Post by professorianharris on Jan 1, 2010 9:14:04 GMT -5
((OOC: I'm going to godmod myself here. A LOT. Why? Because they're my characters, I'm too lazy to switch accounts, and it breaks the dramatic tension I'm so fond of. So there. And now, I deal with this...))
((Same Day as Three Hour Tour, later in the evening))
Ian stormed into the room, anger still radiating off him. Paula was close behind, striding along and pretending she was still queen of the world, which was really starting to piss Ian off. He waited until she had closed the door to so much as move. The second the door latched, he seized a lamp from a nearby table and hurled it at the wall.
"God damn it!" He snarled at her. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?"
Paula sighed and took a seat in a nearby chair, folding her hands in her lap in that same bloody dignified way that she had for almost twenty years. "I have no idea what I did wrong, at least to you. School rules were broken and I will face the punishment, as I always have, but that's no reason for your outburst."
"No reason for my outburst?" Ian threw his hands into the air and stalked around the room. "You don't get it, Paula. After twenty-five years, you still don't fucking get it." He turned to face her, placing his hands on his hips, his eyes flaring. "He is our problem. It is a family issue. It is a family issue because he is my fuck-up, and she is my wife, and I am the one who is taking responsibility for the both of them, not you!"
A long, drawn-out sigh escaped from Paula's lips. "You aren't the only one trying to help. I care about Natalie as much as you-"
"Then you would have minded your own fucking business and stayed out of it!" Ian snapped. "I was going to deal with Jonathan."
Paula snorted. "Like you 'dealt' with him before. Right. Brilliant job on that, by the way." Another lamp came flying from Ian's general direction and smashed against the wall behind Paula. She did not even flinch.
There was a shuffle of movement in the bathroom and a redheaded girl stuck her head out. "Dad? Aunt Paula? Is everything okay?"
"Juliet." Ian said, keeping his voice very calm but talking through his teeth nonetheless, "I need you to leave the room."
The head became a body as Juliet stepped into the room. "Look, if there's a problem-"
Ian rounded on her. "Two Harris' are one too many to solve this problem. I would prefer not to add another to the mix. Get. OUT." One she had fled out the door to the room, he rounded on Paula again. "Natalie will recover."
Paula shook her head. "Natalie needs to understand that Jonathan is not a threat. At least not while we're around. I just got lucky enough to catch him before he pulled that little stunt he was planning with Aisling. I tell you what I told that idiot headmaster. It was a preemptive strike."
"Oh, god..." Ian collapsed on the couch, rubbing his temples. "Don't tell me you talked back to him, too."
"Of course not." Paula snapped. "I know how to deal with a superior, no matter how incompetent he may be. I was respectful and told the truth, and he drew his own conclusions. What those may be, I won't pretend to know."
The furious temple-rubbing continued for several seconds, until "Fuck, this isn't going anywhere good. He thinks you're senile, he probably thinks I'm crazy, once he finds out about Natalie... I don't think I know how I'm going to explain that off."
"You made a decision." Paula said matter-of-factly. "It was the most logical decision at the time. The decision no longer remains logical but your willingness to hold on with your decision is quite commendable...."
Ian sighed. "See? This is why you're having problems. You've become logic, Paula. That's all you are now. You have no emotion left."
"Psssh." Paula cut in, waving her hand. "You've got no idea-"
"THAT," Ian said over her. "is why you might lose your job over this and that is why you don't understand what Natalie needs and that is why you can't deal with Jonathan. He's not logic. He's chaos."
There was silence for a long time. The stressed-out mage simply eyed the old detective, and she stared back at him with the same expression she had been wearing the entire conversation. Then Ian stood. "I'd appreciate it if you would get out of my room. I want some time alone."
Paula stood, sighing. "As you wish. I'm going to go back to my room and have a drink." Then she turned and strode out of the room.
Ian watched her go, feeling very, very annoyed at the woman. She had acted without thinking and endangered his whole family. Had Ian been left to deal with Jonathan himself, things might have turned out differently. At the end of the day, the fact remained that Paula simply didn't trust Ian. He was still the same kid that he was thirty years ago to her, the same boy who she had brought with her to her hometown.
He stood and crossed to the bed, lying down on it and folding his hands behind his head. He could almost smell Natalie in the sheets, even though she hadn't occupied the bed in months. It was a sickening feeling... an unpleasant reminder of what had transpired at the end of the previous school year, the hell Ian had endured over the summer, and the chaos he was now having to deal with...
((Same Day as Three Hour Tour, later in the evening))
Ian stormed into the room, anger still radiating off him. Paula was close behind, striding along and pretending she was still queen of the world, which was really starting to piss Ian off. He waited until she had closed the door to so much as move. The second the door latched, he seized a lamp from a nearby table and hurled it at the wall.
"God damn it!" He snarled at her. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?"
Paula sighed and took a seat in a nearby chair, folding her hands in her lap in that same bloody dignified way that she had for almost twenty years. "I have no idea what I did wrong, at least to you. School rules were broken and I will face the punishment, as I always have, but that's no reason for your outburst."
"No reason for my outburst?" Ian threw his hands into the air and stalked around the room. "You don't get it, Paula. After twenty-five years, you still don't fucking get it." He turned to face her, placing his hands on his hips, his eyes flaring. "He is our problem. It is a family issue. It is a family issue because he is my fuck-up, and she is my wife, and I am the one who is taking responsibility for the both of them, not you!"
A long, drawn-out sigh escaped from Paula's lips. "You aren't the only one trying to help. I care about Natalie as much as you-"
"Then you would have minded your own fucking business and stayed out of it!" Ian snapped. "I was going to deal with Jonathan."
Paula snorted. "Like you 'dealt' with him before. Right. Brilliant job on that, by the way." Another lamp came flying from Ian's general direction and smashed against the wall behind Paula. She did not even flinch.
There was a shuffle of movement in the bathroom and a redheaded girl stuck her head out. "Dad? Aunt Paula? Is everything okay?"
"Juliet." Ian said, keeping his voice very calm but talking through his teeth nonetheless, "I need you to leave the room."
The head became a body as Juliet stepped into the room. "Look, if there's a problem-"
Ian rounded on her. "Two Harris' are one too many to solve this problem. I would prefer not to add another to the mix. Get. OUT." One she had fled out the door to the room, he rounded on Paula again. "Natalie will recover."
Paula shook her head. "Natalie needs to understand that Jonathan is not a threat. At least not while we're around. I just got lucky enough to catch him before he pulled that little stunt he was planning with Aisling. I tell you what I told that idiot headmaster. It was a preemptive strike."
"Oh, god..." Ian collapsed on the couch, rubbing his temples. "Don't tell me you talked back to him, too."
"Of course not." Paula snapped. "I know how to deal with a superior, no matter how incompetent he may be. I was respectful and told the truth, and he drew his own conclusions. What those may be, I won't pretend to know."
The furious temple-rubbing continued for several seconds, until "Fuck, this isn't going anywhere good. He thinks you're senile, he probably thinks I'm crazy, once he finds out about Natalie... I don't think I know how I'm going to explain that off."
"You made a decision." Paula said matter-of-factly. "It was the most logical decision at the time. The decision no longer remains logical but your willingness to hold on with your decision is quite commendable...."
Ian sighed. "See? This is why you're having problems. You've become logic, Paula. That's all you are now. You have no emotion left."
"Psssh." Paula cut in, waving her hand. "You've got no idea-"
"THAT," Ian said over her. "is why you might lose your job over this and that is why you don't understand what Natalie needs and that is why you can't deal with Jonathan. He's not logic. He's chaos."
There was silence for a long time. The stressed-out mage simply eyed the old detective, and she stared back at him with the same expression she had been wearing the entire conversation. Then Ian stood. "I'd appreciate it if you would get out of my room. I want some time alone."
Paula stood, sighing. "As you wish. I'm going to go back to my room and have a drink." Then she turned and strode out of the room.
Ian watched her go, feeling very, very annoyed at the woman. She had acted without thinking and endangered his whole family. Had Ian been left to deal with Jonathan himself, things might have turned out differently. At the end of the day, the fact remained that Paula simply didn't trust Ian. He was still the same kid that he was thirty years ago to her, the same boy who she had brought with her to her hometown.
He stood and crossed to the bed, lying down on it and folding his hands behind his head. He could almost smell Natalie in the sheets, even though she hadn't occupied the bed in months. It was a sickening feeling... an unpleasant reminder of what had transpired at the end of the previous school year, the hell Ian had endured over the summer, and the chaos he was now having to deal with...