Bugging {open}

[Naomi Green]

"Hermione" walked slowly around the edge of the staff room. She'd been here previously, in the very assumed identity she now utilized. Before, she'd been investigating to see whether or not there were actually files hidden in the lounge itself. She'd already discovered as much. Now, she was trying something else instead, a sort of experiment of sorts.

The girl slid her hand into the pocket of her khakis, withdrew a small, metal ball, and slid it between the cushions of the couch. A gentle nudge pushed it down into the fabric proper, out of sight, where it would likely nestle itself next to several lost coins, a handful of paper clips, and whatever else had been dropped by careless staff members. When finished, Naomi stood straight, nodded, and moved along.

She continued this for some time, stopping every once in a while and sliding a metal ball into a nook or cranny of the staff room. Very few of them were anywhere that anyone would actually look; there was hardly any need to place them in plain sight (though the idea was slightly tempting). Her goal should be simple enough, practically transparent.

Naomi bent over, sliding a metal ball underneath the fridge, and was just there when she heard the door open and close. Naomi froze, trying to think of something. Look, search, yes, that would work. Naomi began looking around the floor, casting her eyes this way and that, putting up all appearances of finding something for whomever had just entered behind her.

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan had been practicing his stealth skills since he got to Hammel. This included not only practicing becoming invisible for longer periods of time, but also the art of going places without being noticed, or without being caught.

The staff office at Hammel was strictly off-limits for students. Which, of course, made it one of the number one places that Jordan wanted to see. Sure, he could've just asked one of his uncles what it was like in there, but how was he to know they were telling the truth unless he saw it himself? Really, the only thing to do was to go in and check it out.

He chose a time when he knew that all the teachers would be busy. Many of them were at home, and the others who were still lingering were in their classrooms or offices. He'd checked. And now he was going to prove, to himself and Mia and anyone else who cared, that he was able to be sneaky.

He was a spy.

And so he slid the door open and stepped into the room. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans, as well as his quietest shoes. He wasn't invisible--he wouldn't do that unless he had to. He didn't see anyone when he first snuck in, so he carefully closed the door behind him and walked inside.

And almost ran into someone.

Thinking that the girl, whoever she was, might not have seen him yet, he promptly turned on the invisibility switch. But he wouldn't be able to hold it for long.

He tried to walk out of the room again before she noticed him, but he accidentally put his hand on the back of a chair, which started to vibrate as a result of his power, creating a loud racket as it jittered around on the floor. Then the invisibility wore off, since Jordan couldn't hold it anymore.

"Aw crap," he said quietly, turning around to face whoever else was there. "Um, hi," he said with a smile. "I'm here trying to get something for one of the staff members. Do you know where the, um, the attendance clipboard is? I haven't been in here before, so I don't really know...uh..." And his excuses petered off into silence.

[Naomi Green]

What a pleasant surprise: another student. And Naomi thought this might actually be difficult. She turned and rose in one smooth motion, already calling one of the loose balls up with her. She kept it loose in her hand, just in case things turned south quickly. While most of the students had proven themselves to be less than admirable, there was always the chance that this one might prove to be sharper than the others.

"The attendance clipboard?" repeated Naomi. She wasn't aware they had those anymore. Didn't computers take care of things like that? Naomi seemed to recall teachers using those to keep track of students before. Then again, roll call had hardly been something that Naomi devoted all her attention to.

"There's a supply of various school supplies over there," said Naomi. It helped that she knew more or less where everything was, thanks to extended time snooping about. She'd made doubly certain to know the location of any and everything metal. "It's rather odd that a professor would forget something like that though. Shame. That."

Naomi simply shrugged, then walked over to the vending machine. One nice side effect about her power was the ability to always have free soda, so long as it came in a metal can. She simply reached her hand down to the bottom, where the coins were kept, ran it up, dragging coins, and repeated the process, until a tea was popping out.

She took it and turned, sipping while watching Jordan, acting like this was perfectly normal behavior. Because, for someone who worked here, it was.

[Jordan Scholl]

She bought the clipboard story. That was good. "Uh, thanks," Jordan said, giving a weak smile and shuffling over to the stack of supplies. He rifled through, looking for something that would resemble what he was after. He'd have to find a way to return it afterward.

He heard something going on behind him and turned to see the girl doing something to the vending machine. He stood watching her for a moment, eyes wide, until the drink came out. Then something clicked in his head.

"You're Naomi, aren't you?" he asked, looking her over. Funny, he'd always somehow thought she'd be...taller. Or something. "I've heard some people talking about you. You have a pretty cool power."

He stopped rifling through the supplies, more interested now in this new person he'd found. Hey, he'd made friends with Mia, hadn't he? Maybe he could make friends with Naomi. Apparently it was easier for him to get along with slightly crazy people anyway. This could work, right?

