Easy (Team Schmoop)
Title: Birth of a Partnership
Author: jestana
Pairing/Characters: Ray Galuksi, Oswald Kittner, Charlie Eppes
Rating/Category: G/Gen
Word Count: 1,287
Spoilers: For Hardball, Democracy, Velocity, and Breaking Point.
Summary: Charlie can't help Ray Ray crunch some numbers, but Oswald can.
Warnings: AU, dæmon!fic
Challenge: Easy for Team Schmoop
Beta: umbralillium.
Poll: Here
Birth of a Partnership
"Hey, Charlie, do you have a minute?" Professor Ray Galuski poked his head into the math professor's office.
Though the human set his chalk down and turned to face Ray, the Capuchin monkey dæmon continued to scribble away on her chalkboard. "Yeah, what's up?"
"I had an idea for a new race car and I was hoping you could help me crunch the numbers." The taller man entered the office fully, his ruby-throated hummingbird dæmon flitting in to dart curiously around the room.
Charlie glanced at the blackboards half-covered with his equations and those of his dæmon's. "I'm sorry, Ray, but I'm a bit busy with a case for Don."
"Oh." The hummingbird flitted back to land on Ray's shoulder. "Do you know someone else who might be able to help me out with the numbers? I'm better at building, but I just got this design and I don't want to give up on it."
There was another knock on the door the next moment. "Professor Eppes?"
"Come in, Oswald!" Charlie called as Ray moved further into the room.
A skinny young man with a gecko dæmon perched on his shoulder eased into the room. "Oh! I didn't know you had company. I can come back later."
"No, actually, your timing couldn't have been better," Charlie assured the young man as his dæmon set down her chalk and leapt onto his shoulder. "Oswald, I'd like you to meet Dr. Ray Galuski and Dora. He teaches engineering here at CalSci. Ray, this is Oswald Kittner and Phyllis. One of the brightest math students I've ever taught."
Ray offered his hand to Oswald. "Nice to meet you."
"Good to meet you, too." The student shook the professor's hand.
Dora took off from Ray's shoulder and flitted around the young man curiously. "Charlie, do you think Oswald could help us out?"
"Exactly." Sophia, Charlie's dæmon nodded, a suggestion of a grin on her face. "Like he said, Oswald here is extremely bright."
Oswald ducked his head bashfully while Phyllis answered, "We're not bright."
"You don't have to be a genius to be good at math." Charlie patted Oswald's back, and then glanced at Ray. "Why don't you just show him what you need help with?"
Ray nodded and offered Oswald the file folder of design notes. "Sure, no problem."
"A race car?" Phyllis asked as Oswald began to pore over the notes, completely losing his self-consciousness as he became absorbed in the problem.
While Ray nodded again, Dora explained, "Yeah, we're trying for a design that's as aerodynamic as possible while still remaining sleek and stylish."
"I haven't taken any engineering classes yet," Oswald admitted, glancing shyly up at Ray. "I'd still like to take a crack at it, though."
Charlie had peered over Oswald's shoulder at the paperwork himself. "I think you'll be fine. You came up with those sabermetric equations without studying at all."
"That's because it was baseball." Phyllis tightened her grip on Oswald's hooded sweatshirt when he shrugged.
The math professor patted his student's shoulder. "It'll be easy for you. I'm sure of it."
"Let me know if you need more info, Oswald," Ray told the young man, grinning. "I'll just leave you two math geeks to it."
Oswald nodded, shaking Ray's hand. "See you, Professor."
"Please, call me Ray Ray." He chuckled as Dora settled on his shoulder once again.
Another nod from Oswald. "See you, Ray Ray."
"Thanks for your help, both of you." Ray turned and left Charlie's office.
After Ray had gone, Charlie turned to Oswald. "Sorry about sidetracking you like that. Did you have a question?"
"Um, no, I can't remember if I did." The young man smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Charlie."
The professor waved it off with a smile. "Don't worry about it. Go work on Ray Ray's design."
"Yes, Sir!" Grinning, Oswald disappeared out the door, eager to really look at the numbers.
* * *
Oswald hesitated at the door with Professor Galuski's name on it, not sure if he should knock or not. You have the information for him. Knock!
"Right." The young man raised his hand and knocked on the door.
It opened a minute later to reveal Ray Galuski. His faded T-shirt and jeans were heavily stained with what Oswald assumed were various fluids from working on cars. There were splotches of some black substance on his hands and a similar one decorated his forehead. "Oh, hi, Oswald."
"Hi, Professor Galuski." He lifted his free hand in a half-hearted wave. "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad moment."
The professor shook his head and Dora flitted up over his shoulder to hover in front of Oswald's face. "No, we were just cleaning up. Come on in."
