Not bad, not going to be a routine item.

“So what's your thing, power set, course of study, whatever?” he asks as he picks up his water glass.

"Oh, I'm a Devisor! My, uh, 'thing,' more specifically is that I use cardboard in a wide variety of ways that mortal science cannot explain. It's a very versatile material. By all accounts I'd be a really powerful Devisor if it wasn't for the fact that all the shit I invent blows up in my face. And my course of study is mostly Devisor stuff, advanced physics and the like, plus various general education subjects sprinkled in like the carrots snuck into this pasta salad, unpleasant and effortful and destined to be mostly more or less ignored." (He is indeed eating around the carrots.)

“I don't like tomatoes or history.”

His attention is caught by the water glass, though, and he — opens his hand, and it doesn't fall down. Then he sets it down, sticks a finger in and pulls it out with a blob of water, which wobbles a bit and then, oops, dribbles down and wets the table and his shirt.

"Cool! Is that telekinesis?"

“Yeah, I touch stuff and then I can feel it and move it. But water is harder to hang on to, apparently.”

He pulls out some neatly folded ex-mad-scientist-lair paper from a pocket. “I, uh, inconvenienced the supervillain that got me here this way.”

He attempts to make some origami. It doesn't work very well, partly because of lack of control and partly because he has never tried origami.

"Inconveniencing a supervillain, nice. Let me help with that, here-"

He takes a sheet of paper out of his backpack and folds it into a passable crane, then unfolds it again and demonstrates the intended folding pattern.

He attempts to imitate the pattern and makes some more crumpled mess.

Then he pulls over the paper Morty used, puts his finger on the middle of it, and stares intently at it.

"Having fun there?" Morty asks after a bit.

“Oh, it takes me a bit to — take things. Paper is slower.”

The paper folds up along its original lines. The result is flatter than the original version, like the paper's been glued together rather than just folded.

"Congratulations! It definitely took me more tries than that, for what it's worth."

“I just refolded it like you did.”

He hands the extra-flat crane to Morty. “Maybe there's something scientifically interesting about how it's holding together, or are you strictly cardboard and not paper?”

"I'm mostly cardboard," Morty hedges. "But if the edges are - fused somehow - that could be pretty big for me personally, it'd make it possible for my power source to be practically lossless... Everything else blows up, but what if that's why, because I haven't been making it flat enough!" His words are speeding up, with no room for Jonathan to get a word in edgewise. "I could make something for this - or you could just help me, you're my friend, that's perfect!" He giggles weirdly. "This could be it, Jonathan! This might finally take me from the bottom of the totem pole to the fucking stratosphere! I need to- I need to experiment, let me-"

He practically rips open his backpack to get at the cardboard within. Then he frantically starts folding sheets of cardboard into arcane shapes.

“Uh, should this maybe go to a lab or something?”

"No time!" he hisses. "I don't need a lab, I just need cardboard - can't make bricks without clay - where's the fucking there it is, okay."

People are beginning to stare. A girl at a neighboring table mutters something under her breath about "fucking Diedrick's" and takes her tray elsewhere.

Aaaaaaaah.

He could — he could run away. He could yank the paper back, but who knows whether that's a good idea or a bad one. And maybe this is just uncool and not actively dangerous. (He scoots his chair back enough to be able to get up in a hurry.)

Is there anyone around who looks like they might have some competence at dealing with this?

There's someone at another neighboring table who looks like an old woman with horns coming out of her head. She looks quietly amused, rather than concerned or annoyed. She's sitting next to a classically beautiful blonde with a cow tail, who mostly looks bored.

Aaaaah that isn't obviously better either!

Looks like he's just sitting here.

He finishes folding. He's ended up with a piece of cardboard that twists in on itself and bristles with strange protrusions and kind of hurts to look at.

It starts glowing with a faint bluish light, then immediately explodes.

Morty is flung from his chair into the water feature. The blast doesn't hit Jonathan with the same kind of force, but it's still substantial.

There's scattered applause from the observers, then the cafeteria chatter resumes.

— he'll — help Morty up? And be a little concerned that he's now definitely been seen with The Loser look you can't give into that kind of thing okay

Morty's already struggling out of the water. He's shaking violently and breathing hard. "I- uh. S-sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Uh. Um? Sorry."

“Hey, I'm okay. Should I have done something?”

"N. No, not really, it just... happens and there's not really anything anybody can do except keep me away from the cardboard, which makes me try to bite them. It's a mess. Fucking Diedrick's."

“I, uh, could probably do that without anything getting bitten or otherwise destroyed. Eventually. After some practice. Is that better or worse?”

"Better. Fewer explosions that way. Crazy Morty is not good at inventions. Worse than Sane Morty."

“OK, I'll keep that in mind. Also — nevermind. Dorm? Cottage, whatever.”