4108/Teching in the Park

Teching in the Park
Date of Scene:	12 November 2020
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	Peter Parker tries to get some info from a stolid Dr. Pym.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Hank Pym

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Peter Parker has posed:
"PARKER!"
He jumped. He always jumped when J. Jonah Jameson barked.

"I need you to iron out some science stuff with one of our recent puff pieces on this guy, Pym. Seems his office called twice about some...ERRORS." JJJ actually looked like he was in pain saying that word.
"Dr. Henry Pym?"
"You know of any OTHER guy named Pym? Yeah...you're about to go to lunch, right? Meet him somewhere nice, I'll even expense the lunch."
"Really??"
"And if you go over $25, I'll REMEMBER that the next time you negotiate."

So...here he was, sitting on a park bench in Central Park, next to one of the few establishments that would handle his PRINCELY lunch budget.
Namely, Big Jake's Chili Dog Truck.
He checked his watch. He had left the message, the pleasant secretary said she would make sure he knew where to go.

He just hoped he hadn't goobered it from the word go.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym was pretty adamant. "I'm not going so some other idiot can mix my work up!" Arms folded. Defiant.

Brown eyes. Biiiig brown eyes.

"You have to understand that some people do not want to know about science... some people are not worth you time. What, nice? Nice is a dodge by the not so bright... "

Now the lip gets bitten. More big brown eyes.

"Oh Eff Eff Ess. ALl right. I'll give them an hour! No more!"

Smile that could make Doom's armor melt.

It irks to lose an argument to your sixteen year old daughter. It really irks when she is not present and you are merely simulating her reaction. "Be a happy scientist, Dad!"

"OK," he thinks in a petulant voice. Parents are tough to raise properly.

Thus Doctor Henry Jonathon Pym, comes striding down the path to the occupied bench, wearing a long duster coat and a prominent ear piece for GHU knows what.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter spots and recognizes the man immediately, of course. If you were in any of the physical-sciences program and didn't know who Dr. Henry Pym was, YOU WERE SCREWING UP.

Peter stands immediately, running a hand through his short brown hair. He looked a little uncertain. His usual clothes seemed like a bad idea NOW.

The earnest-looking young man with the sheepish look and the beat-up backpack seemed, for a moment, if he wasn't sure he should extend his hand for a handshake or raise it for a salute. He went with the outstretched hand.

"Hello, Dr. Pym. I'm Peter Parker, with the DAILY BUGLE?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym shakes the hand, managing to look friendly and long suffering despite just meeting Peter. "Mr. Parker. How did you screw up to get this job? I could have phoned the corrections to that fluff piece the Bugle spewed out. Well, tell your editor he messed up. I will save my ire for him and not you. Where are we going for lunch?" He rubs his hands together in anticipation, a foodie. Just invite him to a picnic and watch him!

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled sheepishly and pointed to the food truck. "Big Jake makes the best chili dog in New York. No question. And...I'm buying."

Of course, he calculated the price beforehand so he could make that claim boldly.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind eating outside."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym looks at the cart a moment, then says, "Who am I to disparage the efforts of a chef, no matter how humble. I suppose we're splitting the fries? Jameson certainly can't be accused of bribing me for an extended interview. It'd take at least a panini for that. All right let's deal with our work first then eat at our leisure. Hmmph, I bet Jameson still tries for student price at the movies."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter bites his lip.
It's so much easier with the mask on. That way, no one could track you down for the things you said.

"All right..." Peter said, settling in on the bench and taking out a small notepad. No tablet, but a paper-and-pen notepad. He opened it, flipped a few pages, then nods. "Okay. Let me document the errors you found, and then I can follow up?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym nods. The things he does to keep people from telling his daughter stories about her dad. It doesn't even work half the time. Ah well, young people, they must be encouraged. "Ok, first of all you need to know I googled youMr. Parker, you're a prize winning science student on a fast track at ESU and Kord Co. I'm sure you made the corrections already. I can double check it a lot faster... let me see the book, please?" His eyes are intense but somehow approachable. "No worries, but let's cut the BS."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter blinked. Not...exactly how he saw this going, really. He didn't expect Dr. Pym to scope HIM out. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't be surprised.

