School's Out, Gerry

[Lorelai Graham]

Lorelai might be thought of by most as a simple substitute teacher. Just a woman who is thee to fill in and babysit the children whentheir usual teachers are off doing othe things, but that is far from what she does. There are't a lot of people who would be able to do what she could do, and do it as well as she could, or even close to it. She does so much more then simply look after a class, and make them read in their text books, or follow simple instructions left by the teacher.

The reason Lorelai is able to cover for so many of the different classes is because she is so intelligent and well leaned in so many different subject. She is incredibly bright, having been able to pick up on many things in school, as well as in her adult life. She is able to use that amount of knowledge so that when she is covering, she isn't just there to make sure the kids work, she can truely teach them. She almost teaches them better then their regularly schedualed teachers, but she enjoys not having to stick to any one subject.

It's more exciting, she thinks, to be able to do all sorts of different things, always keeping you rmind sharp, and giving you a reason to keep reading all different sorts of things. Plus, she's on the payroll every day, so when she isnt' working, she has time to do whatever she likes. And she always did love the school she was currently working at. It had a wonderful staff, for the most part, and interesting students, also, forthe most part. It was in a beautiful town, and it had a fantastic library.

Still, a woman couldn't spend all of her time in a library, or in a classroom, and with the students. She was a grown woman, and while she had her interests, she also had an interest in being alive, and human contact and all that. So, what better thing to do after a day of school, then to go and see one of her oldest and closest friends? It wasn't the kind of friendship you would expect, and people would probably look at them funny if they wereto her their conversations, but it worked for them, and Lorelai trusted him, and enjoye dhis company. Taking two cups, and a bottle of wine, Rory took her little gift to the office that she assumed Gerry was still sitting in, doing god knows what. Without knocking, she pushed the door open, and stepped through it, shutting it behind her.

"Gerry."

[Gerry MacIntosh]

<sub>"Gerry...have I ever told you how much of a weirdo you are?"

Gerald Nathaniel MacIntosh's daemon, Serephina, told him in a dry tone. At the moment, she was perched on a wooden stand that he had made for her when she had first taken the form of a magnificent golden eagle. Her golden feathers were illuminated by the soft glow of the fireplace. A fireplace that Gerry had installed himself upon becoming the English Professor at Berryn Academy. He enjoyed being able to play with fire while spending time in his office >3. Gerry usually kept the electric lights off, he liked the glow of the fireplace better. Serephina shifted on her perch and ruffled her wings, obviously showing her displeasure for what he was going to do. Gerry was very good at reading her, at least he should be anyways. o.o. They had been together since birth. She blinked and tilted her head, "I don't think that's very legal...not to mention the fact that your boss might fire you for going through with this..." Words of wisdom, her voice still dry.

"Oh stop being such a worry wort Serephina..." Gerry finally answered back. He stepped away from his work, placing his hands on his hips and grinning, "They can't fire me for something they don't know happened.." His grin turned diabolical. Now, you're probably wondering what our dear Gerald was doing? Well you see he had been given the entire Harry Potter series by the school so that he might go over them with his class. They were supposed to analyze it and pick out all the political and religious elements, then discuss it in class, but if there was one thing that Gerry absolutely hated, it was being told what to do. Especially when he didn't like what he was being ordered to do. The thirty two year old professor grinned manically and snapped his fingers. His index finer immediately sparked and a tiny flame hovered above it.

Serephina rolled her eyes and jumped off her perch. Her beak began to form into a large snout and her form got bigger. It was a smooth transformation, as if she were jumping through water. Two giant white paws hit the ground with a soft thud and Serephina now stood by his desk in her tigress form. She rolled her eyes at her counterpart and said, "Gerald Nathaniel MacIntosh...stop burning books...it's not legal, your bosses will kill you for it, and not to mention it's completely ridiculous. Just don't listen like you always do.."

Gerry winced at the mention of his full name. He hated being called Gerald, especially by Serephina. He turned to her and wrinkled up his nose, "But that's no fun now is it...?" He crossed his arms and Serephina stood up to her full height. She was a massive creature. Her back alone reached to the height of Gerry's elbow, and Gerry wasn't a short guy. She trotted over to the pile of Harry Potter books that Gerry had stacked in a tepee shape. With one swipe of her paw the tepee arrangement was dismantled. Gerry furrowed his brow and snorted, "What good do those books do for society anyway? They only brainwash our kids and suck them into pop culture...kids today should be reading actual books...not that Harry Potter crap..." He rotated his hand in the air.

