A Meeting of the Minds(Hugo Strange)

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Victor was walking down the sidewalk after having finished his time at the University. He had decided to walk today so he could get some exercise as well as possibly clear his mind of the days stresses. Not that stress really bothered Victor overmuch. He usually had someway of pushing though it but not always. But as for now he was simply walking lost in his thoughts.

He was also listening to Cana talk about something that he was having trouble following. It had something to do with a common thing that happened to her species but would have no effect on him. He caught enough to be able to follow her but not enough to be able to recite it to someone who asked. Victor eventually had to stop at the crosswalk. As he did he straightened his fedora and his trench coat as he waited for the signal to cross. When it came he hustled across and started making his way towards his apartment. As he passed a cafe he decided that there was no harm in stopping in and spending a little while in there so he made his way in and ordered a drink and sat down to simply try and pass some time before heading back to his apartment.

[hatter]

Strange was standing around, and had just noticed a slightly familiar looking man walk in and order something, then took his place when he had walked away to take a seat. Strange looked away from him to speak to the younger woman handling the counter he was standing in front of. When he was done with his order he walked away, noting that he had not much to do after after this drink, so he'd have to find something. Perhaps he could talk to someone around here.

The café was a good place to be in, and Professor Hugo Strange had been in here for just a few minutes, having just purchased an espresso. He wore a black turtle necked sweater and grey trousers, and of course had on those round spectacles that seemed to be an ingrained element of his personal appearance. The place itself was a good stop sometimes, as it featured quite a welcome aura, along with beverages of good quality, thus Strange had been here before. Hugo looked around, surveying the café through the view from behind his round spectacles. He spied that same fellow that had just ordered something earlier. Hugo hadn't seen him around here before today, not so recently anyway to be able to recall it. Hugo decided this could be someone fairly interesting to throw a greeting at, so he stepped over to his table, in order to throw out that greeting. It was always interesting to meet new people and speak to them, and Strange considered himself to be a people person. It was rather a large part of his profession, actually, in the handling of patients to be able to speak to them on their level but also in a way that invoked authority.

This man whose table he had approached was of apparent average height and weight, with hair that appeared to be grey, even though the man didn't look as old as it would suggest. Unlike Hugo's bearded face, his friendly countenance was shaven clean of stubble, and had this familiarity about it that Strange didn't fully understand yet, but wanted to. Judging him on his physicality to determine how good he was whether it was in something like a fight couldn't be easily done at the moment, considering there could be anything in someone, from martial arts training to combative military skill, but Hugo vaguely speculated on this due primarily to the hair giving the man a somewhat weathered look. Not to mention he had a fedora and trench coat on, which added to that idea.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Professor Hugo Strange, and I work at the renowned institute of Elizabeth Arkham Asylum." Strange directed at him, sitting down nearby.

Familiarity is but a premonstration of the knowledge of something, therefore it was likely Strange knew who this man was or the odd fact that he might have seen him in some past place existed, but he just couldn't put a finger on it yet. Perhaps a name from this fellow would suffice to help with that, if the man gave it to him. Otherwise if he didn't know him, he'd get to know him somewhat from any possible dialogue that would occur. Either way it'd prove interesting.

"No infringement on your privacy intended if you would've liked to have kept your time here that way."

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Victor had been lost in thought drinking the chocolate milk which is what he drank as opposed to anything coffee related. Then suddenly he heard a voice. He looked over and saw a man sitting near him. "Oh I don't mind at all." He said straightening up and removing his fedora out of politeness. "Nice to meet you Professor. I'm Victor Grant... Something of a professor myself. But I teach at the University." He said offering a hand shake.

He subconsciously took in the man's scent for no real reason. He set his fedora down on his knee and allowed a polite smile to cross his face. After all there was no harm in trying to appear approachable. Not that he wasn't.

[hatter]

"Victor Grant, it's good to have your acquaintance." Strange said in reply.

Strange took Victor's hand with his own, and nodded, then gave the fellow man with a profession set in knowledge's hand a firm shake. Strange knew who he was now, and that was the very same person that he'd reminded him of, he was sure of it. And with the information he'd had on this man, he'd been interested before in attempting to find out the whereabouts of him, but it was out of luck he'd run into Grant here. According to some reports he'd read back at Arkham, this man had been found, without clothes, in a ditch. Then later on he'd been taken to Arkham and had a session with Dr. Ledford there. The interesting thing was that there were certain sightings of a strange nature around that time, and though this event could be dubbed a common one, it wasn't.

Outside of the subject, Strange thought it good to see he was a fellow man with an interest in a profession related to knowledge. People like these could relate to each other, which was a good thing.

