[In the corridors] Under attack (Tag Professor Hawthorne) on Cascade Hall

Dorian (and Ailuros)

November 26, 2018 7:30 AM

[In the corridors] Under attack (Tag Professor Hawthorne) by Dorian (and Ailuros)

Dorian became aware of his trailing shoelace when it suddenly had an Ailuros on it. Shoelaces weren’t something he paid much heed to - they usually tied themselves neatly in the morning and released themselves when he asked them to. He supposed the charms were wearing off. He went to draw his wand but found himself concerned that he might hit Ailuros, who had decided that the Lace Monster needed very thoroughly slaying and was rolling all over his shoe. He bent down to do it manually, but this was no easier with an excited kneazle kitten considering this to be one of her favourite humans getting in on the very fun game.

“Nǐ dǎsuàn hěn kuài jiù tíngzhǐ ma?” he asked. Are you going to stop that any time soon? The question was entirely rhetorical and asked with more amused resignation than anything else. Dorian had a complete inability to be firm with small fuzzy things - a trait which had led to Melodie running the third year boys’ dorm, and which looked to be leading to Ailuros having him wrapped around her little paw - and as he had nowhere pressing to be, he saw no harm (well, except perhaps to his shoes) in letting her play.

The sound of adult footsteps approached. It was hard to say whether he would have been able to identify Professor Brooding’s footsteps had he been paying attention - he did not frequently hear her walking - but his attention was still fixed on the little fuzzbull at his feet, and he assumed it would be her owner who was tracking Ailuros through the corridor.

“The tiny tiger is over here,” he called out, “And I need help - she is dangerous to my shoe string,” he added laughing. The expression was still on his face, happy and carefree for a second, as he looked up. On finding Not Professor Brooding however, his smile dipped behind a cloud, his face briefly flickering through embarrassment before the expression was quickly replaced with a polite but neutral look.

“Good afternoon, Professor Hawthorne,” he said, in the more reserved sort of voice children were expected to use with adults, a tone which he was aware verged on the slightly ridiculous standing as it did in juxtaposition to what she had just heard him say. Especially as his brain suddenly decided to remind him that the correct word was shoelaces, practically the same as the French, which meant he had sounded like even more of an idiot.

13 Dorian (and Ailuros) [In the corridors] Under attack (Tag Professor Hawthorne) 1401 Dorian (and Ailuros) 1 5

Professor Hawthorne

November 26, 2018 10:17 AM

Coming to the rescue. by Professor Hawthorne

Tabitha had been grading papers in her classroom, keeping Ailuros amused with a feather she'd enchanted that would tickle the kneazle's nose and dance in the air, forcing the kitten to chase it. She'd been making good progress through the pile of grading until Ailuros had suddenly lost interest and had headed for the door, which had been left ajar.

Curious as to where the kitten was headed and in need of a break anyway, Tabitha had decided to follow the mischievous animal through the academy, smiling fondly as Ailuros took in an interest in practically everything - from the tassles hanging from tapestries to the interesting smells in dark corners.

Tabitha herself had been taking an interest in a particularly detailed tapestry, admiring the fine stitching and incredible detail when she heard a voice call out and realised Ailuros had bounded off again and had presumably found a student to harrass - in her own affectionate way of course.

She rounded a corner to find her and Mary's fuzzball pawing at the end of a shoelace, her tail flicking from side to side as she played. Tabitha's eyes rose to see who it was, finding none other than Dorian Montoir. She blinked, slightly surprised to have run into him.

She knew of Dorian, of course. He was one of her Intermediate students, though admittedly Tabitha hadn't really paid him much attention until after Christmas. Mary had enlisted her help with a present for the boy which had piqued Tabitha's interest and she had deliberately started focusing a lot more on the boy in class. He was a good student and, if Tabitha recalled correctly, a solid Exceeds Expectations that borded on Outstanding. His essays were of particular note. While his grammar wasn't perfect and he made the odd spelling mistake, Tabitha never had any doubt about whether he understood the material - his ideas always came across. She'd noticed that he had a particularly affinity for defensive spells. Her only criticism was that his offensive spellcasting could use work. Despite being rather good when aiming at a target or a creature, his spellwork suffered when he had to target a classmate - whether this was as a result of fear, reluctance or simply that the boy was just too nice, Tabitha wasn't actually sure.

