Coming off the Acropolis (Closed)

It was almost paradoxical. As a student Saffron absolutely hated the teachers offices. Now they were his asylum. Somewhere quiet where he could prepare lessons and grade homework. Taking a seat at his new desk Saffron noticed a strange object sat atop it. Upon further inspection it became clear that it was some form of gadget, but for what was unclear. However, there was a name etched into it, Keyhl Riven. Most likely the former owner of the desk. For a brief moment Saffron wondered what had happened to this Keyhl Riven character, but that thought shortly left his mind. More important measures were at hand. He had to start lessons plans. It was only his first day and they had him starting classes tomorrow.

“Can't a guy ever catch a break,” Saffron lamented to himself busting out a piece of paper and a pen. Sure it would have been easier to do on his scroll he just preferred and old fashioned approach.

Lucy was is a rush: she was late for her new class, and she wanted to make sure that her teacher was the least amount of angry and disappointed in her as possible, so she was trying to be as least late as possible. She dodged other students and burst through the classroom door, immediately apologizing for her tardiness.

"Apologies: Oh I'm so sorry Mr. Professor Sir, I didn't mean to be late, I forgot your first class was today! Assurance: I promise not to be late for the next class I promise I promise I'll be on time, please don't be angry with me I really didn't mean to be late!" she pushed out as her eyes were starting to well up.

She was so upset with herself, as the one thing she was doing better at was being on time for class, and now she managed to mess that up!

Saffron was jolted out of his planing trance when a student burst through the door. He quickly shook his head then pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. Had he really been planing for two hours? That would make the time just after...

“Oh Colors!” Saffron exclaimed looking up to find a class of student's. This was not good, he most definitely looked like a goof. With a deep breath Saffron colected himself and adjusted his omnipresent sunglasses.

“It's alright we haven't actually started yet, Just have a seat,” Saffron said standing from his desk and moving to the large whiteboard writing on it “Philosophy” and just below it “Professor Saffron May.” With that done he grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and handed it to the students in the front end seat.

“Alright everyone pass this paper around and put your name down, this is how I will be taking attendance in this class.”

Walking with a kinda-faster-than-normal but not quite rushing pace, Molly made her way to her classroom. Deciding to forgo the norm of carrying backpacks, she held in her hands a pen and a folder that was filled with writing paper. While she wasn't the type to normally be this late, it seems like today will be an exception. Who could blame her though? The shade under that old tree was basically pleading for somebody to take a nap under it, and boy was it one of the most relaxing midday rests she's ever had. That's a spot that she has to remember for sure.

Opening the door to their classroom, Molly addressed their lecturer by speaking through a sudden yawn. "Sorry, Sir," she said, raising a hand up in apology. Giving him a cheeky, slightly guilt-filled grin, she lowered her head slightly and quickly made her way to take a seat in the back, not noticing a familiar face already seated down in the room.

"Oi oi, I don't need to put up with this you know," Richard glowered, being pulled down the hallway by a monkey almost as tall as him. Certainly physically stronger than him, "I could just send you back to Gyro, I'm sure he's missing you already. Stupid old man, gees... he was probably dumb enough to give you a real name to."

"Gyoh, Gyo-Gyo, Guhya," The monkey seemed to almost tut, acting as though it were the short man's mother as apposed to his pet chimp much to his annoyance.

Richard let out a snarl as the ape reached for the door, he had been sprawled on his bed attempting to fall asleep when the Monkey had remembered the boy had a class today. Of course the animal had decided the short man's classes were a necessity, not to be missed under any circumstances... much to his dismay.

As the pair rounded the door, monkey garbed in his usual outfit and Richard secretly armed to the teeth as he always was, the ape let out an apologetic "Gyoh" Richard just grunted. Seeing most seats at the front taken the pair began to make their way toward the back, the chimp speeding up when it noticed a certain someone. Waving to Molly the chimp took a seat her left, Richard stuck in the one to her right.

With a grunt to her he signed the paper, passed it on, and immediately put his head on the table to go to sleep.

Lucy wiped her eyes at the response of the Professor, calmed a bit knowing that she was actually early and that she was still doing well getting to class on time without Mr. Davis's assistance. She smiled a bit, excited to tell him all that she would learn today and how she was still being very responsible. She then took the apple she had with her and set it on the Professor's desk, then spoke up again. "Gratitude: Th-Thank you f-for having m-me in y-your class t-today Professor! Excited: I'm very excited to learn about your subject today!" she said smiling before she turned around and looked for a place to sit. She went to go take a seat when she saw Ms. Jones walk in, and she got suddenly very excited!

"Greetings: Mol-err, Ms. Jones, g-good morning! Elated: I h-had no idea y-you would b-be here, I'm s-so happy to see you! Inquiry: Umm, Mol-err, M-Ms. Jones, w-would it be o-okay to s-sit n-next t-to y-" Lucy's question was interrupted by a small man and his Chimpanzee come in and take the seats next to Ms. Jones. This made her a bit sad because she couldn't sit by her second new friend, but she decided she would sit next to the chimpanzee...wait, an animal in class? Was that okay? Lucy wasn't sure, but she loved animals, so she sat down next to the chimpanzee.

"Identification: Pan troglodytes! Greetings: Hello there Mr. or Ms. Chimpanzee! Inquiry: I didn't know that let animals into class, are you here to learn too?" she asked genuinely.

