Book 5, Chapter 4: Science and Progress (2/3)
Title: Science and Progress (2/3)
Authors: kiltsandlollies and escribo, with magickalmolly
Characters: Cate, Dominic
Word count: 2700
Summary: Immediately follows this.
Index
Note: Original text and characterization of Cate created by magickalmolly; in some chapters through this story, we’ve adapted both text and characterization, but Molly’s work happily remains the foundation for Professor Blanchett.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; the recognizable people in the story belong to themselves and have never performed the actions portrayed here. I do not know the actors nor am I associated with them in any way. If you are underage, please do not read this story. I am not making any profit from these stories, nor do I mean any harm.
Classes at Baskerville, Cate has discovered, are very different from those she had taught at St. Andrews. The students here engage with her in a far different way; they seem kinder, more laid back, more eager to please but not in a desperate fashion, which certainly has an appeal for Cate after several years spent earning her reputation as a tough teacher and a strict disciplinarian. Her students at St. Andrews were accustomed to a more dialectic style of teaching, biting and scratching to gain their professor’s approval, and she had basked in that. It had been a comfortable existence for a long while, and she’d earned every bit of praise she’d received as a professor there, but in the last year things had deteriorated; personal and professional boredom, combined with one or two unfortunate events with one or two unfortunate colleagues, had brought her to her decision to leave St. Andrews.
Cate had heard about Baskerville on her academic travels, both as an entry to an easy life for a professor and as a refuge for more than one exile from St. Andrews. She’d made certain before even her first contact with Baskervillle that no one who knew her as more than the merest acquaintance was actually working there now, and she’d been relieved to find that both the little town and the school itself were lovely in many ways, not least now that she’d rented a small but beautiful home, and had finally received the keys to an actual office.
Those comforts in place, Cate’s now learned most of her way around her new second home; the scent of chemicals and polished floors has always felt familiar and right, but her other senses have been just as engaged at Baskerville, and she finds that the university could and likely will serve as more than the mere escape hatch she'd considered it on the way down from Scotland. Cate allows herself the odd daydream now that this simple change of setting will bring bigger changes, better ones. Those daydreams carry her between classes and down hallways, especially late in the day like this, and they make hours pass even more happily.
Cate blinks in surprise when she turns the final corner before her office now and is suddenly run into--nearly run down--by a student now stuttering out apologies as he drops his bag and bends to gather up the class schedule files Cate had spent the last hour organizing and now are spilled all over the floor. Goddammit, she thinks to herself, and is ready to say as much to her assailant, but he looks terrified enough without her help. Cate sighs, about to kneel down as well when the older, puffed-up senior biology professor Dr. Stinson approaches, and Cate braces herself for the third awkward compliment he’ll pay her in as many days.
“You’re looking lovely this afternoon, professor,” Stinson says, and Cate sees from the corner of her eye that the student beside her has gone mostly still now, his breath caught and his eyes fixed on the floor as his hands slow down, picking up the papers. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Cate kneels down awkwardly in her skirt and picks up the folder her files had been in, opening it and refilling it as neatly as she can, hoping that Stinson will see that she’s busy and move on, but he stands there, his own eyes locked on her bare knees and the front of her blouse, and one foot heedlessly standing on one of her papers.
"Thank you, Dr. Stinson. Perhaps you could help us?" Cate isn't at all surprised when Stinson looks at his watch, professing his sudden need to get going. "Prat," Cate sighs under her breath when Stinson makes his way up the hall, and it's only when the student lets out a little noise of relief that Cate thinks to look up at him doing a rather poor job of straightening the mountain of papers he’s gathered up. She smiles a little at his nervousness and the look of intense concentration on his task, and touches the back of his hand lightly, trying to get him to still his movements before he wrinkles all her work. Cate's surprised to see her own name written across his skin, and she laughs. "I suppose this is what you do here when the email’s down? Are you a gift or a messenger?"
The student blushes harder and pulls away, rubbing the back of his hand ineffectually on his thigh as his ears turn red and his long eyelashes fan over his flushed cheeks. Cate can't help but smile at the sight; there’s something about making a grown man blush, and the little rush of it is one of Cate's favorite things. The man before her now isn't exactly what she would consider full-grown, though; he couldn't be older than twenty, and now he’s found his speech again.
