Chapter Text
They came in for a quick chat, but Qi hadn't been able to resist bouncing ideas for his current predicament off of them. "She knows I don't have a leg to stand on if I oppose her; I did the minimum of sociology work at university." To be fair, he'd already been pacing when they came in, now he was just pacing and talking aloud.
"Well, does having a partner make you more productive?"
He stopped and looked at them, perplexed. "I wouldn't know. It's commonly accepted on Vega 5 that such is true... Nonetheless, I don't even have anecdotal evidence in support." He sighed. "I know this is a challenge, why else would such an acclaimed physicist go into sociology, of all things?"
"You have a logical and emotionally compelling argument already, do you really need ethos to make the argument as well? Aside from that, isn't this kind of... subjective...?" Their brow furrowed, and the expression made him feel... sort of strange. They didn't seem to know what to do with a Qi searching for anything besides cold, hard facts.
His frustration wasn't entirely masked, he could tell by the way they frowned. "She has anecdotal evidence to support her argument, in addition to some numbers she pulled out of a hat and the idea that her argument is 'common sense.'"
They closed their eyes for a moment, tipping their head back, clearly considering what they were about to suggest. "Why don't you say you have anecdotal evidence you don't? It's dishonest, but... if you're serious, well... aside from that, even if your ethos is weak, the other aspects of the argument are strong enough to make up for it."
"So I should... say I have seen someone in the past, and it increased my productivity...?" It was sort of an unfamiliar concept to him; he was sure he could imagine it, if given time, but he might need examples to work from. He'd never seriously dated anyone.
They straightened up and refocused on him, either ignoring or overlooking the embarrassment on his face. "Or that you're seeing someone now - it may work better, since I can't imagine you somehow putting in more than twenty hours of work a day in the past. The lie might be called out if you say it's in the past because you're at ongoing peak productivity now."
"True. Thank you for listening to me, I may need to use your solution..."
"If you need specific instances, you can bring my name into it. I don't mind. We spend enough time together that there must be some useful memories for 'anecdotal evidence,' right?" They smiled, and he felt suddenly like he might be ill. Even if it was just a lie, the very idea of them being his partner was enough to make a swarm of butterflies flutter in his stomach. "I do have to get going, though. Promised Ernest I'd finish his desk by end-of-day today."
"Ah, I have your permission to... thank you. I'll be sure to think of that while writing."
"No problem. It'd be an honor." They said, giving a mock salute. He didn't understand why that gesture made him want to laugh. "See you, Qi."
"Yes, yes. Goodbye." He got to work immediately, pen barely able to keep up with all the words his brain was suddenly able to supply. He was in for a long night.
They forgot about the paper, to be completely honest. Though Qi's work did interest them, when they returned the next day, he was completely back to normal. So they figured he'd just gotten over it and trashed the draft he'd been working on. What they didn't expect was the silence that settled over the Blue Moon when they went in to deliver Owen's weekly sandacuda and carp one afternoon, a few weeks later.
It was especially odd because there were quite a few people here - Mi-an and Elsie alone could generate a cacophony normally, but Justice was sitting at the bar, having frozen where he was talking to Owen and Grace, and Hugo and Heidi were in the booth across the way.
They glanced around. "Do... I have something on my face..?"
Hugo's chortle broke the oppressive air, and most everyone went back to what they were doing... though Mi-an and Elsie were giving them the side eye over their lunch. They approached the trio up front, setting down the bag of fish on the bar. "Here you are, Owen. As promised."
"You're a treasure. Congratulations, by the way." He leaned down a bit for a stage whisper that Grace and Justice could clearly hear. "That's why everyone was staring, I think. Admiring your... unique brand of patience."
"Eh?"
Grace leaned on the counter. "Our good Director has decided to branch out into sociology lately. Did he tell you about it?"
"Oh, the paper, yes. I haven't had the chance to read it..."
