Scott McCall would like to regress to the mean. (alpharising) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-01-25 20:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, lorna dane (polaris), scott mccall |
Who: Scott McCall and Lorna Dane
What: random meeting
Where: At an observatory
When: Recently
Status: Complete and Closed
Rating: PG
Scott smiled as he parked his motorcycle in the parking lot at the observatory. He twisted the key off and popped out the circuit breaker as he slid off, locking his helmet to the bar provided. That done, he headed into the building, bouncing on his feet. He’d gotten permission to come here from the administrator, once he had explained why he needed to look through a telescope, and why he wanted to.
Stars and space were awesome and fascinating to Scott. He wasn’t very much interested in science fiction, but he had ended up learning some because he loved science facts and advanced based on star stuff. Recently he had learned that the observatory here was one of the best in the state, made so by advances learned in the space program. And so, when given an assignment to look through a telescope, he had called here, and gotten permission to look through the absolute best one.
He chuckled. The public were allowed to come in and out of the normal areas, and he felt somehow privileged to be able to go ‘backstage’ as it were, and use the real viewer for the big scope. If teenaged him could only see him now! He was so pre-occupied, he almost bumped into someone, and blushed bright red. “Sorry, sorry! Are you okay?”
Lorna wasn’t paying much attention either. She was loading up the data she’d just recovered on her phone, sending it to her team back at Stark labs. When she bumped into Scott it startled her and a spark of static went off where they made contact. She gasped and shook her hand, glancing at her phone. It was losing charge very rapidly these days and a moment’s attention showed her that it was dead again. She sighed and shook her head at it, then turned to Scott. “Yeah, I’m okay. Are you okay? I’m sorry too, looks like we were both a little preoccupied.”
“I’m fine. I saw the spark. You didn’t get shocked? Good.” He smiled to her, his dopey brown-eyed smile, the one that made him look, for a moment, like he was a younger teen, instead of in his twenties. He offered her his hand after he shifted his bag to the other side, and nodded. “Scott McCall, veterinary and astronomy student, here for the viewing.”
Lorna shook his hand, pleased at his interest in astronomy. “Lorna Dane, astrophysicist and general miscreant. It’s nice to meet you.” She stepped to the side, sighing at her phone before pocketing it. “Would you like me to show you where the observatory is?”
‘Yeah? Cool! You must really enjoy your job!” Scott thought star stuff was awesome. He smiled, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you too!” His eyebrows went up. “You’d do that? Yes please.” His day was looking up! He raised an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”
Lorna gave him a smile and sighed again. “Just my phone. It’s been acting up. Here, follow me.” She led the way back to where she’d come from, humming as she went. “So what got you into astronomy?”
Scott nodded. “Okay. Maybe the weird weather lately has something to do with it.” Scott smiled a little.
“When i was young, an uncle gave me a telescope, and I used to go up on the roof to look at the stars anytime I was feeling down. I wore the scope out eventually, and mom got me a new one when I graduated the veterinary assistant’s courses, so… I want to learn how to use it better, and learn more about the stars.” Scott loved them. The had always been the realm of dreams for him.
“That’s so sweet,” Lorna said, smiling brightly. “I used to look at constellations with my aunt and uncle when we went camping. I always wondered what they were made of. I had an interest in all things natural, actually.” She chuckled a little. “I wound up sticking to astrophysics but I still love geology.”
“Yeah? That’s cool! I’m more of an animal person than a star person, but I do like stars a lot too.” Astronomy seemed like something he could do that felt good, and really helped him learn a lot.
“Yeah? Sounds like you’re in two worlds, too.”
“I am. It sounds like you’re leaning more toward animals. Which is great! What do you hope to do when you’ve graduated?” It always paid to be nice to people and listen to them talk about their interests. He seemed like a nice young man, too. She wanted to encourage his obvious love of science.
“Oh, I’ve already started. I’m a veterinary assistant, right now, at Beacon Veterinary clinic, in Irvine? And I want to be a full fledged veterinarian and work with animals all my life.” Scott grinned. “Of course, there’s still the part of me that wants to be an astronaut, too, but animals is where my every day head is, you know?”
“Hey, if you don’t want to be an astronaut you’re a boring person,” Lorna said with a laugh. “But that sounds like a fun and noble career. I hope you continue to enjoy it for a long time.” She opened the door to the main computer, smiling brightly. “Here we are. Want me to start it up for you?”
Scott chuckled. “You’re probably right.” He smiled, and flushed a little under her praise. “Thanks. I hope yours is just as fun, and enjoyable.” He peered into the lab.
“Sure, I mean, if that’s okay? I was supposed to check in with a Diane, but she doesn’t seem to be here.” Somehow, this ended up happening to Scott a lot.
Lorna nodded. “I can go grab her. She’s better at this kind of thing, anyway.” Lorna held out her hand again, giving him a friendly smile. “I’ll see you around, I guess. Nice to meet you.”
“Thanks. I hope I’ll see you around again!” ”Scott shook her hand then grinned.
“Nice to meet you too. Have a good day!” he settled down on a chair to wait, grinning.
~FIN~