Completely Nondescript {Grace}

[DR. EDITH ALLINGHAM]

Dr. Allingham absolutely loved her free periods.

Between grading papers and writing curriculum, it was difficult for her to get that much-needed time for herself during the school day. Not that she expected much of it, of course, but it was still refreshing; that precious free period was her chance to recharge before getting back in the swing of things with her next class. She had an Honors 11th grade English class to teach next period, and it was her least favorite class of the day, as, despite being an Honors-level class, the students all seemed to be completely daft. It made Edie question the standards of the high school's administration.

Of course, she tended to do that with authority figures. There was a part of her that thought she could probably run the district better and more efficiently than the current school board, if she only had the time. But that was an undertaking she did not deem worthy of her attention. It was too much work, and though Edie was persistent, she was not one to exert unnecessary effort or overload herself. She liked being relatively stress-free, if possible.

Edie was spending her free period today with her feet on her desk, humming along to Beethoven's 9th Symphony as it resonated quietly from the small boombox that sat on her desk. She was fond of Beethoven. Haydn was her favorite, but Beethoven's music always held such passion, such...anger, at times. It was beautiful. She was very fond of Fur Elise, if only partially due to the story behind it. How things came to be fascinated her. She enjoyed learning such minute details as that.

She crossed her legs at the ankles for a moment before taking them off her desk entirely and letting her dark eyes wander towards the intimidating stack of ungraded papers on her desk. Best get a jump on those, she reflected. Before she knew it, progress reports would be due, and she wouldn't have a thing done. That wasn't right at all, so best get some of them out of the way now...she could knock out the rest this evening while she rewatched Doctor Who.

Edie was a harsh grader. Her students knew it, and if they didn't already, they certainly would soon enough. She rarely gave out hundreds, though she was always capable of acknowledging good writing. It was grammar where many of her students were docked points. Dr. Allingham was incredibly strict about grammar, as she believed it to be one of the most important things in the English language.

After nearly half an hour of grading, Edie glanced at the clock and reflected that not only was she running out of time, but she had quite run out of Beethoven. Well, that was not right at all. Scooping up her thermos of tea, she took a long swig of Earl Grey before snatching up her copy of Anna Karenina, her most recent endeavour. Not that she hadn't read it before, but she had never read the French version, and she was quite interested in seeing how the French went about translating Russian. She grabbed a pen, pushed her red reading glasses up her nose, opened to a dog-eared page, and began to read.

Once every few minutes, she would pause to make a note on the page, but other than that, she was silent, reading intently and only occasionally remembering how much she missed the Beethoven.

ooc: OUTFIT!

[watson]

Grace was having quite a day. First, she had had to deal with Angel Dihanie, Weston Broderick, and Ripley Gwynn asking to be excused from class AGAIN. Which was a once per hour occurance. She hoped those kids never actually got sick, because she was not going to believe them. Of course, Angel sometimes actually had something wrong with her. Various abrasions, contusions, once a really nasty spider bite. Apparently 'Charlotte was a little impatient with her lunch' that day. But that wasn't even the worst of it. There had been an influx of students coming in with anxiety issues. Apparently, Dr. Allingham had given her third hour a pop quiz, and the pressure had cracked a few students. This was a slightly regular occurance, and Grace was left wondering if this teacher was so formidable? She had seen her in the hallways, and in the staff lounge, but had never actually spoken to the good doctor.

If she was being honest with herself, Grace was intimidated. Dr. Allingham seemed quiet, and severe, and seemed confident in her intellect in a way that Grace never was, nor could be. It was a tricky business, but Grace's interest had been piqued. It was a slow day in the nurses office, and she was just about off for lunch anyway. She would go pay Ms. Allingham a visit.

She changed quickly into her street clothes, slightly nervous. Once she was absolutely sure her blazer was straight, and every hair of her short pixie cut was in place, she set off down the halls. She had checked to see Edith's class schedule on the system, and it was her free period. If anything, the woman was probably grading the papers that had caused such unrest in her students.

The door to the classroom was very slightly ajar, and Grace could hear music floating gently through the air. She picked out the notes to Ode to Joy, one of her very favorite compositions. She listened at the door for a moment, before feeling as though she was intruding on a private moment. Her nerve had failed her, and she quickly turned away, resolving to come back after getting some food.

