fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

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practical philosophy

Practical Philosophy, Monday

Ender had always preferred to teach his classes outside whenever possible. When it became obvious the morning would be a little chilly but not rainy, he posted a note on his designated classroom's door pointing all the students towards the dorm lawn.

He sat down on the grass out there, legs folded. By his side was a bag full of sandwiches, just in case any student had missed breakfast. And there he waited, quiet and patient, until everyone had arrived.

"You'll notice I didn't bring any books," he said, once they had. "Because despite what the title of this class might imply, I'm not actually here to tell you about Hegel or Kant and what they were thinking. They might come up, but if they do, it's because they have had interesting ideas that might be useful to us."

He stretched his legs out. "My name is Andrew Wiggin, though some people call me Ender," he said, "And I don't bring books here because I don't think they have all that many answers. I don't spite them for that, because I don't exactly have a lot of answers of my own. What I have are questions, which are far more useful in the long run. You can keep asking questions as the situation changes - answers tend to be the same thing no matter when you check up on them."

He smiled wryly.

"This class is about questions," he said. "And it's about opening a dialogue with those questions. Everyone here has sat through something in their life that they have questions about - though whether they want to admit that is another thing entirely. We're here to talk about those questions as they come up. No more, no less."

He tilted his chin up - maybe at Cade, maybe at nothing in particular. "Of course, that means I expect all of you to participate," he said. "You don't have to share about yourself if you absolutely don't want to, though I'll have you know that it helps. But I expect you to talk along. If you don't, I'm not going to apologize for the kinds of questions I'll ask. While we're at it, I also won't tolerate shaming anyone in this class for any reason."

Having said that, though, Ender's mouth quirked up. "Enough with the threats," he said. "I don't believe in classic introductions - I think I know what most of your names are, and I'll learn the ones that I don't, and what year you're in is of absolutely no concern to me."

"Let's open a dialogue instead," he finished. "For some of you, this is all new. How is it working for you? Are you elated? Annoyed? Don't want to be here? Achingly happy to be here? And for those of you who aren't - how has the past year treated you? Has there been anything that made you cry or made you think or made you wonder?"

"We can talk about that. Or we can talk about something else. I'm open to talking about anything, as long as you think it's worth questioning. Because you can assume from here on in that I really don't know a thing; but maybe by educating me, you can find something worth educating yourself about."

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Evan wasn't screaming it from rooftops or anything, but it really was good to be getting back to classes, back to something organized, that made some lick of sense, again. He was smiling a bit as he found a seat for himself, though there was always a touch of nervousness fluttering around his insides when it came to starting a new class with an unfamiliar teacher.

At least he knew some of his classmates. That would help.

Cassidy found a spot to sit in and then smiled when she realized Evan was in the class, too. She gave him a small wave in greeting.

Evan gave Cassidy a little smile and a wave right back. The more familiar faces he spotted in this class, the better he felt about being back here for the summer.

"Good morning, Cassidy," he greeted.

"Good morning, Evan," she responded. "I'm glad to see we'll have at least one class together."

"At least one," Evan replied, nodding a little. "I'm taking Dr. Banner's first aid class, too, and that's about it for this part of the summer."

Please, pardon the little bit of fanboy gushing that was sneaking into his voice at that. It was just. Just... Dr. Banner.

"Oh, I have that class, too. That's wonderful." She was looking forward to that class, but she didn't know anything about the name. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"I've never met him," Evan replied, sounding more than a little bit cheerful, "but he's a big name back where I come from. One of the leading scientific minds of our time!"

Also, an Avenger. Also, the Hulk. But Evan wasn't going to go shouting that off the rooftops or anything. It was always hard to say whether or not people were from a point in time when they were still clinging to that 'secret identity' thing and the like, after all, and he wanted to respect that.

"Then it sounds like his class will be an amazing time for you!" Cassidy was feeling a bit cheerful about the fact that Evan would be taking a class from someone he respected so much.

"I'm sure it'll be really educational for everyone," Evan decided, bouncing a little where he sat. Just once. Because Dr. Bruce Banner, okay? He hadn't taken the class with Captain America and Thor last semester because aaaah sex education, but first aid was totally something he could get behind. "I mean, he's got a lot he can teach us. I'm looking forward to it."

She grinned. "I haven't taken a structured first aid course since my first summer term on the island and I'm looking forward to the class."

