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 Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 6:44 pm
One thing about this job that she didn't like was the truly massive amounts of free time. It was just like retirement, only without the traveling, and with pubescent boys. Well, actually, okay, it was a lot better- Dr. Hale had a thing about being honest with herself whenever she could. The boys all made fascinating study subjects (she had a composition notebook for each student she'd met so far) and it wasn't like she didn't have access to Shinkami's (not inconsiderable) resources for certain things, like classes... And she did enjoy the scenery.
Also, I'm doing a good deed, I suppose, she scrawled into the composition book with her own name on it. It helped her remain objective, she thought, to write in the book; kept her from projecting her own latent hostilities and imbalances onto the people she met. Still, it was pretty boring, just sitting and waiting for her next class. Maybe Siona could start looking into that book store again. Setting the book back into the drawer, she pulled on her coat. The mall wasn't that far away...
As she stepped out of her office, she happened to see a student in one of the Science uniforms walking her way. Well, no matter- probably he didn't want to talk to her, and was going to one of the classes taught by the other teachers in her department. She continued the process of locking her door, which was complicated by the fact that she could actually find the key.
Screw self-actualization; if you can't find your office keys, you might as well just die.
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Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:31 am
RuiZhi did, in fact, want to talk to her and her specifically.
The Chinese youth was much more chipper lately, more his normal self, and was getting back on track with his academics. He was making it his business to meet the new teacher in his division (he didn't want to seem overeager to meet the magic teachers, not with Herei observing him so closely), and was making a point to pay her a visit. Of course, he also was coming in part to see that the new teacher was indeed a her, pleasantly surprised to confirm the news as he caught sight of her outside her office.
He paused a short ways away from the woman, blue eyes (still couldn't find his damn glasses!) watching her for a moment before speaking in polite English, "Miss Hale?" A pause. "Are you busy...?" RuiZhi had to admit, he'd never seen someone look so positively down-trodden over locking a door.
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Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:49 pm
Ah, he had been looking for her. That was odd- actually, no. If she were a science student, she would have gone to meet the new teacher. It made sense. "No, not at all. I just-" with a particularly virulent look at the lock, "-can't find my keys." She sighed and twisted the knob to open the door again, then looked up at the student.
"You're... Tai RuiZhi?" Photographs hadn't come with her files (also lost?) but she knew what Weiyuan looked like and this Chinese boy definitely wasn't the one she'd met at the open house. "Is there something you need?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:55 pm
He was immediately taken with her use of expressions, her face giving him all sorts of indications to her displeasure of the situation. It made him smile a bit, somewhat relieved to have a teacher who was more...honest, and less uptight about how they think they should appear. It was entirely possible that he was utterly wrong.
Surprise riddled his own soft features, giving a short nod to the woman. "I am, you beat me to it," he said, good natured. At the second question, RuiZhi gave a blank stare and shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed. He'd just come to meet her, so now that it was done, should he be holding up her time? "No, I just wanted to formally meet you and welcome you to the school," came the honest, slightly awkward reply, "especially since you'll be my direct superior. I wanted to know who I'd be looking up to."
A shy smile took to his lips, giving a light roll of his slender shoulders. Honesty was the best policy, until he stuck his foot in his mouth.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:11 pm
She smiled, finding his particular kind of honesty a relief, compared to the other students she'd met. Wynn hadn't seemed to be open to truly conversing; Micajah had been arrogant and depressed; and Seibehn, well, he'd been shy and she wasn't sure that he had told the entire truth during their conversation. With a smile that, for once, seemed almost effortless as a response to another's happiness, she said, "Why don't you come in? If you don't have anything better to do."
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:59 pm
Truthfully, he was having a hard time telling if the woman had just invited him in with kindness or had a back-handed jab that he should be doing other things. RuiZhi couldn't help but grin a little, the concept intruiging. He couldn't exactly back down now, could he? "Oh there's plenty I should be doing," he assured his professora, "but I think meeting my teacher is the most important on the list right now." More honesty, and very little flattery. It was important to him to know and respect who would be teaching him, or he'd have a harder time of things; with Kenth out of the picture, he had to build his own hopes for the future.
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 4:20 pm
She left the door open as she went to hang up her jacket, an open invitation to the student to follow her in. "I'm flattered," said Siona cheerfully, "Meeting my students is fairly important to me, also." Sitting down behind her desk, she fiddled with a pen for a moment. "What section of the Science department do you intend to go into, RuiZhi? Do you mind if I call you that?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:50 am
"I don't mind," he replied kindly as he followed her a few steps in, taking his time to move towards the desk. "I'd prefer it, actually. It's a bit weird when my superiors call me 'Mister' or anything like that. I don't have a title yet, that's why I'm here, you know...trying to earn one." He shrugged. He wouldn't tell that to someone who insisted on a title like Professor Veilwood, but it was his personal preference, and since the kind Siona had asked, there was no harm in answering.
RuiZhi adjusted his collar, finding the first question much easier and less rambling inducing to answer. "The Defensive branch, namely, to be a doctor." He paused. "What type, I'm not sure, but I'm leaning towards a field doctor." It was the first time he'd admitted it in so many words before, but it didn't hurt to let his new Professora know what she was dealing with.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 7:45 pm
"Ah," said Siona, sounding delighted. Her smile, warm and matronly, was kind, even if it made her look a little older than she was. "The medical profession. That's a high aspiration, although I suppose I shouldn't under-rate anyone here." She folded her fingers together and tucked her chin onto her knuckles. "Field doctors, especially, I have a great deal of respect for. I am not in the same group as they are, of course-" with a little tittering laugh "-but I do know enough about them."
For a moment she wondered if every child in the world had their lives so close to planned out as these students. "You're one of mine, then," she said to herself. "Tell me, what makes you want to be a doctor? You don't have to say if you don't want to, of course."
