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 Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:37 am
Suri Ellis was used to tutoring a variety of pupils: it had gotten her friends in high school, some spending cash in college, and was now a part of her day job. Even though she had a low tolerance for stupidity and laziness, she liked to think of herself as a competent (if strict) teacher, and her stern dedication to her students was the exact sort of drive that she brought to her duties as a member of the Negaverse. However, she would have never guessed that her two lives would intersect in such a way as this.
It had started as small orders from her girls at Crystal, little pardons on missed assignments or slight curves on exams. The prospect had made her grit her teeth, but when explained that these students weren't slackers, but focusing more time to their Chaotic sides, she had no choice but to comply. It was a slippery slope, and within months she was writing off extra credit, volunteer hours, letters of recommendation, and a number of other services drawing on her position as a member of the faculty at Crystal Academy. She edited papers, she falsified lab data, and then there was the one incident where she snuck into the Administration building after hours to deal with a referral. It seemed like she was doing more Nega-business in her civilian form than when she was powered up, and even though she was ever-faithful to the cause, she somewhat resented that everyone only wanted to take the easy way out.
But finally, finally, someone came to her for some honest-to-God tutoring. No cheating, no faked scores, no knocking out a janitor for his keys. Just...tutoring. As the request came from someone of a higher rank, she would have said yes irregardless, but the fact that someone in this organization was actually willing to give academics a try was surprisingly refreshing. Nevertheless, it was strange to be standing in the Rift, with the power of Chaos running through their veins, nestling an armful of her college textbooks. The blending of lifestyles was strange, a little unnatural, and even her presence in the Rift felt strained. But there she was, standing tall and poised at the designated meeting spot about twenty minutes early. After all, it wouldn't do to keep a Captain waiting.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:11 pm
"Success!"Captain Bazzite was rather proud of himself. He'd spent the last three hours rigging together two makeshift desks from the bits and pieces of the underground castle down in the Rift, combined with some chairs he teleported down there with. He couldn't find any in the castle anyway. He brought papers, pens, his textbook from Azure Valley and an adorably fake and gaudy Christmas tree he picked up from the dollar store. He'd never met Zircon before, but if she was taking time out of her busy schedule to help him pass his finals, the least Bazzi could do was decorate! Liven the place up a bit! Oh, and bake a pie. He hoped she liked apple. The skinny boy was flustered when he finally noticed the other Chaotic presence somewhere in the vicinity. That must be her! He was off like a rocket to go find her and bring her to the safe spot he'd commandeered just for them. Down in the Rift there was little to distract the otherwise helaciously distractable boy. Every little thing would break his concentration but the darkness and the youma were great motivators. There were crystals present all over that gave off odd purple and blue light, more than enough to illuminate their surrounding. Once he'd spotted the lieutenant, Bazzite slowed down from his breakneck pace to greet her. "Hiya!" The boy waving entirely too enthusiastically was the captain she was looking for. "You must be Zircon. I'm Cap'n Bazzite but you can call me Bazzi. It's real nice of you to help me out like this. I really appreciate it. I baked you a pie!" He beamed for a moment, scratching the back of his head. "C'mon over here. I made us some desks n' stuff to work on. I wanna pass my finals if I can... then I won't get in so much trouble, you know?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:42 pm
The rush of friendly greetings was almost too much for Zircon to bear, and she stiffened as Bazzite zipped towards her, looking almost like a startled cat. Her grip tightened on her books, and she looked from him to the desk, nervously.
No one had told her he would be so...excited.
"A-ah, yes. Captain," she finally stammered, with a quick nod, moving around him with a wide berth. "How thoughtful of you, bringing study food--what is it, exactly, that you're studying for?" When she reached the desks, she unloaded her books, opening one and thumbing through the pages.
"I went ahead and printed out the basics that I give my students--periodic tables, constants and unit conversions, a three page equation sheet, t-tables and p-tables, so I think we should be covered? At least through basic analytic statistics." She nodded down at the small pile of printed papers and smiled with satisfaction, then glanced back up at him. She tried not to make too much eye contact--that might be seen as a challenge.
"Well then, where can I help?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:15 pm
Bazzi laughed nervously. What was with everyone being so serious all the time with the title and all that? "You can just call me Bazzi. It's okay! I like it better than Captain anyway..." When they both sat down, Bazzi smiled and pushed the pie towards her. There were a few paper plates and plastic forks nearby as well. The pie smelled of apples. "I hope you like it! I figured, since you were takin' time outta your schedule to help me an' all that, it was the least I could do! I may not be super good at school an' stuff but I'm real good at bakin'!" He gave Zircon a bright grin and opened his notes. The captain frowned at them knowing full well finals were coming up and he wasn't the least bit prepared. He'd been neglecting school in favor of the Negaverse. Bazzi sighed. "Well... sounds like all of it! But I'm no good with the chemistry stuff. I'm okay at math but I could use help there too... we got a couple'a finals at the end of the year an' Beni doesn't want me to fail, you know?" Even though the Negaverse is like, way more important than school. School's dumb. He took up one of the sheets Zircon took the liberty of printing out and tilted his head. It all looked like Greek to him on the surface but he recognized a few things here and there. "I uh... get real easily distracted in school..." came the bashful admission.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:22 am
The pie smelled absolutely scrumptious, and homemade at that. Zircon wasn't entirely sure she believed that he made the pie from scratch, but assuming that he actually had, she was a little impressed. But there were more important matters at hand, even as soft waves of warm cinnamon deliciousness tempted her tastebuds. Studying first, pie after. With a reluctant push, she slid the pie away. And then, with a sigh and a bite of her lip, she reached for a plate and cut slices for each of them. Study now, pie now. It was a win-win situation.
