Morning Coffee (OPEN)

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent didn't really hang out in the staff lounge all that much, even though he was part of the school staff. He sort of saw the lounge as a place for the trainers and teachers to come and relax, a place to find some solace from the chaos of the student body. Vincent normally kept to the security offices when on duty, but it wasn't a rare sight to see him wandering the halls or meeting with one of the teachers in their office. He didn't really socialize with the student body outside of intervening in security matters. Some thought it was because he thought himself better than most, or because he was just some sort of hard ass. In reality, Vincent tried not to get too friendly with the student body because he wanted them to fear him a little bit. If the student body saw him as some sort of friend, then how could he administer the rules effectively. It was a military he guessed, but that was just how he saw the situation.

Vincent poured himself a cup of coffee, taking the drink black and as strong as he could make it. He sort of just stared at the coffee for a moment, letting his mind wander freely for a moment before putting it into the organized machine the military had turned it into. Turning around, Vincent leaned back against the counter, still holding the cup of coffee in his hand as he looked around the empty room. It was still rather early and at least a good hour before the actual school day began. Vincent worked twelve hour shifts, alternating Fridays back and forth between first shift and graveyard. His ability allowed Vincent to remain fully awake and focused for long extended hours on end and he took full advantage of that. It was just how Vincent was, long before he even joined up with the Army. From the moment he first had a basic understanding of his powers, Vincent applied them to making something of himself.

Finally taking a sip of the hot liquid, Vincent glanced over to the clock hanging on the far wall. He still had plenty of time to look over his morning notes before the security staff meeting this morning. He hoped someone would come along sometime soon as he was staring to feel rather bored. He wasn't the best person to hold a conversation with, but he had been trying to be a bit more hospitable to the teaching staff. He realized that he had ostracized himself far too much from everyone else here at Hammel and in the process, had left himself without any real friends.

[Robin Douglas]

Robin wasn’t all that schooled in how to make ones self comfortable in a new place, but she really wasn’t the sort of person who needed that variety of instruction. She always managed to find something to hook herself in and from there she tried to let it all come to her as naturally as she could. It was a generally successful method but of late she had hit a considerable road block. This road block happened to be the Staff Lounge of the Hammel Institute. It was a place that she felt near anxiety going near, and she had no doubt why she felt that way. It had been one of the areas that had been programmed into her mind as off limits when she had been a student there, and as such that programming had stuck.

She hadn’t ever really tried to override this, instead she had made things worse. In the theater world in New York she had know how important it was to stick to your station and not go into anyone else’s. This was not ingrained in her, and even though the Staff Lounge was technically a station that she could visit, she still wasn’t comfortable. Perhaps part of it was the anxiety of seeing the few teacher that were still there from her own days. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to confront other people’s memories of her. However this morning was different, because the unthinkable had happened.

Robin’s coffee maker wasn’t working. The thing had been haywire ever since she had moved from New York to Pilot Ridge. Apparently the coffee maker hadn’t been thrilled about the trip and this morning it had given up completely. No amount of cajoling was going to awaken it this time, and so Robin figured she could make herself a cup in the staff lounge, if she dared brave it. She had driven, yawning, to work. The one good thing about being new to the school as a teacher meant early morning preparation. Robin was more of a morning person than anything else so this not only suited her but allowed for some peace and quite. With good luck it would also mean that she would have the coffee maker to herself.

She went to her classroom first and settled up there before heading to the lounge. She looked at the door for a minute, and then pushed it open with mug in hand. She was… not alone. The smell of coffee distracted her from this and she looked at the machine. Some had clearly already been made.

“Hi,” she said by way of greeting. “Do you mind if I have some of that? My coffee maker finally gave up on my as of this morning.” She motioned to the coffee pot. She wasn’t sure if he was waiting for someone, or if he was the coffee wasn’t necessarily spoken for. She took a few steps towards it and then paused. She was getting ahead of herself, speeding up. She turned back to the man who she did not recognize and held out a hand. “Robin Douglas, I’m a new theater teacher. Who are you?”