She left campus, surprised by her own cowardice. She had been in the thick of battle, she was a Soldier dammit! Why was she getting so flustered over a slight English teacher? She hit the Starbucks across campus, buying a small croissant and a large Mocha Frappe incredibly angry with herself. Dr. Allingham intrigued her, if she was being honest with herself. She had never seen someone so...brilliant. It was disturbing. She considered herself bright, but not that bright.

She threw her uneaten croissant in the trash as she reentered campus, fully aware that her hour for lunch had been sufficiently diminished by her ridiculous internal conflict. She sipped on her coffee, and marched up to Dr. Allmingham's classroom...where she meekly tapped on the door. She pushed it open tentatively, and offered a timid smile to the woman behind the desk. "Dr. Allingham? I'm Grace Marchman, the nurse? I was wondering if you had a moment to spare." She internally cursed her prominent Southern drawl, feeling that it made her sound incredibly unintelligent to this worldly woman. She stood stupidly in the doorway, looking around, feeling rather foolish.


ooc: Outfit

[DR. EDITH ALLINGHAM]

Unaware of the nervous school nurse debating whether or not to confront her, Edie seemed very much at peace. She was smiling a little, an expression that was not rare for her, but rather, uncommon. Edie had never been the most physically expressive of people; she found it slightly difficult at times, and often unnecessary. People took her more seriously if she looked serious, and since she very much enjoyed being taken seriously, she made it a point to often look serious.

However, a little-known fact, known only by her favorite students and her scarce friends, was that Edie was not as stern as she looked. There was a side of her that was investigative, playful, and unyieldingly curious. It was just subtle, and hard to get to.

Unless, of course, the game was afoot.

She was humming to herself absently, some jazzy melody she had heard on the radio today and didn't care to know the name of, when a knock came on the door.

"Come in," she said, taking her feet off the desk (where she had replaced them) and closing her book. She was taking off her reading glasses as the strange woman came in.

"Dr. Allingham? I'm Grace Marchman, the nurse? I was wondering if you had a moment to spare."

Edie appraised her silently with her eyes. Strong. Timid, but many were intimidated by her. Posture indicated possible military background. Accent suggested Southern United States as a place of birth, most likely Mississippi. Despite the drawl, she spoke well, suggesting intelligence. The way she said 'Dr. Allingham' held the usual tremor with which most unacquainted with her spoke her name. She did not take this woman to be of shy character, so she judged that the timidity present Ms. Marchman's demeanor was a result of Edie's own effects on her. Hm.

Nurse. Possible military background. A military nurse in the past, perhaps? But then why had she left?

"Equating moments to minutes, I have exactly sixteen and a half remaining," Edie replied, casually checking the clock on the wall. "After that, I have a class. But I'd be happy to talk to you, of course, if you've something important to say." Her words held that note of condescension that strangers often read into her tone. Clicking her annotating pen, she tossed it aside, leaned forward in her chair, and folded her arms on her desk, watching Grace with intense dark eyes.

"What was it you needed, Ms. Marchman? Oh, and might I ask, in what branch of the military did you serve prior to becoming a school nurse?" It was still an assumption, of course, but she was certain that she was at least on the right track. All that she required was confirmation.

[watson]

The woman was attempting to analyze her, well two could play at that game. Then again, had she known how much better the other woman was at it, Grace wouldn't even have tried to bother. But from what she could tell, given the music from earlier, the faint jazzy melody that Grace had heard just before she opened the door, and Edith's style of dress, the woman was a bit of an eccentric. Not that Grace minded. Eccentrics were interesting to say the least.

She blinked a few times rapidly at the woman's almost curt reply to Grace's simple question, and walked forward purposefully, the hand that was not clutching her coffee held rigidly at her side. She wanted to lean against one of the desks behind her, but that was far too casual for this particular occasion. Grace wasn't used to fully relaxing in front of someone, especially not someone who commanded such superiority. "Believe me, Dr. Allingham, I have no intentions on wasting your time." Her words came out with that formal rigidity of the south, all that was missing was the 'ma'am.' Her lips twitched upward in a kind, if challenging smirk. She fixed her steely grey gaze on the Doctor's intense brown eyes, and for a moment felt as if she was stuck. She might have stared forever if Edith didn't break the silence.

