People walking down a particular hallway of the language department were treated to an odd sight that day. A green haired young man sat on a bench outside one of the classrooms. In and of itself this particular sight was nothing unusual for a college campus. He dressed like one might expect: A black t-shirt with a grey design printed on the front, jeans, sneakers, and a glove over his left hand.

What set him apart was the activity he was engaged in. When someone drew near they would hear murmured snippets of what was unmistakably Russian. Except that it didn’t sound very Russian at all with the southern accent that blanketed the words. It wasn’t terribly thick but it was enough to warp the words considerably.

Andrew, the young man on the bench, was getting increasingly fed up with the words in the book on his lap. They made no sense! Plus all those strange letters didn’t help him a bit either. When he could read the word it came out precisely wrong. Most of the time he couldn’t even read the words. For a course he’d taken just to fill out his summer schedule Russian was quickly becoming a nightmare for Andrew.

He could have dropped it earlier in the summer but he back then he hadn’t thought it would be this much trouble. Andrew had thought he could manage Russian like he had managed every other subject he’d had trouble in, with hard work. Oh how wrong he’d been!

“Why can’t they just use normal letters?”

He made his lament in hushed tones. Andrew didn’t want to disturb anyone that might be having class nearby. The entire reason he was here at all was a promise he’d made to himself. Andrew had promised himself that if he couldn’t make heads or tails of the mess of letters on this page of his text by the end of the day he’d ask for help.

To make that easier he’d come down to the language department where he could ask one of the professors for help. A student studying in the hallways was no strange sight and he’d be close to where he needed to be if he failed. Since failure was looking fairly inevitable at this point he was glad he’d come.

Sveta decided to get a job. It was not easy, with her paperwork and her background, but she was quickly running out of the money the Matchmaker had given her, and she didn't want to entirely rely on charity from Xavier's and the Csendes family. It just didn't seem fair. Besides, getting a job might actually give her something to do, and save her from eternal boredom.

The problem was, she needed something with a flexible schedule, something she could pursue without having to wander far from the clinic, all in all, something that would be at least relatively safe. So, until she found something that paid better, she decided to offer some Russian lessons for students interested in the language. It seemed simple enough.

This particular morning, Sveta got Sebastian to drop her off at the university campus, so she could post some notes she'd printed. It was just a simple ad, and a number; she didn't even write her name on it. Safety measures.
Walking down the college hallway to the language department, she didn't see much people around; one green-haired guy was sitting on a bench, studying. Sveta walked to the board and pinned up one flyer on it. Turning around, she glanced at the guy again; he was murmuring words that vaguely sounded familiar. She blinked.

Yup, Green Hair was busy tramping all over her native language.

With a small frown that turned into a small smile, Sveta walked over to him, and put a flyer on top of the book in his lap.

A piece of paper proclaiming aid for Russian students found it's way in front of the abhorrently difficult page of words. This startled Andrew from his focused mood and he jumped in his seat. The book tumbled to the ground with a thump and the paper fluttered to the floor. Andrew picked both up before he looked at the person who had delivered the ad. A blonde woman stood there with a small smile on her face. Since she was the only other person in the hallway she had to be the one who'd delivered the notice.

"Uh..Hi."

Yep, Andrew was really smooth today. Not that he was thinking of her looks but whether or not she'd been the one to give him the flyer. If she was then maybe she could help him with this accursed subject so he wouldn't have to take a terrible grade in it and lower his gpa.

"Were you the one that gave me this flyer? 'Cus if you are I could use the help."

Ugh, saying that hurt. Andrew had always managed on his own without any help whatsoever. Still, his grade was more important than his pride. He could ignore any wounds to the ego if someone could demystify this language for him.

>>"Were you the one that gave me this flyer? 'Cus if you are I could use the help."

Sveta looked at the green haired guy again, then glanced around on the corridor. No one else was around. She turned back to him, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, I was." she nodded "I am looking for students who want to learn Russian." finally getting over the hair color and the awkward behavior, she found her more charming smile "Hi. My name is Svetlana."

