Archive of Our Own

Lynn hummed, tapping two fingertips idly on her desk as her program crunched through the updated firewall. It had not been very well updated, she thought wryly, folding one leg into her comfortable chair and stretching her arms up over her head, arching her back.

The door opened, and Lynn smiled reflexively.

‟Hello.” Jenny called, sounding less upbeat than usual. It was followed by a sound Lynn was guessing was Jenny flopping onto their bed. (Technically there were two, but they mainly used the second for piling laundry and pending assignments on; the university didn’t care what they did and was happy to let them share a dorm.) (Lynn would have fixed it if they had presented alternate accommodations - she didn’t fuck around with people for no reason or in ways that might cause harm, but fixing their dorm assignments would not have been either.)

Lynn checked her program’s progress, considered for a moment, tilting her head back and forth, then pushed away from the desk and left it to run the rest of this routine alone. She padded around the corner of the L-shaped dorm to find Jenny was indeed sprawled on their bed, face down.

‟So. . . How are things going?” Lynn asked lightly, and Jenny groaned, stretching a little. One of her shoes nearly fell off her foot as her calves relaxed again.

‟Why did I decide to do this?” Jenny asked, not lifting her head but tilting it slightly so she wasn’t speaking directly into the pillow.

‟Because you’re a very determined and brilliant woman, my darling queen.” Lynn said easily, crossing to the bed and removing Jenny’s shoes, letting them fall to the floor, before sliding up to sit beside her. Jenny sighed, curling her toes and wriggling her shoulders, and Lynn rubbed up and down her back, squeezing one shoulder.

‟I’m very tired is what I am.” Jenny said, then rolled over, rubbing her face.

Lynn caught her hand as she lowered it, squeezing gently, tracing her a caress up the inside of Jenny’s wrist, right over her soulmark, and Jenny smiled at her.

‟It’ll pass.” Jenny said before Lynn could, then scrunched her nose. Adorable as the expression was, Lynn resisted the urge to trail a fingertip along it. This time. ‟It’s just the exams and defending my paper and,” she shook her head, ‟a lot going on.” She raised her free hand, framing an absent shape in the air above herself. ‟. . .also if I’d slept more then two and a half hours last night I might be feeling it less right now, even.”

‟Possibly yes.” Lynn said, though she in no way had the high ground to judge on that point.

‟How about your,” Jenny paused, her lips twitching, ‟project?” She tugged a bit at their clasped hands, and Lynn pulled in return, helping her sit up.

‟Well,” Lynn said, then paused as her computer made a sound, tilting her head, ‟even better than anticipated, maybe.” She frowned. That had been a positive sound, not an error, but it should have taken at least another twenty minutes. Still, after the terrible security she’d gotten through so far. . . ‟Your uncle is not hiring good people, I guess.”

‟My uncle’s supposed best friend since childhood,” Jenny rolled her eyes, ‟his assistant, claims to be a hacker. I would guess. . .”

Lynn’s brows rose.

‟It’s probably cheaper than finding someone good and trustworthy.” Jenny suggested, nose wrinkling again as her lips pursed, clearly showing her disdain. She snorted. ‟Assuming someone good and trustworthy would work for him, and at his wages. . .”

Lynn tilted her head; a fair question, considering what she’d seen. ‟Aren’t you glad you have me, then.” she teased, raising their clasped hands and kissing Jenny’s soulmark. ‟And I promise not to start slacking off for you.”

‟As if you would!” Jenny laughed, stroking her face, fingertips fluffing through her hair. ‟My tech knight.” she said fondly. ‟So was that something you need to attend to?” she asked, nodding towards the other half of their dorm.

‟It shouldn’t be a problem to get to it later,” Lynn said, shaking her head, squeezing Jenny’s hand, ‟however, if getting the data on all your uncle’s shipping routes and who he’s bribed to get his way through some of them might make your day better. . .”

Jenny stilled, then smiled, sharp and just a little vicious. (Lynn couldn’t blame her; her uncle had been horrible enough before the debacle of the supposed marriage he’d set Jenny up for, thankfully easy enough to dodge with a little help from their friends.)

‟Ohh, yes, yes, you know, I think it will.” Jenny said fiercely, looking rather more energetic as she bounced up off the bed.

Lynn laughed, rising to follow her, thumb sliding over her soulmark again. Jenny flashed her a much sweeter smile, and Lynn stopped her for a moment, fingers sliding over the base of her neck, curving at her nape to draw her in for a soft kiss.

Jenny hummed, pliant but not soft in Lynn’s arms, cupping her face and rubbing their noses together as she pulled away.

‟You’re brilliant, you know that?” Lynn asked, rubbing Jenny’s lower lip with her thumb, then pulled back, returning to her computer. There had been a chance there was another layer of security to break through, or the data Lynn had wanted for Jenny was stored elsewhere entirely - especially with how much faster her program had proceeded than she had expected when she set it loose - but no, it was all spread out before here. ‟Here you are, my darling.”

Jenny rubbed her shoulder. ‟This is amazing,” she said, leaning down and kissing Lynn’s cheek, making her smile, ‟and you’re brilliant too, thank you.”

Perhaps so - Lynn didn’t engage in false modesty, and she was one of the best; Jenny wouldn’t flatter her so if it weren’t true, either (Jenny never flattered people unless she had no respect for them) - but . . . not like Jenny, Lynn thought fondly, watching her face as she read over the data before her, weariness clearly fading away or at least forgotten.

Lynn glanced down at her own wrist, turning it upwards. Brilliantly clever, brilliantly creative, and brilliant like. . .

Lynn brushed her fingertips over the radiant supernova she bore on her wrist, surmounted with a gleaming crown, all filigree and delicacy - and vicious edges and fire.