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Post by christina on Jun 26, 2012 19:26:24 GMT -5
Christina grabbed her lunch from the fridge in the teacher's lounge, glad to find that it hadn't been stolen. Well, she'd yet to have her lunch stolen by any of her co-workers, but she didn't think that it could be that uncommon. She would probably go off on a bitch if it ever happened, too. She liked food, thanks, and if she bothered to grab a lunch every day then other people could too, instead of stealing somebody else's. Chris wasn't exactly the most rational of people, of course. She was pretty sure that most people wouldn't react so aggressively to something like that, but she wasn't always like "most people". Admittedly, since she'd started teaching, she'd had to tone it down a bit, but luckily she still had her friends around, and she was slowly making new ones in her co-workers, at least some of them. Others weren't such big fans of her, she knew -- the college professors, especially, had had her as a student only a few short months ago, and it was a strange transition from student to co-worker, but not necessarily a bad one. She was irrational and brash, but she was a far cry from stupid, and she'd had fairly good relations with most of her professors... Well, alright, one of them from Freshman year had been a real asshole, but things like that happened. She didn't know too many of them particularly well yet, however. Well, she'd made a sort of kind of friend in Nala... and she had yet to throw a fit and push Logan down a flight of stairs, which was quite honestly good enough for her. Most of them she got along with, however, and Chris did know how to be professional when she needed to be.
Still, going immediately from being a student to being a teacher was sort of insane, but luckily she had a good handle on the material and was, actually, quite adept at keeping the students in line, except for a small handful of them. There always were those kids, though, when she'd been a student too. Oh god, and now she was making herself sound old, as if being a student was some long lost memory from years and years ago. No, no. Chris still had her youth. She looked around the tables at the teacher's lounge -- most of them were full of several teachers or professors, almost all of them in discussion. There was no one she knew too well, and while this didn't usually stop her, Chris had had a long day. She didn't feel like intruding into random co-workers' conversations. Instead, she wandered over to a table occupied by one sole man eating alone. Poor dude, unless he wanted to be alone... but since he didn't look like he was busy with anything but food, as it was lunchtime, she didn't think there was any issue with sitting down. She did like him enough after all, had always gotten along with the professor when she was one of his Calculus students and still now when she was a teacher too. It was the power of Math or something. "Hey, Thomas," she greeted. "How's everything?" How weird it was to call him Thomas and not Professor Roth, but Chris would learn to deal. She wasn't too easily-bothered by things like that, but hey, it'd be useful if people could cut her some slack. She'd been on the job for less than two months.
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Post by THOMAS LULA ROTH on Jun 29, 2012 16:53:41 GMT -5
Thomas wanted a cat. There was reasoning behind this too, as he looked at the magazine his brother had given to him, with no explanation other than he wanted to get rid of it. One of those home and garden rags that the man would never read, and he couldn't think of a good reason Mark was reading it, either. He looked down at it as he ate, the sandwich he made only being paid half of his attention. The apartment was lonely, and he was planning to move into a house. He was sick of living in a small apartment. Not like he had a girlfriend or anything to live with him, but he'd caught wind that Hanna had a fiance and that they'd bought a new house. He could do that too. Show her up, with his bachelor pad. Only one cat, and a disco ball, and one of those refrigerators that you can see the food through. He had enough money...because he was single. Why did he have to keep reminding himself of this fact? He didn't enjoy it, not really, but he didn't see a way out of it. So cynical, he just didn't see the point in settling down with anyone. Hanna had fucked him up, so much so that he needed a cat in his bed, and not a girlfriend. Not that he didn't have girls in his bed sometimes, but that was usually it. What kind of cats are there, anyway? He flipped a page, trying to figure out whether he just wanted a black short hair or go all out with a calico. Only one, because it was the staple of a lonely man if he had a dozen of the critters around his house.
Thomas didn't notice that the woman had entered until she'd actually spoke and stirred him from kitty musings. It was Christina, and it almost gave him whiplash seeing her here. Almost about to kick her out, before shaking his head, looking as if he needed to clear it. "I was about to call you out for referring to me as Thomas," he commented, sitting down at the table. "It's going to still take some getting used to." He flashed a smile to show that it didn't irritate him, seeing her, because that would just be weird. As it were, it still seemed odd working with her now after teaching her. Not so much so that he would ignore her and slide away and pretend he hadn't heard her. He was a weird guy, but he wasn't that weird. If he ever did that, he was sure she'd be telling everyone that she thought there was something long with him and maybe they should get it checked out. He did not need another trip to the psych ward. "It's going pretty good. I'm uh...looking for a cat." He tapped the magazine before shrugging. "Well, not right now, just wondering what kind of cat I should get." He didn't know if she had any pets, but maybe she could offer some advice on feline purchasing. Like where he should even go. Maybe he should just hit Mark for giving him any ideas like this. "How've you been? Guess it's your lunch too, huh." He didn't have any more classes till later, and that could get boring. As a Calculus professor, he had to say he actually enjoyed the subject he taught.
