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Jim is . . . more or less himself today. He could easily drop into character if necessary, but he's recognizable enough to anyone who knows him.

In front of him on his table is a deceptively dated-looking laptop, with a small box of chocolates perched on top of it.

He might be waiting for someone. There's no guarantee, but Milliways tends to be good about these sorts of things.

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"I know," says Matilda.

(They can do whatever they want. The plural was an integral part of it. Jenny trusts Matilda to be as cautious and sensible as circumstances require.)

"Ready to get to work, then?" he asks cheerfully.

"Yep," she says just as cheerfully, settling onto the couch and beckoning to her laptop, which flies obediently across the room and into her arms.

He watches this display with interest.

"In the book," he says thoughtfully, "you lose the telekinesis once you start doing work that challenges you properly. I wonder what the difference is here."

Is it scientifically based? Or is Matilda's world one of those with magic hidden under a cloak of normalcy, accessible only to some?

"I thought that part was really silly," she says. "Why wouldn't I want to go through life as a miracle-worker? It's so useful! I like this way better."

"Of course you do."

Who wouldn't?

She grins.

"I think that writer guy just didn't think it through."

"They do get things wrong sometimes." Jim speaks from experience.

(A professor? Teaching the simplest of concepts to ordinary people who will never grasp them? He hardly thinks so.)

"I like you a lot better than I liked the book version of you," she offers. "He was kind of cool but you're way better."

He grins at her.

"I'm more fun."

Matilda nods in enthusiastic agreement. "And nicer," she says. "I bet I couldn't have got away with hugging him. I bet he wouldn't have done anything I'd want to hug him for."

"I don't think he'd know how."

Tragically underwritten as he was. Maybe he was only a professor because he was too dry to charm his way into a more interesting fake career.

She giggles. "Probably not."

He smiles, reaching over to turn the laptop on.

"This is going to be a bit experimental at first," he cautions. "I've never actually tried hacking with alternate universe technology from a decade and a half in the future before. There may be some differences in the technology here, but I'm sure we'll manage."

Jim adapts well.

"I don't know a whole lot about how computers work," she admits. "But I bet we can figure it out."

"You'll pick it up quickly enough," he says. "Would you like a walkthrough, or would you rather work it out for yourself?"

The first way is more efficient; the second is more fun.

"Walkthrough's faster," Matilda decides.

And she likes learning from people, anyway, if they're people she likes. Possibly because it's so rare these days that anyone has anything to teach her.

"Walkthrough it is."

The next couple of hours are an interesting experience for Jim. He's always thought he would hate teaching, because he's only ever had reason to contemplate it in the context of students who are slow, dull, ordinary.

As it turns out, teaching a student whose mind is every bit as fast and agile as his is rather enjoyable.

Matilda is practically glowing. She never knew computers were so interesting; she never knew she could learn so much so fast without a book in front of her. In theory, now, she could build this laptop from atoms. It's amazing.

"You're the best bad guy," she concludes. "And the best teacher." Which is a real distinction, because he's competing with Jennifer Honey for that title, but Jenny has lots of other things to be the best at and can afford to give up this one.

That is, he knows, not a compliment Matilda would bestow lightly. He smiles in acknowledgment of that.

"You are an excellent student," he tells her. "I might reconsider being a professor if I could be guaranteed more like you."

She beams.

"If all professors were like you I think I'd go to college right now."

He smiles again, more abstractly, and says,

"Do you want to get down to business or do you want a break first? I'm going to have to set up a connection before we can get anywhere."

Which will only be slightly more complex than it would be at home. Wireless is convenient, but not required.

"I think I'll get a snack," she decides. "D'you want anything?"

"No, thank you," he says, already distracted by the task ahead.

(It hasn't even been all that long since he last ate, anyway. He remembers with reasonable regularity for the most part, especially now Seb has thought to threaten him with getting Molly in on reminding him to. Less annoying all around just to do it himself.)

Matilda takes him at his word and skips off to the kitchen, returning several minutes later with a glass of miscellaneous juice and a rapidly disappearing sandwich.