At coffee before the class.

If I may say, Professor (X), you have a bit of the  modus vivendum, perhaps of the teaching orders, no?  Josephines, perhaps?  Admirable.

I'm Jewish.

A blistering volley.

Joan stirred the foam on her coffee indolently.  His air of self-assurance was irritating her.

I thought that you might have been raised Catholic...

She looked up, caught his eyes.

You thought that I thought...?  I'm not interested in your incorrect speculations.  You're pretty arrogant, even for a Jesuit.

He smiled, eyes downcast, complimenting her starchiness.  His thick brushy black mustache lifted at the corners, no contempt there.  There was no uncertanty about her; her black eyes flashed.  A warrior, a thinker; but not bellicose.  Scrupulous, intolerant of mush; she would have been a right bit for a few of his canon law professors to wrangle with.

Wisely, he kept any further speculations to himself.  There was something fascinating about her, mysterious - what was this path that brought her to the Heights?  He sniffed the air - there WAS starched cotton, somewhere.  An order of some sort, definitely.  And the personality to trust.  If they were in the jungle, he would be quite reassured to have her on his side in a firefight, indeed.

A scarf on the neck, he mused - perhaps for tzniut, the miṭpaḥoth covering the raven hair that flowed down from the nape of her neck.  Una delgada chales de pelo sobre los hombros por la modestia, this woman who would seem to have no modesty.  The Spirit was within her, and defended with a raw ferocity.  But there was no malice, or spite.  This was perhaps the most intriguing woman he had spoken with in a long, long time.  Assume nothing; she was quite acclimatized to victory, although she did not seem to covet it. 

Here, no question - she was the master, the Professor; he was the Student.  That structure gave each an easy domain to traverse; she was on the second floor, and he on the first.  he would not challenge her command of the pack; in fact, he was entertained and pleased to see someone so easy and fit at command.