dib started playing Space Ranger VII , honed in on blasting down pixelated alien spaceships.

       She cleared her throat, turning to her boss. “So, Professor Membrane, do you—”

       “Please, no need for the formalities!” Membrane chuckled. “You can call me Teo.”

       “Huh, okay,” Cro hummed. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard your first name until now.”

       “Oh, apologies. It isn’t my first name!” Membrane exclaimed. “Teo is my middle name. Professor is my first name.”

       Cro snorted. “Yeah, right.”

       “It’s true!” Membrane rummaged through his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and showing off his driver’s license.

       Cro peered over at the license, glossing over the picture of him that still had his mouth and eyes covered. The name read ‘Membrane, Professor T’ . He really wasn’t kidding, was he?

       She nodded. “I stand corrected.”

       Membrane put his wallet back into his pocket. “Given my academic title, it gets quite complicated differentiating Professor the name versus professor the title. Using my second name solves that conundrum effectively.”

       “Makes sense to me.”

       Cro glanced at Membrane’s appearance, finally processing his lack of visible facial features. Now that she thought about it, she never saw his eyes at his house, or even his mouth. That was shocking, given he had literally eaten and drank in front of her; did she simply never think to look up at him?

       “Uh… hey, uh, T-Teo?”

       Membrane glanced down at her. “Yes?”

       “What’s with all the… covering?” She gestured to his face. “I mean, do you need goggles in such a casual outfit?”

       “Ah, these?” Membrane tapped the side of his goggles. “These are prescription goggles! It’s too much to wear contacts under these, given how long I spend in the lab sometimes. They’re the most up-to-date with my vision needs.”

       Cro hummed. “That explains quite a bit. And the mouth…?”

       “It’s… a long story.” Membrane turned away. “As much as I prioritize safety, our labs still have their share of accidents.”

       “Oh… I’m, uh, sorry to hear.”

       “No need to apologize! It was worth it in the end for the progression of science.”

       Well, so long as Membrane wasn’t that upset about it, Cro figured she wouldn’t worry herself too much about it either.

       It wasn’t like she was going to have that time, either; before she knew it, Gaz was tugging on the bottom of her shirt.

       “What’s up?” Cro asked.

       “There’s this game I wanna play, but it needs two players.”

       “Aw, that’s a bummer!”

       Gaz widened an eye to stare deep into Cro’s soul.

       Was she… not putting something together? I mean, all Gaz did was say that there’s a two-player video game she was interested in—

       Oh . Okay.

       “Would you… want me to play with you?”

       Gaz turned away. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

       She started to walk away, presumably toward the machine.

       Cro turned to Membrane. “I’ll be back!”

       “Have fun!” Membrane cheered.

       Cro quickly caught up to Gaz, who had made her way to a giant cabinet, where two people could just barely fit into the seats in front of it. It was the arcade release of a Vampire Piggy Hunter spinoff, specifically tailored to be a first-person co-op experience.

       Gaz swiped her card to enter the game, and Cro went to do the same, but quickly realized she had no credits.

       Gaz also picked up on this pretty fast, and swiped her card into the machine again before Cro could utter a single word.

       “Gaz, dear, you didn’t have to use your credits on me ,” Cro sighed. “I could have gotten my own.”

       Gaz grabbed a hold of the controller in front of her. “It’s just a few credits, I don’t care.”

       Cro figured there was no point in protesting, so she also grabbed onto her controller as Gaz started up the first level.

       It seemed like babysitting a gamer came to Cro’s advantage; she was doing surprisingly well for someone who hadn’t had a chance to properly play a video game in ages. She and Gaz were able to advance past a good chunk of the game, with only a few close calls where Cro had to get swiped back into the game.

       One call was a little too close, though, and the two of them wiped during a particularly tricky stage.

       Gaz went to swipe her card again to hop right back in and finish before the opportunity to continue was lost, but Cro put down her controller in protest. “We shouldn’t spend any more on this machine, you’ll run the card dry!”

       “We’re about to finish the game.”

       “You said that four levels ago.”

       Gaz huffed. “Fine, whatever. I wanna try something else anyway.”

       The two get out of the seat and start looking around for other games.

       Cro, however, was fixated on getting herself some credits of her own first. Playing with Gaz really made her crave some more gaming action, but maybe something a little more up her alley.

       She made her way to the credit kiosk and went to purchase a card, but when it came time to pay she was moved aside as a familiar gloved hand swooped in to insert a debit card into the machine.

       Cro looked up at the man attached to the hand: surprising to nobody, it was Membrane.

       “You didn’t have to do that, you know.” Cro crossed her arms. “I have money.”

       “Oh, I’m sure you do! But this trip was my idea, so it will be me who pays for your enjoyment.”

       Membrane handed Cro the game card with glee.

       Cro took it hesitantly. “Remind me to pay you back for this later.”

       “Not necessary!”

       “You already pay me enough , Teo. You don’t think this is—?”

       “I assure you, this is not a problem to me at all!”

       Membrane politely gestured toward the rest of the arcade. “Go on, now, find a game you like! Don’t worry yourself with the finances. Think of this as a bonus!”

       A bonus? Cro supposed fifty dollars in arcade credits barely counted as such, but wasn’t going to argue it any further. Membrane seemed pretty insistent, so there was no point pressing her luck.

       Her attention was immediately drawn to the pinball machine, and she made haste to get to an open one before a pack of kids beat her to the punch.

       A youthful sense of glee entered Cro as she swiped her card, ready to give the game a try.

       Right before she launched the first ball, Dib walked up next to her.

       “Oh, hi Dib!” Cro smiled. “I’m just about to try out this game for the first time in forever.”

