Pizza Planet, Friday Afternoon

[justonecondition]

Bruce had made it through an entire semester in a developed, kind of substantially-populated town without smashing anything. So, quietly and without any fuss, he got up today, got dressed, ran a few errands, and then parked himself down at the pizza place in town for a slice. Well, two. Two slices.

In the privacy of his own head, he knew that this pizza was celebratory, but at the same time, he really prefered not to acknowledge that. So. It was lunch pizza. Not celebratory pizza. Just lunch pizza. With a lot of toppings.

Because it was lunch.

[[my literal job today is to hand out beads and T-shirts for Pride. i'm gonna be bored. open!]]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

Delicious lunch! Natalie had a similar idea. There was even a slight air of celebration, too, though for different – if exactly as private – reasons.

She noticed Bruce after she was done putting in her order. And a polite nod was in order, wasn't it? "Afternoon, Dr. Banner."

[justonecondition]

"Afternoon, miss Adams," Bruce replied after just a moment's pause, something in his posture altering slightly now that his non-celebratory lunch was being observed by someone beyond just himself and the people who worked here. "...Nice day out."

He was so good at socializing.

[whenshewasnice]

It was kind of endearing? In a way. And a more open person might have seemed amused, but with her it was just a flicker of something. "You know, if it makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to keep talking to me past the polite greetings."

Yeah, her faults at socializing mostly had to do with her lack of respect for the rules involved.

[justonecondition]

That was an interesting thing to say. Mainly because most people wouldn't say it.

Bruce fiddled with his napkin, folding and unfolding it. He settled on, "Is that something people do a lot?"

[whenshewasnice]

In Natalie's opinion, there were a lot of things most people wouldn't say that they really should have.

She shrugged a shoulder. "Stop talking to me after 'hi'? Sometimes."

[justonecondition]

Bruce paused for a moment, and when he responded, he spoke slowly. "That must... have its pros and cons."

Bruce was thinking mostly of the pros.

[whenshewasnice]

She offered that anoher vague shrug. "Cuts down on small talk."

And she wasn't a friend of small talk.

[justonecondition]

"And it sounds like you're classifying that as a pro."
 
One didn't need to be a genius to figure that one out. But being intensely awkward and private helped.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie's utter unapologeticness about it usually helped, too. "I usually have better things to be doing than talking about the weather," she confirmed.

[justonecondition]

Bruce laughed at that, slightly surprised by her directness. "I think that goes for a lot of us, Miss Adams," he replied. "I won't object to skipping it, if you'd like."

[whenshewasnice]

"It's best saved for the times when it rains something weird."

Not that that had happened very recently. Making it all the more a useless topic of discussion. She paused, then changed topics. "How was your first term in Fandom?"

That wasn't as small-talky as it might have been. She was honestly curious.

[justonecondition]

And in turn, since he now knew that she meant it as a genuine question since she didn't like small talk, Bruce gave the question actual thought. "I'd say it was surprisingly successful," he settled on, but he didn't elaborate. "How was your... was this your last semester before you leave?"

[whenshewasnice]

"No, I'm staying for the rest of the summer," Natalie said. "Doing what is still up in the air, but I'm not in a rush to return up north yet. First term was interesting enough, second probably will be too."

[justonecondition]

"Well, if you'd like to study meditation," Bruce said wryly, like he was expecting her to say no, "there's probably space for that in my class. I'm not expecting a rush of interested students."
 
Wow, two whole sentences out of him at once. Gosh. And one of them was about himself, even.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie paused to consider it, not at all with falling silent for a moment to do so. See above about not caring about conversational norms.

"It'd have to be a TA spot," she pointed out, after that moment had passed. "I'm not actually taking classes, as such, anymore."

[justonecondition]

"Right," he said with a single nod. "And do you mind that it might not be the most labor-intensive position?" Because she might. He'd understand if she did. In high school, he probably wouldn't have gone for this gig, really.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie gave him a dry look. "Over my last two assistantships, I was in charge of bringing coffee."

She could maybe live with a less than labor-intensive position, yeah.

[justonecondition]

"You don't need to do that for this one," Bruce offered generously. "It might be mostly... taking mats out of the closet."

[whenshewasnice]

"I can do that." The whole thing was just something to do, anyway. "I'll do my best to be present, but there's a small chance I might miss a week at some point because of diplomacy."

As you do.

[justonecondition]

"Interesting excuse," Bruce remarked -- not like he doubted her honesty or anything. He genuinely thought it was interesting. "I'll make a note not to hold it against you if you miss a class."

Oh, you thought he was going to ask her to elaborate? Nah, not really.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie wouldn't have had much more to say than that sometimes international politics trumped getting mats from a closet.

"Also, there might be the usual Fandom stuff," she added. "Even more unpredictable, and even less my own fault."

She didn't know whether anyone had missed his classes yet due to being an animal, was what she was getting at.

[justonecondition]

"I had a student ask me what would be on the test because he'd been a puppy all semester," Bruce said. "And I met up with Bar-- uh, Clint when he was carrying a lion cub around who I think was usually his girlfriend."

So, yeah, he understood.

"I'm not teaching this class to stress anybody out, Miss Adams," he added. "If something comes up for you, feel free to prioritize accordingly."

[whenshewasnice]

There were people out in the multiverse who honestly would have laughed at the thought of Natalie ever stressing out over anything school-related. Especially here.

She was not one of those people, but she found it faintly amusing all the same. It didn't really show. "Thanks. I've been good at that so far."

[justonecondition]

"I could guess that from your list of skills," he noted wryly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think people generally fall into archery, music, and rigorous classes without setting priorities."

He knew he wasn't wrong.

[whenshewasnice]

"No, I guess they don't," Natalie replied. Which was to say he wasn't wrong, no. "Guess you could say my family encourages a smart use of priorities."

[justonecondition]

Bruce's hadn't, but he had managed to develop priorities for himself. "Good advantage to have," he said truthfully. Almost like he was a little bit jealous, but hiding it mostly successfully. "Glad to see you've retained that."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie just shrugged one shoulder. A gesture that got familiar pretty quickly to anyone who spent even just a while with her. "Fandom's been surprisingly good at supporting that, too."

Or maybe that was just for those like her who'd befriended people who thought having your university plans figured out wasn't aiming high enough.

[justonecondition]

"Even with the kinds of classes they offer here?" Bruce asked, surprised. "I would have thought it would be boring for someone like you."

[whenshewasnice]

"The classes are, from an academic standpoint."

Seriously, most of them you could hardly call high school classes to begin with.

"But the people are a different story."

[justonecondition]

Yeah, he was using the word 'classes' very liberally here. Even Bruce's own class wasn't exactly academic.

"Ah." Well. "I know less about those," Bruce admitted.

As Natalie had probably surmised by now.

[whenshewasnice]

"I figured," Natalie replied. Her tone had no judgment. Didn't have a lot of anything else but mildness, either, but still. "It can take a while."

She knew from experience. She'd taken a good long while to get too attached to anyone on the island.

[justonecondition]

Eyebrows going up, Bruce let out a somewhat surprised bark of a laugh. Something about an eighteen-year-old teaching him about how social interaction worked was amusing to him on some level.

She wasn't wrong to recognize that he needed the help, but still.

"Well, I'll let you know when I make headway," he said. Not in a condescending way, either. More self-deprecating than anything.