Office Hours, Friday, 1/8

[tyler_gone]

Tyler found it vaguely weird to have office hours that didn't involve spending time getting supplies together for whatever random experiment he was making the class do next.

He'd definitely been teaching science too long.

He had his feet propped up on his desk as he leaned way back in his chair, leafing through a volume of Plato and trying to decide how to turn it into an activity. He wasnt sure the students would go for being literally chained in a cave.

[OOC: Open office!]

Comments

[screwyoumarvel]

After his class, Steve dropped by Tyler's office on his way back to his own. He knocked on the door frame and said, "I see you got through the first week intact."

[tyler_gone]

"I did," Tyler said, letting himself down so the chair's front legs touched the ground again. "This is my eighth class. I'm not sure how that happened."

[screwyoumarvel]

"I try not to think about it too hard," Steve said wryly. "I keep expecting someone to ask to see the degree that makes me qualified to teach or something."

[tyler_gone]

Tyler snorted. "Yeah, my degree definitely did not come with teaching credentials attached."

He had one, though. It was in business administration, chosen in a spirit of utter practicality, and he had thought about it not at all since graduation.

"I have no idea how this piece keeps its licenses. We don't even have math or language classes most of the time." A pause. "I'm not complaining. You?"

[screwyoumarvel]

He laughed. "At least you have one. I have a couple of semesters of art school. From the thirties. I like having a job, but I can't help wondering if the kids are getting shortchanged. At least they have those...what do you call them. The classes. On the computer." Steve really didn't understand how those worked, but apparently they existed? And were a thing?

[tyler_gone]

"I think they're probably spending less time in class than they would in a regular school?" Tyler ventured. "But yeah, they have online courses, and half of 'em aren't going to go work in some office somewhere anyhow. If it's this or no high school ... this is better."

[screwyoumarvel]

"Yeah," Steve agreed. Then he blurted out, "Arthur Pendragon is one of my TAs."

It was totally topical! Arthur Pendragon was most assuredly not going to work in an office somewhere!

[tyler_gone]

"Yeah, he comes to Fight Club," Tyler said, totally unconcerned. "Pretty good fighter. Snarks about everybody on radio."

He may not have processed the that Arthur Pendragon, no, really thing.

"How's he as TA?"

[screwyoumarvel]

"I have a couple of British friends who are probably going to cry or something when I tell them." One of them held the title of 'the Pendragon,' actually. "Don't know yet. I only hired him after class, so he's had the job for about ten minutes."

[tyler_gone]

Tyler frowned. "This is one of those things I was supposed to know like a year ago, but I wasn't paying attention, right?" he said. "He's that Arthur, huh?"

[screwyoumarvel]

"He's named Arthur Pendragon, he's taking a military history class, and I'm pretty sure he's not from around now. It seems like the most likely explanation," Steve said with a shrug. "Either that or his parents were very dippy or very mean. I have to edit Rome week now. I was going to cover Badon Hill."

To someone less of a military history nerd than Steve, that might not actually mean anything.

[tyler_gone]

Yeah, Tyler's response was a blank stare.

Sorry, Steve.

[screwyoumarvel]

"Legendarily speaking, it's Arthur's greatest victory," Steve explained. "The general theory is that the historical Battle of Badon Hill got conflated into the Arthurian legends, but--Arthur Pendragon is in my class."

[tyler_gone]

"Ah," Tyler said. "So if you teach him, it's like telling him how to win, and he might screw it up, and then you've wrecked history."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's kind of heavy."

[screwyoumarvel]

"And now you know why I keep getting halfway through sentences and stopping every time I talk to Tony," Steve said. "Yeah. Like I said, I need to edit. At least I won't get to that for a little while yet."

[tyler_gone]

"Tony's not your Tony," Tyler pointed out, because he always felt like he had to. "I'm still trying to figure out how I'll fill a semester of philosophy and not stomp on Skywalker's turf. We're on Plato next week."

[screwyoumarvel]

"No, he's not," Steve agreed. "But he's still pretty early for Iron Man, and God knows what's coming. I don't want to mess that up."

"I think philosophy and ethics are different enough you should be able to manage it," Steve said. "Just don't do a class on babies. I found out the hard way he does that when I taught sex ed."

[tyler_gone]

"Thanks, but I wasn't going to do a babies class anyhow," Tyler said. "I've had people who were doing that in my classes sometimes. The dolls creep me out."

[screwyoumarvel]

"I used bags of flour," Steve said, which was an implicit agreement that the dolls creeped him out, too.

[tyler_gone]

"Anybody bake their child?" Tyler asked, then, rather randomly, noted, "I miss Jamie Madrox. He would have done that."

[screwyoumarvel]

"I don't think so," Steve said, then stared at Tyler. "You miss Jamie Madrox?"

[tyler_gone]

"Well, yeah," Tyler said. "Don't look like I grew a second head. We were buds back when I was a student. Plus? Never dull."

Which was a bit like praising speed metal for not being overly dependent on melodies.

[screwyoumarvel]

"You were--okay, what?" Steve said. "Are we talking about different Jamie Madroxes?"

[tyler_gone]

"... how have you known me for over a year and not known this?" Tyler asked very slowly, then massaged his forehead before explaining the whole thing. "I was a sophomore when Madrox was a freshman. I left" -- got expelled, thank you --"went home, time went wonky. When I came back it was one year there, ten years here. It's freaky."

Another pause.

"Unless you have a Jamie at home and that's what we're talking about, but that would just make my brain hurt worse."

[screwyoumarvel]

"Huh," Steve said as he processed that. "No, I didn't know that, and yes, I was thinking of the one who was here." Then he grinned wryly and added, "And yes, there is a Jamie where I come from. He's not a teenager any more."

[tyler_gone]

"Does he still duplicate if you smack him?"

Smacking Madrox: Hours of Fun!

"And the whole story doesn't come up that often. It's okay. I think there are only about five people left on the island who knew me as a kid."

[screwyoumarvel]

"Yeah," Steve said. "The idea of many Jamie Madroxes really shouldn't be that alien."

"This place does have a high turnover ratio, it's true."

[tyler_gone]

"Not really alien at all," Tyler admitted. "And true. You ever get ready to move on again?"

[screwyoumarvel]

"And do what?" Steve asked. "Go back? I don't know that I can. What about you?"

[tyler_gone]

"Not a lot to go back to on this end, either," Tyler said. "I get restless, but this is home."

[screwyoumarvel]

Well, now that they'd forded into thoroughly depressing territory... "You going to the faculty meeting?"

[tyler_gone]

"Yeah," Tyler said, glancing at his desk as if something there would help them out of this conversational morass. "I haven't met any of the new people yet. Should at least see them."