Monday, July 18, 2005

   Cream Filling: Origins (Chapter V)
[Ah . . . and now that we've had a nice mid-story action sequence, we can wind down with a little long-windedness! Uosh!]


Aside from the odd student or staff member walking past, the office hallway was empty and quiet. It was natural, Cream knew, because classes were going on, and only department specific students would even need to walk through this particular hall. With a yawn, Cream stretched his body forward before slumping back against the wall - whoever was in the office next to him was taking a very long time speaking with the prof'. From what he could hear it sounded like the student was someone from a class different from his. Despite that, he continued to eavesdrop on the conversation as best he could - with the quiet hall, there was very little else for him to do while he waited.

Another ten minutes passed, and the student finally came out of the office. The girl looked like someone from a year or two above him, and Cream gave a quick smile as she walked by. The girl returned a smile out of courtesy, though she nevertheless turned away quickly after seeing the younger student's face. Cream sighed and shook his head quickly before entering for the professor's office hour.

"Hey Professor Sauru," he said with a smile as he humbly entered the professor's office while she filed something into a cabinet.
"Hello, just one second," she said before pushing the drawer closed. "Alright, so what can I . . . yikes!" Cream closed his eyes and nodded along. He wasn't surprised in the least at the professor's reaction; under his eyes were a plethora of various cuts and swollen bruises from the parking lot brawl the day before. "Do I want to know what happened to you?"
"Oh, you know," Cream replied with a joking manner, "just your everyday fistfight with people who don't know how to shut up . . ." As he laughed about it, Sauru couldn't help but smile.
"Right, right . . . I should see the other guy, right?"
"Yeah, that's right . . ."

"So Whip, what can I do for ya?" she asked. Cream laughed quietly as he sat down in the chair opposite the professor and dropped his backpack between his feet.
"I don't think anyone else has ever used 'Whip' before . . ."
"Yeah, and you're stuck with it now . . . so what's up?" Cream leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
"So yeah, about that essay proposal . . ."

"The one for the essay due within the month?" Professor Sauru queried.
"Um . . . yeah," Cream said, looking sheepish. The professor nodded and grinned.
"Uh huh . . . . . let me guess, you always meant to get around to office hours but just couldn't get around to it, right?"
"Something like that, yeah . . ." Cream was visibly fidgeting in his seat, and Professor Sauru knew it.
"Well, better late than never . . . so what are we gonna do about this?" Cream cleared his throat and pulled out his clipboard with the outlines and essay questions for the course.
"Alright, so this is sorta what I wanna do . . ."

Cream spent the next few minutes explaining his idea for his Philosophy term paper.
". . . and yeah," he said as he wrapped up, "I think these particular war films have a lot of instances of Hobbesian thinking, and it shows that people do take this mindset even today . . . . . and stuff . . ."

Professor Sauru just stared at her student without speaking for a moment.
"Are you gonna be able to fill two thousand words with that?" she asked almost rhetorically.
"I think I could, yeah," Cream answered as confidently as he could fake. Sauru grinned once again.
"Thinking and doing are very different things, Whip . . . you should be able to appreciate that by now in this course."
"I know . . ." The professor could plainly see the dejection in the young man's eyes as she spoke to him.
"Alright . . . the topic works, the movies you mentioned could have some good stuff." Cream nodded along attentively. "Just hit me with an awesome 'why' explanation and this could work . . . . . oh, and make it a damn good 'why', or you might feel sad when I give you back your mark."

"Hey," Cream said, breaking the professor's speech, "it's not like I planned on writing a half-assed paper or something."
"And yet," Sauru responded, "here you are with your essay proposal now instead of a month ago or so . . ." From below the professor's line of sight, Cream cracked his knuckles and tensed his hands.
"Professor, with all due respect . . ."
"Respect, eh?" she interrupted, a wide grin still present on her face. "I enjoy respect as much as the next guy, but don't you think you should take some more time respecting your own needs instead of my ability to give you a letter on a transcript?" Cream scowled briefly upon hearing the question, but let it face just as quickly.
"What?" he said, trying to get a hold of the situation.

