THE BACKWARD ACHE.

“Cade,” she answered, taking notice of the professor’s popularity. It didn’t come as a surprise to her – he was young, good looking, clearly intelligent – but the celebrity treatment she was witnessing caused her to roll her eyes, though she was careful not to let Dr. Quinn see. “Is that why you teach here?” she quipped back, a vain effort to take him down a peg. “Didn’t say I was choosing Colombia,” she said, wandering idly towards some of the technical equipment, tempted to tinker with it. “I’m looking at my options.” Of course, the truth was she had practically zero options when it came to a school like this. Realistically, she would be lucky to get into something more than a community college with her records.

He ignored the cheeky question, which he figured was only a snappy comment coming from her, but chose not to dignify it with a response. Tilting his head upwards and folding his arms loosely across his chest, he pressed his lips to scrutiny her response. “You seem pretty sure of yourself. Can’t be sure that’s giving me such a good impression right now,” though he knew that he’d have no say in admitting her into the program. Still, he couldn’t deny that there was something about her that wasn’t quite making it onto her surface, and it intrigued him. “Where else are you looking into?”

As it turns out, the man was in fact one big child. Or maybe just far too self-centered. Either way, Molly wasn’t really digging the whole image; especially not when there was nowhere else to be seated, and the rest of the tables were far more crowded. “Well.” Taking a second for consideration, eyes darting between him and the empty seats left at the table, she finally slid onto the seat opposite of him, determinedly so, placing her coffee and phone on the table as she did. “It would be awfully irresponsible of me to leave a five-year-old alone without any adult supervision. And I can’t really see your mummy anywhere, kiddo, so I guess you’re stuck with me.”

He normally did well in warding off people he didn’t want to be around, especially people he didn’t actually know, but it seemed that the brunette was persistent as she found a place on the other side of the table. He tilted his head to the side, the cocky grin on his face now replaced by a thoughtful gape as she spoke to him as though he were actually a small child. It would’ve annoyed him, on any other day, but right now, it only made him want to piss her off more. Lowering his arm from where it had been resting on the back of the chair, he turned his body so it was facing towards her. “Well, hey, be my guest,” he said, lifting the straw towards his lips but only allowed it to graze there for a few more moments as he continued. "I should let you know, though, that I’ve driven away many of my nannies in the past. I’d like to think  that I still haven’t lost that charm.” A small, subtle smirk curled his lips as he finally took a sip of his drink.

“Oh, I’m sure you are an exception, someone with such a sweet smile couldn’t possibly be a heartbreaker.” He replied, amusement and joking evident in his voice as he winked at the other male, shifting slightly so that he was more directly facing the other male. “Hmm, well that depends what you would define as being worse,” Reid explained, a devilish grin turning the corners of his lips upwards. “If you’re not so big into being held down, spanked and fucked until you have issues walking and having so many orgasms that you need a nap, then, I guess you would be able to say I’m worse.” He replied with a light chuckle, licking his lips as he eyed Logan up even more. 

Sweet had certainly been a word to describe him before, or at least, the way he looked, but never with the judgment that he wasn’t capable of hurting anyone. Of course, it was possible that it was only said in sarcasm--- either way, he enjoyed the attention that was being given to him, especially since there seemed to be some suggestive motives underlying in his words. What followed, however, was no longer suggestive, but a certain frankness that he didn’t think would’ve looked good on anyone, not like this, but strangely enough, he was drawn even more towards the other. Raising his brows in thought, a smile appeared on his lips in amusement, trying to study what his response should be.

“Coming on a little strong there,” he remarked, finally, eyes trailing from Reid’s face towards the rest of his body, mind already going to places that it shouldn’t be, not in public. “You’re pretty cocky.” He moved his hand from where his fingers were wrapped around the glass of his drink so his knucles could move very lightly against Reid’s forearm, though barely touched his skin as he did, almost as if he was only playing with the idea of him, of being with him. “What makes you think I’m gonna buy into all of that?”

Lucian was used to all sorts, to be honest, so to have someone a little worse for wear suddenly up in their face asking random questions about their skin care routine, well, they’d had worse. “Seems that way,” they said, gaze drifting over to meet the others as he settled back into his seat. Then, as he continued, they had to laugh a little, shaking their head in answer to the question. “Can’t say I am…” he responded. “But then, no fucking idea who my dad is, so you never know.”

