Among the Blue [Critical]

Critical

Critical

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If Lelei had eyebrows, one of them would have been slightly raised at the face Ignatius made after the "men" comment. The raised brow would have meant many things. Inquiry. Curiosity. Suspicion. Lelei had almost nothing else to go on, so any thoughts he had were merely speculation. But something told Lelei that he had struck a nerve with the "men" comment. Ignatius did not seem like the kind of man to hate men-pursuing-men, so the reaction could have stemmed from something more personal, more interal.

The devil on Lelei's shoulder felt compelled to prod, even if he was ignored.

"It's a little more complicated than simply being the 'scary muscle', but you're not wrong."

Lelei put his suspicions on the backburner for the time being, and chose to enjoy his time with the fellow giant man. He had finished his second glass and was ordering a third. By that point, the top shelf liquor was actually starting to get to Lelei. The tips of his fins turned a nice pink and his head was bobbing slowly up and down.

"If I don't get the lows of police work when I'm on a case, I get it when I work at the Academy, that's my primary job. Chief of Security at the Academy. Keeping those kids in line, with or without their powers, is a busy job.

At least it serves as a nice training tool for when I DO get on a case. I already got a pretty good working knowledge of magic and magic users. That comes in handy frequently."

He received his third drink, and drank it slower than the previous two.

"The pay is adequate from both jobs. I don't do it for the money. I'm in it to protect and serve.

... And your generosity lets me and the other officers do just that. So thank you."
 
Romi

Romi

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Ignatius was always curious in the sort of physiological changes that occurred in people who were not human. Plenty of Lelei's mannerisms were similar to that of a humans, and Ignatius had no doubt that he would shrug, grin, and look nervous much the same as a human. But things like blushing, dealing with heat, and all those involuntary reactions... well, they often worked in very different ways. A shark man might not have blood vessels in their cheeks to make them flush red with embarrassment, and as Ignatius watched, it became obvious that the blood would pool on the very edges of his fins.

Ignatius had not drank very much at all. He still had his first drink, and was still slowly working his way through it. He detested the very idea of being drunk. Of losing control. He lived and died by just how good his control was in most situations, so the idea of willingly giving that up was a disgusting one. At worst, he'd get tipsy - but almost never any more.

"The academy?" Ahh, that made sense. Being part time with the police wasn't likely going to pay enough for someone to live off of. He didn't know if Lelei even needed a place to sleep (although he suspected he did), but even if he didn't, people liked to have a place to hang their proverbial hat.

"Did you attend the academy growing up then, or did you only ever get to visit is an adult? It's quite the experience." Ignatius's time at the academy had been an enjoyable few years. Certainly it was much better than the education people got through the rest of the world.

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Critical

Critical

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"I only started working for the Academy when I first came to the island. I was never a student there."

Hopefully that enough of an answer for Ignatius to not question why Lelei came to the island in the first place. Although everything regarding his banishment from the ocean had passed, and even expunged, that part of his life was still a sore spot. Being banished from his home kingdom did not look good on resumes and did not make a good first impression.

"Oh, so did you actually attend as a young one?"

Imagining Ignatius as anything other than the rock-solid giant of a man that sat with Lelei at the bar was next to impossible. Imagining him as a little young person was completely impossible, unless Ignatius was some kind of soft dino boy in his youth. Lelei chuckled at the thought.

"So what was that like? Was is it as weird as it seems to be now?"

Lelei took part in a lot of on-campus complications, usually stemming from a student's powers or past, and he was curious to hear a firsthand account of something he usually broke up.
 
Romi

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So he hadn't been a student at the academy. That made sense - Lelei's age was hard (if not impossible) to pin down, but he'd have guessed that the shark man was about his age, or at least the equivalent. He looked like an adult. If they'd been in school at the same time, they'd certainly have noticed each other. As adults, it was a lot easier to miss each other. Every student went to the same school, but it was entirely possible for two adults to never be in the same place at the same time, let alone near each other. He gave a little nod.

"You missed out on some of the experience then. It's certainly a unique feeling." He had no idea what Lelei's own schooling was like, or if he'd even had any schooling. He wasn't entirely clear when he'd come from wherever he'd come from, beyond that he'd probably come up as an 'adult'. He wasn't sure if it was polite to ask. Often people volunteered that kind of information when they were clearly from somewhere unusual.

"It's always been weird, according to most people. I grew up on the island, so for me this is all just normal." It really took a lot for him to consider something 'weird'. "It's certainly not what traditional schools elsewhere in the world are like. The academy is a lot less... structured." There wasn't a school in the world that had classes like the academy. "There's always going to be messes when people from conflicting cultures come together, but when you throw in people who come from cultures that are completely alien to this earth... well, all the weirder."

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Critical

Critical

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"I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing to miss out on the Academy experience, mate."

Nostalgia for a a time gone by was not an unfamiliar feeling. But Lelei lacked the particular nostalgia that Ignatius held for the Academy. So the only experiences he had to base his imaginings on were the time he had to intervene on students, or handle them in a professional matter.

But from every interaction, both first and second hand, Lelei had with the students, he could generate some rather fun ideas of how the kids at the Academy lived. He could also think of some pretty bad ideas too.

"You ain't wrong there. I'm constantly breaking up fights between kids because of some age-old grudge from... wherever they used to come from.

I'm like, 'Kid, I don't know about, nor do I care, about whatever mystical feud you got with that other kid. Just stop blowing each other up'."

Sometimes he wondered if the Academy ever did background checks on the kids before assigning them to particular classes, or with other students.

