Teach Meet [OPEN to staff!]

Lydia was eyeballing those chocolate cupcakes. She didn't know there were going to be sweets at this meeting! One of the great things about being a shapeshifter—she could eat whatever she wanted and not worry about her body! Yup, it was good to be a shapeshifter...

Lydia was so focused on those cupcakes, that she almost didn’t hear Laverna call her to introduce herself. “Ahh-yes! Howdy ya’ll!” Lydia quickly bounced up from her chair. Even though she usually wore her cowgirl attire around school, she brought more formal clothing to wear for the meeting—a cute pink spring dress with red roses on it, and a little white sweater to go over it. Her long red hair was pulled into two braids—giving her a rather youthful look that could have possibly mistaken her for a student.

“My name is Lydia Sinclair, and I’m the horseback riding instructor ‘round here.” Her braids bounced behind her as she tilted her head with a big grin, hands on her hips. “I like the outdoors, animals, karaoke, and fashion!”

She then pressed a finger into her cheek and lightly swung her body back and forth as she thought about the coffee question. She didn’t drink coffee very often—she was perfectly hyper without it anyway. “Coffee…ehm, well, sometimes I drink those chocolate mocha things. Oh, and I like those vanilla Frappuccino things! Oh, but I guess those aren’t coffee…So I guess that’s about it!”

Done with her introduction, Lydia quickly nabbed up a chocolate cupcake and sat back down.

Wong Ha Jung

Today his hair was pink, Wong Ha Jung was sure, and Vermillion Summer was in full effect as if playing off his own happiness. Smiling so hard that it felt like his face might start to hurt, he looked around the table eagerly, not having met most of the staff present yet. His reading glasses were actually on for once, so he could see more of his colleagues' faces besides blurs.

After Lydia had finished speaking, Wong Ha Jung hesitated for a moment before dipping his head. "Hello! It's nice to meet you all!" he began cheerily, "I'm Wong Ha Jung. It doesn't matter to me if you pronounce that wrong, most mainland Chinese people do that, too. My English name is Elijah, though, if you want to use it."

The smile, as it turned out, really was starting to pinch. He let out a short, breathlessly laugh to himself, rubbing his face with the back of his hand. On the inside, he felt positively giddy but forced himself to calm down before he gave himself a fit or something.

"I'm a counselor," he said, continuing his introduction a little more softly than before. "Well, for the most part, I think. I was asked if I could teach psychology classes and some East Asian languages but nobody's gotten back to me on that." Which really was a shame because he did enjoy teaching, even though he loved counseling more.

He stopped for a moment, trying to remember what else he was supposed to say. One to two sentences about himself. Coffee. "Oh yes! I like linguistics and East Asian literature. Please come and talk to me if you're interested in either! Or if you need help with anything in general, I like being useful. I don't drink coffee very often but when I do, it's with cream and sugar."

Wondering briefly if he should be worried about the cupcakes being spiked despite Laverna's reassurance, he went ahead and took a lemon one anyways. Then it was the next person's turn.

Odd coworkers was a painfully obvious yet suspiciously un-mentioned part of taking the job at the Academy. Emerald hair. Pink hair. Red hair, though admittedly there were some naturally occurring cases of super red hair elsewhere. Looking around the table, Jacob started to feel like he was under dressed for the occasion. Where was his fanciful colored hair? All he had was his natural dark hair which, fortunately, was still blessed with fullness and life even as he got up in years. He had never thought about dying his hair before, but maybe he could do it for a lark some time. Maybe after some drinks.

Introductions were surprisingly festive considering that they were all professional adults, but Jacob would not argue with Laverna's methods. Besides, after a long Friday of dealing with young men and women and lesson plans and quizzes and tests, it felt nice to wind down and be just a little more informal than usual. The cupcakes were a nice touch though, he could always appreciate a nice cupcake.

Jacob turn came after the youthful Lydia made a cute impression, and Wong gave them all two options to address him by. He too stood up from his chair and gave a shallow bow to everyone.

"Good to finally get to meet all of you. I'm Jacob Cunningham, math teacher and swim team coach."

He briefly remembered needing to ramp up the swim practice schedule for the coming season, and that he hoped no one had gotten wind of his ill-fated private lessons with Ania.

