fandomhigh | Home Economics 1, Fourth Period 1/5

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home ec

Home Economics 1, Fourth Period 1/5

People who hadn't had classes with Mr. Rogers before might be surprised to find that their home ec teacher was a tall, broad-shouldered guy who looked like he'd just stepped out of a military recruitment poster. Or, you know, not. Steve waited until everyone was present to begin his spiel.

"Good afternoon. I'm Steve Rogers--that's Mr. Rogers to you, please--and this is Home Economics, or Home Ec. If you're planning to complain that you didn't intend to be in Home Economics, well, welcome to Fandom High. If you're unaware of what Home Ec is, it's basically how to fend for yourself: cooking, cleaning, that sort of thing. I want to assure you there is nothing to be scared of. We're going to start with the parts that don't involve sharp objects or heat, so you can sort of work yourselves up to that mentally, if you need to. You should each have a syllabus at your work station. Typically you'll be working in pairs, but I'm fine with groups as long as you're not disruptive, and you're welcome to switch partners at any time. Oh, and," he glanced down at his class roster, but no, it still had not changed. "Mr. Stark, please see me after class.

"Now that we've got that out of the way," Steve said, and clapped his hands once, "I'd like for everyone to introduce themselves, giving your name, year, and where you'd currently rate your general skill level, one to ten, in the topics covered on the syllabus. Feel free to elaborate on those basics, if you want. We'll start with you," he said, picking a student at random.

Once they'd finished that, he moved on to, "And now we're going to jump right into cleaning. This will be especially good if you're new, right, you won't have a chance to get your dorm room messy. The first step to cleaning is really just to be tidy and organized," he said, like that was the simplest thing in the world. "Have a place for everything, and put things in their place instead of throwing them wherever. Put books in the bookcase instead of piled on your desk. Put dirty clothes in the laundry basket or bag instead of on the floor, and fold or hang clean ones and put them away. Throw things away or recycle them when you're done with them, instead of letting pizza boxes and old magazines pile up. Sweep hard-surface floors regularly. Speaking of sweeping..." there were ten brooms and dustpans lined up against the wall. "Since I couldn't make you practice tidying up, you get to practice that. If you don't understand how this works--" Steve was ruling nothing out, especially considering he had Emma Frost and Tony Stark in this class "--ask me or one of your classmates for help.

"Oh! Before I forget: this class comes with homework." Steve made a face at them and said, "I know, I know, but if you don't put these things into practice, what's the point, right? So your assignment for the rest of the week is to tidy up your dorm rooms and get organized, creating designated places for things if they don't have them and putting things in their places. If you need organizational supplies and can't buy them yourself right now, I have milk crates, which are great for organizing, clothes hangers, and laundry bags in my office, and you can see me after class, or I'll be holding office hours on Friday, so please, feel free to drop by. And if you know anyone who needs a laundry bag, send them my way, too, I have plenty, they were free."

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Name, year, how much you fail or don't fail at this stuff, anything else you want to add.

"Dana Scully, sophomore, and I was raised by a Navy captain and a very house-conscious Irish Catholic housewife." Her lips quirked sideways. "And I haven't slacked much since I got here." Or at all. Details.

"So I'm going to go out on a limb and say you can definitely clean," Steve said wryly. "How's your cooking?"

Scully wrinkled her nose, and said, "I can make a great salad. Or pasta dish. Aside from that..." Look, microwaves were invented for a reason, when you worked an FBI agent's schedule. "I can make cookies?"

Re: Introductions

screwyoumarvel - 2011-01-05 08:46 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introductions

showmetheproof.livejournal.com - 2011-01-05 08:49 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introductions

screwyoumarvel - 2011-01-05 08:57 (UTC) - Expand

"I'm Karla and a sophomore." Damn, that was the easy part. "I can sew because of my Healer training, I'm good at cleaning things when I remember to, though I mostly just use Craft, and I'm a pretty good cook! Err, that is, I have potential and just need a little more practice for it to be fully realized."

One of these statements was not like the other.

Oh, yes. Unrealized potential. Steve made a mental note to keep an eye on this one once they got to the cooking section. And to have the first aid kit and fire extinguisher handy. "When you say 'Craft,' do you mean magic?" he asked.

Ben had already given her a fire extinguisher for Christmas. Because he had a messed up sense of humor.

Or was hard-wired for practicality, but Karla didn't think that could be it.

She nodded at Steve. "Yes. I'm a witch. Craft is the birthright of my people. But I know better than to mix Craft with cooking." At least, in the actual cooking. Prep was still okay, right? "There was an...incident...back home over the summer."

