The huge windows on the left side of the lecture hall let the light of the two suns in. The students sat hunched over their notes and kept their eyes front on their teacher.
The Inventor appeared old but one could never quite tell with her or Time Lords in general.
„And now please tell me which planet of this solar system is the most interesting."
Of course the students now truly cared to look a the different planets. It was silent for a moment then they started to ask each other the question.
The Inventor paced the length of the lecturing hall, her heels clicking on the polished white floor, its red design since long faded, to try to see if her students passed notes.
„Anybody? It's not that difficult especially not if you keep tabs on the gallifreyan gossip."
A shaky hand raised and the woman gave a sigh, pushing a strand of her greying short hair behind her ear.
„Yes?"
„It's the Earth-the human race, right? After all the humans are one of the few races who look like us. The other ones who do are all evolving quickly so the humans could be too?"
Two prydonians in the back row snickered.
„They won't if they keep the interest of the Doctor."
The Inventor wasn't surprised at that, she simply knew her students."I would prefer it if you could keep your comments on topic! But yes, the most interesting are the humans."
The Inventor walked closer to the light projection of the earth.
„But I wouldn't say that Venus isn't a planet that you shouldn't visit. Their fashion is to this day rather...colorful.", the Inventor settled for as description on Venusian fashion.
„But what about Mars? Isn't Mars interesting too, professor?"
It was an innocent question truly, but the Inventor couldn't suppress the shudder.
„Oh of course it is. Every planet is if the culture is different from our dusty one - please could someone of you open the window, it is rather stuffy and dusty in here."
The huge windows opened with a creak and fresh air came in. But the Inventor still thought it stuffy under the glass dome the entire city was under.
A melody rang through the room and the students turned away from the projection. The Inventor hadn't ended the lesson yet even if the bell had just rang so the students didn't stand up and left the room however they started talking with each other.
It was the new class, they hadn't learned the rules yet. With a chuckle the Inventor sat down at her desk: „You may go now. But I won't tolerate talking the next lesson. As for your homework please read the essay about the Jupiter and it's difference to the culture of Pluto."
The room cleared out and the Inventor slumped in her chair staring at the ceiling now laughing.
She truly believed that her students questions kept her mind fit and amused her to no end. A rare breeze found its way into the room and pulled at the red robes.
The Inventor never wore the hat, that she usually couldn't make herself wear, but the robes were okay. Especially since you could wear more comfortable clothes under them.
After a deep breath she stood up and went to her next class: Tardis care. This one was a more experienced class so it was worlds easier to work with them down in the workshop.
In this lesson the Inventor explained the chameleon circuit to them - how it worked, how you fixed it.
The workshop was a big empty room under the academy. Every step one did on the white floor, between the red walls, working desks, tools and Tardises was echoing around the room which made the Inventor just more thankful for the noise absorber at the far of end of the room.
The students were already seated and listened all very carefully with wide eyes then started talking as the Inventor handed out the broken circuits with the task of fixing them.
The noise was kept down on a bearable level as the students started talking and the Inventor turned to the latest issue of mercurial times. That was one of the few newspapers that had news of an entire solar system in them. She wasn't worrying too much. If her students had problems they would ask for help. The lesson passed by quickly and soon enough the Inventor was hearing an odd sound. To her it wasn't that odd but she shouldn't hear it.
With quick steps the Inventor walked along the rows of working tables to find were the sound kept coming from. It was a Tardis sound , alright, but it was a sound that shouldn't be there with the students working on separate circuits because it was the sound a Tardis made ,when a circuit was put in the completely wrong way.
The beeping sound was the loudest around the Tardises to her left and it proved a rather hard task to figure out which Tardis made the noise. Pacing from one to the other listening on the doors the Inventor finally found the right one and walked in. So far it looked all okay but as she walked towards the circuit room.
Thick, dark smoke greeted her as she opened the door. The Inventor could hardly see anything as she made her way over to the circuits and felt around for the chameleon circuit but she found a slender hand first.
„Get out of here! The Tardis could be blowing up with how you installed the circuit! I expect that you report that incident to the teacher responsible for your chapter or better yet I will tell him myself! Oh, and don't you forget to tell the other students that the class is dismissed on your way out. We will continue working on this matter in the next time."
By now the Inventor had started on fixing the problem she found. It was a quick fix,really. Just something that kept the hands busy with it being wired wrongly.
So it couldn't suppress the thought that the Inventor was once again in a desperate need of a holiday. As much as she loved her job similar incidents had happened more than enough the past two weeks. The Inventor never had enough patience it seemed in this body.