“Are you Professor Blanchett? I’ve been looking for your office.”
"I am,” Cate says, her smile more amused now. “And my office is just over here." Cate rises from the floor and gathers up the papers from the young man, and when he meets her gaze, she's treated to the sight of a lovely pair of blue-grey eyes. There are girls who would be jealous of those lashes, Cate thinks to herself, and then leads the way across the hall to her office. Pushing the door open with her hip, Cate lets the young man enter before crossing to her desk, and she sets the messy stack that was her files down on its otherwise empty surface. The room is in the process of being redecorated, and there is a stack of painting equipment and delivery boxes in the corner. One wall is already painted in a soft yellow, in vast contrast to the faded blue of the rest of the room.
"Please excuse the mess. If you just move that box there, you can have a seat." Cate points to the only other chair in the room, sitting herself down behind her desk as she does so, and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear, giving the nervous-looking boy a smile. "Now, who are you exactly, and what can I do for you?"
“Dominic. Monaghan. I’m actually …” Dominic starts to lift his hand up to chew on his finger and then hastily drops it, tucking his hand under his thigh. “I’m in Dr. Stinson’s biology lecture, and I’m not doing very well. I’m alright in the lab,” he hurries to add. “It’s just, Professor Stinson, when he lectures …” Dominic’s voice trails off, and Cate watches his mind work to find a way to explain himself without sounding like he’s criticizing a man Cate’s forced to consider a colleague, even if she’s not particularly fond of his attempts to charm. Well, this explains the student’s evident horror at Stinson’s approach moments ago, and Cate honestly can’t blame him.
“I find it hard to keep up and take notes,” Dominic continues. “My advisor thought that maybe a change in lecture style would help me improve my marks. I was wondering if I might change to your morning section.”
Cate hums politely, not quite sympathetically, and thinks that Dominic’s claim of not doing very well is a likely understatement, if the way he’s currently gnawing on his thumbnail is any indication. She looks pointedly at his hand and Dominic drops it again, tucking it back under his denim-clad thigh. His ability to follow a non-verbal cue so readily pleases Cate, and she rewards him with a soft smile.
"I don't see why it would be a problem, Dominic, but my lesson plan is different from Dr. Stinson's. I believe you are currently studying the properties of catalysts, yes?" Dominic's face is a mask of confusion, and Cate knows then that he is doing less than not very well. She holds in her sigh, and continues. "Enzymes, Mr. Monaghan. That is what Dr. Stinson is teaching now, is it not?" Blushing, Dominic nods at this, and Cate purses her lips. "I will be picking up where Dr. Mehner left off. His section is smaller, and it hasn’t reached that material yet, so much the better, I suppose. So now would be an opportune time for you to transfer, if we can manage the paperwork as soon as possible. But you would need to transfer to my scheduled lab time as well; the lecture and the lab are meant to be taken together."
Dominic nods, his relief visible, and his whole face lighting up as he smiles, his body a flurry of small motion, and his words stumbling a bit over themselves. "Thank you, Dr. Blanchett. I really appreciate it. I'd be happy to switch labs as well. I can make it work. I think there's a form I have to get you to sign, but I just came over here straight from my advisor's office. I can run to get it, or should I bring it to class on Monday?" Dominic stands up, looking willing to do nearly anything Cate says--another point for him in her book--but then sits again just as suddenly, his foot tapping restlessly against the floor. Cate raises an eyebrow but holds her smile as she takes a pen and a notepad from her desk drawer, motioning for him to sit a moment longer. Once she’s finished writing, she masks her amusement and offers Dominic a serious stare, leaning over her desk slightly.
"I want you to understand, Mr. Monaghan, that I am no less strict than Dr. Stinson. I expect excellence from all my students, even if biology is not your concentration. Which," Cate adds dryly, "I feel I can safely assume it is not. When you are in my lecture or laboratory, nothing is to be more important to you than what I am teaching. I have a reputation for making things clear to my students, but that begins with your attention."
Leaning back in her seat again, Cate writes a few notes on her pad, and continues to speak as she writes. "I will want to speak to your advisor about your transfer. He will have to approve this as well, so it will save us all a lot of running around if I get the form from him myself. Who is he?"
