Title: Facts of Life 
Author: Rainee Scott 
E-Mail: ringolgm@yahoo.com 
Rating: PG 
Category: SHR 
Spoilers: 
Keywords: Langly/other romance 
Summary: Gunman in love.  What happens when a sarcastic rocker 
techie meets another sarcastic rocker techie who happens to be 
of the opposite sex?  I'm not sure either, but it makes for a 
hell of a fanfic. 
Archiving: Wherever, just drop me a line. 

Author's Notes: For the mailing list girls, who convinced me that 
the band thing just wasn't gonna work -- I like this a lot better, 
and I wouldn't have ever thought of it if it weren't for y'all.  A 
note to William Gibson: this is what girl-geeks are *really* like. 

Disclaimer: The boys are Carter's.  Minnie is mine. 

********** 

Kamikaze Gaming Studios 
Downtown Washington, DC 
9:27 PM 

"You think he'll mind us coming early?"  Byers followed Frohike 
through the front door of the small office building.  "He doesn't 
usually get off until around ten." 

Frohike shrugged off his companion's question.  "Trust me, if 
he's got something new going, he'll jump at the chance to show it 
off."  He stuck his head into the office Langly shared with a 
handful of other hardcoders; and frowned.  "Doesn't look like 
anybody's here..." 

"No way.  NO way.  It looks like a stork in a tutu."  A familiar 
voice came from an office down the hall, labeled as the design 
department.  Frohike and Byers exchanged a glance, then headed 
down the hallway, tentatively opening the door. 

Langly sat backwards on a computer chair, examining a computer 
screen full of imposing 3D models.  Next to him, hand on the 
mouse, was an unfamiliar girl.  She was tall for a woman, around 
five-foot-seven; with dark brown hair and green eyes.  Built a 
little heavier than most, wearing khaki capri pants and a white 
T-shirt with a Pink Floyd album cover printed on the front.  Her 
attention shifted from the computer screen to the door at the 
new arrivals, one eyebrow lifting questioningly.  "Can I help..." 

"Hey, you're early."  Langly interrupted her, pushing his chair 
back and waving the other two over.  "Guys, Minnie -- Minnie, the 
guys." 

Minnie smiled, leaning back long enough to shake each of their 
hands, then returning her attention to the screen.  "I've heard 
a lot about y'all," she noted, with a gentle Southern drawl to 
her voice. 

Byers lifted an eyebrow.  "Only good things, I hope?" 

Minnie bit her lip.  "Well, it depends on--" 

"Minnie's the graphics diva," Langly interrupted, gesturing at 
the slew of creatures onscreen; apparently trying to distract 
them from her answer.  "We make it run, she makes it look good. 
I finished up the last of the engine early, so we were just 
running over some of her villain concepts..." 

"Well, you were right," Frohike noted; glancing at the screen. 
"It does look like a stork in a tutu."  He and Byers took seats 
behind the two of them, observing the exchange. 

Minnie grinned, flipping through a few more images.  "Okay, how 
about this one?  I figure it won't take much to alter the attack 
from flames to ice or snow of some kind."  The figure onscreen 
resembled the Incredible Hulk, with long spikes protruding from 
the skull; in a dark shade of blue. 

Langly shook his head.  "Blue just doesn't say 'evil' to me.  It 
doesn't work quite right with his build." 

Minnie rolled her eyes.  "Right," she chided, offering him a 
slight smile.  "I suppose you want a black demon with red 
eyes just like every other game on the market has, huh?" 

Byers lifted an eyebrow at Frohike, who returned the confused 
look. 

Langly frowned.  "Well, not necessarily..."  He leaned over and 
changed a number value on the screen somewhere; shifting the 
creature's body color to white.  "There.  Blue can look evil on 
a female character, but it doesn't work with guys." 

Minnie nodded a bit, examining the screen.  "His eyes just 
vanished, though.  Not good."  She fiddled around with a few 
more bits of code, singing along with the radio.  "Hello... 
is there anybody in there..." 

"Just nod if you can hear me... is there anyone home?"  Langly 
finished the line, barely noticing himself doing so. 

Frohike grinned over at Byers.  "She's him with boobs," he 
mouthed silently; recieving no response but a sharp glare. 

"Here, try this."  Langly reset the glowing factor to the beast's 
eyes, then altered the color to the same dark blue that the body 
had been a few moments before. 

