FIC - Force of Nature (2/?)
Title: Force of Nature (2/?)
Author: Wheelie47
Rating: R - NC17 for whole story
Pairing: Luke and OC, Luke and Noah.
Word count: 2,848
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT, Van and Jake. No offence intended.
Summary: Noah is a Professor at the California Institute of Seismic Research and Luke is a freelance investigative reporter...
Noah turned onto his back with a groan; his body subconsciously seeking out the missing warmth behind him.
His eyes fluttered open at the enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting under his nose to be greeted by the most incredibly expressive eyes he had ever seen.
‘Morning handsome’ Daichi said as he handed his lover the coffee mug after Noah had sat up against the headboard.
‘So… want do you want to do today?’ Daichi asked before easing back onto the bed, sliding his legs over Noah’s thighs so he was straddling his lap.
‘Mmmm?’ Noah made a show of considering the question as he looked up at the Japanese seismologist over the steaming rim of his mug.
Noah’s rolled his hips tentatively, causing the velvet hardness of his growing erection to press against Daichi’s ass. ‘How about a lie in?’ Noah asked in a voice rough with sleep; his eyebrows rising suggestively.
‘I think I’d be up for that!’ Daichi replied with a smirk as he plucked the mug from Noah’s fingers and reached over to place it on the bedside table; his smile widening at the moan that escaped Noah’s lips as the movement caused a delicious friction against his lover’s cock.
He leaned in to swirl his tongue in the hollow at the base of Noah’s throat before kissing an erotic path up over his adams apple towards his mouth, ‘You… taste… so… good… Noah!’ he breathed out against Noah’s skin in between kisses…
...
‘Noah… Noah!’ Noah was wrenched awake by the insistent calling of his name and the relentless shaking of his shoulder.
He blinked hard several times, struggling to come to terms with his surroundings before he realised that he was lying on the battered and uncomfortable leather couch in the corner of his office and Danny, one of the other Professors at the research facility, was shaking him awake.
‘Man… you look like shit!’ Danny said as he handed Noah the coffee he’d made for his friend. ‘Have you been here all night again?!’ he asked.
‘Geeze Danny! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!’ Noah muttered in frustration, bewildered at why he had been dreaming of Daichi and their time together in Japan. He thought he’d put that heartbreak behind him now… had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t let himself get hurt like that again.
‘Seriously Noah… you do look like shit you know. You need to get outta here. Live a little… get laid… or something!’ Danny smirked, nodding his head towards the noticeable bulge in Noah’s jeans, but there was a look of concern in his eyes, he was worried about his friend, he spent far too much time here… burying himself in work.
‘Are you flirting with me Danny?!’ Noah smirked, the coffee working its way through his system and lifting his mood.
‘You wish!’ Danny smirked back and slapped Noah’s thigh, indicating for him to sit up so Danny could sit on the couch next to him.
Noah smiled in return as he leaned back in the seat, sipping his coffee. Danny had become a firm friend since he had started working at the Institute… they had even gone out a couple of times. But Noah had resolved that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake with Danny that he had with Daichi.
He had worked with, lived with and loved Daichi during the time they had spent together in Japan on a research project. They were in love… or at least Noah had thought so, he’d even imagined a life together after the project had finished… with him staying on in Japan or Daichi coming to live in the States. Daichi had other ideas and had got a position in New Zealand, saying it had been fun while it lasted. So Noah had made up his mind that nobody was going to get that close again and he wasn’t going to risk his heart being shattered again and so he and Danny stayed just friends.
‘Noah’ Danny’s hand rested gently on Noah’s knee, pulling him out of his reverie. A look passed between them and Danny knew what Noah was thinking about and wished that they had more time to talk but Professor Foster, the head of the Institute, wanted to see Noah. ‘Get your shit together man. The big Prof wants to see you.’ Danny told him.
‘Why?’ Noah asked, immediately sitting more upright and becoming alert.
