fandomhigh | Applied Science | Monday

Tyler watched the students filing in, arms crossed before him and a covered Styrofoam chest with a slight curl of steam rising from it resting on the lab table at the front of the class. When it seemed like everyone who was going to come was there, he started to talk.

"Morning. I am hoping all of you got through the weekend okay. I had visits with some of your friends and relatives; I promise everything I said was true, and most of it was good."

He drew a deep breath, lifting the loose-fitting lid off the chest and watching the steam rise. "All right. Now. Fun part. Dry ice. This is frozen carbon dioxide -- the same stuff that makes soda fizzy. Cool thing about dry ice, it doesn't really want to freeze on this planet, so if you force it to, it's continuously evaporating and turning into a gas." With gloved hands, he reached into the chest and brought out a kernel of the ice, then dropped it into a black plastic film can. A few seconds later, the lid of the canister flew off, narrowly missing the first row of chairs. Tyler smirked, then continued his lecture about the properties and uses of dry ice and the science behind it.

"For your lab segment today, I'm just going to let you play with this stuff." He started handing out one-pound chunks in small trays, placing them in front of each student alongside some other supplies they might want to use to test the ice. A light fog from the ice's evaporation filled the room. "Wear lab gloves unless a cold burn sounds like fun to you. Here is a handout with some ideas to get you started. I like the comet myself."

Once everyone had some ice, he waited at the back of the classroom. "Go to it. I'm around."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I dunno, maybe that apparently this school is a haven for crazy people and a bad influence and encouraging me to think people will respect me if I dress how I like instead of how her happy little upper-middle-class white America wants me to?"

*SMASHSMASHSMASHSMASHSMASH*

"Though apparently none of that is enough for her not to want to waste the money she's already spent on this semester."

"Seriously? Wow. That's just..." SMASHITY-SMASH! "C'mon! It's like she doesn't even know her own kid!" Dinah growled, and brushed some of the smashed bits into the plastic bag the way you were supposed to. "Shallow people care about how other people dress! Did she think of that?" SMASH!

"Yeah, well, according to her, so do employers. And 'respectable society'." *SMASHSMASHSMASHSMASHSMASH* "Never mind that most of those people are totally miserable."

"Like you'd work for anybody who'd care about that." *SMASHSMASH!* "Honestly, how..." Dinah could just not get this. "Are you sure she's your real mom? Really?" SMASH!

"I'm sure as hell not a Winchester," Priestly pointed out. *SMASH* "Apparently the people I'd work for won't pay me enough money to live on."

Dinah snorted. "Your mom totally lacks imagination. That's the problem." SMASH! "Like the suburbs are the only way to live. You wouldn't even stand out that much in New Gotham, or New York." SMASH! SMASH! SMAAAAAASH! She sighed.

"Those places aren't 'respectable'." Priestly shook his head and set the hammer down. "Man, and I'm not even turning 18 in December. Which means I gotta figure out some way to convince her to let me stick around, next year."

"If you could prove you could earn a living, and... I don't know. I don't understand her standards for 'respectable.' But maybe there's something you could show her by Christmas." Dinah sighed, and adjusted her goggles. "I'll help. Any way you need. You know?"

Priestly nodded. "I know." He smiled, then glanced at her hammer. "So, what's got you in a smashy mood, then?"

"Helena and Barbara met Jak. And scared him speechless. Not that he talks anyway, but they were just..." SMASHSMASHSMASH! "I'm not five! They don't have to pull the FBI file of every guy I like, or threaten to kill anyone who might hurt me." SMASH!

". . . So I shouldn't tell Jak I'll kill him if he hurts you, huh?"

Dinah glared at him, then smirked ruefully when she saw he was joking. Mostly. "He'd probably let you versus letting Helena get to him. Honestly. Like her love life would stand up to a senate investigation." SMASH! "I just..." Her shoulders slumped. "He hasn't even really asked me out yet. This was all way premature, and I told them he wasn't my boyfriend, that I liked him, but now..."

Edited 2009-10-05 18:53 (UTC)

"Maybe you should ask him out."

"After this weekend? Pfftt." SMASHY-SMASH! "Nooo. Pressuring him after all that would just be mean. I mean. I guess he could say no." SMASH! "But what if he'd be scared to say no?" SMASH SMASH! "Maybe after the memory of Helena doing her Catwoman impression and Barbara acting like an inquisitor fades."

"You're at least gonna talk to him about it though, right? Let him know that your family is nuts? I mean, so's everyone's, right?"

SMASH! Dinah gave Priestly a moody look, then sighed. "Yeeeah. Tomorrow, I guess. I'll probably see him at the Reserves. I can tell him it wasn't personal. And apologize for my sisters." SMASH-SMASH-SMASH! "I am so crank-calling them the next time they have dates, though."

"Hey, at least they aren't threatening to pull you out of school."

"So true." Dinah put the hammer down. "You can so hide with me, if she changes her mind and decides you should go back to Santa Cruz. Swear."

"Dude, if she decides that, she's totally S.O.L. I'm graduating here, dammit."

Applied Science | Monday | 10.05

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