       “Neat! I was thinking of trying it, too.”

       “Well then, let me show you how a master does it.”

       Cro smirked, readying herself for perfection. She was a master at this game ages ago! She held high scores at the arcades in her hometown, and they probably even still stood to this day. There was no way she could possibly fumble this!

       … Except there was, and she did. Within five seconds, she managed to launch the ball in a fashion that quickly rolled between the two bumpers, rendering her first ball of three essentially useless.

       Dib tried his best to hold back his snicker. “Was that part of the plan?”

       Cro scoffed. “Of course,” she lied. “That was my warm-up.”

       She launched the second ball of three. The score managed to be a little better, but unfortunately her flipper game was a tad rusty, and she just wasn’t able to get the ball to all of the spots she wanted to hit. One bad move and the ball was in the gutter.

       Cro grumbled to herself angrily. There was no way she was embarrassing herself in front of a child right now, right? At this rate, she’ll have to quit her job out of shame, given she would go down in history as the washed up grade school teacher who fell off at pinball.

       Last ball; last chance to redeem herself.

       This time it started to look up! She was able to hit some of those sweet spots she previously couldn’t, allowing her a sweet sum of bonus points for the final stretch. Her hands and the flippers seemed to work for her finally. All she needed to do was repeat all of the good stuff over and over to hopefully make up for her catastrophic beginning. Just no early gutter balls!

       Just as she was about to reach a high score for a single ball, she launched herself into a bonus compartment that sent her ball… directly out of play.

       Cro leaned onto the table, trying to hide her frustration.

       “Not bad,” Dib assured her.

       “What can I say? I guess I’m rustier than I expected…” Cro gritted through her teeth.

       Now was no time to lose her cool, especially not over a game about flicking some balls around. So, she took a deep breath before surrendering the machine to Dib.

       “How about you give it a shot?” she offered. “Since I showed you the way, and all.”

       Dib nodded, approaching the machine and swiping his card to start the game.

       To Cro’s absolute shock, Dib was insane with the machine. Whatever records Cro assumed she could break with enough effort were being broken so casually by Dib. He was one with the machine, and getting a high score was like second nature to him.

       Cro could only watch in pure awe; she wasn’t even jealous at this point, just impressed .

       Once Dib’s last ball went into the gutter, Cro looked up at the score and saw he had obliterated the previous record.

       Cro looked back down at him. “Sheesh, Dib, I never knew you were a pinball master.”

       “You’re just being nice,” Dib chuckled, playfully swatting his hand. “I’m good, but I’m no expert. You should see my dad play this sort of stuff.”

       “What? How much better could one even do?”

       “Let me show you!” Membrane interjected.

       He and Gaz had walked up to the machine together, Gaz lingering behind silently.

       Dib swiped his father in, and off he went!

       If Cro thought whatever Dib had going on was impressive, it was as if Membrane hacked into the machine to get the score he was getting.

       She could barely keep up with what he had going on, and didn’t even realize that Membrane had managed to break the score counter.

       Followed by the machine itself.

       Membrane looked around, seemingly embarrassed at what he had done.

       “Ah… um, excuse me as I go look for a worker.”

       He walked off, leaving Cro alone with the kids.

       Cro looked down at the children in her care. “Is this, uh, a regular occurrence?”

       “Yeah,” Gaz answered, already playing on a game cabinet next to the broken pinball machine. “A lot.”

       “Dad’s pretty intense with his games sometimes,” Dib explained. “I think he just gets excited. The only reason he’s getting a worker is because one time he tried to fix it on his own.”

       “Did he break it even further?”

       “Not in the way you’d expect. It worked great! But he added way too much, which is pretty typical of him, and people started complaining about the machine a lot more. So, he’s basically banned from machine repairs here ever again.”

       Cro snickered. “Why am I somehow not surprised?”

       “Because he’s always like that.” Dib leaned against the machine Gaz was playing on.

       They watched as Membrane followed a worker back to the machine, which was simply given an “out of order” sign. The worker proceeded to “suggest” that Membrane leave for the day pretty soon.

       Membrane approached the rest of the group. “Alright, it’s time to wrap up your games. It’s nearly dinner time! Let’s go see what prizes they have to offer today.”

       Everyone complied, walking with Membrane toward the card kiosk to check the ticket count. They had a massive total, mainly from Gaz grinding out heavy-winning games while the others were distracted with pinball.

       However, when they got to the prize counter, and the kids figured out which toys they wanted, they realized their total was a couple hundred tickets short.

       There were still two families in line ahead of the Membranes (and Cro), though.

       Membrane leaned in closer to Cro, speaking in a murmur. “Watch the children. I’ll be back.”

       Before Cro could say anything in return, Membrane had already run off to go play a few games. All she could do was hope he’d be back before the kids reached the counter.

       They were next in line now, and the kid in front was excitedly choosing what he wanted after having thought for a long time.

       Cro looked over at Membrane, who was still at the same game cabinet. She considered leaving the line, but saw that somehow ten more families had spawned in behind them, and it was only getting longer. Plus, the prizes Dib and Gaz wanted were in limited stock, so there was no guarantee they’d still be there if they went to the back of the line.

       Nervously, she leaned down toward the kids. “We need a way to stall.”

       Gaz got the message immediately, moving closer to the kid at the counter.

       “You wanted that?” she asked.

       The kid nodded excitedly.

       Gaz looked up at the toys, then pointed to another one. “I think that one is way cooler.” She proceeded to point at more and more toys. “But that one is cheaper, so then you could get another toy. But then what second one should you get?”

       The kid’s confidence faded into anxiety, as suddenly their mind was filled with the endless possibilities. The parents glared back at Gaz, who didn’t seem to care as she moved back toward Cro and Dib.

