Room 317, Monday afternoon

[notmyownage]

For once, Claudia actually wasn't tinkering with something on the floor. Artie had her running searches for any pings on Ben Franklin's kite string -- she could have sworn that whole thing was a myth! -- so she was lounging on her bed while her handbuilt computer program trawled across the web for anything that screamed "two-hundred-year-old electrified twine".

Such was life as a Warehouse intern.

[ooc: expecting one, but also open.]

Comments

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"How about the ability to make a conversation awkward at the drop of a hat?" Matt joked. "I didn't embarass you did I?"

[notmyownage]

"No more than any other teenage boy," Claudia assured him. "And you're not, like, snickering weirdly, so that's actually a bonus."

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Rats. There goes my future as the Superhero known as Captain Awkward."

[notmyownage]

"Captain Awkward would only be a d-list superhero, anyway," Claudia decided.

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Yeah but he'd get a cult following as soon as some big crossover event killed him off."

[notmyownage]

"Yeah, but then he'd be dead. What good is a dead superhero?"

Claudia did not read a whole lot of comics, no.

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Ohhhhh, even the crappy superheroes come back to life after a while," Matt said with a grin. "At least in the comics."

[notmyownage]

Claudia wasn't actually sure how she felt about that one.

"Well, either way, you deserve a way better superpower and superhero name than 'Captain Awkward'. He can be your sidekick or something."

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"All right then," Matt said with a smirk. "What power would you choose?"

[notmyownage]

She was tempted to say teleportation, but he wouldn't get the joke.

"I've already got one," she said. "Super-techno-computer-genius. Hell, I've managed to cook up a holographic projector that builds full 3D images out of a handful of digital pics in a matter of hours."

Yeah, she was still pretty proud of that one.

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Wow," Matt said looking impressed. "I gathered you were a techie but I didn't realize how much."

Matt nodded in the direction of the computer that he heard humming away.

"Is that what it's doing right now?"

[notmyownage]

"Nah, it's just . . . running a search."

A very, very thorough search working simultaneously through a large number of restricted databases Claudia had no non-top-secret reason to have access to.

"I'm looking for a good deal on eBay," she lied. "Mint condition campfire girl badges. An obscure set from the eighties." Okay, she needed to stop now. "You've probably never heard of them."

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

Matt couldn't help but chuckle. "Really? You think us New Yorkers have never heard of campfire girls?"

[notmyownage]

Okay, she couldn't let that one go without a challenge

"Right, sorry, I'm sure you were the top of your campfire girl troop as a kid."

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Well you saw me as a girl the other week," Matt said with a raised eyebrow. "I would have made a kickass campfire girl. Or at least I assume I would have."

[notmyownage]

"You would definitely have looked kick ass in the uniform," Claudia agreed.

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"I'm betting you would have looked pretty awesome yourself," Matt said tilting his head a bit. "Not to mention probably figuring out a way to get satellite TV in the middle of the woods with a transistor radio."

[notmyownage]

"Believe it or not, they never had a badge for that one. Pretty short sighted, really."

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Really?" Matt asked. "I'm surprised they didn't recognize your talents. I mean that kind of talent... That's just incredible."

[notmyownage]

"Yeeeeeeeeeeah . . . I was always kind of a misunderstood genius."

She tended to appropriate parts without asking, for instance.

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

Well that's the problem with being misunderstood genius. She needed those parts.

"Sounds like being misunderstood got you into trouble," Matt said raising an eyebrow. "Is that how you got here?"

[notmyownage]

Claudia shrugged. "Pretty much. I, uh. Got bounced around the foster system for awhile. When they ran out of people willing to take me, my new social worker shipped me here."

Of course, said new social worker turned out to work for the Warehouse, but that wasn't the point.

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Is it corny for me to say I'm glad you ended up here?" Matt asked. "Because I'd like to think your genius fits well. And I've gotten a chance to see it a bit."

...

"Plus I really hope you get that vintage campfire girl merit badges."

[notmyownage]

Claudia laughed. "Oh, I totally will." Once she found some to actually get. "And yeah, me too. It definitely worked out for the best."

[childhood-taunt.livejournal.com]

"Good," Matt said with a smile which turned slightly into a frown. "Listen, I have to run and get some studying done but I still would like to take you out to a movie sometime. Maybe next week?"