Amita and Millie discuss the difficulties of having Professors Charlie Eppes and Marshall Penfield co-teach a seminar.
608 words, inspired by the episode Frenemies in Season 4.
Written for my Summer Prompt Challenge 2019 on Ao3.
Summer School
"Professor Ramanujan?" A knock at her door and a sigh pulled Amita from her coding work. At the door of her office was a familiar student.
Amita stood, stretched, "Seminar go off track again?" Ms. Peterson nodded. Amita sighed, gestured forward, and followed Charlie's TA down the hall to one of the lecture halls.
The front of the room was a chaotic mess of two mathematicians who were - for reasons Amita would have to address later - writing with two different colors of chalk. And correcting each other mid-seminar.
Amita smiled to herself as she watched Charlie gesture wildly with his hands. Marshall rolled his eyes, hands gesticulating in a near identical manner.
"I wasn't aware a seminar on the overlap of set theory and game theory would include a debate on the scientific method." Amita's voice carried over the den of amused, and frustrated, grad students to silence the two professors.
Penfield stuttered out a few words before looking at his shoes. Charlie blushed, scratched his cheek as he looked at Amita. Ms. Peterson plopped into her seat, "Thank you."
"So…" Amita walked the last few steps up to the podium, "Why don't you return to the topic at hand?" She tapped on the lecture notes that sat abandoned on the podium.
Charlie cleared his throat as he stepped forward to grab the notes. Behind him, Marshall started erasing the evidence of their 'math fight.'
"If I have to come back in here, I'm bringing a video camera." Amita walked out, patted Ms. Peterson's shoulder on her way. She didn't return to her office and her project simulation. Nope. She walked straight to the department offices.
Millie was in her office, glasses on and lips puckered as she read a journal at her desk. She held a finger up when Amita entered. Her lips moved as she finished her paragraph.
"What's up?" Millie asked as she set the journal down. Her glasses were moved to hang around her neck and she gave Amita her full attention.
Amita sat in one of her arm chairs, "Take a wild guess."
"Marshall and Charlie?" Millie's hand moved to her forehead, "Again?!" Amita nodded and Millie groaned. "Those two…"
"I told you not to have them co-teach the seminar." Amita smiled, eyes sparkling with mirth. Millie sighed.
"You did," she leaned back in her chair, face flat, "Larey suggested it - two of the greatest math minds of their generation discussing their recent collaboration and the application of math on crime."
Amita chuckled, "It sounds great in theory."
"But they bicker like an old married couple about everything!" Mille exploded out of her chair, hands gesturing out as she began to pace her office. "I found my first grey hair yesterday and I am laying the blame fully on their doorstep."
Amita laughed out right now, her hand moving to her lips to force it back. "Didn't you once compare corralling this department to teaching kindergarten?"
"That was a joke," Millie placed her hands on her hips, "Not a challenge." She sighed, sat back down, "There's only one more week of their seminar."
"True," Amita rested her arms on the chair's. "But you also have them co-teaching a summer course on applying the scientific method to math."
Millie's head met her desk, "Oh, God. I forgot about summer school." She glanced back up at Amita, "How would you feel about adding a course to your load?"
"Nope!" Amita stood up, smiled, "But I'll be happy to install a web camera in the room." She moved towards the door, "It'd be great material for the grad student seminar in the fall."
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