Teachers pet (Lark and Luthais)

Luthais wasn't particularly fond of substituting for lower-level elemental classes. The students tended to be less developed both in mental prowess, magical ability, and maturity. Case in point being the light elf girl who had shot a spitball (A spitball, really? This was a university, not elementary school.) at another student in front of her. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Luthais determined that it was close enough to the end of class that it would better for him to wait and scold her afterward than to interrupt his lecture.

When the bell rang, Luthais waited by the door to catch the girl before she could go, but it seemed that was unnecessary. She'd dropped her books, so her departure was delayed. Even though he was annoyed with the girl, politeness dictated that he help. With a wave of his hand, the books floated up off the floor into a neat pile in the air, waiting to be taken by the student. "Young lady, I would like a word with you about your behavior in class." Although he thought he might remember her name by now, Luthais tended to address people impersonally when irritated with them. "You should not disturb the other students who are trying to learn," he said sternly. His punishment, if he gave one out, would depend on her response.

Luthais arched an eyebrow at the girl responding as if her porcine familiar had done that little bit of magic. Summoning wasn't his branch of magic, but he was pretty sure that calling up familiars with that level of ability wasn't something the average student would be able to do.

"You do not sound sincerely apologetic," he said straightforwardly, crossing his arms. "Was there some particular reason you chose to harass Matthew?" Had the girl mentioned something about... dinner? Was this one of those ridiculous adolescent roundabout ways of showing affection or infatuation toward a crush? He thought it was normally the boys that teased the girls like that.

Luthais was rather suspicious of the girl's change in demeanor. And if that story about the quill was the case, why hadn't she simply said so in the first place instead of apologizing? It would have been a believable enough excuse had she gone with it initially, especially with the broken quill to support it as proof. Hmmm, what to do? "If your quill broke at that time, then you must have missed writing down the last few points I made in lecture." He walked back to his desk, picked up an intact quill, and handed it to her. "Show me your notes for today, and I can fill in the blanks for you."

Luthais was not impressed-- neither by the unoriginal excuse, nor by the unoriginal name for the porcine familiar. If he had a copper for every time he'd heard the 'familiar ate my homework' line... "Young lady, even when I first took this post decades ago, I would not have believed such an obvious lie." Actually, even when he was a student, he wouldn't have bought it had he heard any of his peers using it. And on the extremely rare occasion that it was true-- which it clearly wasn't in this case-- that, too, was the student's own fault. Mages had to be responsible for a familiar's behavior; keeping a sharp eye and mind on them at all times was essential. "I assume you did not write down a single word I spoke. What is the reason?" This was a genuine question, not just something to make her squirm, although it might have sounded like it given his stern tone.

"I may be a mere substitute for this class, but I am still a fully fledged professor at this Academy, and I have a duty to see to it that its students make the most of their potential," Luthais answered, not offended but just serious as usual. If a student had a problem, it was a teacher's job to help out with it.

He frowned as her familiar seemed to ram her. She should be learning to keep it under control better. Actually, that raised a good point. "You are clearly of the summoning branch," he said, speaking of the mage class tree. "What interest have you in elemental classes like this one?" There had to be some reason why she was taking it, but he guessed it probably wasn't her own idea if she completely slacked off in class-- speaking of which, he would definitely have to administer some sort of punishment for that.

So young yet already so sure of what she wanted. Luthais was reminded of his four elder siblings in that aspect. "Having a goal to strive for is ideal, but that does not mean you should disregard anything else you might come along while walking the path," he said. "I would especially emphasize that since your intended goal is the military. During my time as a student here, I took a wide variety of classes as advised by my family." When he had asked his siblings for advice on what to do with his plant magic, they had each suggested vastly different things, so uncertain, he had tried them all. "Although I had no interest in fighting, because of my brother, I ended up participating in combat magic. I became a professor in the end, as you know, but those lessons bore fruit when I found myself in Amedra on 10th Arrival. My point is this: no matter what path you take, nothing you learn is automatically a waste of your time. That is only the case if you choose to waste it... as you did." Luthais crossed his arms as he changed the subject; he realized after the fact that war was probably not the best subject to be discussing with a student. "Please follow me to my office," he said, walking out into the hallway. Yes, the war... perhaps he should try to change her mind about her dream job? It might only turn out to be a nightmare if she joined the military in current times.

Books and plants were unsurprisingly the predominant items in Luthais's office, the latter giving off earthy and floral scents. On either side of his desk sat a couple of potted trees, looking rather odd since they were shorter than Luthais and slim as staffs, branches reaching up rather than spreading out. Above that same desk was a picture of Luthais with his parents and siblings. Luthais let Lark enter the room before him. "As punishment, you will have to take a remedial lesson," he said. "Be certain to pay attention this time around since I will be expecting a one-paragraph summary of the main points by the beginning of the next class. Since simply lecturing on theory did not seem to work for you, we will try combining it with practice." Holding up a hand, Luthais summoned a simple orb of water in it, no more than three inches in diameter. Before he actually started anything, he decided it would be a good idea to gauge the student's level first to know what he needed to cover. "Although you may not have much interest in them, how experienced or knowledgeable would you say you are with the elements?"