Office Hours - Thursday 8/12

[demon_cupid]

Drake was probably about the only person on the island not disturbed by the singing bugs. In fact, he'd been singing along with them into the wee hours of the night, probably much to the dismay of his neighbors.

Of course, now he'd been earwormed and felt compelled to keep singing:

I'll be your cloud up in the sky

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[glacial_witch]

Karla tapped on the door to Drake's office. She might be a wee blonde scourge of the underworld, but that didn't mean she had carte blanche to skip class.

However, she did have what she considered a top-notch excuse. "Professor?" she called, sticking her head in the door. "Do you have a minute?"

[demon_cupid]

"Oooooonce moooooore you oooooooooooooooopen the doooooooooooooooooor -- oh, hey, come on in," Drake said, waving her in.

[glacial_witch]

Drake was so weird sometimes.

There were some things Karla would just never understand, and Celine Dion was one of them.

Still, she followed his instructions and slipped into his office. "I wanted to apologize for missing class yesterday," she said, standing in front of his desk. "I was recovering."

Which was a fancy way of saying 'hiding from the world for awhile.'

[demon_cupid]

"Take a seat if you want," Drake said. He snapped his fingers to stop the Celine Dion music and got a more serious look on his face. "Rough weekend?" he said sympathetically.

[glacial_witch]

Karla took the seat, and if her grateful smile owed more to the music getting shut off, well, she wasn't going to say that. "It was," she admitted, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "But Tuesday was worse."

Which was kind of saying something.

[demon_cupid]

"Anything I can help with?" Drake offered, leaning forward and resting his chin on his folded hands. "I admit, I'm no expert on the problems of teenage girls, but I'm totes willing to learn."

[glacial_witch]

"I don't think this is your typical teenage girl problem," Karla said, almost smiling a bit. "A few friends and I infiltrated an evil orgy being held by a maenad and I got sacrificed on a meat-tree. But I got better."

Yay Healing through the power of love and friendship! And demons! Drake would totally approve.

[demon_cupid]

"Not a plot you usually find in a Sweet Valley High book," Drake said, nodding. "Then again, the new book, maybe. But never mind that. That sounds like it was rough. Maenads can be nasty bitches -- pardon my language."

[glacial_witch]

"This one was," Karla assured him, pushing aside her instinctive question about Hidden Valley Ranch or whatever he'd just said. "She was enslaving the townsfolk and making them have orgies so she could summer her god-who-comes."

Worst name for an orgy god, ever.

"I guess she decided that I'd be an irresistible post-orgy snack for him, or something." She rubbed her midsection unconsciously. "Raven Healed me--not even a scar--but I just needed a day to put myself together."

That was sort of like a pun, if you squinted.

[demon_cupid]

"God-Who-Comes, yeah, somebody was asleep at the deity registrar that morning," Drake said as if reading her mind. "That's like slipping 3MTA3 through as a license plate. But hey, no worries. That's not a fun follow up to an already rough weekend, so I don't blame you for needing the time."

[glacial_witch]

"Yeah, as far timing goes, it could have been a lot better."

Because there were good days to be stabbed by a maenad.

"If nothing else, it gave me a new appreciation for class," Karla offered. "I was very aware of all the things I'd never done as I was--" gulp "--dying."

[demon_cupid]

Drake would choose the 31st of February as the best day to be stabbed by a maenad, yes.

"I'd rather you not learn the lessons that way," Drake said, "but I'm glad you could take away something from that whole awful mess. Carpe diem, wee blonde scourge, carpe diem. Odds are you've got a long life ahead of you, but there's no reason to put off all those things you want to do."

[glacial_witch]

"Some of those things will have to wait just by virtue of what they are," Karla said, "but there are others that I can start on right away. I intend to. I don't want to face death again, full of regrets of things I didn't do." She shifted in her chair a bit. "Is there a reason you decided to teach that course this semester, Drake?"

[demon_cupid]

"Because a good chunk of that class are kids I've taught over the year, and I hope I've left my mark on them," Drake said, growing serious. "And I don't want any of you to think that I regret this. This has been the greatest year of my life and I wouldn't change a thing."

[glacial_witch]

Karla looked at Drake and offered him a smile. It was a real for, for all that it was still a bit tentative. "I've loved all the classes I had with you. Thank you, Drake, for being one of the best teachers I've known."

[demon_cupid]

"That's the best thing you could ever tell me," Drake said, beaming. He snapped his fingers and conjured up his bucket list, then picked up a pen to cross out "Enrich young minds" on it.