Eve and Flynn and the Rubik's Cubes

"So can you really solve a Rubik's Cube in six seconds?"

Flynn was trying to get Excalibur to warm up to him some more when Eve asked the question. He turned around to face her.

"Of course I can!"

"Then prove it," she tossed a 3 by 3 Rubik's Cube to Flynn, who caught it easily. Flynn started solving it the instant it touched his hands. The colors for all a blur for a solid six seconds before Flynn presented the cube to Eve, perfectly solved. Eve tried to hide how impressed she was, but she didn't do it very effectively.

"That was quite the feat, but," Eve pulled her phone out of her pocket, "can you do it that fast if I time you?"

"Of course!" Flynn didn't understand why it was such a big deal. What was the difference between doing it with and without a timer?

/~/

The difference was the amount of pressure Flynn was under. That was the difference between doing it with and without a timer.

"One more time," Flynn assured her. "I'll get it this time, I promise!" Eve sighed and took the solved Rubik's Cube from Flynn. She mixed it up and handed it back to him.

"You've been saying that for the past hour and a half."

"I can solve it in six seconds, though!" Flynn protested.

"Alright. One more time." Eve's finger hovered over her phone. "Go."

Flynn's fingers flew around the cube, but not nearly fast enough.

"Done!"

"Seven point one seconds," Eve said.

"One more time. I almost had it!"

"Flynn, I believe you. It's just the pressure-"

"One more time." Flynn gave Eve his best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

Eve rolled her eyes. She held her hand out, and Flynn placed the Rubik's Cube in it. Thirty seconds later, the Rubik's cube was back in Flynn's hand and Eve was starting the timer one last time.

"Done!" Flynn held up the cube and looked at Eve.

Eve smiled. "Six seconds exactly."

"Yes!" Flynn jumped up out of the chair he was sitting in. "I told you I could do it!"

Eve just smiled. While she had been timing Flynn, she had seen how much he loved his Rubik's cube. He had started going on about the algorithms and even had taught her how to solve part of it (though Eve would never be able to think fast enough to solve a Rubik's Cube as fast as Flynn could) and he told her he had once seen a 4 by 4 Rubik's Cube while tracking down the missing artifacts after the Library returned from the void.

But what Flynn didn't know was how many other types of Rubik's Cubes the world had come up with.

/~/

The next day was Flynn's birthday. He hadn't told Eve or any of the other Librarians, because he didn't want them to make a big deal of it. However, Jenkins had known it was Flynn's birthday. And Jenkins had told everyone.

Flynn entered the Annex part of the Library after he got dressed. The lights were all turned off and the room was silent.

"Strange…" Flynn muttered. He flipped the lightswitch and was greeted by a chorus of 'Happy Birthday!'s from Eve, Jenkins, and the Librarians. Cassandra and Jake were holding a cake with the words 'Happy Birthday, Flynn!' on them in bright blue frosting and neat handwriting that could only be Eve's. Ezekiel and Eve threw green and blue streamers at Flynn. Jenkins stood behind them, pretending to be annoyed that they were still in his Annex after all this time, but secretly glad for the company and no-longer-boring life.

Jenkins handed Eve a wrapped box with a shiny golden bow on the top. Eve carried the box over to Flynn and passed it on to him.

"Happy birthday, Librarian."

"How did you know?" Flynn asked, taking the box from Eve.

"Jenkins spilled the beans," Ezekiel explained.

"And what kind of friends would we be if we didn't celebrate your birthday?" Cassandra added.

Flynn was taken aback by Cassandra calling him their friend. He didn't know what to say. He had never been good with people, but people who actually cared about him? Hardest thing Flynn had ever dealt with. And he had been a Librarian for eleven years.

Either Eve knew Flynn was at a loss for words or she just wanted to see his reaction to the present, but she was the one to break the silence. "Open the present."

"Right!" Flynn removed the bow first before proceeding to unwrap the present. He glanced up at the other Librarians when he revealed that his present was in a cardboard box. Cassandra was practically jumping up and down in excitement. Ezekiel was wearing his normal I-Know-Something-You-Don't smirk. Jake was hiding his anticipation under a calm smile.

Flynn focused on Eve.

"Don't tell me a little tape is going to stop you," she said.

