Gabriel Hamlet (witdiseased) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-01-05 22:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, hamlet, horatio |
Who: Hamlet, Horatio
What: Chance meeting
When: Wednesday afternoon
Where: Coffee shop on UCLA campus
Warnings: None whatsoever, just an innocent cup of coffee
Theodore's so used to teaching overseas these days, his first few days of the semester were a bit bumpy. But he thinks he's settling in quite well, and, because he has such a specialized class topic, it's a nice small group. Easy to manage. He's got an hour or so before his office hours start, so he's made his way to a campus coffee shop he's heard so much about. Definitely worth the praise. He sips his latte at the condiment stand with a pleased hum, then stirs in a small spoonful of brown sugar.
Gabe is there, as always. When he's not in the library or in class, he's in the campus coffee shop, books spread out on the small table, mumbling to himself while he works. But this morning, there's something bothering him. Someone he can't quite place. The man by the counter looks so familiar -- and then it hits him, and he stands. "Theo! Theo!" He waves his arms, in case Theodore could possibly have missed him.
He hadn't even noticed Gabe, not yet anyway, and he glances up when he hears his name. "Well. This is something, isn't it," he says, laughing as he wanders over to the table. "We meet again."
He steps around the table and pulls Theo into a hug, squeezing him hard. "We have to stop meeting like this. Or -- or don't, because I enjoy seeing you. How are you? Sit down and have your coffee with me." He gathers up his books and puts them back in his backpack, closing his laptop as well. "I was just trying to get some work done."
"Well, it looks like I'm here to stay, so I think the chance meetings are done." Theo settles at the table and sets his own bag on the floor. "I guess you're teaching, then? Shakespeare, right?"
“God, of course. Of course, what else would I be teaching?" Gabe wraps his hands around his thermos and rests his chin on top of it, smiling happily at Theo. "So here we are again. I think we're destined to meet like this."
"I don't know. All I remember about you at Oxford is how you always had your nose in a folio." He laughs, sipping his latte. "I don't believe much in fate or anything, but it seems that way, doesn't it."
"Marlowe, Shakespeare, Spenser -- Devoured them all. But Shakespeare's always been the one that... calls to me, I guess."
"Everyone's got their thing, I suppose. But how have you been? God, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"
Gabe reaches out and grabs Theo's hand with a fierce sort of grin, eyes overbright. "It has. Far too long. Far, far too long. What are you professor of here?"
He grins, giving Gabe's hand a squeeze. "International studies, officially. But I just got my doctorate not long ago, so I more or less teach whatever I want. Right now I'm doing European politics in the nineteenth century."
"I'll go back and get my doctorate, at some point. But -- but right now I want to teach. I enjoy it. I enjoy sharing things with my students, watching them learn. Imparting my knowledge on the next generation of malleable young minds. It's fascinating."
"I always thought I was destined for politics. But - No. I understand, completely. There's just something about teaching that's rewarding. And especially when I can use my own research as a class focus."
"I'm not Doctor Hamlet yet, I'm not quite allowed to do that. Besides, the uh. The school board prefers to keep me on a slightly tighter leash." Rather than bitter, he simply looks amused and sips at his coffee. "As I'm sure you remember, I'm a bit of a loose canon at times."
"I remember that, yes. If it's any consolation, Doctor Hamlet doesn't have a nice ring to it. Not that Doctor Horatio is better. And Doctor Horațiu is even worse." He laughs.
"I like Doctor Horatiu. It rolls off the tongue." Gabe trills his tongue before desolving into giggles. "No? Doctor Gabriel Hamlet doesn't sound scholarly?"
"If you put the Gabriel in the middle, it eases it as little." Theo grins over his latte. "So - do you live around here, then? In Los Angeles?"
"Orange County, actually. Near Anaheim. What about yourself?"
"I'm in Anaheim. We're practically neighbours." He laughs. "You should come over some time. We can do dinner, like real adults or something."
"A real adult dinner, I don't know if I can handle that. But I'll try, just for you." He ducks his head a little and rubs at the bridge of his nose with his thumb. "No, no I'd like that."
