The Perk, Thursday afternoon

[livingartifact]

Jenkins' first week in Fandom was going rather well, he felt. His conversations with the townspeople so far had ranged from only-mildly-irritating to actually-rather-interesting, and he'd gotten in an entire day of lab work yesterday without any interruptions whatsoever. He might even find his way eventually to liking it here

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[imafuturist]

Post-class caffeination was what Tony needed. You know you have a problem when the baristas were already preparing one of the largest to-go cups they had before you even got in the building.

Once the sweet, sweet nectar of life was in his hands, Tony turned to look at the other customer in the shop. "New in town?"

[livingartifact]

"What remarkable powers of observation you possess," Jenkins said. "To recognize a new face in such a sea of people."

[imafuturist]

Tony raised his eyebrows, sipping his coffee before responding to that. "It's almost as though you moved to a small town."

[livingartifact]

"Extraordinarily so," Jenkins agreed. "I am afraid the squirrels beat you to both these observations though."

[imafuturist]

"Damn, there goes my winning the 'new person bingo' game. I'll never get the square I need," Tony replied dryly.

[livingartifact]

"Now, now. If you persevere, I'm certain you could beat the little buggers eventually."

[imafuturist]

Honestly, he should have won by being the third version of... himself, but noooo. There had to be more versions of Batman and Spider-Man out there instead.

"I'll hold out hope," Tony assured him. "Tony Stark. Teacher up at the school and owner of Stark Industries."

He helpfully pointed in the vague direction of the shop in relation to the Perk.

[livingartifact]

Jenkins obliged by looking off in that vague direction and nodding his head. "Jenkins. Startled proprietor of the local 'Magic Box'." It was always a good sign when you put finger quotes around the name of your own store. "May I ask what it is you teach?"

[imafuturist]

Well, it certainly made Tony like him. Because screw magic, science all the way!

"Nice to meet you, Jenkins," he replied. "This semester it's civics."

[livingartifact]

Or, you know, you could work with both magic and science with equal fascination.

Admittedly, it was easier to double specialize when you were over 1,000 years old and not likely to die even when your experiments blew up.

"This semester? Does the school not have you focus on a particular area of expertise?"

[imafuturist]

Don't you take this from him. Science for the win.

"It's a bit of an... eclectic school," Tony replied with a grin. "Last semester was debate."

[livingartifact]

That was certainly one word for it.

"The students must do marvelously in standardized tests."

[imafuturist]

"Of course," Tony agreed.

How anyone got into college was a mystery.

[livingartifact]

Sheer determination. And probably magical cheating.

Which was occasionally how they did it in Jenkins' world too.

"I admit, I'm rather impressed by teachers, generally. I haven't the temperament." That was an understatement. According to Baird, his two speeds were 'annoying' and 'cryptic'.

[imafuturist]

"It's fun," Tony replied. "An education is one of the most important things a child can get. Well. A good education is."

[livingartifact]

"And you never find yourself just wanting to . . ." Jenkins trailed off, finishing his sentence by making an impressive squelching noise and closing his hand into a fist.