#professor diane olshfski

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"Then I suppose I will have to date the ten percent who do," Jorah replied.

Diane looked at him as if he were an intriguing puzzle. "I wish you luck," she said.

"I wish you luck as well," Jorah said. He tried to smile, but his mouth corners were determined to stay down. I don't choose who to love, Diane, he thought. Or how many to love. Of all people, you should understand.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"I want to comfort you, but it might be even harder to say goodbye if I do," Diane said as she stood up.

Jorah looked at her, a million thoughts occurring to him all at once. A part of him wanted to beg her not to leave. To see if they could re-arrange the arrangement somehow. Negotiate, bargain. But he knew there was only one way he could make her stay... And he wasn't willing to sacrifice his relationship with Pelle for it.

"I wish..." Jorah began, struggling to keep his voice strong enough to speak. "I wish we could've stayed together."

Diane bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "I- I know. I do too. Despite our differences, I-"

"Differences," Jorah repeated. "I'm so tired of hearing about our difference in age. What does it matter? I love you, not your age."

Diane sniffled slightly, as if trying to suppress tears. "I feel the same for you," she said. "However, it's not the age, it's-"

"Me having the temerity to love more than one person," Jorah said before he could stop himself. "I'm a monster, I know." He thought back to Lucy showing up in a white dress at her mother's and his father's wedding, drunk and screaming.

"I didn't say that," Diane said. Then she looked away from him. "That said... You cannot have your cake and eat it too, Jorah."

"What do you mean?" Jorah asked, feeling tense.

"Remember attachment theory?" Diane asked. "Our biological and psychological inclination to form deep bonds with one partner. One partner. Attachment is monogamous. Ninety percent of people you meet will not have attachment styles secure enough to handle a polyamorous relationship."

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"Oh." As much as Jorah had tried to deny it to himself, he had sometimes wondered if that was how she truly felt.

They sat together on the floor in complete silence for a while after, Diane rubbing her temples and searching for the right thing to say, and Jorah feeling as if he had left his body and become a ghost, watching himself and Diane from afar.

"This isn't easy for me to do," Diane said in a low voice. "I know... I lost my job, but I have a good enough education to find new workplaces. Our kiss wasn't scandalous enough to ruin me, even if frowned upon, because we are both adults in the end. Your situation with your dormmates, however..."

"I'll be okay," Jorah said. "Don't... Don't worry about me. Lucy calmed down a bit, actually."

"Oh. That's good."

Then there was silence again.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

They sat on the floor. Jorah remained completely still and silent as Diane detailed her feelings on the time they shared together. She itched herself in the hair while rambling on about her love for him, how he'd made her feel something that she thought she'd lost-

"-However..." she finally said.

"However?" Jorah repeated.

"This... Arrangement. This polyamorous arrangement, does not work for me."

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"I've missed you so much," Jorah told Diane when she came through the dorm entryway, launching himself at her with a passionate kiss.

Diane gave him a weak smile. "I've missed you too," she said, caressing him gently. "But dear... We need to talk."

"Oh." Jorah felt his stomach drop. "We can... We can go to my dorm room."

[arkhelios-gameplay]

Unfortunately, he couldn't leash his boyfriend.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

Jorah Durant stepped out of the car. Diane, his newfound love, dropped him off, her eyes filled with a wistful longing he couldn't comprehend. Diane stepped out of the car as well, grabbing his butt with a playful grin. Jorah blushed.

"You have to wear these pants more often," Diane said. "They really make your assets pop, as the younglings say."

She was smiling, but Jorah could sense her reluctance to let him go, and her eyes had a certain tenderness and unspoken longing.

"I'll make sure to," he said, smiling back at her.

"Take care, Jorah," Diane said. "I'll miss you."

Jorah pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. "I will miss you too, Diane," he said, his lips gently brushing against hers in a sweet kiss.

As she disengaged from him and got back in the car, Jorah stood there waving her goodbye, his breath caught in his throat. She had not said anything, but Jorah could not shake the feeling that she might be wanting something else than what he was offering. Perhaps it's best that I don't know what she's thinking, Jorah thought as he turned to Pelle's house.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"Well..." Lucy was lost for words. Diane stared at her. Jorah knew the answer, of course. One of Lucy's grandmothers was dead, the other was a zombie. But Diane didn't know that. She was antagonizing Lucy with her questions and didn't even know it.

"What about your parents, then?" Diane asked. "Your father?"

