Chapter Text
“My name is Ryland Grace, I teach middle school science Uh. I’ve got a twin! That’s interesting, I guess.” He looks off to the side where a producers voice is muffled. He looks back to the camera with a sheepish smile. “Oh, yeah. I do also have a doctorate in Molecular Biology.”
"And why are you here today, Doctor? "
“I’m here to get my brother off my back- I mean, prove that love is blind.”
“No, I don’t think love is blind.”
“Okay… why are you here today, then? What are you looking for in a relationship?”
“I’m here as a favor to a friend, not for a relationship.”
“...Okay man we just need a soundbite of you saying something wholesome, alright?”
“…” He sighs. “My name is Simon, and I’ve been out of the dating pool for a while. I’ll give you three guesses why.” He glances down at his arm, or lack thereof. “I’m hear to find someone I can have a real partnership with. Someone kind, above anything.”
“...Holy shit, man, I didn’t need you to go that hard. Thanks though, you’re free to grab a drink at the bar now.”
Simon glanced back at the camera. “I also don’t drink.” He looked off camera, to the producer. “Which I have in my paperwork.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. We’ve got, like, sparkling apple juice? Ava probably picked it just for you.”
Ryland had been in the pod for long enough to find the sofa uncomfortable when he heard the door on the other side click open and then close softly. He waited for the other person to call a greeting, but cleared his own throat when nothing came.
“Hello!” It was what he thought of as his parent-teacher conference voice. He opened the notebook they’d given him to the little chart he’d made to keep track of the personalities of everyone he’d met. He had full page spreads for them as well, but the chart was just so he could quickly glance and remember which name went with which hobby. “I’m Ryland Grace, but most people just call me Grace.”
“...Is that what you’d like me to call you? Grace?”
Ryland paused. If he were a different person he’d be fawning over the man’s voice, deep, steady, smooth- but Ryland was himself so he just filed the information away and thought about the question. “You can call me whatever. With my work it’s just easier for us all to go by our last names.”
“What do you do?”
“I teach middle-school science.”
There was a long enough pause that Ryland wondered if this would go how his second meeting had gone, with the other person pretending they found it interesting.
“Really?” Another pause. “Can I ask a potentially offensive question?”
He didn’t realize his pen had been tapping on his page until he stopped, feeling the air around him settle despite the ominous question. “Go for it.”
“What on earth would make you want to work with kids?”
The pressure popped and Ryland breathed out a laugh. “You don’t like kids?” He asked.
“No, that’s not what I said. I just shudder at the thought of standing in front of thirty of them.” His voice was a bit lighter, now that Ryland had laughed instead of grown angry. “Aren’t their hands always sticky, or something?”
That set Ryland off again, wheezing lightly, holding a hand up to his mouth to damped his amusement. “No, no, their hands totally get sticky still.” He agreed. “What do you do, then, to keep yourself away from the sticky hands?”
“I work at Point Reyes. I’ve been a park ranger for a while now, but I only moved to Reyes this year.”
“Wow.” Ryland blinked. “What. Uh. What made you pick that? Park ranger-ing.”
“I like nature.” Ryland waited for more, but more didn’t come. He quirked a half smile, jolting down his job in the little job box he’d made. “You never answered why you became a teacher.” His smile falling, he realized he hadn’t.
“Oh, well, I used to um. Well, I have a doctorate in molecular biology, so I used to work in academia, but honestly,” He thought back on the Incident briefly, more amused by his part self than embarrassed at this point in his life. “I think kids are easier to work with.”
“Hold on, molecular biology?”
“Mhm.”
“Doctorate?”
“Yep.”
“Huh.” A breath. “So kids are easier to work with than stuffy adults in suits, that doesn’t shock me. But middle school?”
“It’s when I decided to go into science. I guess I figured I might be able to be what I needed at that age.” Ryland paused, clicking his pen once, and then twice. “Plus there were no high school positions available.”
The man on the other side laughed lightly. “Careful, I’m sure one of your student’s mom’s is watching the show.”
“Don’t remind me” Ryland groaned, thudding his head onto his notebook. “One of the parents, god this is mortifying, by the way, because I really wouldn’t be shocked if she did watch this- but she comes in for parent teacher conferences, right?” A humm from the other side of the screen, he was still listening. “There’s no easy way to put this, and I’m really hoping it gets cut out, but- god, my brothers thinks it’s hysterical- she kept-”
“Slow down, Ryland.”
