Event: The Talk Part 6, The Undiscovered Country

[Event !]

In which Dr. Neville hopes to avoid an emergency evacuation due to whale explosions.

This event is open only to students age thirteen and above, and a few staff from the school officials or teaching staff. If your character is a senior, the event is mandatory, but you do not have to post. It will just be assumed that your character attended and didn't do anything noteworthy while there.

By all means, enjoy yourselves.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Last year had been a mixed bag. On the one hand, the students had mostly behaved. On the other hand, the Talk had needed an emergency evacuation due to Kodiak's unexpected and uncontrolled transformation into a giant whale.

That still made last year's events better than those of 2011, although that was a low bar. Still, there had been two years between 2011 and 2014 without major incident, and that wasn't bad considering events at Hammel. If they could go another two years, Sean would consider that a victory.

He expected that there would be students who mouthed off, and there would always be awkward discomfort with a topic as taboo and important as sex (particularly against the backdrop of U.S. cultural conditioning which put both unhealthy focus and unhealthy restriction on sexuality, particularly adolescent development), but he could handle that as long as nothing worse occurred. In the meantime, he would do what he could to minimize awkwardness.

There was only so much that he could do to minimize awkwardness. As he couldn’t entirely focus on feelings, he focused on actions. He would minimize pranks, he would certainly minimize attacks and judgmental speech, and he would work from there. As always, he had other faculty to chaperone, including Zeb Hayes, and although the other man's telepathy worked differently, he always felt better with another telepath on hand, and Amos Freeman, whose power would come in handy if absolutely necessary. They also had both security, and Cee Cohen, to handle outbursts and technology respectively.

Considering the questions that he had received in his question box, this would be an interesting lecture. Several of the students seemed emboldened, but not in a disrespectful way. The psychiatrist had hopes that this lecture would go smoothly, and he intended to everything in his power to ensure that while simultaneously imparting wisdom and treating the students like mature adults while remaining mindful of the fact that they were, in fact, minors, some of whom were sheltered and had little, if any, experience in these matters.

To that end, he was prepared for the Talk. As he did every year, he had placed the anonymous question box outside of his door for the week before the lecture was scheduled. He had then sorted them, the serious and the absurd, and had copied down the serious questions to be answered during the question and answer portion of the lecture. He had prepared his slides and updated his materials in anticipation of the lecture, which would focus a bit more on non-traditional relationship arrangements than he had in previous years, based on general interest. There had also been enough questions about gestalt pairs that he had designed special information for that (and he wanted to follow up outside of this lecture so that the students could receive answers tailored to their particular concerns). He wanted the students to receive the most accurate information possible, while being non-judgmental of their developing needs and inclinations and while properly warning them of potential dangers. The abusive relationship situation that had arisen at the end of last term remained foremost on his mind, and he wanted – he needed – students to learn the skills to avoid such trappings; they all deserved better.

Additionally, more than one student had managed to embody everything wrong with certain cultural cues, and the psychiatrist wanted to address that as well. Particularly in light of the Supreme Court rulings last month and some of the backlash that occurred afterward.

Today, he had cleared his schedule of appointments and had arrived at the auditorium early to set up and to conference with the other chaperones. Some of the rowdier students were rising seniors this year, so everyone had to pay closer attention. Additionally, as there was one student on individual chaperone, and they had to be kept separated. He had the security staff keep an eye on that situation as well, as his attention would undoubtedly be split.

This summer had been miserable in terms of temperature and humidity. There had been draughts all over, and, even with the promised rain of the past couple of days, the humidity was enough to choke on. Thank Heavens for air conditioning, although he had foregone his suit jacket. If necessary, he would roll up his sleeves as well, but it was a start. The psychiatrist stood by his chair and the podium, watching as the students began to arrive. The seniors came primarily to satisfy their graduation requirement, while the younger grades did so by choice, for a variety of reasons, although curiosity, peer pressure, and boredom frequently topped the list.

Stepping onto the podium, he tapped the microphone attached to his shirt to test it, and then, satisfied, he turned to the audience to begin. “For those of you who may not know me, I’m Doctor Neville. Let’s talk about sex.”

