originallutece | (no subject)

No need to be sad about it.

A bit more rummaging around, and he pulls out a couple of boxes of tea. It's not loose leaf, sorry, Ros, but it'll do for now.]

There's nothing to say that you can't still keep in touch after he's gone. I still speak to a few of my old students on occasion. Sometimes more than just on occasion.

[He motions at the tea.] Earl Grey? Oolong? ...Camomile?

Oh, Ardyn--

[Bagged tea? Really? Bro. Still, soon she nods towards the Earl Grey.]

I'm not sad, precisely. But I should think being friends with former students-- or assistants, for that matter-- is frowned upon.

[Listen, Rosalind, it's easy and convenient and he prefers coffee anyway! No judgment! (All the judgment.)

Still, Earl Grey it is. In goes a bag into the mug, and now they just continue to wait for the water.]

Frowned upon? There's nothing wrong with keeping in touch with your former students in a friendly, helpful capacity. I certainly don't expect to become best friends with any of mine, though- [Well, he shrugs.] A few of them have been affected by Retrospec recently as well. As a result, there are a handful of which that I speak with, with growing frequency. We complain about memories to each other, or try to unravel the city's mysteries. That sort of thing.

[DISGUSTING. SO MUCH JUDGEMENT.]

Mm.

[That's not a happy mm, not by any means. He's been doing this longer than her, and normally she'd defer to his experience, but there's something about the whole we're all friends on social media thing that seems as if it's going to somehow backfire, despite the fact that no one from the outside can see into this app.

Or maybe she's just a little odd when it comes to Fawkes. Who can say?]

Well. In any case, he's stuck with me for a bit of time yet. Is the water boiling?

[He raises a brow at her, though he doesn't say anything. He wonders how much the notion of losing her assistant really bothers her -- after all, everyone knows that it's only a matter of time before one's most favored students and assistants eventually leave to move along with their own lives. Such was the reality of being a professor, and how much contact one wished to keep with them depended wholeheartedly on preference.

But right on time, the kettle begins to whistle. Ardyn will prepare her tea, asking for her preference of sugar, etc., and eventually places the mug down on the counter close to her, offering it.]

You must be very fond of him.

Yes.

[Despite the fact it's bagged tea, it's still tea, and she sips at it with a little sigh. Fingers wrapping tight around the mug, she offers him a slight smile.]

Without a doubt. He's very clever, which is a relief, I don't think I could deal with a stupid assistant. But he's . . .

[She smiles wider despite herself.]

I suppose I simply enjoy his company.

[Ardyn settles across from her, and at her admission he can't help but lift a brow, taking in her expression.]

Mm-hm.

[He has the look of someone who appears to be musing over something, but not necessarily voicing it just yet.]

[She raises her brows herself, because she might not be able to guess his thoughts, but she at least knows that look.]

Have something to share with the class?

[And look how easily he pulls himself from his thoughts, voicing them instead.]

And how would you describe your attachment to him?

[Rosalind narrows her eyes, but doesn't yet insist on anything, lest she's entirely wrong about what he's getting at.]

I'm fond of him, as I said. I think he's brighter than most, and in some ways that reminds me of myself.

[He shrugs his shoulders.]

Nothing romantic, then?

[It's framed as a teasing sort of joke, because it sort of is. And yet-- well, it was what he was getting at, but if he's wrong, then he won't press the matter. He supposes just watching her reaction will do.]

[She'd been right, then, she'd been precisely right, and yet somehow that foreknowledge doesn't much come in handy as her scowl grows and her ears turn red. She has to be terribly careful about how she reacts in these next few seconds, she knows, because there's such a thing as protesting too much, and yes, he's teasing, but at the same time she can't simply blow him off.]

He's ten years younger than I am.

[He leans back, arms extended outward. It would be impossible for him not to find amusement in her reaction, even if she is mostly just tossing a scowl his way.]

Well, I'm not one to judge if he is!

You're missing the bloody point! He's a decade younger, he's twenty-three and he's my assistant, I don't-- I'd never-- there are a hundred reasons that's inappropriate, Ardyn!

I'm not saying anything's happened, Rosalind. I was only clarifying what you felt.

[He laughs, frustrating as he is.]

You're stuttering and your ears are red. How cute.

They are not.

[They absolutely are, and she scowls as she glowers up at him.]

And I realize that, thank you. It's still an inappropriate thing to, to even ask after-- shut up, [she adds, just in case he wants to start in on any stuttering that may or may not have occurred.]

No need to be rude about it.

[Says Ardyn, who sounds the furthest thing from offended.]

As your good friend, can you blame me for taking an interest in your love life? Trying to get an idea of who may catch your eye is the very foundation of this sentiment.

Yes, well.

[She switches to scowling down into her tea.]

Not him. If you're so fascinated by my love life, my type is typically older than me and at the top of their field. I'm more likely to fulfill all Carter's fantasies about me in one fell swoop than to go running after my assistant.

[He leans onto the counter with an elbow, chin in his hand; a funny sight, as if Ardyn is preparing himself for all sorts of scintillating gossip and/or revelations.]

The top of their field? That's a rather high bar for most to clear.

[At least she seems to have calmed down. Rosalind tips her head, a slight smile coming to her face as she watches him settle in. And ah, there's the arrogance, clear in the way she holds herself.]

If they can't, they're not worth my time, are they?

[Ardyn is not at all surprised by this rather haughty statement. He should be, but he isn't.]

No, I suppose they aren't. Your standards are about as high as I'd expect them to be. Though I do wonder how many dates you manage to find for yourself that you consider... ah, "worth your time"?

Quality, Ardyn, not quantity. I may not have many notches in my metaphoric bedpost, but I've done perfectly all right.

[And really, there haven't been very many, but Rosalind doesn't seem too bothered by that.]

And what about you? If we're going to gossip, it's got to go two ways. What is it you look for when you're eyeing someone up?

[It's reasoning that's fair enough, and Ardyn can't fault her if she seems satisfied by it. He quirks a brow when the question is returned to him, clearly entertained that he's expected to describe his own tastes.]

Ah, well- [He feigns thinking about it for a bit, though in reality the answer comes swiftly enough to his mind.] Intellect is key. Someone who can keep up a clever repartee is just as important, which in turn means that they share my particular brand of humor.

And, I suppose, they must be a patient sort. That or easily unfazed. I hear my personality can be frustrating at times, you know.

[really tho ardyn just say grell]

[Ohhh buddy just you wait til she founds out]

And we were so compatible right up until then.

[She gives a mocking little sigh, her wry humor apparently returned to her.]

I think I'd end up killing you after two weeks, but what a lovely two weeks they'd be.

[It's certainly no secret, all she has to do is ask and he'll tell.]

What a shame. [He laughs as well, good-humored as it is.]

As lovely as it might be, I can't help but think that murder would ruin the romance.

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i'm sorry

*are you tho*

minutely

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are you tho