ArchivedLogs:Little Scientist

Little Scientist
Dramatis Personae Iolaus, Sebastian, Shane
In Absentia	2013-04-28 neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerds.
Location <XS> Conservatory
Tall panes of glass keep this large indoor garden warm year round. Tended to by the school's groundskeeper, the conservatory is lush with plant life, a carefully cultivated paradise within Xavier's walls. The room serves as a classroom as well; in the center of the garden a ring of seats forms a small circle, a favorite locale for some teachers to hold court. It's late, post-curfew, and the school is fairly quiet. There are still some students up and about, but for the most part they're upstairs; in dorms, in rec room, though a few are scattered around other places. Like here! In the conservatory, one small blue teenager is sitting not at the seats at the center of the plants but off at one side, beneath the meager canopy of a small lemon tree. There is a backpack beside him, a pile of books within it, and on his lap a laptop. He is typing furiously, while intermittently scanning the pages of his Biology textbook. Dressed quietly drab today, he sports nothing more exciting than soft black cotton pants and a Xavier's School tee. Beside him, curled up on the floor nestled into a tiny ball /around/ that backpack, a second blue sharkboy. Dressed identically, but sleeping. Zzz. Despite the late hour, when Iolaus steps into the conservatory he looks relatively fresh. Dressed in a white dress shirt and a black pair of slacks, he is recently shaved, and sips from the thermos of tea in one hand with a warm smile on his face. He has a messenger bag slung over his shoulder, black, with 'Tufts Sackler School' and the university's logo splashed in bright blue across the flap. The doctor glances up to look at the students sitting on the grass as he takes a seat in the ring of chairs. His eyes glance briefly over the blue biology-brainstorming boy beneath the bush before he swings his bag onto his lap and opens the flap to remove his laptop. Sebastian glances up when the door opens, but only briefly. His nostrils flare, and then his attention turns back to his laptop. Shane doesn't move. Because zzz. Iolaus' laptop makes a brief sound as it boots up, and the doctor glances over towards the teenager with a brief smile. "How are you doing, Sebastian?" he asks, brightly. "Haven't seen you since... oh, since we got all of the people out of your dad's apartment a couple months back." Sebastian tenses abruptly when he is addressed, shrinking back against the trunk of the tree. Slowly his eyes lift to Iolaus, but then return to his screen. "It's been a while, sir, yes," he agrees quietly. "I heard your clinic broke ground. You must be proud." "Very proud. Your friend is a talented man, to be able to have completed the architecture as quickly as he did. Most of the architectural firms quoted me longer in development, and I would have hired a team of six or seven architects." Iolaus says, and the pride shines in his voice. "It is a good milestone, but it means that we must work harder, fight harder." His eyes twinkle, and he squints a little bit through the dusk. "What are you working on, if I might ask?" "Really? I mean, I guess I know he's talented but I've never seen him, um. Architect. Anything." Sebastian is still mostly just quiet, soft and even as he types. "Homework," is his answer, "what comes next, then?" "More of the same, much of it. I have a staff to hire, a building to supervise, and much, much more money to raise." Iolaus says. His smile fades, slightly, and he shrugs his shoulders. "Have more hours in the day, though." He glances around him, at the plants around them, and comments, "I am thinking of teaching here, this summer, actually." "My pa will be teaching here this summer. I guess if you coordinate your schedules it could make it easier with having a bodyguard around." Sebastian is returning his gaze to his laptop, /very/ intently. "What would you teach? I mean we don't -- don't have -- it's not like /college/." "Oh, this is the one place I don't /have/ a bodyguard. Just on the transport back and forth." Iolaus says, with a warm smile. "I'm not sure, actually. I don't know if your curriculum is advanced enough for me to teach biochemistry. Chemistry, perhaps, then, or maybe I'll simply give guest lectures." He gives a little shrug of his shoulder. "The more I'm here, the less strain I put on my team." "I'd take biochemistry," Sebastian tells Iolaus. "I've been learning a little from my neighbor, he's -- um, well, a biochemist." This kind of redundant statement makes him blush, slightly. "Could you teach genetics? Modified genetics? I bet there's a lot of people here who --" His blush deepens, a little. "-- Who'd be really interested to, um. Learn. More. About how we -- how they work." Iolaus studies Sebastian for a moment, and a smile spreads on his lips. "I might be able to teach it, if the chemistry classes are advanced enough. The same is true with genetics and biochemistry - I can teach very, very basic genetics as a lecture, but there's not enough to fill a course unless you know biochemistry." His smile widens, and he spreads his hands in a little shrug. "Genetics wasn't taught until my junior year of college. And grad school, of course." "I'd take it," Sebastian says again, but this is quieter. He shrugs a shoulder. "I don't know what they'd be willing to put in the curriculum. I mean, this /is/ high school." Another shrug. His hand lifts to press down against his gills, which close flat a moment later. "Why would you teach here? I mean. Aren't you -- going to be busy?" "I'd prefer to teach something optional to something mandatory, that's for sure," Iolaus says, a laugh in his voice. "The only classes I've taught are college and post-grad, and people /choose/ their classes there, for the most part. Teaching Chem 101 was one of the most aggrivating experiences of my life, and I have the bad reviews to prove it." he chuckles. He looks over at Sebastian, folding the screen down a little bit. "Very busy, but... I could use the structure, and it would