A Breath of Fresh Air

[Grand Moff Hissa]

Maddie invited Gavin to sit, and introduced Adam and Yaz. Yaz managed to squeak out a little greeting. Adam gave Gavin a nod.

Now that he was paying a bit more attention to the boy, he noticed that Gavin seemed to be doing his best impression of Neo when it came to fashion decisions. Adam could feel some sympathy for the boy; keeping leather in nice shape was no easy feat in Seattle's humid and frequently-rainy weather.

Gavin started to talk, and his words made Adam realize in very short order that he was probably one of the kids who tried to look smart too. He was talking too formally, focusing on all the wrong things. He'd also managed to kick Adam and Yaz out of the conversation in a few short sentences by pushing the attention to Maddie's book again. He was laying it on pretty thick with the flattery, too. Perhaps these were the mating rituals of nerds. Adam loosely wondered what sort of pickup lines would be used in a nerd club. "Hey there, you charming and aesthetically-pleasing female specimen. How would you like to return to my domicile and engage in a personal investigation of the human reproductive process? Rest assured, we'll take precautions to ensure that no progeny is spawned as a result."

Something like that, no doubt.

Normally, Adam was pretty cool with sitting around and being ignored, especially if the discussion was about stuff like science, which he really didn't care about. It was probably better for his reputation not to be seen talking about this stuff anyways. He felt bad for Yaz, though. She'd basically been cut off from interaction with her friend, and it was pretty clear she wasn't super comfortable speaking up for herself. Best to lend a hand and at least give her a chance to understand what was going on.

"Hey, real quick, would you mind giving me a primer on String Theory, Maddie?" Adam asked. "Like, it's the thing with the other dimensions and the zombie cat, right?"

[VoltTurtle]

Gavin took a seat with the rest of them at the table. Once he had himself seated, he quickly said that the book Maddie was reading was interesting. He then said that String Theory isn't a subject he would normally expect someone his age to be studying, and he complimented Maddie's ability to keep up with the subject. This made Maddie feel a little rush of pride, she doesn't normally get complimented, and when she does it usually makes her quite happy. He then asked why she would choose a book like this.

"Well, I like keeping up with all the various theories, and I really love learning new things," she said. "School doesn't usually teach me anything I don't already know in science, so I just like doing this occasionally in my free time."

Adam then asked her to give him a quick primer on String Theory, asking if it was the thing about other dimensions and the zombie cat. While yes, the string theory talked about different dimensions, there being up to eleven physical dimensions, she recalled, but it didn't mention a zombie cat. Was he talking about Schrodinger's cat? Schrodinger's cat didn't really have anything to do with the String Theory, but nonetheless he asked her for a primer on it, and she was damn sure going to give him that. Plus she just loved giving lectures.

"Well, to give you the basic gist of the String Theory, it says that every thing in the universe is made up of little strings of energy, approximately one Planck unit or 10^-35 meters long, and the way these strings vibrate and resonate with one another creates the various particles that make up atoms which makes up everything." As she said this, she made little motions with her hands. "The theory would help explain the standard model of particles, and help us reach the fabled 'Theory of Everything.'"

She realized that they were probably completely lost, as she used a lot of science lingo without explaining it. She also realized that due to the conversation switching to science, Yaz has been almost completely shut out of it. She felt a little bad, but she isn't good at changing subjects, so she is just going to let this conversation take its course for now.

[Deamon]

Gavin sat down with and offered a thanks to Maddie but he seemed to ignore Yaz and Adam, which seemed incredibly rude to Yaz since she had already been sitting at the table and she had greeted him. Yaz didn't say anything though because she'd only just met Gavin and she didn't know what his personality was like and how he reacted to things. That and she was slightly intimidated by his size, he was well over a foot taller than her...not that it was hard to be taller than Yaz, but over a foot was quite a big height difference. Especially when Yaz considered her slight frame as well, when it was all added together it made Yaz seem tiny in comparison.

Then Gavin started asking Maddie about her book and Yaz felt more and more removed from the conversation. Gavin clearly knew something about string theory and Maddie certainly knew about it. Yaz knew nothing about it other than the name. So if the two of them started to have a proper conversation about the topic, she wouldn't be able to contribute and since she had originally sat with Maddie because she knew she could talk to her and work at the same time it sucked that she wouldn't be able to do that. Instead of offering anything Yaz just looked at her work and started to write about the use of shadows in the image. She'd already analysed the use of colours and the composition of the picture so it was the next logical step. It wasn't like there was any point listening to what Gavin was saying if she wasn't going to understand any of it or be able to contribute. Maybe it was for the best though; maybe she'd be able to finish the work.

