Tutoring Hazard (Whitebrand and jesskitty)

[Whitebrand]

"We can call it here," Brand said with a nod and a smile. "I'm very glad you enjoyed it."

He collected the plates and utensils and put them back into the basket again.

"We ought to make this a regular thing," Brand added as he cleaned up. "I like cooking, and I find that there's no better way to end an evening than with a good meal. We'll pick up your lessons next time."

He finished collecting his things and stood. He gave her a graceful bow that he held for a moment longer than he needed to, then he turned to go.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Milady," he said he he headed for the door.

[jesskitty]

Lissa gave a soft smile back and closed the few books and notebooks on her desk as they began to wrap up their lesson.

"I don't want to overwork you too hard but if you were ever willing to bring a meal like this again I would just love to do something like this again. I can't imagine what would taste much better than this though!"

She walked him to the door and gave a friendly wave as he exited. "See you next lesson Brand!"

[Whitebrand]

"I will be happy to bring you as many meals as you are willing to eat, Milady," he said with a broader smile. "It is the great pleasure of a cook to be appreciated."

SESSION 3

Brand arrived promptly on time with another basket of food, this time carrying two servings worth of meaty spring rolls with a sweet and sour sauce that smelled (and tasted) homemade, along with a jug of fresh water and a side salad. As before, though, he went into the lesson first and let the smell of the food work its magic.

He also dropped a few hints that he was capable of teaching her so much more than he was being allowed to...not many hints, just enough to pique her interest. He knew she was a bright girl and had enough curiosity to go with the intellect. He simply hinted that the magical constraints on him kept him from teaching her as much as he could have. She was likely to work out for herself what he wanted her to.

He dropped the professional veneer a little bit too, giving her a warm smile when she caught on to the lesson he was teaching her and encouraging her to do better. Little by little he worked on thawing out the divide between tutor and student.

[jesskitty]

Lissa rushed to the door as Brand arrived and gave him a big smile to welcome him as she opened the door for him. "Hello again instructor! Ooh wow... the food smells just as amazing as last time."

She followed along with his lesson and her improvement was getting quite noticeable as she started to get the hang of the different formulas and equations more and more. The soft hints he gave caught her curiosity a bit as he mentioned his greater ability but for the most part her focus seemed to be on the problems in front of her and taking care of those.

His friendly approaches were very well welcomed by her though as she smiled and giggled happily when he encouraged and praised her through their work. The smell starting to do its job as Lissa's stomach gave a quiet growling after a while. Her face blushing with embarrassment as she looked back at Brand then to the food he had brought. "Would it be too much to ask to go ahead and eat now?"

[Whitebrand]

You have no idea how much I want to eat now.

"I wondered how long you'd last," Brand said with a chuckle as he bought out his dinner basket. He served her first, filling her plate with his tasty creations. The sweet and sour sauce on the rolls was mouth-watering...almost as mouth watering as the lovely figure of the girl he was serving.

"You are an exceptional student," Brand said. "There is so much I'd like to teach you...but we have to take this slow. Too slowly for my taste, but there it is."

[jesskitty]

She gave a soft smile as Brand served the meal he had brought. She couldn't help herself any longer as she started to nibble on the many different things that her instructor had prepared for her.

"I'm flattered that you think so highly of me... but we've already made so much progress on my current lessons that I'm happy with the progress we've made. But if we want to branch out to other lessons once we're ahead in our current subject I think I could do even better with your guidance!" She took another few nibbles of the food and hummed softly, her eyes fluttering as she enjoyed the wondrous flavors that had been prepared for her, utterly unaware of the eyes that watched her more interested in a different flavor.

"I have a test coming up soon, perhaps once I hit a break in Artificing you can help me in another class maybe?"

[Whitebrand]

"Name the class and I can probably help you with it," he said. "I am skilled in quite a few fields of magic, though artificing is my specialty. You have but to ask and I will be there for you."

He smiled with the satisfaction of a cook's job well done as the girl enjoyed his creations. He quickly served her a second portion of the spring rolls while taking a slightly smaller sampling of them for himself.

