Thor Odinson is a flummox. (thepowerofthor) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-12-02 10:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, nikola tesla, thor odinson |
Who:Nicola and Thor
Where: A cafe near the university
What: a Conversation about science
When: One fine evening with rain coming down (Monday, December 3)
Warnings/Rating: PG
Thor was simply annoyed at the world today. In a matter of weeks his life had gone from normal to a surreal thing with dreams that had an element of reality of them, superhuman abilities, real life superheroes, strange new magics, and even some wonder if he was who he thought he was, not to mention about his brother. He wished, some days, he had never actually gone to the valarnet. But no, he had met too many good people there.
He sighed as he drank, sipping his cola and whiskey mixer, and pondering his burger and fries. The restaurant was one of the best in town and he managed to come here when he could. Right now, shooting just down the street, near the University, he was making his way here a lot.
Nikola was back from a fantastic weekend with a beautiful woman. He was out to dinner, as there wasn’t any food at his place, thinking he really should have to get back into the swing of things tomorrow after classes. He was sipping from his wine glass when a waiter walked between his table and Thor’s, and dropped a tray full of dirty dishes on the floor between them. It was a huge clatter, with plates smashing and glasses shattering.
Thor reacted immediately, snatching the waiter bodily out of the way of a few fragments and slapping his plate into the way of a shard of glass headed at Nicola. the glass deflected into the mess on the floor with an audible sound, and then there was silence until the manager was there and the waiter was flailing and Thor sighed.
With a few gentle words, he soothed the situation, and shook his head as he settled back. He was being recompensed for the half of the sandwich he had lost to the cause. With a new one, mind you.
He glanced aside, and nodded to Nicola. “Are you well?”
The other man moved with amazing speed. Nikola was impressed. A couple of other employees came out to clean up the mess, and Nikola was offered a refund on his meal price and a replacement, but he wasn’t hungry anymore. He passed on the offer, asking only for a water so he could sit for a few more minutes before heading home to his empty house.
“Right as rain,” he said with a little smirk. “Fast reflexes there. I’m impressed.” He said, softly. He didn’t recognise Thor, though he should have. Thor had been in one of his classes.
Thor smiled. “It’s a habit. I act and when I am in an accident, I need to be able to react before I, or anyone else, gets hurt.” He nodded, then peered at the other man. “Doctor Tesla? Is that? It is you! “ He smiled wider. “I remember your classes! You lectures on energy and on some of the ways to make better use of what we have were incredible!”
Nikola nodded. Sounded legit. Fast reflexes probably went with the territory, at least in action movies and the like. But then Thor was saying his name. Nikola raised an eyebrow. “...that would be me.” And then he mentioned classes.
“Oh, a student.” Nikola wasn’t sure how to react to that. Normally he didn’t get pointed out on the street. He gave a nod. “I’m glad you enjoyed the lecture. Tell me, what do you think about my thoughts on conservation of raw energy transference?”
“I thought you had some good points but that it would depend on the type of energy and it’s waveform. Solar energy for example, has a fairly long and easily deciphered waveform, but more exotic ones like electromagnetism in it’s pure form has a nearly indecipherable energy waveform and would make transference a lot harder, and maybe not as simple as your lecture seemed to point to.”
Thor nodded, enthusiasm pushing out the carefully measured words quickly.
Nikola thought he might have caught the other off guard, but he was incredibly pleased to find that this young man had a good head on his shoulders. He raised an eyebrow, then broke into a little smirk at the answer. “Good thoughts. Sometimes the lecture has to be aimed at the lowest common denominator, so as not to throw the bell curve.”
“Well, that makes sense. I thought sometimes you were being less than consistent with the paper you wrote on the subject. But a lowering of standard would come with a lessening of material and thus... yes.” Thor nodded, grinning.
“Are you still teaching? What focus?” He was curious.
“Right now, Physics.” Nikola said, breaking into a little smirk. “Though, that’s not my primary area of interest, as I’m sure you know from reading my papers.” He said. Nikola developed efficient uses of energy that were used in all sorts of applications. One of his most recent inventions was used in a military application, which made him feel a little bit like a sell out.
Thor nodded. “I hope you’ll get a chance to do more in that.” He thought Nicola was a great mind in those fields. “But in the meantime, maybe you can inspire someone to follow your footsteps.”
“An application of one of your inventions even was used by one of the crews I work with, to better make safe out lighting and heating sources. Reduced costs and also increased safety by over 63 %. Not bad.”
Nikola paused. “Only 63%?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Thor chuckled. “Well, adapting it to the function was the job of a gifted, but not super-smart engineer, and changing the format meant downgrading the performance of almost all of it. So, yes. Hopefully, if used again, the next time it will be higher.” Thor nodded.
Nikola nodded. “That number can absolutely be higher. Though, I suppose that there’s a margin for human error.” He said, then lifted his water glass for a small sip. “It’s good, though, that my patents are helping people. Saving money.”
“Always. On both accounts.” He grinned. “A lot of people owe you a lot. Are you working on anything new these days?”
Thor was always curious, especially about quantum and higher relations sciences.
“No. Unfortunately, my teaching schedule doesn’t leave much room for experimentation. I’ll find some room, I’m sure, over the winter holiday, and perhaps next semester. I’ve got a few ideas brewing.” He said, with a little smirk on his face.
“Good to know.” Thor nodded and stuck out his hand. “It’s definitely been a pleasure meeting you. Maybe we can sit down and have coffee sometime, discuss ideas on energy, if you don’t mind dealing with someone who is at best an amateur.”
Nikola gave a nod. He reached his hand over and shook Thor’s, then drew a business card from his pocket and handed it over. “I would love to hear your thoughts.”
Thor took the card, and returned with one of his own. “I can’t wait. See you around, Professor.” He raised a hand to wave.
Nikola returned the wave. He waited until Thor was gone, then rose out of his chair and went out himself.
FIN