‘Who knows Dude?! He only told me to come get you!’ he replied.
Noah stood and headed towards the door; all the possible reasons for the head of the Institute wanting to see him running through his mind…
…
After Noah had made a quick detour to the bathroom to take care of business; there was no way he was meeting the Professor with a raging hard on, he knocked on the door and waited for Foster to call him in.
He entered the office to see the Professor closing a file on his desk and rub a soothing hand across his forehead. Noah remembered how excited he was to come to work for Professor Carl Foster, an eminent expert in the field, thinking it would be a great experience. But he hadn’t really seen much of him; instead the Professor now only seemed to have time to attend high level meetings about funding and the future of the Institute.
Carl looked up at Noah and started, almost as if he had forgotten that he’d asked to see Noah. ‘Ah Noah… it’s good to see you my boy… come in… come in… sit down.’ he said, recovering quickly as he smoothed down his bow tie.
‘How are things going?’ he asked after Noah had settled on the chair.
Noah smiled and nodded, ‘Good… although I’m having trouble finding a link between the tremors… I feel like I’m missing something’ Noah admitted.
‘Well give it time Noah… I’m sure you’ll figure it out but I’m glad you mentioned it because I want you to join me in the press conference this afternoon.’ Carl smiled before continuing, sensing Noah’s apprehension, ‘You’re the one who’s worked most closely on this… and I want your input. It shouldn’t take too long… just a few words then a quick question and answer session. Not a problem. Just keep it simple… don’t get too technical. Half these people probably won’t know the difference between tectonic plates and dinner plates’ he smiled reassuringly and chuckled at his own joke.
Noah nodded slowly, feeling he didn’t have much choice in the matter and he hated the thought of going before a press conference without more conclusive information. He bit his lip nervously and got up to excuse himself so he could go and prepare…
…
Noah sat next to Professor Foster in the meeting room at the Institute as he opened the press conference. Noah looked around the room and swallowed nervously, surprised at the number of people there.
‘…and now I’m going to hand over to Professor Noah Mayer who will take a few questions’ Noah tuned into Carl’s words at the mention of his name and mentally braced himself for the first question.
‘Professor...’ a middle aged, dark haired man called out from the middle row, ‘…Mark Walton here. What’s causing these earthquakes?’
‘Well… basically earthquakes in this region are caused by the North American and the Pacific tectonic plates when they collide or try to slide past each other. The more movement against each other… the more earthquakes or tremors. If the plates get locked or stuck… than that means less seismic activity’ Noah explained and found himself thinking that was an easy enough question to start with. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
‘Professor Mayer?’ a handsome blonde haired man, who looked to be about Noah’s age, spoke up from the front row, ‘Luke Snyder’ he said with a breathtaking smile. ‘Is there any pattern to the tremors we’re experiencing?’
‘Good question Mr Snyder’ Noah found himself smiling back. ‘We’ve spent a lot of time studying the data from the various regional seismographs and there doesn’t appear to be any detectable pattern…’ at least not one that I can find Noah added to himself, ‘… they appear to be of random strength and duration and spread out across a large area’
‘And do you think that they are a sign of an imminent larger earthquake?’ Luke shot out another question before Noah could tear his eyes away to open up the floor to other journalists.
‘That’s really hard to tell. There’s no evidence to indicate either way… sometimes the activity just settles down after the plates move again and settle into their new positions without any further tremors or sometimes there is a larger movement which follows the smaller ones. There’s no way to accurately predict an earthquake.’ Noah answered, knowing that probably wasn’t the answer the journalist was looking for… but they were the facts.
Luke nodded his thanks. ‘I have just one more question… then I promise I’m done!’ he smiled a wide and genuine smile and Noah couldn’t help but chuckle in response, drawn to the audacity of the man.
‘What happens now… how will the Institute handle the situation…?’ Luke asked.
