Who: Thetis and Raiden Nakashima What: First day of classes at Columbia! Teacher's assistant meets teacher! When: Tuesday Where: Columbia University Warnings: None! Though no child of Poseidon should be this bubbly!
Raiden strutted her biggest smile with her bag packed as she headed onto the main campus. She'd dressed appropriately, with small heels while she looked over the campus map. She turned it multiple times in her hands before realizing where she needed to go. Looking down at her watch she gasped taking off in a slightly lady-like run towards the building. She was going to be late! Perhaps she should have rethought the dress.
When she reached the building, stumbling in with heavy breath she took a moment to calm down before straightening herself up. She opened the door carefully, poking her pretty little head in to look around.
argyropeza 2011-09-05 08:16 pm (local) (link) Thetis loved the first day of classes. It was a fresh start, a chance to begin the year the right way. And this time, she had a TA to help her, and that could only be a good thing. The girl had seemed like the right one for the position, and Thetis liked to trust her intuition on these things.
She checked the clock. 7:45. She wasn't here yet, but that was alright. She was probably still learning her way around the campus, and things like that were easily forgiven. She was just opening the textbook she used to check that it was correct, when she felt a...she didn't know what else to call it but a flicker. Like a candle instead of a flashlight. God, but...not. She jerked her head up, looking around, but the only other person in sight was a girl with long dark hair. It had to be her.
"Please, come in," she called. "You must be Raiden." (Reply to this)(Thread)
emerald_odyssey 2011-09-05 08:38 pm (local) (link) The door opened all the way, Raiden stepping in with a grin. "Sorry I'm late. Got mixed up on campus." She was still new to the city. She greeted Thassala with a little bow. "Raiden Nakashima. Nice too meet you! The mother of a celebrity even."
There was still some time to spare before students came in. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
argyropeza 2011-09-05 09:19 pm (local) (link) Thetis motioned her inside. "That's alright, these things happen. First days can be a little disorienting." She bowed her head slightly in return. "Thalassa Leventis. Lovely to meet you as well. And yes, sometimes I can hardly believe it myself. I remember when he barely came up to my knee." She didn't mention how he hadn't been that small for thousands of years. "Perhaps he'll stop by sometime and you can meet him."
She motioned to a smaller desk beside hers. "This is where you'll sit. If you could take as detailed notes as possible, that would be great, I'll probably use them in study guides. You'll also be doing things like grading papers, making copies, answering questions if other students have them and I'm not around, that sort of thing. Do you have any questions for me before the students arrive?" (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread) Thank you Ipod that was SO supposed to be Thalassa! emerald_odyssey 2011-09-05 09:33 pm (local) (link) "Oh?!" The girl practically beamed. "Really? Meet him?!" She almost giggled but she held it in.
Raiden bowed again with her head taking the seat she was offered. She was awkward in appearance compared to most in her family, mostly from her height and those bright eyes. They were nothing like the dark eyes of her mother, or most Japanese. It was in fact what often got her picked on as a child. She stood out and she'd always known that. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
argyropeza 2011-09-05 10:09 pm (local) (link) Thetis bit back her smile. "If his schedule permits, it's certainly a possibility."
She let the girl get settled as the first students started entering the lecture hall. She smiled at them as they took their seats, getting out notebooks and textbooks, greeting others that they knew. She kept an eye on the clock, and when the display showed 8:00, she called them to order. She introduced Raiden and herself, then handed out the syllabus and went over it with the class.
"If you could open your books and read the introduction, please," she said, making her way back to her desk. "We'll discuss it when you've finished." She sat down, then leaned over to address Raiden. "How's it going so far?" she asked. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
emerald_odyssey 2011-09-05 10:16 pm (local) (link) "Beautiful." She said, "I mean wonderful." She gave another soft bow. It's what she was used to, it was how they greeted, her voice the perfect pitch of most young women in Japan.
Helping to hand out the syllabus, Raiden sat back down in her seat quiet at first until Thalassa spoke.
