solo_sword | Office hours- Friday

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Office hours- Friday

For all that Jaina could say that staying the extra semester had been a mistake and she should be home doing things, this week had changed that a little. Oddly, she had a couple conversations that had given her some new perspective, and by Friday she was thinking maybe that was a good thing. At any rate, she felt marginally less guilty about being here instead of throwing herself into work back home. That probably wouldn't last long, but that was not the point.

So today she was in a pretty good mood in her office, busy working on class. The good mood also probably had something to do with the cup of real caf she had with her. It made hanging out in an office that much more dealable.

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It would be absolutely impossible for Shunsui to focus on a silly thing like work when the office next to his was occupied by a lovely lady, especially one who couldn't possibly be annoyed with him because he hadn't bothered her in such a long time.

"Ahhhh, hard at work, Jaina-chan ♥?" he asked while casually walking by her office. Casually. Really.

"Always," Jaina replied easily, looking up from her work. "I'm gonna guess you're not."

"I'll have you know, Jaina-chan ♥," Shunsui said, hand to his heart as he feigned offense and decided that the doorframe was a wonderful spot to lean, "I am working on a very big project right now, but it's always been my firm believe that true genius must rest every so often ♥."

Jaina had to wonder if there was something about her doorways that made guys lean. "So you're just not working hard right now. Got it. What's the project?"

For starters, it was very structurally sound. And in addition to that, look at how suave it looked!

"I'm working on editing the sequel to my best-selling book ♥." It was not best-selling. It was actually quite the opposite. Shunsui had proved that there could be a thing as worst-selling. "I hope that it will surpass its predecessor ♥."

"Did I know about the first book?" she asked, thinking back.

"Oh, if you knew about it," Shunsui said confidently, "you'd remember ♥."

For its sheer terribleness.

"Ahhh, yes, now I recall ♥. I had spoken with you before about my autobiography, My Kittens are so Shy ♥. The Rose-Coloured Path is a different literary endeavor, a work of fiction, but, I assure you, still not quite as fascinating or exciting ♥."

"That's right. I don't know how I didn't come up with that title immediately." This was her being completely honest, too. "How far are you into this new work?"

"I have it completely finished ♥!" Shunsui said proudly. "I wrote it all in one week not too long ago ♥. Now it's just, you know, brushing it up, expanding on the particularly moving and poetic parts, making sure it's perfect ♥."

"Nice going," she said, but had to check, "Wait, did you say a week?"

She was pretty sure it had taken Lando way longer to write his book...

"A week ♥," Shunsui repeated with a nod, "and it's quality stuff, too, having read over it again in the past few days ♥. I might even say it surpasses the original ♥! I was just so...inspired ♥!"

And, no, it was not coincidence that, if you went back, you'd find that the week Shunsui wrote the sequel was the same week the sex pollen invade the island....

"I was thinking The Sakura Serenade for a title...what do you think, Jaina-chan ♥?"

"I'm not terrific at naming things, but I'd say that sounds good," she said slowly. "Not knowing what it's about or anything, anyway."

Shunsui chuckled a little at that. "It's about love and romance and sexy adventures ♥," he offered. "What else ♥?"

Of course. "I really should have just been able to assume that one, huh?" she asked with a little lopsided grin.

"Well, I'm not about to go and write a book on violence and war ♥," Shunsui said with a small bow of his head. "I find the other topics much more palatable ♥."

"Not a surprise, from the guy with a pacifism class," she conceded. "How's that going, by the way?" She should ask, like a good teaching buddy. Plus she was honestly curious how kids here took to it.

"Oh, splendid ♥!" Shunsui reported, proudly again. He just seemed to be a beacon of pride today. "The students seem to really be taking to it, and there are some very interesting discussions with the ones who don't quite agree with the tenants ♥. Plus, hot cocoa every week seems to be a good way of pacifying moods ♥. And how is your class going, Jaina-chan ♥? What was it called again ♥?"

All he could remember was that the name of it was, to him, vaguely dirty. Which, of course, he approved of.

She had not even thought about the class being slightly dirty. Oops!

"Getting Out of Tight Situations," she told him. "It's going okay. I keep saying I can't believe no one misbehaves, but when I'm throwing them into the situations I do, that's probably good. It's good, though, and it's interesting to see the kinds of things they come up with."

Ah, yes. Getting out of tight situations. Shunsui barely managed to keep back a giggle.

"What....tight situations have you put them into so far ♥?" he asked, after clearing his throat a little.

She eyed him for the throat clearing, but at least her answer shouldn't make it worse. "Stranded them in a jungle, had them deal with a hurt hiking partner, had their car die in the middle of a blizzard... Oh, and I made them square off with gremlins, so if anyone gets bitten now I'm pretty sure I get to dock them a grade point."