"Next time I'll try to remember to bring a dessert or two," he said with a grin.

[jesskitty]

Lissa gave another smile as she started on the second portion, although going much slower and only nibbling what she felt she eat compared to the quick eating she had given the first serving.

"I could always use some help with something like alchemy. The grades there are fine but I could find some ways to improve. And dessert would be amazing if it compares to all these other meals you've provided!"

[Whitebrand]

"Alchemy I can help you with," he said. "Absolutely...though of course there are certain formulas I'm not allowed to show you..."

He winced again. It looked as though he couldn't even hint at some of the naughtier recipes that students had discovered over the years. He'd have to hope that she would become curious enough to lift that restriction on him...since none of the professors would certainly not be willing to do it.

"As for desserts, what sort of sweets do you like? I have complete access to the kitchen so I can make you anything you want."

[jesskitty]

The quick comment seemed to grab her attention for a moment as she tilted her head but as he quickly moved on from it she did as well. "Alchemy it is then! I'll have to get the proper books and lab equipment set up for next time..."

She gave his next question some thought before giving a soft giggle as she came to her decision. "If you don't mind taking requests... I have a huge sweet-tooth for chocolate things. I can pretty much promise to love whatever it is you make if it involves some chocolate."

[Whitebrand]

"Milady," Brand said. "It will be my pleasure to present you with a chocolate delight. Every evening if you like."

So there it was. A weakness that he could exploit at last. Who would have guessed that chocolate might bring about the end of his enslavement?

He cleaned up after their dinner and lingered only a little bit as he prepared to leave.

"I bid you good night, Milady," he said. "Sleep well."

[jesskitty]

She gave a happy smile and couldn't quite hide her enthusiasm with the promised treats that Brand had offered to her.

"Oh you don't have to do it every meeting... but bringing in chocolate with these evening meals would just make me so thankful!"

She helped a little with cleanup but mostly left Brand to it as she tidied up her desk as the lesson was completed. "Good night to you as well Instructor. I can't wait until our next session!"

[Whitebrand]

SESSION 4

Brand once again turned up at her door precisely on time, this time with a special treat. He carried thin-sliced steak with an Eastern chili red sauce, another bottle of fine wine, and his promised special creation: Chocolate cake with lemon icing, with a light sprinkling of chocolate shavings.

But...lessons first. He set down his basket of culinary treasures and looked over what his young student had set up for their alchemy session.

[jesskitty]

Lissa gave him a friendly smile and opened the door for him as he arrived. She quickly walked him over to a larger desk that was lined with different bottles of liquids and powders of a wide variety that were all neatly labeled and organized. As they began the session Brand would be able to tell much quicker that Lissa was much more adept at this subject than she was before and spent much more of their time during the lesson casually talking and asking questions about himself rather than the subject matter itself.

"So just where did you work before you took the job here Brand?"

[Whitebrand]

"Ah," Brand said. "I suppose you could have called me an 'adventurer', for lack of a better term. I was independently employed. I went out and found things, fought things, and bought home the fruits of my labors. I suppose you could call me a freelancer of sorts, with special skills. Like artificing and alchemy."

He didn't work very hard at keeping her focused on the lesson. He was rather hoping for her curious mind to turn its attention to him.

"Then the elders of the school came after my reputation and made me an offer I couldn't refuse," he added. "But it has its compensations...such as meeting the brightest students of magic."

[jesskitty]

His vague tales of his past quickly grasped her attention moreso than the lesson they were going over. Her scribbles and work on her different problems constantly getting delayed as she focused much more on Brand's tales than her work as the current lesson was coming quite easy to her.

"An adventurer? Wow that's impressive... when it comes to all these different lessons and skills that I'm learning I find a lot of it easy enough but I often lose sight of just what kind of tasks they can be used for in application. Exploration and combat... just what type of things were you sent to go out and find or defeat, instructor?"

[Whitebrand]

"Well, there was a time in the Eastern desert," Brand began. "When my companions and I encountered what turned out to be the ghost of a long-dead king..."

