BUSHED! Teaching Magic is Hard!

[dragonspooker]

Characters: Lina Inverse and You!
Location: Cafeteria, library
Rating: G for now.
Open/Closed/Finished: Open
Summary: Backdated to a day before the jam flood, Lina's dealing with a couple of weeks' worth of having students drawing Para-magic from her and the exhaustion that comes with.

In the Cafeteria:

Lina is a person known for the vast amounts of food she can put away, often surrounded by used plates, stacked fairly high. Today, though, she's just starting. A quartet of plates loaded from the buffet are in front of her, but her usual fervor when it comes to eating isn't there. She's eating, but slowly - almost like an average, civil person. It's probably got something to do with the fact that she's wobbling a bit in her chair and her half-lidded eyes.

Later, in the library:

Lina was studying in the library, but it seems exhaustion has caught up with her, and she's conked out on the book she was reading. At least she doesn't snore, but such a situation probably doesn't reflect very well on a teacher...

Comments

In the library!

[jointheclub]

"You're going to give yourself a crick in the neck, you know," Slughorn commented as he looked down at her with an amused smile.

[dragonspooker]

"Muh...wha..." Lina blinks, then starts to push up from where she'd konked out. And then she realized that she'd fallen asleep about halfway up. She jerks up the rest of the way, then sputters.

"Oh geeze, I... Fell asleep, didn't I?"

[jointheclub]

"Instructor Inverse, am I right?"

Slughorn had, of course, pulled a favor or two to get access to the various staff files. All above-board, of course, he DID need to know which people could potentially learn to brew potions in case he ever left, voluntarily or not. Still, there's a certain predatory delight in his smile now that he's finally managed to catch the 'sorcery genius' in favorable circumstances.

[dragonspooker]

"Yeah, that's me, uh..." Slughorn should count himself lucky that her current state kept her from noticing that particular glint in his grin. Maybe less lucky though that she's having trouble remembering his name. Though she is grateful that he's not one of her students. Or the Commander.

[jointheclub]

"Slughorn. Itemcrafting. And perhaps Potions, if I can ever find a student or three with the knack to learn," he said jovially enough. "Retired when you came through, of course, though here I am again."

[dragonspooker]

"Right, right," Lina answers, rubbing her eyes with one hand, then yawning. She does chuckle a bit at the retirement comment. "Guess they can't stand to let you go then, eh?"

[jointheclub]

"Actually," he said, cheerful mood visibly slipping a few notches, "the outside world isn't safe for offworlders any more. My 'peaceful' retirement seemed more likely to require an excess of sneaking around in Muggle houses. Already did that once. Seems I'm destined to end out my days teaching."

[dragonspooker]

Lina winces at that a bit. "Yeesh, I knew people didn't care much for us, but I never expected it'd get that bad. Not exactly an encouraging prospect for the future, if we can't figure out a way back home..." She'd quite frankly had enough of people freaking out from people at home. Even if it was usually her own fault.

[jointheclub]

"Could be worse!" he said, adopting an air of resolute cheer. "Could be much worse. I've lived through dark times before, darker than these by far."

[dragonspooker]

"There is that, I suppose. Can't say I'm in any hurry to experience what's going on out there if that's the case, though." She does chuckle a bit at the second comment. "Guess you've got a fair amount of tricks up your sleeves, then. Or are just really, really persistent."

[jointheclub]

"Survival is simply a matter of being where you're least likely to be killed, of course," he said matter-of-factly. "That's how you know a dark time, as well -- when the place it's most dangerous to be a part of is also the safest place."

caf!

[hotpinkwhirlwind]

Without warning, Sharpay plonks a takeaway coffee cup in front of Lina (should she taste it, it's a low fat soy latte that was supposed to have no foam).

"You look like you could use this," she says matter-of-factly, sitting across from her with her own tray (one plate plus another takeaway coffee cup). "Or a nap."

[dragonspooker]

Lina blinks blearily at the cup before her, and a few moments pass after Sharpay speaks while the smell of the latte drifts over to pique Lina's attention. "...nap would be better, but this will work until then," she answers, pulling the container over and taking a sip.

...and then promptly scrunches her face in disgust and coughs a few times.

"What the heck is this!?"

[hotpinkwhirlwind]

In this state, Sharpay wasn't expecting a prompt response, and merely picks at her own food before Lina answers. But when Lina reacts badly to the drink, it's all she can do to not give her a withering look; she ends up giving her a squinty half-glare, and sliding forward a few packets of organic sweetener as an afterthought.

"It's a no fat soy latte, and it was supposed to be no foam..."

She rolls her eyes.

"It wasn't. I made them replace it."

As if to illustrate this, she takes a long drink of the replacement latte.

[dragonspooker]

Lina's face remains contorted in the disgusted look as she sets the drink down, more toward the middle of the table. "I'll pass. Sentiment's appreciated, but if I'm gonna be havin' milk, I'd rather it come from a cow than a bean," she says, then promptly shoves a hefty piece of meat in her mouth and sets to chewing it to get the taste out of her mouth.