"Those gremlins can strike at the most inopportune and unexpected times, though, I hear ♥," noted Shunsui thoughtfully before asking, "What's awaiting them next week ♥?"

"Adrift in a life raft in the middle of the ocean," Jaina replied. "I swear one day I'll throw something normal at them." Just not this week. "What do you have your kids working on this week?"

This, of course, could only make Shunsui chuckle a little, knowing that next week was sure to be a doozy.

"The Greeks ♥," he said. "In particular, a lovely little play written by Aristophanes ♥. It's a political satire, but still a poignant look into an unexpected but effective nonviolent solution to war ♥."

"I didn't know the Greeks had any lovely little plays," Jaina mused. "I mainly remember the phrase 'Greek tragedy.'" That was what she took away from some of her research on Greece when they were there, at least.

"Oh, no, no, no ♥," said Shunsui, shaking his head and tsking a little. "They had many wonderful comedies as well ♥. I'm much more partial to those, and this one is a personal favourite ♥. Perhaps I should lend you my copy once I'm finished with my class on it ♥?"

"I'm not really much of a reader," she said. But hey, she was always complaining about being bored, and maybe she'd learn something from it. "But I can give it a try. Thanks."

"And, I must say," Shunsui offered with a tilt of his hat for the service he was clearly providing, "if you do find that the play opens you up to being more of a reader, there's always my novel waiting, should you like to dig into that next ♥."

"I might be up for that." There was just always that problem where when someone you knew wrote something, there would be a point where they asked what you thought. "Finding time to sit and actually do something stationary tends to be a little difficult."

And there appearing at the door was a man in a black suit and sunglasses.

"Excuse me, young lady," he said peering at a label on a package. "Would you be one 'Jaina Solo'?"

Jaina looked up, a little confused. She saw the package, but she wasn't used to packages being delivered by men in suits. And sunglasses. "Possibly. Who wants to know?"

"Special Agent Mannheim," he said flashing some identification. "Postal inspector. Division six."

There was no division six.

"Can I see some sort of identification?"

Jaina paused, then opened a drawer to take her office's nameplate out and hold it up. She couldn't remember the last time she'd used her ID on island, meaning it was still at home. It was fake, at any rate. "This'll have to do for now."

K frowned at the nameplate. "You don't have a valid driver's license or state id?" he asked as he placed the package down on her desk and held out a clipboard. "If not I'm afraid you'll need to fill out this form verifying that you are who you say you are without any kind of photo identification."

"I have a driver's license-" Jaina had driven once ever. When she was seventeenish. So not a valid license. "Just not with me. That gets me out of paperwork, right?"

"I see," K said in a dry tone, "Well, Miss, unless you have that identification on your person or in the immediate vicinity which would only extend to these four walls and perhaps a foot outside the door I regretfully inform you that you'll need to fill out the form which should only take you five minutes. Four if you have sloppy handwriting."

"Who's this package from, anyway?" She didn't remember anyone saying they were sending her anything, and if she was going to spend five minutes on paperwork, she'd like to have some idea of what she was wasting all that time for.

Was it wrong to mindtrick someone for this? It probably was.

"Unfortunately the package does not have a return address," K replied as he placed the clipboard in front of her and offered her a pen. "Which would either indicate that the sender wishes to remain anonymous or is perhaps rather sloppy and uncaring when it comes to the needs of a postal professional."

"Or it's something I really need from home or something," she said, making a face. She reached for the pen and said, "Fine, but my handwriting is going to be really sloppy."

See, she was already filling everything out as quickly as possible.

"And where exactly would 'home' be?" K asked as he appeared to examine the postmark on the package.

"Coruscant," she said, still writing. She looked up briefly and made the snap decision that if she didn't recognize him, she was assuming he was new. "You probably haven't heard of it."

K's eyebrow raised a millimeter or so. "Sounds foreign," he said placing the package down for Jaina to take when she was done with the paperwork. "France? Quebec?"

"Galaxy far, far away," she said, deciding she could get away with scribbling nonsensical information for any lines she hadn't completed yet the second the package was set down. She held out the clipboard and pen, noting, "All done."

"I see," K replied as if being from a galaxy far, far away wasn't your average ordinary thing.

Then again to K it was an average ordinary thing.

He took the clipboard and pen, gave a cursory glance at the paperwork and nodded in approval.

"Very well, Miss solo. I see your paperwork is completely in order. I hereby transfer the ownership of the package from the United States postal service to you."

"And it only took several minutes," she said dryly, but good-naturedly, pulling the package over to her. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," K said as he put his sunglasses back on. "Enjoy your package."

Of course if said package was opened she'd find a carefully wrapped cabbage.

Yep. Cabbage.

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Office hours- Friday

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