“Yeah yeah, rein it in,” Rhys responded, a laugh slipping out as he stepped past Logan and ordering what he wanted as well, and then handing some cash over to the barman. He was used to it now, to be honest, it had turned into a running joke almost with them. In fact, he didn’t expect anything less when it came to a night out with Logan. Once the drinks were in hand, he turned back to the other man, passing over the glass. “Finally,” he muttered playfully as he took a drink from his own pint of beer.

“Well, I’m considering this a win.” A wide grin spread across his lips when the other handed the cash to the bartender, waiting for a bit before he could take the martini glass Rhys was holding by its stem and lifted the glass in the air, “Cheers, man,” then towards his lips for a careful sip. Savoring the flavor, he let out a soft ‘ah’ and hoisted himself up on a empty bar stool, watching Rhys. “So what’s the game plan, boss? You lookin’ for some booty tonight or are you canvassing the place for a pretty young thing you’re gonna be awkwardly trying to talk to for the next four weeks?”

It was a lonely night at the bar, barely anyone had come in in the time that Pippa had be perched at the bar, martini in hand. Granted she wasn’t expecting anyone, it gave her a good reason to drunkenly open dating apps, sighing and commenting out loud anytime that someone vaguely attractive flicked by as she swiped, or someone who hadn’t a hope in hell with the brunette. “Don’t you think that some of these apps can be kind of ridiculous?” she questioned the nearest person to her. “I do think it’s terrible how it is based on appearance, but hey, you aren’t going to approach someone you don’t find attractive in real life, right? It’s just more blatant on an app,” Pippa asked, thinking aloud as she bit the olive at the end of the cocktail stick as she set down her phone. 

“Makes sense,” he said, trying to get a peek at the screen of her phone before eyes flitted up to meet hers. “Is that why you’re talking to me, then?” A grin formed on his lips, a spitting image of the cheshire cat’s smile resembling his features. “It’s okay. I’ve seen you checking out my ass every morning. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Meaning… immediately, immediately after that, and immediately after that still?” Each option got ticked off her fingers while Hayden released a subdued chuckle. “Gerard Butler nudes are worth instant attention.” At least in her fantasy world they would be. Even with her blossoming career the likelihood of them ever falling into her hands was slim, though, so she settled it with a smirk and moved on. Hazel hues began a careful study of Logan from top to bottom, but predictably stopped short of ogling his feet. “While I’m sure parts of your body could put others to shame— no, I wouldn’t be salivating to stare at your toes.” Another sound of barely restrained laughter hummed in her chest. “Especially since the myth of shoe size correlating to other areas has already been debunked. Sorry, Quinn, but your feet are of no interest to me.”

"We were talking about his feet, not his nudes. Although, now that you mention it, I wouldn’t say no to that, either.” He wasn’t one to be obscure about his sexual preferences, and maybe he hadn’t always been open about himself, but after coming to terms with who he was and his promiscuity, expressing himself had never been a problem. It made some people uncomfortable, sure, but that normally had nothing to do with what he identified as, and any aversion to such discussions were usually the result of his vulgarity in saying things. 

He raised his elbow and allowed it to rest on top of the chair he was currently in, slouching back and giving her a scrutinizing stare, narrowing his eyes at her as though he found no truth to her words. “Yeah? Would you be interested in those other parts, then?”

It took the blonde a second to realize what he was asking, her lips falling apart as her hand covered them. Rushing to shake her head in disagreement. “No, no. I didn’t mean that at all! I was merely just curious at the idea of feet,” she excused, noticing the pink flush that crept up her neck and spread through her features. Taking a second to exhale, the blonde shook her head “You should send them a photo of someone else’s feet"

“Yeah, whatever you say,” he said, though made sure to exaggerate the tone he’d used to make it sound like he wasn’t buying any of what she was saying, though it was only in good-natured humor. “Yeah, I was considering that. ‘cause there’s no way she’d actually know it’s not me unless she asks for my face to be in the same photo, right?” Briefly considering an idea coming to mind, he added, “You wanna volunteer to be my foot model?”

Cadence nearly couldn’t prevent the grin that was forming along her own lips, though she did her best to stifle it. If there was one thing she took away from high school, it was that most teachers couldn’t resist a student taking an interest in his or her work – as if they were all desperate for the bare minimum of fascination. “Cool,” she remarked, adjusting the straps of her book bag against her shoulders as she leaned off the podium, ready to tail along. 