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Post by christina on Jun 29, 2012 22:59:52 GMT -5
It was definitely weird, the transition she'd made so quickly from being a student to a teacher. Well... okay, she knew that teachers were ex-students too, sometimes even with the same amount of time to shift, but Chris was young -- younger than most teachers, she knew. The Academy was kind of different in that respect, she supposed, because their teachers had to also be elementals after all... but it didn't really make a difference anyway. She felt pretty weird sometimes when she walked around the halls or something and had to remind herself that fuck damn, she was a teacher now and she couldn't really ignore that kid breaking all the rules at once, things like that. The weirdest was definitely knowing that her teachers were now her co-workers, though. She definitely hadn't had a proper job before this, only a couple of half-time things during college and high school, either. It was a bunch of firsts and weird new things all at once! Apparently, though, she wasn't the only one who felt this way. "Weird, right? Probably weirder if I called you 'professor' at this point, though," she mused. Despite calling him by his first name, though, she still sort of talked to him like he was her professor -- politely and what-not, which was a step up for Chris. She wasn't rude to strangers or colleagues most of the time, at least. Around friends and enemies -- people she knew on some sort of deeper level, whether that be positive or negative -- she was a little more free. Then her family was a whole other story. Thomas was none of those people, though. She liked the man, but he wasn't really what she'd call a friend exactly, mostly because she'd gotten very used to his being her Calculus professor.
She raised her eyebrow when he said that he was looking for a cat, of all things. Who thought about thigns like that randomly at lunchtime? Moreover, who actually said it aloud...? He was a pretty strange guy, though, she'd figured since meeting him originally as her teacher. He said random things like that, sometimes. Then again, so did she. Neither of them were really what people might consider... normal or anything like that. "A... cat," she repeated as if just to make sure that she'd heard right, but she was pretty sure she had, and she turned to stare at the magazine. Sure enough, he was talking about cats. "Lonely?" she joked, quirking a brow. She didn't intend it in any kind of rude way, certainly didn't even know anything about his relationship (or current lack thereof). It was just kind of the thing, she figured, for lonely people -- buy a cat... or try internet dating, but she didn't think she should say the rest of this line of thought. It wasn't really her business. "But I don't know anything about cats," she said, more seriously (though this was still a weirdass conversation, in her most humble opinion). "I like dogs. You should just get like, a golden retriever or something." Chris didn't even have any pets right now, though. Her parents had a dog -- Lucy -- but she had moved out of their place and into her own apartment. It was always nice visiting, though, and easy since they weren't too far away. "Yeah, thankfully. A break from eleventh graders who still don't know what the heck a parabola is." She rolled her eyes. Whoever their math teacher had been last year had done a pretty lousy job, in some cases."Not too bad, though, same as always." Chris shrugged. It was all the same daily grind anyway.
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Post by THOMAS LULA ROTH on Jul 2, 2012 17:39:05 GMT -5
Thomas had started off at the Academy when he was very young, but he didn't think that Christina would want to be lulled to sleep by tales of his youth. At least, not in that area. He did have some interesting stories to tell, but he didn't know if it was appropriate yet to share them with a former student turned colleague just yet. The man wanted to maintain some balance of professionalism, even though now that she was a co-worker, he figured she'd see sides of him that she'd never known before. In his classroom, he was a hardass with his moments of dorkery. In his personal life, he was just a dork, as Caterina liked to share with him, believing it was new information to the man. "Yeah, please don't," he said, but there was a smirk on his face that said that he wasn't being a d-bag and telling her what to do. "And I'll refrain from telling you to raise your hand before you call out something." The new spin on this relationship was jarring, but not enough for him to be utterly perturbed by it. It would all just take some getting used to, and there was nothing at all wrong with that. Needless to say, he was proud of his former student for getting a job here as a math teacher. Thomas just didn't say those kinds of things.
