Knowledge in exchange for knowledge. I would provide you a list of topics, you would go to the library and find relevant books on the subject, and bring them to me. In exchange, I can offer you lessons. You expressed an interest in temporal anomalies and different universes. I happen to be an expert in the topic. I can tutor you not only with examples, but the actual theories behind such things.
If that doesn't interest you, I'm also knowledgeable in most other areas. I'm sure we can find something you'd be interested in.
[Fugo blinks and then squints at the watch, not sure what to make of Rosalind's offer. She has piqued his interest; after all, it's not often one runs into someone who calls themselves an expert on temporal anomalies. But on the other hand... ugh, teachers. He sighs and plops his chin into his hand, fingers restlessly drumming on his jaw. He's not sure if he wants to say yes or no.]
Your offer is... quite fair. But, I have to admit, rather unexpected. When we last spoke I got the impression that you were the sort of scientist who was more interested in research than teaching.
That isn't an incorrection impression. However, as I have little else to do while rebuilding my laboratory and equipment and assessing the local chemical supplies, I might as well make myself useful in some fashion.
And while I do enjoy research--
[She hesitates, pauses, and finally comes up with:]
I am unwilling to subject myself to the whims of so-called "ghosts".
[There's a long pause, while Fugo thinks. And thinks, and thinks, and thinks. In the end, he makes his decision when this thought occurs to him: if I don't like it, for whatever reason, I can always call it off. Just knowing that is comforting enough that he'll at least try. He's not beholden to this strange woman. If and when things start going down the road of what he's used to when it comes to teachers and tutors, there's nothing stopping him from putting an end to it.]
The ghosts are pretty annoying. I've gotten used to them but only because I'd be bored to tears if I didn't study something. And Togami's bookstore carries mostly fiction. All the good reference materials are in the library.
Anyway. I agree to your terms. I'll collect research material in exchange for lessons; if the lessons don't work out, I'll let you know sooner rather than later and we can make other arrangements. But I have some more questions for you.
- How many times would you like to meet? I'm assuming we'd be meeting on at least a weekly basis. - When, where, and for how long would you like to meet? I'm not available in the mornings during the week. - What sort of prerequisite knowledge would I need for studying temporal anomalies from a scientific perspective? Are there any books you'd like me to read before we begin?
[What he doesn't ask about, oddly enough, is what kind of workload she's considering. Whatever standard she wants to hold him to, he's confident in his ability to exceed it.]
- I assumed once a week, but we can modify this if you wish. - I found an apparently abandoned shop I'm currently in the process of cleaning, clearing and renovating. We can meet here. I can meet you in the afternoons, perhaps on Fridays. - How much of a scientific background do you have?
I'll send you off after your first lesson with a number of subjects and titles for you to find for me.
When it comes to research and personal study, not much; my area of expertise has generally been mathematics. I've been educated up to the collegiate level in all subjects, although I'm particularly well-read in the areas of business, economics, and accounting. To keep busy, I've recently been studying...
[Wow, look at all this math and science. So much hardcore math, particularly in the area of physics. Not the sort of stuff a teenager studies because he's bored and trapped in a bullshit magical city.]
... and finally, as stupid as it sounds, supernatural taxonomy. But that's only because here are so many oddities here and I'd rather not run into them without knowing what they are and what they're capable of.
[Well. That's certainly a hell of a list of topics, and Rosalind blinks, happily taken by surprise. If he's that clever, she might not have to dumb things down after all. She'll still start slow, see how much he can absorb in a given time, but at least their first lesson won't be the very basics of physics.]
I hardly think that sounds stupid. I've been planning on doing the very same thing with one of the kelpies I saw near the oceanfront. Bring your notes this Friday.
You said you'd been educated to the collegiate level. How old are you, precisely?
Of course. Can you read Italian? If not, please let me know and I'll translate them into English.
I just turned 17. I haven't been formally educated since I was 13, though.
[Fugo looks down at the watch, fingers tapping along his desk. What now, he wonders. He's speaking the truth, but it's absurd. Will she accuse him of lying? That's happened, sometimes, when teachers didn't realize how quickly he could pick up subject material.]
