[identity profile] sunnyd-lite.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] tamingthemuse
Title: A Simple Plan
Author: SunnyD_lite
Fandom: BtVS Sn 2
Disclaimer: Joss said go play. I playth
TtM prompt: 154 polysemy (see end of story)
Word Count: 590
A/N: Muse did not like this prompt. Not at all.


It was the first day of school, and Jenny had been living in the same apartment for ten months now. A new record since even during college she'd moved every semester. Her people weren't called Travelers for no reason.

"Ms. Calendar?"

Jenny looked up from her class lists and first day lesson plans to see a familiar red head. "Willow! How have you been?"

"Giles said you were at the Burning Man festival? Was there—" she paused to make sure they were alone in the room—"witchy stuff too?"

"I believe the approved lexicon is pagan magicks," Jenny responded with a grin. "And I did spend some time with a Native American shaman."

"Ohh I've been reading about shamanism. Witchcraft too. And did you know that most of the books that Giles added to the library are really inappropriate? Well, not for us Scoobies, but if the other students, not that I've really ever seen other students in the library, and why is that? It's a great space and-"

"Willow?" Jenny got the first day of school jitters but listening to Willow could be exhausting. "Rupert mentioned my summer?" That shouldn't be making her grin bigger, but she wasn't sure how to contain it. Rupert was talking about her. That meant he must be thinking of her. Which was an excellent sign since she kept thinking about him.

"Oh yes, he said it was much more" here Willow's brow wrinkled, "applied? I think, than his summer. I think he really missed you."

She felt her back straighten at that little tidbit. She'd seen how the Scoobies were with him. They had the best chance of interpreting his Britishisms into something she could understand. Too many times she wasn't sure if it was her arcane knowledge that intrigued him, all in the service of his Slayer, or whether things were more personal than that. But this wasn't something to discuss with a student. "I see you're taking the advanced Computer Science course, I trust I won't have to bind any demons?"

The girl flushed. "Oh I never make the same mistake twice, and I've been working on my Latin so I'll know what it is I'm scanning. I should get going!"

Maybe it wasn't fair to bring that up, but Willow was one of those straight "A" students that never faced failure. Small doses of anything were a good inoculant, otherwise the crash when it did happen could be disastrous. "Later!"

She tipped back the chair in a fashion she scolded the students for doing. So maybe she hadn't been misinterpreting the signs. His offer to walk her to the faculty room, his questions about her summer. Both could be read polite gestures, and Mr. Tweed always presented himself as polite, even during those endless staff meetings where everyone wished to kill Snyder, he sat with his tea and his please and quite rights.

Long games weren't her speciality. Itchy feet had lead to a much more casual approach to dating. That wouldn't work here. Maybe she should give him a sign. Something to encourage him, yet not blatant. Not yet. She'd start with something small, something that could be explained away to a third party, especially if the third party were a group of protective teenagers.

An apple for teacher. Surely he couldn't mis-read that symbol? If it worked for Eve..

As the bell rang and students dragged themselves into the class room, she schooled her features. It was a simple plan. But those were often the most fun.

Polysemy are types of words that have two meanings from the same root, like foot (body part) and foot of a mountain. I've twisted the concept for varied interpretations of the same act.

Profile

tamingthemuse: (Default)
Taming The Muse

Authors

Navigation

Prompt Tags and Lists

Word Prompt Entry

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated May. 24th, 2025 07:16 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios