He'd never taught before. Sure, he'd undergone the usual training in order to be…able to train other people, but until now, he'd never really thought he would get to use it. Have to use it, rather. He'd never been a people-person, really…but that didn't stop him, not now. Not anymore, after all he'd been through – he could fake it. That icy cold exterior he still had from years of not using any facial muscles helped, of course, in this instance, and he made sure he was able to maintain that, even though he had been human for some time before they gave him his own 'class' to teach.
Tobias stood there, in the indoor training room (not that they'd be doing any physical training that day – it was sort of like driver's ed, they just threw him in whatever room they could find that wasn't being used at that hour), watching as people started filing in through the door of the great chamber, lining up according to…whatever system they chose to use, he didn't care. A hand went through his sandy-brown hair, making it only look more disheveled and unruly than it had before, since it refused to stay at the length he'd had it cut.
And there they were…the people who'd volunteered for this, and been lucky enough to be chosen by the Admiral to be here, the ones with the best records for what he and the Admiral had thought they'd need in this instance. This wasn't Sunday school…this was the start of something new, something exciting to Tobias that he already know most of the material on – Aliens 101, so to speak.
---
Jet groaned as he awoke to his blaring alarm. He sat up and ran a hand through his short but wild blonde hair. He reached his other hand to hit the off button on the alarm, but couldn't find it. He raised his hand up and down several times, trying to hit the stupid thing, but couldn't get it.
He sighed as he sat up and turned it off. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and looked at the time. 'Oh, crap…'He thought as he saw the time. He was supposed to be at the training facility for that new class in five minutes.
He leapt up and threw on a t-shirt and some jeans. He ran into his bathroom and splashed some water onto his face. He then raced out of his house and hopped on his bike.
Jet peddled and peddled, pushing his tired body to its limit. He was already red and a little sweaty. His hair rustled around in the air as if doing some kinda odd ritual dance.
He finally arrived at the building, throwing the bike out from under him and by luck catching good footing on the ground. He rushed in, searching for the room he was supposed to meet in. Pain rushed through his sore legs with nearly every step. Maybe staying up all night playing football with the guys wasn't the best choice.
Jet finally found the room and stopped in front of the closed double doors, letting out a huge sigh. He grabbed the handle and twisted it, walking into a class full of sitting people and a lecturing teacher.
He let out a nervous laugh and asked, "So, what'd I miss?"
---
"This is not a class to be late for," he was just saying, as the tardy student entered the room. He couldn't help but roll his eyes. Not another one…not another Marco or Desi. He couldn't take this many of them.
"Just the whole, you're in the military now so don't be late or you get to clean toilets deal," Tobias replied at the question of what he'd missed, heh. "Worse. I'll make you clean the rooms we keep the aliens in upstairs. Don't let it happen again, and don't disrupt my class anymore."
He was a hard-ass, after all. Stone solid in both disposition and physical demeanor. He was no longer the Tobias of old, no; nobody would ever be able to tell they were the same two people. For one thing, he now looked to be the age he actually was, and should be. Other such differences, his hair had darkened with age, a genetic trait found in many light-haired children, and being in the army for a while had taken its toll – he was no longer the shy bully magnet (nor was he overly developed), thanks to countless sleepless nights spent in the gym rather than in bed, for lack of anything else to do around there in the middle of the night.
The only thing remaining of either of his previous lifestyles was a slightly golden tinge to his otherwise perfectly normal eyes – golden flecks, like those you'd find in a hawk.
"And if you can't handle a fight, this isn't the class for you. This is something different. We will be learning and discussing various types of alien species, as well as their cultures, traditions, brief histories of the species you'll most likely come into contact with. And we'll also be learning a couple of fighting styles from at least two different ET's (extra-terrestrials), along with how to possibly survive an attack while you're human and they have sharp pointy parts to their bodies. Any questions?"
---
If this had been an anime cartoon, a big drop of sweat would have quickly dropped down Jet's forehead. He grinned nervously and ran a hand through his hand before quickly scooting to an empty seat in the back.
He didn't take the teacher seriously when he talked about the aliens upstairs. The comment was just dismissed as some stupid crap teachers say to loosen up the students and try to become friendlier with them.
Until the next little lecture that is. He wondered if the teacher actually believed what he was saying.
At the end, Jet let out a small laugh that the whole class could hear. "Aliens?" He mockingly asked. "So, what, we gonna dissect Marvin the Martian or something?"