He handed the notepad to Dr. Pym, left open, to the list of errors the Science section of the paper had double-checked, as well as the few he had spotted himself.
He had considered the idea of just keeping it to himself, but he innately believed Dr. Pym would just turn to stone in person and unleash the lawyers if he played hardball.
"Uhm, yes, sir."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym makes a series of rapid checks on the pad. He starts to turn the page and puts it back seeing questions. "Okay, smart job of it Mr. Parker. I'm sorry, I didn't read the next page but it seems to be more questions. Jameson wants his money's worth of the fifty he handed you. Well, you evidently know my work. He made a good choice of an interviewer... Mr. Parker, breathe. I'm a scientist, like you. The Universe doesn't give a damn who we are, it will give up her secrets to anyone wit hard work and a keen mind. Listen, I'll call you Peter and you call me Hank, my daughter is around your age. She's survived me. My reputation is exaggerated... by a bunch of crybabies. If Neil deGrasse hadn't provoked me, I wouldn't have made him cry. Same with Bill Nye."

Peter Parker has posed:
A scientist...yeah, that tracks, no problem.
Like him...? Since he didn't see the esteemed Dr. Pym walking dogs and hustling skinflint newspaper editors to pay the bills, not to mention gallivanting all over the five boroughs nearly every night...no, he wasn't like Dr. Pym in a LOT of ways.

"Uhm...truthfully, I'm not sure I can be so...cavalier? It's a little hard to refer to you as 'Hank' three weeks after I participate in an intense discussion about your discoveries and advances." His cheeks flush at the thought of it. "So I would rather call you Dr. Pym, at least for the purposes of this...interview."

Damn, he said the I-word.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym nods. "Whatever lets you sleep nights. Let's get the fluff out of the way. I want to hear about your discussion, Mr. Parker."

His work was still being discussed. Maybe it was time to put out a new book. He was pretty sure his previous publisher torpedoed his previous work after that whole Avenger's court martial. Maybe people had forgotten it by now. One could always hope.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter blinked. "Uhm, okay. It was in the particle physics section about the malleable state of matter. Your book...uhm, the collection of essays called Matter - Micro/Macro by Doubleday?...that came up and we were talking about how that would redefine everything we know about matter for the next few decades to come. Uhm...your collapsible-particle paper had been tested mathematically and we couldn't disprove the process or the math involved."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym smiles. "Matter can be thought of as a standing wave in a four dimensional matrix. Viewing the matter through a different lens allows you to manipulate its properties, in this case volume and mass. With other particles, who can say what properties can be tweaked? Age? Entropy? Temperature? It may be the basis of superhuman powers as we know them. Just tweaking the properties of matter through these different lenses."

"Well I hope you couldn't disprove them. It's how I used my abilities as Giant-Man!"

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled slightly as he turned the page.
As the man said, when all else fails, fresh tactics.

"I also understand you have a daughter, Nadia. It was something of a news flurry last month. How has life been with a daughter in your life?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym hesitates and then says, "It's been a number of changes but I really prefer not to speak about her publicly. Thank you. Next question>"

Peter Parker has posed:
Wow, this is shaping up to be an easy follow-up. That took care of the next three questions, too.

"All right, then. What are your current goals after the court case ended?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym is not quite so friendly now. "There was no court case ever. I went with Federal officers investigating a State Department matter. I was wrongly identified as a person of interest in said matter by some old school Soviets. I left with them, resolved the matter and returned home. I was never arrested and my cooperation was voluntary if not whole hearted. I can only assume my original escapades as Ant-Man and Giant-Man garnered a few enemies behind the former Iron Curtain."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods, but he is already regretting taking on this deceptively plum assignment.
If it comes to shaking down informants or thugs for info, he can be rather forceful behind the mask. Face to face with one of the premier minds in quantum physics? Yeah...not very imaginative. And he could kinda relate, in a way...

...although it might be a bad idea to mention HIS parents to Dr. Pym.

"I see. Well, I guess those are the only additional questions I had. Would you like to grab something to eat now? There seems to be a lull at the food truck..."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym nods, relaxes a little.

"Sounds good answering questions makes me hungry and I'm always hungry."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nodded. At least he could get a hot dog and drink out of this situation.

JJJ was going to go nuclear when he showed up with almost nothing new, but that was manageable. He'd been yelled at before. And he would be yelled at again.

Peter got up as Dr. Pym did. and then it was Chili Dog Time.