2013.05.31 - We're Taking That Back

It's early evening, and Jocelyn is returning from the city a little earlier than she might normally be doing so on a Friday night. She often ended up out and about on Friday nights if only because villains had a tendency to come out and do horrible things on the weekend. Who knows, maybe they had day jobs like everybody else?
Regardless, the teenager has a rather large bag with her, with the logo of one of the electronics shops in the city. To the trained geek's eye, it would look like she's carting a laptop back in that bag. Yes, Jocelyn has finally joined the digital age and purchased herself her own laptop. She figured she'd spend some of the money she got from Gloria on something that might be useful in the long term.
"Now, that guy said before I connect it, I need to put anti-virus stuff on it first. Computers need check-ups? Maybe I should take it to a hospital," the teenager mutters to herself as she walks along, for all intents and purposes heading towards either her room or the lounge, one of the two.
Trained geek? 
Don't be ridiculous. Even an untrained geek -could- identify a laptop. So could anyone who could see the bag. 
What, however, Doug could tell from the bag is a whole other thing, particularly knowing Jocelyn. 
"Jocelyn!" exclaims Doug, as he catches up with the tall redhead, having caught sight of her from where he'd been emerging from his current project. "Hey! You just bought a new computer, did you?" And showing a great deal more enthusiasm over that prospect than, well... teaching or counseling. 
"First computer," Jocelyn corrects Doug. Yes. It was Jocelyn's first computer. She reaches into the bag and pulls the box out. It's a middle of the road Windows 8 computer. "The guy said I'd need to install some anti-virus and firewall stuff before connecting it to the internet," Jocelyn explains. "I got the programs in the bag here that they recommended, but I have to admit I've never installed software in my life". The teenager shrugs at that.
"I don't suppose you'd mind showing me how that works, would you? I should probably learn that sort of thing," she tells Doug. One of those relatively important skills in this day and age that Jocelyn just didn't possess at current time.
Now Doug's face falls, as he stares at the laptop in abject horror. "Windows ... -eight-?" That might be the first sign of trouble, as Doug immediately grasps the bag, pulls it out, and stares at it. It better -be- a hybrid kind of thing, where she could actually -touch- things on it like a smartphone, because if it wasn't, it was -so- going back. 
"That's what he said it was," Jocelyn says. The screen does have touch screen technology, however, so the operating system will at least be functional. "He said that's all they were selling, except for some Windows Vista stuff they had in the discount section. I didn't think getting a discount computer was the best idea though," the teen says, having no idea why Doug was so horrified at the concept of Windows 8. Wasn't eight totally better than seven? It was a bigger digit!
Staring at the laptop, Doug looks back up, then down at the laptop. Shaking his head, he scratches his head. "The store is going to tell you that -just- to sell you the newest computers with the newest operating system for as much as they can," Doug says, rubbing his head. "For your -first- computer, you don't want to be the one beta-testing a new operating system, which this is, because it'll be hard to determine if it was you who screwed up or the OS. Look, uh... you know what?" 
He stuffs the laptop back into the bag, and reaches out to grab Jocelyn by the arm and tugs her. Which is pretty aggressive for him, but one must -do- what's right and guide the novice user through -proper- technology. 
"We're taking this back!" 
Wow. Doug on the warpath. Jocelyn is a little shocked by the tugging, and starts going along with the guy. "Alright, we can take it back. What should I be getting then?" Jocelyn asks as she falls into step alongside the man. "I mean, I know that Windows XP is kind of old, and the Windows 95 that was on the computers at the school I went to in Detroit was really old. Or was it 98?" she muses as she walks along with the guy.
"I suppose I don't really know what I'm looking for, but I figured that I'd just figure it out at the store. Didn't seem like it would be that hard". Oh, the poor novice.
"Well, given that you're -just- starting out, and you don't want to be scratching your head... we're getting you an iMac laptop. Something simple that you won't be scratching your head over for a -long- time. You don't need to be fooling around with anything else for a while, unless you -want- to learn how to deal with being BSOD'ed," Doug says, practically dragging her on the way out to the store... 
And before you know it, the laptop has been returned, the customer service politely informed that it does not suit Jocelyn's needs, and then Doug is practically dragging Jocelyn to the Apple section. 