Serephina would have answered him back, but the door to his office opened. Gerry sucked in a frustrated breath and was about to get angry at whoever came into his office without knocking, but stopped himself when he saw who it was. Something cringed inside of him, just out of pure habit. A quick and charming grin played across his lips as his eyes studied his guest.

"Gerry."

"Well, well...look who we've got here. What brings you to my office Miss Graham?" Gerry glanced at the bottle and glasses in her hands and then returned his gaze to her face. Lorelai was a very beautiful woman, to Gerry at least. She was smart, witty, fun to be with, and the only woman that Gerry had ever been with. Serephina let out a low rumbling growl in greeting. It wasn't an aggressive growl, it was warm and welcoming, resembling a purr more so than a growl. Gerry inconspicuously kicked the pile of crappy Harry Potter books underneath his desk and kept his cool. "I didn't expect to get a visit from you tonight..."</sub>

[Lorelai Graham]

"So formal. I must have caught you in the middle of something Phina doesn't approve of."

Smirking, Rory moved away from the recently closed door, and took a seat in the chair across from Gerry's. She knew him all too well, just as she knew his Daemon. She was respecful of the rules of their respective alter-ego's but she also knew that she wasn't insulting the beautiful girl. Her own Daemon, now in the form of a Sparrowhark, had flown in and was perched on one of the taller bookshelves, looking over everything that was going on below him.

"Why wouldn't I come? Do I have something better to do? Unfortunately, I don't, I'll just have to put up with you."

She was only teasing him, like she always did. She actually realy did enjoy him company, which wasa good thing, considering how much time they spent together. He was her best friend, and he knew her better than anyone else did, like she knew him. He could be annying, and she hated it when he smoked, especially without an open window, but it was all just part of his charm. If you could call it that. She was used to him, and saw past all of those little habits he'd picked up along the way.

"Come on, then, let's have a drink."

It wasa small town, and there wasn't alwas a lot to do, but they could always talk. Even when they couldn't talk, they could always sit around and enjoy the other's silence. There was a comfort level that she felt with him, Pulling out the cork of the bottle she'd brought, Rory poured the contents into the two glasses that were sitting site by side. Once they were filled, she set the bottle down, and handed one of the glasses over to her friend, Raising her own in toast.

"Cheers."

After taking a small drink from her glass, she set it back down on his desk, and leaned back in her chair. Her long hair fell down the back of it as she looked Gerry over, wondering exactly what he had been up to. She didn't care to ask, having a feeling that the answer would just make her roll her eyes at him. He had a habit of doing things like that, and it was kind of entertaining.

[Gerry MacIntosh]

<sub>"So formal. I must have caught you in the middle of something Phina doesn't approve of."

Gerry's smirk widened and he gave her a nonchalant shrug, "When does Serephina ever approve of what I do?" That little comment earned Gerry a whip from his daemon's tail. Serephina let out a low rumbling growl, which Gerry knew all too well was a laugh. He jumped when she had whipped him and rubbed his tush as she trotted over to the corner (where Gerry had set up a little bed for her to rest in). The giant golden tiger curled herself up on top of the very soft looking bed. She glanced up at 'Bob' as Gerry glared lightly at her. She knew that he didn't like it when she did that, and that's exactly why she did it. Gerry sighed, he couldn't really blame her. If he had a tail he'd whip people all the time with it, especially those idiot teenagers. Ah well, we can all dream now can't we. Then again, what English Professor in his right mind would want to whip his students? o.o. Well there was a simple two word answer to that and it was Gerry MacIntosh. He was one of those guys that disregarded regular 'school' etiquette. His bosses knew that, he had after all told them during his interview for the job. Gerry sometimes thought that a good beating would be just what some of those kids needed.

Rory had closed the door once she entered his domain and made herself at home, which would annoy the hell out of Gerry if it were anyone else but her. He absolutely hated it when someone came in without knocking, it was an invasion of privacy you know. All she had done was walk and sit down on the chair in front of his desk, and Gerry still couldn't help but find her incredibly attractive. He mentally kicked himself for it. He shouldn't really be harboring any romantic feelings for her at all. They had gotten passed that hadn't they? She didn't feel anything for him and he wasn't supposed to feel anything for her. It was all terribly ridiculous. Gerry sighed to himself and padded his way to his desk chair. He sat down and leaned back as Rory spoke again.

