AN ADULT!!!!!

Apollo smiled warmly and shook her hand back. “Cassie. Nice to meet you! You’re a professor here, I take it? What do you teach? How--” but Apollo had to stop himself becaaaaause he wasn’t here to socialize. He was here to TEACH. “You don’t have to sit in the back if you don’t want to!” Really. The woman was kind of short!

Was snapping a Hogwarts requirement? Apollo began snapping back at her. Oh, this was fun. Was this a game? Apollo wanted to play.

“OKAY! Let’s get this party started--Hi, hello, bonjour, hola, and—“ he signed the word hello in ASL, almost like a little salute. “….Welcome to my seminar! Whatever name I gave it—“ he snorted and waved his hand at the board. What had he written again? “It’s meaningless to you unless I explain it—but well—hi. My name’s Apollo….and I’ll be your….let’s call me a guide for today.” Leader was elitist. Teacher was…blegh. He had been a professor, but he hated that title, too. Guide sounded more...spiritual. He liked it.

He walked down a row and pushed the glasses up the ridge of his nose. He sat on the edge of Mari’s desk and smiled down at her. “I have….a few rules to go over before I begin the seminar. Three simple rules, I promise, I promise—“ he scooted off the edge of the desk and made his way to the front again. “Number one….please, please….call me Apollo. Not Mr. Apollo. Not Professor. Apollo. I am here to learn alongside you, to guide you…there is no hierarchy. I am not qualified to be the head of…any hierarchy, I assure you.” He grinned pleasantly. This was all so pleasant, wasn’t it? He felt so mellow, and he could tell the students were feeling all right, too. That was all he wanted. Relaxing environments made for…better brain stimulation. “Rule number two is….no notebooks are needed for this. Firstly, this is a seminar—it’s for FUN—and secondly, I don’t believe in notes. Listening and taking in all of this will be more beneficial for your spongy brains—“

Apollo couldn’t keep still. He was pacing in front of the class in a slow manner, but pacing nonetheless. “Thirdly, and I think this should go without saying—respectful and accepting attitudes are the ONLY attitudes I want inside our little cocoon here.”

Cocoon. Apollo really enjoyed this room.

“Are we ready? We’re ready.” He bounced a little to the front of the room and rihiuerhghhegiuh HE WAS GOING TO EXPLODE WITH EXCITEMENT. “Our seminar will obviously be focused around Mythology, obviously….” He cleared his throat. “I am Dr. Washerby...but please, Apollo, only... and I hail from the great land of California--I’ve studied Magical Theory for awhile now, but as a Classicist, I take a particular interest in the theories behind magic in those times. And today, we’ll be focusing on three myths...and looking at how these myths might…..have been VERY possible with magic.” Was he blabbering? Yammering?

He moved towards the blackboard and erased his name and the name of the seminar. “A very specific study I was involved in recently….we work on looking very meticulously at mythological stories...I am in charge of the Greek and Roman myths, since that’s my niche, but Norse mythology and Egyptian Mythology are two other counterparts. We’re just tipping the iceberg today, don’t worry. I won’t go into the boring details of the THEORIES. Just the fun application stuff today.”

Were they following? Was he making sense? WAS HE EXPLAINING PROPERLY? He hoped so. “Any questions before we begin?” he thought he should ask...and then he walked over to his backpack and began rummaging around for….something, it seemed.

“First things first--what myths do you guys know? Are familiar with? Heard of? Focus on Greek and Roman myths, only, now.” Though he did enjoy a good Egyptian story.