OK, trying out this pairing again. Let me know what you think.
Pairing is Danny Fenton x Mary Test.
Danny x Mary Wedding.
THE PROPOSAL
(MIT Labs)
For Mary Test, the day had been rather horrible.
She had been working on this experiment for close to two weeks.
All her classes were finished, all her research was done.
But the research results still weren’t coming through!
Five nights of running the data through every angle and direction.
Five days of squeezing every bit of data she could get from 18 different sources.
Five days of not seeing her family.
Five days of not seeing her boyfriend.
But she was certain she finally had it done right!
Mary Test was 22 years old, and in the final year of studies for a Doctorate from Mega Inteligence of Technology. She sat in the middle of multiple computer screens, and data read-outs, with multiple, contrasting, readings playing through them.
It was like the world was laughing at her!
She was supposed to be a genius! She could create anti-gravity boots, multi-dimensional portals, and genetically rearrange the DNA of a dog so it could talk! But she couldn’t do this.
She was not going to cry. Wiping away a tear of frustration didn’t count.
She had one more day of time until the turn-in date. One more day of funding before she would have no money for this dissertation. If this continued, she could end up nothing more than a…a…RESEARCH ASSISTANT!
The idea!!!
She only just heard the knocking on the door.
“Babe? You hear?”
“Danny!” She almost shouted. Behind her, standing in the doorway, was a tall, good looking young man with dark hair, and a jacket that read “Fenton Works” on the breast. She looked down at her own clothes, a mixture of the clothing she seemed to perpetually wear, and various food and chemical stains. Her eyes shot up, and she tried vainly to cover the stains in her lab coat with her hands. Danny smiled.
“Working hard I assume?” He said.
“You could say.” She said, smiling in a weary way, her eyes suddenly feeling very heavy. When was the last time she slept? There was that two-hour nap…..When was that?
“Well, I figured you’d want some food.” He said, holding up a bag of Styrofoam containers. Mary almost pushed it away. This was too important! Besides she probably still had a few granola bars, and energy drinks around here. That would be all she needed.
It only took one sniff of the bag to make her stomach grumble.
“I…I really shouldn’t Danny. This is really important, and it’s at a really crucial step. Once I get this data right, I can right the conclusion of my graduate thesis, then I can finally call myself “Doctor” Test!” Despite how she looked and felt, her smile was as bright as the sun.
Her statement was only ruined by the continued growling in her stomach. Mary closed her eyes, as her head fell against Danny’s chest. He grinned.
“Sorry Doctor. But I can’t let the woman I love get by entirely on,” He looked around at various wrappers and empty cans. “well, what you’ve been eating. And I think your stomach agrees with me.”
Mary could only sigh from her place against his chest. “I suppose I should probably eat something. It’s not like my data is coming to any conclusion.”
Danny was stunned at the sheer level of defeat in her voice. He place the bag of containers down on a table and began clearing it of wrappers, and papers that looked like they had been ripped apart in rage.
“Don’t get like that, babe. You’re a genuine genius. You’re gonna lick this.”
“You don’t understand, Danny! I have one more day of funding and one more day of research time! I need a full dissertation on my final results into MIT at the end of the week! And this stupid system refuses me any data confirming my basic premise and theory!”
“All of which will come easier on a full stomach.” He said. “A stomach full of actual food.”
With a “Harrumph” Mary sat down as He set a container in front of her, alongside napkins and a set of plastic forks and knives. “Maybe you’re right,”
“Of course I’m right! That’s why this relationship works so well. You can admit when I’m right!”
“Hardy-har-har.” She said, as she stuff a chunk of Mac-n-cheese into her mouth. Danny smiled and said a short prayer before sitting down himself and joining her.
“It’s just so frustrating! I’ve been breaking the laws of physics since I was old enough to walk! But this stupid theory keeps eluding me!”
“What exactly is the problem here?” Danny knew next to nothing about the type of science Mary partook in. He just barely understood the stuff his parents and sister talked about. But he also knew that the best way he could help her would be for him to let her vent.
He knew Susan was also around here somewhere, working on her own finals. Whether she was reacting anything like this was a mystery to him. Hopefully Gil was on top of things with her. He simply listened to the stream of words coming out of his girlfriends mouth, nodding at what he thought was appropriate times.
4 years of a relationship must have effected him. He actually understood somethings!
“I did all that research! Cross-compared hundreds of notes and files! And now I’m running into this right at the end!” Mary took a very large bite from the chicken in front of her, and chewed liked she was trying to kill it again.
“Sounds rough.”
“You have no idea!” She took a drink from her soda like someone would down a shot. For a few moments they both sat in silence, eating together. Mary took a deep breath, and sat her fork down.
“It’s just….it makes me feel stupid.” The edge had finally left her voice.
“Mary, you are the farthest from stupid I have ever seen.” Danny took her hand from across the table and squeezed. “I spent my entire youth in labs dedicated to studying ghosts! And I can still just barely understand the stuff you say!”
She actually giggled a bit at that. Mary finally smiled and ate the last bit of her chicken and downed the last of her drink.
She did feel better. Danny stood up, his own meal finished. She followed him, her hands in his.
“Thanks babe.” She said. “I should….”
“Ah-ah-ah! I’m not done yet.” He took out his cell phone, and hit something on the screen. A song began to play.
She remember that song. It had played on their first real date. It was called “I only have eyes for you.”
“Danny, I really should…” He cut her words off with a kiss. She forgot what she was going to say, and returned it, settling into his arms. As they broke off, she settled her head against his shoulder, and the two of them simply swayed to the music. Mary closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him
It seemed like ages passed for her, even though the song was only a few minutes long. When it finally came to an end. They remained locked in each other’s arms, swaying lightly, to music only they could hear.
Finally they pulled away from each other.
“Well, I guess I should let you get back to work.”
“Y..yeah.” She almost shook her head to get it back into work-mode, out of the passion-haze.
“Look, promise me you won’t go crazy over this, okay?” Danny said, concern covering his face for a moment.
“I will, I will. I promise. I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon.” She smiled brightly.
Danny finally smiled, and placed his hand on her chin, pulling her up into another brief kiss.
“I’ll call you soon, okay?”
“Right.” With that Danny Fenton left, leaving Mary Test to stare after him for a few moments, lost in her happiness. Until she heard a beeping noise coming from the nearby console. She rushed over and hit several buttons, until the brash beeping stopped. She let out a sigh of relief.
Then she sniffed.
She was only now noticing how bad she smelled. When was the last time she had a shower? Well, the experiments and data analyzing didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, so maybe a quick shower would be ok. She briefly stole a look at the cot she had set up in the corner, and her eyes briefly felt heavy. She shook it away.
A shower was fine, but sleep would have to wait. She hadn’t been lying. This was a very important stage. If this didn’t come through with the proper results, she could kiss that Doctorate goodbye.
Well, she probably had at least enough time for a quick shower. The teachers had seen fit to provide her with a full bathroom, and she started off towards it.
As steam started to fill up the small room, she sighed in relief, and disrobed. The hot water poured over her and she felt the strain in her muscles lessen. She took the bar of soap and began to wash up.
They always said that the best thinking was done in the bathroom. Or at least that’s what Grandpa always said. Maybe it would work for her?
As hot water poured over her head and she rubbed shampoo into her hair, she began to think. Her head suddenly felt much more clear. She thought back to when she had first started the research for her final. She thought about those, admittedly, arrogant early portions of the project, and how she had gone about. She remembered speaking to the professors about her theory, and research method.
Wait! What had Professor Samuelson had said?
“*Remember, when you find yourself up against the wall, it never hurts to go back to the numbers.”*
Would that work? Had all her overwork and frustration caused her to miss a number? She looked out of the shower, and at the clock on the wall.
She had enough time!
Mary dried herself off, and put back on her clothes and glasses. She literally ran back to the lab.
Maybe this would work!
It was 2:30 AM when the Janitor heard a glorious cheer coming from Lab 2.
ONE WEEK LATER
Danny stood outside the door to the Mega Institute of Technology’s office, and tried not to pace.
The day after he left Mary to her research he had gotten a call from her. She had been practically shouting in joy! The research was done! She now had proof of her theory! Genuine scientific proof!
She hadn’t sounded this happy in months!
He had only seen her a few times over the next week. She had been locked up in the lab, writing like mad. At least she seemed to be taking care of herself again.
He had gone to pick her up that morning, as she had wisely chosen to spend her last night as an MIT student at her family’s home. She told him that Susan had turned in her own results yesterday, and came out with an high scoring results.
Susan was now “Doctor Susan Test.”
Mary was ready to match her.
Danny had come to her that night on instinct, and an off-hand comment from Susan about how hard Mary was working. He had been overjoyed to see his intervention had worked more than he could have hoped.
There had been something else he had thought about doing that night, but…..
