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Post by ryan on Oct 8, 2008 0:31:42 GMT 1
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Professor, but...aren't you supposed to be helping me?" Ryan was still being polite, though he had to admit this wasn't at all what he'd expected. He had been expecting someone like Professor Grey, who could make even the dullest subject interesting. Perhaps that was part of the problem. Perhaps Arithmancy was just plain dull when he was doing it on his own.
"I can do this on my own, but wasn't the point of this tutoring that you would see where I went wrong? How can you be doing that when you're staring at a book instead?" He really didn't mean to be rude or anything, but was there even a point to something like this when Professor Blake just stared into an upside-down book?
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Post by tristramblake on Oct 8, 2008 3:16:02 GMT 1
Tristram’s mouth dropped open a fraction when Ryan started speaking. Well, perhaps he wasn’t the meek, subservient student Triss had thought him to be. This couldn’t be good. If he’d been pretending, acting like the model student, then he must have some kind of plan, and it couldn’t be good. Of course, the boy could just be trying to get along with his new tutor, but that thought didn’t even occur to Tristram as he sat there, his mind reeling at what Ryan was saying. He’d though he’d kind of been doing it properly, that he might have been going along the right lines, but apparently not.
No, he told himself, no, he did know what he was doing. He wasn’t going to let a student bully him into submission. If he couldn’t do this, just a single, hour long tutoring session, how was he ever going to cope with a full class of thirty or so children? He’d wanted it for so long, been working up to this moment, he couldn’t let it all slip out from beneath him. He could do it, phobias be damned.
“Mr Robins” He began, more confidently than he felt, his voice only shaking a little “I fully intend to tutor you, but I cannot do so until you have demonstrated your current aptitude for the subject. If you do not show me what you can already do, how am I to help you improve?” He’d rushed it a little, picking up steam as he went along, but after having said it, he felt incredible. He’d done it! He’d said what he meant to. Had he not been so petrified of what was going to happen next, he might have even managed a smile
“So unless you have a better idea of how to spend this session, I suggest you get on with the word you have been set” Oh dear, he thought, that was too far. Knowing his luck, Ryan was about to come out with some smartarse reply, and he wouldn’t know what to say. He hastily picked up his book again, hoping that perhaps, he’d exerted enough authority to get Ryan to comply.
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Post by ryan on Oct 9, 2008 10:59:44 GMT 1
I fully intend to tutor you, but I cannot do so until you have demonstrated your current aptitude for the subject. If you do not show me what you can already do, how am I to help you improve?”
"Sir" Ryan began again politely, running fingers through his hair. "Perhaps if you were to follow my strategy for solving these problems? I could write down the wrong answer and you would never know where I went wrong." His voice was rather soft, as it usually was. Some people ignored him because of it but others listened even more intently, which he liked.
“So unless you have a better idea of how to spend this session, I suggest you get on with the work you have been set”
Ryan paused for a moment, then nodded. He hadn't meant to make the teacher mad at him, not on the first session anyway. All he wanted was for this stupid tutoring to be over with already, but rubbing him the wrong way would definitely not help. Of course, at this, Ryans thoughts drifted to rubbing him the right way for a moment, which caused a small smile to play around his lips. "Yes, Professor. I'm sorry." It was odd. He wasn't usually this meek.
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Post by tristramblake on Oct 9, 2008 18:31:22 GMT 1
Tristram watched Ryan give his explanation with slight awe. The way the boy phrased everything, and that exasperated way he ran his hand through his hair, it was almost as if he were the teacher, not Triss. And Tristram was not sure he liked that feeling. If his students knew what to do better than he did, how could he call himself a teacher? The worst part was that Ryan had a good point, and maybe that was a better way to teach him. As Triss had learned long ago, different students learnt in different ways, and if he couldn’t accommodate for the needs of his students, then he wasn’t a good teacher at all.
But he’d picked up the book, and he’d feel foolish if he put it down now. He started at the page, still not reading the words on it, mind in turmoil. He should concede defeat, help his student in the way that would actually make a difference, not be a stubborn ass. But teachers were supposed to be stubborn, authoritative, know what they were talking about.
After a few minutes or so, he gave in. with a sigh, he lowered the book back to the table. “Alright” He said, feeling his face flush again at the admission “You’re probably right. If that’s how you learn best…” His sentence trailed off, not really knowing what to say next. Looking across the table, it suddenly occurred to him that there was no way he’d be able to study Ry’s work as he did it. “Erm” He started, feeling nervous about what he was going to do. It would upset the balance of the entire room, but seeing as he didn’t normally have a student in it, he was hoping he’d be able to cope “Maybe you should bring your chair over to this side of the desk, so I can see properly.”
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Post by ryan on Oct 9, 2008 18:38:46 GMT 1
Ryan had ducked his head again, rereading the question and pretending it all made sense when it clearly didn't. The numbers seemed to have been picked randomly, and though he knew that if he did something with it, the right answer would magically appear, he just didn't know what to do with them. Divide? Add up? Throw them all in a blender?
"Alright, you’re probably right. If that’s how you learn best…"
He looked up, surprise in his blue eyes, though they softened a little at the way Professor Blake seemed to fidget in his seat. A brief thought flashed through his head, making him think that if he played the right cards, the man would be putty in his hands. Or possibly die from hyperventilation. The odds were even on that.
“Maybe you should bring your chair over to this side of the desk, so I can see properly.”