The lesson got almost completely sidetracked as Brand began telling one of his favorite tales. How he and his collection of misift adventurers had been asked by the spirit of a dead king to plunder his tomb...a tomb that was supposedly deadly thief-proof. The king, it seemed, had been so obsessed with his death and the preservation of his wealth that he had nearly broken his country in building the tomb...a massive pyramid that hid his wealth and sarcophagus. He had been slain in the inevitable rebellion, and--according to the ghost--had been cursed by the gods for neglecting the land he had been responsible for. He would not be allowed into the afterlife until his impregnable tomb had been plundered.

The first obstacle the party had encountered was a cult of fanatics that still guarded the tomb to the point of complete unreason. Then came the tomb itself...a maze of traps and puzzles that had been designed to keep out the cleverest of thieves. Then came the worst and most vicious opposition: The undead bodyguards of the dead king and the exotic magical protections that backed them up. All had been terribly challenging, testing the limits of the companions and their skills. Finally the adventure concluded with Brand and the party besting their opposition at last and taking the former king's treasure for their own.

"Two of us retired from the fortune that had netted us," Brand said. "The rest of us...including me...went on to other adventures. As for the king, he passed on the moment we took the treasures from his vault: Gold, gemstones, jewelry, and objects of wonder. A couple of them rest in the museum at this very school, as I recall."

[jesskitty]

Lissa had completely dropped her different writing utensils and other lab tools and had her attention completely focused on the grand and thrilling tale that he wove for her. Her head leaning in slightly whenever he got to the most thrilling parts of them besting the different challenges and enemies.

"Wow so even through all that you and your compatriots managed to reach the treasure and put the king to rest... just what treasures and artifacts did you bring back to the school? I just have to back to the display area and see them again, I never would have guessed!"

She daydreamed for a moment just of what type of adventures and challenges she might be able to face after she was done with everything. "Just what was the hardest challenge that you had to face during all that? Were you close to... losing any of your companions with all that danger?"

[Whitebrand]

"Oh, good gods, yes," Brand said, nodding. "We all had a turn with the close calls. The makers of the pyramid hadn't been kidding around when they made it as proof against thieves as they could. Sigil almost bought it early on, trying to take on too many of the cultists at once. Jean came close to getting impaled by a roof filled with spears. Let's see...Alexia got replicated by a doppleganger and we had a hell of a time figuring out which one was which. Sir Shard and Sol almost got killed when we found ourselves facing mirror images of ourselves. Xandamir was almost killed while figuring out how to work out a nasty puzzle. And me...I got into real trouble with a giant fist. There was a sculpture of a huge fist in the middle of the room and the damned thing turned out to be animate. It came close to crushing me between it and the wall. Then there was the High Priest of Set...he was taking us all on and wouldn't fall no matter what we did to him. It turned out that the evil sod had placed his heart in a jar somewhere else. Solaran found it and smashed the jar, and the raving lunatic dropped like a stone.

"He was probably the hardest challenge we had to face," Brand mused as he bought out the basket of food for them to enjoy. "We threw everything we had at him. He took an ax to the face and just laughed it off, saying that 'his heart wasn't in it'. Solaran was the one who figured it out from all the hints the man dropped during the fight. Once Sol took off for the heart it was a matter of keeping the man busy with us and buying time. He was doing a good job of wearing us down when Solaran finished him."

[jesskitty]

Each peril the group faced made Lissa's own daydreaming get a minor dose of reality just how dangerous it would be if she ever took a similar career path. She felt even a bit overwhelmed at how capable all of of Brand's party was at fighting and protecting their team. She already was beginning to put some of their previous lessons in a different light based on the different challenges that Brand described, the basket of food a welcome change of subject as she stewed on the topic in her own head for too long.

"Sounds like your whole team was quite skilled at handling themselves, as well as protecting each other. While my studies are going well I feel a bit embarrassed hearing about how adept with combat you and your companions were when I wouldn't be much help at all even with my skills." The familiar scent of his food started to perk her up a bit though as she really started to feel her hunger.