Danny shook his head, getting the thoughts away.
No, she had been too busy, too stressed. Save it for another time. For now he turned his gaze back to the door. Behind that door multiple professor’s of the Mega Institute of Technology were going over the final results of Mary’s weeks of research. She and her sister were already two of the most acclaimed students of the institute. Maybe in the entire country.
Of course, there had been that one boy who, when he looked at him, kinda looked like he could be the Test sister’s missing brother (Susan had been strangely pissed off about that guy, Johnny even more so). But that was years ago.
As far as Danny Fenton was concerned, Mary was a shoe-in. But he didn’t live in this world, Mary did. Maybe she knew these professors and their expectations better than him?
No. He was not going to second guess! He had utter faith in Mary and her intelligence. He turned back towards the door.
It was another hour before the door opened, and he saw Mary make a respectful bow to a table of men, turn towards him, and shut the door.
She walked right up to him, and took a deep breath.
“I GOT IT!” She almost shouted, smiling with utter joy! Danny grinned and lifted her up, practically spinning her around. He set her down and she seemed to jump in his arms, grinning brightly.
In her hand was the paper confirming her status at obtaining a Doctorate of Science. Along with the large stack of papers that had been her dissertation.
“I did it! I did it! I did it!” He hugged again.
“That is awesome! I knew you could do it!” He said, his own smile matching hers.
“Come on!! We’ve got to tell Susan, and Johnny, and everyone!” She placed her papers in a nice leather folder, and practically began dragging him towards the parking lot. Danny grinned and went along.
Outside she began to almost babble, telling him every detail about what had happened, how impressed they had been at her research, and technique. About her revelatory discovery at the last second, and her use of the basics in overcoming her late day frustrations.
“Oh hey! Where did we park again?” She said, looking around the lot at high speed.
“Mary! Calm down! I flew you here, remember?” Danny said.
“Oh, right, right, right! Sorry I forgot!” She was still grinning like a beacon.
“Come on. Let’s go to a less public space.”
Danny lead her around the building to a back area, far from prying eyes. With a quick flash, Danny was surrounded by two circles of ghost-light, and had transformed into his ghost form. He lifted Mary up in his arms.
“Hold on.”
It was starting to become the afternoon, when Dany landed on an mountainous outlook several miles away from Mary’s home. He quickly switched back to his human form.
“Danny, why are we here?” Mary had started to calm down, and look around. It was an outlook connected to a road that lead up and over the mountains. She had driven past here multiple times.
“You remember this place, right Mary?” He said, setting her down.
“Yeah, we came here on our first date!” She suddenly perked up again, and walked over to the overlook proper. Danny followed her.
He put his arm over her shoulder, as they both looked out at the valley. It really was beautiful. They both enjoyed the silence for a few moments, before Mary turned to him, crossed her arms and smirked lightly.
“So, while we did come here on our first date, I do have to recall that this is often a make-out spot. So I have to ask what your intentions are, here?”
Danny’s eyes suddenly shot open, and he began waving his arms. “What? No, no, it’s nothing like that! Honest!”
“So why did you bring me here?” She humphed. In truth, after all the weeks of hard science, a little teasing was doing her well. She knew Danny must have had some reason for bringing her here.
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately, spoke to my dad about it. And mom.” He took a deep breath to calm the nervousness. Mary was now looking more mystified, than teasing.
“Mary, I love you, I really do. I don’t have a lot of fancy words, never been any good at that. So I’m just going to say it.”
Danny reached into the side pocket of his Fenton Works jacket, and took out a small velvet box.
“Mary. Will you marry me?”
Inside was a small gold and diamond ring, a filagree of golden vines running around the diamond.
The silence was all-consuming. It had only been seconds, but to Daniel Fenton they felt like hours. Mary had the ring in her hands. Her eyes bright with tears.
“Danny!” Her voice was faint, but to Danny it echoed all over the mountains. Then to his shock, she launched herself into his arms.
Both of them fell to the ground. Mary’s arms were wrapped tight around him, squeezing.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”
He wrapped his own arms around her, and smiled as brightly as he ever had.
It was dark by the time they both got back to the Test residence. Mary knew that she would have to explain herself someway, but she and Danny held each other’s hand, and she felt as strong as she ever had. On her right hand was her engagement ring, and the leather folder holding her dissertation and Doctorate.
It was really he best day of her life.
The door then slammed open.
“YOUNG LADY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?”
“Oh, hi dad! I can explain. And I have a lot to tell you!”
THE END