"Professor Boyd, in philosophy. I'm in philosophy and German, but he’s who I go to." Dominic's cheeks color slightly, and he looks down at his hands, suddenly looking to Cate like every inch a schoolboy with a crush. Only years of personal discipline keep Cate's own face from blushing warmly at the mention of Billy's name, and she focuses on Dominic instead, and the affection in his tone. "He's my mentor. He’s helped me out a lot since I've been here. I would have quit after my first year if it hadn't been for him. He suggested I come talk to you, actually."
While she can understand Dominic’s appreciation for Professor Boyd, Cate feels a heat of another kind as his words echo in the space between them, that of mild, curious jealousy. This student, this boy, can’t possibly be the white rabbit that Cate finds herself contending with for Billy's attentions, even if he is attractive, in an unorthodox sort of way. Cate dismisses the thought almost as soon as it enters her mind; while she wouldn’t presume any certainty about Billy's sexuality, she is much more sure that Billy’s a bit too buttoned-up to become involved with a student--a problem she wouldn't suffer from, herself, given the right, discreet kind of student. It is the only explanation as to why Billy might show his attraction toward Cate, but not act on it, she supposes; if Professor Boyd displayed any hesitancy about becoming involved with a co-worker, he certainly wouldn't be fucking one of his students.
"Well I'm glad he did, Dominic," Cate says gently, and then writes Billy's title down on her notepad, although she certainly doesn't need to. Glancing up at the clock, Cate lets herself smile again warmly, and rises from her chair. "I’ll go and speak with him now. If you've just come from his office, then it’s likely he’s still there."
Cate slips her notepad into her valise, and then pulls a paper from the still scattered pile on her desk. She hands the paper to Dominic as she circles around, crossing to him. "I expect to see you on time Monday morning, Mr. Monaghan, at nine o'clock. This is the outline for this month's schedule. You've probably already been through much of this with Dr. Stinson, but you will have to do your experiments and papers again for me." And Cate lets her voice soften. "Reviewing the work should help you get up to speed."
"Thank you again. I really appreciate the chance." Dominic stands up, accepting the papers and slipping his bag back over his shoulder. "Monday morning, then."
Cate nods sharply, and Dominic’s grin widens before he disappears. For several minutes, Cate leans against her desk and lets her thoughts wander, first in the direction of just how poorly Stinson must get his lectures across if students are clearly gagging to be freed of him, and then in the direction of the young man who’s just left her office. Yes, an attractive student, visibly eager, if not necessarily for a deep understanding of biology. Well, she’s had students like him before, has even enjoyed their enthusiasm for other things in and out of class, and Cate doesn’t expect his presence will interfere much in the running of her lecture or lab. If anything, his bright-eyed joy might be helpful; she knows from experience that the smile of a student who’s come to finally understand something difficult can turn the ugliest of days around, and even now, at what she feels is her most jaded, Cate looks forward to seeing that smile cross Dominic’s face, along with those of his classmates.
The memory of Dominic’s smile reminds Cate of one of its sources during their conversation, his mention of his advisor, Professor Boyd. Cate can recognize the devotion of a student who’s found the right mentor--she’s seen in the eyes of several students of her own, and others who’d never sat in her lectures at all but still found her inspiring on many levels--and it’s pleasant to think of the rumpled, scattered professor having earned that devotion, even if it does come from a student still clearly struggling a bit. Having found herself briefly enchanted by Professor Boyd twice now, Cate can again understand Dominic’s reaction, but it makes her even more curious about Billy, about what he’d bring to a different sort of relationship.
Cate drums her fingers lightly against her desk, shaking herself out of her thoughts, then rises again with her valise and a quick look at her watch. She has time to catch the professor, unless he’s made an immediate break for it with the oncoming sunset, and she makes her way steadily out of the science building, hoping to do just that.
She’s foiled by no fewer than six pauses between her office and the humanities building, however, six different people, each needing "only a moment" of her time. Nearly an hour after she’d left her office, Cate finds her way through the slightly musty maze of offices to end at Professor Boyd’s door, only to find it locked, the lights inside it off. Cate frowns and then sighs, tapping the fingernails of one hand against the nameplate beside Billy’s door, and then sets her shoulders and decides she’ll find Billy again the next weekday morning, as bright and early as her own energy will allow. It’s a professional errand, true, but no reason not to mix business with a bit of pleasure; why not start the morning off right?