[Vincent Romanov]

Finally a soul to break the silence of the staff lounge and bring some end to Vincent's boredom. He smiled, glad to have a bit of company for a change. Most people at Hammel rarely tried to hold conversations with him out side of professional ones and Vincent really couldn't blame them. He wasn't exactly approachable most of the time due to his overall appearance and demeanor. He looked rather gruff and angry as some of the more outspoken younger teaching staff had told him countless times but contrary to the look, he was rather fun to be around when one took the time to get to know him a bit. Vincent was just straightforward in his actions and opinions, which coupled with his large frame and rugged features made him look way too uptight.

Vincent really was trying to alter his appearance as of late, trying to seem more approachable. This was directed more toward the adult staff rather than the students as keeping some fear instilled in them made his job some easier. That said, having more of a relationship with the teaching staff meant they would trust him more with some of their own problems and concerns around Hammel. He didn't want to be nosy but rather Vincent wanted to be there for his co-workers. He considered it part of his job to always be there when anyone around Hammel needed his type of help or protection. Vincent's job didn't end at the end of the day or when he left the school grounds, no, his job was full time all the time. Threats to meta-humans came at all times of the day and night, not just during the nine to five times.

With a smile, Vincent moved out of the way of the coffee maker to allow Robin room to pour herself a cup. "Be my guest," he said with a nod, "Might be a bit too strong for your taste though, I'm not exactly the best for these sort of things," he added with a chuckle. Switching his coffee cup to one hand just in time to accept Robin's outstretched hand and introduction. "Pleasure," he said as he was always taught as a kid, "I'm Vincent....Romanov. I'm head of security here and no, I'm not as bad as the tittle might suggest," he threw in with another chuckle, "Anything you need help with around here, don't hesitate to ask me," he said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I assume your a former student like the majority of us."

[Robin Douglas]

Robin smiled when he allowed her a go at the coffee. Chances were that if he hadn’t she would have waited until he wasn’t looking and gone for it anyways. It wasn’t the nicest truth to admit to herself but when a girl needed coffee then she needed coffee! However this was not going to be a case when she would have to go ninja for it. She smiled and poured a good amount into her cup. She took note of what the man told her and nodded, taking a careful sip to test if she could take it. Her eyes widened a little. “Woo, well that has a bit of a kick to it but I’m far from complaining given how early it is. That is how I like it!” It was the honest truth, sometimes she needed a bit of a kick to get into full gear. She never needed it in order to get going completely, and god bless her the day she did.

“Head of security, that’s pretty impressive. I’d say I’m sure you have your hands full but I know Hammel, I know that is an understatement.” She followed this up with a smile. In her day she hadn’t made too much trouble, well at least not of the sort that would require security to get involved. She had been good about flying under the radar there. Still the notion of his position made Robin wonder about him. He had to be one tough son of a gun to handle that job, and that was something that she respected. She was sure that she would not be able to do the same. Sure, she could slow them down, but she couldn’t really stop them, not if she wanted to live to see sixty.

“Thanks, that’s really nice of you. I’m just getting started out so offers of back up are highly appreciated.” She had a feeling that she might need it. This was followed by another nod. “Yeah, I was a student here back in the day, class of 2000 in fact. We were either going to graduate or Y2K and the machines were going to get us all,” she joked. It was about as ridiculous a concept as the upcoming Mayan one so it deemed a reference in her mind. “I’m assuming from the way you phrased the question that you went here too? “ Robin pulled out a chair and settled down at the table.

