Thank God it's Friday [Constant Wells]

[jafar]

Friday. Thank God! If John had to so much as look at another student he’d probably have to kill them: something that would most likely get him fired. Magic was dangerous, but more so when Jafar was controlling it; John did not fancy letting him loose on one of the kids in his class, regardless of how annoying they were.

It wasn’t that he hated his job: it was good money and very easy to do with Jafar’s expert knowledge behind him. It was just some of the children. Both John and Jafar had a very holier-than-thou attitude to other people, so if a child so much as answered back to them, they’d instantly retaliate in a not-so-controlled way. Most of them were scared into silence by John’s habit of chastising his students with magic, but the ones that were confident enough to misbehave even after that were the ones that John couldn’t stand. And of course, Jafar sort of hated all children, which really didn’t help.

How much longer must we keep doing this? Jafar complained as John packed his stuff up into his briefcase at the end of a very long Friday.
As in the job? A while I think. We need an income, and it’s not exactly a difficult job. But anyway, it’s weekend now. No more kids.

[/b] John replied whilst grabbing his suit jacket off the back of his chair and pulling it on.
Hmm, I suppose, Jafar murmured. John smiled slightly, lifting his briefcase off the table and heading to the door. The door opened as he walked through, and closed and locked behind him, without him touching it once, the eyes of the cobra ring on his left hand glowing a soft red to indicate that he was using magic. Though the sentient door would probably have given that away. But I can’t be held accountable if one of those children mysteriously disappears.
No, you’re right, you can't be, but I can. I can be held accountable. And then I’ll get fired, and have no money and no food, and then I’ll die, and, oh yes, so will you. Now can I please just have one nice weekend without you constantly complaining?[/b]
…No

John groaned quietly as they walked down the corridor towards the outer door, ignoring Jafar’s continuing stream of complaints. The door automatically opened again and John stepped out into the warm sunlight of the afternoon. Quickly shielding his eyes from the brightness, he shoved the hand not holding his briefcase into his pocket, and set off across the courtyard, already planning out his evening. Well he had to get his marking out of the way, and then it was about time for another test for his senior class so he would have to start planning that out, and if he had time after that, he could…

By this point Jafar had shut up, but was getting quite annoyed with John’s ramblings. There are many more important things we could do this evening. For example, we could continue lookin-
If you mention the street rat ONE MORE TIME, I swear to God, I will smack my head against a wall until I either pass out or you shut up! Ok?![/b]
I was merely going to suggest we continued looking for your lost class notes.
Suuuuuuuuure you were.[/b] He ran a hand back through his hair, messing it up a little but he didn’t seem to notice. It was a habit he had when he was feeling tired or exasperated. And now was definitely one of those times. For the most part, John and Jafar got on very well; they never physically fought anymore, ever since they came up with a sort of compromise about control, and they tended to agree on most things meaning their actions tended to be a joint effort. But even if your very best friend was stuck in your head, you’d eventually get angry with their constant talking. So yes, they argued, but they normally resolved it in the end.

From what he could see, the quad was empty, though he hadn’t really had a proper scout around. All the students would most likely be home by now and the teachers didn’t tend to walk this way – it just happened to be a shortcut to John’s house, or he’d use the normal exit too. But today had been such an exhausting day, if he did happen to bump into someone out here, they would not meet the most cheerful side of the John/Jafar combo.
[/blockquote][/size]


_{Tag?!: Constant!
Words?!: 756
Notes?!: This should be fun.
Lyrics?!: Self Inflicted ~ Katy Perry
Credit?!: Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0}

[constant]

Y'know pal, being up here in your head is juuust like living back in that lamp. It's dark up here! It's lonely! ...But also more spacious then my other place, you got a lot of room up here.
You sayin' I gotta small brain, Genie?
I ain't sayin' you gotta big melon, kid.
You're quite the charmer, I think I'll keep you.
You and everyone else, darling, The Genie replied in his loveliest voice, and Constant chuckled quietly to himself as he picked up the remnants of his last class of the day. He hauled the mats into a pile in to the corner of gym, a room which, unfortunately, he shared with Shere Caine. Flying and gym were often at the same time, but a divider kept the two classes separate. For most of the year, however, it was used for flying only, as Shere usually took his classes outside (bad weather didn't really influence Shere to spare the kids and keep them inside when it was too cold), but the winter months they shared. Then, again in the spring, the gym was Constant's. It was a system that actually worked pretty well... In theory. Headmaster Merlin assumed Shere could tolerate sharing the gym, but really, has Merlin ever even met this guy?