He set up the first slide, the one of standard female and male anatomy. It was always necessary to cover the basics. He then continued, “Some of you are veterans of this lecture, but for others this is your first time. As such, I will say this once. There will be no euphemisms or slang in this lecture. I don’t want to hear anyone say ‘boobs,’ ‘tits, ‘thing, ‘pole,’ ‘lady parts,’ ‘meat,’ ‘dick,’ ‘cock,’ ‘pussy,’ ‘twat,’ ‘balls,’ ‘jizz’ or anything similarly crude. If you are old enough to be here, you are old enough to speak like an adult when discussing this subject.”

The psychiatrist stepped back to make sure that everyone could see the slides clearly. “Additionally, many of you have either heard rumors or were privy to last year’s lecture. As I’m sure you’ve all been warned, none of that behavior will be tolerated. Particularly in a lecture about the importance of respecting ourselves and one another’s boundaries and comfort.” Between that and the administrative warnings, he believed that was enough on the subject, and they could move on to the prepared material.

“Is anyone here unfamiliar with basic mechanics of anatomy? If not, you can think loudly and let me know that way, rather than speaking aloud. There’s no shame in not knowing the basics. But, if everyone is familiar with that, we can do a truncated lesson in basics and move on.”

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb had been in attendance at several of these talks. Of course it had been very awkward as a student. Though he had always been a romantic at heart and knew he wanted a serious relationship, in his younger days it had been a bit nerve wracking for him to sit in a room during the sex talk and try to pay attention without looking like he was hanging on every word. He didn't want the girls to think he was some sort of sex obsessed pervert. And really he had enough troubles with the students thinking he was a freak of some sort.

So he had a lot of sympathy for the students here. Though in this day and age it was becoming more acceptable to talk about this subject.

What Zeb did not have sympathy for was the students who saw this lecture as the perfect opportunity to show just how immature they could be. So he often offered his services as someone to keep the peace. Though his abilities didn't come in handy in this situation, the presence of a Dorm Monitor helped a bit.

He stood about halfway down the auditorium, leaning up against the wall and watching the students. He saw that a few of the other staff where there to help out as well, which was good. Hopefully this year would go smoothly and painlessly. And hopefully all the student would walk away a bit more informed.

[Grady Mitchellson]

Grady didn't want to be here. But since next year he would be a senior, he'd decided to at least check it out. And if it was completely horrible he figured he could always excuse himself since he wasn't technically required to be here. Right?

He didn't think he should even have to be here. After all, he was asexual. He didn't need to learn about sex. And secondly, he wasn't really looking forward to all the anatomy talk. Talk like that tended to make him feel very dysphoric. It didn't matter if people were discussing parts that he had, or parts he felt he should have, the whole topic was uncomfortable and made him want to crawl in a hole and cry.

Still, he had shoved a few questions in Dr. Neville's box. And while he didn't want to be here at all, he really did want some answers. Maybe he could hold on long enough to get some.

He'd found a seat close to the back and was slouched down as far as he could go without looking ridiculous. As Dr. Neville started the talk, he was already wishing he hadn't come. 'Please let everyone know at least that much,' he thought. He really didn't want to sit through an anatomy lesson. Though maybe he could slip on his headphones and tune that part out. He just hoped the staff standing around wouldn't think he was just being disrespectful.

[Amos Freeman]

The subject of sex was never at the forefront of Amos Freeman’s mind. Ironically, this was true now more than ever—between his first-day-on-the-job jitters and his determination to seem like a proper adult in a room full of teenagers who didn’t look much younger than he did, his mind was fully occupied.

He had stationed himself opposite Zeb, nearer to the back of the house where there were still a few rows of empty straight-backed chairs. He watched the students file in: some came on their own, looking anxious; others came in slow-moving groups, laughing loud, boisterous laughs that rose above the susurrus. None of them paid him any attention. That was okay—he hadn’t paid attention to the chaperones, either, when he’d been the one in the seats.

The first slide went up, a bright, detailed anatomical projection against the wall behind the podium, but it wasn’t until Dr. Neville finished testing the audio and began to speak that the atmosphere changed. Amos felt that there was always a change in atmosphere when Dr. Neville spoke; he’d always admired that about the older man, that practiced demeanor that was equal parts quiet and intense and could capture the attention of an entire room of noisy kids in no less than five seconds.

It captured his attention, too; he straightened his back and slid his hands into the pockets of his black dress slacks. He was the picture of maturity in that moment, with his dress shirt and his tie and the stoic expression on his youthful face that didn’t waver even a fraction of an inch as Dr. Neville recited a laundry list of vulgarities.

The crowd of students tittered with giggles and snorts—Amos wondered how many of them had shown up just to hear Dr. Neville say ‘cock’—and he found himself hoping against hope that nothing would go terribly awry.

He knew Hammel well, after all—it hadn’t been that long.

[Deleted]

Bunny was, completely and honestly, very clueless about what this so-called 'Talk' was about. All she knew was that a lot of kids were talking about it around her (mostly in whispers, it seemed, which made it more mysterious and exciting), and that Dr. Neville would be the one speaking. She liked Dr. Neville - he was a very nice man that she felt more comfortable around than most, for the short time she'd been around him. Due to her condition, it was probable she might see him on a somewhat regular basis eventually. She hoped it would be him, at least.

She shuffled into the auditorium by herself, her hair tied up with a bow and dressed in her normal floral dress and stockings. Bun was clutching a flowery notebook to her chest, feeling nervous being in a room with so many boisterous teenagers. Did she know anyone that was here? Bunny had been at the school for a couple of months now, but she was shy enough that she hadn't made too many close friends yet, and she hadn't yet spotted any of the ones she had made yet. She did, however, see her trainer, Mr. Freeman, across the room, and waved cheerily at him when he looked in her direction. Bunny started heading in that direction, looking meekly into the crowd and hoping she would see someone she knew along the way.

[Deleted]

Naozumi had heard about The Talk last year from Ray, when the older boy revealed how much he had missed out by going on his family’s normal vacation home to Okinawa instead of staying at the school for the length of the summer. Upon hearing what the subject matter was, Naozumi, though red-faced and awkward, decided that it was to his benefit to attend the seminar this year. As such, that meant that Nao did not get to go home for the summer. Which meant he would have to wait until another time to visit with his parents. Maybe around Christmas? That would probably be it. Both him and Yuri would return home for the holidays and that would be acceptable.

Despite the things that Ray had ‘taught’ him on the subject recently, Naozumi felt that there was probably a lot more he could learn from such a lecture and so, when it came time for it to come to pass, Naozumi was down at the auditorium before many others had arrived and was dutifully waiting in one of the seats for the lecture to start. Not too close to the front, not too close to the back, but somewhere in the middle a few seats in from the aisle seats.

Nao swiveled his head to look at the crowd of other students. He’d texted Ray before coming here, but it didn’t look like the flyer was there yet. He turned in his seat and looked up at the man speaking at the podium, Dr. Neville. Naozumi did have a few questions of his own that he wanted to ask, but he didn’t have the chance(or the courage) to leave them in the question box. Nao looked at the slides silently and seriously, taking in as much information as he could from this lecture. Maybe he was taking a little too seriously, though?

[Deleted]

Jackson was seriously confused with himself lately. On the one hand, he’d finally popped his cherry on the virginity scale, and with someone he both did and didn’t expect. On the other hand, while he enjoyed it immensely, he still couldn’t shake the idea that being gay was just…not him. It was him and it wasn’t him, if that made any sense. He wanted to be normal, that would just make things a whole lot easier. He wanted to find a cute girl he could have and hold and cuddle and protect and make babies with(eventually). But he couldn’t deny that the…the attraction he had towards Rue was more than he’d had with any girl ever.

Why was life so complicated?

And the matter of the recent loss of his grandmother just made it more difficult to figure out what he should or shouldn’t do? What was allowed? Gay sex was a sin, that much was true, but the only people he knew who actually cared about that were those of his family. They’d preach the same thing he did to Kodi that one night. ‘Humans were inherently sin, nobody was perfect, that’s why Jesus died for us, to absolve us of sin’. Under that theology, it shouldn’t matter who he decided to do the business with….and yet they’d still admonish him for it, no doubt.

Again, why couldn’t life be simple?

Jackson had come to the hall early, as what was expected of him, and found a seat up at the front. Also what was expected of him. Front and center, that’s what a teacher’s pet did, right? Jackson was tired, but he still looked up at the slides with some interest. Knowing these things was probably a good idea, right? Jackson turned his head slightly and caught sight of a cute girl passing through. It took him a moment to realize that it was that dim girl from the yearbook club. ….She sure was cute today. If she happened to notice him staring, Jackson would stiffen up slightly and offer her a half-smile. And maybe a small wave of his fingers. It didn’t even occur to him that they were meeting in such a potentially awkward place.