"And I've pretty much never taken one. Not around here, anyway. There was biology stuff at my last school, but that was more..." He waved a hand while he groped around for words. "Just really, really weird science."

Shrinking down with help of Pym Particles and exploring the insides of the school janitor? Yep!

...Speaking of people she didn't know where she stood with, there was Evan, sitting on the grass and waiting for class to start.

She searched for something smart to say, or useful, or anything to bridge the gap that she'd created between them. Nothing cam to mind.

"Hi?"

It was the best she could do.

"Sholeh!" Evan was... not sitting on the grass, now. It was one pretty quick gesture that had him on his feet, with a kind of hopeful look on his face. "Hi! I mean. Hi? Hi."

Hi, Sholeh.

"I mean... it's good to see you. I've missed you."

Their mutual hiding jags really hadn't been good for things like 'seeing one another' and 'talking.'

"Hi," Sholeh replied, because their conversational skills were amazing. "I'm glad to see you, too. I've been..."

Hiding. A lot.

"...Busy."

With hiding.

"I got your yearbook comment," she added, flushing a little. "It was sweet. I still have the certificate, too. Maybe we could go together sometime?"

"I would like that," Evan replied, smiling a little bit. "We could make another date of it, if you like. Dinner? Or ice cream, if we go earlier in the day. It's almost ice cream weather, right?"

Well, they were having class outside. That was nearly the same thing.

"It seemed to be, at least until this weekend," Sholeh said. "Now it's chilly again. I hope it doesn't last."

Not that Sholeh was fond of the heat, either. Freckled red-heads didn't take to the sun very well.

"But with class outside, maybe you could start bringing Ozzy."

"Maybe I could," Evan agreed, looking thoughtful. The thought had admittedly already crossed his mind, when he realized that today's lesson was going to be held outdoors. "I mean, so long as Professor Wiggin doesn't think he'd be a distraction or something."

Of course, if Evan was bringing the dog to class, odds were that he was actively looking for a distraction.

Hey! People other than Evan might be looking for a distraction! Did he ever think of that?

"I'm sure he could be very good and quiet," Sholeh said, not actually sure of anything of the sort. Ozzy was just a puppy still. But he would be nice to have around.

Sholeh had lacked things to snuggle. One of the few advantages to one-faced families was having sisters you could hug.

Provided you weren't an only child.

... Or you actually had a family?

"I bet he could be," Evan agreed, nodding a little. "I'll ask Professor Wiggin if he'd be okay with me bringing Ozzy along sometime. I bet he'd behave if it meant he got to cuddle you."

See, Evan could guess at why Sholeh wanted him to bring the puppy along. Ozzy was good for taking a person's mind off of their anxiety. And... pretty much anything else they didn't want to focus on, for that matter.

Sholeh was thinking very hard about getting a pet for herself now for just that reason. Though if Evan was willing to share Ozzy snuggling time...

"Though...you know who else is really good at cuddling?" Sholeh asked tentatively.

Oh, wow, was Evan stuck trying to come up with an answer to that question. After all, with the way she was asking it, it was pretty obvious who she was talking about. But, well, Evan wasn't raised to leap to that conclusion and then actually share it.

So instead, he blushed a little, scuffed his toe around in the grass, and smiled at her.

"I know that you're an expert cuddler," he informed her. "And... that's one of the reasons I like to cuddle you so much."

That was an invitation, Sholeh. You could tell by the way he was shifting his weight on the grass in order to get into prime 'cuddling' position.

"Do you think we could hug?" Sholeh asked, face bright red. "I haven't had a proper hug in a really long time and I think I need one."

"I miss hugging you," Evan admitted, blushing a fair bit himself even as he held his arms open to her. "No promises that I'll let go once we get good and comfy, though."

He totally would, the second she asked him to. But... darn it, they both really needed a hug, didn't they?

"But...class!" Sholeh said, thus proving where her priorities were, even as she was stepping forward and hugging him.

Because, class!

"Class hasn't started yet," Evan pointed out, wrapping his arms around her.

... A couple of times, for good measure.

And just holding on for a minute.

"We can stop hugging when the professor begins the lecture. Right now, I think we're allowed to hug."

Re: Before Class

3girls-1core.livejournal.com - 2013-05-17 23:21 (UTC) - Expand

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