He made his way across the room and out the door, leading her along the hallway, the heels of his dress shoes clicking against the linoleum, casually greeting his coworkers and the students who were either trying to avoid his gaze or mumbling among each other before meeting him with a hurried ‘Dr. Quinn!’ like frenzied fanatics. He glanced behind him every so often to make sure that the girl was still following close behind, before turning a corner, leading her down a less crowded area, and another, before it was just them two and a few other passersby.

“What did you say your name was again?” he asked, turning his head to look behind him as he reached a hand out to push against the door of one of the laboratories, holding it open as he waited for her to enter. There were only about two other students in the far end of the room, tinkering with their current project. Logan greeted them with a nod, to which they smiled and waved in return. “This is one of our smaller labs, so the equipment’s really just heavily condensed into a limited area.” He moved his hand to gesture towards the work tables and the machinery situated nearby. “But the experiments we do in this room normally don’t warrant much space, like testing out prototypes and such, so it’s alright.” He leaned against one of the tables, allowing his visitor to roam around should she wish to do so.

After a moment--- “So how come you’re choosing Columbia, then?” he asked, trying to pick her brain. “Plenty of better physics programs out there, I’d say.”

“Uh, kinda just did,” she corrected him. Cadence didn’t see why she couldn’t just waltz in and ask to see a lab. It’s not like they were working on anything top secret, right? “What’s the big deal? Last I checked this was Colombia, not Area 51.” She leaned against the podium, her eyes set on the man. He was quite young for a PhD – certainly not the type that comes to mind when one thinks physicist. “I’m not expecting you to just let me in. I don’t even know if I want in – I just want to see if any of you are worth my time.”

She was unpredictable, he’d give her that, and he had to admit to himself that he was having a difficult time trying to get a read on her, something which he normally did without much effort. Hearing her cheeky remarks prompted him to quirk an eyebrow at her, a corner of his lips curling into a smile that would say he was thoroughly amused by her, and not to mention impressed. Tilting his head slightly upwards, he fixed his gaze upon her for a moment, just as she did, and contemplated his next action. He examined her face, trying to discern any tell-tale signs for an ulterior motive, before giving a small huff through his nose. Acquiescing, he shifted from where he stood and motioned towards the door. “Follow me.”

At the sudden question, Lucian found themselves stepping back a little, eyebrows raised and a laugh escaping them. “Can’t say I get that all the time, no…” they answered. “And, uh… I don’t really have one?” Another laugh and they shook their head.

He found a morbid sort of amusement in watching people squirm uncomfortably with every word that would come out from his mouth, especially where it concerned flirting, but he had to admit that the other certainly took it better than most. He had to respect that about them. He hummed in thought at their response, still fixing his gaze at them, before moving back and up into his seat, legs a little wobbly as he’d admittedly had a couple of drinks already in his system. “So you literally just woke up like that, huh? I’m impressed.” He nodded, slowly, as he reached for the bottle of beer next to his hand. “You know, you remind me of someone I used to date. Yeah, I see the resemblance and all.” He made a wild gesture at their face as he took a sip of his drink. “You don’t happen to be related to a Bryan Dorsey, are you?” It was unlikely, he was sure, but he really was just spewing out random words at this point.

Cadence let out a short laugh. For all this guy knew, she was telling the truth, but she wasn’t there to play games. At least, not like that. “So who does that make you? The Gatekeeper?” she teased. “Thinking of majoring in physics. Wanted to check out a lab.” Technically, both of those statements were true. Although her particular interest was in engineering, physics wasn’t far off.

Continuing with the metaphor he’d mentioned, he gave the name she’d called him with some thought. “I guess you could say that, yeah,” he said, offering a small nod. He wasn’t really surprised when she finally admitted to her purpose for being there, but he was curious as to why she would choose him to show her around when she could’ve asked the same thing of the dozens of other faculty members in the department. Of course, him being him, he took it as a compliment that his reputation must’ve preceded him and she must’ve caught wind of his credentials. Still--- “You know you can’t just waltz in here and ask to see our labs, right?” he questioned, slipping a hand into his pocket while the other gripped the strap of his bag. "And what makes you so sure you’re gonna get in, anyway?” He didn’t mean to be so hard on her, but he wanted to see to what lengths she would go to in order to get what she wanted and if he could resist her before surrendering.

“Honestly, it makes no difference to me, if it were a guy I’d be a little bit less shocked because it’s typically them who ask for photos of that nature. I’d also offer myself as a foot free alternative.” He replied with a light chuckle, his accent echoing through the air around them and tangling around every word he spoke. The male winked at Logan and offered his perfectly cheeky but ever so seductive smile as he did. While he couldn’t say for sure if his advance would go over well, it wouldn’t be the first time that something less than desireable happened after Reid had decided to hit on someone.

