It was a Sunday.
It was a Sunday in autumn.
It was a Sunday in autumn with fresh clear air, a breeze, and a hint of the chilly months to come.

It was the sort of day a man has to enjoy, because there won't be another one until May. April, if you were lucky.

Wearing a light jacket, hands jammed into his pockets, he walked briskly through the courtyard, enjoying the breeze and keeping his eyes open for company to walk with. No students, not yet; it was too early in the year for socializing with the kids. Maybe last year's graduates, if any of them happened to be around. Or some of the real adults.

And if he saw no one, he'd simply enjoy the day.

Jonas had been on his way to his classroom when he spotted Ted walking around the grounds. It had been awhile but he recalled that Ted and he had gotten along. They were two less-than-powerful teachers trying to make sense of a world that was foreign to them. Jonas' father had been a meta but also a drunk and not much help. It made Jonas a half-blood, technically. But he felt as out of place as most of the human-borns.

"Ted, hey..." Jonas said as he jogged to catch up to his fellow professor. "Is this a solitary walk or can I join you in your silent musing?"

"Hey, Jonas," Ted said with pleasure, and turned to wait. Another teacher after all. And one he hadn't seen much of that summer. "Had enough of the solitary thing for now--company is welcome. As for musing--silent or aloud, whichever you prefer. But the silence has to be companionable, not uncomfortable. How's the class this year?"

Jonas felt Ted's general pleasure to see him and that in turn made him smile. As an empath, one found themselves being an emotional barometer of sorts. If everyone was scared, angry, in pain or happy, Jonas found himself in a similar mood. Which is why he like to surround himself with people that for the most part were happy people. Depressing people were well... depressing.

"I prefer the musings to be of non-silent variety. Not a telepath so it makes it easier to interact." Jonas joked. "The Class is good thus far. A lot of the bad apples went on to pursue their higher education. While morally I have a problem pawning off students to other teachers, I'm a little relieved to get back to teaching kids that want to be taught. What about you? How goes the life of the Transportation Professor?"

"You've got a lucky year, if they all want to be taught," Ted said with a smile. The thought of pawning the kids off on other teachers had occured to him, of course. Regularly, even. He still was dubious about the decision to graduate anyone that first year, but there were reasons he wasn't in charge. Still... passing along kids who had no idea how to get along in the world? It just wasn't doing anyone a favor.
But Jonas, while not a telepath, picked some things up and it wouldn't do to start brooding right in front of him. Or next to him, as the case may be. "Not bad. It's a quiet group, and the average age has just plummeted, of course. But my students were never especially rowdy even last year. Which means I'm overdue for an impossible class next autumn, of course." He grinned. He'd manage to stay on top of the impossibles. He'd done it before.
Next autumn...assuming he stayed that long. Returning this year had been a difficult decision, but in the end he'd felt like now that he knew about this world, he couldn't just abandon it while it was in such flux. Although he did still wonder why they bothered having him teach when it seemed a large portion of the population--including some of his students--were more advanced than he was. Still, it was probably a matter of looking at things from a practical--a scientific--point of view. Science was sorely lacking, when it came to metas.
"Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology," he misquoted deliberately, hoping his fellow science-fiction fan would enjoy the reference. Not that he'd know the thoughts that had preceded it.

"The Big If. First posed but Constantin Stanislavski but in refensece to acting and little to do with the Big If before me this term. IF they all want to be taught THEN I will have a good year." Jonas said. He found that his approach to teaching was a little... liberal to most but effective. The students that wanted to learn showed up. Those who didn't... didn't. "But I'm sure you'll do fine with your lot, regardless. And if they get out of line, just let Warren teach for a couple of days. They'll come to appreciate you."

Jonas nodded, chucking at the Clark reference. "The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible." Words that someone could live by and not have a bad life. Or at least that was Jonas' opinion.

"Elementary logic," Ted agreed. "Though sadly human beings, not to mention metas, are rarely logical."The next rated a raised eyebrow, and the uncomfortable realization that this made three Vulcan references in a matter of seconds. "Oh, they won't be getting out of line. I've been in the business for a while--if there's one thing I know, it's classroom control. Letting Lancaster take over would do more harm than good." He shook his head, taking the opportunity to make certain no one was in earshot. "Don't know what the man's doing here. Incompetent teacher, uninterested teacher, and unwilling to even hear advice, let alone heed it." Man would be fired, if he were the principal. But perhaps it was a matter of friends close, enemies closer.
"So it is," he agreed, although the reference brought a few bad memories. Experimenting with the impossible was something best done on a voluntary basis.
Trying to get past that, he reached out for another topic. "You have a philosophical bent, Jonas? Most of us sci-fi types do..."

"Lancaster's a git. I do believe that is what the term is for a man like that. Bigot would have also been appropriate. But I'll speak with Lillith about Lancaster. If you're saying he's bad, he's gotta be." Jonas said. He wished he had classroom control down. But he didn't. Jonas was too nice, too forgiving. He believed in giving people second chances. He didn't know why to say enough was enough. And his teaching assistant, Ms. Trinidad was pretty much the same way with the students.

"Guilty as charged." Jonas replied when Ted asked him about his philosophical leanings. "I'd like to think of myself as a student of Sarte and Kant. An existentialist at heart. Though, I find saying that you're an existentialist is a lot easier than acting in good faith as an existentialist."

"If he had an interest in teaching, he'd be trainable," Ted said, and shrugged. "But that's like saying that if a brown cat had less melanin, it would be a white cat. A person can't be other than what they are. Nor can a cat."He smiled at the other man's self-definition, and the immediate caveat. "Is it? And how would an existentialist act--in good faith, of course."
This should be good...