Outfit

Myrni slowly climbed the stairs to the Astronomy Tower, her eyes half on the trek and half on the sheets of parchment she was carrying with her. Work had really been her only haven from the myriad of thoughts that had been occupying her mind since the holidays. Outside of classes and dealing with the Gryffindor House crisis, she had managed to get some work done in Arithmancy research.

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, Myrni was now turning her attention to what she should do for her classes. She didn't revel too much in dealing with the topic of love and subsequently deal with the hormonal responses of students, but she did want to be relevant.

So she had come up with the idea of brainstorming different methods that people often used in determining romantic compatibility, she figured it might be a good time to try a joint lesson with one of the other professors.

Some might think that approaching the new Astronomy professor about such a thing was quite silly, especially since he was taking a more practical approach to the subject than in the past.

Still, Myrni thought perhaps he might enjoy poking fun at the tendency of people to closely associate his subject, Astronomy, with Astrology.

She finished the last of the stairs and entered the tower to find it empty. Not a surprise since classes were over for the day. At first she did consider that Trishna was not there. But then she heard a combination of noise coming from the door beneath the stairs. So the Arithmancy professor headed in that direction to see what might be the cause of it.

When she stopped just outside of it, she was able to determine that the noise was a combination of music and something else. Furrowing her brow, she knocked on the door. "Hello? Professor Trishna? It's me, Professor Levartian. I'm sorry to bother you but I  was wondering if we might talk about possibly teaching a class together," she called out, loud enough to hopefully be heard over the music. She then stepped back and patiently waited to see if there would be a response.

The loud of a record scratching and a muffled curse filtered through the door, and a few moments later the door opened. Tapendra was doing his best to look apologetic while shaking one of his hands - he'd been smart enough to end up ramming his little finger under the needle as he stopped the record. He shoved his glasses back into place with his other hand and smiled brightly, if a tad sheepishly.

"My apologies, Professor Levartian," he said, opening the door wider. "So sorry about the delay - just grading Monday's charts -" he glanced to his messy desk, the typewriter on top and the stacks of charts and notes. "I, uh, wasn't expecting anyone," he finished, lamely. He certainly hadn't been expecting another professor.

"Come on in - sorry about the mess, I tend to spread out when I'm working," he said, gesturing her towards the spare chair as he pulled his wand from his sleeve and started charming papers out of the way and into neat stacks against the back wall of the office, under the tiny window.

"I'm afraid the door and music muffled most part of what you said," he admitted. "I only caught something about a class?" He asked as he finished, sitting at his desk and starting to move the typewriter out of the way. "If my changes to the Astronomy class have caused your own curriculum any issues, I'm terribly sorry."

Five 'sorries' and he'd been in the presence of another person for about 40 seconds. He was making record time.

"Oh no apologies needed, Professor Trishna," she assured him quietly, instinctively stepping back away so that he could open the door. In that moment, Myrni was reminded of how tall the new professor was and she cursed herself for not wearing heels. Not that heels were practical for walking up several flights of stairs, but her flats made her feel quite dwarfed in his presence.

She averted her eyes to keep from lingering on their height difference and hastily added, "I should have caught you at breakfast so that I wouldn't risk interrupting you."

Her gaze drifted off to look into the office when Trishna mentioned the mess. She was quick to rebuke that apology as well. "That's perfectly fine. My office is hardly any better with all things numbers all over the place."

As a train of charmed papers zipped by her, Myrni reached out and snatched the last one out of the air. She slowly lowered herself into the offered chair and quickly skimmed the paper's contents. "Hmm....interesting."

She finished and set it back on his desk before settling her eyes on the face of the man across from her. "Yes, the class. I thought maybe you would be interested in doing a joint Astronomy-Arithmancy class for our seventh years with a Valentine's theme." She quickly added, "I know in the practical sense our subjects may have little in common. Which--" She paused and haphazardly addressed his apology for affecting her curriculum. "--is why how you are teaching your subject does not bother me at all. But, I thought given the nature of the upcoming holiday....and how people--especially students--sometimes like to look at our subjects with the idea of romance in mind."

Myrni had not planned on making her case for their collaboration so strongly right off the bat, but she was concerned with offending him somehow, especially with his different approach to his subject than his predecessors. To even suggest that he touch on the more frivolous Astrology could be touchy indeed for someone so passionate about his work.

So she feebily threw out with a hopeful look and a shrug, "Compatibility. That's what I'm getting at." She frowned and asked, "Does any of that make sense? At all?"

"Not to worry! I've been at it since lunch and could do with a break, in any case," he said happily, which was true - and made him glad the door hadn't been open, since he'd been singing along with his music off and on to keep himself from zoning out. The last thing he needed to do to poor Professor Levartian was deafen her with how off-key he could get.  He zipped up the case he kept the typewriter in and looked back up, sitting at his desk properly - for about two seconds, when he promptly leaned forward on his elbows and crossed his legs loosely at the ankle.

He listened quietly as she spoke, fingers stroking his beard as he thought. He smiled happily as she mentioned students looking at Astronomy romantically - certainly true, to his occasional frustration. "Several students seem to somehow have gotten Astronomy confused with Divination, unfortunately - it would appear my classes rather bore them."

Tapendra chuckled and rested his hands on the desk. "It made perfect sense, Professor," he said. "It sounds like an interesting idea - though I'm no expert on Astrology, unfortunately. Hmm..." He stroked his beard again for a moment.