"Okay, we're starting over. What -do- you want the laptop to do?" Doug says, all businesslike, without much personal warmth involved. 
Part of Jocelyn is tempted to say she wants it to do computer things, but she knows that's the wrong answer. "Well, it needs to be able to do internet stuff. Videos and typing and spreadsheets and stuff like that. It should also be able to run reasonable powerful programs if I end up in college and take some of the courses that might require more processing than a game of solitaire". At least Jocelyn had read some of the basics of what she needed.
"Durable is probably a helpful thing, too. I know the big thing these days is lightweight, but I'd rather it be sturdy". It wasn't like the laptop would be that hard for her to carry around. "I suppose it should be able to do some light game stuff, if I wanted to ever try some of that sort of thing, though I don't know how likely that is, given how bad I was when I tried a video game in the lounge a couple times". It was pretty bad.
Now Doug nods, as efficiently narrowing down the options as according to the specifications to match up Jocelyn's requests, waving off the salesperson with a polite "No thank you, we're fine," before navigating the rows of computers with a practiced eye, until he settles on a few candidates. "Try them out," he says, demonstrating the mouse and the various programs as he does so. 
Well, the -way- he says it might be a command, but it's also no-nonsense Doug, being practical, and it's leavened with a confident grin. Oh, this -was- his element, at least. 
Now it was time to mess around with some of the various models. Jocelyn starts trying out some of the laptops that Doug suggests. She's a bit slow with the mouse, though at least her typing speed seems reasonable when she pulls up a text editor and starts typing into it to get a feel for the keys. "Don't like the keys on this one. Mouse is clunky on this, even for me". And so on, and so on, until she finally narrows it down to a pair of laptops. One of the seventeen inch MacBook Pros and the new MacBook Pro that is lighter, but has the new retina display that they're talking about.
"I like both of these," Jocelyn admits, gesturing at the two vastly different, yet similar, machines.
"That's pretty good," Doug admits, tilting his head. It's only -now- that something sinks in. "Didn't you say something about getting money for this from... Gloria?" He wasn't sure exactly who Gloria was, but given that Jocelyn wandered -everywhere-, it might well be someone he'd forgotten about recently. 
"Yeah, friend of mine. I helped her out with a few things. She knows Mr. Summers and works with the team," Jocelyn expalins. Not often, but sometimes Risque helped out. Jocelyn did have a way of figuring out how to get money when she absolutely needed it, and sometimes when she didn't truely need it, but could put it away towards something nice. "And it is? So, how do I pick between them?" the teenager asks, looking at the two machines.
"Normally, I'd say to take the lighter one, if you're travelling, but considering -what- you end up doing... I'd take the cheaper one," Doug says, only -now- obliquely referring to just how much damage Jocelyn usually ends up doing to herself and other things in her travels. "If you're going to just leave it home, I'd just take the lighter one." 
Now Doug tilts his head. "Okay, so you need it for homework and such... well, at least it's good of you to join us in the 21st century, Joce," the young blonde grins. "So... travelling, or not travelling?" 
"Yeah, I'm thinking the cheaper one. Looks like it's pretty durable, though you can get hard cases for them, right?" Jocelyn says, thinking that through. It would make sense, for there to be some hard cases available, she figured. Though usually she saw people with the light, soft cases.
"Well, if I manage to actually make it into college, mostly between home and class, and maybe around the city. I don't take that many long-distance trips," Jocelyn admits. She wasn't planning on leaving the institute anytime soon, so a heavy duty travel laptop didn't make as much sense. "So. Aside from the machine, what do I need?" she asks.
"Pretty much," Doug comments, checking the computer. "You're lucky, most of what you need is already bundled onto the computer, and honestly, I can find you freeware alternatives so you don't have to spend anything. Like LibreOffice, Avast, things like that." Lightly socking Jocelyn on the arm, Doug grins. "C'mon, Joce, let's get it taken care of." 
Belatedly, now that the computer -frenzy- is over, Doug seems to have settled into something more like a counselor/friend, as he glances towards Jocelyn. "So are you -ready- to move on to college? You've been trying hard on your GED lately, so I'm guessing you're looking for something outside, well, extracurricular activity now?" 
