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“You won’t believe this,” said Shou Yuing into the landline, trying to pull on her leggings while keeping the receiver between her ear and her shoulder. “She’s put out a new one.” She peered at the hurriedly printed sheet, the ink smeared in spots, but still perfectly legible. “Further Discussion on the Benefits of Nitroglycerine as an Explosive as Compared to Trinotrotoluene.”
“Alright,” said Wei Yang. “I was intending to ask if you’d got to the hotel without being run over by a car and keep Mā off your shoulders -”
“Oh, yes, would you?” Shou Yuing pinched her nose, realising her parents had completely slipped her mind. “Tell her the conference started early, and I really didn’t have time to do anything more than call you and say hello. I can deal with her and Bà later.”
“And you send your love, I know, jiě.” The line crackled. “Good luck.” He hung up, and Shou Yuing let the receiver drop to the bed, standing up to wriggle the fabric over her hips, taking off the front page of the paper off as she pulled off her towel and ran it over her hair.
From a quick skim, she guessed it was the same old arguments, just with new evidence. No prize for guessing who by.
She put on her bra and her shirt, and took the paper over to the desk, where she stapled it neatly together and started writing notes with a pen branded with the name of the hotel in between doing her buttons.
The very first paper of the exchange had been published four years ago, and had, in fact, been the very first citation of Shou Yuing’s work. Shou Yuing was interested in explosives, but that was not her primary focus, and in fact she’d been steering almost completely away from it and over to studying chlorofluorocarbons in recent years. She’d then published something more defending TNT, not quite in response, but McShane, D, had written a follow-up to that, and then there had been a follow-up to that on Shou Yuing’s end, and it had rapidly become a back-and-forth. Not quite a competition, but Shou Yuing wasn’t going to lose it.
She finished the paper as she finished doing her hair, up in a bun with red ribbon spun through it. Though her career necessitated practicality most of the time, fashion was in a very firm second place, and a little decoration had never killed anyone.
She grabbed a bag and went down to the conference area, where she started wandering through the various booths that had been set up. There was a familiar chemical smell to the air, and everywhere she looked there was something new and free being passed out. Fashion sensitivity meant she didn’t take any of the tops being offered - besides, they were almost all made for men - but she did get a few free notebooks.
She spotted a few people she thought she might want to talk to at some point, before her attention was caught by a small gathering. She came to the edge of the crowd and looked through. A woman wearing goggles was explaining something at a table, mixing chemicals while explaining rapidly the exact chemical reactions that were happening. Shou Yuing couldn’t quite make heads or tails of it, and her attention was just beginning to drift when there was suddenly a loud bang!
Almost jumping out of her skin, Shou Yuing’s head snapped back to the table, which was covered in shattered glass, and when she looked up, she could see the results of the demonstration on the ceiling, clearly to the shock of the woman. There was stunned silence for a moment, as every person attending the conference turned to look, and then a few bouts of hesitant clapping. Shou Yuing, for her part, just stared forwards in dumbfounded silence.
People dispersed quickly after that. Shou Yuing didn’t, mostly to get a look at the aftermath of what was clearly - or had clearly been - nitroglycerine. The woman, who Shou Yuing reckoned she could now put a name to, was clearing up, and once she’d put a few things into her bag, and scraped up the shattered glass, she wandered away from the table. Her eyes fixed onto Shou Yuing, and a grin split her face. She strolled over and thrust out a hand.
“Li S. H., am I right?”
Shou Yuing studied her face and the few burnt hairs hanging loose from her ponytail, then held out her hand as well. It was a little surreal to be standing here, in front of the woman she’d been going back-and-forth with for the last four years. Well…
“If you were using trinitrotoluene,” she said, “that demonstration would have gone far smoother. It wouldn’t have gone off in your face like that.”
McShane’s grin grew. “I like you already,” she said, the directness surprising Shou Yuing, though she couldn’t deny that a flicker of warmth grew through her at the words. “And if I were using trinitrotoluene, the entire ceiling would be grey.”
“You can’t say a lack of smoke makes up for that level of volatility,” said Shou Yuing. “It’s dangerous.”