"Maybe you ought to. It's... actually pretty sweet, especially coming from someone like Qi." She looked at Owen's slightly disapproving expression and crossed her arms. "It's not like they don't know what he's like. Of all people they probably know best!"
Suddenly it occurred to them that only Grace would have had a subscription to any publication Qi would bother publishing to. "Hey, Grace. How did everyone hear about this paper, exactly?"
"Hey, hey, it wasn't me. The Atara Times ran excerpts of it in their paper, which Heidi added to ours - she always does that when another newspaper reports on something a Sandrocker has done, to celebrate everyone's achievements."
Oh. So everyone in the Free Cities had read about... whatever it was Qi had written. They really needed to get a copy, pronto - it wouldn't do to contradict something he wrote in there. It could really damage his reputation. "Aha, I've got to go grab some commissions... see you all later." They hurried out, followed by a "Don't do anything I wouldn't!" from Justice.
Asking Grace for her copy was a no-go. She'd ask why they couldn't borrow Qi's. They could just get the paper from Jasmine, but... it only had excerpts, according to Grace... so the only person to go to about it would be the author himself. Just what had Qi written?
Upon entering the Research Center, though... nobody was around. "Qi?" It wouldn't be like him to be asleep right now - he barely slept at all. They went upstairs. "Are you up here...?" It felt strangely like a violation - they'd been upstairs before, when they had tea with him, but never when he wasn't around.
It seemed spartan at first glance, but there was a lot of personality tucked away up here - photos and little plants. Things you wouldn't think Qi would like. Maybe they had sentimental value to him. They shook themselves out of their reverie as he opened the bedroom door. "Good afternoon."
"Hey." They replied. "Could I see... the paper?"
"Oh, you've heard about that...?"
They bit their lip a bit, trying to answer that in a way that wouldn't embarrass themselves too much. "A little, everyone was talking about it at the saloon earlier."
"Of course, you're featured in it. I could hardly... prevent you from reading it." He went back into his bedroom and emerged a moment later with a (relatively) thin sheaf of papers. When he handed it over, the cover page read, Reply to: Companionship and Productivity by E. Bugs et al.. Underneath, the subscript said Qi's full name and relevant titles, and... your own name.
"I figured since you contributed so much to the work, you deserved credit on the final product." All they'd done was encourage him to lie.
There was the wall of text common in Qi's works, but the language was simpler than that of most of his papers, and the tone was decidedly less clinical and detached. Because he was less familiar with the verbage of sociology than he was physics, perhaps? Nonetheless, it was not too hard of a read.
While reading, though, they found certain things stuck with them more than others. 'Their companionship has improved my personal productivity by well over 3%, despite spending less time working overall due to the time requirement of such a relationship. Adjusted for time, the rate of improvement is nearly 7%, a very strong indication of causation.'
'I find myself taking to my work with gusto, no matter the subject - even projects I would normally find tedious are less taxing when I consider that, when I finish them, I will be free to spend time with them at their leisure.'
'My feelings for my partner, too, should not be discounted; their mere presence in my life motivates me to greater and greater heights.'
He... really went all in, didn't he? They made eye contact with him over the edge of the paper. "This argument... is very strong, for being entirely anecdotal."
He nodded. "Indeed. The statistics are real, by the way - only misdescribed. My productivity does increase when we spend time together. It's quite mystifying, but the numbers don't lie. I would not pull my statistics out of a hat."
"I wonder how... but I think it's fair to say that you really do push me to greater heights. I don't know if you genuinely feel that way, but... you know. It's good to say it once in a while." They stopped reading, though, handing him the papers back. "I wanted to make sure to catch up on what you'd written so that I didn't negate something you said, going forward."
"I... hadn't anticipated many people here would also see it. I wouldn't mind if you did negate it - or if you wanted to 'break up,' insomuch as we are together, as I'm aware that seeing someone seriously can be a detriment to one's social life." Meaning that, of course, with everyone in Sandrock privy to the knowledge that they were 'together,' they would have to 'break up' before the builder could date anyone else.