"Of course not." Flynn easily opened the box and looked inside of it. Inside lay a variety of different Rubik's Cubes in many sizes, shapes, and colors. Flynn didn't even know how they had managed to find so many different Rubik's Cubes, even with a back door that led almost anywhere in the world.

Flynn picked on out of the box that had four triangle-shaped sides. "How did you guys even know Rubik's Cubes like this existed?"

"Well, we did do a tad bit of research," Eve admitted.

Jake nodded, "And then we went out and bought all of them yesterday while Eve was timing you. It was Jenkins' plan for her to distract you, actually."

Flynn looked back to Eve. "Sneaky. But also brilliant."

"Alright, can we skip the flirting and move onto the cake?" Ezekiel asked. "I haven't eaten breakfast yet."

/~/

Flynn had finished his piece of cake quickly so he could start working on solving his new collection of Rubik's Cubes. The first one he was determined to solve was the 4 by 4. He was working on it when Eve sat down next to him, a full piece of cake on her plate.

"Hi," Flynn greeted absentmindedly.

"Have you figured that one out yet?"

"Not quite. The algorithm is different from the three by three, but it shouldn't take too long for me to figure it out. Just a few more moves, and... done!" Flynn held up the Rubik's Cube for Eve to see. "By the way, where did you find a pentagonal dodecahedron Rubik's Cube?"

"A pentagonal what now?"

"Pentagonal dodecahedron. The one with twelve pentagon-shaped sides," Flynn explained.

"Oh. I think Cassandra found it somewhere. I was busy timing you, remember?"

"Fair enough." Flynn set the Rubik's Cube down next to him. He picked the fork up off of Eve's plate and ate a bite of her piece of cake.

"Flynn!" Eve complained. "You do realize that my mouth was already on that."

Flynn shrugged. "It's not like we've never kissed before," he pointed out. Eve just rolled her eyes.

"Besides, it's my birthday cake."

"Then why did you only eat one piece?" Eve challenged.

"Because you guys got me a bunch of Rubik's Cubes that I have to figure out how to solve."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"No, it's the best thing in the world!"

Eve leaned her head on Flynn's shoulder. "Can I have my fork back?"

Flynn handed Eve her fork. "The point is I can't eat and solve Rubik's Cubes at the same time, so I had to choose one."

"And you chose your Rubik's Cubes, leaving a whole bunch of cake for the rest of us to eat."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Flynn used Eve's own line against her. "Hey, would you mind passing me the five by five Rubik's Cube? And mix it up while you're at it."

Eve grabbed the 5 by 5 cube out of the box, messed it up, and handed it to Flynn. She continued to eat her piece of cake as she watched him begin to turn it, muttering to himself about algorithms and colors.

When Flynn finished the 5 by 5, Eve was long since done with her piece of cake. But she was still watching him turn the rows and columns so the cube would end up perfect again.

Flynn handed the completed Rubik's Cube to Eve. "Done."

Eve smiled. "Two down, only about a hundred more to go."

"Actually twenty-six more to go," Flynn corrected. "But now that I say that, I realize you were purposefully severely overestimating."

/~/

The light in Flynn's bedroom was still on when it was nearing midnight, so Eve decided it was time to confiscate his Rubik's Cubes for the night. However, as she neared the door, she didn't hear the telltale sound of a Rubik's Cube being solved. She looked into his room and saw it was because Flynn had fallen asleep while in the middle of solving the pentagonal dodecahedron. She stifled laughter and crept into his room. She then removed the Rubik's Cube from his hand and placed it on the shelf where the other Rubik's Cubes had been set.

Eve found a blanket on the floor and placed it on top of Flynn so he wouldn't wake up cold. Before turning the lights off and leaving, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Goodnight, Librarian. Happy Birthday."

/~/

Author's note: First of all, I don't think it's been either confirmed or denied, but I like the think that the Librarians, Eve, and Jenkins all have bedrooms in the Library for when they want to stay there overnight.

Secondly, I would like to thank my friend for having a bunch of different Rubik's Cubes (and knowing how to solve them all) because that is what inspired me to write this one shot, along with the fact that in 'And the Broken Staff,' Flynn says he can solve a Rubik's Cube in six seconds.