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xp_logsTopaz finds Artie coming in from a late night of work, and Artie ensures that the next generation will never actually learn calculus.
Artie wasn't entirely sure what time it was. Late, clearly - it been after 11 when he'd left [location in New Jersey] and there'd been enough snow on the road that the trip had blown out well past the usual hour's drive. Almost one, probably - his phone had died a little while ago and he wasn't wearing a watch. He dropped his backpack on the floor of the kitchen and the three plastic shopping bags of junk next to it and grabbed a bowl, pouring cereal into it and ... chocolate almond milk, because apparently there was no real cow juice in the fridge right now. The cereal was a little colourful and he squinted at it. Eh... no one ever died from Fruity Pebbles and chocolate fake milk.
Topaz was studying in the downstairs living room. She'd been having trouble focusing as of late, and sometimes a change of location helped. It had helped a bit tonight, but she still had more homework left to do than she did done.
She looked up at the sound of the front door opening. Who the hell came in at this time? There was no way someone had gotten past the security. Still. She grabbed her Calculus book just in case, following the footsteps to the kitchen, prepared to hit whoever it was with the book. She paused in the door when she saw Artie. Not an intruder, then. "Ah...hi. Sorry."
Artie waved at her with the end of his spoon. He carefully put it back in the bowl and lifted the hand, still in the fingerless gloves he'd been wearing and gave it a cautious sniff and then gave the very grimy sleeve of his coat a sniff, sneezing as a feather escaped around the duct tape he'd put on hole in in. Yep. That smell was his clothes. It was cool, though - Topaz didn't have super senses. "Hungry?"
"I'm alright, thanks." Since she was up though she might as well grab a drink. She went for the coffee maker - she was going to be up all night doing homework, she needed something stronger than tea. "Mind if I ask where you're comin' from?" No she couldn't smell him, but just looking at him made it clear that he had survived some sort of battle. Or crawled out of the gutter.
Artie raised an eyebrow at her coffee choice - it was like, 1 am - and showed her a picture of a clock, followed by a second image of a cup full of coffee, caffeine molecules (helpfully labelled) floating out to sit next to it, while Topaz herself gradually nodded off to sleep in a chair before glancing down at himself. "stalking goat" he said after a moment, letting the words hang in the air between them. "mutant trade is... a thing. you go out, all useless and disabled and homeless. hang out in the shelters, soup kitchens, see what you can find. maybe something. maybe nothing. maybe only minnows but you can follow them back up the chain." He settled the now empty bowl on the counter, rubbed his shoulder. There was a bruise forming there under his clothes, others on his arms and torso.
Topaz had to smirk a bit at the image, even as she started brewing the coffee. She did turn to pay attention to the words, however, tilting her head. Of course mutant trade was a thing. Why wouldn't it be? "Doesn't look like you came out on the right end of it all," she commented idly after a moment.
"you meet some real interesting people when you're out late and can't talk" Artie said. Some of them had been useful. Some hadn't. "and I walked away. some bruises. nothing big."
The coffee maker whirred, and Topaz turned her gaze to it, eyes darkening a bit. "Sometimes walkin' away is the best you can ask for," she muttered. They'd learned that the hard way, hadn't they?
Artie nodded and looked at Topaz more carefully. She wasn't sleeping. That much was clear. The rest - there was no point asking if she was okay - he wasn't. None of them were. He'd thrown himself into work - building up contacts, sleeping on planes, in bus stations. The kids - no, the students had it worse because it was business as usual when all of everything had changed. In the end he just asked "is there anything I can help with?"
Topaz grabbed a coffee cup and poured her coffee. Black. Frank had liked it black. God she'd never understood why, it was awful. But she drank it anyways, grimacing. "Nah, I'm good." That was an utter lie and she knew it. "I just messed up and didn't my homework." For a week. She wondered how long it would be before someone sent a note home. "Thank you though."
Artie gave her a broad smile, lips closed. "No-one told you that I have a photographic memory and abused it all the way through high school then? You got any math or science you haven't done? I have the answers."
That actually got him a small, but no less sincere, smile as Topaz held up the book she had been planning on attacking him with. "Do you know calculus?" She should've felt bad she supposed, but screw it - she just wanted to get through the next few months and get out of here. Being held back and having to go to summer school would be horribly inconvenient.
The textbook hadn't changed since he'd used it, even if it wasn't the one Artie himself had used, with the picture of Kurt growing prenshile dicks out of his forehead on the inside of the cover. He smirked in response, called up a page of it and the answers to the questions and began running through the book. Page. Blink. Page. Blink.
Topaz sipped her coffee as she watched Artie work, thoroughly impressed. "That's brilliant," she said honestly. "What would I have to pay you to get you to do this for me for the rest of the year?" She asked conversationally - mostly joking. She didn't mind cheating once if it meant not sitting up all night to do homework. But too many repeats would probably make her feel guilty.
"call it a freebie. I mean, the payment is that you don't actually learn anything." Artie stripped off his hobo coat and the hooded sweatshirt underneath, dropped them onto his pile of homeless guy crap. The gloves followed a moment later. "now or in the morning? Your call."
"Um...." Topaz looked at her coffee, then at her book. "Now, I suppose. If you don't mind." They were both awake, after all. And maybe now she could spend her night doing something besides homework.
He nodded and mimed 'go get your books and bring them back'.
Once they were open on the table, Artie stared down at them and signed "they tell you that you'll need to use this one day but it's a complete list." He paused and translated it into text before starting to project the workings out of the first unfinished question onto the table.
Topaz watched the sign language like she had any day what he was saying, then nodded and got to work with writing the answers down. "I'll know how to do Calculus but I won't know how to deal with the world ending again," she muttered as she worked. "Good job school."