‘Well…’ Noah started, thinking carefully before continuing, ‘the tremors are of a relatively small strength at the moment and as I said before there’s no accurate way of predicting these things. So the procedure would be to continue to monitor the situation, check the readings and calibration of the equipment to make sure they are recording the tremors accurately and continue to analysis the data.’
‘Thank you for your answers Professor’ Luke smiled his thanks.
‘Are there anymore questions from anyone else before we close’ Professor Foster asked quickly before the blonde journalist could think of another question to ask. After a moment of silence and several shakes of heads the Professor ended the press conference…
…
Noah slipped his glasses on to read the first page of a report one of the staffers had handed him as he strode across the facility parking lot to reach the main research facility where his office was.
‘Professor!’ he heard a voice behind him call out, ‘Professor Mayer’.
Noah stopped and turned on his heels at the mention of his name. ‘Ah Mr Snyder… the guy with all the questions!’ Noah chuckled as he saw the blonde journalist almost running to catch up with him.
‘Hi…yeah… sorry about that… kinda my job!’ Luke replied with a smile, a little out of breath and shrugging his shoulders, holding up his notepad and digital recorder as evidence.
‘Guess it goes with the territory.’ Noah nodded and couldn’t help but smile back; he had thought the guy had a nice smile at a distance but now he was up close it was even brighter but there was just a momentary flash of… what… sadness… maybe… at the edges of his hazel eyes before it disappeared leaving Noah to wonder if he had seen it at all.
‘What can I do for you Mr Snyder? More questions?’ he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Luke had to pause before answering as he found himself looking into eyes that were entirely focussed on him; the Professor’s glasses highlighting the clearest and deepest blue eyes that seemed to just captivate him.
‘Um…it’s Luke’ Luke tore his eyes away and briefly looked down shyly before looking back up, ‘you can call me Luke’ he smiled.
‘I actually wanted to ask if I could have your card… you know in case I have some more questions?’ Luke asked, he wanted to get a contact at the Institute and Noah seemed to be ideal.
Noah was on the verge of telling Luke that he could contact the Information Desk at the Institute just like everyone else… but something about Luke’s open and honest face stopped him and he found himself agreeing and pulling out one of his contact cards and handing it over before he even realised he was doing it.
‘Thanks’ Luke said as he pulled out his wallet to slip Noah’s card in. In mid movement he dropped his wallet and it fell open at Noah’s feet.
Noah quickly reached down and picked it up, glancing at the photograph of Luke and what Noah assumed was his family that was in the open wallet; a young boy with blonde hair and another, slightly older looking guy who Noah took to be Luke’s husband, judging by the matching wedding rings that were visible. So Luke was gay…
‘That’s a fine looking family you’ve got there…you must be proud’ Noah said as he handed the wallet back and he felt a pang of regret that he didn’t have that too. He’d kinda hoped that he might have had that opportunity with Daichi... before he'd broken his heart.
‘Ah… thanks… I am… Mikey’s a great kid!’ Luke smiled a proud smile that only a father could, his eyes sparkling with delight and Noah found himself wishing that if the Colonel had ever spoken about him with such pride things might have turned out differently.
‘So Professor Mayer…huh… you don’t really strike me as the usual Professor type!’ Luke joked as he gave Noah’s card the once over before placing it in his wallet.
Noah had to chuckle at that… it was a comment that he’d had more than once… the toned and lean physique wasn’t what people usually associated with a studious professional. ‘What… the glasses and the name tag not working for you?! I guess I left the fedora and the whip back at the apartment!’ Noah’s chuckle turned into a deep bellied laugh which petered out when he realised with a start that he was flirting with a complete stranger and a married one with a family at that. Fuck! Maybe Danny was right!
‘Um… I’ll take your word for that’ Luke said with an uncertain edge to his voice and his smile faltered a little. Was this guy flirting with him?! It had been a long time since anyone had flirted with him and he found himself immediately thinking about Jon and how he would react if he knew… he shuddered at the thought.