Then she dimly heard Adam speaking, she wasn't 100% focusing on it but she heard him mention string theory and a zombie cat, so she glanced up with a quizzical look on her face. This was followed by Maddie beginning to explain what string theory was, so Yaz assumed Adam had asked what string theory was. That made her grateful of his presence at that moment because at least now she had a chance of at least understanding what they were talking about. But then Maddie started talking about Planck units and models of particles and Yaz realised she still had no idea what string theory was. Well that wasn't entirely true, she knew it was confusing.

"I still don't understand." Yaz said when Maddie had finished speaking. It made her feel bad that she didn't understand a word that Maddie had just said, because she had made it sound so simple and seemed so comfortable explaining it. "I don't get anything you said." Yaz said softly.

[Super Llama*]

{{continued from I Played Baseball With My Younger Brother}}

Uh oh.

Hiro was in a predicament. Her laptop only had about 15 minutes of power left (she really should've payed better attention to the battery life) and she had a half-finished short story on it that she needed to finish today. She accidentally left her flash drive at home, too, so there was no moving it onto one of the school computers and continuing on that way. And no matter where she looked around the library, she couldn't seem to find a plug she could use.

Well, there WAS one. But there was already a bunch of people sitting there, and she felt very uncomfortable about just sitting herself right down in the middle of that out of nowhere. Closing up the laptop to conserve power, she went a lap around the library. Then another one. Then one more time (maybe the people at the table noticed her passing by, maybe not. She wasn't exactly the noticable kind of person.) Nope. She couldn't find any other available outlets. Looks like there was only one option.

Hiro took a deep breath.

"U-um..." Hiro muttered, barely audible as she stood by the table, staring half at the people at the table and half at the ground as she hugged the laptop to her chest. Clearing her throat a bit, she spoke up a little louder. "Uh...c-can I sit here? I-I need to plug this in..." She made a big doofus out of herself as usual.

[Ghost Of Ravenstar*]

Well, this is certainly fun!

At this moment, Gavin couldn't find grounds to disagree with his jaunty co-inhabitant. It was rather petty, but right now he was feeling quite a bit of smug superiority. It was obvious that nobody else at the table had more than the faintest idea what either him or Madeline was talking about. Of course, Gavin had only a modicum of knowledge on the subject himself, but one of his skills was being able to make a little bit of knowledge go a long way. His mind was already formulating a response before Madeline had even finished speaking. When Yaz asked her question, Gavin leaned forwards and launched into an explanation as smoothly as a lecturer.

"She's talking about quantum mechanics, which is the science of observing material reactions at the smallest scale possible. The Planck scale is an incredibly precise system of measurements designed to operate on that level of reality where normal physics start to break down. An 'energy string' as it relates to 'string theory' is just about the smallest thing in the entire universe, magnitudes smaller then an electron. If you need an analogy you could imagine these energy strings to be like the Force from Star Wars; the invisible power that binds the universe together. It's all very interesting stuff, and only one theory about the nature of reality."

Gavin took a pause for breath before continuing. His speech had become much more animated by now; the little tingle of energy he always felt when his intellect fully engaged was now turning into a sustained buzz. The only way to stop him talking right now would've been a punch to the face. Not many people wanted to punch a person like Gavin in the face.

"The Theory of Everything can be grossly oversimplified as the math problem that solves the universe. With it, human scientists would be able to predict the outcome of every experiment with absolute infallibility, as they'd be able to deduce how each and every object in the universe interacts with every other object, in every possible scenario and circumstance. However, there also exists Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, which states that there is a limitation to how effectively humans can track the movement and reactions of subatomic particles, thus making a true 'ToE' unlikely, at least in this millennium."

Throughout all this, Gavin had been leaning forwards, hands making the occasional emphatic gesture or dismissive wave where appropriate in his speech. This was the kind of thing that he unapologetically lived for, and an opportunity such as the one Madeline had given him was literally impossible to pass up. He didn't consider it showing off, even, just a chance to sincerely try and enlighten people on all the things they so often missed out on in life.

Of course, he could just end up alienating the entire room. That didn't happen very often, at least among adults. This was partially why Gavin preferred their company to those of the other students, other then the fact that not many students knew anything about guns or anarcho-communistic wealth redistribution plans. He was saved the potential post-intellectual crash when he heard a new voice enter the fray. He turned round, then just stared at the new arrival.

Oh look, how cuuuute! You should cuddle it on your lap and call it Kitten!