But she was very eanest! Very!

Re: Introductions

screwyoumarvel - 2011-01-05 21:08 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introductions

glacial_queen - 2011-01-05 21:16 (UTC) - Expand

"Effy. Senior." She paused a moment, rolling her pencil between her fingers. "And I'm sure I can keep up." No one else so far had stuck to the numbers, so neither was she.

But come on. Housework? It couldn't be that hard. Her mum could do it, after all. Effy was just going to purposely not remember that time she turned everything she washed pink.

Well, that was vague. "I'm sure you can as well," Steve said, "and remember I'm always here to help."

Effy did so love being vague, and turned on her best unnerving fake smile for him. "Sweet."

This was her in a pretty good place, shockingly enough.

Re: Introductions

screwyoumarvel - 2011-01-05 09:07 (UTC) - Expand

Cassidy was possibly a bit too cheerful.

"I'm Cassidy and I'm a freshman. I've spent a great deal of time in the kitchen or in cleaning with my mother since I was able to hold things and because of different things related to my Craft I've become very organized. I can also sew."

She had a brother and a father that she and her mother needed to take care of, after all.

Steve noted the use of that word 'Craft' again, and said, "Then you may skew the curve here, Cassidy. I hope you'll be willing to help the other students along?"

Cassidy nodded. "Yes, sir. If someone needs help, I'm willing to help where I can."

"I'm Alex, I'm a senior and...I really fail at pretty much all of this stuff," he said, being honest at least. "I haven't burned anything down, killed myself, or gotten my ass kicked because of a messy room but I've never really been one to put any of these into practice."

Good luck with that, Professor Rogers. Alex would strive to take his place as the most uneducated student ever in the realm of home economics.

"Sewing is like a foreign language."

"Well, then there's nowhere to go but up, right?" Steve asked, because Steve was sometimes a hopeless optimist.

Re: Introductions

fratboybitch.livejournal.com - 2011-01-05 14:51 (UTC) - Expand

"I'm Tony Stark. Sophomore," he said, frowning at the entire concept of this class. This was why people invented the microwave, Steve.

And those cleaning robots.

"I can microwave dinner?"

Riiiiiight. "They let you touch the microwave where you're from?" Had Jarvis fallen down on the job that much?

Steve realized after a moment this Tony Stark might not get the joke and decide his teacher was a jerk, and said, "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate."

Re: Introductions

hoorayimrich.livejournal.com - 2011-01-05 15:11 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introductions

screwyoumarvel - 2011-01-05 21:09 (UTC) - Expand

"My name is Juliet Darling, and I'm in tenth grade," Juliet said, with a faint, polite smile as she tried to find a way to put her experience that didn't make her sound quite as spoiled as she actually was. "My mother made sure we knew how to make a bed. And I'm very good at calling for delivery. Oh, and I can make toast."

That was a start, right?

That was a start! Some people burned toast, and, "You would be surprised how many people don't know how to properly make a bed," Steve said. "We'll try to expand on your skill set some."

Re: Introductions

twintuitionist.livejournal.com - 2011-01-05 15:44 (UTC) - Expand

"Emma Frost, senior, total and complete zero on everything except budgeting." Emma, you oughtn't be so cheerful about that. "I love math, which makes it easy."

Go ahead, Alex. Call her a geek. Emma would just cuddle her numbers and make faces at you.

"Oh, but I do keep my room neat, and I can make Pop Tarts."

"Well, budgeting's definitely important," Steve said. "I hope you'll learn some more helpful skills this semester." If he sounded doubtful for the first time, well. He knew Emma Frost.

Re: Introductions

icecoldfrost - 2011-01-06 02:03 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Introductions

screwyoumarvel - 2011-01-06 11:12 (UTC) - Expand

"I'm Shira, I'm a freshman, and..." she shrugged. "I'm okay at the whole cooking thing. Not always the tastiest, but where I'm from, we can't afford to turn our noses up at food just because it doesn't smell good."

"One of the things people have struggled with throughout history is how to make cheap, low-quality food appetizing," Steve agreed. "There are a lot of ways it can be done."

"Bobby Drake, I'm a junior, and um... I'm kind of banned from the kitchen?" he admitted sheepishly. "I'm okay at the other stuff, I guess." His messiness was more out of laziness than inability to clean, after all. And at least he'd ace the budgeting part?

"IF you were banned from the kitchen here it would sort of defeat the purpose," Steve said. "But please try not to cause any disasters."

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