[this is an excerpt from my fic "laboratory mishap"! @n3ptoonz on ao3]

"... it's a little crazy they only have two people working on this. After midnight."

"You can say that again."

"I was having such a cool dream too. I went to space and befriended an alien but I was woken up before it could end."

"That's...wow."

"How about you? Any dreams? Or, what were you doing before you were called here?"

"Also attempting to dream but I got in two hours before my phone rang."

"Damn... that sucks. It's nice to have company though-"

His next words weren't of importance once the sound of the dish vibrating grabbed both your attention. He's quick to act and look at it through the scope but there's nothing alarming.

"Um, okay, I'm not sure what the hell is going on but-"

The dish shatters.

You two share a look for one second before bolting out of the room and sealing the door shut. Chests heaving and hearts racing.

00:21:23

"... what the hell was that?" He spoke first.

"I did not think it would react like that," you said, "the astrophage holds only so much density due to its size but..."

"I think we need a break," he added. Blinking a few times and tugging on his collar that suddenly got tight around his neck.

"I agree," you said as you adjusted your glasses and also fixed your collar the same way he did.

He didn't move from where he was standing. His eyes kind of just wandered around the room like he just registered where he was. Then his gaze landed on the coffee cups he saw when he came in.

"Not to be, like, judgy or anything," he starts, "but are those five empty coffee cups yours?"

You slowly turn to him.

"What?"

"You already asked me that."

"..."

"..."

"...I feel weird," he said with a slow blink. His vision started to get fuzzy and subtly warping when he tried to focus. "You look..." he takes a pause while trying to find the right word.

"Weird?" You try to finish his sentence. But truth be told you couldn't make out how to describe how he looked in your eyes either.

"...pretty," he said. In his mind he's wondering if he actually said that out loud. "I mean, um...no I meant that," he added. "I just don't know why I said that out loud."