Classy

by Merry Amelie

Title: Classy
Author: Merry Amelie
Archive: MA only
Category: Alternate Reality, Qui/Obi, Romance, Series
Rating: PG
Summary: The first day of the semester.

I'm posting Arcadia and Q/O drabbles to TPM 100.

Series: Academic Arcadia -- # 109
A chronological list of the series with the URLs can be found under the header 'Academic Arcadia' at the Master Apprentice ML.

My MA story page is here.

Feedback: Is treasured at MerryAmelie@aol.com.
Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.

For
My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, Carol, and Padawan Sue
Mali Wane for posting
My former betas: Alex and Ula

Chaucer information:
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Squire's Prologue and Tale
The Knight's Tale

A harried secretary flew by Ian, arms full of papers up to her chin. Freshmen roamed around him, dazedly searching for their classrooms. Case's barking at the hapless copier repairman greeted him as he passed the English Department office.

The first day of the semester had awakened the sleepy campus to a caffeinated frenzy. Relieved that Case was too busy to start in on him, Ian headed to his first period class in ARC-170 on the top floor.

Most of the students looked as if they'd rolled straight out of bed into their seats, especially those slinking in sheepishly as he began to speak. His own cream jacket and tie made quite a contrast to the t-shirts and torn jeans surrounding him.

Thanks to his tenure last semester, Ian was finally teaching a subject he relished -- an advanced course on Chaucer in the original Middle English. One of the perks was seeing only twenty tired but eager faces looking up at him.

Quinn had teased him about including The Wife of Bath in the syllabus since June, when he'd gotten his teaching assignment. But there were plenty of Canterbury Tales to cover without her bawdiness.

Ian smiled when he saw two erasers and five pieces of chalk on the tray. By this time next week, he'd be lucky to find half that. He sent around an attendance sheet, while he wrote his office hours, website address, and homework on the blackboard.

His first goal was to put the kids at ease, and his quip about The Knight's Tale and The Squire's Tale, both assigned reading for the next class, did just that.

Ian launched into a lively lecture on Chaucer's life and times, so the hour and twenty minute period flew by. The students were fascinated by the author's likeness on page four of the textbook, as well as the autobiographical details included in his tales. Incredible how much information had survived from the 14th Century.

Ian was delighted by the spirited discussion of iambic pentameter, and the way it complemented Chaucer's relaxed style. He had brought a translation into modern English and dissected an excerpt from The Monk's Tale, challenging the class to explain why the translation didn't do it justice.

Despite his monkish choice of subject, a girl wearing a miniskirt in the front row smiled a subtle seduction and drawled that she'd had the same problem with The Cook's Tale, making Ian wonder what else she was cooking up for him. The early days of a semester could be quite awkward, before the grapevine put an end to student crushes with a cold dose of Masterson reality.

Sure enough, she made straight for his desk after class, asking for extra office hours already. He couldn't wait to introduce her to Quinn. Expertly evading her, helped by the next class trickling in, he walked upstairs to his office and made himself an espresso.

He was meeting Quinn in the manuscript room of the library in fifteen minutes, and needed the extra jolt to concentrate on their research. They were working on a follow-up to their papers on The Charioteer, and had discovered a cache of Mary Renault's letters in a private collection at Bail. The letters were on loan to Luke for just one semester, so they had to work fast.

As he sipped his coffee, Ian mulled over the notes on Ralph Lanyon's personality he'd found in a series of letters to her editor. The insights into Ralph's character development were invaluable and fascinated him, especially in light of her revisions to the 1953 and 1959 editions.

Ralph reminded him of Quinn in many ways: his fastidiousness, his charm, his integrity. Not to mention looking good in a crisp white shirt.

Smiling contentedly, Ian set off to meet the real thing.