       Cro watched as the child in front of them counted over their tickets again and re-debated about what prizes they wanted.

       She looked down at Gaz again. “Nice play. That should be more than enough time.”

       And it was! Membrane sped back over, card in hand.

       Cro looked up at him. “Where did you even get the credits for it?”

       “I bought a new card.”

       “Really? I could have just given you mine, I’ve got more than enough credits.”

       Membrane shook his head. “Save those for next time.”

       Next time? Cro supposed it made sense, given she was to help supervise the kids, but it was still a bit jarring to hear that.

       They finally made their way to the counter, and everyone handed in their cards to combine their ticket total, allowing Dib and Gaz to get their desired prizes.

       Afterwards, they walked back to the car so they could speed off to Bloaty’s.

       Once there, Cro noticed that Bloaty’s also had an arcade. “How come we didn’t just go here for the games?”

       Before anyone could answer her, they all walked inside and she could immediately hear loud screams coming from the arcade and play areas; out of preparation, Membrane handed Gaz her noise-canceling headphones.

       “That would be why,” Membrane answered.

       “Noted,” Cro nodded with a grimace. “Even I couldn’t handle that noise level.”

       The family made their way to a booth. Membrane sat on one side, and Dib sat on the other. Cro went to sit by Dib, but Gaz beat her to it.

       Cro considered still sitting next to the kids, given there still seemed to be quite a bit of room, but Gaz looked up at her and answered her as if her mind was somehow being read.

       “Go sit by dad. I don’t want to get crushed in here.”

       Hesitantly, Cro took her seat next to Membrane, and felt as if she almost needed to crush the Professor himself if she wanted to have enough room to have both legs in the booth.

       For the table, Membrane ordered two pizzas, along with drinks for everyone.

       While waiting for everything, Membrane decided to strike up a conversation.

       “So, kids, did you enjoy your time out today?”

       Gaz and Dib nodded in unison. Cro wondered how Gaz could still hear Membrane through the headphones, but maybe since Membrane built them himself, the noise only muted excessively loud decibels.

       “Wonderful!” Membrane exclaimed, clasping his hands together.

       He looked over at Cro. “And I would hope you also enjoyed yourself.”

       “Me?” Cro asked. “Uh, yeah! It was nice having a day out. It was fun getting this time with the kids.”

       “Splendid!”

       Cro couldn’t see Membrane’s face, but he seemed to be exuding a warm vibe, so that was good enough for her.

       Although, maybe the warmth was from his body heat. She was pretty close to him, and consequently he kept brushing up against Cro when he’d go to move his arms. It caused her to have a sort of fluttery feeling, but she assumed it was because of the embarrassment of being this physically close to him.

       The food came, and the kids immediately dug into it, tuning out everything else around them to do so.

       Cro went to reach for a slice of the pizza, and glanced over at Membrane in the process, only to see he wasn’t eating anything. She moved her hand away from the food awkwardly.

       “Everything alright, Teo?”

       Membrane turned his attention to the woman beside him. “Of course! Why do you ask?”

       “You’re not touching any of the pizza.”

       “Oh, I don’t eat the food here! The kids love it, but I wait until we get home to make something for myself.”

       Cro looked over at the pizza. “Yeah, I get why you wouldn’t. I miss being younger and not so picky about what I ate.”

       “I’ve always been specific about my intake, but it has gotten stricter with age, I will admit. That’s why we have Foodio!”

       “So I take it the kids can stray from Foodio with some ease?”

       “Of course! They still have their specifications, but they can also have other meals from time to time, so long as the texture isn’t too unusual.”

       “That’s a relief,” Cro sighed. “Now I don’t feel as bad.”

       “Bad about what?”

       Cro bit her lip. Crud! She never told Membrane about her dinner plans from the first day. “Uh, so on my first day, I might have given Foodio a break and made dinner myself.”

       Membrane’s eyebrows widened. “The kids never mentioned that.”

       “They didn’t?”

       “No, but… I suppose that means they had no issues with it.”

       Cro let out an exhale of relief. “Thank the stars.”

       “Is there any reason you didn’t use Foodio? I did explain to you how to use him, and the kids should have known as well.”

       “Well…” Cro looked away sheepishly. “Um. I couldn’t stand how it tasted, or felt. Sorry, I’m a bit picky when it comes to that sort of stuff as well.”

       “No need to apologize!” Membrane placed a hand on Cro’s shoulder, sending a weird tingling sensation through her body. “If you need me to purchase any special groceries for the household, I’m more than willing to do so.”

       “You don’t have to! Really, I already bring my own stuff. It’s fine.”

       The waiter came back with the check. Membrane went to grab it, but Cro intercepted and quickly stuck her debit card in the booklet before handing it back to the waiter.

       As the waiter walked off, Membrane looked back at Cro, furrowing his brows. “That wasn’t necessary.”

       “Hey, I told you I’d pay you back for that card, right?” Cro could feel a sense of pride taking over.

       Membrane sighed. “Alright, just this once I’ll allow it. Next time, though, I’ll have to find a way to pay you back.”

       “Don’t you already pay me enough?” Cro teased. “Seriously, Teo, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I want to help out sometimes , you know.”

       Membrane looked like he wanted to argue, but the kids looked full and ready to go back home. He looked over at Cro, and noticed she also didn’t eat. “Wouldn’t you like some before we go?”

       “Oh, I’ll be fine eating at home. The kids look exhausted, I wouldn’t want to keep them waiting.”

       Membrane nodded, packing up the leftover slices and handing the to-go box to Cro. “Take this, then.”

       “You don’t want to keep it for the kids?”

