Office Hours, Astronomy

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

Office Hours
Professor Jadzia Dax, Astronomy
MW 3-6 PM or by Appointment

---------

Dax hung the sign outside of her office, then rearranged yet another pile of papers, determined to make the space more presentable. It was going about as well as one would expect.

She was wearing her uniform, for the first time in over two months. That morning, rooting through her closet, Dax had come to two realizations: First, that so much time had passed since wearing said uniform, and second, that she hadn’t noticed. No one could blame her, certainly. There were classes to plan, teas to host, and roommates to bother. She was settling into her new role as a professor, and that was perfectly understandable.

And somewhat terrifying. Still, she could mull over all of those things outside of work. She sat down, awaiting any students who  would care to learn.

Comments

[twoyearsmissing.livejournal.com]

Jack and the word learn... were strangers. Had been for some time. But Jack and the word annoy... well. Jack wasn't going to pass up a chance. After an interesting conversation with Ianto about Owen (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1350617.html) he was slightly curious about other things too. None of this was good in any way.

Jack knocked on the door then poked his head round it. Least he didn't make an entrance worthy of Gwen.

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Hello Jack," Dax said brightly. Good ol' Jack. Her partner in crime, and a fellow temporally displaced individual. What a pleasant surprise. No reason to suspect any sort of malfeasance on his part, not at all! "Here to learn about astronomy?"

[twoyearsmissing.livejournal.com]

"Well..." Jack stood hands in pockets. "Not really... unless it can explain why the possibiliy of two as far as I can tell sane women fighting over one guy, not me... temporal anomalies I could manage to talk about. I know about space, seen enough of it, most of it from interesting positions." He grinned.

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Actually, there are a few theories about lunar cycles influencing the behavior of the females in some humanoid species." She grinned. "Said theories completely patriarchic and hold no basis in reality, of course, but they do exist."

"Is that why you stopped by? To see if there was any scientific basis for women not fighting over the dashing Captain Jack Harkness? Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Glad for the company."

[twoyearsmissing.livejournal.com]

"You've not met Owen." Jack complaining about that, so wrong. He wasn't like that, wasn't bitter about Owen getting more attention than him. Hah. "Not really, well entirely. Nice hearing the female opinion about it, but felt like syaing hello. Still got the sonic screwdriver you know. I mean really if you meet him you'd know what I was so..." Fixated was the word really. "Concerned about. I mean it makes no sense."

[wrinklesintime.livejournal.com]

Meg knocked lightly on the door. It was definitely the appointed time, she thought. "Professor?" she called tentatively.

Dax had seemed like one of the more together teachers she'd had at Hogwarts, and she was thinking maybe a chat with her would be fun.

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"That's what they tell me!" She stood up, and waved the girl in. "Hello there. How can I help you?"

[wrinklesintime.livejournal.com]

Meg cleared off some papers from a chair and perched on the edge. "I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "It's just... kind of nice that there's a teacher around who is actually available for the most part. And my father's an astrophysicist, so I guess I'm just interested in science." She looked a little embarrassed.

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Oh, really? What's his name?" She grinned. "An interest in science is a wonderful reason to stop by. Is there branch you hold a particular regards for?"

[wrinklesintime.livejournal.com]

"Dr. Alex Murry," Meg answered immediately. She didn't expect Dax to have heard of him, though. "And me... well, I love numbers, which I guess doesn't make me a science nerd, but still..."

[dot-is-cross-hs.livejournal.com]

"I should pay more attention to the professorial roster," she teased, with a grin. "Here I expected some sort of cranky, crazy old fellow."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I haven't been a cranky, crazy old fellow for at least five years. Even before that, I wasn't cranky so much as...justifiably entitled!" She grinned. "Eighty years old, you tend to expect a bit of preferential treatment."

[dot-is-cross-hs.livejournal.com]

She laughed and perched on the edge of Dax's desk. "How do you feel about remapping a simulation from a macroscopic structure down to some of its own subatomic particles?"

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. Physics talk. Tosh physics talk, no less. For some reason, the terms 'grandfather paradox' and 'temporal prime directive' rang in Dax's head. She smiled, and fanned herself off with a sheet of paper, feigning offense.