‘Well… thanks for the card anyway and for answering my questions’ Luke continued quickly, taking a step back. ‘I know it comes with the job… but thanks…. I also kinda wanted to find out more for myself… these tremors are scaring the hell out of Mikey and I thought if I could explain what was happening better he might not be so scared’. He was mildly surprised that he’d admitted that to Mayer but there was something about his easy going demeanour that he found it easy to open up to him.
Noah’s heart went out to Luke when he heard his concern for Mikey; wishing his own relationship with his father had been built on such compassion. ‘Yes… they can be really frightening if you don’t know what’s going on especially if you’re a kid’ Noah replied with understanding.
Luke nodded his thanks and was about to turn away but was stopped when the Professor spoke again. ‘Wait… Luke…’ Noah said quickly, knowing that he was probably about to break all sorts of protocols at the Institute and probably lots of rules of common sense as well but he had the sudden urge not only to try and put a smile back on Luke’s face but also to try and help Mikey… and it would mean that he could see Luke again… something that was suddenly important to him for some reason he couldn’t quite explain… or wasn’t sure that he wanted to think too deeply about. ‘I was thinking… I’ve got to go and check out some of the seismographs and I wondered if… if you… and Mikey would like to come along’ Noah dipped his head and swallowed nervously. ‘It might help him understand a bit better and maybe I could try and explain to him what’s happening’
Luke smiled shyly and shrugged his shoulder, shaking his head slowly, ‘You don’t have to do that Professor… that’s above and beyond’ Luke was taken aback… he’d only expected to come away with a contact number, nothing more.
‘It’s no problem’ Noah smiled reassuringly.
‘Well… if you’re sure’ Luke replied and handed Noah his own card, ‘give me a call and we can arrange it.’
‘Sure… and it’s Noah’ he answered as Luke started to turn and walk away. Noah stood and watched him go with a sigh and a shake of his head; wondering to himself if he knew exactly what the hell he was doing…
Chapter 3
Link back to fic master post
Author: Wheelie47
Rating: R - NC17 for whole story
Pairing: Luke and OC, Luke and Noah.
Word count: 2,848
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT, Van and Jake. No offence intended.
Summary: Noah is a Professor at the California Institute of Seismic Research and Luke is a freelance investigative reporter...
Noah turned onto his back with a groan; his body subconsciously seeking out the missing warmth behind him.
His eyes fluttered open at the enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting under his nose to be greeted by the most incredibly expressive eyes he had ever seen.
‘Morning handsome’ Daichi said as he handed his lover the coffee mug after Noah had sat up against the headboard.
‘So… want do you want to do today?’ Daichi asked before easing back onto the bed, sliding his legs over Noah’s thighs so he was straddling his lap.
‘Mmmm?’ Noah made a show of considering the question as he looked up at the Japanese seismologist over the steaming rim of his mug.
Noah’s rolled his hips tentatively, causing the velvet hardness of his growing erection to press against Daichi’s ass. ‘How about a lie in?’ Noah asked in a voice rough with sleep; his eyebrows rising suggestively.
‘I think I’d be up for that!’ Daichi replied with a smirk as he plucked the mug from Noah’s fingers and reached over to place it on the bedside table; his smile widening at the moan that escaped Noah’s lips as the movement caused a delicious friction against his lover’s cock.
He leaned in to swirl his tongue in the hollow at the base of Noah’s throat before kissing an erotic path up over his adams apple towards his mouth, ‘You… taste… so… good… Noah!’ he breathed out against Noah’s skin in between kisses…
...
‘Noah… Noah!’ Noah was wrenched awake by the insistent calling of his name and the relentless shaking of his shoulder.
He blinked hard several times, struggling to come to terms with his surroundings before he realised that he was lying on the battered and uncomfortable leather couch in the corner of his office and Danny, one of the other Professors at the research facility, was shaking him awake.
