First time for everything

[marenpaisley]

So after lurking in various fandoms for the last 13 years, I finally popped my fic-posting cherry over at mohinder_gen. Erm... that probably wasn't the best analogy for the situation, but there you go. : ) Quite simply, I love Mohinder, I love Molly, and I love... reading about daily life? Yeah, something like that. :D

Title: Universal Understanding
Author: marenpaisley
Characters: Mohinder and Molly
Rating: G
Spoilers: Early Season 2
Notes: beta kindly provided by seraphtrevs. Other notes are at the end of the story.
Summary: Common experiences build bridges between those who, ordinarily, are extraordinarily different. This is one such experience.

Mohinder was thankfully awakened by a tentative hand on his shoulder and concerned eyes seeking his own.

“Mohinder? Are you all right?” Molly stared at him from where she stood next to his desk chair. Judging by the pain in his neck, he’d apparently fallen asleep in front of his laptop again.

He smiled sleepily. “Yes, thank you.”

“Were you having bad dreams? Was it...Sylar?” She frowned sadly in commiseration.

Mohinder was proud of her for not calling him ‘the boogeyman’ any longer. He leaned over and gave her a quick hug, smiling into her hair. “No, it wasn’t about Sylar.”

“Was it a grown-up thing?” she asked as they pulled away.

He considered this. “No, it wasn’t a grown-up thing, but... well, I’m afraid that you’ll laugh.” He put on a sheepish face.

“I promise I won’t! Maybe I can help you.”

“All right then, I’ll tell you. I was dreaming about ... bugs.”

“Bugs? But they’re not scary.”

“No, you’re right, they’re not. Do you know what--,” Drosophila was not a helpful name at this instance – what was the English? – oh, yes, “-- a fruit fly is?”

“Are they the tiny little bugs that come in with the bananas sometimes?”

“That’s right – very good. Well, a long time ago when I was at university, I was taking a class that would help me to understand genes. But to do that, we had to study fruit flies. We would raise lots of them in little tubes then look at them under a microscope.”

“Were they your pets?”

“Um, not so much, no. But we did have to make sure they had plenty of food and that they lived in a comfortable temperature. Fruit flies don’t like to be too hot or too cold.”

“What did you feed them? Did you squish bananas into the tubes?”

“They actually ate a blue paste that was in the bottom. They laid their eggs in it, too.”

She pulled a face. “Ew, really? That sounds gross.”

“Well, I never heard them complain.”

“Mohinder! That’s silly - bugs don’t talk. So why’d you dream about them?”

“Well, when you study them with the microscope, you have to be very careful that you don’t squash them because they are so small. For one thing, it’s very messy and, well, disturbing to see them squashed up close, and for another, you can’t study them for what they look like when they’re ... no longer bug-shaped. And in my dream, I squashed them by accident, and I had to start raising them all over. And while that’s not scary, it made me sad to think about the poor fruit flies, as well as how in trouble I was going to get with my lab partner. So, it wasn’t a good dream, I would say.”

“You still dream about school? Even though you haven’t been in school for, like, forever?”

Mohinder choked back a laugh. “I think many people have similar dreams, no matter how long since they were last in school.”

“Is it like those dreams you have about your spelling test, but since you can’t read in your dreams, you always get the questions all wrong?” He nodded. “Oh, I don’t like those dreams, either. You’re right, they’re not scary. But you don’t sleep good when you have them.”

“That's an excellent observation. Likewise, I don't believe that either of us will sleep well here at my desk tonight. Come, I think it’s time for bed. You have school tomorrow, and I’m sure that you’re going to do fine on your spelling test.”

Molly grinned. “I know I will because you helped me to study the words.”

“And now all you need is a good night’s sleep to let all of that hard work sink in.”

“I call the bathroom first!” she cried and skipped off.

Mohinder turned his attention back to his laptop. Tapping the touchpad, he minimized the paper he had been reading, leaving the computer’s wallpaper visible. Perhaps it was time to remove the giant SEM picture of a Drosophila head and replace it with something a little more benign...

---

Author's notes: Unlike the picture linked to above, light microscopes are what are commonly used in undergraduate genetics courses; SEMs (scanning electron microscopes) are much too sophisticated (and expensive!) for such common use. The image was found at this electron microscopy page.

This scene was inspired by a recurring dream I've had since college. The trouble is, Mohinder's fears in this story stem from reality. Poor little fruit flies... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. : )