help keep me from working too much. When you get older, you start learning your own bad habits." "Keep you from working too much?" Sebastian's eyebrows raise at this. "Umm. You -- haven't taught high school before have you?" "No, as I said, just college and grad school." Iolaus says, raising his laptop screen and glancing down at it. "I'm fully aware it's a different can of worms, and that students can be... different, but that's why I'd prefer an optional class." "Almost all our classes are optional classes sort of," Sebastian says, "but there's /no/ optional classes in high school. I think it, um. Might. Be a little different. Than teaching college." He sounds almost apologetic about delivering this fact. He shrugs awkwardly. "And the students /here/ especially are -- kind. Of different." Iolaus chuckles and gives a little shrug of his shoulders. "Perhaps you're right. I have still to talk to Headmaster Xavier about it, and he may convince me of much of the same. Maybe I will hold office hours for students looking for more help with chemistry - or maybe I'll teach an honors class that's open by invitation of the other teachers only. Either way, I'd like to get more involved." There is a stirring from the floor by Sebastian. Shane yawns, very toothily. Curls tighter around the backpack. Nestles it snug beneath his head like a PILLOW full of very thick hard textbooks. "{Fucker's starting a freak clinic and now wants to teach at freak school, I'm starting to think he's not an altruist he just has a death wish.}" His eyes are still closed as he speaks. Sebastian glances down towards the other boy. "Oh --" His cheeks flush. "Oh. That -- that sounds --" His brow furrows. "I mean cool. It'd be interesting. I always like -- more. Science classes." "Nerd." This is in English, from Shane. Iolaus looks a little bit surprised and leans upwards to peer down at a better angle. "Oh, hello, Shane." This is all the reply he chooses to give Shane's comment. "Do you have a particular interest in science, or just in classes in general?" he asks Sebastian, with only the slightest hint of teasing in his voice. "I built my brother a robot," Sebastian says in answer. "He /founded/ the robotics club here." Shane says this in the same tone he said 'nerd'. He still doesn't open his eyes. "I like knowing why things work," Sebastian says, quieter. Kind of bashful. "Science is a good choice, then. Is there a particular interest you have in the sciences? Engineering? Pure science? Math?" Iolaus asks, curiously. He glances to the laptop on his lap and folds it shut once more, standing up. He pulls one of the chairs out from the circle and carries it over to the edge of the grass, facing the teenagers as he sets back up once more. Sebastian fidgets a little awkwardly, dipping his head. "No, I -- sorry, I --" His head shakes. "Dude. He's a fucking doctor. He went to nerd-school for like fifty /years/ just to be a /professional/ nerd for fifty /more/ gorram years he is /not/ going to care that you jerk it to watching the Science channel." Sebastian blushes deeper. "I --!" His head shakes emphatically. He has not stopped typing almost this whole while. "Well, you /would/ if the TV weren't in the rec room." Sebastian's nose wrinkles. "I like bio and chem," he says. "But I like making robots, too." Iolaus has to fight to suppress a laugh, lips crinkling into a tight line. His lips spread wide, showing two rows of neat white teeth. "Not fifty years. A lot of years, though. College, grad school, med school, residency..." he chuckles. "Fifty years is close enough." His head tilts to the side, and his eyes look excited. "Biochem is the combination of the two. That was my major in college." A hesitation, and his smile widens a little bit. "The other one was biomedical science, which is also very much a combination of the two - and engineering tossed in." "Two majors /and/ med school. Like I said, professional fucking nerd." Shane shifts again, and resettles. This time, against Sebastian's leg. Tucked up against it like now it is pillow, too. "That's a lot of school." Sebastian's eyes have shifted back to his laptop. "Seems kind of weird to teach high school with all that." "And graduate school." Iolaus adds. This, perhaps, does not help disprove Shane's central thesis. "I don't know about that. Many of your other professors are equally as educated as I am - some in similar ways, even." he points out. "But even so... this is a special school. I don't think I would be offering my services just anywhere." Shane snorts. "Special," he says gruffly, and now he does open his eyes, unfolding to get to his feet. "Right." That's the only goodbye he gives. He heads for the door. Sebastian watches him with a worried expression. He stops typing, worrying at his lip for a moment, and then shuts the computer to slip it back into his bag with the books. "I'm sorry, I should -- he -- I should -- sorry." His brows are creased, head ducked as he zips the backpack up. "I mean maybe I'll see you. If you teach here." Iolaus' eyes follow Shane, and his eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I'm sorry if I said anything wrong." he says, puzzled. "Please let him know that." A beat. "And, I suspect, either way we will be seeing each other, with your Pa's position." A pause, and then Iolaus is digging into his bag and coming out with a card. "If you have any pressing science questions, please, feel free to email or give me a call." It is a business card that Iolaus extends towards Sebastian, the logo of the Mendel Clinic embossed into the thick paper of the card. "You didn't," Sebastian assures Iolaus quickly, with a small smile. He takes the card without looking at it, pockets it without looking at it, his small smile fixed in place. "Thanks. Goodnight, sir." he glances towards the door, then hurries after his brother. "{Good night, little scientist.}" Iolaus murmurs in Spanish, underneath his breath, in a peculiar tone which sounds little like his own. His smile fades to a sad one, and he looks back down at his laptop. "Mm." Then, slowly, he opens it and takes a long sip of his tea. Time to work.