She extended a hand to the guy. She was wearing her usual long gloves, and still holding some fliers in her other hand.

The small awkward smile that had crept up in return turned into a full blown smile. For some reason Andrew felt good, energized. It was inexplicable. Andrew hadn't had any coffee in days. He was staying away from it for a while because of all the trouble it had brought him. Yet he felt like he did after he'd had some.

He wouldn't have to worry about his Russian grade anymore. With a name like Svetlana Andrew had to assume that she was native to the language and could help out. He extended a hand as well and shook hers with a firm but not crushing grasp.

"Andrew. I'm taking Russian and not doing to well in it, as you probably noticed."

Heck if he felt this good while studying with her he thought he might actually figure the language out!

>>"Andrew. I'm taking Russian and not doing to well in it, as you probably noticed."

Sveta chuckled, just a tiny little bit.

"Yes, I notice." she nodded, biting back the grin "Don't worry, I know how learning a language is difficult."

She sure as hell did.

"So, you are interested?" she asked him. She could see he looked more awake now; he was inside her aura. "I not have any students yet. I am just starting." she waved the flyers in her hand.

"Why do you learn Russian?"

Andrew rubbed a hand along the back of his neck looking rather sheepish.

"Truthfully? I needed to fill out my schedule for summer classes and thought Russian would be a good way to do so. I didn't anticipate having so much trouble. I don't usually. Generally just a bit of hard work fixes problems like this for me."

Now he was rambling and talking too much. Where was that cold lone wolf persona he tried so hard to convey? Right now he felt too awake and full of vigor to be anything but his natural self. He had to try to moderate his behavior. At the very least he might manage a neutral face instead of the smile he wore now. With effort he managed to wipe away his smile.

That would have to suffice because he didn't think he could do much else. He could try to keep his mouth shut so he didn't blab too much. Andrew spared a glance at his glove to make sure it wasn't sliding. It had slipped a little and the black band around his wrist was showing slightly. A discrete tug put it back into place and he turned his attention back to Svetlana.

"I'd rather not have a poor mark dragging down my gpa. Will you help?"

>>"Truthfully? I needed to fill out my schedule for summer classes and thought Russian would be a good way to do so. I didn't anticipate having so much trouble. I don't usually. Generally just a bit of hard work fixes problems like this for me."

Sveta chuckled again. The guy really had problems with Russian, she could tell that much. The explanation was as good as any; she loved her native language, but still found it strange if someone here in America wanted to actually learn it. It was not a common thing to do. Of course, if it had something to do with marks and schedules, it made a bit more sense. So he thought Russian would be an easy class to take. Huh.

>>"I'd rather not have a poor mark dragging down my gpa. Will you help?"

Now, that was a good question. Sveta smiled again.

"Of course I help. That is what I do." she nodded, looking down at the flyers "Now I have to go, they are waiting for me, but we can, um, meet later for first lesson. Sound good?"

Andrew smiled and sighed with relief. Not only that but now his promise to himself was rendered moot. Once Svetlana was safely away he'd have to release himself from it. For now he simply nodded to his new Russian tutor.

"Perfect. I could give you my cell phone number if you like so you can get in touch with me whenever you're free or I can call you. Whatever works best for you."

All Andrew thinking at this point was making it easy for Svetlana. If he had to go to some trouble so be it. He was used to doing that to keep up his grades. Considering the few people he socialized with on a regular basis he had plenty of free time to concentrate on his classes. Andrew took hold of the edge of the flyer she'd given him and ripped a bit off. On this he wrote his cell phone number with a pen from his backpack. If she didn't want it that was fine but at least it was already written down if she did.

Sveta slipped the piece of paper with the number on it into her pocket.

"We can meet soon, if you have time. Today afternoon, or tomorrow." she offered "I do not really do other things now, so I have free time."

She turned the paper around, and wrote down the adress of the Iris Clinic onto it. "We can meet here. There is an, um, café? here" comfortably close to the clinic to be safe, and quiet enough to be perfect. She didn't wan to let people into the apartments. Especially if they were not mutants.

