fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, October 19, 6th period]

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ethics

Ethics [Thursday, October 19, 6th period]

Vader stomped into the classroom, slamming the door so hard behind him that it cracked across the middle.

"Today I will give you your midterm assignment," he snapped, cloak swirling around him as he paced. "The master-apprentice system of education has long been traditional in my galaxy. The Jedi used it--" his tone was laced with scorn as his helmet swiveled towards Rory, "and my own Sith still use it. We will be following in the Sith tradition."

He pulled a piece of paper from his desk. "I have paired you up into master and apprentice teams. Throughout the coming week, you will work together. Masters, your goal is to train your apprentices to a level of usefulness in a skill of your choice. Apprentices, your goal is to become better than your master at that skill and ultimately become the master. You must provide a united front to the rest of the world while seeking to undermine each other at every turn. Next class you will report to me about the weaknesses and strengths of your partner and how you would hypothetically use them to gain the upper hand in your relationship."

And if Vader sounded a bit bitter about this particular arrangement, well, he was.

"I have heard about the master-slave exercise in the previous Ethics class," he growled, voice heavy with menace. "This is a completely different concept and anyone who tries to turn this into non-hypothetical exploitation will be answering to me personally. You will be wishing for detention when I am finished with you." He made sure to look at every student as he said that. There would be no misinterpretation of his intentions in this.

He turned his attention to the paper in his gloved right hand. "Listen for your names. I will only be saying them once."

At the end of class, he looked around the room again. "I will be holding office hours on Saturday and Sunday if any of your visitors choose to speak with me and hear how inadequate I find all of you." His helmet swiveled towards Rory again. "Other than that, do not bother me."

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River shrugged, smiled, and tried not to look guilty.

"So. Training. Apple sculptures."

Grinning, Jack very deliberately thought about how cute River was while he asked, "Okay, apple sculptures. Is that sculptures of apples or sculptures made from apples?"

River blushed. She had definitely picked up that thought. "Sculptures made of apples," she clarified. "We used to make them as kids. On Osiris." She opened her bag and placed an apple in front of Jack and then the fruit knife next to it. "Apples were expensive. That's important. You should treat it as something that mustn't go to waste."

Making an attempt to look serious - and not show how tickled he was that he'd made her blush without even opening his mouth - Jack picked the apple up, turning it over in his hands and running his fingers across its skin. "If it's so valuable, should I be making a sculpture out of it?" He was doing his best to think happy, warm thoughts, as close as he could get to a mental hug, and nothing else. "Shouldn't I eat it?"

River tried keeping Jack's thoughts out. Feeling warm and fuzzy probably wasn't a good thing if you were supposed to be a master. It didn't work that well, though, and she smiled.

"Think of it as a sacrifice. Besides, you get to eat the pieces you cut away," she explained. "We used to make them for the autumn holidays."

She thought for a moment. "Your apple should be a gremlin's head."

"A sacrifice." Jack picked up the knife, unconciously twirling it between his fingers before touching it to the apple, just denting the skin. "Can I ask why a gremlin's head? And do I get more than one go, or does it have to be perfect the first time?"

"Considering apples are expensive, you're wasting a lot of money if you need more than one. Just remember that." River smiled sweetly. "And no, you're not allowed to as why."

Why did Vader's classes always make her feel both uncomfortable and at ease at the same time?

"I wouldn't hold the knife like that if I were you."

"I'll remember," he promised.

Jack set the apple down and offered River his hand, holding the knife loosely. "Show me?" he asked, smiling hopefully. "I'd hate to waste an apple because I held the knife wrong."

River wrapped his fingers around the knife, fixing them in the correct position, or rather the position she had perfected as a child. She had won prizes for her apple sculptures as a little girl, after all.

"Like this," she said. "Then you cut like this." She guided his hand towards the apple.

Jack nodded and sliced a line through the skin and into the flesh of the apple, then another, angling to meet the first one, and popped out a fairly neat triangle, which he offered to River. "Only seems fair that you should get to eat it - you're the teacher, after all."

River took the pice of apple and put it in her mouth. "Carry on," she said.

She could so get used to this.

Jack grinned and gave a little salute. "Yes, ma'am." He turned back to the apple, carefully scoring the skin where he intended to carve. "You're a very good teacher," he murmured as he prised out another triangle of flesh and held it out.

River grinned back as she put the second piece of apple in her mouth. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Jack."

"It's not flattery if you mean it," he said, trying to think about appreciation, for the teaching and for River herself, because there was something very appealing about her. "And I do."

"Don't forget the apple," River reminded him. She wasn't unaffected by either his words o this thoughts however. "You appreciate people generally, don't you?"

Jack obediently focussed on the apple, deftly circling the stem at a shallow angle, gradually working the knife deeper.

"I do," he admitted. "Everyone is interesting, but some people stand out, they shine and you can't help but notice them." He smiled softly at the apple. "I'm learning that if you're smart - and lucky - you get a chance to appreciate them."

The stem popped free, and Jack frowned and started smoothing the top, which was beginning to resemble a rounded head with two points sticking out.

"So in what way are you trying to be smart?" River asked, observing his hands working. "Ears are looking good."

"Thank you." Jack tipped his head to give her a better look at his ears, then laughed. "Oh, you meant the ears on the apple."

He wasn't sure how to answer her question, so he started paring away the flesh below the points, shaping cheeks and chin. "I'm trying not to screw it up," he finally said bluntly, thoughts of Sam and Cedric rising unbidden. "And you are way too easy to talk to."

River laughed. "Yes, I meant the apple. There's nothing wrong with your ears, but I rarely give people compliments for them."

"Too easy to talk to? Why?" She hadn't heard that often.

"Just nothing wrong with them?" He flashed her a charming smile. "You don't think they're cute?"

Jack set down the apple and knife for a moment, absentmindedly licking the juice off his fingers, and looked at River intently. "I don't really know, there's just something about you that feels...non judgmental, and like you're really listening. Lots of people don't, you know."

River gave him a wary look. "Judging doesn't interest me. Unless necessary." She thought for a moment about Blair wanting to test Berthold. "You still didn't explain why that made talking to me too easy."

She pushed the knife towards him again, looking at the apple rather than his hands.

Jack caught the look and knew he'd said something wrong, but he didn't know what. He sighed a little as he picked up knife and apple, because he liked River. "Too easy, because I don't talk about myself," he grinned ruefully, "and I just did. It wasn't a criticism, I was just surprised."

She didn't want to ruin the good atmosphere, so she grinned. "Not talking about yourself. Is that just you or a custom where you're from? Like the flirting?"

The grin reassured him and he shifted sideways so he could brush his shoulder against hers before he started giving the gremlin a nose. "The flirting's all me. One hundred percent pure Jack Harkness. I'm an original."

"I didn't question your originality," River said, not moving away. "But customs are different. And you didn't answer the not talking about yourself part. I can mind read, but it's nicer to have you answer." She observed the gremlin head. "The nose is crooked," she pointed out. "The gremlin's not yours."

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