InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I am NOT taking my gloves off."

molly suresh can beat anyone at hide-and-seek (humanmapquest) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2010-11-11 20:54:00

Entry tags:

adric, molly suresh

WHO: Molly Suresh and Adric
WHAT: Campus Tour
WHEN: Mid-afternoon; around 3PM
WHERE: Colligo University
RATING: TBD [doubtful it'll be too high]
STATUS: In Progress

Although Molly had already decided to take classes, she also opted - on a whim, really - to sign up for one of the campus tours that was offered throughout the day. It was a good chance to get to meet some of her fellow students and see the campus from another angle. She already had most of the layout memorized; she'd had a map of the school and surrounding area hanging on her wall since she was a child. But that didn't mean she really knew the campus.

Making her way to the starting point - out front of the Student Activity Centre, by the large statue of a man she didn't recognize - Molly glanced at the rest of the group. Locals. All of them. Except for one. She spotted him last, or at least quit looking when she saw him. She recognized him from the message board, the picture on there not very big but clear enough she could recognize him. What was his name? Something starting with an 'A'. She was just about to reach for her PDA to find out when she remembered.

Adric! That had been it. Molly was good with names. A quick closing of her eyes and reaching out with her ability proved she was right, too. Adric. He was right there, right beside her. Just a few people away. She opened her eyes and moved toward him, smiling as she gave a slight wave to get his attention. "Hey!" she greeted him, realizing a second too late that she probably sounded a little too excited. She couldn't help it though. She really hadn't expected to see anyone she might be able to really talk to on this thing.

"I'm Molly," she reintroduced herself, not sure if he'd remember her or not. "We chatted when you first showed up. Theorized about programming for the locals..." And now she felt slightly awkward, shifting from foot to foot, worried he wouldn't remember. This right here, she decided, was exactly why she still had the same friends she'd had since she was ten.

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computator
2010-11-12 02:47 am UTC (link)

Adric hadn't really been sure what he could find here. Stuck in one place had been a way of life for him for so long, but traveling with the Doctor had left him with a bit of an issue when it come to settling back down into being stationary. And even then, Alzarius had been a lush tropical wonderland with plenty of areas to roam and more than enough to get him into trouble if he so had the inclination. This... This was just a city. And an incredibly dull and at the same time fascinating city at that, and while the oddities that seemed to grip the place every so often made for a good distraction, Adric felt that he had to find something to fill in the lulls in between.

And that was why he was currently standing on the campus of the local University, map in hand, as he twisted it, attempting make sense of the odd mess of squares, circles, and triangles with the layout that he saw in front of him. He'd just about given up -- because unless that statute was one of the random circles next to the quad, the map made no sense whatsoever -- when he heard someone rather enthusiastically greet him.

Looking up, a slightly owlish look gracing his features, Adric was able to muster a smile as the greeter explained who she was and why she'd called him out. It wasn't all that surprising, considering they were likely the only two individuals in possession of their full facilities in this crowd, that she would feel the sort of gratitude towards his presence that would provoke that sort of reaction, and her sudden shyness about it confused him. But he'd learned from his time with the Doctor that humans often were utterly illogical about things that they termed 'embarrassing.'

"Yes, I remember," He said, offering her a sincere smile as he spared a glance towards the rest of the crowd. "I suppose we'll get an up close demonstration today."

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humanmapquest
2010-11-12 02:55 am UTC (link)

Good, he remembered. That helped a little. Molly relaxed a fraction and flashed him a bright smile. "Yes," she agreed. She fell silent as the girl who was apparently in charge of the group - Tiffany Something-or-Other - announced it was time to head out. Their first stop was down the path, through the Quad, to the Science Department. Molly smiled over at Adric, falling into step beside him as the majority of the group began to move sedately ahead.

She had to admit, it had been a while since she'd talked to someone close to her own age that she hadn't known for a while already. Ben, Adam, and Jude had been her friends for forever. For a while, Tom had been old enough to talk to too. Some of the locals weren't bad, as long as you avoided certain topics, but she wasn't really friends with any of them.

"Have you already signed up for classes or are you still trying to decide?" she questioned curiously, keeping her voice low enough that it wouldn't attract too much attention. She nodded at a girl she recognized from one of her Papa's classes as they passed then glanced back over at him, hands sliding into the pockets of her jacket to stave off the slight chill in the air.

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computator
2010-11-12 03:40 am UTC (link)

"There isn't really much to decide," Adric said. In all honesty, the only thing that he was interested in was mathematics, perhaps a few of the technical courses in order to familiarize himself more readily with the current technology rather than blundering through with what he knew of technology centuries more advanced than anything that they had here. But beyond that, his interests began to waver. Sciences were the most likely to hold his attention, but when it came to literature, arts, philosophy, even history, his ability to give a damn became stretched very thin. And when it was being presented by someone whom he was sure he was several times smarter than, it was a struggle for him to put in the sort of effort that one would expect.

The Doctor had only been able to maintain his interest in a variety of subjects by making the process far more challenging than what he was used to. It was one of the virtues that came with being more educated than Adric in most areas: The Doctor could actually ask the sort of questions that he had to think about.

"It's best to stick to things I know rather than going outside of that," Adric said, perhaps not clarifying what he meant as well as he could as he glanced over at her. "Otherwise, I might get bored."

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humanmapquest
2010-11-12 05:00 am UTC (link)

Molly nodded, easily able to understand that. It's partially why Mohinder had agreed to her having lessons with Aziraphale, all those years ago, rather than forcing her to attend public school. Yes, partially it had been because she was more mature than most kids her age, but a large part was due to Molly not really taking lessons taught by the locals as seriously. If it wasn't interesting to her, custom-made or otherwise forced to learn, she just didn't put in any effort.

Absently, she tucked some hair behind her ear and cast a glance at the front of the group. The tour guide was chattering away but Molly wasn't paying her very much attention at all. There wasn't any history, nothing of substance. She considered Adric much more interesting, truth be told. At least he could hold a two-sided conversation no matter what the subject happened to be.

"What sorts of things do you like, then?" she asked curiously. Who knew? Maybe they'd wind up taking a class or two together.

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computator
2010-11-12 05:19 am UTC (link)

"Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. Maths, sciences. Temporal theory and 5th dimensional physics are especially fascinating," Adric said, neither missing or beat or even recognizing the irony in the words that had just left his lips. For him, that had become the norm, and even though his lessons had varied in their degree of frequency as well as their content with each shift in the circumstances that had came, -- Romana's departure, the Doctor's regeneration, Tegan's constant insistence that she be the one attended to first, and his near death and subsequent arrival here -- his interests had remained as complex as they had been at the start. "I have a certain talent in Block Transfer Computations... But I'm not supposed to utilize the without supervision. Not since the last... incident."

Even if the Master kidnapping him and utilizing him as his own personal architect had hardly been his fault.

"What about you?" Adric asked, an honest sincerity in his eyes as he looked over at her expectantly. He'd never really been very good at the social interaction thing. His conversations with Tegan had been terse, at best, and while Romana and Nyssa had been much more receptive to him, their conversations had remained mostly within the technical. Small talk was a rather other monster entirely.

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humanmapquest
2010-11-12 05:31 am UTC (link)

Being labelled the 'smart one' in your group tended to mean that you often were the one talking about things that others couldn't really, or at least didn't want to, follow. It usually meant trying to logic and reason with someone by explaining things in a much less technical way. It meant a great many things, really, and Molly had always worn her title proud and done her best to live up to all of the expectations of being the 'brains behind the Them'.

Yet right now she felt much more like the town idiot, conversing with someone with far more intelligence than she could ever hope to achieve. Fifth dimensional physics? Block Transfer Computation? She swallowed, hard, and desperately wished something - anything - would happen to draw the attention off of her. A fire, someone streaking on a dare, a hostage situation, anything was better than having to answer his question.

Fate, unfortunately, decided to ignore Molly's heartfelt request. And after a brief pause, where she pretended to be paying attention to something the tour guide was babbling on about, she finally gave a slight smile and half-snort, half-laugh.

"Well, nothing I'm interested in is even close to that," she admitted a bit sheepishly. She stuffed her hands further into her pockets. "I did help my Papa in the lab a lot over the last few years," she said with a sideways glance at him. "He's a geneticist. So I have some... passing familiarity with that area of science." A bit more than passing, really, but she doubted she was going to go any further. It was interesting but it wasn't something she wanted to do for a living.

"I've actually been considering taking some classes aimed at public relations," she added. Most of her earlier inferiority had faded as she'd begun to speak, and she gave Adric an easy, relaxed smile. "Not overly intellectual, I know, but I have a knack for it and it seems like it might be fun."

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computator
2010-11-12 06:21 am UTC (link)

The fact that her sheepishness had suddenly increased rather than decreased was perhaps the only clue to Adric that something that he had said had been wrong. Social signals were usually something that someone else pointed out to him, but in a situation where he was the only one around, he had to do his best to read the other individual in order to determine how to react, and the temporary confusion that settled over him at her reaction didn't clear until she made mention of genetics. And in that instant, whatever worries he might have had were cleared away for interest.

"My understanding of biological matters has always been a bit sketchy," Adric said. "Especially when it comes to humans. I'd love to hear what you know sometime."

Because whatever information could be used to fill in the gaps would be helpful. Romana had told him enough about Gallifreyan biology that he had a good grasp on it, and Nyssa had explained what she understood of Traken biology and general humanoid anatomy. He fell somewhere between the two, as far as he could figure, with little of the advantages of the Gallifreyan biology...but fewer of the weaknesses of the general humanoid populous. But wait, what was she saying?

"There's nothing wrong with doing what you're good at. It's part of why I stick with maths."

Because he had a tendency to cock everything else up so badly.

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humanmapquest
2010-11-13 03:25 am UTC (link)

Molly wasn't sure whether he realized that she felt a bit out of her depth and was trying to make her feel better, or whether he honestly didn't realize it and was naturally just steering the conversation that way. Either way, though, she smiled at his statement about wanting to know more about genetics and made a mental note to do just that.

"I guess that's true," she agreed to his statement about sticking with what you were good at. "Though I do like being challenged," she tacked on. Another smile, this one a little more hesitant, and she heard herself asking without even really thinking it through, "Maybe sometime we can swap? I'll tell you what I know about human genetics, if you cover some of what you know with me?"

She paused, the smile turning a little chagrined as she admitted, "When it comes to temporal theories and physics, I'm still on basic theories really. Most of what I know has come from casual reading."

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computator
2010-11-13 04:31 am UTC (link)

"It really isn't all that hard to get a grip on," Adric said, offering her an encouraging smile. "As long as you're not actually trying to do any real world work with them. The calculations would likely be far too complicated for you to grasp. Hell, some of them were far too complicated for the Doctor to grasp," He said with a slight snort, remembering how he'd ended up doing most of the navigational calculations after awhile. The ones that actually worked, at least. "But the theory is solid enough for most human minds to work with on a purely one dimensional level."

Not that he was trying to be insulting or meaning to be insulting. No, that was just how Adric was, and what he was saying was what he believed to be the truth. Human minds had their limits, and it was only the occasional one that would actually be able to grasp the larger dimensions at play.

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humanmapquest
2010-11-13 04:46 am UTC (link)

Logically, Molly knew that Adric wasn't trying to be insulting. The fact that he'd pointed out that the Doctor had a hard time with some of the calculations clearly showed that he really didn't mean anything by saying she would find them too complicated. After all, she knew just how intelligent the Doctor was and, if he found something tricky, odds were she wouldn't have the first clue. However just because she knew that Adric was speaking the truth didn't mean that some part of her wasn't vaguely insulted nonetheless.

Of course, she wasn't going to say that. She didn't see any point in getting worked up over something that hadn't meant to upset her, and she didn't want Adric to think she was the type who got her ego bruised over simple, albeit a bit rudely spoken, statements of fact. No, her skin was a little thicker than that, a fact made evident when she simply smiled in a good natured way and replied lightly, "I promise, if I'm completely lost and making a total idiot out of myself, you can feel free to say so."