"Good," her reply was soft as she opened up one of her notebooks and a pencil that held a little dolphin topper. She too looked over the chapter in the book. She was still very much excited. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
argyropeza 2011-09-05 11:01 pm (local) (link) Thetis turned away quickly so Raiden couldn't see her smile. Her son certainly had a way of gaining admirers from every kind of people, he'd been that way his entire life.
The lesson so far was going splendidly, a wonderful way to start off the new academic year. Thetis made a few notes and jotted down a few lesson plan ideas as the class read.
"Good," she said. "If you have any questions or need any help with anything, let me know. We're going to move fairly fast in this course, and we can't afford anyone, especially the pair of us, to lag behind." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
emerald_odyssey 2011-09-05 11:22 pm (local) (link) The idea swam around in her mind a second longer before she forced herself to think towards why she was here. She couldn't very well be a good assistant if she spent it daydreaming about handsome actors. She nodded. "Yes, I will!" She promised Thalassa she would not be a disappointment, she would be the best assistant she'd ever had!
She couldn't help but be curious, but it would be rude to pry too much into personal conversation. Especially when she'd just met the woman. She felt, however small, a motherly sense from this woman. A familiarity. It was then that her thoughts went into that sort of dimmed reality, the side of her that was full of fanciful stories her mother had often told her of. Of the gods and goddesses in the world. Who they were. She'd believed every word, based on the thought that her mother would never lie to her. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
argyropeza 2011-09-07 03:17 pm (local) (link) "Good," Thetis said, smiling in attempt to set her a bit more at ease. "I don't mean to pressure you, it's just that I want everyone to do their very best, and get everything they need out of this course."
The class continued in a procession of questions, Thetis doing the majority of the talking, and the class taking notes. But her allotted 90 minutes finally came to an end, and she dismissed them with a reading to do for Thursday.
She sat back down in her desk chair, propping her feet up on her desk; she finally could now that the students were gone. "So Raiden," she said, getting a can of diet soda from the mini fridge behind her desk and offering one to her TA. "Tell me about yourself, what's your family like?" (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
emerald_odyssey 2011-09-07 04:45 pm (local) (link) "I understand," Raiden announced, jotting down as many notes as she could until class was over. She felt confident that she had presented herself well, but the question about her family both excited her and made her nervous. She often went off in a tangent causing most to think she was a little on the dim side.
At Thalassa's drink offer she shook her head in a agreement, gingerly taking the drink in her hands and sipping slowly. "Okaasan---my mother and I just moved here a few months ago. I've never been anywhere but Japan. And my father," this was the nervous bit, "I've never met him, but mother says he's a king! I hope...I hope to find him soon! I'm on a journey to locate him!" (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
argyropeza 2011-09-08 04:55 am (local) (link) Thetis leaned over and looked at Raiden's notes. They were very thorough, and would make wonderful study guides for midterms, and eventually the final exam. She was once again very grateful that she'd taken Raiden on as her TA.
She listened and nodded as the girl spoke. "Well they say if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere," she said. "How are you settling in?"
She started internally at that. If she was half Greek, as she was fairly certain she was, that left only three choices. She didn't feel like the Underworld, so Hades was right out. And a child of Zeus was unlikely to be this cheerful or polite. She sighed to herself. If she was being honest, she'd guessed it right away. This girl had to be one of Poseidon's, the way Thetis thought of the sea whenever she looked at her. She even had a faint whiff of salt air about her.
"A king, hmm?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Perhaps if you told me a bit more about him, I could help you locate him." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
emerald_odyssey 2011-09-08 04:16 pm (local) (link) "New York is like Tokyo. I like it!" She was exuberant in her explanation, her eyes lighting up into a whole new world when asked about her father.
While she did not feel the presence Thetis obviously could feel radiating off of her, she felt a connection, like a pebble cast into a lake. The smell Thetis sensed also was unknown to the girl, though she knew as well as the other who her father really was.
Without a second thought she just blurted it, obvious in the description as to who she spoke of. "The king of oceans. Neptune of the seas!" It was ridiculous sounding she knew, but the girl was excited to announce such a revelation. "I know his alias, but I have no idea where to find him." She covered her hand over her mouth afterward, knowing Thalassa would find her crazy. "I'm sorry," she repeated in her overly polite Japanese way and started to stand, ready to run out.