// Professor Membrane X Reader //
"Poppies?"
"Yeah, they're my favorite."
. . .
"You're just as lnɟıʇnɐǝq as the day I lost you."
"How long ago was that?"
"Forever..."
- - - - - - - - -
He wasn't always the world renowned scientist. He once was...
A loud and energetic voice shouted from behind him, the joy nearly bubbling from their throat from the nickname alone.
"Yes, (Y/N)?" Membrane asked, feeling lucky that his lab coat covered his mouth. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that his nickname was amusing every time he heard it.
"I thought I told you to wait for me by the bus stop!" You huffed and puffed, skidding your jog to a stop as you finally caught up with your friend.
"No, you said for me to go on ahead of you, right as you left the classroom."
"No, I specifically remember saying for you to wait for me by the bus stop." You held your head high, a smile being horribly held back. Your hair was ruffled slightly by the wind of the June draft.
"You said that this morning and then changed your mind the moment the bell rang - again." He sighed, knowing that your mischievous and useless arguments were only meant to fill silence.
"It doesn't matter anymore! We missed the bus!" You quickly changed the subject, a grin spreading on your face as you knew his next response would be -
"Well, then I guess we have to walk home." He said, glad that his time with you extended. "So... what'd you get in trouble for this time?"
"How come you just automatically assume I got in trouble? What if I was getting an award huh? One that you don't have?" They walked slowly, hoping to prolong the arrival to their final destination.
"That's not scientifically possible." He muttered, getting elbowed in the side as you threw your arm over his shoulders.
"Stop rubbing your genius in my face!" . . .
The two of them continued down the road, laughter and joy in their voices.
The sun set behind them in orange, pink, and purple hues, as they walked home together.
It would be the last time for decades.
____________________________________________
The memory burned in his mind, it was the last memory of (Y/N) but the first of them that he recalled. Such a sad paradox. But now they stood in front of him as he waited for an explanation, a reason to believe that they were really a part of him that he'd lost.
"So..." You began awkwardly. "How have you been?" The silence between the two of you stretched on.
Then suddenly, Membrane chuckled and burst into laughter. "Seriously? That's the first thing you ask after all these years?" His voice was laced with both humor and disbelief, and behind it all, you could hear the hurt.