When Mary had confessed that Dorian knew about their relationship, Tabitha had been worried. While he was a good student, she didn't know how open he was with his friends or if he was a particular gossip. However, given that Mary hadn't seemed overly concerned with this particular development and that nothing seemed to be spreading through the students, Tabitha relaxed. People were going to find out eventually and hadn't Tabitha wanted that in the first place?

Yes, she had. So, there was no problem.

Also, the boy seemed rather scared of her. This was a positive in that Tabitha did sometimes want to come across as someone not to be trifled with but, given that Mary seemed to have struck up some kind of friendship (could one have a student-teacher friendship? Tabitha wasn't sure but if anyone could prove they could, it'd be Mary) it probably wasn't a good thing that Dorian was intimidated.

With this in mind, after picking Ailuros up and taking her away from Dorian's poor shoelaces, she stood a safe and respectable distance away from him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Montoir," she returned his greeting, pairing it with a small smile that hopefully lessened her scariness. "I apologise for Ailuros. She's in a rather playful and mischievous mood today."

Tabitha's fingers found a place behind one of the kneazle kitten's ears to affectionately scratch, Ailuros purring happily at the action. She did like it when the Tall Human tickled her.

"I hope she wasn't keeping you," Tabitha added, concerned that they might be holding him back from going to study or perhaps class.

20 Professor Hawthorne Coming to the rescue. 1417 Professor Hawthorne 0 5

Dorian

November 29, 2018 12:50 AM

Oh good... by Dorian

Shoe string. He had really said 'shoe string,' out loud to... to someone who was not on the list of people that it was ok to make those kinds of mistakes to. This was still plaguing him when the realisation hit him that he had also called out for help. To what had turned out to be the Defence professor. Regarding a kitten. He had been joking. It had to be obvious that he had been joking, right? Even if it was obvious, he was not particularly inclined to let his jokey side out around strangers, so that bothered him a bit. He also suspected that Professor Hawthorne thought he might be somewhat useless. He tended to do poorly (by his own ridiculous standards) in her class, and she probably thought he could not... what was the phrase? Win at jinxing with a paper bag?

"Thank you," he said, as Professor Hawthorne scooped up the erant kitten, although he had actually been perfectly happy with her being there. He tied his shoelace, making a slight face at how unpleasantly wet it was, having been thoroughly chewed by Ailuros.

"It does not need apology," he added, straightening up and regarding the kitten with a smile. "I do not actually feel she is a danger," he commented, keeping his tone light and cheerful but wishing to underline the point that he had not been beleaguered by a kitten. "I like spending time with her, and I was not hurrying to anywhere."

13 Dorian Oh good... 1401 Dorian 0 5

Professor Hawthorne

November 29, 2018 9:14 PM

Or... not good at all, really? by Professor Hawthorne

It became very quickly apparent that while Ailuros did enjoy the attention from one of her mistresses, she was not interested in being held in Tabitha's arms. She let out a mewl and wriggled before leaping out of the woman's arms and landing on her paws on the floor. She sniffed around Dorian's shoe but, having now lost her plaything, decided to simply sit at his feet and lick at her paws.

"She likes you too," Tabitha said, smiling at the kitten before lifting her eyes to Dorian. "Mary- uh, Professor Brooding told me that she did."

It was a little awkward. That was obvious. Tabitha hadn't really interacted with her students outside of the classroom so this really was a bit of a first for her. She made a mental note to ask Mary for some advice. It was perhaps what made her unapproachable or intimidating. Tabitha was aware that she didn't exactly give off the warm and gentle vibe that her girlfriend did. She supposed, if she and Dorian were going to stand in this hallway (especially given that Ailuros clearly had no intention to move anytime soon), she needed to find something to talk about with him.

"Ma-Professor Brooding," Tabitha berated herself. She was really going to have to try and remember that, outside of the company of other teachers and Mary herself, that the Potions mistress was Professor Brooding. "She asked for my help with a gift for you for Christmas. I hope you liked it?"

Internally, she was ramming her head into a wall. They were far enough past Christmas that she was sure it looked like she was fishing for topics. Which she was. She groaned mentally. This was a disaster.

20 Professor Hawthorne Or... not good at all, really? 1417 Professor Hawthorne 0 5

Dorian

November 30, 2018 6:06 AM

I can handle it by Dorian

Dorian bent down when Ailuros returned to his feet, stroking her little tabby back. It was hard not to smile whilst doing this, even though he recognised exactly what she was doing. I want to be petted by you… but nor do I want the other human to no longer be petting me. It was exactly the same trick Melodie always pulled, rubbing around Dorian’s ankles affectionately before jumping onto Vlad’s bed and then mewing at him pathetically, as if he had been the one to abandon her.

