canon au } { post-6b, of math and tutors

[patrols]

Ben: [and he is sitting at the kitchen table with the Algebra for Dummies book in front of him, the scientific calculator, and a pad of paper. He was trying. He was trying really hard because he would like to be something more than a bouncer in this world. He didn't want to fail the Sheriff, or Jody... and especially Lindsay. But still...] I now remember why I hated math as a kid.

Lindsay: Math is the bane of all our existences. Do you need a hand?

Ben: I need Cas to download ten years of education into my skull is what I really need. [leans back and rubs at his eyes] I survived an apocalypse for twenty years without knowing any of this. Why do I have to now?

Lindsay: [she shrugs] Because they want you to be a well rounded person.

Ben: I am a very well rounded person. I can talk and stab people at the same time. [smirks]

Lindsay: [shakes her head] It's just a GRE. Once you pass the test, you'll never have to do it again.

Ben: Why can't we just forge a passed GRE?

Lindsay: Because it'd be really bad for the sheriff if we got caught.

Ben: And faking a military background won't do that already.

Lindsay: Faking a military background is easier when you've got connections in said military to back you up. [Riley Finn. She means Riley Finn.]

Ben: [yes, he knows] I'm just glad he made me a Marine. Pretty sure Dean would have shot me if I tried to be anything else.

Lindsay: No rangering in your future, huh?

Ben: Apparently when they aren't men of letters, the Winchesters are Marines and anything different gets your disowned. At least that's why my Dean used to say.

Lindsay: Well, that sounds like military racism. That's probably not the right word for it, but I'm running with it.

Ben: [laughs] I think it's rivalries more than anything.

Lindsay: Got it.

Ben: [looks back at the math problem and sighs dramatically, letting his head hit the table]

Lindsay: Okay, let me have a look.

Ben: [without lifting his head, he is going to push the book towards her]

Lindsay: [stares and then shakes her head] You know what, you should text Lydia.

Ben: [looks up at her, and then just starts laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation]

Lindsay: What? She's the math genius.

Ben: Yeah, I know. Bur she's like, a kid still. [because anyone Michael's age or younger is a kid, ok?]

Lindsay: She's studying mathematics at MIT. Age shouldn't matter, just go to the expert.

Ben: [bites his lip because getting help from Lindsay is one thing, admitting he needs it to anyone else is another]

Lindsay: [looks at him] No one is going to judge you. Everyone knows what life was like for you growing up. Do you want this job or not?

Ben: [nods] I want the job.

Lindsay: Then talk to Lydia. She'll help.

Ben: Fine. [and he will pull out his phone and look through his contacts. He had preset all the Beacon Hills important people in it a long time ago, including the local banshee. He will focus a moment and then type out a text message] Lydia, its Ben. Ned help wit math. U have time?

Lydia: [and fortunately for you, Ben, Lydia is already home for the summer] Sure. Do you want to meet somewhere?

Ben: We can grab a beer at the bar?

Lydia: Sure. I'll see you there.

Ben: [and he will look up at Lindsay] I'm going to meet her at the bar to work on this.

Lindsay: Good. Have fun.

Ben: Maybe the math will make sense drunk. [and he will grab his bag and shove the stuff in before leaning in to kiss her]

Lindsay: [kisses him back and sends him on his way]

Lydia: [and she will be waiting at the bar with cheese fries and a martini]

Ben: [and he will head in, greeting the bouncer on duty with a handshake and a quick few jibs before heading to the redhead waiting for him] Thanks for offering to help.

Lydia: No problem. What kind of math are we dealing with?

Ben: Algebra. [and he will pull out the book]

Lydia: Ah. [and she'll take the book and pull it closer] It's really not as complicated as the books make it out to be.

Ben: Yeah, well it's giving me elementary school flashbacks at this point.

Lydia: Gotcha. [she pauses and flips the book open] Where did you leave off?

Ben: [and he will open it up to the problem with all the lines.] So, I know that a straight line is 180 degrees. I can figure that if this angle is 60, the other half is 120. But it's this crap in the middle making it a different angle that screws it all up.

Lydia: Okay. So yes, a straight line is 180 degrees. But the great thing about angles is that they tend to match. [she grabs a pencil so that she can write in the book] So this whole arc is 180 degrees. [she scribbles " = 180" in the top right of the picture] If this one is 60 degrees. [she writes it in the appropriate spot, on the far left with "60 + "] ... and we're looking for this one ... [and right next to the equal sign she'll put " + x"] We need to determine what GNH is in order to solve it, because all three of them add up to 180. Now the problem also gave us what the angle opposite GNH is. [she writes 47 in the middle of the angle in quest] Since angles that reflect each other have matching measurements, we can assume that GNH is also 47 degrees. [ and she writes out the full equation: 60 + 47 + x = 180] All you have to do is solve for x.

