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If Kyoshi stared at this map any longer, her eyes were going to bleed. She loved what she did, truly, or she wouldn’t be spending hours and hours alone in a computer lab running fault zones through ArcGIS for her research. Earthquakes were fucking cool, she wouldn’t be knee-deep in a PhD if she wasn’t a fan of them, but after a week of crunching the data on slow earthquakes, it kinda made her eyes want to melt from her ears.
The sun was in that awful spot in the sky where it glared uncomfortably through the window Rangi had forced her to sit in front of this morning, proclaiming that she’d ‘spent so much time inside her freckles were fading.’ Kyoshi didn’t know about that , but Rangi was unmoveable on a good day when she made up her mind.
She squinted at the computer, ignoring the ding of an email from her second desktop to her left. She stared at the map, trying to work up the energy to do anything at all, her pen and lab notebook untouched for at least 30 minutes. Kyoshi spun in her chair lazily, head tilted back, doing anything she could to avoid her work. Her eyes caught the ‘Strat Daddy’ meme Rangi had made last month and posted on the wall. Maybe Rangi would be down to mess around in the computer lab and distract her. She pulled out her phone to text her when her email dinged again, insistent. She glanced at her email, catching the subject line- it was from her PI.
‘How’s the progress?’ it mocked her, Kelsang’s smiling icon in the corner. She loved her PI, and had lucked out immensely when she’d been accepted to his lab, but it also meant she was in the terrible conundrum of disappointing him, possibly, maybe, if she didn’t have something to report back. Guilty, she returned to Arc.
She tried to run the intersect again. Arc blinked at her. She glared back. Then, like the four other times she’d attempted it, the program crashed and Kyoshi let out a low groan, dropping her head to the table.
She loved research, she did, she did, she did-
Truth be told, Kyoshi always should have known she’d end up in tectonics and subduction zones, the perfect combination of large-scale earth forces, sizzling water, and explosive eruptions. The Japan Trench was quickly becoming a favorite, it had to be with the amount of hours she’d spent looking at it, but she’d always been fascinated with plate tectonics. The moment she’d found out about Marie Tharp at age ten, she’d been hooked, mapping and faulting and plates coming together in a deliriously perfect way. She’d flourished in her tectonics and geomorphology classes, had picked up on GIS faster than she could have imagined, and suffered through mineralogy to finally be studying what she wanted.
Didn’t mean the hours didn’t suck. Or the endless crashing of the programs that her research relied on .
But, she got paid to do it and had even scored a research assistant position in the sediments lab so she didn’t have to teach, a lifesaving offer. Kyoshi was well aware of her unconfident demeanor when it came to a classroom setting. She didn’t have the energy to make herself sound like someone worth listening to at 9 a.m., especially when most undergrads had yet to find respect for a Brunson compass.
If there was someone who enjoyed teaching, it was Rangi. Well, enjoy was a strong word, she reveled in the fear she instilled into overconfident undergrads by the time they hit geochemistry, soils, or any of the various classes she TA’d or taught on rotation. Kyoshi wasn’t exactly sure how her girlfriend did it, because students always entered fearing Rangi more than any of the professors, but left raving about her.
Kyoshi could relate. Rangi was a force to be reckoned with, one that perhaps enjoyed baking sediments at 500 ℃ or burning solution through the AA to just a concerning degree. She hadn’t known what to do when she’d first seen her headstrong, fiery girlfriend when they were still PhD students, nearly bowing under her gaze. God, she was so fucking lucky to have her-
A loud crash, followed by cursing had Kyoshi turning down her Spotify, the ‘lesbian pop’ playlist Rangi had cultivated, and Kyoshi subsequently stole, going silent for the first time today. Her phone buzzed, and she already knew who it was.
Rangi: you won’t fucking believe what just happened
Instead of responding, Kyoshi saved her project and exited the room for the dirt lab next door, this was far more interesting. Rangi was supposed to be preparing samples, they’d gotten to the lab early this morning so she could. The empty coffee cups that littered Kyoshi’s desk were a testament to that.
She swiped into the lab, only to find Rangi sitting on the floor, safety glasses askew, a cardboard box with plastic bags full of samples spilling out next to her. She was drenched in something wet, a broken flask on the counter dripping over the ledge, and countless tiny wire bristle brushes scattered around her, with one notably caught in her hair.
“What- the- fuck.”
Rangi let out a groan, yanking on the brush stuck in her hair, resulting in it getting only more stuck, like a deer burr in a woolen sweater. “Someone fucking put the brushes on top of my sample box, like who does that!”
Kyoshi nodded slowly, still staring at the scene in front of her. It was plain ridiculousness, and Rangi looked thoroughly debauched in a way Kyoshi had nothing to do with.
