Gift for Mustangcandi: "Imagine..." (numb3rs fic)
Title: Imagine...
Author: Keenir.
Written for: Mustangcandi. Happy Birthday!
Thanks to Sororcula for the last-minute beta.
Summary: David, Nikki, and Colby want to know how Charlie's date with Liz went...and they won't stop until they get an answer.
Characters: Charlie Eppes, Liz Warner, David Sinclair, Colby Granger, Nikki Betancourt, Amita Ramanujan, Don Eppes, mention of Ian Edgerton.
Pairing: Charlie/Liz, allusion to past Don/Liz.
Warning: Reference to the movie 2001, and to a scifi/fantasy cliche.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. They belong to the owners of NUMB3RS.
Note: yes, I know it is sacreligious….but in this ‘verse, Charlie thinks Liz is prettier than God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So?" David asked. "How'd it go?"
"How did what go?" Charlie asked.
"You know what we're talking about," Colby said. "Your date last night."
"Spill," Nikki said.
"I'm sorry," Charlie said, "but I can't do that."
"We're not asking for the sweaty details," Colby said. "No play-by-play. Just an outline of the evening."
"Sweaty details?" Nikki asked him.
Colby shrugged. "Never know."
"Imagine..." David prompted.
Charlie sighed. "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you, are you?"
All three of them smiled sweetly at him.
"Fine. Imagine if you will, a tiny deerfly, one of the fastest insects on Earth. It moves through the air at speeds equal to that of the peregrine falcon - two hundred ten miles per hour."
Nikki shook her head. Poor Liz.
"So not only is it fast," Charlie said, still talking, "but it's also incredibly hard to see."
Poor Liz, Colby thought to himself.
"And while the odds of catching a deerfly haven't been codified into a formula, they can be summed up in the following equation," Charlie said, writing up numbers and signs on the chalkboard. At the end of it, he put up = the odds of me telling you.
Everyone looked at each other. "Did he just do that?" David asked.
"I'm surprised it took him this long," Colby said.
"I'll talk to Edgerton," Nikki said. "I'm sure he can hit a deerfly."
"Be sure to mention it’s for a good cause," Colby said. To Charlie, "So, since you're so tight-lipped about it, that means something definitely happened, right?"
"Or is it just that a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell?" David asked.
"There was kissing?"
“ ‘Course there was kissing," Nikki said. "It was a date."
"That doesn't mean there was kissing," Colby said.
"Just when I don't think Idaho can get any weirder..."
Charlie was taking this opportunity to sneak out of the room, but he had to stop short of the door in order to avoid bumping headlong into Liz. They smiled at one another.
"Aw," David said, echoed by Nikki and Colby.
Liz shook her head at them as Charlie took some of the rolled-up maps from her, lessening her load. Amita, who'd come in with her, put the maps on the table alongside Charlie's and Liz's.
"So how was it?" Nikki asked Liz.
"How was what?" Liz asked.
"The date."
"What date? Charlie's our consultant."
Colby asked, "So the two of you were out late last night, alone...consulting?"
"Probably by candlelight," Nikki agreed.
"Colby," David said. "I'd take a bullet for you - but I'd not go on a date for you."
Liz sighed. "If we tell you, then can we get back to work?"
Three heads nodded.
Liz turned to Charlie and nodded. "Imagine..."
Charlie smiled. "Imagine the largest number you can think of. No matter how big it is, the fact that you can imagine it and that you have a name for it, that means that the number is limited, bound, finite."
"There is no joy in the finite, eh?" Colby asked.
Amita's eyebrows went up at the quote from the Chandogya Upanishad, and made a note to talk to him later
"The conversation and company last night were far beyond the mathematical equivalence of your number," Charlie said to them all.
"So you're saying that our mortal minds can't conceive of how good a time you two had?" David asked.
Just then, Don stuck his head in the room. "Before you start pontificating, Charlie, don't - how many times do I have to tell you not to compare Liz with God?"
Charlie ducked his head. "Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Don said. “I know to you, God always comes in second place,” and Don left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
Author’s notes: the phrase “there is no joy in the finite” comes from the Chandogya Upanishad…so says the book Zero: a history.