Ben: [blinks] Mirroring angles?

Lydia: Yeah. Think of this whole thing like a pizza. When you're cutting slices you don't stop halfway through, right? You cut straight across from one side to another. [she pulls a blank piece of paper to draw him a fairly neat looking circle, then a line straight across the middle] You split the pizza in half you have two equal 180 degree halves. You cut it again - [she draws a line straight down the center] Now you have four, matching 90 degree angles. Even if your slices aren't completely perfect - [ she draws one line that's a little off center, starting in the top left and finishing in the bottom right] You can see that the new slices on the left are mirror images of the ones on the right, yeah?

Ben: Well, unless you suck and don't hit the middle of the pizza when you cut it. [not the point, Ben] But yeah, kinda.

Lydia: The point is, if I fold this in half - [she takes a second to darken the lines so that they can see it through the paper, before folding the circle on that 180 degree line and watching as all the lines match up] - all the lines match. Which means all the angles have the same measurements.

Ben: [and it clicks] Oh.

Lydia: [there we go] Same concept here. When all the angles have the same main vertex, it means that their angles mirror each other, so if you know the measurement on one side of the line, it's going to match on the other.

Ben: So then this one would be 73.

Lydia: Exactly.

Ben: Cool. [the bartender has brought Ben a beer because he's an employee and knows what Ben drinks. He'll take a sip] So what happens if they don't intercept at the same points?

Lydia: Then it gets more complicated and you'll need a protractor.

Ben: A what?

Lydia: [she waves a hand] Since an angle is formed from the interception of two lines, odds are very high that you won't find a problem involving angles that don't share a vertex.

Ben: Alright. [sighs] Thanks for helping, by the way.

Lydia: No problem. I love math.

Ben: It's becoming the bane of my current existence

Lydia: Once you past the test, you'll never have to worry about algebra again.

Ben: Just as long as I don't have to learn any of this new math common core crap.

Lydia: I think you're safe in that respect. For the GRE, they just want you to know the right answers.

Ben: Good, because seriously, what the hell is all that about?

Lydia: People will find any excuse to explain why kids aren't learning things well beyond giving them the tools they actually need to do it.

Ben: Sometimes I wonder which of our realities is truly the screwed up one, and that's saying a lot where I'm from.

Lydia: I'm still going to say it's the one that doesn't have medical care, electricity or a thriving population of humans.

Ben: Fair enough.

Lydia: So. Getting a real job?

Ben: Yeah. The Stilinskis offered me a chance to be a deputy if I can get the base requirements met.

Lydia: Pension and benefits. Nice.

Ben: Kinda.

Lydia: Kinda? That's more than a lot of people get these days.

Ben: [takes a long drink from his beer] Yeah, well my line of work, I've got an angel for the benefits, and don't expect to live long enough for a pension.

Lydia: That's bleak.

Ben: I'm just tired of being just a bouncer. [looks up to make sure that the bartender didn't hear that] I'm bored.

Lydia: I didn't mean it like that. I meant not living long enough to collect a pension.

Ben: I know. I'm also a Winchester.

Lydia: Dean's reaching pension age, if he had an actual job.

Ben: And he's died 2, maybe three times already?

Lydia: And yet still here.

Ben: [looks over at her] You willing to bet your life on having that kind of fate? I'm not.

Lydia: You're talking to a banshee who got used in a ritual to revive the dead guy who tried to kill me and all my friends. I may not bet on it, but I know better than to assume that death is forever.

Ben: [just hums as he finishes his beer] I don't have that kind of faith.

Lydia: Maybe you should get some. Your girlfriend might appreciate it.

Ben: Yeah, I know.

Lydia: I'm not judging you, because I know how serious our world can be. But if you're just counting down the days till it kills you then what the hell are we trying to save the world for?

Ben: So that other people don't have to learn about the shit we deal with and get to live their happily ever afters.

Lydia: It kind of sucks if they get to have it and you don't.

Ben: That's why It's called sacrifice.

Lydia: I think sacrifice is overrated.

Ben: Yeah, well preach to the choir. [and he will close up his book] Thanks for the help on this.

Lydia: [she nods] Of course. Anytime.

