Teacher's pet (tag Professor Brooding and Ailuros) on Potions

Dorian

November 10, 2018 8:58 AM

Teacher's pet (tag Professor Brooding and Ailuros) by Dorian

Dorian was concerned that he was going to get a reputation as a sycophant. In general, he doubted many of the intermediate students outside of his friend circle had strong opinions on him. He stood out, to a degree, due to his obvious foreignness, and that was something he did not object to standing out for because he could not see any alternative - at least, not one that he found acceptable; he could only blend in by stopping speaking his other languages, especially the Chinese which marked him out as far more foreign than French. After all, French was spoken by white people and taught to the children of good families, French which was ‘acceptably foreign’. He thought he could stop speaking Chinese as readily as he could stop breathing oxygen or having a nose though - it was an essential part of life, and of him. Beyond being the weird foreign kid though, he tried to do as little as possible to draw attention to himself or to stand out. He strove for a bland kind of anonymity amongst the older intermediates. However, the amount of times he hung back after Potions, they were probably going to form the opinion that he was either very eager or very stupid. Still, some things were worth the risk, and he couldn’t not stay behind and speak to Professor Brooding after the first class back. He had missed her.

As he approached her desk, he noticed something that had not been visible during class. There was, behind a stack of books, a small heap of fur, the side of which moved gently and evenly with the rhythmical breath of a sleeper.

“Hello,” Dorian addressed Professor Brooding, dropping his voice to a whisper in deference to the sleeping animal - a perhaps unnecessary gesture, as it had just managed to sleep through the entire of intermediate potions. Its head was tucked under its paws and although he could guess from the tiny little pawpads that were visible that it was a kitten, he couldn’t discern much beyond that. “How was Greece?”

Before Professor Brooding could answer though, there was a small chirrup of a mew. Whether it was the presence of someone so close at hand, or whether the creature had merely had its fill of slumber, it was now opening its eyes and peering up at Dorian, whose attention had snapped straight back to it when it spoke.

“Nihao xiao mao,” he smiled, greeting it in Chinese both because it was comforting to speak it to someone who would easily understand it, no matter how fast he talked, and because greeting cats in Chinese was more fun because it rhymed, especially if they were small, or if he could get away with calling them such. Melodie was still his xiao mao and probably always would be, no matter how big she got. He reached out a hand so that, once the kitten had righted itself, it could come and investigate him. As it uncurled further, revealing the large ears and tufted tail, he blinked and revised his statement, “Duibuqi,” he apologised, “Ni bu shi mao, ni shi kneazle ma?” he asked, the English name of the creature coming to mind much more easily. The kitten did not seem to mind having its species mislabelled, and affectionately rubbed against his hand. He petted it with evident delight.

“Ni jiao shennme?” he asked. “What is your name?” he added, translating for the benefit of its owner, who he thought might be better positioned to answer that question, and who he turned his gaze to once again.

OOC - set on day one of classes after the Christmas break

13 Dorian Teacher's pet (tag Professor Brooding and Ailuros) 1401 Dorian 1 5

Professor Mary Brooding

November 15, 2018 9:34 PM

Hey, I see what you did there. by Professor Mary Brooding

Mary smiled as Dorian approached, happy that he hung back to speak. Ailuros had been snoozing on her desk, so she felt reasonably confident he stayed for the teacher, not the kneazle, and his surprise at finding her there confirmed it. Mary laughed softly, appreciating the boy's affection for her.

"Yes, she's a Kneazle," Mary replied, providing both the species and the pronoun. "This is Ailuros. It's the Greek name for the goddess of cats," she added, knowing that she was likely (definitely) butchering the Greek pronunciation and that Dorian might not be well-versed on some of the mythology that was so often taught to American students even before they arrived at Sonora. Assuming they had any muggle schooling of course. "She likes you! No surprise there."

Dorian speaking Chinese to Ailuros made Mary's heart swell and she sent a thousand mental owls to Tabitha for such a beautiful Christmas present. Of course, Tabitha wouldn't have explicitly known that this would occur, but still. Ailuros was a gift that gave more gifts by being lovely and Mary felt warm and glowing often these days, so it wasn't hard to be thankful.

"Greece was wonderful," Mary replied in a breathy voice. Technically, she and Tabitha were definitely not engaged at all mostly sort of. Either way, it wasn't appropriate to discuss with students, especially without first discussing it with Tabitha herself.

"It was really lovely. I got to meet some of Tabitha's friends and . . " She stopped mid-sentence, realizing that in her effort to not give away the updated status of her relationship with Tabitha, she had given away the who in the relationship instead. She grimaced. It also meant that she had outed Tabitha. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that . . . but I did have a lovely time. Thank you for asking." She smiled, doing her best to relax in knowing that Dorian was a kind person and likely wouldn't say anything, and also not wanting him to feel bad.

Ailuros huffed at her apology, clearly having opinions on whether or not Tabitha and Mary should be more open about their relationship, and Mary stuck out her tongue at her.

"How was your break? You look healthy and happy, so that's good!"