[Kimi Tachibana]

Kimi wasn't nervous, nope. Her palpitating heart had nothing to do with this talk, in a room with so many people, it... it was just like a lesson after all. Like biology! And even if it wasn't mandatory, Kimi still wanted to go, because something not mandatory was necessary for her! Then she wouldn't miss a beat, and then things would be good. Yes. She had even participated - ahead of time, so she wouldn't interrupt Dr. Neville or anything. She had no reason to hide and that was exactly why she entered the hall swiftly. Invisibly. You couldn't blame the poor girl, she was such a shy thing and she didn't want to seem lost, so she could look like she wasn't even there until she was comfortable. Might take a while, though if she wasn't careful she would get a headache soon from all this. How long had she been invisible? She'd lost track of time too much to know that. She just knew she was on time.

She spotted a familiar figure, happily, and quietly walked towards her adorable friend, just in time to notice a boy waving at them (but probably just Bunny, Kimi was still invisible - besides who would wave at Kimi anyway?) and she blinked. Seemed like he knew Bun. She blinked and asked softly, "Who is that?" Of course, she was still invisible, so Bunny may as well have had a ghost talking to her. Kimi noticed her mistake though, and became visible again - a little gradually, but hey, she was there now! She heard Dr. Neville talking so she didn't really want to say much more, but she spoke quietly again, "There have been people saying that this 'talk' usually goes crazy in some way. I hope not." But she started to look for somewhere to sit. Although, being the sheep she was, she would probably just follow Bunny.

At Dr. Neville's question, she blinked. Honestly? She grew up in a somewhat conservative family (though she loved them), what she knew of human anatomy was only from biology. So she wasn't exactly knowledgeable. However, she kept this to herself, and tried to say quiet about it.

.....how was one supposed to think quietly?

[Deleted]

Bunny was starting to worry this may have been a bad idea when she finally met eyes with someone. A very cute, very familiar someone. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she stopped in her tracks as a smile bloomed across her face. Did Jackson just…. Did he just wave at her? Well, that settled it, she knew where she was going to sit! Bun gave a happy wave back and was just about to skip over when a voice came out of nowhere near her ear. “Oh!” she gasped, a little startled. “… Kimi?” she guessed after a moment, and soon it became obvious when the girl appeared. “You scared me a little,” Bun giggled. Then she remembered that her friend had actually asked a question and Bunny glanced at Jackson again with a blush. “Th-that’s Jackson! He’s in yearbook club, remember?”

Bun grabbed Kimi’s hand and tugged her over to the open seats beside the blonde, completely distracted from what Dr. Neville was talking about. “Crazy? Huh?” she replied, only half-listening to what her friend was saying as she beamed up at Jackson. “Hi!” she whispered. “Jackson, this is Kimi, Kimi, this is Jackson,” she introduced the two, quickly and quietly. “Uh, what were you just saying, Kimi?” she asked belatedly, turning back to her friend. “It’s… Just a normal lecture, right?” It was obvious how clueless she was. Bunny finally turned to look up at what was on the powerpoint, and squinted in confusion. “…. Is this some kind of health lecture?” she whispered over to Jackson. Bun’s hand searched for Kimi’s and she took it silently. “Why… Why’re they showing…. Those things?”

[Min Jae Hyung]

Min sighed. This was nothing unfamiliar, and he was sure it applied to everyone. 'The Talk' was something everybody knew.

From the first person who discovered it, the information spread like wildfire over the whole student body of Hammel. He expected the leak to be inevitable of escape.

---

Standing alone, he felt as if Hammel gave him a fate worse than his previous school. He knew no one in the student body, it's as if no one bothered to approach him. Pacing in a circle, Min sighed. He turned, and noticed groups forming. A few blond boys hanging around and laughing, the jocks stacking themselves in another corner, two Asians in another spo- wait no, three. One just appeared out of thin air. Either way, he was very disturbed. Min began to trace his finger on the wall, his shadow replying with a simple grin.

Waiting for Sean to begin his speech about sex was torturous.

---

As the presentation's start neared, Min ended up sitting in front of the Asian group he noted earlier. A girl was furiously whispering to her classmates, and it somewhat bothered Min. However, as a few slides of the powerpoint passed, he heard a very confused tone. 'Why...Why're they showing....Those things?.

Min chuckled. 'My, looks like there are some clueless students out there', he muttered in mixed Korean and Japanese.

[Michelle Reed]

The Talk was that one event Michelle had not been looking forward to as her senior year approached. Unfortunately, it was mandatory to attend for graduation credits, even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't need to know about this stuff at this point in her life. Sure, it was important to know but she'd rather not learn about the human body and sex surrounded by a group of her peers. People she knew.