Artie wasn't entirely sure what time it was. Late, clearly - it been after 11 when he'd left [location in New Jersey] and there'd been enough snow on the road that the trip had blown out well past the usual hour's drive. Almost one, probably - his phone had died a little while ago and he wasn't wearing a watch. He dropped his backpack on the floor of the kitchen and the three plastic shopping bags of junk next to it and grabbed a bowl, pouring cereal into it and ... chocolate almond milk, because apparently there was no real cow juice in the fridge right now. The cereal was a little colourful and he squinted at it. Eh... no one ever died from Fruity Pebbles and chocolate fake milk.
Topaz was studying in the downstairs living room. She'd been having trouble focusing as of late, and sometimes a change of location helped. It had helped a bit tonight, but she still had more homework left to do than she did done.
She looked up at the sound of the front door opening. Who the hell came in at this time? There was no way someone had gotten past the security. Still. She grabbed her Calculus book just in case, following the footsteps to the kitchen, prepared to hit whoever it was with the book. She paused in the door when she saw Artie. Not an intruder, then. "Ah...hi. Sorry."
Artie waved at her with the end of his spoon. He carefully put it back in the bowl and lifted the hand, still in the fingerless gloves he'd been wearing and gave it a cautious sniff and then gave the very grimy sleeve of his coat a sniff, sneezing as a feather escaped around the duct tape he'd put on hole in in. Yep. That smell was his clothes. It was cool, though - Topaz didn't have super senses. "Hungry?"
"I'm alright, thanks." Since she was up though she might as well grab a drink. She went for the coffee maker - she was going to be up all night doing homework, she needed something stronger than tea. "Mind if I ask where you're comin' from?" No she couldn't smell him, but just looking at him made it clear that he had survived some sort of battle. Or crawled out of the gutter.
Artie raised an eyebrow at her coffee choice - it was like, 1 am - and showed her a picture of a clock, followed by a second image of a cup full of coffee, caffeine molecules (helpfully labelled) floating out to sit next to it, while Topaz herself gradually nodded off to sleep in a chair before glancing down at himself. "stalking goat" he said after a moment, letting the words hang in the air between them. "mutant trade is... a thing. you go out, all useless and disabled and homeless. hang out in the shelters, soup kitchens, see what you can find. maybe something. maybe nothing. maybe only minnows but you can follow them back up the chain." He settled the now empty bowl on the counter, rubbed his shoulder. There was a bruise forming there under his clothes, others on his arms and torso.
Topaz had to smirk a bit at the image, even as she started brewing the coffee. She did turn to pay attention to the words, however, tilting her head. Of course mutant trade was a thing. Why wouldn't it be? "Doesn't look like you came out on the right end of it all," she commented idly after a moment.
"you meet some real interesting people when you're out late and can't talk" Artie said. Some of them had been useful. Some hadn't. "and I walked away. some bruises. nothing big."
The coffee maker whirred, and Topaz turned her gaze to it, eyes darkening a bit. "Sometimes walkin' away is the best you can ask for," she muttered. They'd learned that the hard way, hadn't they?
Artie nodded and looked at Topaz more carefully. She wasn't sleeping. That much was clear. The rest - there was no point asking if she was okay - he wasn't. None of them were. He'd thrown himself into work - building up contacts, sleeping on planes, in bus stations. The kids - no, the students had it worse because it was business as usual when all of everything had changed. In the end he just asked "is there anything I can help with?"
Topaz grabbed a coffee cup and poured her coffee. Black. Frank had liked it black. God she'd never understood why, it was awful. But she drank it anyways, grimacing. "Nah, I'm good." That was an utter lie and she knew it. "I just messed up and didn't my homework." For a week. She wondered how long it would be before someone sent a note home. "Thank you though."
Artie gave her a broad smile, lips closed. "No-one told you that I have a photographic memory and abused it all the way through high school then? You got any math or science you haven't done? I have the answers."
That actually got him a small, but no less sincere, smile as Topaz held up the book she had been planning on attacking him with. "Do you know calculus?" She should've felt bad she supposed, but screw it - she just wanted to get through the next few months and get out of here. Being held back and having to go to summer school would be horribly inconvenient.
The textbook hadn't changed since he'd used it, even if it wasn't the one Artie himself had used, with the picture of Kurt growing prenshile dicks out of his forehead on the inside of the cover. He smirked in response, called up a page of it and the answers to the questions and began running through the book. Page. Blink. Page. Blink.
Topaz sipped her coffee as she watched Artie work, thoroughly impressed. "That's brilliant," she said honestly. "What would I have to pay you to get you to do this for me for the rest of the year?" She asked conversationally - mostly joking. She didn't mind cheating once if it meant not sitting up all night to do homework. But too many repeats would probably make her feel guilty.
"call it a freebie. I mean, the payment is that you don't actually learn anything." Artie stripped off his hobo coat and the hooded sweatshirt underneath, dropped them onto his pile of homeless guy crap. The gloves followed a moment later. "now or in the morning? Your call."
"Um...." Topaz looked at her coffee, then at her book. "Now, I suppose. If you don't mind." They were both awake, after all. And maybe now she could spend her night doing something besides homework.
He nodded and mimed 'go get your books and bring them back'.
Once they were open on the table, Artie stared down at them and signed "they tell you that you'll need to use this one day but it's a complete list." He paused and translated it into text before starting to project the workings out of the first unfinished question onto the table.
Topaz watched the sign language like she had any day what he was saying, then nodded and got to work with writing the answers down. "I'll know how to do Calculus but I won't know how to deal with the world ending again," she muttered as she worked. "Good job school."
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