A Passing of Time - Raiden (Mortal Kombat) Story

Chapter 2

In the Present

"Professor?" Althea asked hesitantly, cracking his office door open and poking her head in.

"Hello, Althea," Raiden greeted. "You're right on time. Come in." He gathered the papers on his desk into a pile and sat them to the side.

Althea took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of his desk, digging in her bag before pulling out her notebook.

"I'm sorry for the late notice," Althea apologized as she flipped through the pages to find where her most recent notes were.

"It's okay. That is the reason why I check my email often," Raiden offered a kind smile.

Althea glanced up at him, still nervous, but his expression eased her mind some.

"Okay," she said, finding the notes she wanted to discuss. "I asked Liu about this, but he was unsure about it." She set her notebook on his desk and pointed to the area of notes she was referring to with her pen.

"He knows most of the material in my course, but it's been some time since he has taken it." Raiden gave her notes a quick read. "Ah. I understand your confusion."

"So, how did this period come to be?" Althea asked.

Raiden turned her notebook back to her and began explaining, in depth, of the lead up to a civil war while Althea began adding and jotting down new notes alongside her previous ones.

After a while of discussing back and forth, the clock in Raiden's office chimed six times.

"I didn't think it was that late," Raiden remarked.

"Wow. That time went by quick," Althea commented.

"That it did."

Closing her notebook, she boldly asked, "Would it be okay if we set up a time to meet during the week? I just think that would be best to help me get information together and in proper order for the term paper I'm writing for the hybrid English class I have."

If Raiden was being at all honest with himself, sharing the information he had acquired throughout his life was one of his favorite past times. Now, he has a student who is eager, enthusiastic, and willing to learn more about what he teaches? It was refreshing. And she wasn't even in history for a major.

"Sure. Would it be easier for you to work with mornings or evenings?" Raiden asked, turning his chair slightly to look at the calendar and schedule on his board on the wall.

"Evenings are better for me. I have class pretty much all through the morning and most of the afternoon usually."

"Since my course is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:30 to 3:00, and I hold office hours on Wednesday and Friday until 5:00, would it be okay with you to meet at 6:00 in the evening? That way, if you're really struggling, you can come to my office hours and I can help you until around 8:00," Raiden suggested.

"Yeah. That actually works really well for me," Althea answered, glancing up from her planner.

"Great, I'll make a note of it for myself and feel free to come down at 6:00 pm. Just make sure you knock before coming in," Raiden said.

"Okay. Thank you, so much, Professor Raiden," Althea gushed with gratefulness.

"It's no problem. It's nice to have a student so intrigued by what I teach."