Third Person's POV.
After the morning's lectures—the afternoon finally gave way to the comforting break at the Campus Bean. The Bean is this cozy cafe, perpetually scented with dark-roast espresso and the sweetness of cinnamon rolls. It was Gemini and Ohio's usual lunch haven. Yet, it seems Gemini's cozy sanctuary was under attack at the moment, not by school work, but by his cursed piece of technology.
He jabbed his plastic fork at his salad with a little too much aggression. "I swear, Ohio, if this laptop crashes one more time, I'm going to take it outside, and slam it against the wall." he vented, the stress evident in his voice. "It took a full twenty minutes to load the PDF for Dr. Rowan's lecture. Twenty minutes! I missed half the notes trying to restart the damn thing!"
Ohio took a sip of her iced chai. Her expression was a mix of sympathy and utter exasperation.
"Oh bunny, twenty minutes? That's not a laptop, that's a pre-historic paperweight. Seriously, you really, really should just get another one. This thing is like...very ancient."
Gemini threw his hands up in a gesture of pure, helpless frustration. "Oh, easy for you to say! The girl with the new MacBook Pro, that probably cost more than an apartment! Newsflash, my dear, I am broke. B-R-O-K-E. The only apple I can afford right now is an apple juice."
Ohio leaned in, her voice dropping into a whisper, but her eyes sparkling with mischief. "But that's exactly my point, Gem! The amount of time you spend coaxing that thing into life is costing you more than money! You should be studying, not running diagnostics! Why is it even acting out, anyways?"
"I don't know why it's acting out!" Gemini replied through gritted teeth, his voice strained. "It just is! Maybe it's sentient! Maybe it sensed my stress during midterms and manifesting its own technological anxiety!"
It was precisely in the middle of this dramatic, low-volume argument that a shadow fell across their table. A tall student—unfamiliar, yet with a face that seemed oddly familiar, like an actor in a movie Gemini had only half-watched—stood beside them, a tray of food clutched in one hand and a curious, slightly amused look on his face.
"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear the passionate debate between you two." the student said, his voice a surprising, deep tenor. "Your laptop trouble. I'm pretty good with hardware and operating systems. And it sounds like yours might just need a solid deep clean, or maybe a quick RAM upgrade."
Gemini narrowed his eyes, immediately shifting into protective, skeptical mode. Meanwhile, Ohio simply paused with her chai, a small, thoroughly delighted smile appearing on her lips.
"Do you even know things about computers?" Gemini challenged, crossing his arms over his chest. He was too stressed to worry about politeness at the moment. "Or are you just using fancy words you've read online to impress us?"
The newcomer's smile widened, revealing a genuinely charming dimple. "First of all, that's very offensive to think someone as handsome as me wouldn't know things about computers. It takes brains and good looks to actually function effectively as I do, you know."
Gemini blinked, shaking his head. "Okay, I wasn't thinking about that last part. At all. I was purely thinking about your technical qualifications."
"Oh, I was definitely thinking about it," Ohio cut in immediately, winking boldly at the stranger.
The best friends immediately burst into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. The sheer absurdity of Ohio's timing and honesty shattered the tension. They laughed so hard they started snorting, drawing bewildered, strange looks from the other patrons. The new guy, however, seemed merely entertained by their chaotic, synchronized hilarity.
When the laughter finally subsided, Ohio wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hand and gestured toward the two of them. "Alright, alright, introduce yourself, mysterious technological savior. I'm Ohio, and my friend here is Gemini, he is pathologically attached to that antique of his."
"I'm Mark. Second-year Computer Science, nice to meet you two." he replied, before pointing an index finger at Gemini. "And I'm serious. Let me take a look at it. It's probably a simple fix, and I'm honestly bored. I hate to see a good machine suffer."
Gemini, still skeptical but intrigued—and, admittedly, desperate—studied Mark. "Second year, huh? Look, I'm not really big on giving my laptop to some random stranger..."
"Hey, I'll even give you my student ID, my class schedule, my mother's phone number, whatever you need," Mark countered, his tone earnest and persuasive. "Look, if it can't be fixed, you're only out for a few hours. If it can be fixed, you save yourself a couple of hundred dollars on a new machine. It's a win-win."
Gemini chewed on the inside of his cheek, glancing at Ohio, who gave him a subtle, encouraging nod. The part-time job he was headed to next would pay for a new laptop but it'll take another week.
"Fine. You know what? You win, Mark. But if you accidentally wipe my hard drive, I swear, I will find you and make you manually rewrite everything in there."
"Deal," Mark agreed, his eyes flashing with a touch of challenge. "Give me your number, and I'll give you a detailed report on the patient by dinner."
The deal was sealed with a firm handshake, the exchange of phone numbers, and promises of a prompt update. Mark scooped up the offending laptop, offered both of them a cheerful wave, and headed toward the exit with a new-found spring in his step.
Ohio's playful teasing began immediately the moment Mark was out of earshot.
"Did you just exchange numbers with that incredibly hot senior?" she teased, "Wow, bunny. Smooth move! You might've just landed yourself a personal tech buddy and maybe a date, if you're into that."
Gemini rolled his eyes, shoving his leftover sandwich container into his backpack. "Don't you start with me, Ohio. He's only going to fix my laptop this one time. That's it. That's the entire, purely transactional scope of this exchange."
"Mmm-hmm," she hummed with a wide grin, leaning back with a knowing smile that reached her eyes. "Well, just in case 'tech buddy' wants to turn into 'cuddle buddy' and you're not interested, let me have him. I'll pay you in my favorite overpriced coffee."
Gemini shot her a warning look as he stood up. "You keep your pants on, Ohio. And try not to be late for your next lecture. I gotta run, or I'll be late for my shift. Love you, see ya later!"
"Love you too, bunny. Keep me updated on the patient's prognosis!" Ohio called after him, genuinely pleased with herself. For whatever reason, she had a strong feeling that Mark wasn't just going to fix Gemini's laptop just this one time.