Katerina Vorontsov
December 31, 2019 3:56 PM
Planning and backup planning (Professor Xavier). by Katerina Vorontsov
Katya touched her hair one more time, though there was really nothing to check. Her long bangs were swept back in a pink bow, but the rest of it fell straight down below her shoulders, currently all pushed behind them, with none falling down the front of her uniform robe. Irritated with herself, she did something more practical - touching her necklace to make sure the oval-shaped pink emerald-and-filigree pendant was on center on her chest and that the clasp was resting against the back of her neck, touching her oval-shaped pink emerald earrings to make sure they had not tilted sideways in her ears. Then she walked through the door which led from the dorms to the common room, looking around and...not finding what she was looking for.She frowned slightly, exasperated. Professor Xavier was a common enough feature in the Teppenpaw common room, sitting among them often enough, but now that Katya was looking for him, he was not present! With a slight sigh, she went to sit down, glad she had brought her sewing case along with her for just this eventuality, so she could work on the needlepoint cover for a valet-box she was making for her papa's Christmas present. It was still a long, long time before Christmas, but since she typically sewed or painted something for each relative, it took her a long time to get the presents ready and she found it a good way to keep her hands occupied when she was in the common room. She hardly ever studied here; it was too difficult to concentrate with people moving in and out and about all the time.
She set the case up on a mid-height table and began to work, starting the long, long process of picking out a scene with pine trees out of the currently largely uninteresting expanse of cloth in front of her. She could, she supposed, understand why Tatya so disliked sewing, but she only occasionally felt her own flashes of irritation with how long it took. More often she found it soothing, and a good distraction from anything that was bothering her outside of it; one could not focus too intently on brooding while sewing, not unless one wanted to decorate the product with drops of blood. Since Katya did not wish to decorate Papa's valet cover with blood, hers or anyone else's, she was more or less forced into an attitude of serenity as she worked.
She was skilled enough, however, to look up and about from time to time without ceasing her work entirely, and so noticed when Professor Xavier did eventually enter the common room. She did not, however, get up at once. That would be pushy. Instead, she waited, finishing the branch she was working on in the design before she began to put her work away and close the case. She left it on the table, thinking she would return to it soon, and not expecting anyone in Teppenpaw to try to steal it. For one thing, she simply did not imagine most of her fellows were thieves, and for another, she highly doubted any of them wanted her sewing kit.
That done, she approached where the professor had settled in. "Hello Professor," she said, trying to enunciate as carefully as possible, to reduce the accent with which she still spoke. "Do you have some time now? I wish to ask for advice."
This English was perhaps somewhat better than usual, as she had planned what to say ahead of time. She took a seat, crossing her ankles primly. "I have thought about starting a club," she said. "For students who like art. Visual art," she corrected herself. "I have written a sign, if you could send it to other Heads of House - but there are rules...eh, are there rules," she corrected herself, flushing slightly, "that I must know?" she asked.
This conversation had two purposes. One was to legitimately check her bases and make sure everything was in order and possibly get some advice, if he felt talkative. The other, though, was to simultaneously begin the implementation of her backup plan. Even if there was not enough interest to support her second attempt at this idea, he would now know that she had the ambition to try to start something, and the wisdom to consult adults and check to make sure she was following all the rules. That would be something which looked good for her when the prefects were selected whether it worked or not, which was the primary purpose of this exercise.
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Katerina Vorontsov
Planning and backup planning (Professor Xavier).
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Nathan Xavier
January 01, 2020 9:25 AM
It is a very good plan by Nathan Xavier
Nathan took his seat in the common room, smiling and nodding in greeting to those already sitting around, but not interrupting any of them from their current pursuits. He preferred to let them come to him instead of forcing his company on them in their own common space. He wanted to be present, not overbearing. Alice had jumped in his lap not long after he sat down, and he petted the old girl's fur. The Persian cat was getting slower with age, but she still seemed healthy enough, and her fur was still as soft and fluffy as it ever was.She noticed the approaching student first, and he followed Alice's gaze over to Katerina Vorontsov.
"Hello," he greeted her, making a welcoming gesture for her to sit with him. "I have plenty of time," he assured her.
She sat and explained her request and he nodded in approval. "I'd be glad to put up your notices in the other common rooms. If you were going to do anything dangerous, you'd need a staff adviser present during your meetings, but for a visual arts club, you shouldn't need one most of the time. But if you did want to try anything that might require adult supervision - using an iron or a kiln or something that has high temperatures, for example - I'd be glad to help out, or you can ask any other staff member you feel might be more knowledgeable about art." It was not remotely one of Nathan's areas of expertise, but he could at least make sure nobody got hurt using potentially dangerous equipment. "But otherwise, you've just done everything you need to do to start a club. Congratulations. I can get you some room reservation forms from up in my office, if you know when and where you want to hold your meetings, and you can talk to any elf to provide refreshments. Is there anything else you need to know about what to do next?"
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Nathan Xavier
It is a very good plan
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Katerina Vorontsov
January 02, 2020 12:29 PM
Thank you. by Katerina Vorontsov
An iron. How odd. What use would that have in art? Katya hoped she didn't look openly puzzled. She hated it when people caught her in a moment of non-comprehension."Thank you," she said with a quick American smile when he offered to provide supervision if it was ever necessary. "I know...some art, there are potions, but I do not know those either," she admitted. "So those will probably not happen." Still, it was good to have the option there even if she couldn't see it being used right now. Who knew? Maybe someone with real talent would come along, someday, and work with that kind of thing. Katya had learned to paint as a feminine accomplishment, but men could paint professionally, masterpieces and portraits and whatnot.
He would distribute notices, but she would fill out forms and talk to elves. Elves could be a bit tricky to pin down - it was in their very nature to remain quiet and out of the way, especially during the day - but she could manage it. Filling out forms was...also something she could do, given the time to work slowly and double-check her spelling every now and then. Well! All of this was very simple, except for getting people to turn up - but that was, after all, very much only a secondary purpose of this exercise.
"I think the art room is...an obvious place," she said, faltering briefly as she searched for an adjective to describe 'place' to complete the sentence and allow her to move on with asking the question she had. "But should it be free, so others use it if they are not in club? I intend to say - should I use a different room? And sometimes maybe we go outside, work outside. Is the form used then?"
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Katerina Vorontsov
Thank you.
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