"I'm Jordan," he said, extending a hand. "But I guess you probably don't know who I am. That's okay. I'm not really that great a guy." He shrugged. "I don't even have a cool power or anything."

She wouldn't have seen his invisibility--her back was turned when he came in. And he didn't have to tell her. He could even lie, that would be new. Though that probably wouldn't go very well in the whole "making friends" idea. Maybe she wouldn't ask.

"What are you doing in the staff lounge?" he asked.

[Naomi Green]

He knew her name.

Naomi paused, her mind racing. Jordan knew her name, and had linked it to her power. Which meant that someone she'd talked to had mentioned her to him, in some loose manner, and he'd been smart enough to put it together. Since when were the students of Hammel smart? The only one that had even come close had been Mia, and she'd been mercenary enough to look the other way. For all Naomi knew, Jordan could be the heir apparent to the Campbell family.

Lying about her identity wouldn't work; certainly not in the long term. It would hardly work in short, with this set of circumstances. Naomi would somehow have to play it cool, and perhaps come up with an alternative plan to her normal one.

"Yes, I'm Naomi," she said. She didn't turn yet, but flicked the tab of the tea, even going so far as to take a sip. "I suppose my power is impressive as well."

Now she turned, locking eyes with him. She hadn't quite decided what to show him yet, so her expression remained neutral, almost forcefully blank.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jordan. I hardly believe that your power is as uncool as you think it though. It's more about what you do with the power than the power itself, in the end," said Naomi. Plus, he had a power, which instantly made him better than a vast majority of the air breathers.

What was she doing? "A little of this, a little of that. A teacher certainly wouldn't want me to search for a clipboard. That seems like a very weighty task."

A slight hint, or more of a gamble. Perhaps if Naomi came off as mysterious and knowing, she could get away with what she wanted. The alternative really wasn't pleasant to think about.

[Jordan Scholl]

His extended hand went unnoticed, so after a moment Jordan dropped it to his side again. He hoped he didn't look too stupid. He was trying to make a good impression.

"Yeah, the whole metal thing is pretty neat. The whole computer thing is a pain, but I guess you have people to help you with that. Too bad you didn't live in the time before computers, right?" he attempted to joke. "Though I guess the knights with all their armor would have been a problem..." Once he realized he was rambling, though, he shut up. It wouldn't do to look too much like an idiot.

"Well, I don't know. Some powers are pretty dumb. I mean, one guy just turns into a puddle. How weird is that?" He chose not to comment on his own power. Namely because he secretly felt it was fairly awesome, and he didn't want to contradict what he'd earlier said as he was trying to impress someone.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, the clipboard. Well, it's not such a big deal, really. Just, you know, playing fetch. I guess they just trust me not to get into too much trouble or something, which makes sense. Most of the people in my class are total idiots." He rolled his eyes.

He suddenly remembered that he actually did still have a task to pretend to be doing. "Yeah, so, I'll just grab that, then..." he said, shuffling over and grabbing a random clipboard off the desk. "Good luck with your...um...tea drinking. And maybe I'll see you around."

First attempt to infiltrate the staff lounge, mildly successful. Attempt to make friends with someone else? Likely a failure. Attempt to discover what she was actually doing? Well, how many things could she have been doing in the staff lounge? Either she was there because a teacher told her to be there, or she was there doing something against the rules. And if she'd been there because of a teacher, she would have said so. Which meant she was probably spying, just like he was. Just, you know, doing a better job of it.

Maybe he should tell Mia.

Jordan moved toward the door and gave a slight wave with the clipboard, accidentally holding it so that the picture of the dog clipped to the front was clearly visible.

[Naomi Green]

The boy rambled. But it wasn't quite the nonsensical rambling of say, AJ. The boy rambled to a point, and it sounded more like he was attempting to make conversation and simply didn't know what to say than anything else. In fact, Naomi still admired him slightly for what she saw as likely an attempt at infiltrating the staff lounge, or, at the very least, she was impressed by his identifying her based mostly off her power and accent.

"Some powers are less useful than others. It's a matter of finding out what use they could possibly be," replied Naomi, keeping her voice level. She half agreed with Jordan's assessment: there were several metas that might as well be humans, for all the use they did. Worse were the ones who's "gifts" were more curses. Still, they possessed whatever it was that made them special, and were worthy in that regard, if for no other reason.

As for most people being idiots, well, Naomi didn't even bother to comment upon that. She simply raised a brow and watched Jordan move, still trying to determine whether or not she was talking to one.

Then he showed the picture of the dog.

"You might want to find an actual attendance clipboard," suggested Naomi. "Unless you're taking that to a puppy counting facility."