"You'll be fine," the lieutenant reassured, taking a first bite of the pie. Heaven, her taste buds proclaimed, but after a brief moment's smile she reclaimed her composure. "As it turns out, Chemistry is one of the labs I teach, so I'm more than equipped to help for any final they could give you." She searched down the books she'd brought with her, pulling the third from the bottom, and the thickest by far. Opening the front cover, she pulled about seven pages of loose printings from the place she'd marked, then handed it over.
"This is the study guide I give to my students, it's pretty vague but it covers most of what you need to know." The pages were covered top to bottom in all sorts of big words and charts, front to back, and the font couldn't be larger than 10 pt. "Why don't you circle the things you know your teacher covered, and we'll start from there?"
In the meanwhile, she could have more pie. This was definitely a win-win.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 9:14 am
Bazzite's demeanor brightened considerably once Zircon started to eat the pie and actually enjoy it. That was the whole reason he cooked in the first place - food was supposed to make people happy! When his pie did its job, the captain found it much easier to concentrate on what he already knew or have recognized from his lessons. Taking up the study guide, he balance his pen on his chin and looked it over. "Hmm..." He recognized several of the terms but couldn't remember what they meant. He sighed. Shoulda paid more attention in class... The boy started circling some of the terms he knew were covered. Azure Valley was a tough school and while Bazzi had made it through on a B-C average simply by enthusiasm, it wasn't enough to save him during finals, especially with Nega business being more important as of late. He gave back the study guide with lots of the terms circled. "These're the ones I remember from class... do you think I could have a copy of this study guide? I'll try real hard, I promise." It was almost as if Zircon represented his mother whom he desperately wanted to impress. The lieutenant had a demeanor about her that reminded Bazzite of his mother, anyway. She was serious but still kind. "You... think I can do it? Pass my finals?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:06 pm
Zircon skimmed over the study guide, humming thoughtfully to herself with a pen in hand. In purple ink, she underlined a few areas, circled a few areas, and made a few additional notes here and there. After double-checking each of the pages, she turned it upside down and wrote a series of bullet points on the back, then finally returned it to the captain. "This copy guide is yours to keep. It should be everything you need, and on the back I wrote my own personal study plan for when you're home."
Suri had never considered the possibility of children of her own, but she had always had students of some kind, and though her methods had never been nurturing, she did have a soft spot for people who were actually competent. Or, in this case, trying.
"I think if you work for it, then you'll be just fine," she responded, taking another dainty bite of pie. "The material requires focus, but once you get it, everything else will fall into place. Chemistry is one of those subjects where everything ties together, so just make sure you review your notes, your textbook, and any tests you might have had beforehand. If it showed up before, it'll show up again, and part of any exam is knowing your teacher's exam style."
She wiped a small crumb from the side of her mouth, then opened her copy of the chemistry book to its table of contents page. It seemed like every inch of white space was annotated in the same neat purple handwriting as what dotted his study guide.
"Is there anything else in particular you want to review before we move to the next subject?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 6:48 pm
Bazzite listened to Zircon like a child would his mother, nodded at her every so often to indicate he was listening. He took up the guide and skimmed it again, making mental notes to ask Alex to help him study before they left for their winter trip. The last thing he wanted eating at him was a failing grade or three on his report card. The captain sighed. Chemistry... what else? There were more things. "...oh um... math, definitely, 'm I got a physics class too. Are you real good with that sorta stuff, Zircon? Cuz I mean, you're real smart. 'n I'm not tryin' to butter you up or anything." It wasn't like the captain would get anything out of it anyway. For all his faults, Bazzite was a kindhearted soul. He truly liked people and wanted to please them. "Where do you teach, Zircon? Do you teach at Azure Valley? Cuz that's where I go. I wonder if I have you as a teacher? My math teacher's a lady but... nah, 'probly not cuz my chemistry teacher's a dude..." Bazzite blew some air through his lips and into his hair, sending strands flying. "Anyway, sorry for gettin' off track. I guess I think it's kinda cool that we have everybody on our side from like... teachers n' students to cops n' all that. It's kinda neat, you know?" Fallen_kitsune_thief I AM SO SORRY about the wait!
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