Dimensions

Demi:

“Veronica is your wife?” I asked. From the little I had seen, and from the familiarity they treated each other with, it was my guess. I ran a hand through my hair. Occasionally I found a blue or a green strand running through it. I had toyed with the idea of dying it, but my mother was against the idea. She said natural hair was best, I told her she thought that because her hair was naturally blue.

"Ex-wife." I corrected automatically. "We aren't together anymore." Anytime people assumed Veronica and I were together I corrected them. It was habit, automatic, and almost a defense mechanism. It was less for them and more for me though I denied such a thing even to myself.

Demi:

“Oh.” My eyebrows went up. He seemed kinda young to already have an ex-wife. “Is that why you’re so bitter?” I asked, watching him with a sideways glance. I was curious now. If I was going to live here with these people, I wanted to know what made them tick.

"I was born this way." Technically I had grown bitter from my parents casting me off, and certain people brought out the worst in me. Usually those closest. But I couldn't tell her that. "I had told Veronica from the start of our relationship that things wouldn't go well. She should have listened to me. Women always assume they are right. Statistically they are right more often, but statistically they have better memories. It's an unfair test. Valid. But unfair."

Demi:

I snorted. “I know my mom is always right,” I said. No matter what, my mom always had the last word, she always bet disagreements back so that no matter what the situation was, she was right in the end. And there was some truth to it. She knew a lot of things, and ultimately she made better decisions than the rest of us…

"Perhaps right, but not always correct I imagine. That however is a debate over knowledge. Not an argument or debate one can win. Knowledge takes many forms. I wouldn't know more about plumbing than a plumber. But I know more about science than a plumber." I waved a hand to dismiss the conversation. "Debating right and wrong and who is correct is a waste of time. It deals with emotions as well and that leads to problems."

Demi:

I took a seat on a cleared space on the counter top and crossed my legs.  "Is that why you divorced your wife?  Too emotional?" I asked.  I was curious, and I wanted to keep him talking while he was distracted.  Another form knowledge could take was manipulation.  I learned that from my mother.

"I didn't divorce her, not that it is any of your business." I shot her a brief look before looking again at the images. "She left me. And that's that. I warned her, she didn't listen, and so here we are."

Demi:

“So what went wrong then?” I asked, wondering if I was pushing too far.  It was clearly distracting if he was looking up from his work.  Good to know.  His wife was something that could be used against him in the future if I so needed.  I uncrossed my legs and swung them slowly off the countertop.

---

"She was wrong, I was wrong, and yet we both thought we were right." I wasn't really looking at the pictures now though my gaze rested on them. "I am not good with people. I don't care about the neuances of relationships and talking with people. I like fact, evidence, science. If a problem comes up a solution can be made. But that isn't always the case with people."

Demi:

He was using words but he wasn’t giving me any more information. “Maybe you should get a dog. You don’t have to worry about them. And they love you no matter what you do,” I said. My mother wouldn’t let me get a dog. She loved animals, but for some reason she never wanted any. I guess she was sick of them after growing up with so many different mixes.

"We had a dog. Or more accurately she has the dog." I sneered slightly then turned away from the images. "A few differences, enough to make a note. Not enough to reach a conclusion without more data. Did you have a point with all these comments and questions?"

Demi:

“Curiosity. Being locked in a room all day with no entertainment would make a person curious about even the most boring things,” I said pointedly. I crossed my arms. There was truth to it. Beyond seeking information I could use to my advantage, it was simply more interesting to talk to him than it was to sit alone in my room.

"Have you considered asking your new found best friends to get you some kind of entertainment? A rubber ball perhaps. Maybe one of those giant hamster wheels." The quips came almost instantly and I rubbed at my face. "I'm not good for entertainment. Ask Simon or Veronica for that sort of thing. If you want to read, perhaps I can offer something. But I'm not going to say trying to talk to me will be a good result for you."