"What was it you needed, Ms. Marchman? Oh, and might I ask, in what branch of the military did you serve prior to becoming a school nurse?"

She had opened her mouth to tell the young teacher to please, call her Grace, but at the extra sentence tacked on to the end of it, Grace could do nothing but sit there, slack jawed in surprise. Nobody knew of her prior military career, save for the principal, who had forced information about it out of her during her interview. How could she possibly know about it? "Uhm. Uh- Call me Grace." She said, immediately kicking herself for coming up with such an unbelievably stupid retort.

She shook her head, and collected herself, before answering calmly. "I served in the Army. Combat Medic." She didn't exactly mind divulging the information, but she did hate the immediate question that was sure to follow. 'What happened?' They all inevitably wanted to know if she left of her own volition, if she had been wounded, if she had been dishonorably discharged. She always told the truth of course, Grace was proud of who she was, but she hated the snap judgments most people seemed to make about her afterward. Then again, Edith didn't exactly seem like most people.

She set her coffee down absentmindedly on the desk behind her, where the condensation started to pool in a wet circle. Her arms remained rigid at her sides, but she tried to ease back into the casual setting before. It wasn't Edith's fault. She didn't know what a touchy subject it was. "Actually, Doctor, I'm here due to the sheer number of students who had to be placed in therapy after a test you administered today." It was a hyperbole, slightly out of character for Grace, but she wanted to skip past the slightly awkward moment.

[DR. EDITH ALLINGHAM]

Edie remembered her experiences with the school nurse as a child. The nurse's office always served as a refuge for her when a class was too boring; she would feign illness, or a headache, and waste her time in the nurse's office until the class was over. Of course, she had never told her parents about that - they would not have approved - but any nurse that allowed Edie to skip out on a tedious class was a friend in her book. She had little patience for the tedious.

"Believe me, Dr. Allingham, I have no intentions on wasting your time."

She spoke with a formality that reminded Edie of old Southern gentry. Good upbringing, then. So she probably lived in a more populated area in Mississippi. Jackson, maybe? Edie wasn't a linguist, however; she wouldn't be able to pinpoint the exact location of this woman's birth without further evidence.

"Good," she replied simply. "Then let's hear it."

"Uhm. Uh- Call me Grace."

A very slight smirk curved the corners of Dr. Allingham's lips. Most people tended to be alarmed by her innate deductive abilities. She could see by the way Ms. Marchman was reacting to her that her reputation preceded her, though Edie and the nurse had never spoken seriously before.

"Grace, then," she answered, nodding.

"I served in the Army. Combat Medic."

Ah, that was quite reasonable. Yes. Combat Medic.

That, of course, brought forward the question as to why she had left the military. She could have simply disliked it, or she could have been honorably or dishonorably discharged...hm. She didn't seem to have any trouble talking about it, so regardless of the circumstances that incited her departure from the Army's ranks, she clearly wasn't ashamed of it.

She almost wanted to ask after it, but she decided it would be far more fun to try to figure it out herself.

"I see," she said, her eyes glinting almost playfully at Grace.

Edie's eyes followed Grace's hand as she placed down her coffee cup. If she was putting it down, then this was clearly a conversation she expected to last for more than a minute. She'd best hunker down, then.

"Actually, Doctor, I'm here due to the sheer number of students who had to be placed in therapy after a test you administered today."

Dr. Allingham raised her eyebrows in mild surprise.

The test? It was hardly a test. More of a pop quiz, really, and only because her classes had been showing a startlingly low level of participation. A bit of fear in their hearts would set them on the right path, that was Edie's perspective, and if they couldn't handle it, well...they didn't belong in her class, then.

"Is that so?" she drawled absently, toying with her scarlet reading glasses. "That seems a bit of an exaggeration. Students in therapy because of me?" She chuckled and shook her head. "In all honesty, it was less of a test and more of a pop quiz, one that I devised as a strategy to keep my class paying attention. Procrastination has been a serious problem in my classes as of late, and getting behind on one's work is not something that I, as a teacher, can tolerate." She picked up her pen and marked something down on the paper that was lying before her.

"Anyway, if they're really that distressed over it, I hardly think they should be in my class, which I told them at the very beginning of the year would be a rigorous and demanding one." She looked back up at Grace, her demeanor serious.