“Maybe I like danger. Besides, the brisance.”
Shou Yuing snorted. “I saw. That poor beaker.”
McShane’s mouth twitched up into a smile. “Like I said.”
“I didn’t mean it as a compliment.” But she grinned, pulling her bag higher up over her shoulder. “Come on. We can’t stand around here all day. People are looking.”
“You know,” said McShane, on their first round of the hall, “I really admire your dedication to defending your position. Even if it’s ultimately a hopeless one.”
“And I admire those burnt hairs on your forehead. Perhaps I’m losing my grip on haute couture; perhaps an ash fringe is the next big thing.”
“I could help you out with that,” said Ace, gesturing to Shou Yuing’s forehead. “And by the way, you miscited that study by Rachel Jensen two papers ago.”
“You misspelt ‘proppant’ when you first brought up fracking.”
“Oh, that’s low. It’s an exchange between friends!”
“I refuse to be friends with someone who argues nitroglycerine can safely be stored in deodorant cans.”
“That was an anecdote from when I was sixteen. Besides, your paper with Melanie Bush was very well-written. I’ve been using sticks ever since.”
Shou Yuing had to turn her head away to hide her smile. Damn it, but McShane was good company. Worryingly good company. “Who, I should note, agrees with me on the TNT vs nitro debate.”
“You know, you might want to check up on my most recently published papers once this whole conference is over.”
“Annotated copy.”
McShane looked at her, impressed. “That was quick.”
Shou Yuing kept her gaze steady. “I like to get rid of annoyances quickly.”
“And yet,” said McShane, “you’ve kept me around.” Shou Yuing couldn’t think of anything clever, so, after a long moment, McShane continued. “I like to keep my grievances on a first-name basis. Shou Yuing, isn’t it?”
“And Dorothy, for you?”
“Oh, god no. Ace, please.”
Shou Yuing paused, casting a discerning eye over her clothes. Ace’s were quite simple, but now that she looked, the blazer was a few years out of fashion. “You don’t meet a lot of punks at chemistry conventions.”
“There’s a lot of people you don’t usually meet at chemistry conventions.” Her voice had taken on a slightly rougher tone, less kept-together; no longer the smooth, polished accent of a BBC presenter it had been before. “And yet here we are.”
“Here we are.” Shou Yuing stared into Ace’s eyes for a long, long moment. There was something golden in them, if you cared to look closely enough.
“I feel like I know you from somewhere,” said Ace. “Something other than this.”
“Well,” said Shou Yuing, “we have been writing each other for four years.”
“Yeah.” But Ace didn’t look entirely convinced, and she looked away first. They continued their walk for a few long moments, then Ace turned to Shou Yuing at last.
“I’d like to see your copy of my paper, if you don’t mind terribly. I’ve never had a chance to talk in person about it. I don’t hang around a lot of other chemists.”
“I don’t have it on me. Left it up in my room.”
“Oh,” said Ace. Shou Yuing glanced at her at the shift in her voice.
“Are you quite…” She quietened, not entirely sure how to continue.
“You’ve heard the rumours, then?”
“I…” At this, she wasn’t sure how to continue, and Ace spoke up again, hot but quiet.
“I’m not a lesbian.” Her eyes flicked around the room. “I’m bisexual, in fact, not that it matters, but I’m not a lesbian, and in any case -”
“Well. That makes one of us.”
Ace turned to look at her, jaw dropped.
“It’s rude to stare, Ace, don’t you know?” She pulled her bag higher again. “I hadn’t heard anything like that -”
“All this time?”
“That’s how sexualities work, I’m told.”
Ace’s eyes didn’t leave her. Shou Yuing saw the exit up ahead, made a decision. “There won’t be anything interesting on tonight. I could show you my copy, if you’d like?”
“That… would be lovely. If you’re sure.”
“Of course I am. Come on.” She strolled out of the conference and over to the elevator, pressing the button for the sixth floor, and the moment the doors had closed they fell into one another.
When they finally reached her room, Shou Yuing pushed Ace off her for long enough that she could reach behind the desk and unplug the telephone, then got back to kissing into Ace’s neck as they fell back onto the bed together.