       “Of course not. You paid for it, after all.”

       So this was the game he was playing.

       Cro took the box from him. “Well, then, thank you.”

       Everyone got up and headed back to the car. The kids got in the back seat and struggled to stay awake the second they hit the seat.

       Membrane started the car and drove off to Cro’s house.

       The car ride was mainly silent, even with Gaz having taken off her headphones to join any potential conversation, although Cro did find herself occupied with thoughts of Membrane. His generosity was surely because it was the professional thing to do, yet Cro couldn’t help but find herself lingering on it for longer than she should have. That combined with how close those two were in the Bloaty’s booth had her thoughts running wild.

       Membrane pulled in front of Cro’s house, parking the car and turning to face her. “Thank you for joining us!”

       “Hm?” Cro snapped back to reality. “Oh, of course, and thank you for inviting me!”

       Membrane placed a hand on Cro’s shoulder again, causing her to hold her breath instinctively.

       “I appreciate your dedication to this. I’ll see you Monday night after work.”

       Cro felt her face heat up. “Yeah, sure! I’ll, um, see you then.” She quickly turned to the kids and said her goodbyes to them as well, although they were too half-asleep to respond properly.

       She hastily exited the car and sped into her house. Once in, she slumped over on her living room couch and took a second to catch her breath.

       Why was she overthinking all of this? Membrane was just being kind in a professional manner, so why were his actions making her act this way?

       Cro groaned. Perhaps Andy’s comments about her and Membrane were starting to get to her on a deeper psychological level.

       All she knew was that tomorrow, she’d be giving Andy an earful.

Chapter Text

       The next day rolled around, and Cro immediately phoned her best friend to explain the internal conundrum she had been experiencing since her outing with the Membranes.

       “I mean, really , Andy,” Cro huffed after explaining her recent thoughts, “did you seriously have to put that stupid idea in my head, that this would become some sort of dumb romance?”

       “Oh, come on, Crocro,” Andy giggled. “All I did was tease you a little. The rest of this drama is all you, honey!”

       Cro groaned loudly into the phone speaker, causing Andy to let out a snort.

       He continued. “Look, dear, I’m no romance expert, but you aren’t going to know if you actually want him until you spend more time with him. Next time you get a chance, why not chat him up a bit? Then you’ll really know if you’re head over heels.”

       Cro sighed. “Fine, sure, I’ll entertain the idea for a bit. Maybe those weird traits of his will come out again and I can go back to knowing this is entirely professional.”

       “See, there you go!” Andy cheered. “And if he does get up to any shenanigans, I’m in your corner here to help! Just keep me in the loop, dear, m’kaaay?”

       “You know it,” Cro responded, weakly smiling. “See you tomorrow.”

       “Byebye!”

       Cro hung up and immediately flopped her head down onto the pillows of her bed. Seriously? Was she really about to try and get closer to the most famous man on Earth? Sure, she might discover she actually… likes him like that, but even if that was the case, in what world would he ever bother with her? She was just some average joe, meanwhile he was on the news all of the time! It wasn’t like she really ever watched the news, like, ever , but even then… it kind of intimidated her, thinking about just how different of lives they led.

       Not to mention, she had no clue what his dating history was like, but given his status, there was a pretty high chance it was far better than her own. Cro’s only partners in the past five years were a woman she had exactly one date with before getting ghosted, and then her homosexual best friend for a whopping seven days. Given the years before then also were also riddled with one-sided affection on Cro’s end, her dating history wasn’t exactly one of good note.

       Well… worst case, she realizes she has it bad for Membrane, tries to go forward, fails miserably, and ends up back at her original ordinary position of being a teacher and nothing else, right? It wasn’t ideal, but she knew she could live like that.

       She let out a loud sigh. Was she really going to try to sweet talk Professor Membrane of all people?

       Much to Sunday Cro’s demise, the answer to that question was yes.

       It was Monday night, and she had put the kids to bed about three hours ago; these late nights were a regular occurrence for her at this point. She had kept herself busy with grading homework, which she finished about an hour before this moment. She would have napped as a reward, but her anxieties were keeping her far too awake.

       After a pep talk with Andy, Cro managed to convince herself to at least break the ice with Membrane. She even received a text earlier in the evening with icebreaker ideas to get more personal with her boss.

       She opened her phone, going over what Andy had sent her once more to mentally prep her script:

       «I know you could just search up what to ask, but as your best friend and new official wingman I’d love to assist you, sooo here’s some icebreakers I’ll recommend in case you start drawing blanks! :D»

       «#1: What does he do when he’s not at work? You and I both know you’re big on going out. Is he? Or is he the type to stay home? That’ll be important to know if you want to have good couple bonding time.»

       «#2: What are his life goals? It’s important to be on the same page with what you want. Conflicting goals are a total no-no, dear!»

       «#3: Ask about his family! Knowing about your in-laws is an important step toward a good relationship. I would know, haha. By extension, ask about his friends too.»

       «If you’re feeling super bold, try to bring up dating history! I’m sure there's been at least one woman in the past given that kids don’t just pop up out of the blue. Usually. Figure out that baggage, missy!»

       «I’m sure you’ll be spectacular, dear. Just remember to be yourself. Hopefully you end up liking him, because I’m sure he’d love someone special like you. :)»

       Cro weakly smiled at the last message, but the weight in her chest still grew heavier the longer she spent waiting for Membrane to return home. Was it weird for her to be hypothetically developing feelings for her boss? She supposed it wouldn’t be as weird as the one time she thought her boss at Skool, Ms. Bitters, could totally get it; that being said, there was a whole lot of money on the line in the chance that she did in fact have a thing for Membrane and it wasn’t even remotely reciprocated. Talk about a conflict of interest!

