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“Guess what happened during office hours, love.” Tav groaned as they looked up from their homework. It was going to be difficult enough without Gale trying to tell them stories while they worked, and it was already looking like it was going to take hours. Honestly. Gale talking them into taking this class seriously instead of just showing up to see what the other side of magical prowess was like was supposed to bring them closer, not have them wanting to rip his hand off with her bare teeth.
Still, he was grinning, and he was just too adorable when he got that excited look in his eyes. “Convince Tara to help me with this, and I’ll put it aside and listen.”
Tara took the book from them with a sniff. “You’ll have to write, but I’ll tell you exactly what to say. I would just write it for you, but the lack of opposable thumbs makes holding the pen just too difficult.”
“I take it the research into a self-writing pen that works through telepathic instructions isn’t going well, then?” Gale asked, reaching out to stroke Tara’s fur. “Honestly, why is that not a thing? Plenty a young wizard or sorcerer has blown off a hand or a couple fingers accidentally and needed to have help while waiting to find a cleric to restore it!”
“Like you, when you were fifteen?” Tara groomed a paw. “And Mystra was so furious at your carelessness that she waited an entire day to fix it.”
“Exactly! That day was pure torture, and it would have been so much easier with a pen that would let me write my thoughts without needing the missing hand!” Gale looked back to Tav, who had the book closed and shoved aside. If Tara was enabling, which she’d sworn she would not do when Tav decided to go to the class just to see what it was about, then Tav really did want to hear this. “So, office hours today. Three students from my introductory illusions class came in to talk to me about a concern they had.”
“What, did one of them figure out that I’m your partner and didn’t realize I’m not actually enrolled or getting a grade that affects them in any way?” They weren’t treated any differently in class aside from Gale making allowances for their different way of relating to magic meaning some of the “come up to the front of the classroom and demonstrate what you’ve learned” weren’t going to work for them, but still, they could understand if students who weren’t familiar with the details of her grading and credit requirements were concerned.
“No, I don’t think they know I’m even married,” Gale said. “Not that I never mention you, obviously, I do on average thrice a class, but the way some of the students act sometimes…”
Tav did their best not to smirk. They’d watched three people trying to flirt with Gale at the start of the semester, and while Gale had been quite apologetic afterward, it hadn’t bothered them one bit. Gale was the most devotedly monogamous person they knew, and he had a strong sense of ethics. A student was never going to have a chance, not if they were seriously expecting some sort of academic compensation for their time and effort. “I know. Kind of funny watching it happen right in front of me and people not realizing. So what were they worried about?”
“They had the sense that a fellow student wasn’t taking the class seriously, and on checking the student registry, they couldn’t find any record of you in the system or any other classes you were taking. They also, somehow, discovered that you are a sorcerer rather than a wizard, without discovering why you might show up in my classroom, and expressed concern that you were there to, and I quote, ‘take the piss out of the whole system.’” Tav giggled at the look on Gale’s face. “They somehow came to the conclusion that you were going to do something to sabotage the class’s final projects and possibly hurt them in the process. How or why, I don’t know.”
“Well, I am a sorcerer,” Tav said with a shrug. “So, you know, you can never trust a sorcerer. It’s a miracle when we have any kind of control over our magic at all. They probably just meant that I would lose control and burn down the building or something.”
“I still owe you many an apology for my prior attitude toward sorcerers,” Gale said with a soft smile. “Hopefully this will clear the debt a little: I told them to get to know you, to really learn what it’s like to relate to magic through a more instinctive and less studied manner. You may be more limited in what spells you can perform, but the things you can do with them…”
“Tell me you did not volunteer me to be their partner on the final project?” Tav interrupted. They could imagine several hundred ways that would go horribly wrong.
“No. I told them they should work with you on an extra credit project. In their case, it’s true extra credit; in yours, well, I’m sure I can figure out a way to translate it to your grading scheme.” Tara made a rude noise, but Tav was grinning. “If they approach you, will you talk to them honestly?”
“Yes… but I’m telling them the truth,” Tav said. “I’m not enrolled in other classes, my grades are alternative – no details, don’t worry!” they interrupted themself as Gale reddened a little. “And why I can get away with it when no one else could.”