But it was still early in the year, so the gym was his for now. Constant rarely held his classes outside, unless the group was particularly advanced. There was always the chance that kids could accidentally fly away, fall from too far a distance, get stuck in trees... Any manner of things could go wrong and then Con would be held responsible if he couldn't help them in time. Outside of school, however, like with the class Con was going to conduct for the town's benefit tomorrow... Well, if people got hurt, that was their own damn fault. Heart of gold, you.

The gym cleared, Constant grabbed his clipboard off the top of the risers, tossed it in his office on the way out the door, and went outside. The gymnasium emptied into a corridor that turned to lead to the rest of the academic building, but at the corner were double doors that opened to the courtyard. Constant took this exit and was running a little later than he normally did (as he actually deemed to put away the equipment by hand today), so it was with a bit of a surprise that he saw someone else in the quad -- His old sorcery teacher and now fellow colleague, Mr. John Far.

"Hey, Mr. Far!" Constant called to him, raising a bangled arm in greeting and jogging a little to catch up with him. His necklace smacked his chest under his shirt and he had to still it with his hand, but with a smile, Con finally reached John. "It's so, like, weird to call you anything other than Mr. Far, y'know?" Constant laughed a little. "I mean it's like yer still my teacher. Not that I'm calling you old or anything... Well, maybe a little, but it's all, we're colleagues and I should call you John... I dunno, man!" He shrugged and looked over at John, stupid smile still stretching his cheeks. The nutter didn't even realize The Genie's voice slipped in there for a second.

"Although I guess I could call you John if I really tried. John. John. John!" Constant tried saying his name different ways. Finally he stopped and looked at him again, shrugging.

[jafar]

"Hey, Mr. Far!"

John closed his eyes, silently groaning as he heard the familiar voice coming from behind him. Jafar instantly bristled, causing John’s whole body to tense involuntarily. He knew he should have left earlier: he normally didn’t meet anyone on his journey home, and that was the way he liked it. And out of all the people who he could have bumped into… Constant Wells, of course it would be him. The genie. Hence why Jafar was so agitated just at the sound of his voice.

"It's so, like, weird to call you anything other than Mr. Far, y'know?"
And it’s so weird to call you anything other than SLAVE, Jafar growled in John’s head.
I know, he irritates me too, but can you at least try and be civil?

[/b] John pleaded. Today’s been long enough, I just want to get home, so let’s not make this conversation any longer than it needs to be.[/b]
Fine, then get rid of him quickly before I do something he regrets. Genies may not be able to kill, but by Allah, I can.
John span round to face Constant, a forced smile across his lips in an attempt to look friendlier. His eyes flickered over Constant as he spoke, examining the blue hair, the bracelets, the little shape under Constant’s top where his lamp necklace was (Jafar did pay a little more attention when John pointed that out to him). Even if John hadn’t known Constant for so long, it would have been very obvious who his character was – the appearance, the personality, and the way Jafar reacted even at the mere thought of him. Regardless of Jafar’s opinion though, John did not like Constant. He was too boisterous, too immature, too loud and just too plain irritating. But he wouldn’t let those things get in the way for the moment; he’d just made Jafar promise to be civil, it would be hypocritical not to do the same.

“Constant, hi, how are you?” he said, offering out his hand for Constant to shake (he may not have wanted to drag out the conversation, but he still had to be polite). He tried to block out the continuous flow of speech from the other man… although maybe man was too strong of a word; in John's opinion he still seemed more like a child. However, his left arm did twitch when Constant mentioned him being old, forcing him to ball his hand into a fist, stroking the back of the gold ring with his thumb in an attempt to stop himself from zapping the annoying boy with a dose of angry magic.

Like most people, he wasn’t a fan of being called old. Yes, next to a twenty-five year old who he’d taught and who was now a teacher himself, he probably did seem quite old. But as far as John was concerned, this was the prime of his life: good job, good house, good money, a great control over magic, and he was no longer fighting for control over his own body (well, not often). Everything was going right, and age didn’t enter into it.