       She decided to make herself some tea to calm her nerves.

       Mere moments after she settled down with a warm mug of chamomile, the front door swung open to reveal Professor Membrane in the flesh. A polite “Hello!” rang out from him.

       Cro nearly choked on her tea due to the sudden entrance. “Mem— uh, Teo, hi!” she greeted, her voice very clearly showing her lack of confidence. “So… how was work?”

       “It was quite the hectic day!” Membrane responded, sitting down in the kitchen next to Cro, letting out a deep exhale. He called Foodio over to fidget with it, getting himself his own nightly beverage. Once it was ready, Membrane took it in his grasp, shooing the robot away. “Our latest invention has been giving us more trouble than anticipated, so of course I had to stay behind and troubleshoot.”

       “What are you working on?”

       “Unfortunately, I’m under contract to not speak about it yet.”

       Cro squinted. “Aren’t you the boss?”

       “Of course! However, I need to hold myself to the same standards as my employees. If I were to break the rules, what kind of example would I be setting for the future generation of scientists?”

       “I see…” Cro took a sip from her tea. “Well, I guess I could say with decent confidence that my work day went smoother.”

       “Wonderful! I do hope the kids have been respecting your authority.”

       “Oh, totally! Especially compared to some of the other kids I deal with at my regular job, your two are a delight .”

       “Are the children at Skool not properly behaved for you?”

       “Mostly at a level I’d expect from a pack of middle schoolers…” Cro leaned back further in her seat. “I’ve gotten used to it, though, but it’s still nice being able to watch over kids who aren’t overly… whatever kids these days have going on. Pure, unbridled energy, I think?”

       “Children do tend to have more energy, yes.”

       “Yeah, exactly.”

       There was a bit of silence, which Cro took as her sign to start whipping out those questions Andy texted her earlier. “Heeey, um, you don’t mind if I ask you about your personal life, right?”

       “Not at all!” Membrane replied, his tone giving away his surprise. “Is there any reason you’re asking?”

       “Well… I wanted to get to know you a bit more, and I figured that maybe if we chatted about ourselves, we’d learn more about each other at our own speed and can bond from there?”

       “I am aware of how the revealing of information works.”

       Duh. “Yeah, okay.” Cro cleared her throat. Question number one…

       “So, Teo, since you seem to have such busy days at work, what do you even do for yourself when you go home?”

       “I’m usually in the lab or asleep, but every so often I get a chance to spend time with the kids.”

       “You work off the clock?”

       “It isn’t for work! I mainly spend time refining the house’s technology, and right now I’m even working on a more advanced toaster.”

       “What would make it more advanced?”

       “It would automatically create Super Toast™ , of course!”

       “That makes sense.” No, it didn’t. What in the world is Super Toast™?

       “You don’t know?” Membrane asked, making Cro aware that she accidentally spoke her thoughts aloud again. She really needed to do something about that.

       “Ah, um, not in the slightest. Sorry.”

       “Curious, I could have sworn it made the news several times by now…”

       “I, uh…” Cro sheepishly explained, “I don’t really keep up with the current times. Skool keeps me busy, after all.”

       “Well then, I’m glad you asked!” Membrane boomed. “It’s similar to toast in terms of taste and texture. HOWEVER! My patented Super Toast™ is packed with the important nutrients needed to get through the day. It even boosts intelligence levels!”

       “All in just a piece of toast?”

       “Correct!”

       “Huh, that’s pretty neat… Maybe I can finally have an excuse to have toast for breakfast every morning, yeah?” she snickered.

       “Does that mean you are looking for your very own Advanced Super Toast™ Toaster™ ?” Membrane’s eyebrow cocked up.

       “Ah, I mean, that’s far too much work for you, right?” Cro playfully swatted her hand.

       “Nonsense! Once the first version is complete, a replica should be no trouble.”

       Oh, he was serious, wasn’t he? “I mean… sure, but how much would I owe you?”

       “Hmmm…” Membrane pondered for a moment. “You already do so much to help around the house, would it even be fair to charge you? Then again, it is a two-of-a-kind Advanced Super Toast™ Toaster™ …”

       “I think—”

       Before Cro could think, Membrane interrupted her. “How about I count it as part of your annual bonus?”

       Cro blinked expressionlessly. A toaster for a bonus? That’s— actually not a bad idea; most of her home appliances were on their last leg at this point. “That’s a fair deal to me.”

       “Excellent!” Membrane pulled out a notepad, writing down a reminder for himself. “I’ll get that to you as soon as possible.”

       As he put the notebook away, his watch started beeping loudly. “Ah, it’s getting late,” he murmured. “It was pleasant chatting with you, but I should be heading to bed… as should you, of course.”

       “Right, of course,” Cro agreed. She got up out of her seat. “Have a good night, sir.”

       “You as well!” Membrane escorted Cro to the door. As he opened the entrance, he looked down at Cro. “I enjoyed talking with you. We should converse with each other more often, don’t you think?”

       Cro nodded, the nervousness creeping back into her mind. “Yeah, sure, I’d be alright with that!” she nodded, trying to speak through the lump that suddenly formed in her throat.

       As she walked back to her car, she thought about the conversation. It seemed to go well; she learned that Membrane was very dedicated to science. Maybe it could help him to get out of his shell a bit, but it wasn’t like he seemed all that miserable doing just science all day, every day. It might not have been what she liked to do in her free time, but at the very least she could appreciate a man with passion.