As she emerged from the Tardis, dirty, she was happy to see that her students had cleaned up the workshop before they disappeared to a place the Inventor didn't want to know.
It was a relief to her that she could finish this early in the afternoon, as the Inventor switched everything off and went up the stairs to her office.
The halls were empty, the few students who suddenly appeared greeted her respectfully before dashing of.
It was times like this that she missed having the Master, the Rani, the Doctor and all the other troublemakers around.
They had kept it from being boring at the academy and the Inventor had returned the favor by letting them of easily. She had let the Doctor 'pass' his exam in Tardis care, not that any of the teachers would blame her. They all have been relieved then the Doctor and the Master had left the planet as it meant that neither of those two would turn up at their office to test their patience once again.
In her remembering of the days long past the Inventor almost ran into Lord Borussa int the literal way. The Time Lord looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
„I take it today's lessons didn't go as well as hoped?",he asked carefully as the Inventor entered her office.
With a sigh the Time Lady went to the sink in the corner left to the door and started to wash the grime of.
„You have no idea, Borussa. I'm very thankful that tomorrow is the Otherstide and I won't have to teach. However there will be a celebration which I'm not fond of either. Well, I guess I can't have both. But back to the topic what do you want here, Borussa? You seldom seek me out."
The Inventor splashed her face with water to hide her tears before she glanced at Borussa.
„What I want here? The same as every year, dear Inventor. I've heard"
The Inventor scoffed. „Listening to rumors now, Borussa?" The Time Lord however kept talking.
„-that you knew the Other. I thought that if it is true I shall keep you company. Join me on celebrating the Otherstide."
The Inventor rubbed her face dry before she answered.
„ And the answer shall be the same as every year before, Borussa. I don't need company for I am perfectly capable of spending the day on my own. I shall finish the work I have left in my place as the head of house Redloom. It will be a nice, quiet day."
Borussa didn't spare the Inventor a glance as he turned and left her office. The Time Lady couldn't help but chuckle at his childish actions because she guessed the very first time why Borussa kept asking her to the celebration and of course he would keep on asking her.
Secretly the Inventor hoped that Borussa wouldn't be seen by any students as him stomping out of the open door wasn't very dignified and this was not a way a Time Lord his age should behave.
Of course it also left her having to close that door which someone her age shouldn't have to do. Borussa hadn't shown her respect as he left and the Inventor intended to have some words with him about that. He should remember that you leave the office of an older Time Lord only after permitment and closed the door behind you.
8~8
The next day the Inventor sat in her office in the Redloom house. The housekeeper - the Scholar – had made sure that the Inventor wouldn't be interrupted and she was thankful for that. The paperwork on her desk was high enough and required much attention, she wouldn't be able to give if the newly loomed Time Tots of the Redloom house were running around her legs.
However the noise the celebration the Otherstide made drifted into the office through the open windows.
It didn't matter the Inventor had trouble concentrating on her work even before the noise started. She always had trouble concentration on this day because the rumors were true and false. True in the sense that she knew the Other, false in the sense that they hadn't been mere acquaintances. The Inventor couldn't really say what they had been. Of course once upon a time she had known the perfect word for it, now she hardly dared to remember even an hour of their time spent together.
Music ,sweet and gentle, replaced the noise and the Inventor wanted to go and join the celebration. After all, hadn't the Other asked of her to remember him fondly and celebrate him instead of mourning him? If he would see her now, here in her office with all the paperwork instead of celebrating outside like the rest of Gallifrey he would surely have found a way to admonish her before he would have dragged her outside.
The Inventor sighed and signed another paper. Only her sense of duty was keeping her in the room and she intended to finish it before joining the festiveness but that was slowly becoming harder.
Finally she had enough and pushed herself away from her desk.
From where she was sitting she had a perfect view of the city and the Time Lords celebrating in the streets. A small part wondered if her students had gotten the presents they had wished for. The sweet daughter of Oakdown had wanted something practical to help with her studies while the son of Lungbarrow had wanted something that could be entertaining.
Her thoughts soon turned to the Doctor. He had been one of her favorites too and today was his naming day and the day he left Gallifrey. Even if she would never say it the Inventor was a bit worried. But who wouldn't be? After all he left in a very old type 40 with only one of his grandchildren as company. Those thoughts however got quickly expelled however.
The Doctor had left over a year ago so the Inventor had no reason at all to think about him. But in the last few days her thoughts would drift towards the renegade Time Lord and his grandchild.
The Scholar carefully opened he door and looked in. „ How is the work going? You shouldn't work on such a day, Kithriarch."
