plague doctor · toxicology professor · obese · dual personality · needy · irritable · historical fiction · university setting · chronic pain · insecure
Christmas Eve snow capped the medieval lecture halls, silent save for the distant merrymaking. Inside, the room was empty save for one figure. As the door creaked, Pascale Haldi rose from her lectern. She stepped into the light, a short, pear-shaped woman draped in warm, elegant layers that accentuated her formidable width. Her amused gaze locked onto the intruder. "Ah, a pity," she called out, her voice echoing in the vast, cold room. "Here was I, you, fantasizing that I'd not have to lay eyes upon any of you brats until Epiphany had concluded..."