Strange had the idea that this man here could have factored into those sightings. All he'd have to do is imply knowledge of the man's condition, regardless of if he had it, and hope to see a response that would point in that direction. If so, he'd have a very interesting study on his hands. Or possibly an angry man with uncertain ability. Victor Grant was obviously a very friendly, well mannered fellow though, and if he knew someone knew something about him, he probably wouldn't do anything against them.

"Forgive me for saying this, but I heard of your mishap regarding the Asylum. It was a night when the wolves were out, wasn't it? It is good to see you are doing well."

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A the man shook Victor's hand he gave a nod in greeting. After all despite the stereotype of his home state he was more then just a cowboy. Though he could be if the situation demanded it. But now there was no need for the tough guy act. Which was good seeing as Victor had enough trouble with that as is. "Please just call me Victor." He said being called by his full name always made him feel somewhat odd. "If you absolutely have to call me by something else I'll go with either Professor Grant or really anything else." He added with a grin.

He noticed that Strange had a strong grip. He had heard somewhere that spoke volumes about a man's character. He didn't put alot of stock into it though mainly because he didn't understand the logic behind it. But he was open to using it as a way to gauge a man.... But not by much.

When the man brought up his night spent in Arkham he mentally shrugged. 'Not the worse thing he could have heard about.' He thought to himself. It wasn't until the man brought up wolves that he started to wonder. "Yes I did spend a night in Arkham. But I'm not crazy." He said before allowing a frown cross his face. "I heard about that. Did they ever find out what it was?" He asked. It wasn't a complete lie. Thanks to his session with Dr. Ledford he knew it was him but he wasn't sure if anyone else had found out. Then a second thought crossed his mind and made itself more pressing. "No one else was hurt right?" He had purposely skimmed over the fact that he had been found mostly nude. He hadn't been to proud of that fact and wished that he could just avoid it. It wasn't a matter of pride. But rather who Victor was.

[hatter]

"I would hope not, Victor. But then again I wasn't there to know, I frankly just read the reports on the matter." Hugo said, taking away his hand.

Strange knew Victor wasn't crazy as he said, but he suspected there was something else that made him different. What it was was very interesting if it was indeed true. And it very well could be true. The man was worried at the possibility that others could've been hurt when this event was occurring, this could denote a guilt come about from the fact he might not have been in control of himself. Or perhaps he was trying to keep up appearances and understood himself to be harmless towards people in general. Both of those things would only be true if he was indeed what Strange believed he could possibly be. Also it was probably strange for one to remember a time where they'd been found nude outside somewhere, and probably brought about shame of some sort.

This conversation had had a good start, Strange was interested in seeing where it would go to. Whatever the man conveyed in his expression was important, it could imply that he was what Hugo thought he was. As Strange continued to sit there, he picked up the beverage he'd ordered off of the tabletop he'd placed it on, and began drinking his espresso through its straw.

"But back to something a bit less.. odd to talk about, how do you find life in Gotham now?" Strange said, careful not to put the word strange in that sentence.

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Victor nodded at Strange's comment about having read the report. "Well I've read bits of information here and there about it." He said conversationally trying not to show that he actually knew more about it then he was letting on. "It was only a few months ago right?" He asked as he reached over to pick up his drink.

As he took a sip of his chocolate milk he had to wonder what the drink said about his character or mental setup or what ever it was that Strange's profession focused on. It wasn't a thought meant to be rude. More an idle thought that just came and went.

He looked over at the window at the city as Strange asked his question. "Well it is a neat city. Though I'm still getting used to it. I grew up in a place with more......... space for lack of a better word." He said looking back at Dr. Strange Victor reached up and straightened his glasses and rose an eyebrow slightly. "Are you a native?" He asked keeping his tone at its usual conversational style.

[hatter]

It was interesting to see Victor to change the subject, although this was probably more because Strange had started talking about an alternative topic. Victor had asked if Strange himself had been a native, which was also interesting. Strange's favorite word. Strange wondered if Victor found this city to be particularly good. He seemed neither enthusiastic or bothered by it, to say the least, so he was probably quite evenly decided on the place, putting it in the average to good category.

"Yes. I've lived in this city all my life, in fact." Strange said in response.

Now it was easy to tell if someone was lying in anything they said, especially for Strange himself. The person committing the lie would do small things, such as avoid using I's and me's in sentences to distance themselves from the subject, and perhaps state that they were being totally honest. If they were of the guilty type they'd display signs of uneasiness. Now If they knew what they were doing they'd have what they were going to say rehearsed and hesitate not the slightest at any obvious question, and this would make them a bit harder to stumble upon more and more meticulous queries to involuntarily prove the fact that they were being dishonest. Strange didn't think the man had anything to lie about at the moment, but that could change if something came up in the future, yet he could very well simply become evasive instead, and it wasn't Strange's way to question him if it became too personal.

