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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Dec 31, 2009 7:16:00 GMT -5
Hitoshi traced small geometric designs on Alex's shoulders, thinking. "Do you think it's going to turn out better this way, is probably better phrasing. I'd like to think that I did what had to be done, but I'm worried."
"There's a lot of talk right now, as well. Some of the older staff members are saying that something like this wouldn't have happened if Veronique had chosen someone else to fill her place. Or if she had just never stepped down at all." Hitoshi scoffed. "It's ridiculous, especially when you consider everything that happened just in the years we attended here. But that doesn't mean it won't create tension."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Dec 31, 2009 7:39:37 GMT -5
Alex sighed deeply. "'Better if Veronique were here'. I'm beginning to wonder if Jonathan hadn't simply infected their minds with some strange fey virus- no one would have ever said that when she actually was in charge."
"I think it will. The situation needed to be dealt with or it would've just gotten worse... and... well, I don't think it would be easier if you'd gone some other direction."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Dec 31, 2009 8:00:18 GMT -5
"Mm." He gave Alex a tired smile. "I'm not sure what I'd do without you."
Hitoshi slipped off his glasses and set them back on the nightstand, then slid back under the blankets and wrapped his arm around Alex. He pulled Alex snugly against him and nuzzled against his neck. "Sleepy now?" he asked.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Dec 31, 2009 8:09:23 GMT -5
Alex smiled softly and closed his eyes.
"You know... in something like three days, it'll be twenty-five years since your cousins moved in and somehow caused their dorm to fall to pieces? I walked down the hallway at the wrong time and ended up sharing a dorm with you." He nuzzled into Hitoshi. "It's silly, but I... I just keep wondering who it was that might have met each other today..."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Dec 31, 2009 8:24:38 GMT -5
Hitoshi smiled, the soft genuine sort of smile he rarely showed to anyone other than Alex. "Always the romantic," Hitoshi murmured. "I guess that means I should forgive Thrall for earlier."
Hitoshi kissed Alex softly. "Our anniversary is coming up soon, isn't it." He thought for a moment, closing his eyes. "I could probably arrange for time off. A few days...maybe a week. We could go somewhere. No phone calls, no laptop, no Veronique...no Dunehelden."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Dec 31, 2009 8:29:12 GMT -5
Alex thought about that. He thought about that for almost a minute straight, eyes softly closed...
Then opened his eyes and grinned a terribly evil grin, the sort of face he rarely allowed himself to wear.
"Let's go someplace far, far away. I have plans."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Dec 31, 2009 8:37:22 GMT -5
Hitoshi smirked. "Are you going to tell me, or does that face mean it's a surprise? I'm not sure whether or not to trust that grin."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Dec 31, 2009 8:38:45 GMT -5
"Mmmmwe'll see in the morning." Alex winked and snuggled further under the blankets, wrapping various limbs around Hitoshi.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 7:48:55 GMT -5
(Meanwhile, after the events during [Three Hour Tour] and before the above...)
Alex tossed open the door of his quarters and went immediately towards the kitchen. Finding nothing to clean and nothing else to busy his hands with, he folded his arms in front of his chest and turned to look with great frustration at Hitoshi.
"Well, now what?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 1, 2010 8:02:21 GMT -5
Hitoshi followed closely after Alex, leaning against the island between the kitchen and the living room and staring very intently at the carpet.
"We give it a while. We let them brood over their actions. We attempt to decide what degree of punishment is harsh enough." He glanced back at Alex. "And if Lhachlhass hasn't eaten that twit by the time we return, we decide what to do with her and her incompetent cousin."
"And since she seems so very intent that the apparition of a seventeen year old boy is such a terrible threat," he continued, his voice mocking, "we'll gather the staff and determine what measures should be taken to ensure that he's put out of commission and her family ceases their insipid whining."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 8:11:22 GMT -5
Alex walked over and gave Hitoshi a tight hug.
"I want blood. It... nobody was hurt, but god, it sounded like..." he said, voice shaking a little.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 1, 2010 8:16:51 GMT -5
Hitoshi was quiet for a moment, finding it much harder to be angry with Alex wrapped around him. Hitoshi took a deep breath, squeezing Alex.
"This is...insanity..." he muttered. "All of it. You know, Ian Harris was admitted for psychological trauma when he first showed signs of magic. For hallucinations that turned out to be illusions. And now he and his family have been driven mad by the very illusion he created. It all comes full circle, doesn't it?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 8:43:25 GMT -5
"I really don't know. Ian was never the most... stable person. I keep thinking there's something I'm missing." Alex slipped his hand behind Hitoshi's head and tangled his fingers in the man's hair. "But I don't know where to begin, or whether it's just worrying."
He sighed into Hitoshi's shoulder. "I have never liked Jonathan being around, and if he's actually become more dangerous all of a sudden, he will be lucky to endure the rest of his miserable existence as a plumbing fixture."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 1, 2010 8:59:22 GMT -5
Hitoshi snorted. "I'm sure we can think of something much more miserable for him to be than plumbing," he replied. "But--and I hate to say this--we need to discuss this with everyone. Whatever my feelings on the matter are, this is too big of a decision to make without consulting the others. And if this does come back to bite me in the ass, and somehow that seems extremely likely... I'd like to be able to say that I considered all my options and acted in the best interests of the school."
Hitoshi led Alex to the sofa and plopped down into the cushions, pulling Alex close and wrapping his arms around the other man's waist. "I think the real question right now is what to do with the Professors Harris," he murmured. "If they defend themselves well, it might justify putting them on probation. I'm sure Lhachlhass would be thrilled to hear that he has an underling. On the other hand, even if they do defend themselves well, I could easily justify having either or both of them institutionalized, or even just fired."