His eyes returned to the magazine, now flipping through pages full of wicker furniture and decorative plants that weren't actually plants. He was going to own his own home soon, but he didn't see how it was appealing to decorate like that. He had a feeling it'd turn out looking like his parents' place, since that's what his apartment looked. Looking back up at Christina, he registered there might have been some amusement or confusion there. "Yes. A cat." He nodded to verify, and then smiled wider at her question. "Is it wrong for a man to want to get a cat? And yeah, I am lonely." Whether he was being serious or completely joking would be left up to speculation, but she was right. Another boundary he didn't think he'd cross, or just not yet at least, was discussion of his bad luck with women. Or woman, as it were. It was something he could discuss more easily with his male friends than his female. Of course, he had more of the former being a guy himself. Apparently she was not a very good aficionado when it came to cats, and he sighed, closing the magazine. "Think I'm more of a cat person than a dog person. But I could have both. And I'm buying a house, actually, it would feel empty if it was just me." So how pathetic was it, really, that he did not have a significant other and he was almost in his mid-thirties? I have my career, he thought defiantly, as if that could explain it all away.
He flipped the magazine over, now just reading the back as the woman spoke before looking up. High schoolers, he did not know why people wanted to teach them. He was deadset in his ardor when it came to them. "That's why I enjoy my college kids. They know the basics, it's just up to them whether they choose to actually do the work." His lips stretched into a wider smile. "I apologize, I have issues with high sschoolers." Again, whether he was being completely serious or not was up to speculation. But he said it in a voice that was completely free of any suspicion. And he really did not like high schoolers. "That sounds boring. You need to spice it up then, go cliff-diving or head to Antartica to do some research." Though how interesting could a math teacher's life actually be? He didn't know much about Christina's personal affairs, if she had family and did things with that family. It would be quite the kick to the ego if it turned out she had a boyfriend or some guy in her life at the age while he was buying a house and trying to fill it with animals instead of a family. He was sure his sister will be having something to say about that, but Thomas was determined to keep that information from her for now.
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Post by christina on Jul 4, 2012 15:52:23 GMT -5
At this point, Chris wasn't sure if she'd be too used to it to really object, or if she'd really just reach over and smack the man in the face or something. Okay, no... That was pretty unlikely to happen because she actually kind of liked her ex-professor, and she didn't want to get fired after all, but pfft, how condescending that would be. Chris didn't like being treated like a kid. "Yeah, I'm not sure that would end too well," was all she said, though she rolled her eyes a little bit. She wasn't all that serious, though -- she wasn't a totally serious person, honestly. She knew how to joke around too, and she seemed to swing back and forth way too often between not caring about a damn thing, and letting her temper get the better of her. She'd acknowledge the fact that she was calmer when working, though, but she'd been calmer around teachers before too. It was all more of the same for Chris. She simultaneously didn't let things get to her and got frequently pissed off at the littlest of things. "And I'm pretty certain you don't say that to most of the other teachers." Some of them were relatively young, too. Maybe they hadn't been actual Calculus students of his.
He seemed pretty serious about this whole cat business, which was still really weird, but he was a grownass man who could do what he wanted or something. She raised her eyebrows but nodded. "Okay... so a cat." She'd found even as a student that she didn't really know what the fuck he was talking about on any given day. No, the math part all made sense, that was fine, but she'd found that when he started going off on one of his dorky tangents or whatever that she'd gotten lost pretty easily. It wasn't even becauase she didn't know what he was talking about either, when he started fanboying -- Chris wasn't that out of touch with awesome shit that the world had to offer. Nah... It was mostly because the man was really random and she could never follow his line of thinking, but then she was sure that people would think the same about her if she said aloud everything she thought. "Must be pretty lonely if you want a cat that badly," she commented. Chris was kind of blunt like that, but in this case it was mainly because she knew he was kidding... At least, she was pretty sure he was kidding... Meh, fuck it, even if he wasn't that should be his fault for saying it in the first place. She took no responsibility for the things other people said about themselves. "But why cats? Hairballs and... fishy cat food." She didn't actually have anything against cats. "Get both, though. And a bird and a lizard and a goat. Just buy a whole petting zoo." Obviously, she had no idea what was going on in her (former) professor's mind.