A second student followed the one that had broken Saffron from his trance. Honestly at this point he didn't care if they were late considering his own blunder. The one who had reawaken him approached his desk placing an apple one it. Cliche, but he like it. The way she spoke was weird, but it reminded him of something. What was it? What walked through the door next left him no time to think about that. A boy being almost dragged by a monkey. What in the? Was this some sort of zoo now? Saffron shook his head.

“As the more perceptive of you will have noticed by now this is philosophy,” Saffron began, “and I am your instructor. Professor Saffron May.”

“Isn't that a girls name?” One long haired student mocked, to the laughter of his friends.

“And isn't that a Girls haircut?” Saffron retorted calmly. This seemed to silence the boy.

“I won't beet around the bush in this class, I am direct and do not take any nonsense,” Saffron said picking the apple up from his desk and taking a bite out of it, “Now I'm sure some of you are wondering why you have to take a class such as Philosophy. The answer is simple, you will learn more useful information in this class than you will in any other that you take. Why? Because in here you will learn to look at the world in a different way. Everything I teach will apply to some facet of your life. Now I'm sure that plenty of you won't believe me now, but in time you will. Now if you pay attention to most textbooks they start by describing the topic, and as such many classes will start with a brief introduction to the class. Instead of that I am going to ask you 'what is Philosophy?' no need to raise your hand just speak up, and don't be afraid of being wrong. You will find that in this class there are no wrong answers, well except on tests.”

A familiar, sweet sounding voice snapped her out of her sleep-addled state. Looking up, Molly smiled at the sight of her blonde friend. The unexplained fondness that she felt towards the girl was still there, though it wasn't something that she particularly disliked. Quite the opposite, in fact; it warmed her heart, reminding her of good and happy times. She was reminded of an instance in the past, one memory that insisted on sticking with her through all these years. It too stemmed from a little girl. Following the weeks after her Ma left this world to be with her Pa, Molly was lazing on their old sofa by the window. Evening sun was shining in, painting all with an orange hue. A palm rested on the cover of a book she held in her lap, her gaze having listlessly journeyed from within the pages to the world outside the second-story window. Where she sat gave her a good view of the entrance to a cobblestone alleyway, one that now harbored a senile old beggar. They often exchanged words when she passed him by, though it was more often than not a one-sided conversation. The beggar provided her a human ear to vent and talk, so it didn't matter that she knew not if he even understood a single word.

Right now, a small girl in a blue, worn and frayed plaid dress was standing in front of him. An older woman stood beside her, ushering her to stop staring and move on. Molly watched as the girl gestured to the paper bag she held, pointing to the old beggar. The older woman, probably her mother, shook her head and moved to drag her daughter by her collar. The girl squirmed and struggled and her mother released her grip, visually frustrated at the altruistic nature of her daughter. The mother stormed off. Through tears, the girl rummaged through her paper bag and pulled out an apple, squatting to place the apple in the old man's hand.

It was a sight burnt into Molly's memory. She wasn't sure what the old man did with the apple, for she turned away from the sight after the little girl left. Such innocent kindness hurts. What she does know for certain is that the beggar died later that winter, body frozen solid after the passing of a heavy blizzard. For a brief while, she wondered if she could have saved him. That guilt was short lasting though, as she scarcely had enough to feed just herself. At that point in time, she hadn't yet begun to do business and make a name for herself in the criminal market. To house a senile old man was simply out of the question. There weren't any obligations that bound her to him. As for the girl, her fate remained uncertain. Molly never caught sight of her ever since that one evening, and now having moved away from her hometown, probably never would. Still, she thought about her every time this memory came back. Had she managed to turn her life around?

Bringing her focus back to the present, Molly responded to her little blonde friend, deciding to address the cute scene of Lucille jumping back and forth between her first and last name. "You can call me Molly if you want, even if Ms.Jones does have a nice ring to it," she said, grinning. "We're friends, so there's no need for any formalities. Pushing her chair back, she stood up and reached over to ruffle the girl's hair. "Good morning, Lucille."

She then caught sight of a certain short individual and his pet chimp. Raising a hand to greet them by, Molly sat back down as the Professor begun addressing the class. Despite her attempts to settle into the lesson, she was unable to ignore Lucille's attempts at making a new chimp friend, a sight that had her needing to suppress a light giggle. "The chimp and her should get along fine, she thought. With another attempt to tune in to the ongoing lesson, Molly pondered for a few seconds at the Professor's question before speaking up with her answer.

"It's how the gears in the mind tick, right?"

More like I'll take more naps in this class than any other, claim it's part of my own brand of philosophy, The short man yawned, quickly sounding out the geezer at the front of him. He couldn't be bothered dealing with another pompous old man, then again he'd dealt with enough pompous people of all sorts. Richard drew his claws, all along his right hand, and gently scratched along the back of his neck.

The monkey however was thoroughly enjoying the class, scanning the room wildly with a ridiculous grin on it's face. As a little girl turned to talk to it the monkey couldn't quite make out what she said, not speaking English, but was happy enough to just nod and clap in response regardless. The teacher, though the monkey didn't know him to be such, spoke with a questioning tone and so the ape responded;

"Gaou, Gao-Ga-Gau, Gayha Gaha Gaou Gauo Gaou Gaou. Gaou, Gyhaa Gyhaa Gha Gaou. Gau!"

This had the unfortunate side effect of awakening Richard. With a yawn he half shout, half grumbled, "Yeah, Chimp's probably right... whatever."

Before promptly re-lowering his head to his desk.

The Monkey + Clothes: