Cut Down To Size (Sean)

[Andreas Ivaring]

It wasn't like it was something he sought. He just did it. It just happened. Someone would expose a reason, and he'd exploit it. He'd be rude. And it's not like that girl wasn't asking for it, talking about makeup all the time. All he said was that Chucky should stop trying to look like Barbie. It was funny, it was witty, and it worked in the moment. Of course, that's not what she thought. Angry as ever, the girl he'd insulted stomped off.

Apparently it racked up against him over time. He wasn't surprised in the end, when the security on-campus came to escort him. He didn't even really know why that was necessary, to be led by someone so authoritative. It's not like he possessed some dangerous ability, it's not like he could create fire or detach everything in the room. He sensed moods via auras and messed with them.

"Doctor Neville wants to see you." The person escorting him announced. "So you just go in that office and have a seat, understood?"

Instead of a response, Andreas just rolled his eyes and entered the room, sitting down in the chair nearest the front of the desk. He heard a lot of rumors about this man, and, really, 'Sean Neville' was just sort of ominous to him. But Andreas didn't fear it, no... He was like an intrepid explorer, a Hardy Boy, and this was his mystery.

"I already know why I'm here, so you don't have to tell me." He started off, dismissively waving his hand. He was oddly calm about the discipline. What could they have done? Grounded him to his room? He was going to consider something like that a huge success, a big payoff for being rude to people. Completely unknowing of Dr. Neville's mind reading. Either way, Andreas still wouldn't be entirely sure what could be meted out to him.

Wanting fully to be in control of the conversation, of the flow was Andreas' strength and weakness at times. He was able to easily talk circles around people his age, and even a few adults. That said, he couldn't have prepared himself for the mystery. All he could do was utilize his usual strategy, try to talk the man down, maybe just get out of there sooner rather than later. Only time could tell if it would work, though fate conspired against him.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Rumors abounded at Hammel; such was the nature of an isolated boarding school in a small town. Rumors abounded about the history of the school, and urban legends emerged. Rumors abounded about other students, past and present, and, unsurprisingly, rumors abounded about the faculty members as well. Sean had been with the school for so long that he had become a fixture, and, as a result, all manner of rumors had existed about him over the years. He was familiar with most of them, although the psychiatrist was sure that new ones sprang up frequently, and that he had not heard all of them.

It was to be expected.

Although Sean tried to be a resource for all of the students, certain people came through his office more frequently than others did. The ones with whom he maintained weekly sessions, his protégées, the psychic students and other students on whom he kept tabs, and the students who earned frequent disciplinary meetings. Even students with whom he had not met, the psychiatrist tried to remain aware of them.

Sean was aware of Andreas.

He had a bit of a reputation.

As such, it had come as no surprise when the boy had been sent to his office. His teacher had provided Sean with a warning and a brief explanation of why he had been sent down. Apparently, the boy had been rude and somewhat verbally abusive to his fellow students, and that had to be nipped in the bud.

When Andreas entered the room, the psychiatrist closed the door for the sake of privacy. Then, before he could launch into his explanation, the boy assured him that the explanation was unnecessary.

So be it. They could get down to business.

“If you already know why you’re here, then do you have anything to say on your behalf?”

[Andreas Ivaring]

One of the things that immediately bothered him was that he couldn't read any significant emotion. He liked to believe he had a full control of his power and its various nuances, but there was... Nothing much but a calm, opaque white aura as opposed to a solid color. That's what he normally got, anyways. That's what he had today, amusement and anger.

One of the things that immediately irked him about this, though he tried to put it in his mind, was that it made him feel like he was just another minor issue. Another something that the psychiatrist had to take time out of his day to deal with. A fly to be crushed by the swatter. He crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair a bit, in a laissez-faire manner.

His left brow quirked when Sean asked his question. That was certainly an odd way of proceeding. If there was anything he could have 'said', then he wouldn't have gotten this far. He'd still be in class with a reprimand, or some sort of detention.

"Well, when you say it that way, you make it seem as though I should have brought a lawyer. Sorry, I'm on a tight budget of 'the state needs to provide one'."

He was well aware that he -- rashly -- just acted as the dachshund biting at the rottweiler. But there was a safety net, as far as he saw, for now. He simply added on his real response at the end. Shaking his head, he held his hands to either side for a moment, and shrugged.

"I guess I don't."

If the people around here were stimulating, at all... If they were intellectual, if they weren't the standard teenage asshole... But he decided now wasn't the time to really delve in to that issue.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had been in charge of student discipline for the minor to moderate infractions for almost as long as he had been working at Hammel. Eliza Harding had deemed him the natural choice for taking on that position, just as she had deemed him the natural choice for teaching the students about sexual education; his demeanor, his knowledge, and his powers all converged to make him relatively unflappable. That sense of patience made him fair while also keeping him calm. That was necessary, because it would not do for a teacher or administrator to fly off the handle at students, even if the students found themselves in his office time and again for the same behaviors, and even when those students demonstrated no interest in modifying their behaviors for the communal good.

The downside was that Sean Neville self-identified as a hippie and he had particular ideas about how discipline worked. This included talking about issues before bringing down the hammer of punishment, when he thought that it might serve a purpose. Punishment absent context did nothing to solver underlying issues, and this the psychiatrist continued to believe after two and a half decades at Hammel. As such, his question had not been sarcastic. He also let the lawyer remark slide.

Sean’s voice was calm and steady as he replied, “In that case, we’ll discuss your behavior and then we’ll discuss your punishment.” In that order, always in that order. Handing out a punishment without discussing root causes was counterproductive.