Ryan nodded, smiling a little and getting up from the chair. "Thank you, Professor" He licked his bottom lip without noticing as he sat down next to the man. Very close to the man, and suddenly Ryan found himself not minding the small room at all.
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Post by tristramblake on Oct 9, 2008 18:48:26 GMT 1
Tristram had to suppress a shudder that went through him when Ryan put his chair down next to Tristram’s own one. He was astoundingly close, terrifyingly so, and Triss had to bit his tongue stop himself having a panic attack right there and then. This had been his suggestion, after all, even if it had indirectly come from Ryan. If he was ever going to get this tutoring thing wired, he’d have to cope with the proximity, although he was beginning to think that teaching a class of 30 wouldn’t be as bad. At least then he didn’t have to be so close to them.
It took Tristram a moment to realise that the Arithmancy book was still on the other side of the table, and as he reached out to get it, his arm brushed against Ryan’s shoulder. Yes, definitely too close. He considered moving his chair further away, but that wasn’t really an option. He had to remain unfazed. He’d already admitted on defeat, and it had only been a few minutes. He couldn’t keep retreating, not if he ever wanted to make any headway.
Compromising with himself, He shifted in his seat so he was slightly further away and turned the book round, facing it towards the two of them, his mind instantly focusing on the exercises. “Er, okay then,” He said nervously wetting his lips again “Erm, where exactly do you go wrong?”
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Post by ryan on Oct 9, 2008 19:00:49 GMT 1
“Erm, where exactly do you go wrong?”
Ryan stayed silent for a second, enjoying the tingle the little brush had left him with. Swallowing something down, he looked at the Professor through almost closed eyes, just peering at him through the long lashes framing his eyes. "Where do I go wrong? Well...generally...I should say..." He let out a nervous chuckle. "The Math part?"
Whenever he tried talking to his dad about his school achievements he got a load of bullshit. About how he should be a better student, how he should pay more attention to his classes instead of ogling all the boys (like he knew how many men Ry looked at, honestly there weren't too many around that he wanted). He found it rather ironic that this tutor, who was supposed to make him pay attention to Arithmancy, distracted him more than the boys in his year.
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Post by tristramblake on Oct 9, 2008 19:12:17 GMT 1
Tristram frowned when Ryan told him, in effect, that the entire subject was what he had difficulty with. Well, he hadn’t been quite expecting that. He’d thought - and hoped - that Ryan might have at least some grip on what he was doing, that he might just need a little push in the right direction, but apparently that wasn’t the case. And that worried him. Surely a 6th year should be able to do at least basic Arithmancy? When He’d been in 6th year he’d already mastered half the 7th year work, just because he’d found the 6th year stuff happened for him without much effort.
So how come Ryan couldn’t do it? Just glancing at the problems on the page, Ryan could figure out the answer almost instantly, without having to put much thought into it at all. Then again, he thought to himself, he was nearly a decade older than the boy sat next to him. But he hadn’t studied Arithmancy since he was at school, not properly, anyway. Maybe it was like a broom, he thought, once you learnt how to fly one you never forgot. Not that he’d ever learnt to ride a broom, but that was hardly the point. Forgetting what to do didn’t really matter right then, it was learning it in the first place that was the problem.
“Erm, okay” He said, wracking his brains to try and thing what to do “So, erm, when you’re in class, you can do it? What do you do in class that’s different to now?” The way he saw it, Arithmancy was Arithmancy no matter what setting it was in, but he knew not everyone else saw the world the way he saw it. In fact, he didn’t think he’d yet met anybody who did.
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Post by ryan on Oct 9, 2008 19:20:02 GMT 1
“So, erm, when you’re in class, you can do it? What do you do in class that’s different to now?”
Ryan furrowed his brow in thought, nipping on his bottom lip. What did he do in class? Well, first off he had someone with him. Somehow it was easier when he could explain it to someone else, when they could toss ideas around on how to resolve the problem in front of them. Just having someone there who didn't think he was a complete airhead helped.
But Professor Blake was right in thinking he was stupid, wasn't he? That's what his dad always said. None of this you're bright enough to do it if you set your mind to it business. Just the fact that he'd produced one crazy, stupid fucked up heir. He was honestly rather waiting for an arranged marriage to pop up in nightly conversations.
Sticking out his bottom lip in a Slytherin version of a pout, Ryan sighed deeply. "I don't know. I just...do." He pulled the paper towards him a little more, giving the tutor a shy glance. "Should I just...try it? It's hard to explain."
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Post by tristramblake on Oct 9, 2008 19:27:24 GMT 1
When Ryan spoke, Tristram felt he was on slightly more solid ground. “I don’t know, I just do” - that sounded familiar, at least. It was the way he viewed Arithmancy, to some extent. Of course, he understood the magical principles behind it, the way it all fitted together, it was just trying to understand how some people didn’t that was the problem. In his head, the numbers just made sense. It was the same with ancient runes, his real passion. Everything just slotted together so nicely, even things from completely different sides of the globe and completely different time periods, it just all matched up, like it had been made that way - which, thinking about it, he supposed it had.
Which was why he couldn’t comprehend how people didn’t understand it. It made so much sense, much more sense than anything human, anything messy and puerile and undeniably human. But the more he thought about that, the more he was aware of Ryan’s presence next to him, the heat radiating off the boy’s body, and he began to think he might be sick. But he bit down the feeling and replied with an “Mmm” as he tried to get a hold of himself once more “Mmm, yes I think that would be a good idea”
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