"Alright," Jocelyn says as she goes with Doug to go get the computer paid for. She goes ahead and makes the payment, this time getting the cheaper machine, which is likely to the disappointment of the salesman, though the guy at least doesn't show his disappointment when they make the purchase. "The freeware stuff sounds good," she adds.
"As for college? Well, more as a supplemental. I know at least one extracurricular taker from another school who is thinking along the same lines, so I know it can be done. But education helps regardless, don't you think?" she asks.
"I guess so," admits Doug. "I never really went to college." 
Mostly, he'd had training in SHIELD after returning from the dead, but he'd been dead for a while. Xavier had simply graduated him, and... that was that. "Maybe I should sign up for the experience." He rubs his chin, considering that. And hnh... come to think of it, that girl he met the other day... didn't she mention going for a masters? Oh well, he could always check the curriculum out just for the heck of it. 
"You didn't?" Jocelyn considers that for a moment. "I guess that makes sense". She doesn't bother to ask how he learned how the computer stuff. There were things that she knew she couldn't ask here, and answers she didn't necessarily need to have anyway.
The girl does watch him think for a moment though. The way he considers things. "What's on your mind?" she asks. Hey, she did spend enough time around Doug to know how to read at least some of his tells that something was on his mind.
Because computer principles were computer principles, and because Doug kept up with tech stuff like a -champ-, once he got acclimated. It was just that he'd never -gone- to college formally, and most of what he learned was self-taught, anyway. Computer languages were a piece of cake for him, after all. 
"Oh, uh..." Now Doug reddens. "Nothing, really. Just... thinking about going to a computer seminar tomorrow, that's all." 
"That's such a lie," Jocelyn points out to Doug. "But it's alright. If you don't want to say what it is, then just say so," the teenager points out as she starts to make her way out with the purchase, expecting Doug to be coming after her. Not that she needed the chaperone anymore, but she figured he'd be along. "If it's something embarrassing, then it's no biggie". She's not worried about it either way. She was just curious.
Frell, did he pay attention to his body language at all? Schooling himself, Doug shakes his head. "No, I really -am- going to a computer seminar tomorrow." He just wasn't going alone, that's all. 
Following Jocelyn, Doug places his hands in his pants. "I just thought maybe I would check out the university while I was at it, now that you mentioned it. Wouldn't want to be a hypocrite, would I, if I encouraged you to go and didn't go myself." 
Stammering and reddening of the face? Yeah, Doug had something to hide, and now Jocelyn was curious. That usually meant she started sniffing around, though what she might find was suspect. Maybe she'd, at the last minute, convince Doug to take her with to the seminar. After all, he was her teacher and educating her was still part of his job, right? Maybe she'd get Laura to ask. That'd work, too.
Jocelyn nods to the statement. "Ahh, I see. That makes sense," Jocelyn responds casually enough. "If it's in the same area, then that would be a pretty reasonable idea to do".
That wasn't promising, the way Jocelyn's curious expression was set. But Doug didn't -want- to encourage it by commenting on it, and so he keeps walking, nodding. "Wouldn't hurt." There's a brief pause as Doug considers explaining it, before shaking his head. No, no, he so -wasn't- going to explain anything, -especially- to another tall redhead. Wait, did he just do that...? Damn. 
"So, if you were going, where would you want to go?" Doug asks as a mean of changing the subject. 
Did Jocelyn catch that small pause that Doug makes? Outwardly, there's very little indication that Jocelyn catches it. But there's just a little flick of her eyes that says she did, in fact, notice the pause that the man makes. She was perceptive. She had to be growing up, and she was good at picking up on little things, especially if she knew the person.
"I'm not quite sure yet. I'm still researching which school is best. I want to get into something involving improved energy use. I think that'd be something I'd find interesting to study". For obvious reasons, given her own gifts.
"Oh good," Doug grins. "So, let's test the energy use. Race you home?" the young man grins. "Last one to get home has to do the computer setup." 
"Sure," Jocelyn says. And she'll race Doug home. Possibly by flying when it's safe to do so. Doug never said no powers, after all.
Category:Log