Office Hours--Vala's Office--Thursday

[spacepiratevala]

Vala had finally made it back from Mexico, and was spending her afternoon both surfing the web for a thank you gift for Evey for taking her class at the last minute on Monday and teaching herself Spanish.

"Hola. Me llamo Vala."

The platinum band and diamond ring set on her left hand sparkled nicely when her hand got caught in a sunbeam, and she

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[new_to_liirness]

There was a knock on her door, open as it was.

[spacepiratevala]

Vala glanced up from her reading. "Hello. I can help him?" She frowned and checked the book again. That didn't sound at all right. "Yes?"

[new_to_liirness]

He walked in, pulling a familiar set of leather trousers, a leather jacket, and a vest from the bag.

"Good day, Professor," he said with a bow of his head. "I was just bringing these back to you. I... sort of left detention the other day with them still on since I drank coffee, which I've learned I probably s-shouldn't--"

Dammit. His stutter again.

"Anyway, I didn't want to steal from a professor, other than when it's part of the exercise, of course, so I figured I'd bring them back though" and now he looked down at the little lump in the pocket of his bag strap, the one next to his heart "I was wondering if I could purchase the trousers from you, if it's at all possible."

...wow. That was long.

[spacepiratevala]

She raised an eyebrow at him, but let him speak his peace, barely noticing the stutter. Or the missing leather pants, for that matter.

Vala waved a hand. "No need to buy them, though I appreciate your honesty?" Yeah, so it was still a new concept for her--it still didn't seem right taking money from a student. "Consider them part of your tuition at the school. Like your schoolbooks, and pens."

[new_to_liirness]

He didn't say anything about how he hadn't paid for any of that either and didn't know how that was being taken care of.

Also how he bought his own pens.

"Thank you," he said with a bright smile and a nod. Another dollar saved was another dollar he didn't have to re-earn.

He considered that for a moment before reaching into his bag and pulling out one of the small bundles. That smelled like very very rich chocolate.

"Can I at least give you this, as a thank you?"

[spacepiratevala]

"Of course!" Ooooh, it smelled good, whatever it was. "What is it?"

[new_to_liirness]

"Chocolate, vanilla, a bit of coffee," not much since he didn't want to end up hyped, but the bitterness worked well as a counter to the rest and made the spices perk a bit, "cinnamon, and a touch of heat. It deepens the taste of the chocolate."

He handed it over, putting it on her desk.

"I've been told they came out well."

[spacepiratevala]

"Thank you very much," she smiled at him, "Enjoy your pants."

[new_to_liirness]

He nodded.

"Andrew will."

At which point, he realized his slip and turned a deep wine red.

...there were no more words. Just a strangled noise and fleeing.

[spacepiratevala]

Vala was polite enough to wait until she thought he was out of earshot before she started laughing.