"You wanna go with what instead of why?" she said as she continued. "Alright . . . tell me Whip, what's keeping you from really kicking ass in this class?" Cream could only sit stunned and completely unable to answer back - his knuckle-cracking resumed. "Look, Cream, you're a bright guy. I know this because you flaunt it before us each class . . ."
"Is this something you're really supposed to ask me?!" he shot back.
"Not really, but Arts Advising is full of butts these days . . . feel like giving me an answer?"
"I don't think any of this is your business," Cream huffed as he pushed his chair back from the desk slightly.
"Oh, well," she said, the grin ever constant on her face, "this pertains to a paper I get paid to grade so it's definitely my business."

Cream shot up from the chair and slammed his palms onto Professor Sauru's desk.
"What the piss do you want from me?!" he shouted as he looked down at his professor - and yet she continued smiling.
"You know, Whip, violent death can be looked at metaphorically as well . . . I might not be able to take your life, but I'm definitely takin' something from ya right now to get you so scared, aren't I?"
"What, I'm afraid of you?!" he spat out sarcastically.
"Maybe not me precisely," Professor Sauru answered, "but you're definitely afraid of somethin' that you're gonna hafta figure out . . . . . 'cause you know what'll happen if you don't do something about this, right?"
"What?"
"Nothin' . . . which is what you're gonna have if you keep this up."

Cream slammed his hands against the desk once again.
"This is ridiculous . . . how the piss is this supposed to help me?!" he shouted as he paced back and forth between the small distance between the desk and the door. By that point, Sauru knew she had to take a new approach and stood up.
"Okay Whip, I'll tell you what . . ." she said as she walked around the irate student and closed the door to her office. As she walked around, Cream couldn't help but notice that the professor wore runners which definitely did not match the dress pants above them. After closing the door and walking back around her office, the professor rolled up the sleeves to her blouse before facing Cream once again.

She stepped to a distance about a meter away from her student.
"We're gonna play a fun game that I think you'll like," she said. Cream, puzzled once again, wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Listening? Okay . . . Whip, you're pissed off and seriously need to let off some steam . . . . . so I'm gonna give you three shots . . ." Cream chuckled in bemusement.
"You've gotta be kidding me . . ."
"Nah, not at all," Professor Sauru replied while shaking her arms out loosely. "Don't worry, I'll try to block . . . so come on, Whip, three punches, let's see 'em . . . unless you don't like the idea of hitting a girl like we can't take it?"

Like a reflex, Cream snarled his lip and jabbed sharply at Sauru's face; she pulled her head back just far enough for him to miss.
"That's one," she counted, grinning once again. Cream huffed another time and threw a wild swing for her head; again, she pulled her head back and with her free hand swatted the punch away and down.
"That's two, and you telegraph way too much," she added before laughing quietly and sticking her tongue out at her student. With a harsh growl, Cream pulled back and threw his entire body into a cross shot towards the professor's face once again. This time, however, Sauru sidestepped the blow, tossed her arms up and around Cream's arm, and twisted him around and downwards until his face was neatly pressed against the top of her desk. Remembering his previous bruises and cuts, Cream could only grunt as he was held fast. Once he knew he was not getting up unless she let him, he took his free hand and tapped on the desk repeatedly.

"A body's only as good as the mind that guides it . . ." the professor said as she released the young man. ". . . and that mind is only useful if you do something productive with it." Cream rubbed his harm vigorously as he listened. "That should have come out a lot cooler than I said it, but hey, I picked Philosophy, not Literature." Upon hearing such a ridiculous statement, Cream looked up and saw his grinning professor once again - he couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah, it's a shame I'm probably gonna lose my scholarship because of low grades," he said, "I'll never get to hear more gems like that from ya . . ." Professor Sauru laughed in return, and patted the man on the back.

The bell rang in the building, meaning classes were out and the next block was arriving soon.
"Give me a great paper on time, okay?" she asked as she opened the door for the other occupant in the office. Cream nodded earnestly.
"I'll be sure not to disappoint," he said before picking up his bag from the ground and heading through the door.

Halfway through the door, Cream stopped himself and turned back around.
Hey," he started, "that thing you did . . . . . how did you . . ."
"Tuesday and Thursday nights, at the International House on campus," she answered back. "They have drop-in classes that actually aren't too expensive. I mean, if you're into that sort of thing."
"Can't have girls kicking my ass all my life, can I?" Cream said before smiling and leaving for the stream of people now walking through the hall.


[Some of you who know me may recognise that "Braveheart" saying that I love to tell people (it's so true, though!). Ahhh . . . . . heh, so yeah, don't you guys just love Professor Aurus? Erm, I mean . . . . . eheh . . . . .]
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