"I'm relatively new to the island and I thought I would be the odd one out here with no special abilities of my own. But I suppose this place has a magical quality about it because that has certainly changed recently."

The new sword leaning against his wall at his apartment was certainly a testament to that.

"I was previously unaware of all the kinds of coffee there were, so I guess I like... coffee-flavored coffee(?) Is that a thing? Either way, I hope to enjoy a cup with all of you in the future."

Giving a parting bow, Jacob sat down after helping himself to a chocolate cupcake.

<div align=center>As much as he loved his job, he would rather pull out his teeth than attend one of these usually meaningless meetings.

Of course, that wasn't saying much, as they would all grow right back.

In the seat furthest from the leading chemistry teacher was the cowboy-esque man who sat pin straight. He knew that if he even slouched over in the slightest he would fall asleep, and god forbid he did that in front of his coworkers. It had been an exhausting day, whether it was from the near fire in the power classroom or the soccer match on figurative crack. After six and a half hours of organized chaos, little time was left for the gym teacher to take a quick shower and dress himself properly for the meeting. He wasn't very formal- wearing a black sport's coat, white button up, jeans, work boots, and of course his trademark cowboy hat- but at least he was here, right? Well, that just had to be good enough. With two hairy knuckles he pushed up the brim of his hat, looking at the crowd before him.

The teachers were making pleasant introductions, which made the whole situation seem a little more... Forced. But whatever. At least everyone was pleasant. He himself wasn't very familiar about the staff around here, as he was more reserved in socialization. The chemistry teacher in charge was rather good at what she did, from what he had heard. And not only could she instruct students, but it looked like she could guide adults as well. After her was the horseback rider who was kind of similar to him... Except she was a girl. And seemed more enthusiastic. And less bear-y. Then there was that pink haired counselor who seemed rather pleasant and open. And well into eastern languages, by the sound of it. He would learn but... When would he have the time? Then was the swim coach... He was familiar with him, and usually sent off kids in need of some sort of physical exercise to him whenever that particular student needed something... Else to do. After going around with introductions it appeared it was Leeroy's turn. With a stoic expression, he leaned forward, broad palms placed on the table.

[color=743C0E]"Uh, well..."[/color] He began in his thick Oklahoman accent. He cracked a small smile, which was somewhat difficult to see with such apparent yet well kept facial hair. [color=743C0E]"I'm Leeroy Bradshaw, and I teach a program called Gifted Ability Development through Athletic Trainin', or jist GADAT. I like ta incorporate physical education with power trainin'. I uh..."[/color] Dang. Come to think of it, he really didn't have anything interesting to talk about himself. [color=743C0E]"I guess I'm good at managin' myself at tha outdoors an' fightin', and I like ta read novels n stuff..."[/color] Was that a good enough answer? Regarding the question about coffee, he halfway chuckled, saying quite simply [color=743C0E]"And I can't drink coffee. It's poisonous and oughta kill me if I drink enough."[/color]. With his odd body structure, he was being quite serious. There wasn't much outside of inedible objects that were edible for him. Which, of course, led to him rejecting the cupcake in front of him. But damn did it look delicious.

And so did the plate it was on. </div>

Unlike the large groups she conducted as the head of the academy's music department, Aurora did not enjoy staff meetings. Yes, they were a proper part of a functional educational team. Yes, they did play a role in staff morale. But for the most part, the mage simply did not enjoy the bureaucracy; it reminded her far too much of the Council of Nine, a body that while enjoying good intentions, was not always great at execution. Maybe it was just her disdain of organized politics.

Even worse, Aurora was wondering if she was late. There were already several people in the room when she walked in, and it gave the chronomancer a moment of pause. No...she wasn't late, everyone else was just a little bit early. Everyone was making introductions, definitely for Aurora's benefit. Although she had met several of the staff, she had never met a single one that was standing in this room.

As the rest of them went through introductions, Aurora eyed the cupcakes, not quite set on what she was going to take away from this meeting. Maybe some chocolate...her stash in the auditorium was running low, and having the stress-reducing effects such chocolate would be immensely helpful in.

In her thoughts however, a slight silence came over the group, and Aurora suddenly realized it was her turn when the person next to her stopped speaking. Speaking for cupcakes...alright, you win staff meeting.

