Office hours, Saturday

[livingartifact]

Jenkins hadn't bothered with his office much so far, but it seemed that holding hours while the parents were in town was the thing to do, so he was here. He was even being good and not working on any of his more volatile experiments while he was at it, just flipping through a medieval bestiary.

Bishop-fish, hmmm. . . . No, they would probably just spend the class period trying to convert the students. He could do better.

[open!]

Comments

[stupid_hylians]

Muzu was reluctantly making his way through the offices to follow Sidon's instructions on finding his despicable teachers throughout the school. If he could call them that! Bah! He still found it positively insulting that the king would find it necessary to send the prince off for education when there was a perfectly good tutor there in his own person. He'd done a fine job with the princess, the only reason--

--but he was getting lost in his thoughts again. He seemed to have found one of his destinations, glaring at the number and door and the man through it. He consulted Sidon's notes.

"Mmmm," he grunted in distaste as he stepped forward, judging every corner of the room as he looked around, "you must be this 'Mr. Jenkins,' teaching...what is it? Zoology? Or as the prince puts it 'very fun and absolutely fascinating marvelous creatures.'" Muzu's lip curled back, displaying his sharp teeth in grimace.

[livingartifact]

"Does he! How lovely. I'd ask to whom's family you belong were it not . . . patently obvious." Jenkins stood up from the desk and walked around it to stand in front of his guest. At 6'4", he was unused to looking up at people -- it was rather an interesting experience. "I am Jenkins. And you, sir?"

[stupid_hylians]

"I am an envoy here on behalf of the king," said Muzu with an air of importance, so important in fact that he felt he didn't need to offer his name. It was on a need to know basis, and round-eared Hylians didn't need to know, "to see how the Prince Sidon is faring at his new school, to discover what nonsense he is learning here, and to consider how best to reverse the damage this place is no doubt doing to his impressionable young mind."

[livingartifact]

"Ah. A pleasure to meet you, sir." Jenkins bowed slightly, though his tone had a faintly sarcastic edge to it. "Do you have any questions in particular about my, ah, how did you put it, 'very fun and absolutely fascinating creatures'?"

[best_at_everything]

"So this is where you've been holing up?" Ezekiel looked around as he sauntered in.

Hellos were for less awesome people.

[livingartifact]

"Mr. Jones." Jenkins let out a small sigh and closed the bestiary. "No one warned me you were coming."

[best_at_everything]

Clearly no-one needed to be warned about him, so Ezekiel was just going to ignore that.

"You know, the food here's pretty good. And there's a couple shops in town with really interesting trinkets. I think you've been holding out on us."

[livingartifact]

"Deliberately, even," Jenkins said. "Which trinkets did you have your eye on, then?"

Which shops was he going to potentially have to reimburse if the squirrels spotted Ezekiel?

[made_of_love]

Today, Garnet was making her rounds. The schedule she'd been handed said that Peridot's teacher of zoology would be found here, and so here she was, ducking down a little in order to fit in the doorway, perhaps, but here all the same.

"Good afternoon," she said, mostly because she was pretty certain that was just the polite thing to say. She wasn't much for small talk, and never had been. "Would you be," she glanced at the paper in her hand again, "Jenkins?"

[livingartifact]

"I would, indeed." Jenkins stood in order to meet her properly. His students families were astonishingly full of tall people. "And you would be?"

[made_of_love]

"Garnet," came this particular astonishingly tall person's reply. "I'm here to check on Peridot's progress. Apparently she's in your class?"

[livingartifact]

"Aha! And are you a gem as well, then?" Jenkins offered a small bow. "A pleasure to meet you. Peridot is a wonderful student. Voracious learner, and I've learned a great deal from her as well."

[made_of_love]

"She would bring a unique perspective to things around here, I'm sure," Garnet replied, giving a small bow in return. "There aren't very many similarities between Homeworld and Earth, though I'm led to believe that this island is something else entirely."

[best_at_everything]

"Well, that's just mean. And I haven't decided yet. Got any suggestions?"

Right now he was looking around Jenkins' office.

[livingartifact]

"Oh yes, quite a bit, on both points. This island sits on a conversion point between universes that, as far as I know, is unique in existence."

[livingartifact]

And Jenkins was watching him like a hawk. "I've heard there's been some trouble with cursed objects at the local antiques shop," he said. "So my suggestion is to tread extremely carefully."

[best_at_everything]

"Actual curses, or just people with bad luck curses?" Ezekiel asked.

Meh, there wasn't anything new or particularly interesting in this office.

[made_of_love]

"Timelines and worlds both," Garnet agreed, nodding thoughtfully. "Possibilities and probabilities all tangled up and meeting here, then branching off further into rivers that run in every direction and double back again. It's quite fascinating, really."

Garnet had a very unique perspective on it. Her first visit to Fandom had been startling enough to make her blink all three eyes in an entire half second of surprise.

[livingartifact]

"Elder god curses that feed on souls," Jenkins said. "At least, according to the old squirrel reports."

[livingartifact]

"You've studied the metaphysical properties of the island," Jenkins observed. "You gems really have some very useful skills and technologies. Which is understandable, given your general, ah, durability."

Jenkins, being also extremely durable, could appreciate that.

[made_of_love]

"We've had a lot of time to sort ourselves out, you mean?"

Only the particularly observant would notice the hint of humor in Garnet's voice at that. She suspected that Jenkins here was one of those who counted as 'particularly observant.'

"Humanity might not have the same technologies as we do, but they make up for it in other ways. Perhaps that's why Peridot is so intent on learning, here."

[best_at_everything]

"The squirrel reports." Now you were just messing with him, Jenkins.

[livingartifact]

He was. As the small upward curl at the edge of his mouth would attest. "And to experiment," he agreed.

"Humans have a certain ingenuity," he agreed. "And I believe Peridot has made some good friends here as well, which helps."

[livingartifact]

He wasn't, but he was perfectly happy to let Ezekiel think he was.

"Oh yes, they do all the reporting on the island."

[made_of_love]

"I've had the pleasure of meeting some of them," Garnet agreed. "They did our version of Earth quite the favor some time back. It's one of the reasons we felt good about letting her return here afterward. This seems like a good place for her to become familiar with the way things work on Earth, in a place a little better equipped to meet her needs than," she spread her hands a little, "much of the rest of Earth."