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]

"There's the crux of it. If and when I get back, I don't know that I'll belong there anymore. That life - and I loved my life on DS9, make no mistake - who's to say that I'll fit back into it? I know I've changed. I mean, I'm used to change. Eight different lifetimes, after all. Nine, if you count a brief symbiont abduction. But this is different." She took a deep breath, willing down the feeling of panic in her chest.

"But I don't know that I belong here either. Not that I have much choice in the matter. To borrow a cliché, I just don't know who I am anymore. I've never had to wonder about that before." Honestly, Dax had hoped to go through only one identity crises per lifetime.

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"You really don't belong here. Neither do I. A lot of us don't. Plucked outta nowhere, plopped down here. We just gotta make the best of things. You don't lose old lives that quickly. You've adjusted to here pretty well in a relatively short amount of times. Getting back, I'm sure it wouldn't take you long at all to bounce right back. Besides. I think I've come to learn that you don't know who you are until you're not who you are anymore." If that even made sense. Well, it did to him.

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"That makes sense. Kind of. If you squint," she teased. "All right then, Doctor. Humor me. Who do you think I am?"

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"'s not for me to say." Easy way out, but he wholeheartedly believed it. "I can say you're Jadzia Dax, I can say what you are, I can tell you traits, tidbits, facts, opinions, but that's not who you are."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"I am Jadzia Dax," she mused. For whatever it was worth. "That's not so bad." She smiled, and gave the Doctor a pat on the knee. "And for the record, Jadzia Dax is quite lucky to have you in her life. Even if you do leave your junk lying in the middle of the floor."

What? He did! ...Or was it her junk? Hm. Hard to keep track. She was a busy woman!

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"Oi! 's not my junk. You tried clearin' most of it out when you went chargin' in to my room and started throwing everything away!" Oh, now, don't make him grumpy. But he smiled anyway. Even hopped off the desk and scooped her up into a bear hug.

"You are Jadzia Dax, and I wouldn't have you any other way. I don't need any identity crisies from you, so you? Should just keep on bein' you. See, that's not so hard, is it?"

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

She scoffed. "I didn't throw out your junk! Just your trash!"

Oh, fine. If he wanted to hug his way out of it (was it her fault that most of his junk was trash?), she was hardly going to complain. Quite the opposite. Dax grinned, and leaned into the hug. Rested her chin on his shoulder, and took the opportunity to reach up and muss up the Doctor's hair not that there was all that much hair to muss up!.

"All right. You can consider all identity crises null and void. And you know what I forgot? This bloody uniform itches like crazy."

'Bloody'? Oh, lord help her. She was going native.

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"You'll find I don't wear anything as constricting as that. More like a catsuit, that is. But don't take my word when it comes to fashion advice. I've had bad judgment before. Not now, obviously, but y'know."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

And wouldn't you know it, even mid-hugging, Dax couldn't let a story untopped?

"One of my previous hosts wore polyester. 80 years after they finally stopped making it."

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

Oh ho, she was trying to top his previously horrendous sense of fashion? Well, might as well leave the big whammy for last. "Plaid pants. (http://www.scifiscience.co.uk/img/extras/doctorwho/doctors/troughton1.jpg) And a big furry coat (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/gallery/seconddoctor/troughton24.shtml) from time to time. Awful wool cap (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/gallery/seconddoctor/troughton33.shtml), too." But seriously, plaid! Plaid won out over polyester. At least polyester had actually been popular at one time.

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

She snorted, trying not to laugh. "Plaid pants and a wool cap?" No, sorry, that was full on laughter. "Oh, you've always been an old man, haven't you?"

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"I was in my youth!" ...No, now, that just sounded weird. But it was true! "First couple of lives, you should've seen me. I was an old-looking bastard back then. Been gettin' younger ever since!"

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"Lucky! I'm a good sixty years younger than my last body, but that was due to natural aging. Hopefully, I'll grow into a crotchety old woman before it's time for a new host." At this point, she was in too good a mood to consider the possibility that there might not be a new host.

