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Nearly a week had passed since Alcuin had added Daniel Jackson's name to the drawing he'd pinned up on the wall in his house. He'd named it in his head the Tree of Loss, and tried to think of it now as a sort of memorial. But it was the worst sort of irony that it wasn't very long ago at all that Alcuin had confessed his fear that Daniel, as one

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[lastof_five]

Helen had come into the kitchen for her own tea and she didn't want to distract the boy bent over his books; studying could take different forms for different people and if he needed silence, she wanted to give it to him. The circuit, though, was interesting and she made a comment to that effect.

"I have a friend who spent the better part of his life fiddling with circuits. Are you an engineering student, then?"

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By the time the unfamiliar woman joined him, Alcuin had managed to translate only two words - desire and bed - which made him smile. He wondered if Nikola had expected him to attempt to translate it at all.

He looked up when she spoke, and his eyes drifted to where he'd left the diagram. "Something like that, I suppose," he said with a little smile, and pushed the paper across the table to her in case she wanted to have a look. It had Nikola's note scrawled at the bottom, but there was nothing inappropriate about that one.

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Helen peered at the note and frowned a bit; it was Nikola's handwriting. She looked back at the boy and realized this was the one he'd requested as an apprentice and she'd given him a hard time over. Hmm.

"Seems you've met Nikola, then. I'm Helen, Dr. Helen Magnus?"

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Alcuin looked surprised, immediately recognizing her name. "Oh!" He smiled at her. "Yes. Dr. Magnus, it is a pleasure to meet you." He offered her his hand politely. "My name is Alcuin no Delaunay. Has he spoken of me?"

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"Some," Helen said, unsure of what exactly to say about what Nikola had said. "He did ask if I'd assign you to be his apprentice but I wanted to ensure you actually wished to study under him before I threw you into that situation."

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"I didn't realize that I could be assigned," Alcuin said. "He asked and I accepted... is that all right?"

Though before she answered, he quickly pulled himself to his feet. "May I get you a cup of tea?"

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"Tea would be lovely, thank you, and if you'd like to be his apprentice, I'm happy to add that to my records," Helen promised. "Normally, this wouldn't be so formal but my council platform was to set up such apprenticeships and I'd like to show the island I've put work toward what I promised."

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"Please do," Alcuin said politely, and moved back toward the counter, picking up the kettle and filling it with water to put on to boil.

Then he turned back to her, another pleasant smile lighting on his lips. "Ah, I knew you seemed familiar. It is a worthy pursuit, setting up such a system. In all honesty I am not completely certain what being Nikola's apprentice will entail, but I am eager to learn from him."

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"It will entail long hours and many frustrations but you can learn a great deal from him," Helen promised. "Nikola's one of the most brilliant men I've ever had the good fortune to know and I think, if you're quick, he can teach you quite a lot."

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"I hope that I can live up to his expectations," Alcuin said, and set the water on the stove, turning up the heat.

He leaned against the counter, facing her. "Because yes, he is brilliant. I've been reading his book." He nodded to the inscribed copy on the table.

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"Ah, of course. I didn't mean to steer you off Nikola, he's just difficult to get along with sometimes," Helen said, not wanting Alcuin to think she didn't want him to pursue something he was clearly interested in.

Helen paused, trying to think how to frame her next thoughts. "I didn't want him to have coerced you into it."

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"Coerced?" Alcuin blinked at her. "No, he... needed only ask. Surely it doesn't surprise you that someone would be eager to study with such a great mind?"

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"I thought it might be a sexual thing, the way he described you," Helen said warily, shaking her head a bit to clear it. "Not to malign your intelligence, of which I am sure is astounding or he wouldn't put up with you, but I know Nikola."

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For a moment, Alcuin was truly not sure how to respond to that. But finally he said, with consummate dignity and politeness, "There are contexts in which Nikola may have some power over me - he is older, and I dare say smarter, and I have a great deal of respect for what he has accomplished." He paused. "But in my bed is not one of those contexts."

Alcuin had gone to bed with Nikola willingly, and joyfully, and had allowed Nikola to have the reins, so to speak. But Alcuin knew that if he truly wanted something from Nikola - that if there was coercion to be done in a sexual context - that Alcuin would be the one with the power.

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"Good," Helen said, giving him a soft and genuine smile. "What you do in your own time is your own business, of course, but I would have to go put him in his place if he'd taken advantage of you. I do so hate having to deal with Nikola in those situations. He'd just accuse me of being jealous, or something."

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Alcuin offered her a little smile of his own. "I am not quite so young and innocent as I look, Dr. Magnus, and Nikola has been nothing but kind to me.... but I do appreciate your, ah... having my back, so to speak."

As he turned back to put some tea leaves into the pot, he added, "I find it more likely that he is the jealous one."