Office #5, Saturday Afternoon

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Jono was going to be doing some schedule shuffling this week, yes. Parents Weekend meant that, unless he wanted to make people run halfway across town just to see what his students had been up to, he was going to be holding his Boards office hours here, while trying to finish everything up early, as he had company of his own to get back to

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[pulseof_chaos]

"Professor Starsmore?"

The man standing in the doorway was tall, imposing, and had a serious face. He also had a feathered and beaded headband, purple and black armor, and a giant sword.

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Really, Jonothon wasn't easily intimidated. Tall, dark, and purple had to do better than scowl and carry a giant sword around to have him do much more than raise an eyebrow at the sight of him in the door.

"That would be me, yes," he confirmed, nodding and gesturing to the chair across the desk from him. "Come in, make yourself comfortable."

[pulseof_chaos]

It wasn't like Caius was trying to be intimidating right then and there either.

"My thanks." As he came in and made himself comfortable, he took in the mess of the room. He didn't mention it, however. "I am Caius. My understanding is that my charge, Yeul, is one of the students under your care."

Under your care. In your class. Same thing, really!

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It wasn't too messy. It was just... somewhat disorganized. By Jono's standards, anyhow.

He'd gotten a rack for the CDs that had at one point just been scattered across his desk. That was clean, okay?

"Ah, Yeul," Jono replied, nodding faintly. 'In his care' was a close enough description to suit him. Being a teacher here meant almost the same as it had meant at Xavier's school. He'd fight for his students here fiercely, if it came to that. "She is in my class, yes. A good student, even if the subject matter seems to be something completely new to her, at times."

[pulseof_chaos]

"Oh?" Caius leaned back in the chair. "Is that so unusual here?"

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"Not in most other classes," Jonothon mused, pausing for a moment to pick his words carefully. "I'd hardly expect any student to come into my classroom knowing all there is to know about what it is I'm about to teach. That would utterly defeat the purpose of having a class about it in the first place, and I'm not in the business of wasting my time on redundancy. But I can't help but notice that the way she looks at the world, and at the people in it, seems to be drastically different from her classmates. She doesn't have much in the way of experience with people, aside from you, does she?"

[pulseof_chaos]

"She has not spent a great deal of time around people constantly in... many years," Caius said, equally careful. "Our Clan is nomadic and while we are welcome there, Yeul prefers the solitude of travelling without them."

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"So life on the island in general is a bit of a learning experience for her," Jono noted, leaning his head sideways a little in thought. "She's an interesting mix, I can't help but notice. Somewhere between an idealist and a fatalist, sometimes fluctuating wildly between the two in her own quiet sort of way. She's a pleasure to have in my class, certainly. She's never unpleasant. But she can be... puzzling."

And that worried him.

[pulseof_chaos]

None of what the professor was saying was news to Caius. But then, he knew her better than anyone did.

"Is that a problem?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "I wish for her to do well here."

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Jonothon offered Caius a little smile, appreciating that the man was worried about the girl. He would likely be, too, under similar circumstances.

"She'll do fine," he offered, gently. "Some of the subject matter eludes her, but she's not afraid to ask questions, to do what she needs to do in order to understand. I think she enjoys that part, honestly... The understanding. There were a few weeks back there where I wasn't certain she'd be able to follow unless I took her aside to explain, but she's improving, in that regard. She's a quick learner."

[pulseof_chaos]

"She's had much practise at adapting, out of necessity," Caius offered, almost as thanks for the reassurance. "I am glad to hear that is standing her in good stead. May I ask what she is having trouble with the most?"

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'All of it,' was not a helpful answer, and so Jonothon avoided that one, taking a moment to try to put a finger on it.

"Honestly... I think it's almost the premise of the course itself that trips her up," he admitted, after his pause. "It's a guide to fitting in for the outsider, but when I wrote the syllabus to it, I have to admit that I had very little experience with a person with an outlook on life that was quite like Yeul's. She has no complaints, she takes everything in her stride. It's uncanny, really. I've never met anybody so thoroughly... neutral."

That was the only word he could really find that encompassed the lot of it.

[pulseof_chaos]

Caius nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

"And that is a different sort of 'outsider' than you expected." It wasn't a question. "Yeul... Yeul is the way she is out of necessity, not preference, though the two have merged a great deal over time."

Wasn't that reassuring?

"What do you know about her?"

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"Only what we've already discussed," Jonothon replied, "and that she thinks highly of you."

He remembered what she'd finally settled on, when he asked what purpose another person served in her life. It stood to reason, then, if it was only the two of them, that Caius would figure so strongly in her answers.

"Is there anything more that you think I ought to know?"

[pulseof_chaos]

"Ought to know?" Caius echoed, grimly amused. (And rather touched that Yeul thought highly enough of him that her teacher had noticed it.) "There are things that would make her less, as you say, puzzling." But he would not definitively say that was something Professor Starsmore ought to know. Just that it would help.

"I'm given to understand that a number of the students and faculty here have powers."

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"A number of us," Jono agreed, holding out his hand and, with a soft hum, creating a small, brilliantly blue hard-light butterfly, that danced on his fingertips for a moment before he let it fade. "Powers aren't anything new around here for those who have lived on the island for a while. Those who have them tend to mingle freely enough with those who don't."