"Okay, thanks." Oswald followed the teacher into the office.
Ray walked over to the sink in the corner and turned on the water. "So, what brings you to my office?"
"I, uh, did some number crunching on that race car design," he replied, looking around at the clutter of machine parts and model cars all over the office. "The design is good, but it doesn't take into account some of the safety measures NASCAR has in place."
Dora perched briefly on the bird feeder hanging in the window. "Really? How so?"
"Well, they have a cap on the power of the engine for a reason, Professor." He sat down on the edge of one the chairs facing the desk. "If the drivers take some of those tight turns too fast, they'd fly right off the track."
The professor grunted, turning off the water and reaching for the hand towel beside the sink. "So I'd have to rework my design within those safety parameters."
"Yeah, pretty much, and any mathematician could tell you this," he admitted, stifling a snicker when he realized that there was still grease smeared across Professor Galuski's forehead.
Ray nodded, dropping into the other chair facing the desk. "Speaking of math geeks, how did you meet Charlie? One of your professors?"
"No, actually, I didn't start at CalSci until after I met Professor Eppes." He blushed as Phyllis curled comfortingly around his neck. "His brother, Don, was investigating the death of Vick Johnston and one of their leads was some sabermetric equations I'd developed to help me identify players who were juicin'."
Dora flitted over to perch on Ray's shoulder. "Oh, yeah, we read about that a few years back. His death led to a whole scandal about his agent and the fact that all his clients were juicing."
"Yeah, that's how we met." Phyllis uncurled a little, slowly moving to sit on Oswald's shoulder. "My best friend found my equations on my laptop and sent them to Vick to confront him about the juicin'. The FBI got a copy of those equations and asked Professor Waldie to do some looking and he found where I'd posted them on a fantasy baseball forum."
Professor Galuski gave him an admiring look. "Damn, that's a way more interesting story than mine. I just met him at a faculty mixer my first semester here as a teacher."
"Considering I got shot at because I was part of that case, I'd rather have met Charlie as a professor." Oswald sighed, absently reaching up to touch the spot where the bullet had grazed him that day.
The professor winced sympathetically. "Yeah, I can understand that."
After a few moments of silence, Phyllis offered, "We had a few ideas for improving your design, if you're interested."
"Oh, yeah, totally." Ray's face seemed to light up at that.
Smiling shyly, Oswald pulled out his notes to show to Professor Galuski, musing that he was almost as easy to talk to as Charlie.
End
Author: jestana
Pairing/Characters: Ray Galuksi, Oswald Kittner, Charlie Eppes
Rating/Category: G/Gen
Word Count: 1,287
Spoilers: For Hardball, Democracy, Velocity, and Breaking Point.
Summary: Charlie can't help Ray Ray crunch some numbers, but Oswald can.
Warnings: AU, dæmon!fic
Challenge: Easy for Team Schmoop
Beta: umbralillium.
Poll: Here
Birth of a Partnership
"Hey, Charlie, do you have a minute?" Professor Ray Galuski poked his head into the math professor's office.
Though the human set his chalk down and turned to face Ray, the Capuchin monkey dæmon continued to scribble away on her chalkboard. "Yeah, what's up?"
"I had an idea for a new race car and I was hoping you could help me crunch the numbers." The taller man entered the office fully, his ruby-throated hummingbird dæmon flitting in to dart curiously around the room.
Charlie glanced at the blackboards half-covered with his equations and those of his dæmon's. "I'm sorry, Ray, but I'm a bit busy with a case for Don."
"Oh." The hummingbird flitted back to land on Ray's shoulder. "Do you know someone else who might be able to help me out with the numbers? I'm better at building, but I just got this design and I don't want to give up on it."
There was another knock on the door the next moment. "Professor Eppes?"
"Come in, Oswald!" Charlie called as Ray moved further into the room.
A skinny young man with a gecko dæmon perched on his shoulder eased into the room. "Oh! I didn't know you had company. I can come back later."
"No, actually, your timing couldn't have been better," Charlie assured the young man as his dæmon set down her chalk and leapt onto his shoulder. "Oswald, I'd like you to meet Dr. Ray Galuski and Dora. He teaches engineering here at CalSci. Ray, this is Oswald Kittner and Phyllis. One of the brightest math students I've ever taught."
Ray offered his hand to Oswald. "Nice to meet you."
"Good to meet you, too." The student shook the professor's hand.
Dora took off from Ray's shoulder and flitted around the young man curiously. "Charlie, do you think Oswald could help us out?"
"Exactly." Sophia, Charlie's dæmon nodded, a suggestion of a grin on her face. "Like he said, Oswald here is extremely bright."
Oswald ducked his head bashfully while Phyllis answered, "We're not bright."