Well, the man did teach college Juniors and Seniors (exclusively, as far as she knew). He was probably used to their already being full of Math knowledge and enthusiasm and shit... Well, not all of them. She knew that there were people, as there always were, who were required to take the class but hated it with every fibre of their beings. Chris had had a few classes like that too -- and luckily, Calculus with Professor Roth had not been one of them! She actually liked Math, though. She didn't know why she was weird either, okay? "We've heard your spiel on high schoolers," she said, resisting the urge to snort a little. That just seemed rude... and Chris wasn't normally overly concerned about coming off as rude, but again, she still sort of saw him as her professor, not just some friend. Was he a friend? Meh... She wasn't sure that that was the word she would use to describe him. "Not my problem if you just hate the kids... Though a lot of them are pretty annoying." She groaned a little bit at the thought of some of her ninth graders. Ugh, some of those kids were straight-up dicks, and no, she didn't feel bad in the slightest for bagging on teenagers. It wasn't like she told them these things to their faces... and she was usually even okay with most of them. It was the ones who purposely caused trouble for her that she really couldn't take. "What would I ever researh in Antarctica?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "There's nothing innovative happening in the world of math there." She was just some girl who got a degree for playing with some numbers, not a biologist studying penguins or something.
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Post by THOMAS LULA ROTH on Jul 7, 2012 1:11:55 GMT -5
He couldn't say he knew much of the young woman's temper. A college Calculus class did not often bring out much of his students' personalities. They sat there, listened to him, raised their hands when he asked questions, and shuffled out when the bell dismissed them. The relationship between professor and pupil was completely utilitarian. Now, he supposed he'd be getting to actually know Christina if they crossed paths enough. Working in the same department made him figure that it was most likely. He smirked, even though he should lay off the newbie. This was clearly hazing, though on a less brutal scale than a paddle and whatever frats did. He'd never belonged to one, and he was not curious. "Oh no, I do. I have to discuss with most teachers that they should also refrain from handing me papers to grade because I already have enough." Thomas shook his head, expression drawn in an apologetic way. "I've been in your shoes, I'll take it easy. Christina." He added the last part as a show of respect, as a sign that when he was a douche bag, he would do it out of good humor.
The comments on his loneliness actually made to unsettle him, even when they shouldn't. He'd resigned himself to the empty house, he resigned himself to the future missing that nuclear family that really didn't work nowadays, anyhow. The fact that he shifted with the question, though, made it known to himself that he hadn't gotten to that point of admittance to himself, yet. He did not want to end up with ten cats and a possible dog if Christina could sway him. "Not that lonely. That's how I become the crazy cat guy whose house smells like a stew of piss and lemon tea." He had not been in the house of many crazy cat ladies, he could not say. His grammy did not have any pets before she passed on, as he recalled. The woman question his choice, and his eyes flickered to hers with a half-smile. "I've always wanted one. They're cute." And a notch lower on the manly scale. At least he did not coo about how adorable they were, how much he wanted to pet one. His face was far too serious for what he had just suggested to him, and that was concerning. "Maybe," he murmured, scratching his chin. "Then I'd need a housekeeper. Or a staff." While he did have money, it was not that much money.
Unshakable as the foundations of a building, he merely snorted when Christina commented on the high schooler tangent of his. He leaned on the table with his arm, stabbing his fork at a salad he'd packed. He had never really been big on salad, but he didn't exactly hate eating it. "I may just have to express my feelings a few more times, sorry about that," he retorted dryly, before taking a bite. He, like Christina on a lesser scale, did not hold back with his words. Sugarcoating did not work well for him. "It must be fun for you, huh? Only four years ago you graduated from the group, and now you're back in there. Bring back any fond memories?" Did people actually have fond memories of high school? He surely did not. He only had some recollections of what he'd been doing at the time. Mainly: getting into trouble. What was in Antartica? "Penguins," were the first things to come to mind. "Teaching math to penguins. Or, help those researchers measure the depth of the ocean and whatever else needs to be researched there." Global warming, he speculated. Living so close to the North Pole as it is living in Canada, he didn't know how much worse it could get down that far south.
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Post by christina on Jul 8, 2012 21:02:39 GMT -5
She couldn't tell whether or not he was being entirely serious with what he said, but she could see clearly enough that he was just messing with her. Pfft, well, it was all done in good humour she was pretty sure, and she could dish it right back just as it came, thanks. "Do you now?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, expecting a "yes" whether or not he was even being serious. "Ugh, that's unfortunate. Does that mean you won't mark these kids' tests? I think you'd get a kick from some of the things they write." Seriously, she didn't know where some of them got this faulty math or logic, because she sure as hell had not taught it to them, but kids these days... Well, at least most of her students did alright, a good enough sign that she wasn't doing a terrible job, since she was pretty fair with her marking and such. She had her favourites... It just didn't translate over. "But thanks... Thomas." She nodded in acknowledgement, understanding the mild sentiment.