Because hey, if you couldn't laugh at yourself, who could you laugh at? And besides, Molly doubted she was going to be a natural at any of what they would be covering. But you never could tell either. Stranger things had happened.

Turning toward the tour guide as the girl led them toward the Art Department, Molly listened to the start of the speech covering what all was found in the department. With a glance back at Adric, she pointed toward the building they were approaching. "You know, I was shot in that building, a few months ago," she admitted in a purposefully casual tone, as though she were discussing the weather.

Hey. It was the one 'war story' she had to tell about this place. She fully intended on making the most of it.

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computator
2010-11-13 05:40 am UTC (link)

That was the last thing that Adric had anticipated her saying, so he simply blinked, staring at her blankly for a long moment before his eyes lingered on the building that had been pointed out to him. The words made sense. She had been shot in that building. The words made sense, but the situation did not. Looking back over at her, Adric tilted his head to the side, skepticism marking his features as he asked, "What did you do?"

Because obviously, anyone that gets shot is just asking for it. Brilliant logic, Adric.

But what other reasons could there possibly be for someone getting shot on a college campus? It wasn't as though the locals were inclined to murder people. They weren't inclined to much of anything, really.

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humanmapquest
2010-11-13 05:54 am UTC (link)

Molly knew it wasn't very nice of her to be enjoying his confusion. She knew, if the situation were reversed, she might not appreciate someone goading at her with information about a situation that was too bizarre for her to ever guess in the first place. However she also was only doing so in good fun and had every intention of explaining how it was she'd wound up shot in the first place. Which is precisely why she didn't drag out the answer to his question when he asked, since she'd intended on saying something anyway.

"I was helping Sherlock Holmes and John Watson locate a bomb."

Okay. Depending on just how familiar Adric was with classic Earth literature, it was entirely possible that her explanation was even more confusing than her randomly made statement had been. With a small smile, even if she wasn't sure if he'd ever heard of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson before, Molly elaborated a little.

"James Moriarty had just arrived in the city and planted a bomb on the campus. I was asked to help find it. He didn't like me meddling and shot me." She motioned toward her chest area, still remembering with a slight wince how much the shot had hurt. Pausing briefly, she gave a soft laugh and admitted, "For as crazy as this place can be at times, I think that's still one of the most surreal situations I've faced here."

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computator
2010-11-13 07:19 am UTC (link)

The names were familiar. The Doctor had made every effort to get him interested in earth literature, and there were a few things that had managed to stick. Most of the maths texts, a lot of the physics. He had managed to devour the entire Stephen Hawking library in the TARDIS within a matter of days. Fiction had been a tricker minefield to navigate, especially as he rarely understood the context of most of the stories, but the Holmes novels had been able to hold his interest through their very design.

And while pointing out the absurdity of the situation that she was relating was a matter forefront in his mind, that all vanished when she indicated exactly where she was shot. The matter of being shot by a fictional villain aside... "Isn't that usually fatal?"

Humans, from what he could remember, were a great deal more fragile than to take one of their bullets to the chest and survive it as...seamlessly as she appeared to have.

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humanmapquest
2010-11-13 08:06 am UTC (link)

Molly had to admit, she was impressed. Most people would have questioned the identity of the shooter before asking how it was she was still alive. Of course, there was still the chance that Adric simply hadn't recognized the names she'd given, but Molly didn't think that was the case. No, she had a feeling it was much more likely that he truly was just more focused on trying to figure out how she had managed to survive what, as he pointed out, should have been a fatal wound.

"It is," she agreed easily enough, milking his confusion for a few seconds longer before finally explaining. "I happen to know a woman whose blood can heal pretty much anything. Which includes gunshot wounds. She just gave me a shot of it and I healed right up, good as new." Her smile was sincere, her tone light but clearly not joking or teasing. Either she was telling the truth or she was a damn good liar. Molly really hoped he didn't think the latter was true, but honestly wouldn't have blamed him if he was skeptical.

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