Minnie's eyebrows lifted.  "Definitely.  That's perfect."  She 
shook her head, grinning over at Langly.  "Just figures, though. 
I'm the one with the art degree and you always get the good 
ideas." 

Langly only smiled.  "Yeah, I'm just like that."  He stood up, 
grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair.  "That should 
about wrap things up for tonight... I'm done with that engine, 
though; so we need to go over the effects for some of the 
weapons." 

Minnie spun around in her chair, standing to face him as she 
leaned casually against the table; smiling disarmingly.  "Over 
dinner, maybe?  There's a Roadhouse Grill a few miles from here, 
near the river..."  She tilted her head down a bit, flitting her 
lashes slightly as she posed the question. 

Byers' eyebrows jumped to his hairline.  Frohike coughed slightly. 

"Sure," Langly said, shouldering his jacket on, facing somewhat 
in the other direction.  "Tomorrow night; 7:30 or so?  Meet you 
there?" 

Frohike glanced over at Byers disbelievingly.  "He's actually 
*falling* for this?" he muttered, low enough that Langly couldn't 
overhear.  Byers only shrugged, still gaping at the situation 
unfolding before them. 

"Sounds great," Minnie said, pushing up to sit on the edge of the 
desk.  "See you then?" 

"Sure."  Langly waved over his shoulder, striding out the door 
with Byers and Frohike following quickly behind him. 

Byers, with longer legs, caught up with him first.  "Do you have 
no idea what she's doing?" he asked; not so much questioning the 
girl's intent as his partner's ignorance of it. 

Langly blinked at him.  "What?  Talking code?  We need to get that 
worked out -- if the graphics don't fit the power and aerodynamics 
of the coded weapons, we all end up in mucho caca." 

"She's not thinking about the code," Frohike interjected; having 
made his way up to the other two.  "I've seen this happen a 
thousand times before to a thousand different guys.  Women are 
weird like that; they won't come out and say they're after you. 
They lay out little traps just like this one."  He stopped to 
take a breath.  "And you jumped into it with both feet." 

Langly stopped as he opened the door, glancing over his shoulder 
at the two of them.  He stood there and contemplated them for a 
moment, before the almost imperceptible smirk on his face spread 
into a reckless smile.  "Sure did, didn't I?" 

He pushed the door the rest of the way open, trotting out to the 
van as the other two Gunmen stood gaping in his wake. 

Byers scratched the back of his neck, staring after Langly as he 
started the van.  "What do you think of that," he murmured, 
almost to himself. 

Frohike grinned, folding his arms across his chest.  "I think our 
little misogynist is growing up..." 

********** 

Lone Gunmen HQ 
Undisclosed Location 
8:57 PM 
(next night) 

With six slow rhythmic clicks, the deadbolts of the front door 
unlocked.  Langly stepped in, walking quietly over to his desk 
and sitting down; booting up his computer as if nothing were out 
of the ordinary. 

It seemed to be just that; until he slowly became aware of his 
compadres' eyes burning holes in his back. 

He kicked at the side of his desk, turning to face them with an 
innocent expression.  "What?" 

"What do you mean what?"  Frohike leaned forward, elbows on his 
knees.  "What happened?" 

"We talked."  Langly shrugged.  "Went over the code and stuff. 
There's still a few more kinks to be worked out, but we've got 
the general outlines underway."  He leaned back in his chair, 
tapping his fingers a bit nervously on the armrests. 

Byers nodded, slowly.  "Right.  Now what *really* happened?" 

Langly sighed loudly, turning back to his desk.  "Guys, as much 
as I'd like to say I was bluffing, I'm not.  That's all that 
happened."  There was a distinctly disappointed tone to his 
voice.  "She didn't say anything, she didn't do anything..." 

"What was she wearing?"  Frohike slid his chair over, apparently 
ready to interrogate the youngest Gunman.  "She might have made 
a point in what she wore.  They do that sometimes." 

Langly shrugged again as Byers came over as well.  "A purple 
shirt she's worn to work a couple of times.  Denim shorts."  He 
paused.  "I mean, /short/ shorts.  Legs till next Tuesday.  More 
makeup than she usually wears.  And she had her hair braided -- 
she doesn't usually do anything with her hair." 

He paused a moment as his own words sank in.  His eyes lifted 
from his lap, shifting carefully between the two other men 
grinning at him like a couple of drunk baboons.  "You think..." 

"I think."  Frohike sat back, folding his arms.  "I definitely 
think.  She's got it bad, man." 