Pushing that little moment of insecurity aside, he turned his attention back to Constant, suddenly realising he’d started talking again. “Yes, thank you,”[/color] he said quickly in an attempt to stop Constant repeating his name over and over again. “I suppose John would be more appropriate, but I understand what you mean. I find it hard to think of you as a peer and not a student.”[/color] Though that was partly because of the immature way Constant tended to act, and yes, also because of the age difference.

“I am very sorry, Constant,”[/color] John said, trying and failing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “I’d just love to stay and chat but it’s been a long day and I have a lot of marking I need to do, so I’m going to have to head home. I’ll see you… some other time.” He gave him another fake smile before turning away and heading towards the end of the courtyard, praying to God that Constant wouldn’t be walking home the same way as he was.
[/blockquote][/size]


_{Tag?!: Constant!
Words?!: 700
Notes?!: John probably won't be able to keep up this polite act for much longer xD.
Lyrics?!: Self Inflicted ~ Katy Perry
Credit?!: Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0}

[constant]

Let go of his hand now, there you go... The Genie instructed Constant to end the handshake as the human part of this dynamic duo kept repeating John's name. "Johnny,Jooohn, Jo- Oh. Yeah, sorry, man," he apologized and dropped his hand, shaking his gold cuff back into place. Constant looked over at John who was looking positively pained at this whole encounter... Which of course only gave Connie more reason to bug his easily bugged coworker.

Eyebrows raised but lids lowered, Constant looked over John and his tailored, stiff appearance (especially compared to his own less than profession attire). Coupled with the man's tone (dripping with sarcasm), Con knew pretty clearly he wasn't wanted around. Maybe John had a bad day? The guy is made out of bad days. Look at him, a twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy? The Genie mimicked in his best Hermione impression.
Been honing your movie references, eh? 'Bout time you went modern. Though I do like your Groucho Marx stuff.
I am a modern man, Constant. Keep with the times!
Yeah, well, get'cha head in the game, man, Con thought back (in his best Troy Bolton impression [which was crap]), and returned his momentarily dazed expression back to John.

The man was apologizing, or more accurately begging an excuse to get away from Con. "No worries," Constant smiled politely. "I've got things to do myself..."
What things?
Thing things. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing.
That was a terrible English accent.
...You're a terrible English accent!
Constant, dear, don't try so hard. You'll hurt yourself.
Fine. Maybe I'll ask John.

"You know, I think I'm going the same way as you. Aren't you on Sinister? Sleepy Hollow's, like, in that area. Y'know, kinda." Constant shook his hand, palm down, in a "kinda in that area" gesture and shrugged. "I'll walk with you! It's no trouble," he smiled then in a sickeningly sweet way, scrunching his eyes closed cutely. He knew he was being a pest, but Con and Mr. Far never really got on, anyway. In school, Connie was usually trying to wind him up and, without fail, Mr. Far would take the bait. Oooh, the detentions he got...

This is a weird time to get nostalgic kid. I'm getting a weird vibe from this guy all of a sudden...
Shush, you're fine. And this is fun.
Ehhh, I dunno, The Genie mentally rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get a reading of John. Just a feeling.
C'mon, we've know him for years and you're just now acting all spooky voodoo on me?
Hey, cosmic. Powers. Thanks.


Con chuckled softly and turned back to John, lacing his fingers behind his head in triumph of winning the argument (was that an argument?). "So, John. A lot of grades? What have you got to grade, anyway, we've only just started the year. Even I haven't got anything do yet," he offered as another conversation starter, beginning to walk in the direction John would be going. "Though, as I remember, you always were kind of a hardass that way!" Con laughed and elbowed the older man lightly on the arm, as is reminiscing over something hilarious.

I really doubt this is gonna end in our favor.

[jafar]

Pulling his hand away quite forcefully at the end of their handshake, John slightly raised an eyebrow as Constant continued with the various ways of saying his name, edging into dangerous territory when one of the variations caught his attention. “Err, not ‘Johnny’. Please. I’m not a fan of ‘Johnny’.” It did occur to him that that was probably not a smart move; the boy was being irritating enough without John actually giving him extra ammo. At least now he’d be able to deduce Constant’s intentions: if he didn’t use ‘Johnny’ after he’d pointed that out, then the boy was just naturally irritating and there was no malice behind it. But if he did… well then he was doing it on purpose, and John was allowed to retaliate.

