The Scientific Method (Egon/Reader)

2. OBSERVATION

Egon strides past you and clears away a space on the cluttered table. You set down the box and he immediately takes out the beaker and places it next to a larger jar of neutral slime. Peering at them closely, he observes the slime you've brought back has taken on a deeper hue. He rustles around, grabs a nearby ruler, and plunges it into the beaker. He notes that the viscosity of the slime in the small beaker is much thinner than the control sample, nearing a water-like state. He quickly scribbles down the findings.

"Y/N..." Egon says excitedly, turning towards you, only to find you've practically fallen asleep on your feet, head nodding to the side. He carefully takes you under the elbow and guides you over to the sofa. You sink down gratefully.

"Y/N," he says again, in a softer tone. You reluctantly open your eyes. Egon is staring at you in that peculiar way he has that makes you feel like one of his specimens in a jar.

And in a way that is exactly what he's doing. He had observed several interesting things about you since you walked into the lab tonight. The flush on your cheeks, mildly dilated pupils, and upon taking your arm he had felt that your heart rate was at least 20 beats faster than average. Egon was a man who lived for details. Details made the world easier to piece together and make sense to him. From experimentation over the years, even the slightest of variations could be extremely important, so he observed and kept track of them all. Something you had experienced physically and emotionally had made an effect on the slime.

"I'd like to run a few tests if you don't mind. Nothing too invasive, just a standard EEG while I ask some questions. I'd like to know what you've experienced in the time leading up to the notable change in the slime sample." He was already gathering the electrodes and pulling the monitors over to the couch.

"Sure Dr. Spengler, whatever you need to do is fine. I'll try my best to keep my eyes open." You missed the tiny upturn of his lip at your response.

His impression of you had changed a great deal in the last month. He had purposefully asked the others if he could be last on your job rotations. He had been moderately concerned you would be a distraction to his work; however, he was surprised and grateful to find that you were an inquisitive and intelligent individual with a surprising aptitude for chemistry. Many an evening he had found you asleep on this same couch while waiting on the results of some experiment you had been running together.

Egon found he liked watching you sleep while he toiled away into the night...in a purely academic sense, of course. You appeared to have a prolonged REM cycle and he would note that your eyelids and fingers would make tiny spastic motions every five to six minutes while you dreamed. He had noted that on at least four separate occasions your facial expression would indicate that your dreams were less than pleasant, evoking a wince and softly muttered protest before you shifted your position and calmed. He had walked over the first time it happened, concerned you were ill. He had noted your flushed cheeks but he felt no fever.

The correlation clicked in his brain.

*FLUSHED CHEEKS*

The data was lining up, connecting together neatly in the way that Egon Spengler liked.

He carefully attached the electrodes to your temples and connected the wires. He flipped on the monitors and sat back down, scooting his chair a few inches closer to you, so he could better observe any outward physical changes to his questions. He clicked on the tape recorder.

"Subject female, 32. Am attempting to gauge EEG findings in regards to notable changes in slime sample observed at approximately 0300 hours at subject's residence. Okay, let's start with the basics. I gave you the sample to take home at 6:00 p.m. yesterday evening, correct?"