OOC -- Sorry it took me like 9 years to see this post. :(

22 Professor Mary Brooding Hey, I see what you did there. 1424 Professor Mary Brooding 0 5

Dorian

November 16, 2018 8:17 AM

And Ailuros sees all by Dorian

“Hello Ailuros,” he repeated carefully, running a finger down her spine. “This is a very interesting name,” he smiled, as she explained it, “Though…. How does cat goddess behave that is different to regular cats? They all think this about themselves, no?” he added, a small smile playing across his lips. Dorian could be very witty but was sometimes hesitant about trying his ideas out in English, in case his point didn’t quite translate. “Please spell Ailuros?” he added to Professor Brooding. Once she had done so, he nodded. “This is nice - ‘ài’ means ‘love’ in Chinese.

“I like her also,” he smiled, as Ailuros continued to rub affectionately against his hands, which petted and stroked her small stripy back. “She is tabby? Vlad teaches me this word, because my cat also is this. But Melodie… Has her stripy on grey - Vlad says we can call ‘silver tabby.’ Tabby is just meaning stripes, so Ailuros also is? And I can scoop her?” he added, the question following so eagerly on the heels of the other one that it possibly seemed like they were related concepts. They were not, Dorian was just too eager to have tiny little kitten cuddles.

He was still thinking about this as Professor Brooding mentioned meeting Tabitha’s friends. And he inferred from context that this was the name of her girl friend/girlfriend (he still did not know which) and- and then Professor Brooding was saying sorry to him and that she shouldn’t have said that, and for a second Dorian was thrown because he wasn’t sure what was supposed to be wrong with what she had said.

“That’s-” he began, intending to say ‘that’s ok’ in a rather cautious tone, because that was usually what you said when people were sorry but he was wary enough that he didn’t understand the situation that he wanted to convey that but then his sentence changed as the reason the name ‘Tabitha’ was familiar hit him, “Professor Haw-” and then the reason why Professor Brooding was saying she shouldn’t have said that hit him. This was private. And he just ended with “Oh.”

He still wasn’t quite sure why she had said ‘sorry.’ Unless she just meant it as ‘oops.’ That seemed fairly likely. He was not really sure to deal with this. He wanted to be happy that Professor Brooding was happy, but she seemed to feel like they should not talk about this, and he supposed he understood that, because he was just a student...

“I am glad Greece was nice. You… you want me to pretend that you did not say the other part?” he queried, feeling bad that he had to keep the subject open if she did, indeed, want it unsaid, but still not quite being sure what was expected here. Aiuros seemed annoyed with her, and he remembered kneazles’ tendency to dislike untrustworthiness. He thought that was rather unfair on Ailuros’ part as there was a difference between being untrustworthy and wanting to keep things private. Professor Brooding seemed more than equal to dealing with kneazle’s attitude though, and he relaxed, smiling again slightly, as it was hard to feel like there was any kind of uncomfortable atmosphere when your teacher was sticking their tongue out at a kitten.

Professor Brooding then turned the question of Midterm on him, and he found himself acutely aware of the kneazle and its potential judgement. Not that he planned to answer dishonestly, just… selectively.

“I read a lot with Mama. We enjoy very much reading Lǎozǐ. I am not sure I will explain it better to you, but I think reading it with Mama improves a lot my Chinese. Sometimes, I cannot talk so much about intelligent things, or school things in Chinese, so this is very good practise. And we do the Christmas things like go skating. It is nice.”

13 Dorian And Ailuros sees all 1401 Dorian 0 5

Professor Mary Brooding

November 18, 2018 12:14 AM

Ain't that the truth? by Professor Mary Brooding

Mary laughed softly, appreciating Dorian's joke. "That's true, this one's a little self-centered." Ailuros let out a satisfied purr, apparently taking the comment in stride. "I think that's a very good fit," she added, appreciating everything that the furball represented.

"Yes, she's a tabby because she's stripey. Sometimes people using the word to mean orange tabby but I think that's just really common. We'll have to see if Ailuros and Melodie become friends!" Ailuros looked interested in this idea and in being scooped, nudging at Dorian when he suggested it and Mary gestured that he could proceed.

When Dorian reacted to her accidental mention of Tabitha, it was a good reminder that everything would be okay. It wasn't like she could hide their relationship forever, nor did she want to, and if the first students to find out were as kind as Dorian Montoir, then it should be okay.

"No, that's alright," Mary replied. "I try not to say too much about my personal life but . . ." But what? She couldn't exactly use but we're friends because even if she did consider their contact to be as much a friendship as a student and professor could have, it seemed like an inappropriate label. "I don't mind too much now," she finished, settling on a different truth. "I know you aren't malicious and people will find out at some point anyway. Professor Hawthorne and I have been dating for a few months."

She wished she could be a proper adult and say things like that without blushing, but at least it was the blush of a happy woman who couldn't help feeling giddy at just how much in love she was, and not because she was embarrassed. "That doesn't need to change anything for you in her classes. We don't talk about students much personally and it's important that students don't ever feel obligated to like either of us just because they like the other." She smiled at Dorian and hoped that her words were comforting, not disconcerting. Her biggest fear was that a student, Dorian or otherwise, would feel betrayed by the notion that their professors were dating. "Just because you tell me something, doesn't mean I tell her. Everyone has the right to their own personal business."