‘Man… you look like shit!’ Danny said as he handed Noah the coffee he’d made for his friend. ‘Have you been here all night again?!’ he asked.
‘Geeze Danny! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!’ Noah muttered in frustration, bewildered at why he had been dreaming of Daichi and their time together in Japan. He thought he’d put that heartbreak behind him now… had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t let himself get hurt like that again.
‘Seriously Noah… you do look like shit you know. You need to get outta here. Live a little… get laid… or something!’ Danny smirked, nodding his head towards the noticeable bulge in Noah’s jeans, but there was a look of concern in his eyes, he was worried about his friend, he spent far too much time here… burying himself in work.
‘Are you flirting with me Danny?!’ Noah smirked, the coffee working its way through his system and lifting his mood.
‘You wish!’ Danny smirked back and slapped Noah’s thigh, indicating for him to sit up so Danny could sit on the couch next to him.
Noah smiled in return as he leaned back in the seat, sipping his coffee. Danny had become a firm friend since he had started working at the Institute… they had even gone out a couple of times. But Noah had resolved that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake with Danny that he had with Daichi.
He had worked with, lived with and loved Daichi during the time they had spent together in Japan on a research project. They were in love… or at least Noah had thought so, he’d even imagined a life together after the project had finished… with him staying on in Japan or Daichi coming to live in the States. Daichi had other ideas and had got a position in New Zealand, saying it had been fun while it lasted. So Noah had made up his mind that nobody was going to get that close again and he wasn’t going to risk his heart being shattered again and so he and Danny stayed just friends.
‘Noah’ Danny’s hand rested gently on Noah’s knee, pulling him out of his reverie. A look passed between them and Danny knew what Noah was thinking about and wished that they had more time to talk but Professor Foster, the head of the Institute, wanted to see Noah. ‘Get your shit together man. The big Prof wants to see you.’ Danny told him.
‘Why?’ Noah asked, immediately sitting more upright and becoming alert.
‘Who knows Dude?! He only told me to come get you!’ he replied.
Noah stood and headed towards the door; all the possible reasons for the head of the Institute wanting to see him running through his mind…
…
After Noah had made a quick detour to the bathroom to take care of business; there was no way he was meeting the Professor with a raging hard on, he knocked on the door and waited for Foster to call him in.
He entered the office to see the Professor closing a file on his desk and rub a soothing hand across his forehead. Noah remembered how excited he was to come to work for Professor Carl Foster, an eminent expert in the field, thinking it would be a great experience. But he hadn’t really seen much of him; instead the Professor now only seemed to have time to attend high level meetings about funding and the future of the Institute.
Carl looked up at Noah and started, almost as if he had forgotten that he’d asked to see Noah. ‘Ah Noah… it’s good to see you my boy… come in… come in… sit down.’ he said, recovering quickly as he smoothed down his bow tie.
‘How are things going?’ he asked after Noah had settled on the chair.
Noah smiled and nodded, ‘Good… although I’m having trouble finding a link between the tremors… I feel like I’m missing something’ Noah admitted.
‘Well give it time Noah… I’m sure you’ll figure it out but I’m glad you mentioned it because I want you to join me in the press conference this afternoon.’ Carl smiled before continuing, sensing Noah’s apprehension, ‘You’re the one who’s worked most closely on this… and I want your input. It shouldn’t take too long… just a few words then a quick question and answer session. Not a problem. Just keep it simple… don’t get too technical. Half these people probably won’t know the difference between tectonic plates and dinner plates’ he smiled reassuringly and chuckled at his own joke.
Noah nodded slowly, feeling he didn’t have much choice in the matter and he hated the thought of going before a press conference without more conclusive information. He bit his lip nervously and got up to excuse himself so he could go and prepare…
…
Noah sat next to Professor Foster in the meeting room at the Institute as he opened the press conference. Noah looked around the room and swallowed nervously, surprised at the number of people there.
