xp_logs | Jennie and the Professor

x-roulette.livejournal.com posting in

Jennie meets with the professor with a request. And he has a surprise for her.

Jennie sat in the professor's office, in the best of the clothes she still had on her (which admittedly weren't in that great of shape, but what the hell) hands clasped in her lap. She'd spent the most of the morning meditating, trying to get into the right mindframe for this conversation. Sheer mindless panic would not do well when she was preparing to do what she was going to do. In all appearances she was calm and collected, if a little worn.

"...So, that's the most of it," she finished.

Charles regarded her with that sometimes-comforting, sometimes-maddening calm stare of his. He knew there were elements missing from Jennie's story, but he would get to that. "It sounds like you've gone through quite the experience," he said.

That's one way of looking at it Jennie's mouth twitched ruefully. "I wouldn't be here if I felt... If I knew that doing so would put you in immediate danger. But I honestly have no where else to go, and with the way the last few months have gone," she unconsciously rubbed her hands, one finger still splinted.

"I appreciate the reassurance. Things have been... tumultuous for us, of late." Charles' face was more lined than Jennie would remember it, his age apparent and his eyes somewhat haunted-looking. "I do not want to risk the students again."

"And I would never, ever put the students at risk. You know me," Jennie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I was one of those students. I remember." And Jennie would do anything in her power to ensure those kids stayed as safe as they could. She was no fool, she'd long accepted that being who and what she was ensured that complete and total safety was not something she would have experienced as a teen, but she would do her very best to keep this newest crop of students from as much danger as possible.

"And I would never turn away one of my students." A slight smile appeared. "Which is to say, yes, you may stay as long as you need."

A knot untwisted behind Jennie's shoulderblades, and she relaxed slightly in her chair.

"Thank you," she said. "I promise I will be as little trouble as possible."

Again that slight smile. "Oh, I seem to remember the sort of trouble you and Messers Gibney and Laverne would get into, without apparently trying. I do have a proposition for you, before you look at picking out a room."

Suddenly Jennie was 16 again, and trying not to squirm in her chair. She fought the urge to play with her hair or the rings on her fingers, nerves and the accompanying tics to soothe them. "Oh?" she said, attempting to sound like an adult woman of 24.

"As I said, you are welcome to stay. However, I'd like to suggest you take on a teaching position or two, once you're physically fit." Charles leaned back in his chair, watching her face. "I think it's important that you have something to occupy you, and I think you have a lot to offer our latest generation of students."

Jennie's mouth worked soundlessly for a minute, wheels in her minds turning. "I-I'm sorry, what?" she said, blinking rapidly.

The professor was known to have a sense of humor. But honestly.

Charles gave her a serene smile. "The work you've been doing, it has isolated you," he said. "You need to reconnect, learn to trust others again. And teaching would not only help you with that, it will give you purpose again, other than running." He looked down again, picking up his pen and making some notes on a piece of paper. "I think assisting Kurt in the dance class would be a good start, then perhaps moving on to physical fitness and movement, working on their balance and flexibility."

Jennie found herself nodding mechanically. Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir--professor," she corrected herself. "You remember me as a student, right? I can recall several occasions sitting in this chair that were definitely not lectures on how awesome it was I kept screwing around in class."

"You're not a student any more, and I suspect you've been through a lot more than you've told me which has made you mature far more than perhaps you give yourself credit for." The air of gentle humour was gone, Charles' expression serious. "I think you can do this, Jennie. I wouldn't ask you otherwise."

Jennie sat back in her chair. She wanted to say no. It was how this whole mess had started, honestly. How different things would have been if she had said no instead of yes, had kept walking and ignored those pleas. Were they thanking her for that now? Those early mornings, those lectures about belief and change and growing up? And here she was again, being asked to do the very same. The universe was a bastard like that.

But she had to be here. She knew the stakes, and if staying on meant that she would have to be in charge of those kids, well, the professor trusted her. She was just going to have to be worthy of that trust, wasn't she?

Be honest with yourself, Miss Stavros.

Jennie took a deep breath. "If you think the students can benefit from my experience, then I'll do my best," she said.