"Oh, I'm fine with that part. I don't have anyone in mind for that sort of thing at the moment." This was perhaps the most egregious lie they'd ever told. "I don't mind being known as 'Qi's partner,' so long as you don't mind being known as mine. Just for the time being until the hubbub dies down, of course." This was true. They didn't mind even one little bit. If they got to hold hands with him out of this deal it would make the embarrassment earlier plenty worth it.
"Oh, I thought for sure that... never mind, I'm glad you're willing to help me with this. I can throw out the retraction outline I had planned." His expression was, as usual, unreadable, but the nervous energy in the air did not seem to be dissipating any time soon. Watching him go about his work was far from their least favorite thing to do, though, so they didn't really mind.
Things had progressed rather smoothly, what with the 'writing, editing, and sending the paper all in one night' thing. Qi hadn't allowed himself to proofread it before sending it with Jensen's 7 am train to Atara, to then be shipped to Vega 5 via the standard route. And when he received the paper back, marked for publishing, he remembered why.
The thing was... in a practical way, it was a self-written exposé on his feelings for the builder. He'd just let himself imagine that all the things they'd done together had been in the context of a romantic relationship, opening floodgates he didn't know existed.
Their acceptance of his dishonesty and willingness to go along with this charade felt strange to him; they were normally a proponent of honesty and justice, blunt but kind. He wondered if it was because it didn't seem important to them or if they were doing this favor because it was him asking. He liked to think it was the latter. Even a week into their new arrangement, he couldn't help but wonder about why they'd agreed to it in the first place.
Now that he knew how he felt, it was hard to keep himself from getting nervous in their presence. He supposed it was a blessing that they had read the paper and seemed none the wiser about his true feelings, but it sometimes felt more like a curse. When they went out, people would look askance at them both, which would only prompt the builder to giggle and glance at him, a little pink in the face. They shared a secret now, and their way of acknowledging that had his heart pounding from just a glance.
He got letters from his parents and grandfather about the article, of course. His parents, unable to conceal their surprise even over post, were nonetheless congratulatory. His grandfather was happy he'd found someone who appreciated him as he was. If only any of it was real... he thought his family would love them all the more if they met in person.
So when they informed him of their willingness to continue the façade, he was both relieved and somewhat frightened. His reputation as a researcher wouldn't be in question... but how would he tolerate their continued presence without looking like a fool?
He was pondering all of this while he ate his dinner at the Blue Moon, when his thoughts were interrupted by Grace. "Hey, Director. I was wondering when you'd turn up. Where's the builder?"
"I... wouldn't know where they are just now."
Grace's eyes focused on him, intensely. "Now that we've established that..." He resisted the urge to squirm under her gaze. "When did the two of you begin seeing each other?"
"... it was sort of a gradual process. I am afraid I couldn't give a precise date. Why do you ask?" He saw Owen glancing over to where Grace was interrogating him, but when he noticed her he only looked away. Help would not be coming in that form.
She continued observing him coolly. "Just curious about my friends' relationship with each other. When did you figure out you were in love with them?"
"H-Hey, just because we're in a relationship...!" Many people dated casually, right? He didn't necessarily have to expose his newly-understood feelings to the world to keep up the act... right?
"Not buying that. I read that paper, you know? And not just the excerpts. I also have eyes, Director." She frowned. "Both of you have something you're not telling me. And it's not just hesitation to say the L-word."
"You also interrogated them about this?!"
"Right after they left the research center earlier. At least they admitted they were in love with you... though I suppose they simply knew better than to try and lie." She nodded her head, seemingly deciding on something. "See you, Qi."
As she went back to the counter, he couldn't help but be a little anxious about what, exactly, she'd made up her mind about... wait, they'd told her they loved him?! And she believed them despite her unique abilities...?