Authors: kiltsandlollies and escribo, with magickalmolly
Characters: Cate, Dominic
Word count: 2700
Summary: Immediately follows this.
Index
Note: Original text and characterization of Cate created by magickalmolly; in some chapters through this story, we’ve adapted both text and characterization, but Molly’s work happily remains the foundation for Professor Blanchett.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; the recognizable people in the story belong to themselves and have never performed the actions portrayed here. I do not know the actors nor am I associated with them in any way. If you are underage, please do not read this story. I am not making any profit from these stories, nor do I mean any harm.
Classes at Baskerville, Cate has discovered, are very different from those she had taught at St. Andrews. The students here engage with her in a far different way; they seem kinder, more laid back, more eager to please but not in a desperate fashion, which certainly has an appeal for Cate after several years spent earning her reputation as a tough teacher and a strict disciplinarian. Her students at St. Andrews were accustomed to a more dialectic style of teaching, biting and scratching to gain their professor’s approval, and she had basked in that. It had been a comfortable existence for a long while, and she’d earned every bit of praise she’d received as a professor there, but in the last year things had deteriorated; personal and professional boredom, combined with one or two unfortunate events with one or two unfortunate colleagues, had brought her to her decision to leave St. Andrews.
Cate had heard about Baskerville on her academic travels, both as an entry to an easy life for a professor and as a refuge for more than one exile from St. Andrews. She’d made certain before even her first contact with Baskervillle that no one who knew her as more than the merest acquaintance was actually working there now, and she’d been relieved to find that both the little town and the school itself were lovely in many ways, not least now that she’d rented a small but beautiful home, and had finally received the keys to an actual office.
Those comforts in place, Cate’s now learned most of her way around her new second home; the scent of chemicals and polished floors has always felt familiar and right, but her other senses have been just as engaged at Baskerville, and she finds that the university could and likely will serve as more than the mere escape hatch she'd considered it on the way down from Scotland. Cate allows herself the odd daydream now that this simple change of setting will bring bigger changes, better ones. Those daydreams carry her between classes and down hallways, especially late in the day like this, and they make hours pass even more happily.
Cate blinks in surprise when she turns the final corner before her office now and is suddenly run into--nearly run down--by a student now stuttering out apologies as he drops his bag and bends to gather up the class schedule files Cate had spent the last hour organizing and now are spilled all over the floor. Goddammit, she thinks to herself, and is ready to say as much to her assailant, but he looks terrified enough without her help. Cate sighs, about to kneel down as well when the older, puffed-up senior biology professor Dr. Stinson approaches, and Cate braces herself for the third awkward compliment he’ll pay her in as many days.
“You’re looking lovely this afternoon, professor,” Stinson says, and Cate sees from the corner of her eye that the student beside her has gone mostly still now, his breath caught and his eyes fixed on the floor as his hands slow down, picking up the papers. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Cate kneels down awkwardly in her skirt and picks up the folder her files had been in, opening it and refilling it as neatly as she can, hoping that Stinson will see that she’s busy and move on, but he stands there, his own eyes locked on her bare knees and the front of her blouse, and one foot heedlessly standing on one of her papers.
"Thank you, Dr. Stinson. Perhaps you could help us?" Cate isn't at all surprised when Stinson looks at his watch, professing his sudden need to get going. "Prat," Cate sighs under her breath when Stinson makes his way up the hall, and it's only when the student lets out a little noise of relief that Cate thinks to look up at him doing a rather poor job of straightening the mountain of papers he’s gathered up. She smiles a little at his nervousness and the look of intense concentration on his task, and touches the back of his hand lightly, trying to get him to still his movements before he wrinkles all her work. Cate's surprised to see her own name written across his skin, and she laughs. "I suppose this is what you do here when the email’s down? Are you a gift or a messenger?"
The student blushes harder and pulls away, rubbing the back of his hand ineffectually on his thigh as his ears turn red and his long eyelashes fan over his flushed cheeks. Cate can't help but smile at the sight; there’s something about making a grown man blush, and the little rush of it is one of Cate's favorite things. The man before her now isn't exactly what she would consider full-grown, though; he couldn't be older than twenty, and now he’s found his speech again.
“Are you Professor Blanchett? I’ve been looking for your office.”