It was rare in Gavin's life that he had reason to do a double-take, but this was one of those times. Standing before him was a tiny Asian . . . something or other. After a long, awkward moment Gavin decided that 'it' must be female, on the basis that no male that small would be allowed outside of a hermetically sealed clean room. The girl was waif-like to him, the baggy clothes doing nothing to disguise her frailty. Gavin could likely have broken her in half just by shoving past her too hard in a narrow corridor. The knowledge immediately made him feel self-conscious about being the tallest and broadest person in the room by a fair margin.

I wonder how much of that she heard. He thought to himself. Either nothing at all or the whole thing. Doesn't seem to have driven her off, anyway.

The conversational momentum was still more or less in his favour right now, so he decided to be the one to answer her question first. "Of course you can, if you want. Are you having troubles with your power supply?"

[Grand Moff Hissa]

Maddie responded to Adam's question by spouting a bunch of bullshit buzzwords that were probably both semi-accurate and precisely calculated to be useless to anyone trying to understand what she was saying, just so she could look extra smart and cover up any lack of understanding she might have in the area. She'd apparently forgotten that Adam didn't like science, because he couldn't imagine anyone except someone who liked science would ever want to hear 10^-35 spoken, much less care what it meant. That was why calculators had been invented.

He didn't begrudge her the posturing, though. Adam knew he could get a bit too excited in conversations about stuff he cared about, when he was listing off moves and stuff, and, yeah, not everyone needed to know what a suplex was even if it was pretty basic. He felt even worse for Yaz, though. Adam was on the verge of saying something when, to his surprise, she actually mustered the courage to break the silence herself. Maybe she was comfortable enough here to take some initiative after all.

She said she didn't understand, and that was enough to get Gavin going.

Gavin did a much better job of providing useful information than Maddie had. Unfortunately, about a sentence in Adam sort of had to come to grips with the fact that he didn't actually care about String Theory. By the time Gavin admitted that it was probably a thousand years from anything approaching practical application, Adam had started subtly tapping out an imaginary drumbeat on his leg. Somewhere during the conversation, Hiro had also turned up, looking for somewhere to plug in her computer. Adam rather doubted that the introduction of yet another socially-challenged person was going to make this group interaction run any smoother.

He also doubted anyone was going to be interested in helping him with his paper. At the very least, these people seemed like big enough geeks that they'd probably get way too excited explaining the differences between tenses and how Adam was so very silly for not being able to intuit them. No, he could do fine on his own. It would be boring and it would take a longer time, but the alternative was sitting here being bored and wasting time first, and maybe having to do everything himself anyways.

Good thing Hiro had turned up to give him an out.

"Cool," Adam said in reply to Gavin and Maddie. "That's interesting."

Then he turned to Hiro and said, "And, uh, you can have my seat. It's close to the plug and I've gotta actually get back to my homework anyways."

He stood, gave the group a nod, and added, "Nice talking with you guys, though. See you 'round."

With that, Adam headed back to his original table, retrieved his stuff, and, after a moment's thought, headed out of the library. Maybe he'd be able to pay better attention somewhere a little bit less academic.

((Adam Morgan continued in See with Eyes Unclouded by Hate))

[VoltTurtle]

After Maddie had finished explaining a small summary of String Theory, Yaz surprised her by saying saying something despite looking completely lost. She said that she still doesn't understand and she didn't get anything that Maddie said.

Just as Maddie was about to explain the various terms she used, Gavin quickly started explaining the various things that she left unclear in her summary, such as what the energy string were and the Theory of Everything, looking rather animated as he did it. Just a few seconds after explaining the theory of everything, a very small androgynous looking Asian came up to the table and squeaked out a small and nervous question of if she - Maddie guessed she must be a girl - can sit at the table with them.

Just as Maddie was about to tell the Asian that she can join them, Gavin piped up and told her of course she can join them, and asked her if she was having trouble with her power supply.

You know Gavin, you are the newest person at this table. It should have been me or Yaz to tell her she can sit. Maddie thought, annoyed.

Just after Gavin told her she could sit, Adam quickly said that the String Theory was interesting, turned to the newest arrival and said to her that she can have his seat because it is the closest to the plug, he then quickly got up from the table, walked over to retrieve what Maddie guessed to be his belongings, and left the library.

Finally seeing an opportunity to say something, Maddie quickly said to the girl "Go ahead and take Adam's seat, and if you don't mind me asking, what is your name?" She tried to say it in the friendliest manner she could muster, as this person looks even shyer than Yaz, if that was even possible.