Demi:

I scrunched my nose. “Jeez, good thing you’re not a real doctor, your bedside manor would be atrocious,” I said. I stretched my arms to the ceiling, my shirt riding up to my midriff for a moment before I put my hands behind me on the counter and leaned back. I was getting more comfortable with this place without even realizing.

"I have the phd to prove I am one, but not all doctors deal with patients face to face." I wrinkled my nose right back but I watched her stretch and get comfortable on the counter. I hadn't expected her to acclimate so quickly, and figured I'd still be trying to drag her out of her room for tests for another week at most. Perhaps this wouldn't be so terrible after all.

Demi:

“So, what’s your name doctor?” I asked him, swinging my legs again. He’d never actually introduced himself to me, and while I had heard his wife call him ‘Tobi’, he didn’t know that. I wondered what I was supposed to call him as well.

"Doctor Tobias Marin." I moved away from her and a bit down the lab to sit down before a set of machines. Bringing them to life I began tapping out a set of procedures and programs before I got up and moved to a different section of the lab.

Demi:

I watched him work for a little while.  “What are you doing now?” I asked, getting up to see when my curiosity bubbled up again.  Science had never been a thing I was very interested in.  One, because my school didn’t have much in the way of equipment.  Two, because my parents were angry at it for creating such monstrosities as they had grown up with.

"The same thing I do every night, science. In this case, trying to figure out how you work. I have old samples of your blood that I'm running through to check for DNA, I have that one there testing something else, and then this here is creating a three dimensional model of the scans I did of your body." I spoke absently with a slight hint of annoyance to my tone. Having to explain every tiny thing I was doing and why was already growing old.

Demi:

The next few days went about the same as the first.  Whenever the doctor would come get me, I went willingly but I always wanted to know what he was going to do before I did anything.  Then after my part was done, I would linger around the lab, asking questions about what he was doing.  I was curious about the process, and it was a distraction form my situation.    

After the first day he brought me books to read while I was locked in my room.  They were all nonfiction.  One was on birds, all about their inner workings and even about their behavior.  Another was Science for Dummies.  And the others were books on research and scientific methods.  They got a bit dull, and the vocabulary was often beyond me, but I did learn from them.  


Veronica:

A week after Setting Tobi up with the DH I had to call him to a meeting.  I could have gone to see him in the lab, but I would rather meet on my grounds.  So I told him to meet me in my office. It was a stressful thought trying to plan our meeting knowing how he would react to many of the things.  The other personnel would begin studying Danny in the next few days and I had to make sure he was prepared.

Tobi:

"Steve feed the DH while I'm gone. The principal wants to see me. Do you think if I make a good enough fuss she'll cross her arms and her cleavage will be running for miles.". I waggled my eyebrows at him, iliciting a laugh. With that I went out the door and started to walk towards the government building.

Veronica:

I smoothed my hand over my pencil skirt. I was trying to wear clothing that was flattering to me more often. It was a hang up I had and was trying to get over. When I had been with Tobi, I had done better, then the slow decline of our marriage had brought it all back to the surface. Now I was recovering again.

I had a date today. We were going to meet for happy hour. So, it was another reason do dress better. I had my hair put up nicely and I was wearing more makeup than usual. Not to mention that my blouse displayed my cleavage more than what I usually wore to work. The fact that Tobi would see me like this, well, it would show him what he was missing.

Tobias:

I entered into the building and after going through security I stopped at her office. I considered the door for a moment and ended up doing perhaps the impossible. I knocked first before I went in. I closed the doorway behind myself and then fully got a look at her. While I could only see her from the waist up I was still struck by the view.

"Well if I'd known you were going to dress up I'd have at least brushed my hair." I remarked before plopping down in one of the chairs across from her desk. "But what has me summoned to the dragons lair. Nothing good ever comes from being called here."

Veronica:

I sighed at his comment, but I was secretly pleased that he had noticed. “Tobi, you’re going to have to start meeting with me like this weekly. I need to know what you have done and what your plans are. So you need to get used to it,” I said. I knew he wouldn’t be pleased by the news, nor would he want to follow it.