“So when I went to get my samples, they fucking fell and of course hit me right in the fucking face-” Rangi was on a tirade, and Kyoshi knew better than to stop her. “-so of course I accidentally dropped the box because I was being attacked- ”
“Uh huh,” Kyoshi hummed, grabbing the lab broom to start collecting some of the shattered glass pieces before Rangi cut herself.
“-And the box took out my solution and now I have to make more !” Rangi cried, pulling on the brush in her hair even harder. “And this fucking brush!”
She stopped what she was doing to reach for Rangi, grabbing the wrist of the hand that was currently yanking on the brush. “Rangi stop, you’re going to rip out all your hair and ruin your top-knot.”
“Maybe that would be easier!”
“Oh hush you’re just saying that because you're wet.” Kyoshi paused, “I heard it-”
“-Only for you,” Rangi said smirking, looking infinitely pleased with herself. Kyoshi groaned loudly, causing Rangi to laugh as she helped her off the floor.
“Seriously though, who places a bunch of these fucking brushes, not even in a bag on top of my sample box?” Rangi whined, wiping herself down as best she could.
Kyoshi emptied the dustpan of glass into the glass waste, “I bet it was Koulin, she’s always making a mess in here.”
“She doesn’t even work in here!” Rangi stood up, her now full box of samples on her hip, throwing her free hand into the air, “She’s such a fucking bitch I swear.” She slammed the box down with a loud thud on the table just as Kyoshi went to reach for a cloth. “She wouldn’t stop talking about her mechanical engineering boyfriend the other day, apparently trying to get his PhD in aerospace.”
Kyoshi snorted, “Mech E and wants to do aerospace? Sounds like he just wants to make missiles.”
“They’re insufferable together.”
Kyoshi glanced over at Rangi, who was measuring out the components of her new solution, still with that wire brush stuck in her hair, top-knot askew and looking like a lopsided tiny squash. “Rangi, babe, you look ridiculous.”
“I’m aware.” She raised an eyebrow, “Did you eat today?”
“What does that have to do with your hair?” Kyoshi spluttered. “You literally have a wire brush stuck in your hair!”
“And you haven’t eaten anything but coffee,” Rangi retorted, “And don’t even say it counts, it doesn’t.” She dumped her measured DI water into the beaker, “If you want to help my hair situation, then we’re eating once I prepare these final samples.” She pointed at her bag without looking up, “Granola bar first.”
Kyoshi mumbled to herself, stalking over to Rangi’s bag and digging out the granola bar before stepping out of the lab to scarf it down. She was hungry, yes, but it would be admitting defeat to Rangi if she said that. Instead of heading back in, she found herself wandering to the vending machine and buying a Redbull.
Rangi was in the process of soaking her samples when Kyoshi entered again, having chugged the Redbull since it was an open-top can, and the last thing her diet needed was dust.
“Oh good, I’m just about to put these in the oven,” Rangi said, pulling out a crucible. “Then I’m all yours for the next two hours.”
Kyoshi sat down on a lab stool, watching Rangi as she worked. She looked ridiculous with the brush still in her hair, but there was something about watching your partner do scientific research that made Kyoshi fall in love all over again.
Rangi closed the oven, checking the controls and her lab notebook, before stuffing it in her bag, smiling up at Kyoshi. “All yours!” She offered a hand to Kyoshi, who took it smiling.
“Let’s get your hair figured out.” Kyoshi pulled her out the door, making their way to the grad lounge. It was practically guaranteed to be empty since it was a Friday and had the comfiest couches Kyoshi had ever sat on. Plus, she kept a box full of personal supplies for when she had long lab days or needed a quick cleanup from fieldwork. She dug through it, mentally making notes that she was low on baby wipes and tampons, before finding her hair brush.
The microwave beeped and Rangi pulled out a truly comically sized bowl of noodles, setting the steaming bowl down on the table and placing two sets of chopsticks next to it.
“Food first,” Rangi said, glancing between the hairbrush Kyoshi wielded and the empty seat next to her. Kyoshi sat, picking up the chopsticks as her stomach rumbled, Rangi giving her a pointed look as she dug into the noodles.
They were fucking delicious noodles, Kyoshi would give Rangi that, and she was starving. The ‘I told you so’ from Rangi went unsaid as she ate, but Kyoshi knew it all the same. They emptied the bowl clean in a truly shamefully short period of time, the leftovers from last night just as good as they were when Rangi had made them. As Kyoshi set down her chopsticks, she again wielded the hairbrush, raising an eyebrow and holding it up pointedly. Rangi groaned before turning in her chair, letting Kyoshi have full access to her bird's nest of hair.