He gave Constant a genuine smile when he accepted John’s excuse, and had to stop himself from breathing a sigh of relief. This boy wasn’t completely terrible then, at least he could take a hint. Jafar even seemed to relax at that. “Thanks, I-“

[/color] He broke off as Constant continued speaking, frowning slightly. Surely that was the end of the conversation, why was he still talking? I mean, if he was going home too, all he could say was bye, unless…

No, no, no, no, no! How hard was it for the stupid boy to just go home and leave him alone? Constant must have known how much he was grating on John’s nerves already, and he’d only gotten a few sentences out so far! And yes, Sleepy Hollow and Sinister Lane weren’t massively far apart, but for Constant, walking via Sinister Lane would add almost half an hour (give or take) to his journey; so no, he didn’t have to walk the same way as John, that was purely to annoy him… or at least that’s how he saw it. His smile slipped off his face, replaced with a slight frown and another cocked eyebrow. No trouble, huh?[/b] he murmured in his head as Jafar growled.
I thought we were getting rid of this child quickly!
We were, this isn’t my fault,[/b] he said with a sigh. Look, just stay quiet, pretend he’s not there. I’ll get us away from him as soon as possible, ok? Just don’t lose your temper with him, it’ll only cause more problems.[/b]
I can’t promise anything…

Running his fingers through his hair again (this situation was the definition of stress, hence his stressed habit reappearing), he reluctantly started walking, though a bit faster than he usually would, in an attempt to either discourage Constant from following, or lose him with his incredible speed. The latter was very unlikely but he was clutching at straws here.

“Yes,” he sighed, continuing the conversation semi-politely. “I always test my classes at the start of the year to make sure they remember what they learnt the year before, or if they’re first years, to see what they already know. And, of course, I have to mark the homework from the first week.” John listed these quite naturally, proud of his teaching schedule. Yes he pushed his students hard, yes he was strict, and yes he set what the kids deemed ‘too much homework’ and ‘too many tests’ (but since when was it their decision?). However, his classes were renowned for getting high results, so his methods seemed to work. “You should remember that; it wasn’t long ago when you were subject to my teachings,”[/color] John added, thinking back to when Constant was in his class. Not his favourite part of his career, mainly because Constant would go out of his way to irritate John and cause him as much grief as possible. More than once (a week) John had lost his temper with the blue-haired boy and reprimanded him with a demonstration of the nasty side of magic. Don’t tempt me… Jafar muttered, snapping John’s thoughts back to the present. Jafar was part of the reason John lost his temper with Constant so easily: they would both get wound up when the boy started talking, resulting in neither being able to calm the other down.

"Though, as I remember, you always were kind of a hardass that way!"
This was quite a good demonstration of that problem, since both John and Jafar inwardly growled at that comment. And though Constant’s intentions were probably innocent, when John felt his elbow, it was all he could do to stop himself from grabbing Constant’s wrist and yanking him forwards, glaring down at his ‘colleague’ and just daring him to make another move like that, daring him to try and speak to him like that again and live. “I am not, as you so eloquently put it, a ‘hardass’, I just know how to get the best from my students,”[/color] he replied, just a shred of his former politeness remaining, keeping his gaze straight ahead rather than looking down at Constant to stop the boy from seeing just how much his presence was affecting him. Any day but today, any other day and he would have been able to deal with him, but no, Constant would HAVE to bother him today.

“And I’m not surprised you don’t have anything to do yet. You never exactly seemed that interested in the academic side of things, so I assume your lessons are mostly practical?”[/color]
Actually, I’m surprised your students are still alive after this long,[/b] John added in his head, to an amused smirk from Jafar.
My, my, my, look who’s losing their temper now?
I’m not losing my temper. All I’m saying is the standards of this school must be slipping if there are teachers like him working here these days.[/b]
I'd just like to point out that you started this. If I continue it, I can’t be penalised. After all, the brat needed to learn his place eventually...
[/blockquote][/size]


_{Tag?!: Constant!
Words?!: 976
Notes?!: Ehehe... I rambled on a bit, sorry xD.
Lyrics?!: Self Inflicted ~ Katy Perry
Credit?!: Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0}