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Bruce squeezed the bridge of his nose. It had been a long day and it wasn’t over yet. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yeah, yeah, come on in.”
Anthony Stark. Smart kid, just didn’t apply himself. He was one of those kids that Bruce pitied. Came from money but parents were obviously not a big part of his life. He was quick with a joke or a comeback but whenever Bruce would ask him a question he would sit for a moment then give an answer that wasn’t too far off from the subject matter but wasn’t right. He was an average student. He got an A ever once in while and would drop down to a C now and then but he mainly he got Bs. His wrong answers were perfectly wrong. Never to the point where someone would think there was an actual learning problem. His answers were thought out. Every assignment was in on time. He was a smart kid.
“Sit down,” Bruce nodded at the desk at the front. Tony sat. “I just wanted to make sure you understood today’s lesson.”
“Alright.”
Bruce nodded and shuffled through some papers. The kid didn’t seem nervous, he’d been expecting this. “How do cells reproduce?” Bruce asked.
“Well some reproduce asexually and others reproduce sexually, right?”
“Right, good job. Is there anything different about the way cells sexually reproduce from any other type of being?”
Tony sat for a second. “They don’t really, um, I guess there’s just no offspring.” He flashed a smile. Perfectly unsure.
“That’s right. When cells sexually reproduce there is no new cell, one cell is just transferring DNA to the other cell,” Tony nodded, “Ok then; I just wanted to make sure you understood the lesson and that you didn’t have any problems.”
“Thank you Mr. Banner.” Tony grabbed his backpack off the floor and started to stand up. “You’re welcome,” Bruce replied and Tony left the room.
It had been pointless and Bruce knew it. It hadn’t accomplished anything. What had he been expecting? That he would discover Anthony’s true genius? That maybe when it was just the two of them that Tony would let something real show? Bruce ran his finger down a worksheet making checks by ever right answer; he wasn’t even sure whose paper he was grading. He stopped for a second. Tony was him in 10th grade. He was Tony. Just wanting to get through it. Be like everybody else.