"Let's not," Jorah murmured, shaking Diane's hand.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

“Jorah!” she gasped when he finally let go of her.

It was the first time she had called him by name. Jorah felt as if butterflies were fluttering in his stomach.

“Jorah,” Diane repeated. “As your professor... I can’t do this with you.”

Jorah felt a surge of disappointment wash over him, but he knew that she was right. He had known it all along, but he had hoped against all logic that perhaps there was a somehow chance anyway.

“I understand,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I do care about you, Jorah, I do-” Diane began, then paused. “Mr. Durant, I’m willing to help you with this class any way that I can. As long as it remains strictly platonic.”

Jorah nodded. The disappointment stayed with him, yet he was grateful she wasn’t angry at him for what he had done. “Thank you... Professor.”

Diane smiled. “Please, Mr. Durant. Let this event stay between us. If this situation was... misunderstood, I could get fired.”

Jorah nodded. “Yes, of course not... Of course I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you, Mr. Durant.”

“Thank you, Di- Professor Olshfski.”

[arkhelios-gameplay]

[arkhelios-gameplay]

Diane’s eyes widened in surprise. Why would I say that?! Medication?! “You have my sincerest apologies if you felt I was mocking your condition in front of the class,” Diane said, her voice soft and gentle in a way Jorah had never heard before. “I would never in any circumstances make light of a serious deliberating illness.”

Jorah wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there for the rest of his life. “It’s fine,” he insisted.

“Mr. Durant, I implore you to report this condition to the campus directory, so you can get the help you need-”

“It’s all been taken care of,” Jorah lied. “Really, don’t worry Professor Olshfski, please.”

“Good. If you ever need any additional help, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you,” Jorah said. “I really enjoy your class, Professor Olshfski. I do.”

“That warms my heart to hear,” Diane said, her face breaking out in a contagious smile.

Jorah found himself making an awkward grimace back. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Mr. Durant, if your narcolepsy is-”

“It’s all good!” Jorah said, feeling his face flush with embarrassment. “Thank you and all but... It’s good!”

“All right, Mr. Durant.” She smiled gently at him and patted him on the shoulder. Jorah felt as if electricity shot through his body at her touch. "Now, go and enjoy the rest of your day."

“O-okay Professor.”

[arkhelios-gameplay]

“Are you falling asleep, Mr. Durant?”

Jorah flinched. “N-no, Professor,” he said.

“You know falling asleep in class is inappropriate, I hope,” Professor Olshfski said. “A little cognitive dissonance there too, mayhaps.”

His classmates giggled around him. Jorah kept his hands covered over his face so they wouldn’t see him blush.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

There was a strange pause. Jorah's eyes clearly went to Nathan's and checked him out. Lucy looked at Jorah, then at her brother, trying to comprehend what this exchange meant.

Nadine stood up from her chair and walked up to Nathan, yelling at him to get his attention. "I know you nicked 'em from me room last night!"

Nathan frowned. "I didn't steal your cigarettes."

"Shut yer gob, liar," she said. "They're literally stickin' outta yer pocket, right now."

Nathan looked down at his pockets, leading Nadine to make a snorting sound. "Yer need to get better at lyin'," she said.

"Fine, they're in my room, I'll go get them," Nathan murmured.

"I knew it," she muttered.

Diane tried to grab Jorah's head and kiss him as she left, but his attentions were clearly wandering.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"Look everyone, it's Jorah and his grandmother!" Lucy called out.

Jorah was used to Lucy's mockery, but he refused to feel ashamed of Diane. She had lost her job because of him. Technically she might not even be allowed to be on campus, but she didn't care, and neither did anyone else. Except Lucy, of course.

Luckily, Diane didn't stoop to Lucy's level. Most of the time.

"Right," Diane said, looking behind Lucy as if expecting to see someone. "Where is your grandma, child?"

[arkhelios-gameplay]

“I...I lied about having an illness.”

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Diane's eyes widened in surprise, and Jorah felt his face flush with embarrassment. But then, to his surprise, she smiled at him, a genuine smile that made his heart skip a beat.

“Mr. Durant, I appreciate your honesty,” she said. “But with all due respect... Why?”

“I... I don’t know,” Jorah said. “I just didn’t want you to think I fell asleep because of you.”

“My dear, people fall asleep in my class all the time.”

“But I really didn’t want to,” Jorah said. “I like your class... I like psychology, I... I like you.”