Carefully she started weaving her fingers through the silk black strands, gently unraveling the comb from her hair. Comfortable silence passed between them, them alone in the lounge, entertained simply by each other’s presence.
Rangi loosened in her grip, the days of stress collapsing off of her. She melted into her hands, softening like butter, eyes fluttering shut as Kyoshi carefully worked through her hair, never once letting herself pull harshly. Her breath evened out, drifting in that halfway space between awareness and rest, and secretly Kyoshi hoped she’d fully succumb to the sleep she so desperately needed.
Kyoshi lost herself in the rhythmic process of easing the brush out of Rangi’s hair. The strands are silky smooth under her fingertips, soft in a way Kyoshi’s coarse hair will never be. They thread like water once free from the brush, gently smoothed down with the palm of her hand. Carefully, she pulls the brush free, only a few dark strands lost in the process, and Rangi doesn’t stir, leaning fully back on Kyoshi now, breathing even from sleep.
Gently Kyoshi lifted her from the chair and settled them against the couch on the far wall, the afternoon sun coming in gently through the windows. They’ve spent hours here, laughing with friends, cramming for exams, writing their papers, and sleeping when experiments run long. Today it’s just the two of them, Rangi nuzzled up on Kyoshi’s chest like a cat, one hand curled up on top of Kyoshi’s heart, holding it even as she rested. Kyoshi pulls her close, one arm around her waist and lets the other start playing with her hair, peppering her hairline with soft kisses.
She remembers when Rangi first told her what brushing her hair meant to her culture she’d been horrified. For weeks she’d been carding her hands through Rangi’s hair, made so delightfully easy by their height difference that it was practically without a thought. She’d wanted to die right there, have the ground swallow her up whole in a subduction zone, and let her be sucked deep into the mantle to avoid the white-hot shame.
But Rangi hadn’t let her stutter her apologies and rush out of the room, instead forcefully grasping her hands and bringing them to her head. From that moment on Kyoshi knew, knew Rangi was hers, with the amount of trust she’d placed in her that day. And now here they were, her golden girl wrapped up on her chest, her face so soft and gentle, expressions only Kyoshi got to see. Carefully, ever so carefully, she snapped a picture of her sleeping, her beautiful lips parted slightly, hot breath ghosting over her collarbone.
Kyoshi gently eased out the hairpin still holding Rangi’s top-knot together, which had lost its volume in the chaos of the lab and subsequent hair brushing. She smoothed the hair out, scratching the top of her head slightly, knowing how relieving the feeling was after having your hair pulled up all day. She swore Rangi nearly purred in her sleep at the action, attempting to shift closer.
She pressed a gentle kiss to Rangi’s hairline, knowing she practically had to have hearts bubbling above her head with how in love she felt at that very moment. She never wanted this to end. If the sun exploded now, if the entire Pacific Plate unzipped right at this moment, she wouldn’t care, spending her last moments consumed in Rangi. They’d be together like fossils wrapped up in each other, their stories theorized an eon later.
Kyoshi was going to marry her.
The thought wasn’t particularly new, but for the first time Kyoshi knew it wasn’t a want, but her future. They’d discussed this, both deciding they wanted to be engaged within the next year, but only now, Rangi pressed against her, did she realize she could make this happen for the two of them.
Kyoshi freed her arm from where Rangi had shifted on top of it and quickly pulled up the board she’d saved years ago. There had been a recent influx of images, all golden and speckled with rubies. They were pictures she’d saved over the years, increasing in volume as talks of marriage became more and more cemented. Slowly, so as to not wake Rangi and have all her careful planning and thinking go to waste, she held each hairpin next to her hair, trying to imagine what each one would look like. She turned Rangi’s current hairpin over her fingers, letting the smooth metal slide over her skin. She deserved something as gorgeous and powerful as her girl, as elegant as she’d always dreamed of as a child. Kyoshi would give her everything if she could. Maybe she’d include epidote, or chlorite into the pin alongside the rubies. But no, chlorite would be too soft, epidote would be better. Rangi would appreciate the metamorphosed minerals, especially because she knew how much mineralogy was Kyoshi’s mortal weakness. Hell, maybe she could get a zircon in there, her girl had always wanted zircons.
There was truly no better way to a geologist’s heart than rocks.
Her eyes started to feel heavy, Rangi’s weight like a comforting blanket, her space heater giving her all the warmth she required. She let her phone slide from her fingers to the floor, wrapping an arm around Rangi’s side. She slid into the lightweight world of half-sleep, mindlessly running her fingers up and down Rangi’s arm, a comfort until darkness took over, Rangi’s form the last thing she saw until her dreams.