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"I was a crotchety old man at the end of my first. If you had asked me when I was still in school, I would've said I'd never let myself become that. I was a terror. An absolute, lazy terror."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"I don't know that we would have gotten along! I was a bookworm. Completely, and utterly. Wanted to get into Starfleet, which is a selective process. Then I wanted to be joined, which is even more selective. Only one in a thousand Trill are chosen. It was only after joining with Dax that I learned to loosen up a bit." She smiled at the memory. "Have you ever been to Trill? It's lovely, this time of year."

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"Can't say I have, no. Y'know, you remind me of my best mate. Or the best mate I used to have while at the Academy. All about learnin', always trying to get my grades up. Stiff bugger, but we had plenty of fun when I could loosen him up. The both of us, getting into and out of trouble. Good kid, he was, back then. Thought we probably balanced each other out; that old Human saying of opposites attract maybe is right afterall."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

"You'd like it. Well, actually, you might get bored fairly quickly. To be completly honest, I always did. Miss it now, though." Wasn't that always the way?

"Oh, I never tried to get my classmate's grades up." She grinned, just a bit wickedly. "That would have meant more competition. No, I'd have encouraged you to ditch class."

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes I did, but more often than not I was there, being bored to tears. I probably wouldn't be bored on Trill. Now, see, Gallifrey, that'd bore you to tears. Always did me. 's why I left. Too many rules. Always was a bit of the outcast there. Too liberal-minded for 'em, I think. Beautiful place, though, you'd love it."

With a nostalgic sense about him, he thought back to the day (http://ninth-doctor.livejournal.com/10615.html) he left. "Absolutely fantastic to look at. On a clear day, you could see for miles. Couldn't tell you what it was like now, time travel an' all that dodgy business, but I like to think the flowers would be out, just beyond the citadel. There's not as much variety as you've got here on Earth, but. It's just a beautiful place, gorgeous. Could be biased. It's home."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

Dax hooked an arm around the Doctor's back, and rested her head on his shoulder. The professor in military garb (science officer in professor garb, some days) certainly wasn't going to fault anyone for a bit of nostalgia. "We're all a bit biased, when it comes to home."

Even if she was still figuring out exactly where that was.

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

"It's always strange, thinkin' about it. Hate the people, love the place. When I left, I didn't think I'd ever see it again. Didn't want to. But eventually I'd keep bein' dragged back for one reason or another. Anyway, the TARDIS is home now, always will be. Not this shabby old castle. But it's nice enough. More like a...oh, I dunno, a vacation getaway." He put on a grin. "Up in the mountains. Vacation villa."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

In lieu of drawing on any sort of comparison tale, Dax was content to rub the Doctor's back while he talked. She missed Trill, but at least it still existed.

"A getaway complete with mildew and papercuts," she noted. "I think I might need an actual vacation. Jack mentioned the possibility of going to Cardiff, see Torchwood. I might scan some psionic fields!" She grinned. What? That sounded like a veritable barrel of fun!

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

Cardiff? Cardiff! Dax going to Cardiff would be brilliant! He spun her around a bit. "You'll love Cardiff! The Rift'll give you more than enough to be fascinated at. I can show you around a bit, if Jack doesn't do a good job of it. I wonder if they still have that little place we ate at last time, that was a blast...almost literally, too, bit of a nuclear program almost going up and wiping out the planet. Good thing we were there to stop the whole thing, even though the Rift opened up a bit more than I would've liked in the process of all of this planning and double-crossing and scheming."

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

Dax huffed. "Oh, I don't want to go foiling any nuclear catastrophes on my vacation! Any other sort of catastrophe, fine. But nuclear catastrophes are murder on my spots." She broke into a smile, and winked. Oh, speaking of the spots. "Suppose I'll have to invest in some quality cover-up! They're a rather large clue to my extraterrestrial nature."