Author: Keenir.
Written for: Mustangcandi. Happy Birthday!
Thanks to Sororcula for the last-minute beta.
Summary: David, Nikki, and Colby want to know how Charlie's date with Liz went...and they won't stop until they get an answer.
Characters: Charlie Eppes, Liz Warner, David Sinclair, Colby Granger, Nikki Betancourt, Amita Ramanujan, Don Eppes, mention of Ian Edgerton.
Pairing: Charlie/Liz, allusion to past Don/Liz.
Warning: Reference to the movie 2001, and to a scifi/fantasy cliche.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. They belong to the owners of NUMB3RS.
Note: yes, I know it is sacreligious….but in this ‘verse, Charlie thinks Liz is prettier than God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So?" David asked. "How'd it go?"
"How did what go?" Charlie asked.
"You know what we're talking about," Colby said. "Your date last night."
"Spill," Nikki said.
"I'm sorry," Charlie said, "but I can't do that."
"We're not asking for the sweaty details," Colby said. "No play-by-play. Just an outline of the evening."
"Sweaty details?" Nikki asked him.
Colby shrugged. "Never know."
"Imagine..." David prompted.
Charlie sighed. "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you, are you?"
All three of them smiled sweetly at him.
"Fine. Imagine if you will, a tiny deerfly, one of the fastest insects on Earth. It moves through the air at speeds equal to that of the peregrine falcon - two hundred ten miles per hour."
Nikki shook her head. Poor Liz.
"So not only is it fast," Charlie said, still talking, "but it's also incredibly hard to see."
Poor Liz, Colby thought to himself.
"And while the odds of catching a deerfly haven't been codified into a formula, they can be summed up in the following equation," Charlie said, writing up numbers and signs on the chalkboard. At the end of it, he put up = the odds of me telling you.
Everyone looked at each other. "Did he just do that?" David asked.
"I'm surprised it took him this long," Colby said.
"I'll talk to Edgerton," Nikki said. "I'm sure he can hit a deerfly."
"Be sure to mention it’s for a good cause," Colby said. To Charlie, "So, since you're so tight-lipped about it, that means something definitely happened, right?"
"Or is it just that a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell?" David asked.
"There was kissing?"
“ ‘Course there was kissing," Nikki said. "It was a date."
"That doesn't mean there was kissing," Colby said.
"Just when I don't think Idaho can get any weirder..."
Charlie was taking this opportunity to sneak out of the room, but he had to stop short of the door in order to avoid bumping headlong into Liz. They smiled at one another.
"Aw," David said, echoed by Nikki and Colby.
Liz shook her head at them as Charlie took some of the rolled-up maps from her, lessening her load. Amita, who'd come in with her, put the maps on the table alongside Charlie's and Liz's.
"So how was it?" Nikki asked Liz.
"How was what?" Liz asked.
"The date."
"What date? Charlie's our consultant."
Colby asked, "So the two of you were out late last night, alone...consulting?"
"Probably by candlelight," Nikki agreed.
"Colby," David said. "I'd take a bullet for you - but I'd not go on a date for you."
Liz sighed. "If we tell you, then can we get back to work?"
Three heads nodded.
Liz turned to Charlie and nodded. "Imagine..."
Charlie smiled. "Imagine the largest number you can think of. No matter how big it is, the fact that you can imagine it and that you have a name for it, that means that the number is limited, bound, finite."
"There is no joy in the finite, eh?" Colby asked.
Amita's eyebrows went up at the quote from the Chandogya Upanishad, and made a note to talk to him later
"The conversation and company last night were far beyond the mathematical equivalence of your number," Charlie said to them all.
"So you're saying that our mortal minds can't conceive of how good a time you two had?" David asked.
Just then, Don stuck his head in the room. "Before you start pontificating, Charlie, don't - how many times do I have to tell you not to compare Liz with God?"
Charlie ducked his head. "Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Don said. “I know to you, God always comes in second place,” and Don left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
Author’s notes: the phrase “there is no joy in the finite” comes from the Chandogya Upanishad…so says the book Zero: a history.