"Why wouldn't I come? Do I have something better to do? Unfortunately, I don't, I'll just have to put up with you."

Lorelai earned herself a grin from the English Professor. He was about to reply when Serephina piped in. "Anything other than hanging out with that juvenile delinquent is better dear Lorelai" There was a smirk in Serephina's voice. Gerry looked at his daemon dryly and snorted. Serephina didn't talk directly to a lot of people, heck she never talked directly to anyone but Lorelai. After Gerry's dry look he returned his attention to Rory, "Don't mind Serephina, she's a little mouthy today" He grinned, obviously kidding around, "Well I don't really know why you wouldn't come, after all I am the most interesting teacher around here...all those other guys are rather bland" Gerry's grin widened a little bit and his eyes glinted cockily. He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his not so comfortable desk chair. Of course Gerry didn't really think he was the most interesting Professor around the school. He said it just out of plain stupid fun.

"Come on, then, let's have a drink."

He sat up straight in his chair and chuckled lightly, "You know I could never refuse a proposal like that" He watched his former lover pour the contents of the bottle out in both glasses. Gerry studied her. She was the same as always. The way she moved, the way she talked, and the way she treated him. It was all the same, though a little more friendly. Never the less, she still treated him the way she did when they had first met. Gerry wondered if it seemed like he was treating or acting differently with her because of what happened between them. He sighed inwardly. Gerr tried his absolute best to keep his composure and avoid the subject all together when they were together. He still had feelings for her, and he didn't want to ruin the friendship that they had kept together for so long. Gerry tore his eyes away from her casually (because he had been staring XD) and glanced at both daemons.

"Cheers."

Gerry looked back at her and picked up his glass with all the grace of a grizzly bear. "Cheers" He tipped his glass in her direction before taking a very ungraceful swig of the contents. He set the glass down on his battered desk and smiled his crooked smile when she leaned forward and studied him. Gerry felt a nervous wave wash over him. damnit! >_<. Gerry looked at his clock. It had been nearly an hour since he last had a cigarette. Gerry kept his cool though, he knew that Lorelai didn't like that little habit of his. He ran a hand through his messy hair and said, "Well...you know me Rory...I'm not very good at conversation starters but I'll give this one a shot..." He paused and swirled the liquid around in his glass, "How was your day?"</sub>

[Lorelai Graham]

Lorelia let out a laugh at Serephina's way of dealing with her human. It was exactly what any person should have done to Gerry long ago, and many times. It could do with a good slap every now and again, just to keep him on his toes. Well, she didn't really think that, but it was an amusing thought to think of him getting a little spank every now and again, throughout the day. It wouldn't do to have a teacher getting smacked around the school, it could ruin his authoritative image with the students.

Of course, what kind of an image did someone like Gerry have, in the first place? When she heard his daemon's response to her initial comment of having nothing better to do, Rory couldn't help but smile at the beautiful animal in the room. She had always liked that girl. They seemed to have bonded, even though it was rare for a daemon to even bond with another human like they did with the ones they were naturally paired to, but the two of them shared a love for the same person. Gerry. Even if they did love to tease him endlessly.

"Hear hear!"

Lorelai and Gerry had something of an interesting friendship. In the beginning, they had only really been friends for a week or so, before they had started dating. Things tended to move pretty quickly in college, didn't they? They had actually had the best relationship Rory had ever been in. They had been young, maybe it had just seemed like that because they were so naive.

Still, she had been very happy when she'd been with him. She understood him, and they had been able to talk, always. No secrets. And he was very sweet and kind when he wanted to be, his flaws just didn't affect her the way they could affect other people. Then there was always the fact that she found him adorable, and handsome in his way. But it couldn't last forever, they'd been so young, and mistakes had been made.

Breaking up hadn't been terrible, though. There had been a rough patch, but they'd gotten through it. They'd managed to keep the most important thing of their relationship, which had been their friendship. She could still talk to him about everything, and she took advantage of that when she needed to. And he could always to the same. Still, she tried to have as drama free a life as possible, so most of their times was just this, sitting around, joking, laughing, drinking, whatever they wanted.

"My day? Not a bad opening, though, rather unremarkable. Well, it was long, and full of children. Yours?"