Dr Maturin sends owls: to the Headmistress, Ryuuji, and River

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Esteemed Headmistress Kahnooloo:

Having been recently appointed to the post of Potions professor, I find myself in need of some assistance, especially in sorting out the affairs left by my untimely-popcorned predecessor. Professor Snape had been giving advanced tutorials to an exceptionally bright student, Ryuuji Otogi, whom I understand is already on staff here in the capacity of a peacekeeper. I should like to take on Mr Otogi as a teaching assistant, and hereby request that he be granted access to the potions storeroom and to any and all supplies needed, as well as the permission to order any needed supplies that Snape had not amply stocked.

My thanks for your timely attention to this matter. If I can be of any assistance to you in my capacity as potions master, please do not hesitate to ask; I understand, for example, that the preparation of wolfsbane potion for the school's lycanthropic residents is desired, and I feel myself quite equal to the task.

All best wishes,
Dr. Stephen Maturin.





Ryuuji --

Have owled Headmistress re your assistantship, access to supplies, permission to order supplies, etc. If anything else is needed, let me know. You do know, I am sure, that as you are a quite advanced student, I have no qualms about your ordering items for your own personal education and use, provided nothing untoward is intended; if something comes up which might contravene some regulation or other, I should prefer that you contact me before acting on it, of course.

Will see you Wednesday as planned, unless I hear otherwise from you.

- Stephen

(( OOC: And just now saw Ryuuji's convo with Terry where he mentions not knowing whether the new Potions prof is going to know what he's doing. Heh, he's going to be in for a surprise then ... Stephen is pretty much the master of all drugs from all cultures, so I don't think potions should prove any different ... ))





R --

We have new projects on our hands. I have been appointed professor of potions, which means we are to move to different quarters, rather larger than our present room. This should not be allowed to affect the frequency of our visits to Fillerbunny, whom I have promised some help with his reading skills.

Which brings me to the second project; I am sure you would like to assist with Fillerbunny's education? I have taken the liberty of procuring one book to begin with, but no doubt you will be able to find others.

Also, a book for you, sweetheart, as you had expressed some interest in Latin. There is a facing-page translation in English, though I rather doubt you will need it for long.

-- S

*a bookmark of silk cord marks the volume of Catullus at poem 5*

Comments

[kahnooloo.livejournal.com]

Dear Dr. Maturin,

Congratulations on your appointment as Potions Master. You may certainly appoint Mr. Otogi your assistant, if that is your desire, and grant him access to the School's potions storeroom and supplies. I am sure Mr. Otogi will make a fine assistant for you.

I very much appreciate your willingness to make Wolfsbane Potion for our resident lycanthropes. The Potion is difficult to make but, as you are certain you are up to the task, I will of course avail myself of your offer. Would you kindly acquaint yourself with the lunar cycles and make Professors Grant and Lupin and Mr. Osborne aware of the availability of the Potion?

Sincerely and with gratitude,
Kahnooloo,
Headmistress
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

(( Stephen isn't wrong about being able to make the potion, but his player has no clue about lunar cycles -- is gametime following realtime lunar cycles, that I can just look up? ))

[dice-addict.livejournal.com]

Stephen,

Got it. I really don't think anything else is needed, since Sev would have left behind copies of his syllabus and stuff, I'm sure. Ah, thank you for that. In truth, Severus had insisted that I pick out my own supplies to make sure that I'm able to tell the difference between good quality ingrediants and second-rate ones, but if it's faster to order things through the school, that might be helpful. And I wouldn't do anything that could reflect badly on you, obviously. That's a given.

~Ryuuji

((Yay! That's good. XD Ryuuji's sure that Stephen knows his way around his stuff, he was just wondering about actual Potions in the syllabus.))

[r-tam.livejournal.com]

S---

Oh, that's wonderful! It would have been even more wonderful if you'd told me you applied. My telepathy, as you once pointed out, is not infallible. But as long as I still get to sleep with you I don't mind. Where are we living now?

Oh, that's so wonderful about Fillerbunny! I'd be glad to help! I'm not sure how good a teacher I am, though; I got on Simon's nerves sometimes when I'd correct him.