[Deamon]

As Gavin started to explain what Maddie had been talking about Yaz got the feeling he'd wanted to explain what String Theory was since he had sat down. It was just the way he launched in a massive explanation so quickly and simply. Yaz had to give him credit though, what he was saying almost made sense. Yaz didn't need to know about String Theory to know je was wrong on one account though. It wasn't interesting, at least to her. But Gavin just kept on speaking; he mentioned something about the Theory of Everything and mentioned maths. That was when Yaz zoned out, it wasn't that she disliked maths; she was actually above average at the subject. But she didn't like discussing maths outside of class, it was just a thing she had with maths. She put it down to the fact that it didn't interest her as much as art or English did.

As Gavin continued to talk Yaz noticed someone approaching. Yaz could've sworn that she was in English with them but for the life of her she couldn't seem to remember their name. Was it Hito? No that was a boy's name...then it hit her. It was Hiro. Like Yaz she was a shy girl and like many other people she was taller than Yaz. It occurred to Yaz that their table seemed to be becoming a hub for people and that if anyone else turned up her chances of actually finishing her work would keep decreasing. The whole reason she had gone into the Library was to work in the first place, meeting up with Maddie was just a pleasant coincidence. Now there were three other people around the table, not including her and Maddie, that wasn't exactly great for working.

Hiro asked if she'd be able to plug her laptop in and Gavin said it was ok...because he hadn't been invited to the table himself or anything. That was something Yaz didn't like, it was mostly to do with the fact she was shy but in her mind it was rude if you invited someone to the table...especially when you'd only been at the table for five minutes max. Then Adam left to give Hiro a seat. Yaz didn't see the conversation on the table improving so she decided to continue with her work. If she could just finish the paragraph she was on, it would be finished. She just hoped the conversation didn't get too distracting or interesting.

"Hey Hiro." She said in greeting, even if she wanted to just work it was no excuse to be impolite.

[Super Llama*]

Wait, did one of them just call her by name?

Hiro looked over in Yaz's direction, taking a moment to register before she realized that they're in the same English class

"Y-yeah." Hiro confirmed as the tall guy at the table brang up the fact that her laptop needs plugging in. Fortunately, the other guy was apparently getting ready to leave, yielding his own seat that was closest to the plug. After he got up and walked away, Hiro took her place, grabbing the plug and sticking it into the wall before bringing the laptop out of sleep mode.

"It's Hiro." She said in her usual soft-spoken tone of voice. Oh, good. Nothing borked while she was wandering around with low power, and the short story was still there, in the state she'd left it. She immediately typed up the next paragraph and a half she'd come up with while she was wandering around before it disappeared from her memory, and then leaned back in her seat a little and sighed in relief. Crisis averted.

[Ghost Of Ravenstar*]

Gavin watched impassively as Adam left and Hiro took his place. It really did amaze him just how small and frail the girl seemed. He could probably have scooped her off the ground and given her a ride on his shoulders, laptop, bag and all. He wondered what it was she was typing, but everybody else seemed content to let her put her thoughts down without interruption, so Gavin let her get on with it. His curiosity could wait just a little while.

Now that Adam had left, Gavin felt himself relaxing slightly. The sound of Hiro's fingers hitting her keyboard was oddly soothing to him, the rhythmic tapping noise calming the remaining buzz from his brief moment in the spotlight. Now that he reflected on his previous comments, Gavin realised that he had come on a little too strong for the small group. Dominating a conversation was a very easy thing to do when you were a six–foot-two leather-clad teenager with a vocabulary in line with that of a college professor, but it rarely put people at ease.

Trouble is, dominating a conversation is something I'm very good at. He idly thought.

The leather fixation certainly adds an interesting Freudian element to the whole setup, wouldn't you agree? Came the inevitable reply.

Had Gavin been on a computer chair he would've spun idly on it. This was the kind of mental hook that could leave him dangling on the point for hours. Fortunately, he had long ago mastered the art of prioritizing his internal conversations with those in the real world. By now, Hiro had finished typing and Gavin could sense the social gears once again beginning to turn. He noted that Yaz seemed to be absorbed in her own work once more, which left Madeline and Hiro.

"It's nice to meet you, Hiro." He said is a softer tone. Previously his voice had been in full lecture mode, clear, precise and authoritative. It was a superb attitude for quickly conveying information, but not conducive to good conversation. Now he made a conscious effort to make it more polite and respectful.

"My name is Gavin." He continued. "We were just talking about science before you approached and Adam left, Madeline is quite impressive at it." He gave Madeline a small smile at this point, then turned his attention back to Hiro. "Mind if I ask what you were up to just now?"

[VoltTurtle]

So her name is Hiro. I will take note. Maddie thought as Hiro went about her business of plugging in her laptop and sitting down.