“True. Men are pigs. I’m excluding myself in that statement, though, because I’m always the exception,” he replied, a cocky smirk curving his lips. It wouldn’t take a genius to see how the man was clearly coming onto him. If not from the remark itself, then just by the way he was looking at him should be enough to realize that the guy might have some less-than-pure intentions with him. Something he wasn’t going to object, especially since this man was certainly a sight for the sore eyes. “Is that right?” He shifted in his seat to get a little more comfortable, leaning forward slightly to adjust himself before he would find a better position. “Maybe you don’t have a foot kink, but how am I supposed to know you’re not into something worse, hm?”

“From the sound of it. Looks like you might be more into feet than you think.” Winnie replied with a laugh. “Hey!” She said covering her stomach. “My eyes are up here, buddy.” Looking over to the man next to them, cringing at all the mess, she turned back quickly. “That’s not fair. You know no one can get on your level. Either way he was very attractive. Attractive enough that I still went on a date with him.”

He could see how his words had been twisted so easily and had the situation backfire towards him, so he left it alone and responded only with a look of disgust in the way he scrunched up his nose and shook his head, giving a little shiver for dramatic effect. “Aw, you think I’m the prettiest of them all?” he said, forming his lips into a little pout as he brought a hand to his chest, appearing to be touched by her words. “Did he ever ask you about your belly button again, though?”

                    The blonde laughed, crossing his arms over his chest while a grin bore wide, amused at the thought–– the stereotypes perhaps fitting oh-too-well. It made a sound person want to linger around just to see who came to claim the cars, “I don’t know,” He shrugged, a jape and a smile adjoined resting on his lips, “I’m startin’ to think you’re just trying to cover up the fact that you decided to go with the pink ‘princess’ license plate,” The blonde jested, extending a hand to gesture towards the white car, adorned with a large series of monogrammed letters on the back window and, of course, the plate in discussion, “Listen, man, it ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed of,” He laughed again, the rumble clipping his words, settling before he shook his head, “But no, I don’t got anywhere to particularly be.“ He stated, ”… Guess it isn’t too bad of a situation with this kind weather. Thought I’d never see the sun again for awhile there.” 

His eyes widened for only a split second at the man feigning accusation towards him before he rolled his eyes, somehow irked and amused at the same time, as evidenced in the way he was unable to suppress the smile threatening to stretch his lips wide. “Ha-ha. You’re very cute,” he said, tone falling flat. “Yeah, the weather’s kinda fuckin’ with us, lately. My wardrobe hasn’t even fully adjusted yet and suddenly I’m being forced to wear shorts.” He shook his head in dismay, but continued, “So I don’t know about you, but I was gonna get something to cool off with, if you wanna join me? Of course, you can just wait and sulk out here in the heat, if you want. Up to you.”

“Weirded out wouldn’t be the best descriptive word I can think of. Tell me that didn’t actually happen.”

“Well, I haven’t sent her a pic of my feet, but she really did ask about it,” he said. “My problem is that I haven’t matched with anyone nearly as hot as her in the past three days and I’m tired of just rubbing one out every night, you know?” it probably wasn’t something he should share with just anyone, but he was nothing if not disturbingly blunt about everything. “I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna have to wait out this sex famine before I start going on Craigslist to look for actual weirdos.”

“Oh, shut up,” she playfully thwacked at Logan’s arm, chuckling slightly as she did so. “I have been told I have the face of a ‘basic white bitch’ and if anyone is going to sell this shit, it’s going to be me. Now are we going to eat or do I have to find a place to stash your body?” 

“At least you’re owning that basic white bitch realness. It’s only annoying when people deny it,” he noted, giving her a pointed look. “You know, you threaten to murder me so many times that I’m starting to wonder when you’re actually gonna do it.” He rolled his eyes before glancing over at the counter and letting out a small groan at the sight of the line he’d have to stand in if he wanted to order something. Looking back at the blonde sitting beside him, an idea came to mind. “Okay, but I think you should order for both of us. You know, so I can guard our bags and stuff.” It was really less of him being concerned with their valuables and more with him just feeling too lazy to get up. “I’ll have extra cheesy fries and onion rings, kthanksloveyoubye,” he said, trying to pull her off her seat and up on her feet.