Office Hours, Astronomy

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

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

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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

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Well, I can think of no better reason to be kept up." Hm. She laughed, and tugged on her ear. Nervous habit. "Well, that's not entirely true. But you can rest assured that it's still up there on the list. I'd love to take a look at your laptop, too. Technology from this era is very interesting, in its own right. And I'm dying to learn more about the rift."

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

"I can, but Jack has expressly forbidden me from telling that story." She grinned and winked. "My laptop is your laptop -- now that it's working, I can keep it running in a thunderstorm, so you can play with whatever you like. And most of my rift data that's portable is on there."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Well, if Jack's forbidden it, then I can't imagine it's fit for anyone's ears!" No, really. "He was just in here, actually. Complaining about a 'twat' named Owen." She did finger quotes around the t-word. "Still not sure what that means."

"That's music to my very starved ears." So what if she was mixing metaphors? There was stuff to play with science at hand!

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

Well, that made her sigh. "Owen's a bit... offish. He can be rude and thoughtless and kind of a miserable man... but for all that he's a good friend. He and Jack have... problems. Going back. Just history."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"So I heard! Now, where I used to work, if senior officers were having interpersonal conflicts, they went to counseling. I suppose that's not quite an option with Torchwood?"

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

"Beyond the fact that they'd lock us all up for insanity... no. They're not the type to go." She sighed. "Ianto's the closest we have to a psychiatrist, really."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Ianto." That name was familiar, too. "Oh! 'Coffee boy'. Jack's words, not mine." A breech of trust, perhaps, but Jack needed to be taken down a few pegs! She meant this in a loving way, of course.

"It’s a stressful job you people have," she mused. "Starfleet's got an entire branch, a staff of thousands, dedicated to studying hazardous anomalies. And we don't need to keep our operations secret from a pre-contact populous. Does it get to you, if you don’t mind my asking?"

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

"... Coffee boy? Oh, Jack." She made a face. That was hardly the way to talk about Ianto! "Ianto's a lot more than that to all of us."

She had to think about Jadzia's question. "Sometimes," she admitted. "Your work is your life, and your family asks questions... it's hard when you have friends or lovers outside." She glanced down at that.. Hard lessons, those. "Eventually you just accept that when you join Torchwood, you become Torchwood. You lean on the others, and you find something to distract you."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Well, I'd assume so. 'Makes really fantastic coffee' is hardly enough to fill up a resume, even if one includes references."

"Oh, I know how that goes." Dax had friends spread all across the galaxy, but Jadzia's closest acquaintances lived on DS9. There was a reason Starfleet personnel tended to socialize and marry among their own. It was hard to find a civilian who understood the things you inevitably took home with you. "Back home, the divide between professional and personal life was non-existent. You were the job." She smiled, a bit wistful. "Thankfully, it was a really great job."

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

"Although he does make really fantastic coffee," she confesses, with a laugh.

Her smile is broader than it usually is, at that, and she nods and her voice is warm. "For all it is or isn't, I wouldn't give it up for the world."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure they feel the same way about you." She smiled, crossing her arms. "After all, there aren't many Toshiko Satos to go around." And since Tosh was such a genius, it couldn’t hurt to ask...

"Tosh." Dax looked very serious, and reached for a notebook. "What’s a Xenu (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1312340.html?thread=66758996#t66758996)? I can’t tell if it’s a warrior princess (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1313092.html?thread=66798916#t66798916), or a very gifted poet (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1315300.html?thread=66983908#t66983908). I feel like I might be missing something. And while we're on it, what exactly is a warrior princess? Is it some sort of military title?"

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

"I hope so." She gave Jadzia a little smile -- a trace of something odd in there -- but then it flickered full on and she laughed.

"Oh no, don't tell me someone's asked you to take a personality test." She covered her mouth with one hand. "And a warrior princess... I'd have to show you. It's entertainment, not military."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Personality test?" Dax scanned over the rest of her Xenu-related notes with frown. Trying to stay connected with today's youth was more trouble than it was worth. "No one's mentioned anything of the sort. Earth religion is incredibly confusing." She sighed and scratched her head. "Maybe Jesus has some input? We're having tea next week."

"Entertainment? What’s entertaining about a warrior princess?" Honestly, kids these days.

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

"It's how they hook you in. They give you a rigged personality test to tell you everything that's wrong with you, then they have you pay money to... oh goodness, I'll get you a book on Scientology. It's an absolute mess." She made a little face and then blinked. "... you're having tea with Jesus?"

This place was just... inexplicable.

"A beautiful dark-haired, pale-eyed woman in skintight leather armor and knee boots fighting, sweating, and running about the landscape flashing thigh? I, for one, own the DVDs."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"A book would be great, if you don't mind." Books were lovely. Books, she understood. "Apparently! Ah Derek and his paramour, Ms. Swan, will also be in attendance. At first, I was under the impression that Ah Derek was Xenu, but I've started to reevaluated my position on that matter. He's still a very talented poet, though."

"Oh." Blink. "Fair enough!"

Re:

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

"Of course not. They're actually a little scary, the Scientologists. Forewarned is forearmed, right?" Ah Derek? Ms Swan? No idea. "Yes, but... Jesus? He's here?" That answers that, really.

"Want to borrow those, too? They're rather fun little adventure stories, even before the leather."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Exactly!" She nodded enthusiastically. "That seems to be the case. I hope he likes scones."

"Certainly! For research purposes, of course." Fangirl in disguise!

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

"You realize you're sort of shaking the foundations of what faith I have left."

She smirked. "You're going to be a Xena fan. No question. I rather like Gabrielle myself, but some people find her a bit whiny."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Personally, I find a love of baked goods quite affirming. If Jesus didn't like scones, I'd think you people were worshipping a false god!" Of course, she had no guarantee that the all-powerful being did, in fact, enjoy a nice buttered scone. Ah, well. Cross that bridge when you come to it,

"Oh, I have a higher tolerance for 'whiney' than most." She couldn't help but think of poor Julian. Or Quark, if the replicator was on the fritz!

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

"... all right," she admitted, with a laugh. "You have a point." Who didn't love a nice hot scone?

"Then you'll like her." She smiled mischeviously. "Just be prepared for historical inaccuracy like you wouldn't believe."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

((Sorry about the lag in response time! My inbox ate the notification!))

"Well that won't be a problem! My knowledge of earth history is absolutely laughable. Just the other day, I accidentally misinformed a student that the Greeks were responsible for the 12 month calendar, and not the Babylonians." She sighed. "It was very embarrassing."

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

((Mine does that ALL THE TIME.))

Oh, Jadzia. For a moment Tosh really was endlessly fond of the woman, and she only barely kept from laughing a little. "I'm sure the student forgave you."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"I offered a private study session to break down the differences between the two civilizations as pertains to the field of Astrology." She smiled, aware at least of her nerdishoverzealous nature. "Surprisingly, they declined."

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

"I would have taken you up on it." She grinned.