‘…and now I’m going to hand over to Professor Noah Mayer who will take a few questions’ Noah tuned into Carl’s words at the mention of his name and mentally braced himself for the first question.
‘Professor...’ a middle aged, dark haired man called out from the middle row, ‘…Mark Walton here. What’s causing these earthquakes?’
‘Well… basically earthquakes in this region are caused by the North American and the Pacific tectonic plates when they collide or try to slide past each other. The more movement against each other… the more earthquakes or tremors. If the plates get locked or stuck… than that means less seismic activity’ Noah explained and found himself thinking that was an easy enough question to start with. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
‘Professor Mayer?’ a handsome blonde haired man, who looked to be about Noah’s age, spoke up from the front row, ‘Luke Snyder’ he said with a breathtaking smile. ‘Is there any pattern to the tremors we’re experiencing?’
‘Good question Mr Snyder’ Noah found himself smiling back. ‘We’ve spent a lot of time studying the data from the various regional seismographs and there doesn’t appear to be any detectable pattern…’ at least not one that I can find Noah added to himself, ‘… they appear to be of random strength and duration and spread out across a large area’
‘And do you think that they are a sign of an imminent larger earthquake?’ Luke shot out another question before Noah could tear his eyes away to open up the floor to other journalists.
‘That’s really hard to tell. There’s no evidence to indicate either way… sometimes the activity just settles down after the plates move again and settle into their new positions without any further tremors or sometimes there is a larger movement which follows the smaller ones. There’s no way to accurately predict an earthquake.’ Noah answered, knowing that probably wasn’t the answer the journalist was looking for… but they were the facts.
Luke nodded his thanks. ‘I have just one more question… then I promise I’m done!’ he smiled a wide and genuine smile and Noah couldn’t help but chuckle in response, drawn to the audacity of the man.
‘What happens now… how will the Institute handle the situation…?’ Luke asked.
‘Well…’ Noah started, thinking carefully before continuing, ‘the tremors are of a relatively small strength at the moment and as I said before there’s no accurate way of predicting these things. So the procedure would be to continue to monitor the situation, check the readings and calibration of the equipment to make sure they are recording the tremors accurately and continue to analysis the data.’
‘Thank you for your answers Professor’ Luke smiled his thanks.
‘Are there anymore questions from anyone else before we close’ Professor Foster asked quickly before the blonde journalist could think of another question to ask. After a moment of silence and several shakes of heads the Professor ended the press conference…
…
Noah slipped his glasses on to read the first page of a report one of the staffers had handed him as he strode across the facility parking lot to reach the main research facility where his office was.
‘Professor!’ he heard a voice behind him call out, ‘Professor Mayer’.
Noah stopped and turned on his heels at the mention of his name. ‘Ah Mr Snyder… the guy with all the questions!’ Noah chuckled as he saw the blonde journalist almost running to catch up with him.
‘Hi…yeah… sorry about that… kinda my job!’ Luke replied with a smile, a little out of breath and shrugging his shoulders, holding up his notepad and digital recorder as evidence.
‘Guess it goes with the territory.’ Noah nodded and couldn’t help but smile back; he had thought the guy had a nice smile at a distance but now he was up close it was even brighter but there was just a momentary flash of… what… sadness… maybe… at the edges of his hazel eyes before it disappeared leaving Noah to wonder if he had seen it at all.
‘What can I do for you Mr Snyder? More questions?’ he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Luke had to pause before answering as he found himself looking into eyes that were entirely focussed on him; the Professor’s glasses highlighting the clearest and deepest blue eyes that seemed to just captivate him.
‘Um…it’s Luke’ Luke tore his eyes away and briefly looked down shyly before looking back up, ‘you can call me Luke’ he smiled.
‘I actually wanted to ask if I could have your card… you know in case I have some more questions?’ Luke asked, he wanted to get a contact at the Institute and Noah seemed to be ideal.