       She did still have those other questions, though…

       It was Tuesday night, and Cro was in a similar spot as the night before, with Membrane only returning past midnight. Despite the previous day going well, there was still a surplus of nervousness coursing through her body. Membrane seemed so sociable, but she did worry that this is the sort of stuff he might have already discussed in interviews for television or magazines or whatever other outlet she’d ignored for ages. Should she have been trying to catch up on those so she didn’t have to make that poor man repeat himself to her?

       Whatever the answer was, it didn’t matter, as the front door opened to reveal a familiar man. He moved to the kitchen, sitting beside Cro once again.

       Cro had gone over Andy’s texts once more, and figured she’d go at it again. “I’m sure you probably answered this in one of your many interviews or whatever, but—”

       Membrane swatted his hand casually. “Frankly, it’s much better hearing it yourself than listening secondhand.”

       “Really?”

       “Yes! I have no problem with people who know a lot about me from information I’ve released to the public, but you would learn a lot more if you simply asked me yourself. I can only go so into detail in the limited time I have with the public, after all!”

       “Oh, thank goodness , now I feel less bad for not stalking you on the news or whatever.” Cro let out a sigh of relief, reclining in her seat.

       “Of course! Now, what is it you were going to ask me?”

       Cro shot back up. “Right, um…” All she had to do was remember the second question. “All this recent change in my daily schedule has had me thinking about what my future might look like, and what kind of stuff I want to accomplish in my lifetime. You’re a smart guy, I was wondering if you’ve got your life goals figured out?”

       “Hmmm…” Membrane furrowed his brows. “Besides my everlasting pursuit of science and my lifelong feud with that jolly fat man Santa Claus, I’d say I’ve accomplished just about everything I’ve set out for.”

       “… Santa Claus?”

       “Yes, him .” Membrane’s aura grew dark, his demeanor shifting to a more serious one. “After that fateful night as a child when, instead of my desired gift of Uranium-238, he cursed me with socks as my Christmas present, I’ve made it my life mission to personally destroy Santa Claus.”

       Cro wasn’t sure if she was being pranked or not, but also she wasn’t about to tell the smartest man on Earth that Santa Claus was fake. For all she knew, maybe he was real. “I… um, hope you succeed at that!”

       And now to steer the conversation back to anything but this Santa Claus shenanigan. “But really, you don’t have anything else you’d want to do with your life? I mean, given your status, I feel like you could have a bucket list full of just about anything, right?”

       Membrane seemingly returned to “normal” at the question. “Well, I suppose I wish deep down that I could spend more time with the children. If what you said about a human guardian is true, I wouldn’t want to be a detriment to their development…”

       He clasped his hands together. “That’s why I’m grateful you agreed to be the kids’ nanny for the time being! They seem to be doing alright, so I assume you’ve been a decent influence on them.”

       Just decent? That… was probably right, honestly. Cro wasn’t a horrible influence, but all she really did was show up and hang out with the kids like an overcompensated babysitter… probably because she was . Maybe she needed to step up her game a little? Especially if she planned on potentially committing to Membrane as a partner, she really needed to make sure she was in the favor of the children.

       “Glad to know I’m doing alright,” Cro responded.

       Membrane let out a hum of approval. “On the topic of life goals, we never finished our discussion about your future educational—”

       His watch started to beep.

       “On second thought, I’ll discuss this with you another time.”

       Membrane saw Cro out, who was mentally thanking any higher being that she was able to dodge the bullet of her failed goals.

       Wednesday came, and it was the same drill as the past two nights.

       Membrane was sitting beside Cro, and the two had their usual cups of tea with them.

       Cro blew on her tea instinctively before taking a sip. Time for question three, right? It was better than being asked about what was almost discussed last night.

       “So,” she started, “you don’t have to share if you don’t want to, but do you have any extended family you still talk to?”

       Membrane placed his hands on his lap, one on top of the other. “Any reason you ask?”

       “Honestly, I’m just curious, but I swear when I was younger and heard about you back then, your parents were also on the news, so I wasn’t sure if that was a bond you kept , or if… well, anything else, I guess.”

       “My parents are still around, yes.”

       Cro nodded awkwardly. “Alright, well, at least there’s that!” She wasn’t sure if she should press the whole parent thing, so… “Is there other family besides them that you keep in contact with?”

       Membrane seemed to perk up a bit more. “Ah, yes! I have several aunts, uncles, and cousins still around. Although we don’t get much time to talk, we still swap cards and gifts over important holidays!”

       “That’s good at least! It would be nice if you could meet up with them for a family gathering one day.”

       “Ah, it would be nice to host a gathering for the family! Unfortunately, it would be quite a hassle to get everyone together in the same place.”

       “Yeah, I get that. My family’s all over the country as well, so I really only see some of them every so often. I barely keep in contact with my parents or sister, much less my extended family.”

       Membrane raised an eyebrow. “You have a sister?”

       “Uh, half-sister, yeah,” Cro elaborated. “My dad remarried when I was a kid. Ironically, she and I only got closer once I moved out. Probably didn’t help that I’m so much older than her.”

       “Interesting.”

       “Yeah… I’m guessing you’re an only child?”

       “That would be correct.”

       Cro nodded. “Must have been lonely.”

       Membrane didn’t respond, but he didn’t have to; his watch alarm started going off, signaling that Cro should head out for the night.

       He escorted her out of the kitchen, bringing her to the front door.

       As she left, she wondered to herself about why Membrane seemed so hesitant, but knew it wasn’t her place to push for answers about his life; she’d be a big freaking hypocrite if she pried into him when he wasn’t ready to share, after all.

       However, she was going to need some more questions to ask him for tomorrow night.

       The next day, Thursday, rolled around, and she had looked into some stuff she wanted to ask the Professor when he got home. He was currently sitting in front of her, so she figured she may as well start off

       This time, however, Membrane asked the question of the night. “So, while I have the chance to ask, have you looked into any potential universities for whenever you resume your higher education?”