"I think if I had gone to the Academy as a young one, I'd have gotten along pretty well. At least better than some kids I handle daily. I would have certainly liked being around all the cute human guys as a young one.

Hehehe~ Maybe I wouldn't be the best representative of my people then."
 
Romi

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Ignatius was almost certain the academy did not do background checks. Some of the students, even back in his day, had not even had backgrounds. Some had come from nothing. Some had thousands of years of history that was unplottable even to themselves. Sure, it would have been nice if the academy put some care into separating those with obvious grudges, but for the most part that went against what the academy was about. The academy, to Ignatius, was about learning to work with others. Learning to accept the differences of others, as well as their own differences. Too many people came to the island unwilling to accept just what they were, and while Ignatius had never really struggle with it, he felt like the majority of those from outside the islands did. Certainly a good number of his friends had.

He tried to slide right past the comment about cute human guys, doing his best not to react at all. Lelei kept bring it up, and Ignatius had to wonder if he was goading him for a reaction. Maybe he was. But he was trying his goddamn hardest not to let the shark get a rise out of him. Part of being an alpha predator was being in control, after all.

"The school always struggles with non humans. If a species lives to be 500, then their teenage years would be five times as long as a humans. Do you make them stay in school five times as long? Do you just give them the four years, even though they might not be fully developed? Working with such a diverse student base makes for plenty of problems." That was exactly the sort of puzzle that made him happy he'd gone into business. Education had to be fair. Business made no such promise. A business did not have to be fair, only legal.

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Critical

Critical

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Before Lelei's comment about "cute human guys", the comments pertaining to his particular taste in companionship would have been intentional. But now, after two solid whiskeys and working on a third, Lelei's penchant for bringing up tasty boys was mostly the fault of the alcohol. Had the party been different, and had Ignatius not been so interesting unto himself, Lelei might have been scouting the room for potential dates while they conversed.

The tips of his fins had a nice rosy color now, and some of his balance had left him too. He was not falling over drunk just yet, but he was lightly leaning on Ignatius for a constant reminder to stay upright. Shoulder-to-shoulder, Lelei could feel the man's hard muscles against his own.

"Yeeeaaah... And I guess it's a testament to Academy policies that the place isn't a smoking crater yet. So something must be working despite the little scuffles I always see."

Lelei lifted his glass for another drink, but noticed just how much he already drunken of his third glass. He chuckled and looked playfully at Ignatius, his head somewhat closer than usual, then sat back up straight and put his drinks down with a smile.

"Okay! Whew. Didn't realize how much I was drinking! Talkin' to you about meat and the Academy got me all distracted.

I should... I should save myself for when I come over for that bison steak."
 
Romi

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He had to chuckle at that. "I suspect it's only not a crater because the whole thing is magically enforced. Have you had a kid try and jump off the roof yet?" As it turned out, you couldn't. You'd get a foot or two over the edge and then you'd float back up to land unharmed. Once upon a time it had also summoned a teacher, but around the time that kids started doing it for fun (because, even to someone as stuffy as Ignatius, it had been kind of fun) the teachers had stopped caring.

It was obvious that Lelei was fairly drunk, and Ignatius had his reputation to uphold. He wasn't going to let Lelei go and puke over someone (could he even puke?). "You alright to handle yourself?" He was certainly drunk, and it seemed like their conversation was at an end, but he had no idea how Lelei had gotten there, or just how well he handled his alcohol.

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Critical

Critical

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Lelei had never personally seen anyone try and go off the roof yet, and he hoped he never did. The entire question seemed to go unheard by Lelei anyway, willfully or otherwise. Most of incidents Lelei dealt with anyway were of the confrontational variety. Huge emotional issues were handled by other staffers, and he fully admitted to being unqualified for that kind of job.

After a long, deep breath Lelei was able to mostly situate himself on his stool. His chest went out and his shoulders went back so far that it looked like he threatened to pop a few buttons on his suit. But he got his balance in order for a moment.

"I'm alright. I've caught myself before I got really drunk. But... I should go anyway."

He had made his appearance at the event as part of the force, and he had even seemingly ingratiated himself with the benefactor himself. The entire outing could be called a success.

Lelei reached into his pocket and pulled out a simple business card with his number on it, and the title of "Independent Contractor". As he held it up to Ignatius, he leaned a little too far and had to rebalance himself. This meant putting his hand out and catching himself on Ignatius' thigh.

"Sorry about that. So call me if you ever need my services, or if you just wanna grill some steaks together."

His hand lingered a little too long on Ignatius' thigh. It was a move that Lelei did not seem to notice. He eventually pulled away and got on slightly wobbly feet for a bow.

"It was a great pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ignatius."
 
Romi

Romi

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He'd monopolized Lelei's time, and Lelei had monopolized his in turn. Ignatius didn't truly have anything important to do at the gala, but it was still good to check in with people. He reached over, taking the card but giving it only a glance before tucking it into his pocket. He had a literal mound of the damn things, and it would get tucked away with the rest, to be looked upon when he finally had his bison.

He was not expecting Lelei to literally have to use him as a balance, but he told himself he was reading a bit too much into it, even as the hand lingered. He was... well, a tad uncomfortable with the hand that seemed to spend ages on his thigh, but he tried not to let it show on his face, standing quickly to cover his relief when it was finally removed.

"I'll let you know when the Bison comes in. It was nice to meet you as well." Mr. Lelei didn't sound quite right, so he went without a name entirely.

With formalities all done with, it was time to go. Back into the crowd, to greet those he hadn't greeted. To say hello to the chief, and talk about how the police department's budget was doing, as he always did.

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