"I am,” Cate says, her smile more amused now. “And my office is just over here." Cate rises from the floor and gathers up the papers from the young man, and when he meets her gaze, she's treated to the sight of a lovely pair of blue-grey eyes. There are girls who would be jealous of those lashes, Cate thinks to herself, and then leads the way across the hall to her office. Pushing the door open with her hip, Cate lets the young man enter before crossing to her desk, and she sets the messy stack that was her files down on its otherwise empty surface. The room is in the process of being redecorated, and there is a stack of painting equipment and delivery boxes in the corner. One wall is already painted in a soft yellow, in vast contrast to the faded blue of the rest of the room.
"Please excuse the mess. If you just move that box there, you can have a seat." Cate points to the only other chair in the room, sitting herself down behind her desk as she does so, and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear, giving the nervous-looking boy a smile. "Now, who are you exactly, and what can I do for you?"
“Dominic. Monaghan. I’m actually …” Dominic starts to lift his hand up to chew on his finger and then hastily drops it, tucking his hand under his thigh. “I’m in Dr. Stinson’s biology lecture, and I’m not doing very well. I’m alright in the lab,” he hurries to add. “It’s just, Professor Stinson, when he lectures …” Dominic’s voice trails off, and Cate watches his mind work to find a way to explain himself without sounding like he’s criticizing a man Cate’s forced to consider a colleague, even if she’s not particularly fond of his attempts to charm. Well, this explains the student’s evident horror at Stinson’s approach moments ago, and Cate honestly can’t blame him.
“I find it hard to keep up and take notes,” Dominic continues. “My advisor thought that maybe a change in lecture style would help me improve my marks. I was wondering if I might change to your morning section.”
Cate hums politely, not quite sympathetically, and thinks that Dominic’s claim of not doing very well is a likely understatement, if the way he’s currently gnawing on his thumbnail is any indication. She looks pointedly at his hand and Dominic drops it again, tucking it back under his denim-clad thigh. His ability to follow a non-verbal cue so readily pleases Cate, and she rewards him with a soft smile.
"I don't see why it would be a problem, Dominic, but my lesson plan is different from Dr. Stinson's. I believe you are currently studying the properties of catalysts, yes?" Dominic's face is a mask of confusion, and Cate knows then that he is doing less than not very well. She holds in her sigh, and continues. "Enzymes, Mr. Monaghan. That is what Dr. Stinson is teaching now, is it not?" Blushing, Dominic nods at this, and Cate purses her lips. "I will be picking up where Dr. Mehner left off. His section is smaller, and it hasn’t reached that material yet, so much the better, I suppose. So now would be an opportune time for you to transfer, if we can manage the paperwork as soon as possible. But you would need to transfer to my scheduled lab time as well; the lecture and the lab are meant to be taken together."
Dominic nods, his relief visible, and his whole face lighting up as he smiles, his body a flurry of small motion, and his words stumbling a bit over themselves. "Thank you, Dr. Blanchett. I really appreciate it. I'd be happy to switch labs as well. I can make it work. I think there's a form I have to get you to sign, but I just came over here straight from my advisor's office. I can run to get it, or should I bring it to class on Monday?" Dominic stands up, looking willing to do nearly anything Cate says--another point for him in her book--but then sits again just as suddenly, his foot tapping restlessly against the floor. Cate raises an eyebrow but holds her smile as she takes a pen and a notepad from her desk drawer, motioning for him to sit a moment longer. Once she’s finished writing, she masks her amusement and offers Dominic a serious stare, leaning over her desk slightly.
"I want you to understand, Mr. Monaghan, that I am no less strict than Dr. Stinson. I expect excellence from all my students, even if biology is not your concentration. Which," Cate adds dryly, "I feel I can safely assume it is not. When you are in my lecture or laboratory, nothing is to be more important to you than what I am teaching. I have a reputation for making things clear to my students, but that begins with your attention."
Leaning back in her seat again, Cate writes a few notes on her pad, and continues to speak as she writes. "I will want to speak to your advisor about your transfer. He will have to approve this as well, so it will save us all a lot of running around if I get the form from him myself. Who is he?"