Which meant that he and Professor Hawthorne were going to be forced to stand here and make small talk until either the kitten got bored of one of them or one of them decided that disappointing said kitten was the lesser of two evils. Dorian was not exactly one for intense socialising outside his chosen circle, but he had been raised in a culture which gave lessons on making polite small talk, and he suspected his ability to comment benignly on the weather far outstripped his ability to upset kittens.

He suppressed a smile at Professor Hawthorne’s inability to stop almost using Professor Brooding’s personal name. He did not want the Professor to feel he was laughing at her - embarrassment was such a horrible emotion, and he did not enjoy the thought of inflicting it upon others.

“Yes. I hope she passed on my thank yous. I appreciated that you helped with it,” he smiled. He understood perfectly well of course that she had done so to benefit and please Professor Brooding rather than him, but he still appreciated the effort. “You both are good at Christmas presents,” he added, with a nod at Ailuros. “It seems that you have travelled a lot and met some interesting people,” he commented, inviting a topic that might keep them going for a little longer, though not wishing to directly pry.

13 Dorian I can handle it 1401 Dorian 0 5

Professor Hawthorne

December 01, 2018 5:26 PM

Hopefully, I shall come out of this unscathed. by Professor Hawthorne

Tabitha had already known from Mary that Dorian had seemed to like his present which had been relieving. However, to hear this fact confirmed from the boy's own lips added further reassurance that Tabitha hadn't particularly realised that she'd needed. Gift-giving was something that Tabitha didn't do very often or to many people. Over Christmas, only Mary, Darius and Evangeline had been the recipients of gifts from Tabitha personally. It wasn't that she was stingy with money (Ailuros had cost a pretty penny as she'd also needed to get a licence to own the creature and Darius and Evangeline had been presented with some unique gifts that had left a dent in Tabitha's funds), Tabitha just didn't have a wide enough social circle of people to give gifts to. She liked it that way. To receive a gift from Tabitha marked you out as being special to the woman.

Of course, Dorian had been a different case as the gift he'd received hadn't really been from her but from Mary. Tabitha had simply helped. It was, however, still nice to hear that her help had been appreciated nonetheless.

"Oh, I have," she confirmed about her travels, smiling softly as Ailuros mewled and snaked round her ankles, purring. Deciding to keep the conversation relatable, she continued, "China was a particular highlight for me. Home to some absolutely wonderful and incredible creatures, like Occamies and, of course, the Chinese Fireball Dragon. I think my favourite, however, was the Zouyu. It was wonderful - a terrifyingly large creature with the physical fierceness of a tiger, but with such a gentle and kind temperament. Did you know tha they are considered good omens? here are listed sightings all throughout Chinese history. It is believed that the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, even owned one that had been captured by a relative in Kaifeng."

If there was one thing Tabitha loved talking about, it was her travels and she hoped that Dorian was interested. She was aware that he was probably just being polite by having made his comment in the first place and didn't want to bore him. She also hoped that she wasn't butchering the Chinese words - she didn't want to insult Dorian as well as bore him.

20 Professor Hawthorne Hopefully, I shall come out of this unscathed. 1417 Professor Hawthorne 0 5

Dorian

December 01, 2018 11:13 PM

And with interesting new stories by Dorian

Dorian doubted it was a coincidence that Professor Hawthorne chose China. A little hint of the smile he had worn when she first came around the corner returned at the mention of his mother’s home country. His sense of national pride wanted to assume that it would easily make anyone’s list of favourites, but he also suspected she was choosing it to give them something that it was easy to talk about, and because she wanted to share something he would enjoy. Her kindness was not worn quite so near the surface as Professor Brooding’s but the little gesture reassured him that his favourite teacher was with someone considerate enough to take care of her feelings.

“Yes. I hear much, especially about zōuyú, from my Mama,” he nodded. He hesitated slightly. Polite small talk dictated that they did not ramble off about things. But this was clearly a subject that interested them both, and he liked sharing interesting things with people he thought might appreciate them. Sometimes, that felt like such a novel change... “Yǒnglè dì - emperor,” he corrected himself, finding it hard to find the English word, “He had ideas that zōuyú can be used for travel. They are so good at going far but there is a problem to make them go… go… deliberately to one place. But everyone he asks for help to train it suggests... They must do hitting or… fire spells… these kinds of things for making it learn. Punishment training? He does not agree. He choose instead to go… to the way that zōuyú goes. This is… seen as a… correct decision in the Dào… Dàoism philosophy. Sorry,” he apologised, running a hand through his hair, “I only ever hear the story in Chinese. I never tried to explain in English before… It gets messy when I must translate as I am doing.”

