**Melania**
“Dr. LaVeau!” Mel stopped, key in the door to her office and sighed as she heard Dr. Callais coming up behind her.
“Yes?” She answered, without turning her head. His steps were slowing behind her, but he hadn’t yet said more.
“You might want to get to your first lecture early, that symposium that the Astronomy department is having turned out to be a little larger than they were anticipating.” She heard the annoyance in Dwayne’s voice and she had to smirk. He was not an easy man to annoy, so something told her that there was a mess over in the HRK Complex. “Do I need to leave now, or is it like the airport and I just need to leave a two hour window before the start of my lecture?” Turning the key to unlock the door, she opened it and leaned her head to indicate he should follow. There was an amused expression on her face as they entered the office. Mel was well into her first semester back at teaching at LSU and it still felt weird to her. She wanted to be back out in the field, but knew that she needed the routine first. Beau and Alexander were already tracking down new and interesting artifacts for her to potentially play with during her off times. “Knowing you, you’ll be able to clear a path amongst the swarm over there. Not all of us can hike our skirt a little higher, distract them from their telescopes, and get them to behave like civilized humans.” Years of familiarity between Mel and Dwayne was the only reason that she didn’t take offense to his remark, and instead laughed at it as she tossed her messenger bag onto the couch in her office. “Oh, now come on, Callais! You have awesome legs.” Mel scoffed and waved a hand at him, still laughing. “The girls absolutely fawn over them every summer at field school. Or is that just the reflection off of them due to the fact that is the only time they see the sun?” The rolled eyed response she got in return and the chuckle was her reward and the tension he’d been feeling broke. Now the colleagues could discuss the business of the day without the symposium’s mess ruining the mood.
**Tristan**
“Excuse me … Sorry- didn’t mean to step on your foot …” He bit off a short curse as someone almost knocked him off his feet. If this wasn’t a sign that he never should have come he didn’t know what was. He missed his cool mountain air and he’d only been in Baton Rouge since last night. This morning’s traffic was BRUTAL and he couldn’t understand his Uber driver well enough to do more than nod and hand him a nice tip.
“Tris! Holy Hell! It IS you! I knew it! No one else has those curls that should be illegal on a guy.”
He blinked owlishly and stared down. “Do I know …” Sudden recognition slammed into him and he couldn’t help but grin. “Erin! It’s good to see you!” He normally didn’t like to be hugged, but he and she had a few classes in common and he’d tutored her in Quantum Physics their senior year at CalTech, so he allowed it. “How’s things?”
“Still a man of few words, I see. Things are good. I just got on with the James Webb Space Telescope team.” She shot him a smile and moved closer to him, narrowly avoiding the crush of the crowd. “What have you been up to since we graduated?”
“Masters and teaching degree. Trying to influence the minds of the future.”
“How’s THAT working out?” Erin stepped even closer and he fought the urge to step away.
“Eh...A few show promise.” She actually laughed.
“Poor Tris. You really should have tried for your PhD in Astrophysics. No one was smarter than you. Oh. Speaking of Astrophysics, how is your grandfather?”
Tris felt a momentary pang of loneliness. “He passed a little while ago. When he lost the grants, he seemed to lose the will to live. Another reason I didn’t continue with school.”
Her hand touched his arm and her tone softened. “I’m sorry. He was a true visionary in the field.”
He decided a change in topic was needed. “Save me a seat and I will run and grab a few drinks? I think there was a vending machine somewhere on the main floor. You still drink Diet Coke?”
“I will and I do.” She checked her watch. “Better hurry. First speaker starts soon. I’ll find a seat for you in the back row. Just like we did in Wagner’s class.”
By the time he made it downstairs and found the vending machine, it was sold out of everything. He checked the schedule. The speaker he really wanted to hear wasn’t for another hour. Erin would be okay if he went in search of her addiction.
Half an hour later, two cans of Diet Coke in his daypack, he made his way back in. Thankfully the crowd had thinned. Just before he hit the first step to the second floor something made him stop. There was an open door just to the left and he made his way over. “Miss LaVeau? Did you see Ancient Aliens last night? They were talking about Machu Picchu’s secret chamber.”
Well… looked like he was going to miss the speakers. If this class was talking about aliens, he wanted to hear it. His grandfather had been an avid believer in extraterrestrials, so this was something he needed to give a listen too. So he did what any curious bystander would do, he quietly made his way into the classroom and took a seat in the back.
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