"Well, I'd hope you'd have the common courtesy to buy me a drink first." Dax laughed. "Hello, Toshiko. How have you been?"

[dot-is-cross-hs.livejournal.com]

"If you can find my error, I'll buy you the bottle," she promises, with a grin. "Hello Jadzia. Immersed in my work. I'm still trying to get some kind of simulation of our rift with appropriately small error rate, and I feel like I'm missing something fundamental. I thought I'd ask the house elves for some spicy takeaway food and see if I could lure you into the quantum nether realm for a while."

[tactical-alert.livejournal.com]

Malcolm hadn't done much to garner any attention for himself. He hadn't very well attempted to talk to many people at all, mostly occupied with wondering how he got when and where he was and getting back to where and when he was. Also occupied with trying to cope with the fact that it didn't seem like he'd be going much of anywhere anytime soon, and maybe he was really stuck here.

Astronomy was a basic skill for sailors and for Starfleet officers. And anything to do with space and stars could make him feel more at home. Or help him find a way home.

He, too, was in his uniform (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/ST-MalcolmReed.JPG)--hardly he was out of it, but the more he thought he was stuck here, the more he realized that wasn't going to work so well. Still, he wore it when he was out and about, like he was still on duty.

She was a professor, and while she wasn't exactly a superior officer (well, that was to his knowledge, so far), he stood at attention and cleared his throat. "Excuse me. Professor?"

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

Dax had her back to the door, rooting through a shelf, using her chin to balance a towering stack of volumes. Blasted paper-based system. When she turned around and saw what the young man was wearing, she nearly dropped everything she was carrying.

Starfleet. Mid-22nd century, perhaps, but Starfleet all the same.

"You’re..." She paused a second, to regain a semblance of composure. "Yes? How can I help you?"

[tactical-alert.livejournal.com]

It wasn't quite the reaction he was anticipating (actually, he wasn't anticipating much reaction at all). He stiffened slightly. "You're the astronomy professor? I was...hoping you could help me, somehow, if at all--"

What she was wearing had been of little concern to him, of course, but the pips caught his attention. "--possible. You wouldn't happen to be military, would you? Ma'am?" he added retroactively. It looked like she was a Lieutenant Commander, just a rank above, but of course, he couldn't be certain. Different Earth time, or perhaps she was from another culture, another world. Better safe than sorry, though.

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Yes. Yes I am." She straightened up, and put the books down. "Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax. First Science Officer aboard Deep Space Nine, a Bajoran space station presided over by The United Federation of Planets."

Translation: I'm Starfleet.

"And you are?"

[tactical-alert.livejournal.com]

He didn't know what a Bajoran was, nor Deep Space nine, nor this Federation--wait. Hadn't the Captain mentioned that once? About one of his little trips with Daniels? A Federation of planets...well, the name and idea behind it was admirable, even if he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, senior armoury officer aboard Enterprise. Just Human, I'm afraid." Of course he had to run into someone one rank higher than him, here, of all places. That only made him more nervous.

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

The Doctor couldn't resist popping his head in. "So here's where you've been all day!"

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Hey, you." The edges of Dax’s mouth tugged upwards. Not her usual 'the-doctor-is-in' smile, but a smile nonetheless. "This is where I am most days. They pay me for it, after all. Coffee?"

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"No thanks. Oh, come on, it's not like you've got classes everyday. Doesn't mean you have to chain yourself here." He found a vacant spot on her desk to hop up on. "So, what's up?"

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Doctor, are you saying you miss me? I knew you'd grown attached." She winked and reached for stack of papers.

"Today? Nothing much. Office hours, then a few modifications I want to implement on the wards surrounding my data pads. Now that the things are actually working, I want to be sure they stay that way. Of course, if we're speaking in a literal sense, I believe there's a flying lesson being held today." Avoidance? Perish the thought.

[crux-austrina.livejournal.com]

"Astronomy, huh?" If someone could help, it would be here.

Jeanne knocked at the door of the office and awaited a reply.