Ben: [and he will slap a fifty on the bar, telling the bartender to get the lady whatever she wants and keep the change, and he will grab his backpack and head home]

Lindsay: [where Lindsay will be, if he wants to talk to her]

Ben: [he will come back and toss his bag on the livingroom floor and head to get a beer]

Lindsay: [her eyebrows go up a bit at that] Did you figure it out?

Ben: Yeah. It was a mirror angle problem.

Lindsay: Angles have mirrors?

Ben: Yeah, weird math shit about lines and angles and degrees. Don't ask me to explain.

Lindsay: Got it. Math is stupid.

Ben: Yup.

Lindsay: But at least it'll help with the test?

Ben: That's the goal, right?

Lindsay: Yes, it is.

Ben: [and he will think a moment, and then turn to look at her] Linds, when you look at your future, what do you see?

Lindsay: [she gives a small shrug in return, because it's a weird complicated question, but she'll try to give him some kind of answer] You. Maybe a house. Just a small one, but it might be nice to have some firmer roots.

Ben: But, knowing what you do... who you are... do you see yourself getting old?

Lindsay: I don't know. I don't think anyone likes to see themselves getting old, but the standards for Slayer life expectancies aren't what they used to be. There are a lot more of us now, and while yeah, some of us are still dying, we also aren't one girl against an army of demons and vampires.

Ben: [nods, looking at his beer] Which is a good thing.

Lindsay: It is. So ... I guess I feel comfortable planning for the future, while still knowing that anything could happen at any time.

Ben: But it's not wrong to be realistic to know in this line of work, odds are greater than normal we won't make it to that retirement age.

Lindsay: Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean we won't. I mean, Bobby Singer made it to his sixties before the job got him. Rufus too. There are a lot of old man and women hunters out there.

Ben: I just have a feeling, that's all.

Lindsay: Is it a feeling based in something that's currently happening, or is it paranoia from years spent in a world where you were basically a suicide bomber for God?

Ben: A little from both columns.

Lindsay: Well, I can't do anything about column B, so tell me about column A.

Ben: Just a bad feeling. It's too quiet on the home front.

Lindsay: I get it. I do.

Ben: Sometimes I worry being up here, away from them... Dean's trying to let me have a real life, but what problems are they putting themselves into where if they had one more man there on the front lines...

Lindsay: Okay, one, Beacon Hills is hardly the safest place in the world for you to be, whether you're having a real life or not, and two, Michael's still with them. If they need you, you know he'll call you.

Ben: I hope so.

Lindsay: Look, I can't stop you from coping however you need to cope. But there's a difference between surviving and living. You deserve to live, and you're in a place where you can.

Ben: I just worry I'm never going to be able to turn that off.

Lindsay: [she nods] Well, let's look at it this way. If you were thinking about the future, what's the first think you would want to do?

Ben: [he licks his lips, and then shrugs] I don't know.

Lindsay: Well, think about it. It doesn't have to be something huge or life changing, but pick something small. And we'll talk about it, okay?

Ben: [he closes his eyes, trying to think of something. Images from the world that the djinn had put him in came to mind at first but he knew those weren't real. It was an ideal world, but not one he could have]

Lindsay: [and she'll just wait for him to respond, settling in to wait]

Ben: [he looks at his past. At his anger and frustration at this world. The same he still has years later. But there's one thing he knows he has that is his] You. [he opens his eyes to look at her]

Lindsay: Well, that's easy. You have me already.

Ben: I know.

Lindsay: Do you want ... something more than that?

Ben: [thinks, and then shrugs] I don't know.

Lindsay: Well, you don't have to decide right now. But I'm not going anywhere.

Ben: Good to know.

Lindsay: Good.

Ben: You know I love you, right? I may not know a lot, don't know what the future holds, but that love won't change.

Lindsay: I know. I love you too.

Ben: I just worry that there's a day I'm not going to come back.

Lindsay: I worry about that too. But it's not going to stop me from living my life.

Ben: [he'll reach over to take her hands] I think sometimes I'm too much like Dean. I'm just too used to sacrificing myself, I don't know how to do anything else. I'm trying, but there's just this itch in me.

Lindsay: Well, when you have an itch, you're not supposed to scratch it. That's how it goes away. [she sighs] But we can just take it one step at a time. You don't have to change everything today.

Ben: [nods] Except to get my education level to that of a high schooler.

Lindsay: Yes, that you kind of need.

Ben: [laughs] Only in this crazy world.

Lindsay: Well, it's the crazy world that I prefer living in.

Ben: Me too. Because you're here. [and he will tug her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist]

Lindsay: [and she will lean into him easily, curling up so that she can get close]

Ben: [and he will hold her close, just taking her closeness in and holding onto it, anchoring him in the moment]