She didn't know much about her ex-professor's life at all. It wasn't really the type of thing that ever came up often in class, she had to say, his personal life or anything like that. She'd guess that the same was said for her, but being on the students' side of this, she had never felt too bothered disclosing information if anyone had asked for it. Professors didn't usually ask, though, but Chris kept few secrets in general. She wasn't very guarded in that sense. She tended to believe that other people were also as free with information, but as it had turned out over time, people weren't always that forthcoming. It rarely stopped her from asking if she was curious, but she still had a sort of teacher/student respect for Thomas. She didn't want to ask, and it didn't really occur to her to bother when they were just having a light conversation. "I don't think I've ever met a crazy cat guy, but I'm sure you'd get along with one of my neighbours just fine if that happened. Crazy cat lady." She smirked a little. "But why do that if you can have the petting zoo instead, honestly?"
Chris wasn't such a big fan of high schoolers either -- actually... she was mainly of the impression that they were annoying little brats, except for a few that she liked. It was okay, though, not bad money to put up with a bunch of them for a couple of hours. It wasn't like she was a babysitter, after all, she didn't have to make sure they behaved and ate their vegetables and shit. She just had to mind her language around them and make sure they didn't throw the desks and shit... Well, and they had to learn the actual course material, obviously. "Guess I don't blame you, though," she mumbled, thinking of a few choice individuals. She could handle that mess. "Don't even remind me, I swear it feels like longer than thatt," she said with a small frown. Then again, it was kind of like she'd never left most of it behind. She'd gone back for college. "Though I think mostly it brings back bad memories of annoying kids... Not that it's changed a lot." Chris wasn't very quiet, but she settled down well enough in academic classes (elemental classes were slightly different). The louder students had pissed her the fuck off when she'd actually needed to learn. "Well, that's already two more things than I would have thought of." She wondered how it would be to teach math to penguins. "Probably easier to teach penguins than to teach Grade Nine..." she mused, mostly to herself.
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Post by THOMAS LULA ROTH on Jul 13, 2012 3:05:57 GMT -5
Thomas leaned back, putting his arms behind his head. He cast a small smile at Christina, listening to her lamenting the fact that he did not plan on grading her papers. God, she really was so young, but he knew that he would possibly get his ear ripped off if he brought it up in some patronizing way. He would not do that to her, for as much as he could be a wackjob, he did not want to make anyone too uncomfortable. ”Now you're getting me right in the heart, I may just have to do it for you out of pity.” He was decently sure that would make her not want him to even touch her papers. She remembered her being stubborn in a way, and besides, no one liked having things done for them. It was a mater of pride. He'd been that way since he was a child, he'd always been a difficult person. Mostly because he grew up with his siblings, and he had taught himself to fend for himself. Especially in terms of food. His brother and sister would descend first, leaving him the scraps and feeling like a starving little orphan who had to beg his parents for more, sir. He still tended to hover a bit when he ate, as if paranoid that someone would steal his food. Things from childhood could stick with a person.
Christina humored him, for which he was thankful. Some may have not. But then again, everyone was different. That was why he tended not to judge people based on first impression, did not judge them at all. He was from an element perfect for that, a disjointed and random collection of people who just did not fit right. ”Are you planning to introduce me,” he said with a lifted eyebrow. ”We do share a common interest in animals.” Or one specific animal, ie the cat. Was he really so desperate? Crazy cat ladies couldn't be that bad, at least he did not think so. Then again, he did not know enough to make an assumption. She questioned him about the petting zoo and he had an answer for that one. ”The smell. It's unimaginable.” Such a collection of animals would bring a lot of noise, as well, but he was mainly focused on just how bad it would smell. He had gotten used to the smell of ganja, but all of that fur and food and feces...he did not think it was possible to get used to that.
It had been far too long a time since he'd been in high school to bring it up without feeling like an old man. He sort of envied Christina in that way, she was just getting started. He had not lost his passion for life, but he was aware of time creeping up on him. Not that old, he tried to reassure himself, but thirty-two and single was not the existence he had been planning on so long ago. All that time ago, he had Hanna and a future and it had gone right to shit. ”Trust me, when it is a long time ago, you'll wonder where the time has gone,” he said, sounding very much like an old man. He was sure young people got that a lot, simply because they were young. ”I wouldn't think it has changed that much. Teenagers will always be the same.” No matter how much time has gone by, some things remained the same. He even learned that teaching college-aged kids for so many years. Thomas smiled at the girl's reply. ”They would probably be a more captive audience, honestly,” he told her. ”And hey, they may just love math.”
