Jemma Simmons is a terrible liar (needanewplan) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-10-18 08:04:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, elsa of arendelle, jemma simmons |
Who: Elsa and Jemma
When: 18 October
Where: Teacher’s Lounge, UC Irvine
What: Meetings and the like
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Partner Thread | Complete
Elsa had given a couple of lectures before and while she never got used to it she did kind of enjoy it once she started. It was fun and of course it helped that the students were actually interested in the subject.
Entering the teachers lounge until she was needed she smiled at another woman there who also had a visitors badge and grabbed herself a coffee. “Hi, are you doing a guest talk too?” she asked, figuring she’d judge by the girl’s response whether or not she was open to company.
Why oh why had she agreed to this again? She really hadn’t anticipated getting an email from one of Cosima’s professor’s about this whole thing when she’d gone to the dinner with her girlfriend back in August. But here she was looking over her notes. Yes, the run throughs at the Agency had helped some, but she was still worried she wouldn’t be able to dumb it down enough.
Suddenly going undercover seemed to be an easier option. Oh. That was an idea. Perhaps if she came up with a backstory, she would be better able to…. But that was absurd since she was already here.
Groaning in frustration, the biochemist went back to her notecards. At least until someone came up to her.
“Hmm? Oh. Hello. Yes, yes I am actually. Jemma Simmons.”
“Oh good, I thought I might have put my foot in it then” Elsa said, holding out her hand, “I’m Elsa Arendelle, I’m giving a talk on meteorology. You look far more prepared than I am” she added indicating the cards, Elsa tended to wing it a little more.
“No, you’re fine.” Smiling, Jemma put her notes aside and took the offered hand to shake. She could definitely understand the concern of putting one’s foot in one’s mouth, goodness knew she had a tendency to do so as she was often more literal than not. “Nice to meet you and well, I’m excel at preparation.” Much better than trying to do things on the fly, that never worked out well for her. “I’m doing a talk on green chemistry and climate change.” It was timely and something that might have more general appeal than other topics she might have chosen.
“My assistant would like me to be a little better at preparation I'm sure but I tend to wing it a little” Elsa admitted, “Oh that's interesting. I'm sorry I'm giving my own now, I'd have liked to hear that” she said honestly.
“If I try to wing things, it ends very badly.” Okay so part of that had to do with the fact that she was often also needing to lie in those situations and the whole SHIELD thing. But she still was not comfortable with winging things. “Well I’m sure that they will have it online for streaming purposes if you are unable to listen in the wings.” Jemma really had no idea, it wasn’t as if she had done one of these before, if they were speaking in the same auditorium or what. But with video and streaming, it did open this up to more people who might be unable to attend because they were in class. Or it should at any rate.
“Oh that's a good point” Elsa nodded, “Then I'll look forward to watching it” she smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. “Have you given lectures before?” she asked conversationally.
“The advances of technology in recent years is truly something to behold.” In the dreams, they were far more advanced in engineering than most saw here, but even so, advances continued at sometimes a dizzying rate. “Beyond to my alma mater? No.” And even then it had been a guise to try and figure out who was doing things they shouldn’t. And Fitz had been there. “So quite a different experience. I’m much more comfortable in my lab. You?”
“It really is” Elsa agreed, she knew that first hand from the weather simulations they used at the network. Elsa nodded, “A few. I volunteer for them. It gives me time out of the office and I can't deny it's nice when they recognise me as the ‘weather girl’” she laughed softly, it was something Elsa enjoyed.
“My girlfriend is a PhD student and it seems I impressed her professors, so they asked me to come speak.” Not that she was surprised that she had impressed them, she was well aware of her strengths and intellect. Still, speaking in front of people was far different than running a lab. She was comfortable in the lab. She even comfortable going out in the field in less lab oriented tasks. Speaking in front of students and having to dumb down the science? Not so much. “But managing to switch up your routine certainly does have its own benefits.”
“Oh how wonderful. That must be nice to receive recognition like that” Elsa said, she had obviously impressed them sufficiently which came as no surprise. Jemma looked intelligent to Elsa, even if she wasn’t completely relaxed here. “Oh it definitely does. It’s so nice to get away from stuffy meetings to come and hopefully inspire some bright young people”
“It is.” Then again, Jemma was the type of person who would get offended if she didn’t advance in any sort of setting. Even when she was undercover at Hydra, an organisation she despised. But it was still insulting when her talents weren’t recognised no matter the situation. “Inspiring young people is always good, especially in sciences.” It could be seen as dull or boring and so people ignored it. No, inspiring students was good. She just hoped she didn’t mess it up.
“Oh absolutely. It can be easy to grab their attention but harder to keep it” Elsa said with a nod, but if they could both reach even just one or two kids who hadn’t considered a career in the sciences before then it would be worth it.
“That is the trick…” Jemma had always thrown herself into science and school. Then again, she had gone up through it so quickly that she never had peers her own age and so it was easier to just find herself through science. Fewer distractions. Letting out a slow breath, she noted the time.
“I suppose I should get ready, though.” She could do this.
“Of course. Good Luck, though I am sure you don’t need it. It was nice to meet you Jemma” Elsa smiled.