“Shoot. I’m getting a head of myself. So. Her kid. Apparently I’m their favorite teacher, which is sweet, but she came into conferences with flowers for me, and at first I was just thinking ‘that’s a bit odd’ but it was sweet, and sometimes parents insist on giving us gifts for one reason or another.” He took a deep breath, glancing at the screen between them as if he could see the other man’s reaction. “But it didn’t stop.”
Ryland could hear the couch shift on the other side.
“My principle, angel that she is, took over my meeting with her for the next conference. Thankfully the parent stopped, I imagine having to explain why she brought a heart-shaped box of chocolates was hard for her to do.”
The other side was quiet for a bit. “I think you might be more of the angel, you know.”
“Hmm?” He’d been doodling stars in the corner of the page.
“I mean, I would’ve told the woman off about the flowers. You can’t do much, you're her kid’s teacher, and anyone putting you in that position is taking advantage of the fact that you’re expected to be civil. It’s good your principle was on your side, but I don’t think she was the angel.”
“Oh. Well. Agree to disagree, I guess.”
“Whatever you say, angel.”
“Hey, now-”
“You mentioned brothers?”
“I did. Do you? Not just brothers, siblings too obviously, do you have them?”
“I have a few half-siblings. On my father’s side. We’re not super close, though. I found out about them when I was already grown.”
“...Should I give my congratulations or condolences?”
The man huffed a laugh. “I’m happy with occasional emails from them.”
He couldn’t see it, but Ryland lifted his drink (sparkling apple juice) in a half toast. “Congratulations, then.”
“What about your brothers?”
“Unfortunately I’m a twin, so there’s really no getting rid of my worse half. And we have an older brother by five years. He’s the stereotypical overprotective brother, you know? I think we’re pretty close, all things considered.”
“You have a twin brother? Do people have a hard time telling you apart?”
“We’re identical.” Ryland offers. “But he’s recently taken to bleaching the tips of his hair? So there’s less people mixing us up than there used to be. Plus our personalities couldn’t be more different. He works in Hollywood. Between us, since I’m sure they’ll cut this, I’m on this show as a favor to him. Long story short, he does stunt work for movies, and there’s this director he’s head over heels for, and her friend is working on this show, two people backed out after they were cast, so my brother signed me up to make his crush happy.”
“...That’s the long story made short?”
“You wouldn’t believe how long the long story is.”
“I’ll take your word.”
Ryland glanced down at his notebook and quickly realized he only had two things filled out. “You never told me your name.”
“...Simon.”
“Simon.” Ryland repeated. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too, angel.”
“So how do you feel about your conversation with Simon?”
Ryland shifted on the couch, holding his notebook as a crutch to keep him from fidgeting on camera. “I feel good about our conversation. He’s not the most talkative, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“...Can you give us more detail about how you feel, Dr. Grace? I mean, this is sweet, but it’s still reality TV.”
“I feel like you’re not telling the other’s this.”
“The other’s don’t need to be prompted to say how they’re feeling while they’re on a dating show.”
“That’s a bit rude.”
“Well, I can put a good word in for Colt to Jody-”
“Simon is really sweet. He seems grounded, honest. Honesty’s big for me, and he didn’t seem too annoyed by how much I talk. I’m really excited to get to know him more, I think there could really be something there.”
“...Wow. You two have a lot in common.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. I’ll text Jody tonight to get drinks, you invite Colt for a drink, and we’ll both cancel last minute.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, Ava.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, Dr. Grace.”
"We're gonna need another soundbite like the one you gave earlier today, Simon. Just something about Dr. Grace."
Simon cleared his throat. "He seems nice."
"You mentioned someone being kind. Do you think he fits that?"
"Someone could argue that, yes."
"...Are you alright, man? You didn't have a problem making stuff up earlier, we just need that again. You don't have to actually find someone, not everyone on the show couples, we just needed fillers. So just... say something about being excited to get to know him and we can figure out a way to make the conversations fizzle out as time goes on. We're on the same side, here." The man paused. "Do you want me to grab Ava? I think she's interviewing someone right now, but-"
"Ryland's really nice. Anyone who can put up with middle schoolers must have the patience of a saint. He's passionate, and smart," The camera was beginning to pick up a hint of a flush creeping up Simon's neck. "He seems... yeah, he's really kind." He cleared his throat again. "I hope I get to talk to him again."
"...Buddy, are you sure you don't want a drink?"