       Cro choked up at the topic; it was inevitable that it’d come up, but it didn’t make it any less awkward for her. “Oh, that?” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh, not really, no. I hadn’t had the time or money in the past to commit to any searches, and now I’m busy with… well, all the extra work I’ve been doing for you— which I’m fine with, by the way!” She could briefly see her life flash before her eyes as she added that last part.

       Membrane huffed. “Understandable, yet unfortunate. I do have connections to several top universities in the world if you would need any starting points. Given they’d require letters of recommendation, I’d be more than happy to provide them, but most would require multiple references. You mentioned quarrels with professors of the past, but are there any you have decent relations with?”

       Cro put a hand to her chin. “There was this one professor who was like a mentor to me during undergrad, I’m sure I should catch up with him either way. I’ve just been nervous, since… well, being a Skool teacher wasn’t exactly what I told him my future plans were, and I was scared I’d disappoint him with such a simple life outcome.”

       “Nonsense! Educating the youth is still a notable profession.”

       “True, but it isn’t working in a university while also doing research into math that most people wouldn’t even get close to learning in their lifetime.” Cro crossed her arms. “And as for a backup recommendation, I’m sure my old advisor would be fine, right? I was a student worker under him, he could attest to my character.”

       “I suppose that could work,” Membrane confirmed. “Of course, it would only matter when you are ready to apply yourself.”

       “Right, yeah…”

       Membrane’s watch started to beep. “It appears our time is up. Shall I show you out?”

       Cro agreed, and Membrane led her to the front door, wishing her farewell as she left for the night.

       She made sure to mentally note that somehow, her boss was willing to vouch for her whenever she decided to apply for graduate school again. Was Membrane this generous with everyone he worked with? The folks over at Membrane Labs must have been jumping in joy with the level of opportunity they were receiving.

       And, honestly, so was she.

       The next week was fairly pleasant! The two found themselves casually discussing their days at work; Membrane was ecstatic to hear his kids were doing well with Cro, and Cro was always blown away by just how much happened in that man’s laboratory.

       His perseverance was charming, Cro would admit. No matter what seemed to go wrong for that man, he simply got up, took notes, and tried again. Honestly, she envied it, but also found it attractive.

       Hell on Earth, she found it attractive ? Uh oh.

       Cro started wondering again about Membrane’s dating past. After all, if Cro had a scary enough line-up of Membrane’s exes to compete against, she knew there wasn’t a single chance on Earth he’d even bother with her. That was probably what she was going to hear about with around 95% confidence in her mind on that guess, but either way she still wanted to know the specifics… namely, who mothered these kids?

       So, when Membrane came home that night, Cro knew she had to finally bring it up.

       “You can let me know if this is too unprofessional or personal to talk about,” she led off with, “but I was curious. How long have you and the kids been, like…?”

       “On our own?”

       “Yeah, that.”

       “Is there any reason you ask?”

       Yes, but she wasn’t going to tell him the reason; a half-truth would suffice. “Ah, I was just curious. Plus, if there’s any sort of, um, baggage going on with a rough split, I want to make sure I don’t accidentally overstep, or worse, make them uncomfortable.”

       Membrane placed his mug down, folding his hands into his lap. “We’ve been on our own for as long as I’ve had them.”

       Cro cocked her head. “So they were surrendered to you at birth by their mother?”

       “No mother involved.” Membrane seemed more reserved in his responses, yet he still answered Cro’s questions without hesitance.

       Oh , so were they adopted? It was weird, given Dib looked exactly like his father, but maybe it was a simple coincidence? Or maybe Dib styled himself to look like Membrane as a sign of admiration? Gaz, on the other hand, shared some traits with Membrane, but that one felt even more so like coincidence to Cro.

       She wasn’t about to overthink this, though. It seemed obvious to her that it was the only solution. It wasn’t like Membrane could just clone a child in his lab, right?

       “Okay, I get it now.” She nervously fumbled her hands around. “Sorry to press further, but have you had… any partners in the past before the kids came into your life?”

       Membrane shook his head. “I’ve simply had no need. My heart belongs to science!”

       Cro wasn’t sure if she was crushed by his apathy about romance, or shocked beyond belief that somehow he hadn’t once had any sort of relationship. “You’re saving yourself some heartbreaks, then,” she joked hoarsely. “I’ve had my fair share of relationships, and they have not ended well. Only downside is that it’s nice having the company of a partner, you know?”

       “I do not, but I will take your word for it.” Membrane lightly started tapping on his kneecaps. “Although, your comments have made me wonder if having a life partner would be beneficial, particularly for the children…”

       Cro’s previous defeatism immediately dissipated. “I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?”

       Membrane hummed. “That is true. One never learns if they never try.”

       “Yeah, of course! If it’s any help, I’m sure a guy like you would have no trouble finding someone.”

       Membrane let out an awkward chuckle. “I’ve received a few intimate letters from fans of my work over the years, but I would much rather choose someone I know on a more personal level. It would be an added bonus if the kids already got along with them, of course!”

       Cro gulped nervously. “Yeah, it would be nice if you had someone like that! I’m sure whoever you ask would be more than excited to have you as well!”

       “Do you truly believe that?”

       “I’d like to think so, yeah,” she smiled, hoping maybe he’d get the message.

       “I appreciate the faith in my romantic endeavors.”

       He placed a hand on Cro’s knee, which made her heart leap in her chest. He leaned closer to her, and for a moment she swore she could see the outline of an eye through his goggles.

       He continued. “You’re a wonderful friend, Cro. If I were to enter a relationship, I’d hope they are someone just like yourself!”