[Jordan Scholl]

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But it looks like you've already got yours figured out, that's neat. I still have to work on mine. No real big plans yet, just trying things out. You know, first year and all that." He gave a nervous smile. Hopefully soon he'd have a better handle on his power himself, that way he would actually be able to use the invisibility effectively.

"Wha--?" he said, surprised, then looked up at the clipboard he'd been showing. Blushing a deep red, he ran back to the table and set down the one he had grabbed, then shuffled around and grabbed a different one. "Whoops. I guess I just wasn't paying attention. I got it now, thanks." And he smiled again and darted out of the room.

Naomi hadn't been doing anything that strange that he could see, but it was still weird that she was in the staff lounge. And maybe he could use that sometime...

He checked his cell phone. While he'd been running around looking like an idiot he'd tried to grab a picture of Naomi in the staff lounge. You could never tell when pictures like that could come in handy. But he couldn't tell if the photo had come out well or not. Best take it to Mia and see if she could get anything useful out of it.

[Naomi Green]

The other boy seemed unusually nervous, fidgeting and making obvious mistakes. Perhaps Naomi's suspicion that she wasn't the only one in here without permission had some foundation? Perhaps, or perhaps not, but what mattered in the end was that the behavior was unusual, odd, and certainly telling of something.

"You're quite welcome," she said. She strolled over to the couch, taking a seat there as if it was something she did every day. Crossed leg, and a relaxed Naomi eyed Jordan, half-smiling. He did look ever so nervous, didn't he? You'd almost think that she actually was a teacher, instead of just a student out of her assigned area.

As for the cell phone, well, Naomi did show up on such things, though usually not as sharply as most. Perhaps Mia's skill would be able to uncover a more solid picture, but it would take some work. Not impossible; Naomi wasn't exactly blessed with the power to be invisible to such devices (and what a foolish power that would be), but certainly difficult.

Another calm sip of tea. "I don't suppose there's anything else I could help you with? You do seem rather nervous."

[Brea White]

Brea didn’t try to infiltrate the staff room. That would have been stupid. Her father worked for the school, and although now that she and her brother had started going there he tried to limit the conversation about Hammel, she could figure out what teachers talked about to each other. Mostly, it was students. Sometimes other people eating their lunches. Really, grown-ups were just like kids but bigger and needing to shave. Brea couldn’t see the point.

But all the same, she found herself wandering by the staff room. Why? Well, it was a challenge, wasn’t it? Only the best and brightest got into there. And she was the best and she might not have been the brightest but she knew she was closer to it than, say, Ethan. So why couldn’t she do it too?

Of course, she didn’t know that several other students were going to try it too. She hadn’t tried any sneaking techniques, mostly because there wasn’t any shrinking yet for her. Once she figured out how to become miniscule (and take her clothes with her) that would be the first thing on her list. But for now, she just checked to scope out the situation. She requested a pass with a winning smile and skipped out of the room, estimating that she had about five to seven minutes and thirty seconds before the teacher noticed she was gone. Scope out the room, and if someone was in there, lie and say she just got lost on the way to the bathroom. Not foolproof, but when you had big blue eyes and looked like you were nine, it was close enough.

And it would have worked, too, had she not stopped by the door and seen two students there, and not teachers at all. She should have moved on, offered a smile to the boy to get an alibi, and be done. But she was irritated. Someone else had made it there first? So instead of doing the practical thing, she planted her hands on her hips and frowned at them.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” she told them. It was said out of disappointment, not out of any real goody-two-shoes sentiment. That stuff was only for classes. “And you’re not supposed to have your phone on during the day,” she added to the boy. “It's against the rules. Why are you in the teachers lounge?"

((Lugia's crashing the thread.XD Hope that's al right.))

[Jordan Scholl]

The way Naomi lounged on the couch made Jordan's eyes open wide. She was so comfortable, and he was smart enough to realize that she probably didn't belong here. As opposed to him, who didn't belong and couldn't stop acting strange about it. What he wouldn't give to have confidence like that...

"What? Me? Nervous? No, it's nothing. I just, it's so new, you know. Meeting someone like you. I mean, I'm just a nobody, really, and I'm always worried I'm going to say something stupid when I run into one of the cool kids--" He bit his lip. "Like...that, I guess..."

His head whipped around when he heard another voice. A girl, about his age, was standing there, hands on her hips. He cast through his memory, trying to get a name. The face was familiar, probably in one of his classes...Brea. That was it.

Glancing over at Naomi, he put on a brave front. "I'm here getting a clipboard for one of the teachers," he said, puffing up his chest. "What are you doing in the teacher's lounge?"

He shoved his cell phone into his back pocket and tried to ignore that question, hoping Naomi wouldn't have caught the question. She might ask to see his phone, and then he wouldn't have a phone. Not fun. For now he just had to keep all his stories straight and stick to them.