Entering the auditorium, Michelle used her long hair to her advantage, veiling her face as she made a beeline towards the seats in the back. She had no intentions to start trouble or anything; she just wanted to be as directly out of sight as possible. She stared at her lap, fiddling with her fingers before the presentation began. Even then, Michelle had trouble and chose to avert her gaze. She felt her cheeks grow hot at all the slang words. This probably counted as torture. But she knew the basics and didn't feel the need to 100% pay attention for the time being.

[Calico Nicolas Waters]

Nick had received a call from the Hammel Institute several weeks ago about being hired on as a teacher and power trainer. He was excited to take on this job and couldn't wait to start his first day and work with the students. They all had something in common, they were all gifted. Thinking only positive thoughts he was ready for the day to start. Nick had a lot of things to do at the Institute, first things were to meet with the principle or well headmaster. Second, he was to create an outline for his leadership class and create the leadership applications. And lastly, he had to set up his classroom. But as he kept thinking about what needed to be done, more and more things entered his brain which caused the list to get longer by the second.

Nick was going back an fourth in his head on what to call the leadership team. He quickly decided to use ASB, associate student body. It was traditional and easy to remember. His worst fears were that no one would want to join, so he had to make sure he was welcoming to the students. Sipping his warm coffee, he wrote out a to do list for himself to make sure got things done today. Finishing the cup of coffee, he went toward his room to change. Nick changed into black slacks, and a white dress shirt. Nick buttoned up his dressed shirt up to the top and left the top button open. He went to his closet and grabbed a blue blazer to wear and was soon out the door.

Taking a deep breath, Nick looked out at the school grounds. He smiled to himself as it brought back many memories from when he was a student at the Institute. It seemed like it was just yesterday that he was a student here. But in reality it was about 8 or 9 years ago. Nothing seemed to change around the school which isn't too surprising because the school felt like home. Nothing really needed to change. Nick wanted to take a look around the school before he met up with his boss and found himself lingering toward the school's auditorium. Nick thought it would be nice to look inside, to see if the school managed to erase his little stunt he pulled with his group of friends. His friends initials and his own initials would be carved into random seats spread through out the auditorium. Though it was indeed a fun idea at the time but now as he pondered on the idea, Nick couldn't believe he was dumb enough to do it. It most likely cost an arm and a leg to replace the seats. Tabitha was furious when she found out though she couldn't be that mad at him because it was the first and only thing he ever did that was so rebellious.

Nick opened the side door to the auditorium and to his surprised, the room was filled with students and some faculty. He just barged in a what seemed to be lecture of some sort. By the look on the screen, it was something to do with a condom. Way to make first impressions he thought to himself. Trying not to make it awkward, he walked in, straightened his blazer,waved his hand at the speaker and went toward the side wall near one of the staff person monitoring the students.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

This was the Bishop twins second year at the Talk. And though they both felt a bit more comfortable about the subject about to be discussed, they still weren't exactly excited. They had gotten some answers last year. Now they had more questions. And things with Rain were...getting serious. So the twins had been asking everyone they could think of for advice, which mostly meant their horde of older siblings. But they had dropped a few questions in Dr. Neville's box. They hoped the answers would be worth dragging themselves in here to be uncomfortable.

As they walked in, the two brothers looked around for Rain, not sure if she was planning on coming. Not seeing her yet, they took some seats towards the side, leaving room near them in case she happened to come in. It would be awkward sitting beside her during the talk, but more awkward to have her sit beside some other guy...or guys.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Yes. Harmony was old enough to attend the Talk. No. She was not required to be there. No. She did not actually want to be there. No. She wasn't exactly mentally ready/mature enough for this discussion.

And yet. Here she was. Sitting towards the middle away from where the staff standing around could get a good look at her face and hopefully where Dr. N wouldn't feel the need to pay attention to her. As a teleporter, she didn't really have to worry about being near the back of the auditorium, she could make a quick exit no matter where she sat.

She was slouched down pretty far in her seat, trying to hid herself and the fact that she was grinning. She was also trying very hard to think about anything but what she had spent the entire night planning. Hopefully Dr. N would be too busy scanning the whole room at once to dive in to deep to the mind of a young prankster.

She glanced at the time on her phone, allowing herself a moment of excitement, before forcing her mind to other topics. Like that totally gross and uncomfortable pictures Dr. N was showing.