Ailuros had sauntered back over as he spoke, and he reached down to pet her, feeling reassured that she, at least, had appreciated his story, ugly as the telling had been, as he could feel the steady rhythm of her purring.

“Maybe she likes to hear about this animal. They are… righteous?” he tried the word hesitantly, “Like Ailuros…. They prefer good-thinking people.”

OOC - everything above is spuriously made up by me, except the part about zouyu being righteous animals.

13 Dorian And with interesting new stories 1401 Dorian 0 5

Professor Hawthorne

December 04, 2018 2:05 PM

I love stories. by Professor Hawthorne

There seemed to be a knack to surviving interactions with students outside of class. Or, at the very least, getting through an exchange with young Dorian Montoir outside of class. She had managed to find common ground between them, a point of interest for both of them and this had seemed to lead to a slightly less awkward, bit more comfortable exchange. She held in a breath of relief. Still, it was these kinds of situations that reminded Tabitha that she much preferred animals to humans. She had always seemed to understand the creatures of the world far better than the humans that also roamed around.

She had to concentrate a little more when Dorian was talking more about the Emperor. His English became a little more stunted but he seemed to manage to find the words in the end and Tabitha smiled at the effort.

"No apology necessary, Mr. Montoir," Tabitha did not yet feel comfortable enough to call him Dorian. Also, were teachers allowed to call students by their first names? Was it weird if they did? She was sure that she'd always been called 'Miss Hawthorne' when she was at school. "The Emperor was right in thinking that way - Zōuyú, despite their gentle temperament, are powerful and fast and supposedly capable of travelling a thousand miles a day. Still, despite their kindness and gentleness, they are still wild. They will still go where ever they want to go."

As if to prove a point, Ailuros slinked around her ankles before moving back towards Dorian and, purring, started to rub her head against his legs.

"He, the Emperor, was right to disagree that force wouldn't get the results he wanted. Sometimes, all you have to do is have a little patience and even just asking nicely can get you far... A lot of creatures are far more intelligent than we give them credit for."

Her eyes flicked back to Ailuros and, for a moment, looked thoughtful. Then, she asked, "Ailuros, would you please come here for a moment?"

Ailuros had looked up when Tabitha had called her name. No one could really know what went through the little kneazle kitten's mind but her answer was clear. No, she would not. She much preferred sitting at the Nice Human's feet for the moment.

Tabitha smiled affectionately and shrugged. "Worth a shot, I suppose."

20 Professor Hawthorne I love stories. 1417 Professor Hawthorne 0 5

Dorian

December 07, 2018 8:53 AM

Me too by Dorian

Dorian just nodded to Professor Hawthorne’s comments. He thought that force didn’t work very well with anything - with humans either, for example. You could not shout or intimidate someone into wanting what you wanted. That though, was rather too personal an observation to share. It was nice to hear Professor Hawthorne saying gentle things though, rather than explaining the many ways in which they might get hurt or die. He knew that her subject was important, and in some ways she was a reassuring person because it was her job to make sure they were protected from the scary things, but… well, that also meant exposing them to those scary things for practise, and it was hard not to associate her with the many hours of anxiety spiking scenarios he had encountered in her class. She was less scowly than Professor Nash though, and Dorian could not imagine him having a soft spot for kneazle kitten or chatting in a friendly way with… well, anyone. But very definitely not him.
Ailuros, however, appeared to be immune to even the nice, kind side Professor Hawthorne was displaying. Dorian stopped scratching her ears when the Professor called her, giving the kitten a pointed ‘you should listen to your mother’ look, but she looked crestfallen at the withdrawal of his affection and reached up to bat his hand imploringly.

“Maybe this proves her intelligence though,” he suggested, relenting and beginning to fuss the kitten again, “If you plan to be a trap and scoop her to away.

“Oh. I did not ask… You are busy or hurrying? I mean, I’m sure you’re busy. You’re a Professor. But… very busy?” Perhaps Professor Hawthorne had somewhere to be, and he was keeping her, and chatting and rambling about zōuyú and- well, she had seemed interested, genuinely so, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have anything better to be doing.

13 Dorian Me too 1401 Dorian 0 5