#master 2

“Nah,” he said, casually. “It’s not an attack. It’s those Kevinian people. The ones who live in the woods.” He stood on his tiptoes to see over the crowds. “The Chief of Police told me. That’s one of the things about being Mayor. You get the inside scoop.” He flashed Jessica a smile. “They’re just walking through town. God knows why. The police don’t want everyone gawking at them, so they cordoned everything off. But it’s nothing to worry about.” He paused, before turning to her properly. “You’re Jessica Jones, right? I don’t think we introduced ourselves when we met last time.”

~*~

 She’d asked the question sarcastically, but his flippant answer was still unnerving. When she first saw the commotion, the lights and cop cars and the crowd gathering, she thought it was another body. But the thought of pushing through that crowd made her skin crawl. She’d been counting on the mayor to know what was going on -- he might’ve been aggravating as hell, but he had the connections she didn’t. For once, he didn’t disappoint.

Harold looked up from patting his blazer pockets at the sound of the strangely recognisable voice. It was strange because he’d met this man only once before, but something about his voice – that concern – was so familiar, like they’d had more than one oddly intimate conversation.

He frowned for a second. “What?” he said, before realising that he had been looking for something, but he’d been completely thrown by the question that he’d temporarily forgotten. “Oh! No, don’t worry.” And he lowered his hands, and waved one in a dismissive gesture, before immediately changing his mind. “It’s just… Well -” And, in an impulsive move, he reached into his trousers pocket and pulled out the silver watch that had bothered him immensely ever since he’d found it on his bedside table. “This thing is broken. Can’t get it to open for the life of me. You wouldn’t happen to know where I could get it fixed, would you?”

~*~

He wasn’t sure what had prompted him. It wasn’t unusual for John to offer to help -- he was famous for it among the other teachers, the librarian called him a ‘darling’ for it. He enjoyed helping people, lending a hand wherever he could. But that usually extended to tutoring or grabbing a book off a very high shelf, and once oddly enough chasing down a very wily duck. Now here he was, offering his services to the mayor, and with an enthusiasm he couldn’t explain. He felt a kinship to Harry, which after that night under the stars was hardly surprising. The fact that they’d had that night was the real surprise. This connection, whatever it was, it had begun the instant the two men set eyes on each other. 

So when Harry brushed him off, John couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment wash over him. “Right, course,” he said quickly, grin faltering for just a second. He shoved his hands into his pockets, started to turn away, but then Harry spoke again. John turned on his heel, grin back in full force. “Let’s take a look shall --” He stopped short, head tilted. “Huh,” he whispered. “Now would you look at that.” He reached out for the watch, leaning forward to study it. It wasn’t the exact same markings, but similar. Like different phrases written in the same alphabet. “Afraid I don’t, mate,” he said, slipping a hand into his pocket. “Otherwise, I’d know what to do about this.” He pulled out his own watch, and dangled it from the chain in between them. 

LABORATOIRE DE PHYSICO-CHIMIE DES POLYMÈRES ET INTERFACES

Lieu de travail: Cergy Ile-de-France France

Date limite de candidature: 18/01/2016

Description

La microfluidique se révèle aujourd’hui comme un des domaines émergents les plus dynamiques aussi bien dans le monde des biotechnologies que dans celui des sciences analytiques. La microfluidique se définit comme la manipulation de fluides aux…