Noah was on the verge of telling Luke that he could contact the Information Desk at the Institute just like everyone else… but something about Luke’s open and honest face stopped him and he found himself agreeing and pulling out one of his contact cards and handing it over before he even realised he was doing it.
‘Thanks’ Luke said as he pulled out his wallet to slip Noah’s card in. In mid movement he dropped his wallet and it fell open at Noah’s feet.
Noah quickly reached down and picked it up, glancing at the photograph of Luke and what Noah assumed was his family that was in the open wallet; a young boy with blonde hair and another, slightly older looking guy who Noah took to be Luke’s husband, judging by the matching wedding rings that were visible. So Luke was gay…
‘That’s a fine looking family you’ve got there…you must be proud’ Noah said as he handed the wallet back and he felt a pang of regret that he didn’t have that too. He’d kinda hoped that he might have had that opportunity with Daichi... before he'd broken his heart.
‘Ah… thanks… I am… Mikey’s a great kid!’ Luke smiled a proud smile that only a father could, his eyes sparkling with delight and Noah found himself wishing that if the Colonel had ever spoken about him with such pride things might have turned out differently.
‘So Professor Mayer…huh… you don’t really strike me as the usual Professor type!’ Luke joked as he gave Noah’s card the once over before placing it in his wallet.
Noah had to chuckle at that… it was a comment that he’d had more than once… the toned and lean physique wasn’t what people usually associated with a studious professional. ‘What… the glasses and the name tag not working for you?! I guess I left the fedora and the whip back at the apartment!’ Noah’s chuckle turned into a deep bellied laugh which petered out when he realised with a start that he was flirting with a complete stranger and a married one with a family at that. Fuck! Maybe Danny was right!
‘Um… I’ll take your word for that’ Luke said with an uncertain edge to his voice and his smile faltered a little. Was this guy flirting with him?! It had been a long time since anyone had flirted with him and he found himself immediately thinking about Jon and how he would react if he knew… he shuddered at the thought.
‘Well… thanks for the card anyway and for answering my questions’ Luke continued quickly, taking a step back. ‘I know it comes with the job… but thanks…. I also kinda wanted to find out more for myself… these tremors are scaring the hell out of Mikey and I thought if I could explain what was happening better he might not be so scared’. He was mildly surprised that he’d admitted that to Mayer but there was something about his easy going demeanour that he found it easy to open up to him.
Noah’s heart went out to Luke when he heard his concern for Mikey; wishing his own relationship with his father had been built on such compassion. ‘Yes… they can be really frightening if you don’t know what’s going on especially if you’re a kid’ Noah replied with understanding.
Luke nodded his thanks and was about to turn away but was stopped when the Professor spoke again. ‘Wait… Luke…’ Noah said quickly, knowing that he was probably about to break all sorts of protocols at the Institute and probably lots of rules of common sense as well but he had the sudden urge not only to try and put a smile back on Luke’s face but also to try and help Mikey… and it would mean that he could see Luke again… something that was suddenly important to him for some reason he couldn’t quite explain… or wasn’t sure that he wanted to think too deeply about. ‘I was thinking… I’ve got to go and check out some of the seismographs and I wondered if… if you… and Mikey would like to come along’ Noah dipped his head and swallowed nervously. ‘It might help him understand a bit better and maybe I could try and explain to him what’s happening’
Luke smiled shyly and shrugged his shoulder, shaking his head slowly, ‘You don’t have to do that Professor… that’s above and beyond’ Luke was taken aback… he’d only expected to come away with a contact number, nothing more.
‘It’s no problem’ Noah smiled reassuringly.
‘Well… if you’re sure’ Luke replied and handed Noah his own card, ‘give me a call and we can arrange it.’
‘Sure… and it’s Noah’ he answered as Luke started to turn and walk away. Noah stood and watched him go with a sigh and a shake of his head; wondering to himself if he knew exactly what the hell he was doing…
Chapter 3
Link back to fic master post