I'll still these nervous feet and heart of stone

[riches]

When: Middayish.
Rating: PG
Characters: Asami and Bruce.
Summary: Bored to tears with nothing to do but fix up cars, Asami wants to revamp her education. Luckily, she finds an obliging tutor in Dr. Banner.
Log: 

[ After receiving an eagerly-awaited call from Bruce to meet up for her first prepping on some of the subjects she's been diligently trying to understand the last couple of weeks, Asami gathers up her new notebook and checks she has enough filters for a decent fountain pen before heading to the specified meeting point. It's a nice day, the weather shining on a new sundress where she sits under the shadow of an outdoor table's umbrella at the cafe, sunshine warming her bare arms as they rest against a trio of library books on physics. Requesting help from Bruce had always seemed like a long shot. He was from a different world and had a new life to deal with here, it wouldn't haven been surprising if he had turned her down and yet quite the opposite had happened, despite him going away for a break. He's affable and clever, good at making her feel like she isn't being a nuisance and that she can really learn from whatever he has to teach. Neither is he too old not to capture her interest otherwise, bright eyes and a hesitant smile holding her attention in a way only a handsome man can of an eighteen-year-old; it's a lovely bonus.

It's strange living with her friends when they aren't preparing either for civil unrest or back at Sato mansion. As much as she loves hanging out with them, she's a girl who grew up with a million things at her disposal to do if ever she found herself bored. Here, in this new city with so much enriching knowledge on offer, Asami finds herself giddy with the possibilities of furthering the studies put on hold by Amon's revolution. She hasn't mentioned her trips to the library in great detail to anyone, seen to be more bookish but never asked directly why; and is it so surprising when Mako is in such close proximity to Korra? A bitter part of the heiress refuses to include him on principle until her boyfriend shows some small degree of curiosity in her new studies.

It's a breath of fresh air to get out of the Avatar 2.0 household and do something solely for herself, leaving behind a fuss of emotions she can't be bothered stressing out over. Not today. Today will be a good one, she's sure.

The first few pages of her notes start off neatly enough, arrowed and underlined. They gradually descend into a confused bunch of cramped scribbles, so it's on a fresh page that she spends her time doodling with a smile playing on her lips. One might say she gets a little too into colouring in Bruce's fancy Science Shoes, chinning a hand. ] 
 

Comments

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce is sadly not wearing fancy Science Shoes. His shoes and clothes are decidedly on the cheap side, as you might expect from a man who occasionally spontaneously outgrows everything he's wearing. He's rumpled, a little scruffy, and also looks as though he might have forgotten that combs exist, but he's clean and has a messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

This is currently preferable to going home to City Solutions, aka the Giant Gherkin for reasons he prefers not to dwell on in any particular whatsoever.

He has to scan the cafe before picking out Asami, raising a hand in an almost diffident wave before picking his way through the tables to join her.]

You must be Asami. Hi, I'm Bruce.

[riches]

[ Glancing up with the same pleased smile, she closes the notebook and steps forward to offer him a hand to shake. ]

Hi, Bruce. Did you start your vacation off on a good foot?

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce takes her hand for a brief, firm shake, his smile twitching for a moment at her question before he shrugs and unslings his messenger bag.]

I'm getting used to unremitting weird. I currently have a god wanting to play fetch the stick every time I go back to the cabin. You?

[riches]

[ Taking her seat, she absently gestures a waitress over in case he wants to order. ]

A god? [ Sounds like shenanigans ahoy in Bannerland. ] I'm fine, there's a kid called Dave I've been spending some time with. I don't think he's got many friends or any family, even. Not here. So, we eat hotdogs and burgers and he keeps me company as much as I hope I do for him.

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce asks for a decaf coffee and waits for the waitress to move on before giving an amused huff.]

Yeah, not from my world or we probably wouldn't be helping each other. [It ain't easy being green....]

Do you find that hanging out with Dave helps keeping the ticking down? It's pretty devious, making people get together or go nuts from the ticking.

[riches]

Are you usually in the company of gods, Bruce? As for Dave, yes; it helps a lot. He's way too young to be dealing with any of this, I only wish I could do more for him but he's ... independent. Not a bad thing.

[hulkbusted]

Sometimes I think you can't swing a cat without hitting a god in this place.

[Considering how young Asami looks to him, Bruce finds it ironic to hear her concern for someone else's youth, but it also speaks well of her.]

This place seems like it can be hell on relationships of any kind. A little independence can be healthy.

[riches]

[ If it's any consolation, Bruce doesn't look old-old either. ]

It's ... yeah, it is. [ Clearing her throat, she swiftly changes the subject by sliding over the library books. ] These are for you, I asked around and they'd been in storage for a while. Since today's just about playing around with the basics, I thought you'd like some material to help you plan out what you'd like me to do in the future. Might give you something fresh to do at the cabin, too.

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce and fandom has entertained the idea that he might not age at a normal human rate thanks to the Other Guy's regenerative capabilities. It's not that much of a consolation.]

[And it seems he's hit a sore spot. Best to gloss that over by taking the books and flipping one open. He puts on his reading glasses and starts to rapidly skim through the pages.]