He leaned forward, putting his hands in front of him on the table. The food had now been forgotten for a moment in opt of a conversation partner. He could never lay claim to a one-track mind, not at all. ”So how have you been adjusting, honestly? No hazing, I hope.” It would be an odd thing to do in the workplace, and that was something else left behind in school years. At least he hadn't been put through the frat deal because the Academy did not have frats or sororieties. Fund-raising was not in their best interests, as a matter of fact.
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Post by christina on Jul 14, 2012 22:41:59 GMT -5
She smirked a little. "Well. Since you insist," she said, sounding completely... not genuine in the slightest. She seriously wouldn't want to pass her work onto somebody else -- okay, well, she would want to, but she'd never actually do it unless they were a friend or something. She liked Thomas, but not enough to really consider him an actual friend. He was an ex-professor, a mentor... a Math friend now, if anything, but Math friends were definitely not the same as regular old friends. She didn't think they were, at least. "I'll drop the tests off after classes are done, take your time with them," she continued anyway. Chris wasn't half-bad at keeping it up, all things aside. She was full of pride, though, bursting with it really -- like her stupid confidence. She would never pass it on.
They were also both old, Chris wanted to say, but she felt that it'd be inappropriate. See, she could control her thoughts sometimes -- only sometimes, like during work. If Thomas had been a better friend and they'd been hanging out outside or something, it would have been far, far different. Chris could be potentially very offensive... or not even potentially. It wasn't even a matter of being stupid or completely inappropriate or something. She just had a crackass sense of humour sometimes. It might have been a slightly evil, mean one... just slightly. "If you like. She's kind of crazy, though. Hence crazy cat lady." The crazy part wasn't just for fun, after all. The lady really was bananas, and if Chris thought someone was crazy, the person really was awful. "Well. Guess that's something you'd have to get used to if you want a petting zoo to fill your empty soul. Though kids might try to get into your house all the time, so."
She believed him completely, honestly. Chris never wanted to get old... or even older than she was now, since she wouldn't actually consider Thomas old if she'd be honest. That thought earlier had been a joke that she'd probably been wise not to say aloud. She wouldn't say that she wanted to be stuck where she was for her entire life, though, so maybe growing old was just part of that. Ew. The only other option was dying young, though... but at least she'd be pretty. "Not sure I ever want to be old enough to remember it as a long time ago," she said, shaking her head a little. "But I guess that's part of life or something. Not that I think I'll miss high school much." Again, though, it wasn't like she had ever left. Shit, this was her ninth consecutive year at the Academy -- a high school student, then a college student... now a teacher. Fuck. She needed to get out and see more. "What, penguins that love math? Can't be any more uncommon than people that do." Numbers clicked in her brain, though. She knew that it wasn't the case for many people.
Chris barely considered the question at all before shrugging and saying, "Been adjusting fine, I guess." The "I guess" was more of a placeholder than it was to signify that she was lying and was doing very badly. Really though, Chris was doing pretty great. She rarely had trouble adjusting to things like that, just ran headfirst into things and hoped for the best. She'd been pretty lucky so far in that respect. "Hazing? Nothing I can't handle." She smirked. "Why, does the Academy have a history of hazing teachers?" God, that would be weird.
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Post by THOMAS LULA ROTH on Jul 16, 2012 14:00:12 GMT -5
Sometimes he had to wonder. Especially now, since he may have accidentally added to his workload when his intentions had been joking. That only amused him more, since he had the full knowledge she would not unload her work on him. He certainly didn't need anymore, since it was his job that made him busy most of the time. At least he had papers to preoccupy him in his loneliness. God, he made himself pathetic. He really did not spend his time moping around, drinking forty ounces and wondering where he went wrong. He knew where he went wrong, he got engaged to a girl he thought he loved, who turned out to be just a bad person. "I will wait with bated breath," he told her dryly, his eyes stunningly flat. At least it was math, that was his one true love. I need more hobbies. Other than smoking weed. He really did not smoke that much, not compared to some of his friends. Maybe that was it, he needed a new group of people. After all, it was one of his friends who betrayed him and aided in the tearing-out of his heart. That had certainly been fun for him. He didn't keep in touch with the man, of course not. He'd caught him in bed with his fiancee, it was hard to have a normal conversation with someone after that.
Thomas snorted, thinking about the girl's he had dated in the past. There was Melony, who had been stocking up for an apocalypse. She'd shown him her shelter, where she wanted them to stay when December twenty-first finally came around. Then there was Agatha, and the name should have been a dead giveaway that he should not have been dating her. "I've dealt with crazy before," he said vaguely. It was just bad luck, he thought, that he ended up with women like Hanna and Agatha and Melony. He was just not good with women, and he was almost tempted to as Christina for tips as a joke. He could only imagine the sarcasm. "Well, first kids will be trying to get into my house and then the police will stop by and then it'll be Dateline NBC with Chris Hansen. And now I'm doubting whether that's such a good idea." The idea of children trying to get into his house because he had animals will make him that guy in the neighborhood that parents walk their children by really fast.