"My name is Aurora Silivasi-Awren. I'm the musical director and curator for the museum being added to the library on the 3rd and 4th floors. I enjoy most instruments, especially drums annnnnnd...cupcakes."

Aurora plucked one off the plate, and kept it close. With any luck, she might get a second while nobody was looking.

Or three.

"I don't drink coffee either, sorry."

<div align=center>Kida glanced up lazily realizing that everyone else had already spoken, he'd taken off his doctors coat for now and instead merely wore the shirt and dress pants he usually wore underneath it. The man pushed his glasses up his nose a little and leaned back in his chair. It made him realize he didn't often meet with the staff, not like this anyhow. He found himself within a room of almost complete strangers. He wasn't a very social kind of man, and preferred to spend time alone than with company- and right now it showed. He knew the one with the bright pink hair, though barely. He supposed they were linked, a doctor and a Councillor. One dealt with physical wounds while the other dealt with mental ones.

His eyes flickered over to another man he hadn't seen before, broad chested and pretty. A ghost of a smile crossed the doctor's face for a moment, he made a mental note of the man's name and occupation. Leeroy. Gym teacher. Pfft, of course he is. Another man he didn't recognize was struggling with a coffee order, Kida thought it just a tad strange for one to struggle with coffee types. He cleared his throat, and stifled a small yawn. "Uh, I'm Kida Harrington, on campus doctor." He forced a small, charming little smile that made him look even younger.

"I probably shouldn't have coffee but I will anyway," he murmured, with a small shrug, "I'll take a mocha, I guess." He really wondered what they were all here for, though at least Laverna had been nice enough to arrange refreshments. Free drinks were always a good thing from Kida's point of view, it didn't really matter how he ended up acquiring them. "Forgive me for being a little... Lost. I don't often see this much company."

As the man's eyes flickered upward, he noticed a large, furry animal lounging up on a cabinet in the room. For a very brief moment he was confused, did someone bring their pet? But after all, this was a school for the supernatural. Ah. Of course. The Librarian. Kida would rather not have been here, but at least these people seemed friendly enough. Or he hoped so, he couldn't imagine a group of teachers getting into heated arguments about anything, however. Staff meetings were uncommon enough, he supposed it wasn't all that much of a bother attending one once in a while. </div>

Wong Ha Jung

Agnés Coté. Félix Tenebre. Connie Shimamura-Miller.

No faces came immediately to mind so Wong Ha Jung honestly couldn't say if he had ever seen any of those three students. In the hallways on his walks, maybe. Definitely not as patients, however. He always made a point of trying to put all of the files into memory, with varying degrees of success. Many people, after all, only came in for one or two appointments before deciding to quit. To be fair, not everybody who came in really needed counseling, just as how not everybody who truly needed it always showed up.

Shimamura, that's a Japanese name, he mused. Félix, probably French. Agnés Coté...I haven't any idea. Another European, I think. From the surface it seemed like an unusual bunch of students. And the cause of the issue is centered around the youngest one? That was a rather irregular occurrence, Wong Ha Jung thought. He couldn't help but think that this might just be a love triangle because he had already seen enough of them to be constantly wary. Adding powers to the mix just made the situation that much more explosive.

But before he could think on it any further, Laverna was flipping through a folder that she had brought. The file opened to a picture of a white haired girl with horns, who Wong Ha Jung did recognize. "Leticia Sevany was found in the forest beyond the grounds this morning."

There were few things that could penetrate the curtain of Vermillion Summer. Grief was a good one, when it was sharp. Shock was another, when it was negative. Putting them together was a sure fire way to smash through. The daze from feeling the effect of the aura suddenly fail wasn't quite long enough to call out the other part of his power. But if he had looked, he probably would have seen fine strands of navy.

His mind crashed for a moment under terrible realization. I waved to her in the halls the other day. He thought he had, anyways. Maybe it had just been a smile.

Murder? He hadn't thought any of the students were capable of that. Theoretically, he did. But that had seemed so distant. Oh my God. Her name was Leticia and I never said a word to her ever. She had been nice. Then again Wong Ha Jung thought everybody was.