"I assume the Compatibility you're be referring to is Numerology-based?" he asked, brow knit in thought - Numerology he did know about, though he'd hardly call himself an expert. "Where as the Astronomical/Astrological end of things would be Sun and Moon sign based, perhaps?" His smile turned slightly sheepish again. "Sorry - having to try and remember this stuff off the top of my head," he said. "I didn't stay in Divination long in school, sadly. Seems nowadays a bit of a brush up on it would do me some good," he added with a light laugh.

Some relief passed over the Arithmancy professor's face as he assured her that she wasn't intruding on his time. So far, from what she knew of Tapendra (which was very little), he was a very likeable fellow. Perhaps that was because, even without knowing him very well, he seemed to subscribe to a similar means of existing in the world that she did. For this reason, except for his height, he shouldn't have been much of an intimidating person to interact with.

Still, part of her was still nervous about the topic of conversation and about possibly upsetting him in some way. She anxiously watched his face after she had blurted out her haphazard explanation of what she was hoping for. Her brow slowly arched up when he responded. "Bore them?" she chuckled lightly  and then shook her head. "Well, for some students, anything requiring them to think equals boredom. So perhaps in that regard, you should feel quite proud of yourself." She paused, a wry grin still hinting at her lips. She shrugged. "I know I should feel bad that so few students take my class because it means my subject must be boring....which it does tend to be," she was quick to point out. "But at least you can usually tell the students who truly enjoy it."

She fell silent again, waiting for his verdict on the scope of her shared lesson idea. She tried to contain how excited it made her that he was receptive to it, even with his further probing. "Yes, that's exactly it. On my end it would be Numerological compatibility. And yes, I suppose where I was hoping your subject would come in would be how sometimes people look to the stars as a means to be romantic."

Her voice trailed off and her eyes migrated towards the ceiling of the office and even though there was very little ornamentation to really capture her attention, it looked as though the dark haired professor was staring up at a clear sky, totally engrossed in star gazing. Her orbs glinted a bit, as if inspired by something, and she automatically recited a few lines from a poem, "Thou fair-haired angel of the evening, / Now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains, light / Thy bright torch of love....*"

After a moment of her quiet sing-song voice filling the room with this, she seemed to shake herself free of her inner reverie and returned her eyes to his face. "Yes....so....if you are interested....I would love to work with you on this. If not, that's perfectly fine as well. No harm, no foul."

*To the Evening Star by William Blake

He blinked in surprise as she...broke out into poetry briefly. It was a nice poem, certainly - and familiar, too, though he couldn't place it or remember the rest - and he had to admit the look on her face as she recited it was....nice. Beautiful, really, but his own built-in censorship wouldn't let him admit that, even in the privacy of his own mind.

"That's a nice poem," he said, when she had finished. "Which is it, if you don't mind me asking?" He absently reached to try and straighten his tie, his hand grabbing the front of his shirt as he remembered he was just in his white sweater and jeans. His face heated and he cleared his throat, focusing on the subject at hand.

"I'd certainly be interested, Professor," he said, offering her a reassuring smile, since she seemed nervous. "Though as I said, all I can really offer is star charting knowledge." Glancing to his book shelves, he stroked his bread as he thought. He probably had books on the subject, seeing as he was loathe to throw away a book even if he'd never used it for anything. He probably had his old school textbooks somewhere.

"What were some of your ideas for the activities the class could do?" He asked after a moment.

Myrni flushed when he asked her about the poem. "Oh....um, it's Blake. I suppose poets like him always drew me in because of how lyrical their words were." She paused and then leaned forward in the chair. She rested her elbows on her knees and then steepled her hands together, touching her chin to their tips.

When Trishna told her that he was interested in the shared project, she immediately smiled. She tried to reassure him that his lack of knowledge outside of charting wasn't going to be a problem. "Well, that should be fine. I'm not sure I want to get too serious with the topic as a whole. The students will make of romance what they will. Some may find that all these ways to look at compatibility is a bunch of silliness. And others might really connect with it."

She went quiet for a moment and she became thoughtful before speaking again, this time about the class structure. "Well, I think perhaps opening with a group brainstorming session on all the ways to view compatibility might be a good start. It could be interesting to see what the seventh years already think about the subject as it relates to their love lives so far. And then we can actually have them do some collaboration on the charting and numerological means of looking at it."

She looked at Trishna and asked, "What do you think? Any other ideas?"

"I think letting them decide would work well," he replied. "And perhaps letting them see how their own conclusions match up with the results through the various systems?" He smiled vaguely. "Since no one system gives the 'correct' answer over another, maybe letting them compare and contrast would work best for a classroom environment."

He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Having them work in pairs would probably be best. Would you want them to be assigned pairs, or let them pick? I'm not immediately aware of any couples in my class..." Well, Cuween and his sister didn't count, but other than that he was drawing a blank.

"That sounds like a good idea," Myrni said, nodding in agreement. "I'm sure, given the opinionated nature of some of our seventh years, that we could get a few who will disagree wholeheartedly with one system or the other or even both. Perhaps we can even encourage them to argue the merits and faults of them or the folly in those who might place too much weight in them?"

To the Arithmancy professor, it was a rhetorical question and she breezed onward to his next comments. "We might need to do groups of three if we do not have an even number, which could be interesting as well. That could allow them to talk about their compatibility between more than one person." A hint of a smirk curled on Myrni's lips and she shrugged. "Off hand, I do not know of any couples either. I'm fine with either letting them pick or assigning them."

After a pause, she clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "Now I'm excited. Thank you again for being amenable to doing this. Sometimes it's nice to change things up a bit."