[But oh, that age. Seventeen isn't half so interesting as thirteen, and she stares at the watch for a long few moments. Coincidence is just a stupid word for naturally occurring random happenstance, but still . . .]
[That ... is not what he was expecting. Fugo's never met Rosalind in person, so he has no concept of how old or how young she is. He's caught out, startled.]
Oh.
That's quite the coincidence.
[His traitorous fingers type out, did you like it-- but this time, he's able to catch himself before sending it out.]
[He doesn't have to say why. But there's an itch in him: to get it out in the open. To see how she reacts. To squint at the letters of her message and try to tell if there's a difference between these words and the blunt language of their other conversation. Is she lying? Or is she telling the truth? He's not sure which he prefers.]
I attacked one of my professors with a dictionary; he was hospitalized, I was expelled.
You're very accomplished. Did you choose your own course of study?
[Hm. Well, that's certainly worrying, but on the other hand, that can't possibly be the entire truth. People can be irrationally violent, but they usually have a reason.]
Should I fear you'll do that to me?
And yes, I did. My parents weren't particularly enthused about my attending university at all; they certainly didn't care what I studied while I was there.
[She must have had to fight. Against her parents, against the school, against society. Fugo can respect that, even if it's almost the inverse of his own experiences. He didn't push through school because there was a field he was so passionate about that he couldn't not pursue it; he was being educated and cultivated as a proper asset, a tool to further expand his grandfather's interest and influence in the world of aristocrats he wanted so badly to be an unquestioned part of.]
Ideally, if things were headed in that direction, I would cut off contact before it got to that point.
From the sounds of it you didn't keep contact with them afterwards.
[She'll address that second point in a moment. She'll tell him all about keeping contact with her parents. But a secret for a secret, that's how this has gone, and she wants to know what her student is capable of. Is he going to simply pop off and start harming her? She's beyond clever, but she's not much for one-on-one combat. She can hurt someone, but she's nothing against someone who can truly fight.]
My grandmother passed away during midterms. I had to stay to finish them, so I wasn't able to attend her funeral. Apparently my essay for his class was complete gibberish about a different subject, so he called me into his office to lecture me about it. When I told him what happened, he said I was lying because my grandfather hadn't contacted the school and that I was too old to be so clingy and childish. That's when I started hitting him.
[Even now, he writes very clinically about the incident and makes no move to defend himself. He presents simple facts and takes ownership over his own actions. He failed a test, so it was his fault that he had been called in to begin with; his professor didn't "make him angry," it's that he couldn't control his temper in a moment of crisis.]
[She taps two fingers against the table, rereading his paragraph twice. Ah, she thinks, and then: all right. Not an unprovoked attack, then. Not something that came from nowhere and had no buildup. A reaction likely born of an awful combination of grief and anger, and while the response was more extreme than most, she can't say she entirely blames him. It'd be a damn lie to say she hadn't thought about doing such a thing to some of her more idiotic professors. The sexist ones, the patronizing ones and the leering ones, the ones who stared and insinuated--
Well, anyway. She clearly has little to fear in the short-term from her student.]
All right.
[A beat, and then, continuing their exchange:]
They disowned me once I made it clear I had no intention of giving up my chosen course of study.
Her words have a note of simple finality: that what he's told her enough for her to make a decision. There's nothing more that needs to be said. He reads her own message again: a secret for a secret.]
People like that aren't worth it to keep around anyway.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
11/30
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If that doesn't interest you, I'm also knowledgeable in most other areas. I'm sure we can find something you'd be interested in.
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Your offer is... quite fair. But, I have to admit, rather unexpected. When we last spoke I got the impression that you were the sort of scientist who was more interested in research than teaching.
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And while I do enjoy research--
[She hesitates, pauses, and finally comes up with:]
I am unwilling to subject myself to the whims of so-called "ghosts".
no subject
The ghosts are pretty annoying. I've gotten used to them but only because I'd be bored to tears if I didn't study something. And Togami's bookstore carries mostly fiction. All the good reference materials are in the library.
Anyway. I agree to your terms. I'll collect research material in exchange for lessons; if the lessons don't work out, I'll let you know sooner rather than later and we can make other arrangements. But I have some more questions for you.