"You brin what you have to study, and I bring... some stuff, and we figure out how to start, okay?" she smiled "First lesson is free."

She had plenty of free time too which worked out well for Andrew. He looked at the address and figured on giving it a look up later. That or he'd just spring for a cab or something. It sounded perfect. Until she said the word cafe. Why oh Lord on high did she have to want to meet in a cafe?! Those places seemed to bring him nothing but trouble lately. He kept his concern and annoyance off of his face and out of his demeanor as best he could though. No need to scare her off after he'd finally gotten himself some help in the subject he was flagging in.

"I'm free for this afternoon and tomorrow both so let's say this afternoon? At any rate the cafe sounds good to me. I'll see you soon."

Andrew managed a smile. Somehow, just because it was going to be in a cafe, he knew that this tutoring session wouldn't go quite as planned. It was inevitable. Andrew was just positive that something would happen. At least it would be free. Better free trouble than paid trouble any day.

"See you!"

That afternoon, after posting more flyers all over the place, Sveta got ready for her first tutoring session. She sat in the cafe by the window; she could see the Clinic from there, and it comforted her. She was sipping hot chocolate.
She had no books to teach from, but she trusted Andrew to bring some; she had all kinds of printed papers and notes, and spate pens, and the like. She had never really tutored anyone. Ever. Heck, she didn't even attend her own school regularly.

But it was her native language. How hard can it be? Right?

Andrew meanwhile had gone back to his apartment and released himself from his promise. With that done he gathered up his texts and class notes. Maybe they'd be helpful to Svetlana. They certainly weren't to him. The rest of intervening time he used to worry himself sick and find his way to the cafe mentioned. He was in a perfect state by the time he reached the place so instead of immediately going to Svetlana upon entering he got himself a latte first and concentrated on trying to calm down. Surely it wouldn't be that bad right? There wasn't some cruel mistress of fate up there making sure that every time he went to a cafe something bad happened right?

Once the latte was purchased and received Andrew had managed to relax enough to not appear as though he was on some sort of drug. Then he made his way to the table Svetlana had picked out and sat down. Again he felt inexplicably energized in her presence and having it happen twice in a row made him somewhat suspicious. If she was a mutant then fate really did have it out for him. But a couple of offbeat feelings were nothing to base such a diagnosis on so he let it slide.

"Hello again. I brought my texts and the notes from class. Plus some scratch paper and what not in case we need it."

Andrew pulled the mentioned articles out of the bag he'd brought with him and set them on the table. In his own mind he said a prayer for this meeting at least to go well. Not that he believed it could happen but a little hope never hurt right? Maybe he ought to switch to tea or something.

Sveta looked up when Andrew joined her, and smiled. The guy looked a bit nervous; she chalked it up to his problems with learning Russian. She knew from experience that learning a language could be very, very frustrating sometimes.

>>"Hello again. I brought my texts and the notes from class. Plus some scratch paper and what not in case we need it."

"Hi Andrew" she smiled, looking at the texts and papers he set down on the table. It was quite a lot. That meant, he was bound to know something. Something basic, probably, but at least he was not a complete beginner. Hopefully.

"So, I think, you could tell me what you learn already." she suggested "Like, can you read the words?" she asked, looking at the notes. Some things he'd wrote down she didn't recognize, either in English or in Russian. Yeah. "It is hard if you have to learn new letters, before you learn language."

A sort of sheepish smile passed over Andrew's face. Yeah, he could hardly read any of the words on the pages.

"I'm afraid not. I can manage some of it but not all of it. It's just so different from what I'm used to I guess."

Andrew took a sip from his latte.

"The class is working on greetings at the moment but as you can see I haven't even gotten past the alphabet yet."

Hopefully they'd be able to get this sorted out. If he could just figure out the bloody alphabet and general pronunciation then he shouldn't have too much trouble on his own after that. It was just that the alphabet made him want to brain himself on the nearest available brick wall.