fandomhigh | Applied Inventiontronics, Period 4

"He-hello, class." He smiled sideways at the front of the class and the whole left of his face twitched visibly. "I'm, uh, let's see," he glanced at his notes, "Professor Ambrose? Yes. I'm Professor Ambrose, but you can call me Glitch if you like, heh." He smiled, both sides now.

Glitch set the notes down and fidgeted with his sleeves, then took a deep breath. "Welcome," a flourish, "to Applied Inventiontronics! Here, I'll do my very best to teach you about the intricacies, whys and how-tos of invention. Over the semester, you'll create an invention with the skills you learn in this class for a final grade. I'll provide the materials, if you need them, and answer any questions you have." He was getting into this whole 'teacher' thing.

"Now, uh, my first rule when setting out to invent something is to make sure that it will be helpful to the people around me. That means your first assignment, after everyone introduces themselves of course, is to figure out what someone needs! You can work alone or with a classmate or with a lot of classmates. I've found that it's really much better to bounce ideas like this off other people."

Then he put his hands on his hips and looked out at the class and let his mouth fall into a flat line made purely of seriousness. "Restrictions are, 1) No Weapons. The goal here is to make lives better, not worse. 2) No inventions can rely on hurting others to work." He pointed to his zipper solemnly, as if they'd understand what he meant. "Off limits. 3), uh, three..."

He looked back at his notes, a little panicked, and shuffled the papers around. "Three! Hah!" Glitch held up the notecard in a fist, pumped it into the air once or twice, and smiled triumphantly. "Three!" A pause. "Oh, three." He pulled his arm back and read the piece of paper. "Have... OH!" He brightened. "Have fun! Enjoy your inventions! Or I guess I fail you." He leaned forward on the desk, making the most serious face he could imagine (which only lasted a good fifteen seconds), then smirked. "Well? Get to work!"

[OOC: ~~Please please please wait for~~ the first OCD is up!]

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"It's a good philosophy," Willow said. "And yay! I'm so glad I get to help! This will be so much fun. Just wait until you see my spreadsheets."

"It's good to have a student that's so," what was the word? Oh, right. "Enthusiastic," he finished with a smile. "I hope helping out a headcase like me doesn't become too much of a bother." Glitch punctuated the statement with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Why would you be considered a headcase?" Willow asked, geniunely curious.

"Oh, right." Glitch gestured to his zipper, "I guess you don't have anything like it on this side."

He tried to figure out a way to explain it, then just decided to tell her the truth. If she was going to be helping him with class, she might as well know what she's getting into.

"The zipper? Well, uhm, a Witch had half of my brain removed. To get plans for an invention of mine that she wanted. I have it back now, of course, but, I forget things sometimes." The next part he said quietly, "Sometimes, I glitch a little. Synapses don't fire right, you know? I'm getting better, I think, but if I start to loop in front of the class, could you snap me out of it?"

"Of course!" Willow said. "And for the record not all of us witches are of the brain-halving, zipper-installing type. I've also never cursed a land into years of winter, just in case that was a concern."

"Oh, yes, there have always been good Witches," Glitch said, glad at the easy understanding. "There was Glinda, and the Gray Gale, and the Queen and princesses of course. Though, they aren't called 'witches' often any more." He wanted to make sure she knew he wasn't biased.

"It hasn't been replaced by the b-word, has it?"

"B-word?" Something Azkadellia had said once under her breath to another girl in court popped back up into his mind.

"Oh! Oh, no no no, not that."

"Whew," Willow said. "I mean not that it would be the first time, but still, rude! Also kind of a cliche. But rude!"

Glitch nodded sagely. "Especially in court!"

"Especially not in court!" Willow agreed. "Not even when the talking female dogs are there because I don't care how many people tell me that's the proper word for them it still seems rude! Plus it raises the odds that they might call you that in return and then you're wondering if it was an insult or a compliment and frankly it's hard enough for me to get courtly behaviors right. I have a hard enough time not tripping down stairs in the outfits."

Glitch was nodding enthusiastically in agreement now, though the whole talking dog thing was new. Made him think for a second of Toto. Tutor, not Toto. Right. Tutor.

"Really, the dancing was the only part I ever enjoyed. Not that I was ever asked, of course."

That second sentence might have been a little bitter. Just a little.

"Aww!" Willow said, with sympathy. "The dancing can be fun! Not that I'm really good at the ones with all the formal steps and everything, but making with the boogie and also oogie with no other plans in mind can be quite enjoyable. That's why I tried to get Mr. GOB to put in a dance floor at Caritas, but I never could convince him. Still! There are other places where dancing could happen. So what were you at court, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I was the Queen's top adviser," he said with a smile. "Still am, I think. At least, I still have that title when I go back to the O.Z."

He thought a second about the dancing. "Would you like me to teach you an Ozian waltz? It's really very simple and easy to learn."

Ok, maybe that was just an excuse to dance. He missed it.

"Very useful!" Willow said. "I know I'd appreciate somebody with an inventive mind for an advisor if I was a queen. And sure! I'd love to see it. If you don't mind."

"I'll be in my office all day tomorrow if you'd like to stop by. I don't have any music, but it's easier to learn first without it anyway." Glitch's synapses chose that moment to remind him that his office was probably not big enough for dancing in.

"Or, well, is there anywhere else a little more roomy that could be used for practice?"

"Park? Gym?" Willow suggested off of the top of her head. "Ooh! Could we invite other people? Not that I know offhand if anyone would want to learn, but it'd be nice to issue the invitation, no?"

"That is a wonderful suggestion," Glitch said, huge grin forming at the idea. "If you'd like, you can ask around this afternoon and tomorrow, and let me know." He scribbled the number for his voicemail down for her. "Maybe this Saturday in the park you mentioned, so it won't interrupt with classes?"

"That sounds like fun!" Willow said. "Could I put up a sign? Oh! And we could invite people from town too. So signs then. Plural."

Glitch was nodding again. "Yes, signs. Will you get back to me tomorrow?"

He stopped himself before saying 'so I don't forget.'

"Absolutely," Willow said. "Oh this will be fun! I'll try to get Peter to come. He's got lots of practice with courtly dancing."

"Experience could certainly help," Glitch said, starting to gather his papers up. "And thank you."

"You're very welcome!" Willow said. She waved as she went out. "See you tomorrow!"

Applied Inventiontronics, Period 4 - Week 1

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