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent took a seat at the table with Robin, appearing pretty calm and relaxed. That was Vincent though, despite the rough and antisocial appearance, Vincent was pretty relaxed when in social situations. He just wasn't the sort to be the conversation starter. Vincent was straightforward and didn't like to waste many of his words. He spoke little but the words he did use were always true and to the heart of things. "Having my hands full is putting it lightly," Vincent said with a chuckle and grin, "Being in charge isn't easy no matter what your in charge of and having the burden of making sure each and every soul within these grounds is safe and secure is doubly hard. Normal kids have tough enough attitudes, but throw in the added abilities we have around here and keeping them in line becomes next to impossible. Thankfully I've got a great staff working for and with me and that includes the teachers here," he added giving Robin and small nod, letting her know he thought of everyone on staff here as a colleague and not just another body.

"Everyone comes back to Hammel in some fashion or form and I can understand why. No matter how accepting our family might be to us or how much society might open up to us, no where feels like it does here at Hammel. This is our home, the one place where no matter how tough the world gets, we know we'll always be accepted for us and not because of who or what we are," he said, showing a fraction of how he felt about Hammel. Vincent had a very stable and loving home growing up and still did despite his dad's death many years ago. Even when he was in the service, the men he was stationed with accepted him genuinely because they knew they could count on him. However, there wasn't anywhere in the world he had ever been that had that feeling that Hammel gave him. Here, Vincent felt calm and relaxed, even though his job was more than a tad stressful. "Never would have thought I'd be the one in charge of keeping these kids in line though all those years ago," Vincent added with a laugh before taking another drink of his coffee.

It was nice having a legitimate conversation that wasn't about the daily security roster or having to explain to some kid's parents why their kid was in solitary for blowing up the science lab. "Usually I look over the new faculty registrations but admit I've missed yours. I've been busy lately so I've let one of my subordinates do some of the background checks. Where you from originally?," he asked, hoping he wasn't sounding like a security officer instead of some just regular guy.

[Robin Douglas]

Robin settled herself back a little bit, generally agreeing with what Vincent had said so far. She was not in security, but given what she was and what she did she could sympathize with where he was coming from. It had to be pretty rough to keep everyone wrangled in. Robin knew that she had her moments back in high school when she had tried t pull crap on them. She stayed quiet about this, as it wasn’t anything that anyone should want to hear. Then again she was not aware of the threats to the security of Hammel that had emerged a year ago. Things seemed as smooth and calm as ever to Robin. This was, of course, in mind that she was in a high school so smooth and calm on that front. So she mostly nodded in agreement, given that she was still getting familiar with the rest of the staff. She took his word for it though, if they were anything like the teachers she’d had the kids were in good hands.

Robin mulled over the next bit a little more. He was right, she knew that, but also she knew that returning to Hammel had not really been her personal prerogative when she had graduated. She was ready to go, move on, become something. What she ended up becoming was a teacher at Hammel, and she’d still have to see if this would really and truly work out. “I know what you mean. I didn’t really have any intention of returning either. I went to New York City, thought I was going to make it big, and it just didn’t work out. You know how they say that if you can make it there then you can make it anywhere? Well I didn’t make it there so it was nice to come back to a place where I knew that I could. It’s still tough though, I’m new to teaching on a regular basis. I like it but it’s a whole new learning experience. Nerve wracking, if I were to label it as anything.” Robin half laughed and took another drink of coffee.

Robin put down the coffee. “I’m from Maine actually. My mother still lives up there. I went to Hammel when my power manifested and then I went to college in upstate New York, the Albany area. After that I moved to New York City and I lived there for about… eight years. Got married, got divorced, and went through so many jobs I can’t even count them. I didn’t do poorly, I managed to maintain an apartment the whole time, but it just got to me eventually. There was nothing steady about it and I am getting to a place where I need that. God knows it was never boring but it was stressful, I never knew if I would actually be able to find or get the next job, since I was in theater. Finally I just said enough was enough, applied, and came back here. How about you?”

