Chapter Text
To say Rock wasn’t used to sharing his lab space anymore would have been an understatement.
He hadn’t needed to have a labmate since his university days, but he still welcomed Sphencer into the space, thinking that after he survived so many years getting his degree in a communal lab, he could handle one apprentice researcher under his nose.
He was sorely mistaken.
Maybe Sphencer was just a mess, or maybe Rock was a little neurotic about his space, but either way, the clutter bothered him
“Sphencer?” he asked one day before Sphencer could bring all of his supplies up to the roof.
He stopped with one foot on the access ladder. “What’s up?” he asked.
“Can we just... take a minute? Clean the lab up a little?” Rock said.
Sphencer looked out at the lab space. He supposed he did leave things a little messier than he meant to.
“I know I’m not a saint, but I’ll at least get some of the dirt out of here while you get everything back in their containers,” Rock suggested, gesturing for him to follow and clean up the lab with him.
“I didn’t realize I wasn’t keeping things clean,” he said, shuffling around papers and getting them sorted into folders to go in the file crates he was provided by Rock early on in his studies.
“It happens,” Rock assured him softly, pulling the broom from its place clipped to the wall, just as dirty as the floor surrounding the fossil he was cleaning up. “Especially when you’re not used to real lab environments.”
Sphencer thought that because he didn’t work in a messy field that he was immune to leaving a cluttered space behind, but once he got all his instruments back in proper order and in their labeled containers, he realized what he could have had.
“It’s always best practice to keep things out of the way,” Rock told him, patting his shoulder lightly. “With Frank around, things catch fire way more than you would expect. Gotta keep those means of egress clear.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Sphencer admitted quietly.
Rock smiled at him regardless. “Don’t think you’re in trouble, buddy. I was the same way when I was your age. Got yelled at a lot by lab managers, I’ll tell you that much,” he assured Sphencer with a light chuckle in his voice. “So don’t feel bad about it. Have a good time up on the roof, okay?”
Sphencer let out a breath and nodded, bringing himself to smile at Rock. “Thanks, Dad,” he said, gathering up his supplies once more and heading back to the ladder. “Good luck with all that dirt, I guess.”
Rock smiled. It really was a lot of dirt. Such was a hazard of working with old bones, though. “I’ll get your sister to help out,” he said. “Julie!”
“Playing with Brea right now!” she yelled back.
Rock sighed. Sphencer took that cue to disappear up the hatch onto the roof. He didn’t need to intervene there.