Derek Gets to Know His New Partner

"Dust. I hate dust. I hope she doesn't notice all the dust," Derek thought as he ushered Emma into his apartment. He took a moment to observe his new partner. At about 5'10", Derek wasn't particularly tall, but he felt like a giant next to Emma. Her hair was in a bun, with a loose strand hanging down her face. Her baggy sweatsuit did little to capture Derek's interest beyond a surface level. He was pretty picky about women, which clashed sharply with his inability to get any to talk with him. Derek certainly didn't hate women but saw them as a distraction. There would be plenty of time for dating when he was done with school; at least, that's what he thought.

"Let me take your backpack," Derek offered, gently holding out his hand. He couldn't tell if Emma flinched at the gesture or if it was just his imagination. 'Stop being so paranoid, I'm not gonna do anything...' he thought. His arm remained awkwardly extended towards Emma, who was eyeing his hand. Derek cleared his throat, drawing her attention away from his hand.

"Sorry, it just takes me a little time to get adjusted to new places," she explained, passing her backpack to Derek. He had noticed earlier, but now Emma's hands were shaking slightly again. She crossed her arms tightly, seemingly to steady them.

Derek hid his concern and directed Emma toward the couch, "Well, feel free to treat the place like your own. And honestly, I get it. I hate new places too; I'm the type of guy who reads the menu before going to a new restaurant." Derek's mind wandered back to the takeout menus still neatly laid out on the counter. "Oh, before I forget," he said, interrupting his own thoughts. "If you get hungry, let me know. I can order us some food later. Just thought I'd offer since we'll probably be working late."

Emma shook her head, "thanks for the offer, I'm happy to pay since you're letting me-"

"Don't worry about that," Derek interrupted. "We can split it. That is if you want." He paused, waiting for her response.

"Yeah, okay. Sure," Emma said, giving him a nervous half-smile.

"So, uh, let me give you the tour; that might help you get comfortable," Derek said, his voice uncertain. He was suddenly aware of the inadequacy of my apartment. "It's not much, but it's mine, I guess."

He started with the living room, gesturing to the couch and the makeshift study area he had set up. "This is where the magic happens," he joked half-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood. Derek's workbench contained various tools and electronics, "This is where I tinker with different projects and build stuff. If we're gonna do this, I figured we might need to use some of the gear."

He then gestured for Emma to follow him, "Down the hall is my bedroom and to the right of that is the bathroom. You already saw the kitchen when you walked in. The boxes and shelves are mostly filled with some from my old projects," Derek said.

"It's really nice," Emma replied, nodding appreciatively. Her gaze lingered on the shelves full of electronics, and Derek felt a spark of pride.

"Awww. Who's this cute guy?!" Emma giggled as she pointed to a framed picture of a dog.

"That's Laika," Derek said while picking up a framed picture of the dog. We adopted him when I was in high school. I'm not really sure where he came from; he just showed up one day, and I begged my Mom to let me keep him."

"He's super cute, we only had cats growing up," Emma laughed.

Derek smiled shyly and set down the frame, "Yeah, Laika was the best. The vet said he was some mix of Husky, Terrier, and Samoyed."

"Was cute? What happened to him- I- If you don't mind me asking?" Emma asked. The momentary sense of relief she felt instantly vanished.

Derek frowned and replied quietly, "He got cancer; surgery was too expensive. You know how it goes." He returned the picture on the shelf, "Anyway, that's pretty much it for the tour. Let's get to work."

Emma frowned and quietly followed Derek to the workbench. She pulled up a spare chair in the corner so they could sit beside each other while working. "So, what's the plan?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Derek smiled slightly, grateful for the topic shift. "Well, I was thinking we could use Pavlov's experiment with his dogs as a baseline and then modify it with the goal of breaking habits, you know?"

"Wait, that's a great idea! We could build something to compare the long-term effects of positive vs. negative reinforcement. You know, like what breaks a habit faster and what avoids relapse," Emma said excitedly.

"Exactly," Derek replied with a grin. "One of us could pick a habit we want to break, and then we find a way to send positive and negative stimuli to break it," he continued, getting more animated.

Emma bit her lip thoughtfully. "Or maybe we do both positive and negative? That way we can compare results."

"Good point," Derek agreed.

The dynamic within the room was completely different. Both Derek and Emma exuded enthusiasm and passion for the subject matter that would impress anyone watching.

"One of us could be the subject, to break a habit, and the other could do the work of monitoring vitals and writing up the report. You know, gather data," Emma added, pulling out her laptop to write notes.

Derek nodded. "Okay, but who's gonna be the subject? Any preference? I'd rather be the monitor if I'm being honest."

Emma thought for a moment. "Hmm, I kind of want to be the monitor too... How about we just leave it up to chance?"

"Sounds good to me," Derek replied with a shrug. "Coin flip?"

Emma agreed, and Derek walked to the kitchen to grab a quarter.

"Heads, you're the monitor; tails, I'm the monitor," Derek called out from the other room. He returned, holding the quarter between his thumb and index finger. "Sound good? Ready?"

"Yup," Emma replied, leaning forward slightly.

Derek flipped the coin, but his thumb didn't catch its edge quite right, sending the quarter flying through the air. "Shit!"

"Where'd it go?!" Emma said, frantically searching the ground.

"Don't worry, it's got to be around here somewhere," Derek said, bending down to search for the coin. After a minute of searching, he found it had rolled under the couch, landing cleanly on heads. Face against the floor, he hesitated momentarily before extending his hand to grab it.

"Fuck..." Derek whispered to himself. His mind began to race as his hand inched closer to the quarter.

"Did you find—" Emma said with concern, standing above him as he reached under the couch.

Before she could finish her sentence, Derek realized the position he was in. He quickly flipped the coin to tails and got up off the ground.

"Looks like it's tails. Go look for yourself," Derek said, standing next to Emma.

"Oh," Emma got onto the floor, surprised, and verified the coin's position for herself. "Well, uh, looks like I'm the subject."

Emma held out her hand and snagged the coin, examining it closely. "Alright, well... let's get to work!" Her voice was uncertain and nervous.

"Yeah, let's start brainstorming ideas," Derek said, reaching into his bag to grab his laptop.