Christina's words made him laugh, an actual full-blown laugh. His moods swung like that, one minute incomparably neutral, and the other far too amused for the situation. He didn't actually notice it, only in the moments that people pointed out how weird it was. "You're only hope in that case is an early death," he said, and even though it was morbid, he was still smiling. The world had a gallows humor, it was how everyone dealt with mortality. He had learned from his siblings, who'd always been rather morbid. They were both older, and he wanted to emulate them, to be like them. Maybe they'd have accepted him then, but it only made the two bully him more. "Of course you don't miss high school, you're in it! You get to relive everything, how fun!" He really had to admire that she could even stand to be in that classroom, but she was a strong person. She could handle them. Tom guessed he just couldn't. "Math gets no love, it's kind of sad actually. I can't even understand why, it's easier than English. There's always a definite answer." There was no 'well, it could be this...' in math. There were straightforward questions with straightforward answers and everything made sense. How could that be confusing to people?
Tom decided to simply take her word for it, that it was actually going good for her. And why wouldn't it be, it was her career path, even though in his head he was mocking her and her choice to be around a bunch of teenaged brats all day. She made note of his hazing comment, and he laughed again, his grin spreading across his features. "Maybe that was just me, because I have a sister who works here," he told her, and that was true. Not that she had eased up over the years. Farrah just did not like him at all, and the feeling was reciprocated. Siblings seemed to have the inability to actually get along. "She gave me a swirlie on my first day, actually, and that was very reminiscent of junior high." He almost grimaced at the memory. "So keep an eye out for a chick that looks like me." There were so many striking similarities between the siblings, mostly their faces, their noses and smiles. They looked like their brother, but he took after their mother, whereas they took after their father.
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Post by christina on Jul 18, 2012 16:53:13 GMT -5
She smirked, nodding in acknowledgement. "You know how fascinating 1D lines can be." Some of the math did get a little interesting, but when it was just playing around with the equation of a line and shit... God, Chris thought it was the most boring thing in the world. She had hated Math class back then -- it was probably eleventh and twelfth grade that she'd started taking anything close to an interest in the stuff. Before that she couldn't say she'd found it particularly fascinating, though it was always very easy. Being good at something was a bonus too. She liked to feel smart and accomplished in that way. "Well. You do know me," she said, amused. She was joking, of course, but she didn't know what the hell he was thinking about anyway. "At least it'd never be boring around your place," she pointed out, eyebrows raised in amusement. "Fun with kids crawling and police running all over the place." Chris would probably just pack her things and move in that instant if there were kids around her house all the time, damn. She could never handle an entire petting zoo anyway -- he was right on the whole gross smell thing.
"Then I guess that's the way it'd have to be," she said, her tone and expression the same as always, but this kind of talk was the kind of thing even Chris made very rarely. It was too morbid, too serious -- the kind of thing that was likely not just to piss people off, but seriously upset them... and it was one of the few boundaries Chris did respect. "Yeah, I expect that'd be a sad day for the rest of you, when I'm not around anymore." Some people would call Chris arrogant. She was just pretty sure that she knew how badass she was. "God, that's so weird," she muttered, thinking that over for a moment. Was teaching really like being back in high school? No, it really wasn't at all. "Does that mean you're back in college?" The idea amused her. She didn't know his exact age, or much about his personal history at all, but the man had probably changed a great deal since college. Most people did. Chris was only just out, though, and already back to being at a school full-time... Ah, shit. "Never did like English," she said, making a face. She wasn't the stubborn person who hated everything not related to Math, though -- Chris found herself a pretty rounded-out person, for real. She just did whatever she liked. English was not something she liked, though. "Not like most kids like English either anyway." The general opinion of the high school populace as she remembered it was that English was a waste of time.
She smirked again. "Your sister sounds pretty insane," she remarked, though she was sure that this was very unprofessional, to be gossiping about her co-workers... Even so, did it really count when it was someone else's sibling? Well, it probably did, but hey, the woman had given someone a swirlie. Obviously there was too much unprofessionalism going on around here for it to even matter much anymore. "And that's saying something coming from me. I'll be watching." She grinned, though. "Then again, she's not my sister, so I can probably get away without getting my head dunked in a toilet, right?"
