even on a cloudy day

The stylus comes to a stop against the edge of the tablet. Only then does he look up, taking in the satchel, the uncertain expression, and the way James already seems halfway prepared to retreat.

A small shake of his head follows. "If I wanted you to wait for office hours, I would've said so." There's no edge to it, only the easy directness that had carried through the lecture. He taps the tablet once to save his notes before setting the stylus aside. "You're here now."

He leans back slightly in the chair, giving James his full attention. "So," he says, folding his hands loosely on the desk, "what's on your mind?"

Oh, true. Damn, good point.

Professor Abbot didn't necessarily frighten James as make him worried he was going to look stupid. Like, always He did not want to look stupid. Or ignorant.

James winced almost playfully. Then he spoke all in one breath.

[ Text 📱 -> Frank L. ] 😱

[ Text ] Definitely convinced him to eat his peas and carrots for the next fee wks!

[ Text ] The poor packer met the cold ground. The harness system I have on stp dayz is complex and unknowable.

[ Text ] Olk hear me out but these are amazing [ Rodeoh website link ]

[ Text ] They feel like Hanes i Swear but theres a built in catch for them. You can get the ones without the front panel if you don't use an stp.? Locked in place with the elastic, works on lots of brands. It's like a little cage.

"You're not paid to be right." The words hang in the lecture hall for a moment as Jack looks over the rows of fourth-year medical students seated before him. Behind him, the final slide from today's Emergency Medicine Clinical Decision-Making lecture still fills the screen, displaying nothing more than a short patient presentation and a list of differential diagnoses that had been argued over for the better part of an hour.

"You're paid to recognize when you might be wrong," he continues, slipping the stylus into the pocket of his blazer. "Patients don't read textbooks. They don't show up with every classic symptom, and they don't care how well you did on your last exam. They care whether you ask the one question that keeps them alive." His gaze sweeps across the room one last time before he nods toward the door. "I'll see you Wednesday. Read the trauma case I posted this morning. We're picking it apart from the moment EMS makes the call."

The lecture hall erupts into the familiar sounds of the end of class. Chairs scrape back, conversations pick up, and students file toward the exits while comparing notes from the day's discussion. Jack remains where he is. Once the room has mostly emptied, he settles behind the desk at the front of the lecture hall, opens the tablet waiting there, and begins making notes on the quizzes his students had turned in before class. A mug of coffee, long since gone cold, sits forgotten beside his hand.

Footsteps echo down the center aisle before coming to a stop in front of the desk. Without lifting his eyes from the quiz he's marking, Jack finishes the note he'd been writing, taps the stylus once against the edge of the tablet, and says evenly, "If you're here to argue for partial credit, save your breath." The corner of his mouth hints at the faintest smirk as he continues marking the page.

James approaches from his third row seat, his stuff packed up into a scuffed leather satchel. Too old school for the era, but when he'd first started school, he wasn't going to turn down a gift from his mother.

Especially not such an affirming one.

"Partial...? No, I don't split hairs about the Gonzalez thing, that was on me, I...thought I knew better. No, uh, is this an okay time? If you want to wait for office hours, I can...go."

[ Text 📱 -> Frank L. ] 😱

[ Text ] Definitely convinced him to eat his peas and carrots for the next fee wks!

[ Text ] The poor packer met the cold ground. The harness system I have on stp dayz is complex and unknowable.

"I thought you were the baby whisperer, I half expected to see you with the baby strapped to your chest by now."

iconless for the most part! (sometimes i’ll use a gif or icon of the fc at the start of our stories so you have a reference)

☀️ awake:

The Pitt - (Dr.) Dennis Whitaker

The Pitt - Dr. Jack Abbot

The Man From UNCLE (TV) - Illya Kuryakin & Napoleon Solo [ sometimes @/menacesfromuncle ]

🌙 asleep/by request:

"Oh, don't let me stop you. I have it pulled up in the breakroom so I can catch a glimps between laps."