"Good. It's nice to know I don't have to start off here completely friendless." Theo reaches over and nudges at Gabe's hand. "You still do that, huh. With your thumb."
Gabe laughs a little self conciously and nods, pushing his hair back from his face. "I do, I do. Where've you been, anyway? You said -- did you say where? You said abroad."
"After Oxford I stayed in England a bit, but I just finished a teaching circuit in Germany. Just came home from Wittenberg, actually, which I think is something you could probably appreciate," he teases.
"I do appreciate it! I'm jealous, in fact. But um -- my mom wanted me home, so. I'm here for -- I dunno, for a while." He shrugs and finishes his coffee, shaking his thermos with a slight frown. "These never seem to hold as much coffee as I need."
"I hate to break it to you, but you're a grown man, you know." But Theo remembers whispers about what the Hamlet family does for a living, so he won't push the matter. "Do you want another?"
"Lies and uh, and poppycock. You're only as old as you think you are. I just turned thirty, can you believe it? But yes -- please, more coffee is always needed."
"Will wonders never cease. Just a regular brew?" He stands up and takes the thermos.
“A red eye, actually," he admits sheepishly. "I know, I know. But I didn't sleep last night, I need it."
"At this rate, you won't sleep tonight." But he wanders off, getting the red eye and grabs a snack to take with him to his office.
"That's what chamomile is for," he calls after, shaking his head in amusement. "Theo. Huh. The world is a funny place."
Theo sets the thermos down and sits, eyebrows raised. "I think the whole chamomile helps you sleep is sort of ridiculous, really."
"Really? It helps me sometimes. Though most nights I just... my brain won't stop working. Do you ever have nights like that?"
"I think it only works because you convince yourself it's going to. I get it sometimes, I guess. Not often. My life's pretty ordinary."
"My life isn't exciting. Just..." He gestures vaguely. "Sleepless. I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space were it not that I have bad dreams."
"You, my friend, read too much Shakespeare. Yes, I caught that." He laughs. Finishing off his latte he stretches, leaning forward. "How often do you slip things like that out in conversation?"
"As often as possible," Gabe grins, pleased that Theo caught it. "How often do you work German politics into yours?"
"Never, actually. If you can believe it."
"I am shocked and appalled. You'd think you'd find a way. Though admittedly, Shakespeare is a little easier to work in."
"Well. Shakespeare has the advantage of being quoted all the time. Especially Hamlet. I think more people quote from there more than any other play. Though you might know better."
"It's one of the most filmed and adapted pieces of literature there is, actually. Up there with Cinderella."
"What do you think the appeal of it is? I'm sure it's a silly question to you, but, I'm curious. I mean. Of all his works, why that one?"
"It's a classic story, isn't it? The most classic. Man against himself. It's the most introspective of Shakespeare's plays which is why we find it so fascinating. And it will never be solved because to solve Hamlet, we'd have to solve ourselves, first."
"Really? I sort of thought it was solved when everyone died at the end."
"Not the plot, but Hamlet himself. Is he mad -- that's what drives people. It's this great mystery we'll never know the answer to. Is Hamlet insane? Are any of us?"
"I'm afraid to ask you what you think about it, so maybe I'll save the question until our dinner."
"Are you kidding me? That's what my thesis was on. Taking a modern look at Hamlet's madness, using a few papers on the subject, as well as doing my own research. Interviewing psychologists and psychiatrists, for example. Having them read the play and getting their points of view. Actually reading the DSMIV -- it was a fascinating study. I'll give you a copy of my thesis, if you want."
"Actually - I would want. I mean, I'd like that. Really. It's too bad it's fairly ... You know. Worldly. It's set in Denmark and there's that little bit about Denmark and Norway but, it's not really specific. I wish I could offer my own educational take on it." He laughs, then checks his watch. "- I'm going to be late for my office hours. Here." Theo takes out one of his cards, scribbling his cellphone number on it. "We'll talk about dinner. Set it up. I'm pretty good at cooking after my worldly travels."