       Cro could feel her entire brain shut off. All she could muster to say was a simple “uh-huh”, and even then there wasn’t much power behind it.

       Membrane patted her knee before standing up, extending a hand to help Cro out of her chair. She obliged silently, and he walked her to the door, still holding her hand.

       “Cro?”

       She turned to look up at Membrane. “Ye-Yeah, Teo?” she stuttered.

       “Are you alright? You’re looking quite pale.”

       “Oh, uh, that’s just my skin tone.” She immediately turned on her heel to walk out of the door. “See you tomorrow.”

       “Are you sure you’re fine?”

       “Positive!” Negative.

       “Alright, well, drive safely!”

       Cro quickly scampered to her car and drove home as fast as she could.

       Once home, she sped inside, kicking her heels off before dashing to her bedroom. Flopping onto her bed face-down, Cro let out a deep groan.

       Man, she really did like him that way, didn’t she?

       Of course, it was bound to happen. Membrane was a public figure, so obviously there had to be some charisma there. He was this pinnacle of intelligence but also shockingly easy to talk to about whatever. Plus, not getting back into Membrane’s deal with the kids, he really hadn’t dated anybody at this point? Although he attested it was because he wanted someone he already knew and who got along with his kids, Cro couldn’t help but wonder if part of it still had to do with people who would try to get close to him only because they wanted the social status of being with a famous man and not actually because they found him charming on a personal level.

       Granted, she wasn’t much better; she was only this close to him to begin with because she was chasing that dollar. It wasn’t like she liked Membrane because of his money, though; usually, she found people in places of wealth to be incredibly disconnected. Sure, Membrane wasn’t exactly like the common person either, but it was clear he still had a genuine care for what he did and wasn’t just doing his work for the money either. Sometimes money is a bonus, right?

       Cro flipped onto her back and pulled the phone out of her pocket. She did what she always did in conflict: called Andy.

       “Hello, dear!” Andy’s chipper voice rang out. “You caught me right before bed. What’s shaking?”

       “I think I like him.”

       “Took you that long, huh?”

       “It hasn’t even been two whole weeks, Andy.”

       “I know, I know,” he snickered. “Sooo, what’s the plan? Are you going to ask him out, dear?”

       “I should , but I don’t know how . I mean—” Cro sat up on her bed, “—c’mon, how do you ask out a man like that?”

       “What do you think? Just send him a text. Ask him if he would like to go on a date, and choose a day you’d offer up. Why not this Saturday?”

       “What about our plans?”

       “Oh, pffft, honey, you see me all of the time. We’ve got Sunday, anyway. I’ll survive!”

       Cro sighed. “Fine, okay. How should I word it, though? I don’t wanna come off strong.”

       “Just be direct, it’s not going to kill you. Just ask him ‘Hey, are you free this Saturday evening? I’d like to take you out for dinner,’ yeah?”

       “Alright, seems easy enough, I think…”

       “See, there you go! I need to get to bed, ‘cause I can’t be a good teacher or a suitable wingman if I don’t get some shut eye, but let me know how that goes, m’kay?”

       Cro chuckled. “Sure, alright. Sleep well.”

       “You too, honey!”

       Cro hung up, hesitating for a moment before finally opening up her text app and going to send Membrane a date offer. Couldn’t be that hard, right? She only had to type a few words.

       She took a deep breath and began to type.

       «Hi, Teo. I’ve enjoyed our nightly chats. How about we have them at some time that isn’t super late into the night? I was thinking Saturday evening for dinner if you’d be interested. Not sure if you’d need a babysitter»

       She squeezed her eyes shut as she hit the send button.

       The life drained from her as she felt her phone vibrate in her hands quite literally the second after she hit send. How on Earth could he have responded that fast?

       She slowly pried her eyelids open, peeking at the phone to see what she received.

       It… definitely wasn’t what she expected, that was for sure.

       «I hope you returned home safely, Cro! I would like to formally extend an invitation for you to attend a night out with me tomorrow, consisting of dinner and a visit to the theater for a late-night movie. Of course, it would be just the two of us, as I have set the children up on a playdate with a friend from Skool, which I am sure they will enjoy with zero problems. Should you choose to attend, there is nothing I will require you to wear, but I would recommend something flattering although nothing too fancy. I would pick you up from your place of residence at 5:30pm, and have you home at 11:00pm, so as to not protrude too much into your nightly schedule. Please respond with your answer when you are able to, and recall that this is entirely optional, as it would be highly unprofessional of me if you were to be penalized for not attending this outing with me.»

       Cro stared at the wall of text, entirely flabbergasted, long enough for another text to come through.

       «It appears we had a similar idea. I am pleasantly surprised. Assuming this indicates a yes, would Saturday work better for you in lieu of tomorrow? I would have to communicate with the kids’ playdate partner, but I am certain we can make Saturday work if you would prefer, as it is only a setback by one day.»

       Was she awake? She pinched her arm, and at the sensation of pain, realized she was very much conscious. Robotically, she moved to respond.

       «Tomorrow is fine with me.»

       She ran a hand through her hair. This was going far better than she could have ever predicted. She wondered if she should go out and quickly purchase a lottery ticket.

       Membrane responded swiftly:

       «Wonderful! I shall see you tomorrow. Have a good night.»

       Cro quickly texted back.

       «You too. See you tomorrow.»

       Before she figured she should call it for the night, she pulled out Andy’s contact and sent him a quick text.

       «Looks like he had the same idea. I can explain at work tomorrow. Just know date night is on.»

       And with that, she put her phone on her bedside table and laid down, hoping she could convince herself to sleep before her alarm for the morning went off.