Satisfied that she had said what she needed to say, she listened to Dorian's comments about his own holidays. She wasn't sure she had ever linked Christmas with skating before but he seemed happy about it and that was good. Ailuros seemed distinctly interested in his story but not quite concerned. "That sounds lovely!" she cooed, delighted that he got some time to engage with all the things he loved so much. "And you had a good time? I know going 'home' doesn't always mean going to spend time with family for everyone. I didn't always get along very well with my family. I'm glad you got to enjoy yourself some though."

22 Professor Mary Brooding Ain't that the truth? 1424 Professor Mary Brooding 0 5

Dorian

November 18, 2018 4:25 AM

Parts of it, anyway by Dorian

“Yes, that will be nice,” Dorian smiled, when Professor Brooding suggested introducing Melodie and Ailuros. Both kneazle and owner seemed to approve of his more immediate plans, and he picked up the kitten, holding her against his chest where she snuggled and purred. He continued to pet her, smiling delightedly. “I like the small and fluffy creatures,” he added, his tone soft and cautious, almost as of one admitting to a deep secret. Which, given that he was a thirteen year old boy, was possibly somewhat accurate. “Last year we studied…. Pyggly puffs?” he queried slightly. He couldn’t quite remember the first word in their name, “Tatya and I have one together. We teach it all four of our languages,” he smiled. “It is a much nicer lesson than things which try to bite you. I think Tatya will like you too,” he added to Ailuros, “Tatya can seem too bouncy but she is gentle really. She was sad when we had to give back our puff.

“Ok,” he smiled, relieved when she didn’t want him to forget about it. He liked that she was happy, and he didn’t want to have to pretend otherwise. “Sometimes things are private,” he nodded, when she haltingly explained, “But… it is nice to share a little bit.” He considered trying to tell her about Jehan. Certainly, once again, Professor Brooding and he were proving to be very alike. And he knew that she was not going to judge him for being in love with a boy if she was in love with another woman. But things with Jehan weren’t the same as they were with her and Professor Hawthorne. Jehan wasn’t his boyfriend. Dorian just wished he was. And he didn’t want to make this about him, or get into feelings that were confusing and involved some degree of hurting, because Professor Brooding was so happy. It was enough to know that there was someone though. Someone he could tell and know that telling was going to be safe.

“I will not say about it to others,” he promised, “Not on purpose anyway - I’m not really good at lying,” he added, which got him an enthusiastic nuzzle from Ailuros. He couldn’t see how it was likely that it was going to come up in a conversation but he didn’t want to risk a situation where Professor Brooding felt he had broken a promise to her. He was also relieved to hear that she wouldn’t be talking about him. It was one of the things that had made him feel safe about being around her, that she had promised it was just between them (unless something he said was serious and about people being in danger).

“I don’t dislike her,” he assured Professor Brooding, when she said he didn’t have to like Professor Hawthorne. “I… I just don’t know her at all, except from class.” He knew she had helped with the book Professor Brooding had made him, and Professor Brooding liked her, both of which indicated that she was a nice and good person. He sometimes felt a little bit of a knot in his stomach when he had to go to her class but that was more about the class than her… It was hard not to get them mixed up in his head a little bit sometimes, or to feel that Professor Hawthorne was a little bit scary because of what she taught, but he tried not to put it on her as a person. Still, he didn’t exactly foresee getting to know her any better. Professor Brooding and he were… he regarded them as friends, but not in a way where they were likely to come and socialise within the other one’s social circle. “I like that she makes you happy though. And this time around, Sonora is not a place where you are lonely,” he added, smiling broadly.

And you had a nice time? Dorian wondered why she was confirming this, and talking about family being difficult. Her own seemed to be… He wondered in what way, and part of him wanted to ask - he remembered her mentioning that she too had a brother… But he didn’t really want to talk about his own, and he wasn’t sure how to ask her about hers without risking opening that up, and it also felt very personal. He noticed that Ailuros had stopped purring. He could feel her tiny paws pressing against his chest and had the impression she was propping herself up to examine him. She could probably feel the fact that his heart rate had quickened at Professor Brooding’s question. Of course, that in itself was not inherently untrustworthy but he felt that the kneazle was scoping him out, and he did not dare look down and meet her eyes. But by the end of Professor Brooding’s sentences, she seemed to be more talking to herself, deciding he had had fun, and her question seemed somewhat rhetorical, and he thought he could get away with just nodding and smiling to what she was saying.

“But you did not finish telling me about Greece” he added, “I mean… History things you saw. Or the food,” he added, making it clear he was not trying to pry into her private life but just to hear about the highlights of an exciting place. This interest was certainly sincere, and Ailuros - if she had been doubtful at all, it was hard to tell whether or not he was reading too much into it - now resumed nuzzling him.

13 Dorian Parts of it, anyway 1401 Dorian 0 5