I'm coming back down to the City. [Said almost absently.] I can't hide up there forever. I've been thinking about how to work out where you are in terms of my world's understanding of physics, and we're going to have to stick with pure math, since a lot of the naming isn't going to translate from world to world. You won't have any idea what joules or watts measure, for instance.

[riches]

We have electricity in Republic City, I know what watts are. Units to measure power by depending on amps and volts. I'm hoping we'll be okay with most of these variables between our worlds, they usually seem to add up despite our generators being controlled exclusively by lightningbenders.

Math should be fine, I always liked it. [ Wrinkling her nose, she tucks her hair behind an ear. ] Just don't ask me to write you a work of fiction or paint a picture, and we'll be good.

[hulkbusted]

Huh. I wasn't expecting that, since the watt is named for a Scottish engineer named James Watt in my world. I'll toss my assumptions in that case and we can just fill in the blanks as we go along.

[He sets the book aside and picks up the next. He's moving quickly through the pages, but apparently actually reading at least a fair portion of what he's looking at.]

Maybe you can tell me a little more about lightningbenders. That's completely outside my experience... Well, maybe not completely, but I'm not sure Thor counts.

[riches]

Our taxis are called taxis like yours, call it coincidence.

[ Have a shrug. Back to lightningbenders, she keeps a placid tone. ]

They're firebenders with advanced skills. They generate both in their body, but when they charge bolts it's a lot more dangerous so they're hired for their trouble by the power plants.

[hulkbusted]

Or it's a function of whatever translates languages and concepts. Not everyone here is actually speaking English, but that's what I hear.

[His slight headshake is more to shake the concept into some order in his head than a denial of what she's saying.]

Are you a firebender or lightningbender? That's not too forward to ask is it?

[riches]

Nope! What you see is what you get, unfortunately. No surprises here.

[ Shrugging, she gives a long-resigned smile. ]

Some people can't manipulate any of the elements, we're called non-benders. It's really not that bad, I grew out of any jealousy over it back when I was a kid.

[hulkbusted]

Huh.

Well, where I'm from, most of us don't need any special abilities to manipulate the elements. We'll just see about teaching you some of the skills from my world.

[He's wondering what she'd think of Tesla coils and a Farraday cage. It would be fun if nothing else.]

[riches]

I'd really like that. I'm holding out for remembering some of this stuff whenever we leave this place, there are so many things that I could learn and have help me hold the company together.

[ Tesla coils are a sure-fire way to spoil this girl. ]

Sounds like a pipe-dream though, in reality. I doubt we do.

[hulkbusted]

Maybe, maybe not. Is it going to hurt you to learn here? Probably not. If it even stays with you in the form of insight or dream inspiration in your world, there'll be a benefit.

[Consider it done. Everyone should have a bit of spoiling when kidnapped and dropped in a giant interdimensional zoo.]

[riches]

[ Bruce, that is basically her stance on things, yes. Spoil everyone. Of course, it's not really spoiling when you're usually so wealthy that it's just doing really nice stuff for your friends and money happens to hop along as the inconsequential price-tag, but. Anyway. ]

What kind of things do you dream about?

[hulkbusted]

I try not to. [His expression closes down before he forces a not very convincing smile.]

I'm just a ray of sunshine.

Let's see if we can get an idea where you stand on classical mechanics, and if you have a good enough foundation, just for fun, we'll move on to electricity and magnetism.

[riches]

[ Choosing not to comment on having hit a raw nerve, she returns the smile demurely and obliges him otherwise.

And let's say, because who knows how their worlds blend together and where the vague differences lie, that Asami's in-depth knowledge of mechanics is her only jewel to give amongst a hesitant understanding of electricity and all the rest of it. It's a foundation for Bruce to work with and not en entirely shaky one. A fresh mind ready for molding, if anything, and all his. ]

[hulkbusted]

[Once he gets enough of an idea of her foundation, he closes the book they were working from and sets down his pen.]

Okay. It's either we stop now or we go for the next three days without sleeping. [His mood has lightened as they immerse themselves in his comfort zone.] Have you met a woman named Saya? It seems to me that you and she might have some common interests and she might be able to help you in areas I'm not as strong in.

[riches]

Saya got me off my feet with a part-time place at her garage, I'm indebted to her kindness. You're doing a great job, by the way! Let me treat you.

[ Patting his hand encouragingly, she idly flips through her notes while ordering a couple of muffins off a passing waitress. Ample time for Science Shoes to strut their stuff while she's distracted. ]

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce slides his reading glasses up his nose and tilts his head, smiling to himself at the page of doodles and then looks progressively more bemused as he realizes that one of those doodles is supposed to be him.

Note the renowned physicist looking from the piece of paper to his own shoes and back again.]

[riches]

[ HahahaHAHAA shit, closing the notepad when she notices that quizzical look. Uh. ]

Oh! [ Yes, new topics, good. ] I was offered an apprenticeship at City Solutions. Do you think I should take it?

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce honestly can't put any idea of him as a doodle into any kind of context. At least he wasn't wearing a noose?]

What kind of apprenticeship?