And the Catullus... Stephen, that's beautiful. *page is a little tearstained at this point* Thank you so much. That's incredibly thoughtful. Quot basium ut vos volo, quotiens vos volo, qua vos volo ut loco lemma. (http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=as+many+kisses+as+you+want+as+often+as+you+want+wherever+you+want+to+put+them&from=eng&to=ltt)

Wo lian ni. (http://gb.waiyu.org:9000/?roman=I+love+you)

*signed with the same Chinese character she carved on his collarbone*

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

*careful tracing of Chinese character* --

I am dreadfully sorry, love. I did think I had mentioned it. You must name whatever penalty you choose for my thoughtlessness. In any event, the post has been conferred, and Ryuuji is to be my teaching assistant; I thought you would like that.

The office is in the dungeons, as are the living quarters, yet oddly enough there is a door leading from them directly into Ravenclaw, in the curious way of this castle's geography. I hesitate to think what use it may have served in the past. It will help us to better attend to Fillerbunny and the other animals, at least.

I see you are as apt a pupil in Latin as in other pursuits, and look forward most eagerly to continuing your education. Basia innumerabilia, perennia, ubivis.

- S.

(( translation: Innumerable kisses, perpetually, wherever you please. ))

[r-tam.livejournal.com]

S---

Whatever penalty I want? I'll have to think about that. Fixus nostris tu dabis supplicium. (http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/116.html) You're going to work with Ryuuji? That's wonderful! I'm so glad you like at least some of my friends.

Well, we certainly aren't the first student and teacher to fall in love. I mean, Professor Lupin and Tonks are together.

Oh, yes. I look forward to it too. Jugiter, undique. (http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=constantly%2C+everywhere&from=eng&to=ltt)

And I've been reading the Catullus. I think Poem 109 (http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/109.html) might be my favorite so far. Et ego mos servo nostrum spondeo aeternum. (http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=I+will+keep+our+promise+forever.&from=eng&to=ltt)

Wo lian ni,

*Chinese character for her name*

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

*careful tracing of Chinese character for river * -

I give you my word on it; poena asperrima opperior.

Of course I do not dislike all your friends, and I should hope you like some of mine as well.

Perhaps that was the purpose of the door, for some pair in past years, but I much prefer our present arrangement. As it is known we are affianced, and as you are not enrolled in Potions, I think no one can properly complain of it not that such a complaint would have the slightest significance to me.

Plus quam mera basia te dabo.

I like that one best as well.

- S.

(( translations: I expect a most cruel punishment; I will give you more than mere kisses ))

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

(( Aaaaand, I woke up this morning haunted by how that should have been a dative pronoun and not accusative. Gentle readers, please suspend disbelief and assume for the sake of kindness that, as Stephen and River are both geniuses, everything they say or write in Latin is absolutely grammatically correct, even though their poor muns are struggling with dictionaries and online translators. Just like when Stephen and River play piquet, which is clearly the official card game of Satan. ))

[r-tam.livejournal.com]

S---

Tunc Certus reor quispiam decet. (http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=Then+I+will+be+sure+to+think+of+something+fitting&from=eng&to=ltt)

I like Ryuuji, and your captain seemed nice.

Oh, I wouldn't care either. You're mine. And I'm yours. *perfect sketch of the scar on her hip*

Summopere spes sic. (http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=I+very+much+hope+so&from=eng&to=ltt) I'm glad. Do you think we could turn it into wedding vows somehow?

---R.

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen read the return owl with some concern. Did he have friends here other than Jack? Certainly he did, but naming them would ... not end well. River had already expressed some curiosity about his trips out to meet Katya near the greenhouses, and he had given those up, sensing that "I enjoy watching her practice using the Minbari pike" would not be a particularly reassuring explanation. As for his friend Susan, well -- he did not want a repetition of the argument over Teatime.

The issue took some of the pleasure out of their ongoing Latin exchange for him. Already, at Dr Jekyll's sorting, she had brought up the spectre of this idea, that he needed to be -- more open? perhaps, would have been how she would put it? more naive would be a better way of putting it. "...how you ever make friends is beyond me. You don't talk to people." (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/340915.html?thread=16294835#t16294835) Those had been her words. And yet he had been neglecting his own friends, in no small part because of her. He could not even write to Susan, let alone meet with her, and he had told her not to send him owls that could not be read by River; he could not meet with Katya; he had been neglecting even Jack, though Jack of all people would have nothing but sympathy for wanting to spend time with a woman rather than one's male friends.

So, with some hesitation, he answered:


R --

Certainly I do, but why should I have need of any? You are all I need.

I see no reason why we may not recite it as it stands; I do not flatter myself that I can improve upon one of the great poets of the classical world. Yet you may add words, if you think it fitting. Any word you speak is sweet to me, in any language.

- S.

[r-tam.livejournal.com]

River is a little disturbed herself by his response; having effectively come of age on Serenity--- not to mention having had a brother who put his own life, love-life and all, entirely on hold for her sake--- she takes it for granted that love affairs and marriages are supposed to be part of a larger network--- like Wash and Zoe or her brother and Kaylee. She hadn't realized until Stephen said it, but that was part of her unease regarding the Teatime-Susan business: a deep-seated sense that her "crew" and Stephen's were not the same.

S---

That's sweet. I guess I'm just used to being part of a crew. Like on Serenity. Because Wash and Zoe are married and Simon and Kaylee are together but they'll all part of the crew and being a couple is... part of that. So maybe I just want us to be part of a... crew. It doesn't mean you always like the people or agree with them about everything, or even with everything about them--- the captain argued with Jayne and Wash and even Simon a lot--- but it means you don't betray them; you stand together, and everybody tries to pull their own weight somehow. Or at least that's what I'm used to--- a crew, and couples being within one. I don't know if it's possible here. And I want to be with you anyway. I mean, whether or not we have a crew.

The only thing wrong with it is that as it's written, it only refers to the woman keeping the promise. I'm holding you to yours as well. Because you're mine, too.

I love hearing your voice. Love to have you read Catullus to me, instead of the Aeneid, some time.

*Chinese character for "river"*

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen read this with dismay. Quite honestly, given River's propensity to seek out the more disturbing elements among the student body -- Teatime's lover? and now the divided Jekyll? -- he did not think he cared to be part of a crew she hand-selected; and this quite aside from some of the components of the crew she'd been with before coming to Hogwarts, her odious captain foremost among them.

He wondered then what it said about himself that she, given to seeking out these disturbing people, had also sought him out.

Sighing, he took up his quill once more.


R.-

Should you care to continue this line of inquiry, you must name your figurative crew, and I shall tell you whether I can in good conscience serve alongside them.

Else I fear it is best left alone. There are some things I cannot do, not even for you.

Nor can I bring myself to banter about Latinity cheek-by-jowl with such a topic, other than to point out that the feminine pronoun in poem 109 is an artifact of English translation only, and that the verbs in the Latin are equally applicable to third-person singular entities of either gender.

- S.

[r-tam.livejournal.com]

River isn't sure what to make of his response, except that it reeks of trouble, which she tries to dodge: much as she'd love to have a "crew" in common with him, it doesn't take a genius at her level to figure out from his owl and their previous discussions on the subject of friends that there's nothing but trouble in that discussion, especially by owl. It upsets her, given that she's used to the odd assortment of people, beliefs, and values on Serenity, and she knows it's probably going to come up again, but she'd rather put off the inevitable, at least until they're physically together and she can read him.

S---

I don't think I do. "Care to continue this line of inquiry," I mean. It sounds like something we'll just end up fighting about, and I hate fighting with you. Besides, I was mostly speaking in the abstract. Just something I wanted to tell you, about how I think about things. And so you'd know that my having other friends doesn't mean I love you any less or something.

Thank you for the Latin lesson. I should have picked up on that. I think the content of the poems had me a little distracted. In the best way possible.

Wo lian ni.

*Chinese character for "river"*

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen is unsurprised at the answer, but irritated that, having made a point of bringing up an issue he had already yielded on at Jekyll's sorting, and insisting on it when he tried demurring in his message, she should drop it as soon as he finally engaged with it. In a somewhat hurried hand, he answers:


R. -

I love you.

- S.


Because he does love her.

That doesn't mean he isn't going to benefit from some time spent with his dueling pistols and a makeshift target, and he leaves with a fair supply of ammunition.