Langly swallowed, attempting to keep his composure; but he 
couldn't keep a sheepish grin from creeping across his face. 
"I... just... wow..." 

Byers lifted an eyebrow.  "I'd assumed from the way you've been 
acting that you felt the same way..." 

"Well, well, yeah, but--"  Langly tripped over his words, unable 
to find quite the right ones.  "It's just... I've never had a 
thing for a girl that had a thing *back*." 

Byers nodded sagely.  "It makes things easier, I can tell you. 
You don't have to impress her." 

"You don't have to impress her as *much*."  Frohike replied to 
Byers, then turned to Langly.  "Thing is, girls like to be 
impressed.  Nothing bowls a woman over like a guy trying to do 
something he knows she'll like."  He paused a moment, then 
continued.  "Even if something gets bumbled -- as corny as it 
sounds, it IS the thought that counts.  If she thinks you went 
to extra effort to make her happy, she'll appreciate it." 

"Extra effort."  Langly nodded slowly, chewing on his lip. "Like, 
say, if you know of a band she likes a lot -- and they're doing 
a concert in town, on her birthday -- taking her to that."  He 
fingered something in his pocket. 

"Well, yes."  Byers frowned.  "But you don't want to overwhelm 
her.  A small local concert, sure, but nothing like... like..." 

Langly swallowed uncomfortably, glancing down at the envelope he 
had pulled out of his pocket.  "Like Pink Floyd?" 

Silence fell over the room like an anvil dropped off an animated 
cliff. 

Frohike was the first to speak.  "Maybe it's a bit of overkill. 
I doubt it'd ruin the entire relationship, but..." 

Langly groaned, leaning back in his chair.  "Why don't you just 
go ahead and shoot me?" 

Byers shook his head.  "Innocent mistake.  You're just... 
inexperienced." 

Langly sighed.  "It sounded like a good idea at the time.  They 
happened to be in town, and it happened to be on her birthday, 
and I happened to know someone who could get me tickets, and I 
was going to go anyway..." 

"We get it, we get it."  Byers smiled, trying to be reassuring. 
"Look, she's a lot like you, right?  What would you do if she 
paid your way to a Pink Floyd concert on your birthday?" 

A pause.  "Marry her." 

Frohike smiled.  "You'll be fine, kid.  You told her about this 
plan of yours yet?" 

Langly sat up.  "I told her I was taking her out for her birthday, 
and to wear something casual but nice.  Didn't tell her where." 

"Does she know they're in town?" 

"I would think so... they're publicizing it out the wazoo." 

Byers was curiously silent.  Frohike glanced over.  "You got 
anything to say?" 

He paused, then shook his head.  "Of all the people I ever would 
have thought might ask me for dating advice..." 

Langly just smiled. 

********** 

Purple Creek Apartment Complex 
11:49 PM 
(three days later) 

"And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too; I'll see 
you on the dark siiiiide of the mooooon!"  The two of them were 
singing -- still singing.  They'd been singing since they stepped 
out of the stadium, all the way home and up the elevator, and now 
as they wandered down the hallway to her apartment door. 

Minnie leaned against the doorframe, grinning.  "I... wow.  I 
don't know what to say.  I just -- nobody's ever done anything 
like this for me before." 

"Not like I wasn't gonna go anyway."  Langly shrugged off the 
flattery. 

Minnie smiled.  "Really, though.  I don't think I've gotten 
anything really nice for my birthday since I was..."  She bit 
her lip, thinking back.  "...I dunno, 14 or so.  And I've 
definitely never gotten anything like this." 

Langly only shrugged again, leaning against the wall next to 
the door.  "Look -- I was going anyway.  I had the tickets 
already. Didn't have anyone to go with, and then I remembered 
it was your birthday..." 

"That isn't the point."  Minnie sounded a bit exasperated; but 
then she relaxed again.  "The point is that you *did* remember. 
And that you knew I wanted to go, and..."  She smiled up at him, 
a bit shyly.  "And you wanted to go with me.  That really means 
a lot."  Her voice suddenly became much quieter as she lifted 
her eyes to his. 

Langly smiled to himself.  "Well..."  He shuffled through words 
in his head, trying to find some that fit, but none of them 
seemed to.  "Glad you enjoyed it," he finally said, watching 
her for a reaction. 