"You don't have to be a genius to be good at math." Charlie patted Oswald's back, and then glanced at Ray. "Why don't you just show him what you need help with?"
Ray nodded and offered Oswald the file folder of design notes. "Sure, no problem."
"A race car?" Phyllis asked as Oswald began to pore over the notes, completely losing his self-consciousness as he became absorbed in the problem.
While Ray nodded again, Dora explained, "Yeah, we're trying for a design that's as aerodynamic as possible while still remaining sleek and stylish."
"I haven't taken any engineering classes yet," Oswald admitted, glancing shyly up at Ray. "I'd still like to take a crack at it, though."
Charlie had peered over Oswald's shoulder at the paperwork himself. "I think you'll be fine. You came up with those sabermetric equations without studying at all."
"That's because it was baseball." Phyllis tightened her grip on Oswald's hooded sweatshirt when he shrugged.
The math professor patted his student's shoulder. "It'll be easy for you. I'm sure of it."
"Let me know if you need more info, Oswald," Ray told the young man, grinning. "I'll just leave you two math geeks to it."
Oswald nodded, shaking Ray's hand. "See you, Professor."
"Please, call me Ray Ray." He chuckled as Dora settled on his shoulder once again.
Another nod from Oswald. "See you, Ray Ray."
"Thanks for your help, both of you." Ray turned and left Charlie's office.
After Ray had gone, Charlie turned to Oswald. "Sorry about sidetracking you like that. Did you have a question?"
"Um, no, I can't remember if I did." The young man smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Charlie."
The professor waved it off with a smile. "Don't worry about it. Go work on Ray Ray's design."
"Yes, Sir!" Grinning, Oswald disappeared out the door, eager to really look at the numbers.
* * *
Oswald hesitated at the door with Professor Galuski's name on it, not sure if he should knock or not. You have the information for him. Knock!
"Right." The young man raised his hand and knocked on the door.
It opened a minute later to reveal Ray Galuski. His faded T-shirt and jeans were heavily stained with what Oswald assumed were various fluids from working on cars. There were splotches of some black substance on his hands and a similar one decorated his forehead. "Oh, hi, Oswald."
"Hi, Professor Galuski." He lifted his free hand in a half-hearted wave. "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad moment."
The professor shook his head and Dora flitted up over his shoulder to hover in front of Oswald's face. "No, we were just cleaning up. Come on in."
"Okay, thanks." Oswald followed the teacher into the office.
Ray walked over to the sink in the corner and turned on the water. "So, what brings you to my office?"
"I, uh, did some number crunching on that race car design," he replied, looking around at the clutter of machine parts and model cars all over the office. "The design is good, but it doesn't take into account some of the safety measures NASCAR has in place."
Dora perched briefly on the bird feeder hanging in the window. "Really? How so?"
"Well, they have a cap on the power of the engine for a reason, Professor." He sat down on the edge of one the chairs facing the desk. "If the drivers take some of those tight turns too fast, they'd fly right off the track."
The professor grunted, turning off the water and reaching for the hand towel beside the sink. "So I'd have to rework my design within those safety parameters."
"Yeah, pretty much, and any mathematician could tell you this," he admitted, stifling a snicker when he realized that there was still grease smeared across Professor Galuski's forehead.
Ray nodded, dropping into the other chair facing the desk. "Speaking of math geeks, how did you meet Charlie? One of your professors?"
"No, actually, I didn't start at CalSci until after I met Professor Eppes." He blushed as Phyllis curled comfortingly around his neck. "His brother, Don, was investigating the death of Vick Johnston and one of their leads was some sabermetric equations I'd developed to help me identify players who were juicin'."
Dora flitted over to perch on Ray's shoulder. "Oh, yeah, we read about that a few years back. His death led to a whole scandal about his agent and the fact that all his clients were juicing."
"Yeah, that's how we met." Phyllis uncurled a little, slowly moving to sit on Oswald's shoulder. "My best friend found my equations on my laptop and sent them to Vick to confront him about the juicin'. The FBI got a copy of those equations and asked Professor Waldie to do some looking and he found where I'd posted them on a fantasy baseball forum."
Professor Galuski gave him an admiring look. "Damn, that's a way more interesting story than mine. I just met him at a faculty mixer my first semester here as a teacher."
"Considering I got shot at because I was part of that case, I'd rather have met Charlie as a professor." Oswald sighed, absently reaching up to touch the spot where the bullet had grazed him that day.
The professor winced sympathetically. "Yeah, I can understand that."
After a few moments of silence, Phyllis offered, "We had a few ideas for improving your design, if you're interested."
"Oh, yeah, totally." Ray's face seemed to light up at that.
Smiling shyly, Oswald pulled out his notes to show to Professor Galuski, musing that he was almost as easy to talk to as Charlie.
End