Jaqueline's Personal Office Heatwave

Jaqueline Jones

The soft patter of rain beat at Jaqueline’s office window, and she did not appreciate the change in weather. Or, rather, she did not appreciate the change in temperature. She had three heat lamps pointed directly on her as she graded some student papers at her desk. If she didn’t, then she would be too sluggish to get anything done. Although, she did feel kind of bad if any poor student walked in only to feel the heat wave that was her office…well, unless they were like her. Then they might never leave.

Jaqueline was dotting down some notes on a paper—using her tail to hold the pen since her large hands were too cumbersome—as a she heard a soft knock at her door. She tilted her head up, not even stopping her tail from writing, to see a fellow teacher at her door: Ms Lydia Sinclair. The perpetually sunny Lydia Sinclair. She wondered where this woman got all her energy from. Being warm-blooded probably helped.

“Hiii~” Lydia said cheerfully as she stepped in. In her hand was a mug, which she set down on Jaqueline’s desk. “I boiled too much hot water, so I thought maybe you’d like some tea?”

“Wait,” Jaqueline said quickly with a hint of hesitance in her voice, “what kind of tea is it?”

“Oh! It’s that really mild citrus one. That’s the only one you can have, right?”

Jaqueline blinked, but she soon gave Lydia a kind smile. “You remembered. Thank you, Lydia.”

“No problem!” Lydia beamed before stepping out of Jaqueline’s office. “I’ll see ya later~”

Jaqueline chuckled to herself as she carefully took the mug in her two large hands and took a careful sip. Lydia was a bit too energetic for her own good, but she was a nice girl. The pen at the tip of Jaqueline’s tail was placed down on the desk as she decided to take a moment to enjoy the hot tea. Hell, Lydia probably knew the reptilian teacher was not feeling too great with the sudden drop in temperature and made the tea to help her warm up a bit.

Shifting her chair slightly, Jaqueline glanced out of the window at the dizzle outside. She really hoped it would stop before she had to head home…ugh.

@Arcadia

Jaqueline was still sipping idly at her tea when she heard another knock at her door. Damn, she would have liked to enjoy the warm drink a little longer, but duty calls. She placed the mug back on her desk and used her tail to push the student papers she was grading aside.

“Come in!” she called, standing but remaining at her desk as she waited for whoever was at the door to enter. Come to think of it, she recalled being told of a few students who had been suggested to come to her. Perhaps it would be one of them? She had a few student files pulled up on her computer, in the event any of them took the advice to come to her office.

Ah, poor kid was so hesitant. He was obviously not used to this. Jaqueline smiled politely and gestured to the chair across from her. “Have a seat, Malek. Let me just look up your file really quick here…”

She sat down herself and used her tail to tap the keyboard on her laptop--her damn gecko fingers being too big for the keys—and sure enough Malek’s profile was one of the ones that she had kept aside. She recalled skimming it over previously, but didn’t have time to read it in more detail. Besides, she typically didn’t like to bring up what was on file right away.

“So you’re a dragon hybrid, I see. So the fact that I’ve got a mini-heatwave going on in this office doesn’t bother you too much, does it?” she said with a small chuckle. Jaqueline then turned her attention back to Malek, her large hands placed on the desk in front of her.

“So, Malek, I’ll just start off by letting you know that whatever you say in this room is strictly between you and me. I want you confident in knowing that what you say in this room stays here. Whatever little notes I add on my computer stays on my computer alone. If I really feel I need to share something with someone else, perhaps a fellow counselor for example, then that information will only be shared with your permission. I take your privacy very seriously.”

Jaqueline cleared her throat and took a quick sip of her tea—needing that extra touch of warmth before she continued. “So, with that said—what brings you in today? Is there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?”

“After the what, if I may ask?” Jaquline inquired. She kept her tone light, not demanding. Malek would likely not be the type to spill everything out at once, she suspected, and he’d probably be even less likely to say anything if he felt it was being forced. That was her first impression, anyway.

“It sounds like there is something specific you wish to discuss.” She took a moment to take another sip of her tea while it was still hot. “But your personal comfort level is important. You can start as simple and vague as you like, and over time you’ll likely find yourself discussing more.”

Jaqueline nodded as she took in what Malek told her. Her dexterous tail typed a quick note on her computer, but she did not turn her gaze away from him.

“A mass genocide of your race, followed by the death of your father is a lot for one person to handle.”

She pressed her large gecko hands together, since she couldn’t clasp them even though that was the motion she wanted to do, as she took a moment to consider the questions she wanted to ask.

“I’m sure it still affects you even now, doesn’t it?” she said softly to him. “That is so much for one person to experience.”