"I did."  Minnie smiled, leaning against him on the wall; reaching 
up to brush a lock of hair softly behind his ear.  "And I can't 
think of anyone I would have rather enjoyed it with than you." 

Fifteen words.  They knocked the breath out of him like a right 
to the gut.  Langly tried to swallow the lump in his throat, 
eyes locked on hers -- he'd have looked the other way if it had 
been possible.  There was something surreal about the whole thing; 
all the crazy "true love" stuff that ancient poets and playwrights 
had gone on about... he'd never paid much attention to his English 
Lit lectures, but right now he wished he had.  What was he supposed 
to do?  What was there left to say? 

He took a breath, studying her eyes again.  It was painfully 
obvious now -- it didn't matter what he did.  There was an 
undeniable, almost tangible current in the air between them. 

And he kissed her. 

It wasn't a particularly phenomenal kiss -- gentle but deep, 
his hands resting on her hips.  He could feel her muscles tense 
at first, and for a moment he thought he'd overstepped his 
boundaries; but she relaxed a second later, wrapping her arms 
around his neck and stepping closer.  He slid his own arms around 
her waist, leaning against the wall.  So this was what all the 
fuss was about... it was just like they made it sound... 

Minnie pulled away first, looking as stunned as he felt -- her 
kiss still tasted like the chocolate mint ice cream they'd 
stopped to get on the way home.  They stood there, silent, 
neither one eager to break the moment. 

Langly finally spoke, reluctantly.  "See you tomorrow, then?" 

"Yeah."  Minnie smiled, then grinned.  "Tomorrow."  She leaned 
up to kiss him again, softly; then unlocked her door and went 
inside. 

He leaned there next to the door for a long moment, staring 
blankly at the wall ahead of him, before a slow grin spread 
across his face.  Still humming "Brain Damage" under his breath, 
he wandered down the hall to the elevator. 

********** 

Lone Gunmen HQ 
Undisclosed Location 
9:26 AM 

Byers was writing.  Or trying to.  He was finding it a bit 
hard to concentrate, given the sound coming from the bathroom. 
It wasn't the sound of the shower running that bothered him, 
or even the sound of the stereo playing. 

"Picture yourself on a train at a station, with plasticine 
porters in looking-glass tiiieeeees!..."  *That* was what was 
bothering him.  Langly's mood and attitude had much improved 
since the night before -- unfortunately, the same couldn't be 
said for his voice. 

Byers shot Frohike a disgruntled look.  "You know, I'm genuinely 
glad that he's so happy, but his gloomy, sarcastic side is a 
better singer." 

"Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile..."  The singing 
became sharply louder as the water was shut off. 

Frohike grinned wryly.  "Nah.  The gloomy sarcastic side just 
sings REM and Bon Jovi.  He can hit *those* notes..." 

"A girl with KALEEEIIIDOOOOSCOOOOPE EEEEEEEEYYYEES!" 

Frohike cast a glance towards the bathroom.  "...John Lennon, 
he has trouble with." 

Langly mercifully whistled along with the chorus, dressing in a 
hurry and bounding towards the door; but stumbling over a chair 
and knocking his head sharply against the doorframe.  "*Ow*." 

Byers rolled his eyes.  "Langly, if you don't get back to the 
real world sometime soon, you're going to get yourself killed 
and not even know it." 

"I'm fine."  Langly stood, brushing a few crumbs off his shirt 
from a rushed breakfast of Oreos and potato chips.  "Just... 
enjoying getting up and going to work for once, y'know?"  He 
grinned, reaching over Frohike's head to grab a few more cookies 
for the road. 

Frohike dodged a stray cookie that fell from his younger partner's 
hand, unable to help a bit of a smile.  "Well, at least one person 
in the world savors the daily grind..." 

Langly only shrugged, still grinning.  He tossed Byers an Oreo 
as he snapped the six locks undone.  "See you guys when they let 
me out..." 

Byers aimed the youngest of the triad a quiet glance.  "Be careful 
with your heart, alright?  They don't mend easily.  I've been 
there." 

"Yeah, okay, bye..."  Langly was out the door before Byers even 
finished his sentence. 

Frohike leaned back to offer a parting comment.  "Hey, be careful 
with the rest of your body, too!"  He frowned at Langly's 
nonresponse, shaking his head as he returned to his work.  "He'd 
better be, anyway.  Last thing this crazy planet needs is a bunch 
of little Langlets running around." 

Byers let out a slow sigh.  "That, I can agree with..." 


The End.