fandomhigh | TeeVee for Beginners, Friday Period Two

They were not in a classroom today. In fact, they were in the gym. And there weren't any couches, just very cold, very plastic chairs. The A/C was running on high. There was a flatscreen at the front of the class, which Mitchell was standing in front of - many feet away from the chairs.

He had some wads of cotton plugged up his nose. With his complexion, he figured he could get away with saying he was simply a bit ill. It wasn't that whatever was happening affected him, but it meant that the air was full of pheromones - of desire, want, blood rushing heavily through veins and--

It disgusted him. He didn't want to hurt any of them. He would've stayed at home, if he hadn't been afraid it'd cost him his job. "Today, we'll be discussing recent television," he started, "It's faster-paced, cut more rapidly, making its departure from the theatre." He wasn't planning to be speaking long today. His classes always seemed to be affected by this sort of business. "Some say it's because our cultural attention span has gotten so short. Some say it's simply because we can absorb more information than we did previously. I'm not a scientist, I can't tell you which one it is, but I can tell you that modern standards of comedy seem to have fallen quite a bit."

"The television medium is much more scattered now. There's far more channels than in the past, when at best you'd get five or six. Now, you can watch a hundred different things or more, geared towards your tastes, wishes, and expectations. Cooking channels, comedy channels, news channels. Anything you might want to learn, anything you might want to follow, anything you might want to have fun with? It's there on the TV. Just a click of the remote away."

He went into a bit of a routine about sci-fi and fantasy channels and fiction, but it was a bit sketchy, along the lines of, 'sci-fi is about the future, fantasy has dragons, all of these types have their standards'. "Then there's the sitcom," he finished, at last, "Developed back in the 50s, perfected in the 80s. Situational comedy. A cast of characters operating from the same 'situation', like a drama with jokes. It's often about the dialogue."

He pointed at the TV with the remote. "Today, we'll be watching different channels. You'll discuss what defines each and every one of them. What are the most obvious visual markers? Who does the channel seem to be geared at? Would you watch it on your own?"

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The scents coming off Dinah were almost too complex to make out; George wrinkled his nose, just slightly, and almost sneezed at the intensity of the chlorine. "I'm fine," he insisted, "but thank you, Dinah, for thinking about me. It's just a bit of a sniffle; I think it might be some kind of allergy."

"Why aren't you in bed?" Dinah demanded. Then facepalmed. Bad brain! "Um. I mean. Resting somewhere. With some antihistamines and orange juice?" Look, you give her a reason to worry, the girl worries. She's hard-wired that way. "Mitchell would understand."

"It's just a sniffle!" George insisted. "I'm fine!"

"Okaaay," Dinah said slowly, letting that go, still wondering but trying not to look worried since that seemed to make him more anxious. Why had she wandered over... oh! "I was just wondering if you wanted to do that stir-fry thing this weekend, maybe?" She bit her lower lip, thinking that maybe they should wait until he felt better and she wasn't jumping out of her skin. "If you're up for it?"

George perked up at that. "Stir-fry! Yes!" he said, a smile splitting his face. "Tomorrow, maybe? I've, uh, got something on Sunday... But we could do it then, maybe, if you wanted to do it a little earlier?"

"Sure!" Dinah grinned, reassured, and leaned forward to add, "Tony's going to be screening the movie version of The Scottish Play in one of the Common Rooms later. You're welcome to come along to that too, although I know it's not everyone's thing."

Hmmm. He looked different without the glasses he usually wore... Stop it, brain.

Edited 2009-06-05 22:52 (UTC)

"No, that sounds great!" George said, gleeful. "And we can feed them! Stir-fry, and snacks for the movie?"

"Cool!" Dinah beamed at him, and resolutely squished down any hormonal urges. Things were weird right now, and George didn't need her throwing vibes at him. Or touching him. Or.... She sent Mitchell a considering look, then facepalmed. No, no, no. She'd get dragged out if she even tried to give George a kiss on the cheek. "Right."

George reached out with one hand, just barely managing to avoid stroking his fingers down Dinah's arm. "It's a date, then," he said, laughing a bit.

Ha! He said date! Okay, maybe he meant date like appointment, but still! Zack hadn't even said that yet!

Dinah watched his fingers hover over her arm, and shivered. Which gave her an idea. Watching until Mitchell had his back turned, she carefully, very very lightly reached out with her TK, and brushed a touch against George's cheek; like she was barely, barely trying to nudge the skin right over his cheekbone.

Did that even work?

It did, which she'd see when George's hand came up to brush over the same spot. He grinned at Dinah. "I can't wait," he added.

Dinah grinned back at him, and did a subdued version of her previous happy dance. "Yay." She got up, and said, "Guess I'll leave you to recover then, okay?"

And another brush, with a little more confidence, closer to his mouth on the other cheek. "Byyyye."

George's hand came up again, to brush over that spot as well. "I'll see you later, Dinah," he said, smiling softly.

TeeVee for Beginners, Friday Period Two

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