"Professor Boyd, in philosophy. I'm in philosophy and German, but he’s who I go to." Dominic's cheeks color slightly, and he looks down at his hands, suddenly looking to Cate like every inch a schoolboy with a crush. Only years of personal discipline keep Cate's own face from blushing warmly at the mention of Billy's name, and she focuses on Dominic instead, and the affection in his tone. "He's my mentor. He’s helped me out a lot since I've been here. I would have quit after my first year if it hadn't been for him. He suggested I come talk to you, actually."
While she can understand Dominic’s appreciation for Professor Boyd, Cate feels a heat of another kind as his words echo in the space between them, that of mild, curious jealousy. This student, this boy, can’t possibly be the white rabbit that Cate finds herself contending with for Billy's attentions, even if he is attractive, in an unorthodox sort of way. Cate dismisses the thought almost as soon as it enters her mind; while she wouldn’t presume any certainty about Billy's sexuality, she is much more sure that Billy’s a bit too buttoned-up to become involved with a student--a problem she wouldn't suffer from, herself, given the right, discreet kind of student. It is the only explanation as to why Billy might show his attraction toward Cate, but not act on it, she supposes; if Professor Boyd displayed any hesitancy about becoming involved with a co-worker, he certainly wouldn't be fucking one of his students.
"Well I'm glad he did, Dominic," Cate says gently, and then writes Billy's title down on her notepad, although she certainly doesn't need to. Glancing up at the clock, Cate lets herself smile again warmly, and rises from her chair. "I’ll go and speak with him now. If you've just come from his office, then it’s likely he’s still there."
Cate slips her notepad into her valise, and then pulls a paper from the still scattered pile on her desk. She hands the paper to Dominic as she circles around, crossing to him. "I expect to see you on time Monday morning, Mr. Monaghan, at nine o'clock. This is the outline for this month's schedule. You've probably already been through much of this with Dr. Stinson, but you will have to do your experiments and papers again for me." And Cate lets her voice soften. "Reviewing the work should help you get up to speed."
"Thank you again. I really appreciate the chance." Dominic stands up, accepting the papers and slipping his bag back over his shoulder. "Monday morning, then."
Cate nods sharply, and Dominic’s grin widens before he disappears. For several minutes, Cate leans against her desk and lets her thoughts wander, first in the direction of just how poorly Stinson must get his lectures across if students are clearly gagging to be freed of him, and then in the direction of the young man who’s just left her office. Yes, an attractive student, visibly eager, if not necessarily for a deep understanding of biology. Well, she’s had students like him before, has even enjoyed their enthusiasm for other things in and out of class, and Cate doesn’t expect his presence will interfere much in the running of her lecture or lab. If anything, his bright-eyed joy might be helpful; she knows from experience that the smile of a student who’s come to finally understand something difficult can turn the ugliest of days around, and even now, at what she feels is her most jaded, Cate looks forward to seeing that smile cross Dominic’s face, along with those of his classmates.
The memory of Dominic’s smile reminds Cate of one of its sources during their conversation, his mention of his advisor, Professor Boyd. Cate can recognize the devotion of a student who’s found the right mentor--she’s seen in the eyes of several students of her own, and others who’d never sat in her lectures at all but still found her inspiring on many levels--and it’s pleasant to think of the rumpled, scattered professor having earned that devotion, even if it does come from a student still clearly struggling a bit. Having found herself briefly enchanted by Professor Boyd twice now, Cate can again understand Dominic’s reaction, but it makes her even more curious about Billy, about what he’d bring to a different sort of relationship.
Cate drums her fingers lightly against her desk, shaking herself out of her thoughts, then rises again with her valise and a quick look at her watch. She has time to catch the professor, unless he’s made an immediate break for it with the oncoming sunset, and she makes her way steadily out of the science building, hoping to do just that.
She’s foiled by no fewer than six pauses between her office and the humanities building, however, six different people, each needing "only a moment" of her time. Nearly an hour after she’d left her office, Cate finds her way through the slightly musty maze of offices to end at Professor Boyd’s door, only to find it locked, the lights inside it off. Cate frowns and then sighs, tapping the fingernails of one hand against the nameplate beside Billy’s door, and then sets her shoulders and decides she’ll find Billy again the next weekday morning, as bright and early as her own energy will allow. It’s a professional errand, true, but no reason not to mix business with a bit of pleasure; why not start the morning off right?