- How many times would you like to meet? I'm assuming we'd be meeting on at least a weekly basis.
- When, where, and for how long would you like to meet? I'm not available in the mornings during the week.
- What sort of prerequisite knowledge would I need for studying temporal anomalies from a scientific perspective? Are there any books you'd like me to read before we begin?
[What he doesn't ask about, oddly enough, is what kind of workload she's considering. Whatever standard she wants to hold him to, he's confident in his ability to exceed it.]
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- I found an apparently abandoned shop I'm currently in the process of cleaning, clearing and renovating. We can meet here. I can meet you in the afternoons, perhaps on Fridays.
- How much of a scientific background do you have?
I'll send you off after your first lesson with a number of subjects and titles for you to find for me.
no subject
When it comes to research and personal study, not much; my area of expertise has generally been mathematics. I've been educated up to the collegiate level in all subjects, although I'm particularly well-read in the areas of business, economics, and accounting. To keep busy, I've recently been studying...
[Wow, look at all this math and science. So much hardcore math, particularly in the area of physics. Not the sort of stuff a teenager studies because he's bored and trapped in a bullshit magical city.]
... and finally, as stupid as it sounds, supernatural taxonomy. But that's only because here are so many oddities here and I'd rather not run into them without knowing what they are and what they're capable of.
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I hardly think that sounds stupid. I've been planning on doing the very same thing with one of the kelpies I saw near the oceanfront. Bring your notes this Friday.
You said you'd been educated to the collegiate level. How old are you, precisely?
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I just turned 17. I haven't been formally educated since I was 13, though.
[Fugo looks down at the watch, fingers tapping along his desk. What now, he wonders. He's speaking the truth, but it's absurd. Will she accuse him of lying? That's happened, sometimes, when teachers didn't realize how quickly he could pick up subject material.]
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[But oh, that age. Seventeen isn't half so interesting as thirteen, and she stares at the watch for a long few moments. Coincidence is just a stupid word for naturally occurring random happenstance, but still . . .]
That's the same age I entered university.
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Oh.
That's quite the coincidence.
[His traitorous fingers type out, did you like it-- but this time, he's able to catch himself before sending it out.]
What did you study?
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[Sure it isn't a lack of interest. A beat, and she adds:]
I studied at Cambridge. Graduated at sixteen, and went on to earn my master's degree in quantum physics.
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I attacked one of my professors with a dictionary; he was hospitalized, I was expelled.
You're very accomplished. Did you choose your own course of study?
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Should I fear you'll do that to me?
And yes, I did. My parents weren't particularly enthused about my attending university at all; they certainly didn't care what I studied while I was there.
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Ideally, if things were headed in that direction, I would cut off contact before it got to that point.
From the sounds of it you didn't keep contact with them afterwards.
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[She'll address that second point in a moment. She'll tell him all about keeping contact with her parents. But a secret for a secret, that's how this has gone, and she wants to know what her student is capable of. Is he going to simply pop off and start harming her? She's beyond clever, but she's not much for one-on-one combat. She can hurt someone, but she's nothing against someone who can truly fight.]
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My grandmother passed away during midterms. I had to stay to finish them, so I wasn't able to attend her funeral. Apparently my essay for his class was complete gibberish about a different subject, so he called me into his office to lecture me about it. When I told him what happened, he said I was lying because my grandfather hadn't contacted the school and that I was too old to be so clingy and childish. That's when I started hitting him.
[Even now, he writes very clinically about the incident and makes no move to defend himself. He presents simple facts and takes ownership over his own actions. He failed a test, so it was his fault that he had been called in to begin with; his professor didn't "make him angry," it's that he couldn't control his temper in a moment of crisis.]
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Well, anyway. She clearly has little to fear in the short-term from her student.]
All right.
[A beat, and then, continuing their exchange:]
They disowned me once I made it clear I had no intention of giving up my chosen course of study.
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Her words have a note of simple finality: that what he's told her enough for her to make a decision. There's nothing more that needs to be said. He reads her own message again: a secret for a secret.]
People like that aren't worth it to keep around anyway.
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Do you have any intention of trying to complete your degree, or are you simply going to work around it?
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But I'd rather not.
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