He could feel Vermillion Summer trying to snap back but that seemed so improper. For a moment, Wong Ha Jung covered his face with a hand. Nobody should have to see him going through this internal struggle. His reactions weren't anything important. They were just distractions from this matter at hand. I haven't been here a month and somebody's already dead. And he couldn't help but think that was his fault. Wasn't that part of his job? Keeping students safe and happy and not dying or killing each other?

A month. What have I been doing all this time? And then, Ow... It did hurt. People always were telling him that was his problem. Too much attachment. It wasn't like he could help it. Wong Ha Jung just liked people, and it hurt him to see them hurt. There's nothing wrong with that!

Vermillion Summer was edging its way inside. No, I can't do this now. Later. He could hyperventilate over it later, when it wouldn't scare the people around him. He got up suddenly from his seat to stand against the wall. The part of his power that caused White Autumn was tucked away into some nook that he never visited. It had started leaking through the moment that Laverna had told them that Leticia was dead. He yanked it out now, and had half a mind to stuff Vermillion Summer into the now empty spot. But it was so hard to come out of White Autumn without something to kill the apathy.

"Sorry," he said distractedly to the others in the room. "It probably wouldn't be a good idea for anybody to get near me now."

The interference of the two powers was a headache to deal with. At first. The powers were sending waves of contradicting emotions through him. Care, don't care. Think positively, just don't think at all. But on Wong Ha Jung himself, White Autumn was always the stronger power. So in just a little while, a blanket of blunt apathy settled over him.

He sighed, feeling himself calm down. Not that it mattered. The care was kind of fading off. Vermillion Summer was still extending past the reach of White Autumn and Wong Ha Jung recalled rather detachedly that he hoped people would stay in the range of only one. Or neither at all. Whatever.

His hair was navy. He knew that instinctively. It always was when both of those powers were active. Azure Spring. Navy. The colors weren't quite right, were they? But it was too much work to think of a different theme to go by and it was just a few unimportant facts.

"School wide would probably be best," he forced himself to say, even thought at that moment it didn't make much of a difference to him. "The Academy isn't so large that people would be socially restricted to only their grade level."

Why did everything feel so clear but stifled at the same time? He supposed that he would never understand how that worked. For the time, he just took comfort in indifference. At least, he would have if the thought had crossed his mind.

Instead, he took a few breathes and listened on to what everybody else had to say. Apathy, like happiness, were rarely complete emotions. So even with White Autumn covering over everything, there was a small corner of his mind that was thinking madly.

What now?

Jacob silently chastised himself for not getting to know his fellow physical education instructors more before he was practically required to at that particular meeting. Especially Leeroy, specifically Leeroy. The cowboy was always sending kids Jacob's way when running laps or lifting weight or... wrangling cattle proved too much for them or their sensibilities. Their differing style of physical fitness certainly caused a bit of rift in the students, but mostly in the sense that some students found one of them more attractive than the other, and it usually came down to whether they liked the man's man hairiness of Leeroy or the manscaped hairlessness of Jacob. It was all very silly.

The remaining introductions were nice and cheerful for the most part. Aurora was certainly easy on the eyes, as seemed par for the course for the female faculty at the school. Hearing that she was going to be curating a museum within the school piqued his interest. THAT would be quite interesting to see. And Kida made Jacob wonder when the Academy started hiring ten year olds to the medical staff.

Then came the business, and first on the list was, of course problem students. Normally Jacob would have had at least two or three or twelve students in mind. But the Academy seemed remarkably well-behaved, or the students were hiding their bad selves very well.

Then Laverna clarified the issue, and suddenly Jacob was feeling a bit more concern too. Students in distress. That was a can of words that needed to be opened, however unsettling, and Laverna laid it on thick with the announcement of the death of student.

Jacob visibly slumped in his chair when he heard the news and saw the picture. He was wearing his heart out in the open again, and he already felt responsible for her passing. He may have had nothing to do with it, but still... The girl was a student and it was his job as a teacher to look after her, even if she wasn't in his class. He could only imagine the life cut short and the lives brought down by it.

He pawed at his cupcake silently before lifting his head slowly.

"Seconded. Telling all the kids will at least put them all on the same page and minimize confusion, or rumors. The ones who care will find each other and we'll find them, the others won't have to be in the dark about the first group."