" my friends call me liv "

“  don’t ask me  ,  i’m not a biologist  ,  least of all a neurologist  ,  ”  liv replies  .  she’d say that she expects someone of his intellect to be more rational than that  ,  but it would be a lie  —  she’s yet to meet a single intellectually-minded person who isn’t incredibly dumb when it comes to at least one aspect of daily life  .  “  but i’ve definitely been told off for bad sleeping habits before  .  one of my old co-workers was quite adamant that anything less than six hours of sleep renders you useless for the rest of the day  ,  and maybe i’m just getting old  ,  but i’m inclined to agree  .  ”

“  biomedical engineering  ?  ooh  ,  very fancy  .  i’m always so impressed with biologists  ,  i just can’t seem to get it myself  .  ”  she’s gotten distracted  ,  no longer trying to figure out the feeling of deja vu and instead just rolling with the conversation  .  science is so much more interesting than vague feelings  .  “  i’ve been looking at new kinds of  —  quantum particles  ,  for want of a better word  .  photons  ,  things like that  .  things that behave like particles occasionally  ,  despite technically not being particles  .  ”

“  nice  .  but i sort of meant from a scientific perspective  ?  ‘cause rainbows and glitter and undying love are all great  ,  but they’re not really  —  material objects  ,  you know  ?  ”

what are the odds of coming across a perfect lab assistant right off the bat  ?  “  what kind of physics  ,  specifically  ?  ”  she has to ask  ,  though  ,  because  —  well  .  not all physics is created equal  .  “  do you have any experience with particle physics or quantum physics  ?  or  ,  say  ,  the multiverse  ?  ”  obviously these days everyone knows at least a little about the multiverse  ,  but she means more in a physics sense  .  or if he knew about it before falling into this universe  .

“  oh  ,  you’re all right  !  it’s so easy to get lost around here  ,  even if you’ve been here a million times  .  ”  it’s not ideal for a stranger to have wandered into her lab mid-experiment  ,  but hey  !  at least she didn’t walk through the highly radioactive beam of protons  !  “  do you need directions  ?  ”  she flicks off the mini accelerator  ,  just to be safe  .

“  fair  ,  fair  .  honestly  ,  most people don’t totally get it even after working in the field for years  .  ”  she shrugs  .  “  it’s pretty niche  ,  but i think it’s cool  .  never had the chance to think about practical applications of bosons before  .  ”  new world  ,  new research  ,  and sure  —  it’s a little weird to accost some random on the street and ramble to them about her research  ,  but olivia octavius is nothing if not weird  .

“  that’s a cool ring you’ve got there  ,  what’s it made from  ?  ”

in an alleyway behind one of new york’s largest science companies  :  “  ugh  ,  i really need a haircut  ...  ”  she mumbles to herself  .  “  ‘s really not convenient for this kinda stuff  .  ”  she glances up  ,  spots the other standing in the mouth of the street  .  “  oh shit  .  ”

“  hey  ,  all good  ,  kid  !  i’ve had entire conversations without remembering to introduce myself  ,  gotten so used to academic conferences where they announce who you are to everyone before you come on stage  ,  so  —  i know the feeling  .  ”  she’s feeling particularly genuine today  ,  it seems  .  “  thanks for your help  .  it was nice to meet you  ,  miles  .  ”  liv follows his pointing finger  ,  praying she doesn’t get lost again  ...  surely it can’t be that hard to find her way now  ?

“  sorry  ,  my bad  ...  forgot not everyone is familiar with jargon around particle physics  ...  ”  liv sighs  .  she’s so sick of the lack of science literacy in the modern world  .  “  but in summary  :  bosons are a kind of sub-atomic particle  ,  just like electrons  ,  protons  ,  neutrons  —  all those things you should have learned about in high school  .  higgs bosons are  ...  in charge of gravity  ,  for want of a better description  .  ”

“  oof  ,  sounds unfortunate  .  what kinds of science are you good with  ?  and on a scale of one to ten  ,  how cool are you with violations of law and ethics  ...  hypothetically speaking  ,  of course  .  ”

“  ew  .  ”  she makes a face  .  “  between that and the ethics boards i’ve had to deal with  ...  why are the superheroes always surprised when i do something  ‘  evil  ’  ?  ”  that last word being said with air quotes  ,  of course  ,  because  —  well  ,  yeah  ,  the ethics board would never approve half her experiments  ,  but every good scientist wants to push the boundaries  ,  right  ?

“  what does a girl have to do to not be labelled a villain around here  ?  ”

“  well  ,  i’m sure it’s only a matter of time before someone invents forensic physics  ,  ”  liv jokes  .  she’s pretty sure it’s already a thing  ,  but not meant in quite the same way  .  “  all good scientists are interested in multiple fields  —  i know quite a few chemists who are always fascinated to hear about my research  .  ”  she rolls her eyes at his nitpicking  ,  but shrugs  &  tries to keep her tone lighthearted  .  “  i was kidding  ,  ”  she says  ,  “  but yes  ,  of course i don’t mind  .  ”  

“  oh  ,  you’re a lifesaver  ,  ”  liv says  ,  following gwen through the veritable maze  .  “  nice to meet you  ,  gwen  .  and yeah  —  technically both a quantum and particle physicist  ,  but they’re pretty closely related fields  .  ”  getting a name hasn’t triggered any recognition  ,  which is both entirely typical for olivia’s memory  &  also incredibly annoying  .  “  what do you study  ?  ”

silently  ,  liv breathes a sigh of relief that the intoxicated young woman accepts her suggestion  .  while she is equipped to force her to go home  ,  she’d rather not go full doc ock in the middle of new york  .  especially not for such a mundane reason  .  “  come on  ,  then  ,  ”  she says  ,  offering an arm for kitty to lean on should she need it  .  “ that depends on how you define friendship  ,  ”  liv answers to her question  ,  somewhat hesitant  .  “  ordinarily  ,  i’d want to have talked to you for more than just a few minutes before making a decision like that  .  ”