Room 141

[bugofjustice]

[Locked to Tick and Rory.]

Tick is waiting to speak to rory__gilmore concerning what he will be mentally be calling The Test Incident until he forgets to call it that anymore. In the meantime, he has some newspapers from Colorado strewn about in preparation for tomorrow's class. "Ripped From the Headlines" indeed.

Comments

[auroryborealis]

Rory knocks on the doorframe. "You wanted to speak with me, sir?"

[ooc: Oh, I am so in on the zoo thing. I just didn't want to be hogging all the field trip fun, since I already sent Rory on the Journalism one.]

[bugofjustice]

Tick would have opened the door cheerfully if he had a door to cheerily open. "Hello, Rory! Please, come in!" Motioning her to sit in one of the chairs in the room, Tick asks, "How was your trip?"

[auroryborealis]

Rory smiles as she sits. "It was okay. My grandparents are a bit difficult to get along with sometimes, but they have me my birthday present, and I think they're coming for Parents' Weekend."

She clears her throat, nervously crossing her ankles. "How was your weekend, sir?"

[bugofjustice]

"That's great, Rory! Presents are the chocolate frosting on the Cake of Birthdays!" Tick pauses. That metaphor didn't seem to work quite right. Probably not separated enough from the topic at hand.

"My weekend... I'll be honest, Rory, it could have been better." Tick held a hand to his face to shield a whisper from the pile of tests he was pointing at. "They got a little restless." If you looked carefully, you could probably still see the pen marks. "That's actually why I wanted to talk to you."

[auroryborealis]

Rory's brow creases. "Are those last week's tests? Oh, no...I left you in the lurch there, didn't I?" She blushes slightly. "I'm so sorry, sir. I should've told you sooner that I was leaving..."

She frowns. "Did you say they got...restless?"

[bugofjustice]

"It's forgiven, Rory. After all, you did leave me the voicemail, so I at least had some warning. But... they rebelled. I lack your angry grading skillz, Rory! They fought back!"

[auroryborealis]

"Ah," Rory says, nodding, her brows still creased. "They...rebelled. Did you use colorful pens?"

[bugofjustice]

"I went with red. It's what you're supposed to use when you're grading." Tick spoke as if several people had told him to go against that tradition, but that's what you're supposed to do!

"Professor Maclay told me to get the tests separated and explain the grades I was giving them, and they might give me an easier time. It worked!"

[auroryborealis]

Rory stares. "So the tests were actually...talking to you? And red is always a good choice, though I tend to go with more whimsical colors, like purple. The students seem to respond more positively to criticism when it's in a pretty hue."

[bugofjustice]

Tick shook his head. "No, they can't speak! Of course not, that's silly. They don't have vocal chords! But their actions spoke louder than words possible could."

Tick looked as if he might be trying to get to the point. It appeared to be a struggle to do so. "Rory, I try not to ask too much of you. I know you're busy and have a whole bunch of responsibilities! Egads, I don't even know how you do everything you do! But you did promise to help me with the tests. We have to keep the Lines of Communication open! We have a special relationship, that of Hero and Sidekick! Teacher and TA! We must be on the same wavelength! Promises must be kept, or at least given ample time to be rescheduled!"

"I will be there to help you in times of need if you ask me to! Letters of Recommendation, moving, human ambulance... I'll be there for you! Please, Rory. Be there for me! Don't leave me alone with tests again!"

[auroryborealis]

Rory nods vehemently, her cheeks flushing. "Absolutely, sir. Again, I'm so, so sorry for leaving you with the tests this weekend. It won't happen again, I can promise you that. Certainly not now that I know how vicious the grading process can be. I mean, I do appreciate all the help you've given me, and the opportunities this TA slash sidekick position offers. The least I can do is be there to actually perform my duties."

She bites her lip, and crosses her arms over her midsection defensively. "Is there anything I can do now, as far as grading goes? I mean, do you want me to grade some in-class assignments or homework this week? I can definitely take care of that. I can even bring a whimsically-shaded pen, if needs be!"

[bugofjustice]

"Well, I do have to get grades sorted out for the first eight discussions. I have notes on the discussions and my attendence sheets. If you could get it all sorted out for next week, I would appreciate it!"

"Also, if you can, take some notes on some of the discussion in class this week. I think I need to look at the class from a more academic perspective, but I just don't have 20/20 vision there. Please, Rory: be my Spectacles of Grading!"

[OOC: I actually do have the grades set for most of those discussions. *Is big nerd.* I'll pass along the final grades later this week, if you'd be willing to post it in next Tuesday's class thread. Sure, I could do it, but that's more of a TA thing. :)]

[auroryborealis]

"Definitely, sir. I will put my...mad organizational skillz to work there," Rory replies, smiling. "Those grades and notes will be color-coded and highlighted to the best of my abilities and in the neatest cursive this side of a classroom full of sixth-grade perfectionists."

[ooc: That's awesome, since I wouldn't know how to use the Tick's grading scale, really. Rory would try to make sense of it and become very confused. :) And I'll definitely post it in next Tuesday's thread.]

[bugofjustice]

"Thank you, Rory!" A classroom full of sixth-grade perfectionists? Egads, did he ever choose the right sidekick. That's the kind of descriptive language you just don't hear too often these days!

"By the way, you should probably have an idea of tomorrow's topic if you're going to be taking notes." Tick hands her the obituary pages from a small-town Colorado newspaper. Each page is from a different date. The name "McCormick, Kenny" appears in each of the pages. "It's a pretty interesting story. You should do some research if you get the chance."

[OOC: It's a grading scale that could only make sense to Tick, really. And me, I suppose.]

[auroryborealis]

Rory glances at the obituaries. "Whoa. Is this kid immortal or something? And...why is it that he's almost always seen last with these three other kids?"

[ooc: Oh. Dear. God. Best class topic EVER. *can't stop laughing*]

[bugofjustice]

"It's a mystery. He clearly dies, but then he's just there the next day! It's just really bizarre. We'll be talking about serial killers as it relates to this child tomorrow. It should be interesting."

[OOC: It's the byproduct of a truly bizarre OOC convo with a_phale. We were talking about Fandom Grammar School and it eventually led to this.]