Having Alex near him was helping calm him. It was definitely a wise decision not to go straight to his office; who knew what judgment Hitoshi would have reined down upon them. And while Hitoshi had no qualms about being harsh, he'd prefer to at least be composed.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 9:25:36 GMT -5
"Mm." Alex nuzzled Hitoshi, then sat up straight. "The more experience I get, the more I really believe that bureaucracy exists to give a soul good excuses not to strangle someone on the spot."
"We'll have to make it up to the children, of course. Perhaps we could justifiably extend our judgment until after that? I also suspect neither Smoke nor Himmel are actually awake yet, really."
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Post by Alyn Gilespi-Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 9:39:47 GMT -5
The door creaked open. The young woman slipped inside almost hesitantly, her eyes fixed on the floor. She closed the door behind her, stepping forward toward her parents. For a long moment, she silent.
She looked up at them, betraying little emotion. Her eyes settled first on Hitoshi. "Do you want me to tell you about it?" she asked.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 1, 2010 9:49:15 GMT -5
Hitoshi watched his daughter for a moment, then glanced back at Alex. "I think," he began slowly, "that we'd both like to talk to you about today."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 9:51:07 GMT -5
Alex unlatched himself from Hitoshi and lay back against the couch. "If you want to, yes. Sit down?"
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Post by Alyn Gilespi-Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 10:22:15 GMT -5
Alyn nodded, sitting on the edge of an arm chair across from them. She pursed her lips, considering how to begin.
"I don't like Professor Harris," she admitted. "You know that. But I want to tell you what happened, from the beginning of the tour, and I'm going to try to be unbiased." She looked straight into Alex's eyes. "You can read my mind, if you want to."
She folded her hands on her lap, looking down at them for a moment as she composed her thoughts. "She mentioned Jonathan several times. She said that if we saw him, we should just ignore him and he would go away." That would speak for itself. Alyn didn't need to point out the hypocrisy.
"She explained vaguely about a few things at the castle, such as the infirmary and the forest. Whenever there were questions, she answered them rudely and vaguely, if she answered them at all." Poor skills at dealing with children, though that they knew well enough already.
"When the Gussumaru girl ran up to us, Professor Harris reached for her gun." They could draw from that what they would. If that were Aisling or Xander in that situation, though... Well. "After that, she swore at Akane, and when I mentioned something about it, she said that--" The corners of her mouth turned up in a slight smile "--I would be free to tell her how to do her job once I became headmistress, but that until then she wasn't taking career advice from me."
She thought for a moment. "After that...she got hit with something, a spitball I think, and ran off up the stairs. The next thing we knew, there was a gunshot, and that's when Aisling bolted. She came down the stairs... Her arm was bloody, and she gave no explanation as to what was going on. She just insisted that we continue following her as if nothing was wrong."
"And that's when I ran after Aisling, and I told Xander to go find you," she concluded.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 10:34:36 GMT -5
Alex glanced briefly at Hitoshi before replying in a calm voice, hands folded in his lap. He appreciated Alyn's trust of him, but it was unlikely to be necessary.
"Well. She's obviously stressed by something... but that's no excuse. She said she had a conversation with Jonathan while she was gone; I don't suppose you have any indication of what that was? Or why she was... blood-spattered on her arm? Just her arm, you mean," he half-asked, not sure he'd gotten that right. Obviously Alyn hadn't been looking specifically, but...
He paused a breath and composed a small question sent to Lhachlhass. It was hard to actually affect the minds of the fae, not being made of quite the same type of matter much less more complicated concerns, but that was probably simple enough to get through.
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Post by Alyn Gilespi-Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 10:39:12 GMT -5
"Only on her arm," she repeated. "And I don't think there was enough time to have a conversation, especially not one as extensive as she claims. And the castle is cavernous. We would have probably heard something at the bottom of the stairs. All we heard was the gunshot and the scream."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 10:55:15 GMT -5
"Why in the world," Alex mused, "would she go on and commit shoot it and then only in one foot? It obviously wasn't something capable of hindering his movement much."
He looked at Hitoshi. "What do you think?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 1, 2010 11:04:41 GMT -5
Hitoshi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I think she's an idiot who has no business using a fork, let alone carrying a loaded weapon in a school full of minors. I think she might very well have released her fragile hold on whatever inkling of sanity she still possessed when I took this job.
"And I think, even if I decide to be uncharacteristically merciful to her and not send her out of Dunehelden in a straight-jacket, she won't be allowed to so much as look at a weapon. And that's provided I can find another class she's qualified to teach that isn't going to be a waste of resources."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 1, 2010 11:08:30 GMT -5
"It's not like she does anything other than stand around and complain about security and what a terrible job everyone else does," Alex grumbled and crossed his arms, "and how wonderful the hunter students would be if they didn't have to deal with Tristan and Rivienne and Lance... She doesn't even seem to notice she's doing it."
"I really doubt we'll have trouble with supporting decisions among the Hunter faculty. Ian's friends will be more trouble."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 1, 2010 11:19:17 GMT -5
"The man has friends?" Hitoshi replied acridly. "The world never ceases to amaze. I suppose Natalie is secretly an obedient and docile housewife and Jonathan has a soft-spot for kittens."
He paused, closing his eyes and squeezing Alex's hand. "You know, if this were any sort of normal school and this happened, we could have called security and had them dragged off of campus. People have gone to prison for far less."
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