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent sat there patiently, sipping his coffee as he listened to Robin rattle on, revealing some of her personal self to him. Mostly basic recent past history, but still valuable information none the less. Vincent was good at listening to others, it was a way he got the feel for a person, how he figured them out. Vincent was good at reading people, but nothing on a grand scale. He could pick up a rough idea, get the basics which would help him nail down the more private things later. His past military history and his current job position sort of demanding this type of trait from him. Until he got to personally know someone, Vincent treated them cautiously. Terrorist wasn't the immediate label he put on someone, but cautious certainly was. Some went as far as to call it stereotyping, but Vincent called it being smart. He wasn't in to politically correct, he just called things like he saw it. This attitude sometimes led to him being called in before his superiors for a little attitude coaching, but no amount of intimidation would ever change his part of him.

Robin seemed nice enough, a bit scattered but nice. Her personality was cheerful and from what she had been saying, Vincent surmised she had had big dreams in her younger days. New York was a hard place to live if you didn't have the guts to stick out the tough times. It wasn't like New York was this hardened gritty place which tried to beat you down at every turn, it was just a fast paced city to live. If you wanted to be anything important here, you had to move quickly and try to stay one step ahead of everyone else. For those born there, like himself, it was second nature to always be on the move, but for those like Robin who came there from smaller areas, it was a bit tough. The fact that Robin had to return to Hammel didn't make her a failure, it just meant she was built for things of a smaller and more personal scale.

Vincent arched an eyebrow when Robin mentioned the theater. Vincent's little sister was a ballerina and a pretty darn good one considering she traveled the world performing. Despite his rough nature and appearance, Vincent enjoyed the ballet and theater, just not that much. "Well, I'm from New York, Manhattan to be exact. So I know what you mean when you talk about the fast paced lifestyle. I miss it sometimes though, but Pilot Ridge is really growing on me. I like the smaller atmosphere. I've seen enough of the world with my past, and now its time to settle down just a bit," he said, setting down his coffee cup. "Uhhh, before Hammel, I was in the Army, special forces. Spent almost all my service time in the Middle East and Europe. After my discharge, I spent some time with my mom and sister and then eventually came back here as head of security."

Vincent wasn't one to talk much about his past, especially the time he spent in service. It was all too private and some of it wasn't something he wished to remember. "My sister was in theater. She's a ballerina. She's over in Russia right now, performing there for a few months. Its kind of nice for her, our father was Russian so its fun to go back to the mother land to see our heritage," he said, changing the conversation.

[Robin Douglas]

Robin knew that she was rambling, but it didn’t feel bad to ramble right now. Incent didn’t seem overly displeased that she was, and she took that as a fair enough sign to continue for a little bit. It was strange to talk about the New York failure though, or at least that was how Robin was now deeming the past eight years in her head. She would have felt worse about it all, but honestly, given the economy, she’d almost made it. She just didn’t feel like she had the time for that anymore, and if there was one thing that Robin knew about it was time.

However, when Vincent mentioned that he was originally from New York, Robin simply nodded. So he knew where she was coming from with that. It did make her slightly aware that his family had managed to persevere there, but she figured that was a whole different line of work. She’d been in the theater after all, because she was, well, crazy? But then his story got much more interesting. Robin listened as he talked about the military and mentioned where he had been abroad. Her eyebrows arched up, making her brow furrow. She nodded for a moment and then repeated after him.

“Special forces…wow.” She hadn’t really known anyone who had gone into the military out of high school. However, 9/11 had happened during her very first semester of college. She remembered a few people dropping out then to go join, but that was about it. At least what he had told her was surprising enough to slow her down for the moment. She took another drink of coffee and then smiled. “Well you’re much tougher than me. I’d cry if I saw more than four cockroaches within a three foot area.” Yes, clearly New York had not really been the place for her.

“So did you go to Hammel too or did you go somewhere else?” He mentioned his father’s nationality and she thought that maybe he had gone to the school in Russia, because she knew that there was one there.

(ahh, sorry this took so long, and sorry that it's short! I'm getting back into the swing of things)