Gideon listened very carefully as Dhivael spoke; his dark eyes tried to pierce her eyes and into her soul, hunting for something more warm and human than the dispassionate being before him. Their people saw no use for fables, myths or fairy tales and Gideon thought that as a sad state of affairs indeed. He was sure that a dry documentary would be much more entertaining to this alien girl than a ballet, opera or Broadway musical. The professor was pretty sure that the legends and myths of Earth’s people would prove no more inspirational to Dhivael than those of her own people; she would, of course, use them as a key to unlock certain questions she had about mankind…that he was sure of. “Don’t take on too heavy a workload when it comes to folk tales and superstitions, young lady. A brief introduction should do it. There is so much more to learn, after all.” He smiled, “Plus, I will be teaching some of that in my class and I don’t want you to be bored.”
The professor stood to make himself another mug of tea, “Sure you won’t join me? I have several blends”, he offered. As he was making the tea, he looked Dhivael over and found her quite alluring. He wouldn’t act on such a feeling, naturally, but his mind was his own. Such a cold, rational race, the Rihannsu…yet they procreate. There must be some impetus towards mating…something that fired the passion in such a seemingly temperate people. Gideon returned with his tea and struggled with himself about whether it would be ethical to broach the subject with Dhivael. Perhaps if he handled it correctly.
“Racially ambiguous”, he repeated the phrase and smiled, “Most here call the offspring of two races bi-racial, if they take note of the situation at all.” His brow creased, as he removed the tea bag from his mug, “Now, speaking of mating, do the Rhihannsu have similar traditions as the people of Earth? Do you meet someone, fall in love, get married? Does an individual select their own spouse or is a spouse preselected by the family? Are Rhihannsu intimate solely for the purpose of procreation or are they like humans, doing it for love and pleasure?”
Humor was a tough thing, Gideon thought, because what one thought was funny differed even between one Earthling and another. How could he get Dhivael to understand it? Perhaps he had a solution, “To try to impress upon you the various types and wide variety of humor, Dhivael, I’m going to make a list of DVD titles. Some are movies and some are television shows, okay? They are some of the best in humor this planet has to offer from the past through the present. I’d like to talk to you once you’ve seen them…” he smiled, “…hear what you think.” He nodded his head and lowered his eyes, “I will try to throw some humor your way, during class, to see if you can pick up on it.”
Gideon was secretly pleased that Dhivael was interested enough to ask about him personally. “Ahhhh, that’s an easy one. I came here because I had everything I wanted in England. Life was easy…safe…cozy.” He faked a yawn, “I was bored! If I stayed there, I would stagnate. I needed something new, something different, something challenging. Believe me, my dear, Alden is all three!”, he winked, “…and I have never been happier!”