Sherlock Holmes shuffled through his papers on his desk at the front of the lecture hall. He was a brand new professor at St. Barts College just hired, and just having graduated from Uni a year before. Though young, his marks had been beyond brilliant. Ingenious to be frank. He had majored in Psychology and Criminal Studies as he was interested in becoming a private investigator or something along those lines. However, he figured, being only 24, it would be good to get a bit of money under his belt before he began such a risky freelance career. Though he came from a lavish and wealthy family, to be sure, he wanted to pave his own way-if he could. And not depend on his trust fund unless it came to it.
He ran a hair through his dark locks and sighed. He was replacing a very old and beloved professor whom had just retired. He hoped the students would take to him somewhat, although, no one really ever took to him. He had classified himself, very accurately, he might add, as a high functioning sociopath. Social interaction and human contact certainly weren't his thing. No matter, he was brilliant and maybe a few, rare students, would actually learn something from his cold, indifferent approach to the field and to teaching.
He swallowed as the students finally began to file in. He felt awkward and uncertain despite his depth of knowledge in the field. However, it wasn't the field he was unsure about, it was interaction with such youths. With people. And young ones at that. He sighed and picked up the register, glancing at the names and waiting for the class to fill before beginning to take attendance.
Once it seemed that most of the students had shuffled in Sherlock began to read the names from the list.
"Right. Hello. Um, I'm Professor Holmes and I'm your new Psychology professor. Let's begin with attendance, shall we? He picked up the list and leaned against the desk lazily.
"Irene Adler?" He called. He waited a few seconds. Nothing. 'Brilliant,' he thought to himself, his first student was tardy, what a way to start the year.
He went through the list some more, "Molly Hooper?" A sheepish, mousy-haired girl seated towards the front of the class rose her hand.
He continued down the list of names finally reaching the 'M' section, "Kate Miller?" He called. An attractive, young, redhead rose her hand confidently. "Here."
Sherlock swallowed, "Right, thanks."
Irene Adler opened the door to her Psychology classroom, a cup of Starbucks frappucino in hand. She was always late to class, priding herself on her ability to wrap every professor, either male or female, around her little finger. Her psychology teacher had a sweet spot for her which she played off of massively, a charming smile and a lusty stare would get her out of any trouble. As she opened the door she noticed not her old, middle aged professor, but rather a young, vibrant, if distant professor, and certainly a good looking one. She smiled her signature, gorgeous yet confident smile. "Sorry, I'm late Sir." She purred, walking to her usual spot next to Kate.
Sherlock did a double take as a very attractive, dark-haired young woman quickly entered the classroom. He quickly got the better of himself, furrowing his brow as his temper rose. "Excuse me? And who are you? You're late you know? And it's not 'Sir.' I'm Professor to you." He spit, his nostrils flaring.
Irene raised an eyebrow as she seated herself, sipping her coffee. Normally her winning smile was more than enough to satiate an angry professor. "Apologies 'Professor.' But I believe everyone to be Sir until I know their name." She said, somewhat cheekily. "I'm Irene Adler." She responded, holding out her hand with a smirk, knowing he wouldn't take it.
Sherlock glared at her hand, ignoring it. "You're very late, Miss Adler. Seven minutes to be precise. Take a seat. We'll talk after class." He hissed.
She took back her hand. "Sounds ominous." She said to Kate with a smirk as she sat lazily in her seat, not bothering to pull out any books. She always deemed psychology as a bit of a joke. She already knew how people thought, how they acted, and why they acted as such.
Sherlock was nervous as he began his lecture, his voice shakier and more clipped than he would have liked. As the hour progressed, however, he soon fell into his element and his confidence, stature, and presentation rose. He went through the syllabus with them, explaining the various mental illness they would be covering. The ever popular Manic-Depressive, or 'Bipolar' disorder would be first. Sherlock had decided to start the year off with a bang, and there was no better disease than that to begin with. He went through the rest of the planned year, before giving the floor to students for any questions. There were only one or two. For some reason the class seemed to be very pulled back from him. He frowned, certainly he wasn't that intimidating or scary? "Whatever," he thought to himself.
"Class dismissed. Miss Adler, please remain behind." He ordered, glancing at her before sitting down at his desk to file through some papers.
Irene rolled her eyes at Kate and promised to meet her afterwards. She grabbed her bag and discarded the Starbucks cup before stalking confidently towards his desk, her heels clicking with every step. She perched on the edge. "Yes, Professor Holmes?" She asked sweetly, her blue eyes big and deer-like, seemingly innocent.
Sherlock swallowed as he witnessed her take such a...familiar stance with him. How dare she sit on his desk? That was highly inappropriate behaviour for a student to a professor.
"Get off my desk." He spat.
A look of almost...annoyance flashed across her eyes. She was not used to people not succumbing to her advances. She reluctantly relinquished her stance on his desk but instead leaned against it, her eyes narrowing, hardening slightly to steely confidence instead of coy innocence. Maybe he liked a woman who could take control? That certainly was Irene's forte.
"For being late, I'll need you to take a detention. Such behaviour is not acceptable in my class. Meet me here at 7:00 pm this evening. And if you're late, Miss Adler, you will bare the consequences." He hissed, standing up quickly and taking his notes and briefcase before quickly exiting the classroom.
Irene froze as the new professor brushed past her. He brushed past her. Without even a glance back. She exhaled as her face became cold and steely. No one ever brushed past Irene Adler. She hitched her bag over her shoulder and stalked out of the room. Mr Holmes would regret this. Oh, he would regret it completely.