Lying was only one of the things Strange found annoying, another small thing was that tiny bit of human artifice known as the compliment. Praise, Strange didn't have much interest in. Especially when he understood his own capabilities and weaknesses easily enough, and better than anyone else ever would. He never considered himself fully capable of anything, and found his age getting frustrating, for example. He'd never be as physically conditioned as this Victor could very well be or become, due to that small problem. But Strange diverted from these thoughts and just continued to make small talk.

"So Victor, I've found work in Arkham to be quite the engaging experience myself. How has it been at the university?" Strange asked, himself interested in how work was there anyway, nowadays, anyway.

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Victor nodded slightly as Strange said that he had been in Gotham all his life. "Well I come out of Texas." He said showing that he clearly wasn't from Gotham. Victor felt abit better not talking about that night he had first shifted. And it wasn't because of the fact that this was a first meeting. He hadn't even talked about it to people he was close to.

When Strange asked about how this were at the University Victor felt a small smile tug at his lips. "Its a pretty neat place to work. I have gained a reputation of something of the odd teacher." He commented. "But my age makes it feel kinda awkward.... At least on my end. But I'm getting used to it."

[hatter]

"The older you get, age does lend some respect, as well as the dislike of people who must, must, find something to critique. But never take criticism as something to be reckoned in the slightest, unless it is somewhat healthy, and you can use it as advice to adjust something wrong you've done." Strange said about age, something he frequently thought about but didn't really talk about.

Professor Hugo Strange continued sitting there, holding a good conversation. Strange wasn't really the expressive sort, but he talked quite frequently and didn't seem to be as strict or stiff as his appearance would suggest, so his said reputation among Arkham's people included the fact that he was relatively outspoken and frequently conversed. Perhaps there were similar things about the two, Strange thought, since they had a similar sounding work related experience. Strange began talking again, this time about that similarity they held in common regarding their careers, which didn't carry over to their birthplace circumstances, as Strange had been in Gotham since he could remember and Victor came from Texas.

"We share a similar predicament. I myself have something of the reputation at Arkham for being the odd fellow who essentially carries around old values, which I don't consider myself to be. I've gotten used to it by now." Strange said.

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Victor nodded to show that he understood what Strange was saying with his comment about age. "Yeah I'm not unaccustomed to criticism in some ways. But I tend to try and ignore anything that seems like its sole purpose is to be obnoxious." He never really cared much about criticism and wasn't to defensive about his age. The only time he would get somewhat worried about his age is when someone thinks he much older then he actually is.

He chuckled abit at hearing that they were both seen as the odd man in their respective career locations. "Well I have a very interesting teaching method." Victor commented with a shrug. "What can I say? I want them to remember what I teach."

[hatter]

"Exactly the same thoughts on the subject." Strange replied.

Getting students to remember what you taught was certainly protocol of the teacher. If they remembered what they knew then they'd be able to put it into usage, which would probably prove to be beneficial to them later. Otherwise they'd remember nothing, and then what was the point of the teaching? There wasn't one then. Purposelessness was not something Strange could attest to be a fan of, not at all. People who do things for lack of reasoning or can't seem to do anything except mull in a purposeless state were not what doing anything that'd help them later. Objects with no purpose, however, were always interesting. Strange wondered after a minute, what the method Victor used consisted of.

"But what is this interesting teaching method, if you would describe it?" Strange asked, interested in what it was Victor was speaking of.

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Victor nodded in agreement with the man and felt somewhat pleased with the fact that he wasn't the only person that felt that way about the topic. When he asked what he method was Victor took a deep breath and grinned. "Well... Ya see I've taken up doing little acts." He said pushing his glasses up. "Depending on the era I will dress up as a figure from it or some form of clothing from the era. I figure that if it works I'll keep going at it." He said with an amused grin. "Sounds crazy don't it?" He added with a chuckle.

[hatter]

"Really? But no. That's quite funny sounding, I'm sure they remember it. It helps them to focus, most likely, by providing them with something to think about." Strange replied.

Victor's method was an interesting one, and unique, to say the least, Strange had never heard or thought about something like it. It probably helped them focus as he had said, and it also probably aided in breaking the ice. Strange wasn't sure on what to discuss anymore, his attempt to find out if this man was a.. what he could be.. hadn't apparently worked, but at least he knew this man was a friendly one, and friendly terms were good terms. He still had the idea that he was what he thought he was though, and nothing had dismissed its possibility. Strange wondered if this conversation would reveal anything else, or if it'd be just one good random conversation.

"Whatever cuts the mustard is sure to work, in my opinion. So it sounds like a good strategy. My own teaching method is probably somewhat dreary compared to it actually." Strange said.

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Victor nodded slightly. "Yeah they sure do remember it alright." He said with a slight laugh. "And I've become known as something of the weird teacher." He added as he thought some. When the man mentioned having a somewhat dreary method of teaching he raised an eyebrow. "And what is that method?" He asked slightly. "I mean if its not personal or anything." He added after a few seconds.