The Inventor showed no signs that she had heard the word of the housekeeper as she worked though the last paperstack.
„You're right. But as the Kithriarch of Redloom, the head of house Redloom I am able to put my house before my own desires. But don't worry, Scholar. Later this evening I will attend the celebrations of my friend. He wouldn't stand for me working the day away, I' d believe."
A grin broke out across the Scholars face. „That's good, very good. Working this much isn't healthy even for us Lords of Time. Can't have Redloom loosing power because our Kirthriarch is doing paperwork all day and night, right?"
The Inventors lips twitched.
„What makes you think that Redloom will lose power as long as I am the Kithriarch. Or better yet, what makes you think that all I do is paperwork? This is just the thr beginning of my labour!It takes far more to keep our family in power and it's all thanks to me !"
The Inventor knew as soon as the words left her mouth that being this arrogant with the housekeeper of all people wasn't nice. The Scholar had made similar decisions to help the house Redloom, not just the Inventor, she knew that. But the Inventor couldn't help it. That was the downside of this incarnation and she hoped it was a trait that wouldn't stick. Pride and arrogance weren't traits that the Inventor would like to have in this entire regeneration cycle.
As soon as she finished the last paper she laid her pen down and stretched. While she had talked to the Scholar her working pace had speed up allowing the Inventor to finish all her paperwork before the evening. Still she couldn't bring herself to go to the Scholar and apologize.
Instead she made her way to the heart of the city to join in celebrating the Otherstide.
Soon enough she could see her students running down the streets.
The Inventor slipped though alleyways towards the center of celebration where the music came from. Artists sat in front of their computers and tried to capture the scenes of the festiveness.
For the first time in a very, very long while the Inventor smiled and it hurt her cheeks to do so.
She was sure that The Other would have loved this kind of festiveness. All those years ago he had complained that Gallifrey didn't know how to celebrate life and he had been right.
All the colors and laughter were now giving off a different impression. Some of the buildings had opened their doors to every Time Lord so they could gaze down on all the commotion and talk in relative silence.
„Oh how I miss you, you idiot!", the Inventor breathed out as her eyes searched against all hope and logic for the familiar face.
Her eyes however spotted Borussa talking by the fountain. For such a dry planet, the Inventor mused, the gallifreyans sure loved wasting water.
Three children, too young for the academy, were running past the Inventor playing catch, their red robes hanging off their shoulders.
The Inventor had been careful in general so that she wouldn't bump into another Time Lord, usually the city didn't seem this crowded.
After a while of just wandering around the Inventor decided to climb the stairs of a clothes shop to its roof-deck to see what the celebration looked from above. Red, orange, and gold confetti flew through the air and got caught in the Inventors hair as she leaned over the railing.
The old Time Lady laughed now truly as she observed the commotion down below. She felt truly at peace with herself for this moment. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted again a familiar face and decided in childish joy to surprise this Time Lord with her appearance on this festiveness. After all it wasn't like he thought a sad day for her. She just liked to remember all her days spent in the company of the Other on this day if she dared and that made her a bit doleful.
„Borussa! Say do you follow me around?"
Lord Borussa turned, the red fabric of his clothes rustling ever so slightly. " Lady Inventor, what a pleasure seeing you here! You rarely even leave your house or the acedemy.I wonder how someone like you is so wise." The Inventor's lips twitched as she her a smile: " In opposite to popular belief I do love to travel. You should try it too, it's good for broadening the mind. Experience is the key to wisdom, my dear"
She passed by him to look down on the celebration again, and patted Borussa's cheek. " I just rarely find the time anymore to leave my work. It's funny, Isn't it? From all the races out there we're the one's to always run out of time.."The two teachers stood in silence for a moment. " How about a deal, Inventor!", Borussa suddenly exclaimed.
The older woman never took her eyes of their students. " What deal, Borussa?" The Time Lord smiled and answered:"I shall take your classes so you can travel. However when you return I want to see another one of your studies of less...advanced races published. They are always so delightful."-"You are a flatterer Borussa. Be careful one day you might slip on all that honey."
The Inventor didn't answer directly as she couldn't make up her mind this fast.
The singing and the music got louder as the musicians played a well-known and liked song. For a moment the Inventor could have sworn that she saw the Other down there smiling and nodding at her, then she made her mind up. The Time Lady pushed herself away from the railing and knocked on Borussa's back. „Very well. I shall go, talk to my friends and tell them of my departure. Thank you for your offer, Borussa."
Before the Inventor had vanished in the crowd as she raised a hand and called over her shoulder:
„I wish you a merry Otherstide, Borussa!"