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:26 pm
His smile lingered as the Professora laughed, the smile much more inviting. RuiZhi listened, ducking his head a little shyly at the praise for his choice of profession; it was true that being a doctor was a very high start to reach for, but the greatness of it hadn't daunted him yet. He had his heart set, and thus he would follow it.
"Ah, it's fine," he responded softly, mind turning back to the events that had brought him here. "Almost two years ago," he paused to reflect over the time that had passed, "my people were dying. A disease that no one could quite pin was killing foreigners, and bodies began to appear mangled and torn. No one...no one at all could help us." RuiZhi smiled a bit, not sounding sad or remorseful; it was in the past, and it was what had brought him to this office in this moment. He had to find some peace that the cost of what drove him would hopefully save more in the future.
"Doctor Larine came to us then, and in one day, found the antidote to what ailed the foreigners. My people...they're gone now, but they were a wise group. My mother taught me how to create salves and medicines from local flora before she passed, said I had a knack for it. A skill, with a drive...and that's what brought me here. A hope to spare others."
He failed to mention his people had turned into demons, but that wasn't quite the topic at hand.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 6:23 pm
She listened with curiosity and nodded when he seemed done. "Dr. Larine is quite impressive," she agreed, folding her hands on top of her desk. This event he was describing, she had heard very vaguely of it. Not enough to tell anything, just that there had been a little trouble to the far north. It might not have even been the same item of news at all.
"I'm sorry that that happened," she said, "But I'm glad you're not dwelling on it. Not many people can move on from such events the way you have; you must be very strong."
Her eyes never leaving the student's face, she opened a new, unlabeled composition book and wrote firmly in her neat script, I am a DOCTOR. (Apparently the earlier referral to her self as 'miss' had bothered her a little bit.) Then she scrawled a few more notes and closed the book, as if she had been doing nothing more than making a note of something she had just remembered.
Then with another smile, Siona asked, "What do you like to do in your free time?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:45 pm
A light smile curved his lips, inclining his head in agreement. "He is." He listened before nodding once again, followed by a shrug. "It happened," RuiZhi remarked lightly, "it's over. I can't change what happened, just try to learn from it." He supposed losing his parents at a young age had somewhat desensitized him from taking things too personally, but that wasn't entirely true. He had known fear when it came to a certain blonde, and one he had considered a brother. "You'll meet Weiyuan," he added hesitantly, "who was also there, who is also here to be a doctor."
Was Weiyuan over the loss of his father yet? RuiZhi didn't know, but it seemed fair enough to let Siona know.
And then that question came up. He gave an embarrassed laugh, admitting, "I don't really have free time...or, rather, I just study a lot. Read up on classes past, visit ones I don't need, try to understand the magic field too." He wasn't sure he should have said that last part, but it was out already. "Otherwise, Scyeth - he's in the soldier program - likes to try and teach me how to skateboard or take walks around the mall." Bless and curse that Australian for his essentric ways.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:37 pm
"That's a good attitude to take," said Siona, who was often guilty of holding grudges herself. "Very mature."
Ah, so not only was the boy she had met at the open house a student of the Science and Technology division, he was part of the defensive school as well! That was an interesting fact; she wondered, though, if his demeanor was a good one for a doctor to take. "I've met Weiyuan, at the Open House. He seems kind, if a bit... stoic."
"It's excellent that you're trying to expand your knowledge base. Just make sure that you don't spread yourself too thin and forget your main goal." Children, in her experience- and these boys were all still children- did not do well with schooling. Most of them would prefer to do as little as possible. It was refreshing to her that one of her students was not afraid to study.
With an encouraging smile, she said jokingly, "I'll trade you. It seems, even working full-time, I have too much free time." Scyeth. She remembered that file and found she looked forward to meeting him now. "Skateboarding, that's an interesting hobby. But, may I ask... Likes to try and teach you take walks around the mall? That's an interesting turn of phrase."
Perhaps she had just misunderstood him, though.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:47 pm
A faint smile returned her compliment. It never felt like maturity to RuiZhi, just...a means to deal. He didn't have a choice, so why throw a stink? What will be, will be.
"He is," the youth agreed quietly, frowning a little. He wasn't sure how much he should say to the woman, but he could cover a small basis; Weiyuan was once a huge part of his life, but because he wasn't in a category that the older Chinese boy could woo or sleep with, he felt as though he was no longer important to his 'brother.' "He also lost in the tragedy. He had someone he cared for here, a friend of mine, but he was removed from the school. Weiyuan sort of...lost his way, I think."
It made him sad to say it. Weiyuan was infinitely smarter than him, but the truth of applying one's self seemed to n** Weiyuan in the bud - he just didn't try anymore.
A brief smile flit over his features again. "Oh I'm...I'm not sure more time would be good for me, I might run myself into the ground," he laughed quietly. Brown eyes blinked, perplexed, before he realized what she was asking him. "No, he...he teaches me how to skateboard. He likes to take me for walks at the mall. Sorry, sometimes my English is a bit..." He lifted his hand tilted it back and forth, an unstable gesture to express his grasp of the English language. "I'm still learning. Two years ago I spoke only small phrases."
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:22 pm
And he knew his limits, too. Was there any reason to dislike RuiZhi? She got up from the desk and drifted (taking care to look as aimless as she could) over to her wall of books. Taking one down at random, she flipped through it to give herself time to think. Lost his way? Maybe she should meet up with Weiyuan again. He sounded interesting. "Perhaps he'll find his path again."
Then she laughed. "Ah, that's all right. You've made a lot of progress in two years, if that's so. I know people who studied Chinese for four years and still couldn't speak a word at the end of it."
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