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Post by THOMAS LULA ROTH on Jul 19, 2012 16:03:10 GMT -5
The professor smiled at her comment about being crazy. He was probably about to cross a line with what he was going to say, but that was just all right. "I bet you're the kind of woman who keys the ex's car." He had only one really sour break up, but luckily his car had not been harmed. He loved that thing. She did seem to enjoy entertaining the thought of him being an alleged child predator. "That's certainly the kind of excitement I want in my life," he agreed. "And I have always wanted to meet Chris Hansen." He wasn't even sure if that show was on anymore, since he had never watched it much before. Only caught a few episodes here and there that told him what it was all about.
Thomas had to grin when the subject turned to her death. That sounded entirely morbid, didn't it? "Will it be a dry funeral, or BYOB?" he questioned, as if it wouldn't be all that much of a problem to him. At least he was making it known that he considered her an adult he could joke with. He scratched the back of his neck when she mentioned him technically being in college. "Now college wasn't that bad. For me, at least. I did pretty good in classes." The ones he went to, that's what that meant. He hadn't made too much a habit of skipping, but sometimes it had been necessary. Now English, that was something he skipped quite a lot. "That makes both of us," he told her, noting that she really did not sound like she liked it at all. "And we're probably the only ones. Most people hate math. We're like special snowflakes." Anyone who pursued math for a career was a good person in his books. Killed a guy? You were awesome because math.
His face was very serious with Christina's comment. "Oh yes, she is," he agreed about his sister, and for once there wasn't a question of whether or not he was serious, because this was serious business. His face stayed serious when she said it was a lot coming from her and that his sister would probably leave her alone. "Oh god, you two are going to gang up on me, aren't you." His eyes were wide as if he was imagining it in his head, and it was kind of scary. His sister was kind of scary, and even though he hadn't seen it yet, Christina certainly had the potential to be scary. Women were scary in general. "I almost have half a mind to get another job," Thomas said, shaking his head, another mood change.
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Post by christina on Jul 23, 2012 13:16:53 GMT -5
Chris snorted. No, she couldn't say that she was quite that crazy, but she couldn't find it in herself to be offended either, which was either very good or very bad. "Oh, for sure," she said after a second though, her face shifting to a completely serious expression. Then again, that's if I don't lock them in the trunk and push it off a cliff, she thought, but it was a joke, okay, a joke, and she wasn't stupid enough to say this aloud in a workplace with one of her ex-professors, damn. Chris had far fewer limits when she was around her friends, drinking or just hanging out or whatever. She could at least pretend to be a responsible adult. "Got a criminal record for keying exes' cars, you know. S'why I can't get dates." She probably could in reality if she tried, shut up. "Exactly. So it's decided, then. Petting zoo it is." She made it sound final with her words, like she'd walk over to his place next week expecting to really see children attempting to climb in through the windows to get at the mama goat or something.
"BYOB. Just make sure you cry. No alcohol for anyone else," she said, and she decided that maybe she would put that in her will. Alcohol was so allowed at the funeral, but only for people who were willing to weep very serious tears for her. Those other bitches didn't deserve the opportunity to drink at the funeral of the year. Chris wasn't even sure what her brain was doing anymore. It was lucky she didn't just spit this shit out when she thought it -- she had gotten a little better at filtering things at work, probably a sign that she wasn't as comfortable and at ease here than she was elsewhere, which did make sense. "And college was fun, at least," she tacked on. Then again, high school hadn't been so bad either. Chris didn't think that her views on things had changed much in that time -- she'd still done much of whatever she wanted, she just maybe did it with a little more alcohol involved in college. "Special snowflakes who are just better at math than them," she said. She did like math though, and did find it pretty useful, maybe not the actual math, but... it kept the brain sharp and all that shit. Chris was just lucky no one had asked her yet in class why it was all important. "But they're just the lame ones for not liking math." Numbers made sense, unlike all that poetic shit.
She was actually a little taken aback with the utter seriousness of his statement, but she didn't let it show -- she'd just go with it. She and Edwin got along alright, she thought, not to the point that her brother was going to call her crazy or anything -- not in anymore serious a way than most people would call her crazy, though. Again, it was hard to tell if that was a good thing or not. "You know it," she said anyway. "Things are about to get very miserable around here for you." No, she had no intentions of doing any such thing. Chris didn't know why the hell she'd want to torture Thomas like that. "What, become a professor somewhere else? That's just not as fun." The thought almost made her laugh. Did she consider the Academy particularly fun at this point? Meh... meh. Chris made her own fun. It didn't really matter anyway.
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