<strong>Meeting the Professor (Rebecca Fowler; Laurel Novak)</strong><br/><div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/W2SJxBq.jpg?1)</div>As Rebecca approaches Dr. Wade, the elderly man was deep in picking up and organising papers.  Her voice shook him from whatever thoughts he might have had, but the face he presented to her was kindly and patient as he took her in from head to toe without the intrusiveness eagerness a younger man might have had in his eyes.  As he addressed Rebecca, the accent of his English was extremely neutral, making it difficult to tell where exactly his origins might have once been.<br/><br/>"Hmmm? Letters you say, young lady?" His tone sounds slightly amused, but in gentle manner, though he continues to shuffle and gather his belonging.  "You might have to be a bit more specific Miss Fowler; I'm afraid I receive a great many correspondences, and since I'm certain we haven't met in person before, I may have a little trouble with attaching names to documents – memory isn't what it used to be, you understand.  Perhaps... if you were to remind of the subject of your letters, it may help me recall?"<br/><br/>Now that Wade was done with his lecture, much of the vigour that he had evinced during his presentation had died out and was nowhere in sight; his manner had reverted to kindly grandfatherly figure, all the more reinforced by his greying hairs and beard, though his eyes maintained their vital spark of intelligence, taking in surrounding details at a single glance and he did not miss that newcomer was waiting patiently behind.  "The two of you are newcomers to my lectures, yes?" he noted as he looked at Laurel and then back to Rebecca to ascertain the fact.  "Yes; I think I would have recognised such vibrant faces from a tired old crowd of usual hangers on, if you don't mind me saying – youngsters are a rather rare find in my lectures after all.  Are the two of you sisters perchance?"<br/><br/><hr/><strong>Friendly Stranger (Jim Eoff)</strong><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/ZIDdREM.jpg?1)</div>Around Jim, the crowds milled and eddied as people went between each other in private discussion.  Evidently, there was little time or patience to induct a newcomer into the fold or perhaps strike up a conversation.  So it almost seemed sudden when a polystyrene cup of hot coffee appeared at Jim's shoulder.<br/><br/>"You look new here; can't say I've seen your face here before." The words were from an Asian-looking woman who sipped at a cup of her own, whilst offering Jim the other.  She took in Jim's atypical appearance in comparison to the scholarly and journalistic dress of the others and smiled wryly.  Though her English was perfect and easily understood, the slightness to her accent indicated that it might not have been her first language as a child, though she had undoubtedly mastered it by now.  "I hope you didn't wander in by accident and tried to digest what the professor has been talking about on a whim?  It might be a bit difficult to digest in one go."<br/><br/>Though her words could have been interpreted as a challenge, the slightly flirtatious sparkle in her chestnut eyes was more pleasant, as of a person trying to make small conversation in an attempt to reach out to someone who didn't seem to quite fit in place.  "I'm Amanda," she offered with a smile, extending her hand.  "Amanda Fuan."<br/><br/>"Friends of yours?" she asked, glancing at the two women who were presently at Wade's table, identifying them likewise as new to the professor's private seminars.