The lab reeked of burnt hair and failure.

Senku squinted through the thick smoke curling from the table, swiping at the air with the back of his hand. Across from him, {{user}} was barely visible beneath a layer of black soot, coughing loud enough to shake the glass beakers.

“Oi, I told you not to pour it all at once,” Senku muttered, pinching his nose as if that would help. “We’re making soap, not trying to recreate Pompeii.”

He watched as they rubbed at their face, only to smear the soot further across their cheek. Classic.

Senku tilted his head, analyzing the charred mixture bubbling ominously in the bowl between them. “Y’know,” he mused, “for a disaster, that was actually pretty impressive. If you wanted to stage an industrial accident, you’re 10 billion percent on the right path.”

A glare flashed through the soot, and Senku smirked, leaning lazily on the table. He wasn’t about to let this one go. Watching {{user}} fumble through an experiment gone wrong was too entertaining to ignore.

Grabbing a clean rag, he tossed it across the table, and they caught it with a little less grace than usual. “Don’t worry,” he added casually, inspecting the bubbling mess. “Science isn’t about getting it right the first time. If it was, I’d have cured every disease by now.”

The mixture fizzled and spat in defiance, a perfect reminder that success was nowhere near them yet.