Hiro quickly started typing something into her laptop, and while Maddie was a little curious as to what Hiro was typing, she admitted to herself that she didn't particularly care. Just as she thought that, Gavin started to introduce himself to Hiro. He explained to Hiro that they were just discussing science and gave Maddie a small compliment and flashed a small smile at her. She felt a tiny rush of pride, she just loved compliments after all, but she quickly realized that the conversation wouldn't be concerning her right now, as Gavin was asking Hiro about what she was doing on her computer.

I guess I will just wait for the conversation to concern me again. She thought as she went back to her book.

[Deamon]

Yaz finished the sentence she had been writing and looked over her work. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would end up being. It covered all the main points about what made the picture good to her and how certain parts had influenced her own work. It was easily what Ms. Blanc had asked for, but if she didn't like the artist Yaz was using as her influence it was most likely going to be marked badly because that was just how Ms. Blanc was. If she didn't personally like something than the changes of it getting a good grade were gone. So Yaz was never sure if she would get a good grade until she actually got her work back.

As Yaz looked at the others she saw Gavin compliment Maddie and give her a smile. Yaz wondered if he was actually trying to flirt with Maddie or if that was just how it looked and nothing was actually going on. It just seemed weird to Yaz that Gavin would come over and only really talk to and show an interest in Maddie and then he was openly complimenting her when talking to others. Yaz might have been wrong though, after all she didn't have any real experience with flirting so it was hard for her to judge.

Yaz thought it was most likely that Hiro had been writing something to do with a story on her laptop. Since that was what she always seemed to be using her laptop for. Then again Gavin didn't know that so Yaz could understand why he'd ask. Yaz let out a small sigh as she put her work back into her bag. She'd put it in order when she was actually in art. There didn't seem to be much point doing it right away. Plus it wasn't like she was in a hurry. Yaz wasn't fully committed to the conversation so she decided to take out her sketchbook and doodle. She still listened to see where the conversation was going but it wasn't at the forefront of her mind. After all not much was being said anyway.

[Super Llama*]

Oh, is that what that was? Hiro thought she could hear a few sciencey buzzwords (and something about Star Wars?) when she passed by the table earlier, but she wasn't paying enough attention to piece it all together. She wasn't much of a science person, anyway.

"I was...writing a short story." She answered, not really expecting the spotlight to be put on her all of a sudden, but then again she should've expected it when she sat down at the table. It still made her slightly uncomfortable, but she knew she'd have to manage regardless. "It's for something on a forum." She explained, though she didn't go much further than that.

She shifted a little bit in her seat before she had another one of those bursts of inspiration she seemed to have every once in a while, leaning in and typing up a few more sentences. That helped take her mind off of being put on the spot.

[Ghost Of Ravenstar*]

Gavin had to admit to himself that he was in a bit of a pickle. He was stuck in the worst kind of group he could possibly be in; the random chance group. It was a collection of individuals who had met up without any particular goal in mind, and who were therefore nearly impossible to interact with individually without pushing other members of the group out of the discussion. Kind of like talking to Anonymous really, if you think about it.

Of course it wasn't their fault. Gavin certainly wasn't in the moral position to take umbrage at a random group of people collecting together at a public place like the library, nor did he have any real inclination to do so. The situation was just a little awkward for him. Not that Gavin was somebody to let awkwardness show on his face, never that.

In the end it was Hiro who gave him room to plan his next move. As soon as the tiny girl had finished explaining what she was doing, she bent back over her laptop and began to type once more, apparently struck by a bolt of inspiration. Since it would've been impolite to interrupt her, Gavin returned his attention to the other two girls. If he couldn't dial down his formality, he could at least make an effort to include them both at once.

"I couldn't help but notice when I walked up that the two of you seem acquainted." He began, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb Hiro. "Are the two of you in the same class, or do you perhaps know each-other outside school?"

It wasn't much, but it at least brought the two back into the discussion again. Yaz didn't seem like the kind of person Gavin would have any real interest in, but Madeline had demonstrated a rare intellect that left him surprisingly interested. He had no reason to be rude to one just because he found her proportionally less interesting then her friend.

[VoltTurtle]

Maddie was immersed in her book once again as she let the conversation take its course. Just as she was about to get to one of the most interesting points of the book, she heard Gavin address her and Yaz. He said that when he walked up he couldn't help but notice that Maddie and Yaz seemed acquainted, and asked if they knew each other outside of school.

"Why yes Gavin, Yaz and I are really good friends and we do indeed know each other outside of school." She said in a friendly manner. "We are good enough friends that I dare say I could probably trust her with my life if push came to shove."

It was a rather simple explanation, but Maddie felt that it got the point across rather well.