I'm a Big Girl Now [Dr.Neville]

[Artemis Andreou]

Artemis Andreou pulled into the Hammel Institute staff parking lot. It was her first day of work and she was beyond nervous. It was her first "real" job, and she needed it in order to move out of her parents' house. She wanted her own place for herself and her daughter Abigail.

Sitting in the car, Artemis looked up at the large school and had to stop herself from shaking. What if she failed? What if she wasn't fast enough? What if people didn't like her? There were so many negative things running through her mind, that Artemis felt like she was paralyzed with fear. Hitting her head against the steering wheel, Artemis tried to calm herself down.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Hit head against steering wheel.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.

Finally Artemis took a deep breath, stepped out of her car, and brushed her purple dress down. She slowly began to grab the two boxes which she had full of desk decorations, and attempted to make her way towards Hammel.

"Oof. Maybe I brought too much stuff!" Artemis giggled to herself, as she found it challenging opening the front door to get into the school.

Attempting to jimmy the door open with her heel, Artemis almost wanted to slam her boxes down and give up when the door opened itself.

"Oh my!" Artemis squeaked as she caught her balance, trying to keep her boxes from falling to the ground. "Thank you!" Artemis said smiling largely at the tall older man in front of her. It was obvious he was no longer a student at Hammel, so Artemis assumed he worked there as well.

"I'm Artemis," She said with a giggle, "I would shake your hand, but these boxes are a bit heavy hah," she laughed again, jiggling the box a bit, "I'm the new Receptionist here!"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

When Josh had court or early morning meetings, Sean tended to go into Hammel all the earlier, even when the psychiatrist didn’t have early morning sessions of faculty meetings. Today was such a day, and he had arrived early enough to be the one to brew the first cup of coffee in the staff lounge. After brewing the coffee and setting down a platter of brownies to share that Josh had baked the night before, he retreated to his office to get started on his paperwork.

Then he’d had to leave to visit the restroom. On the way back, he heard footsteps and the thoughts of an unfamiliar person behind him. He turned when he heard her voice, and immediately noticed the boxes that she was attempting to balance.

Sean closed the distance between them and held out his hands, offering to take one of the boxes from her to ease her burden a bit. While his back and knees were no longer what they had once been in his youth, he could certainly lend her a hand or two without hurting himself. “Let me take one of those.”

The telepath then offered her a smile, returning hers. “I’m Sean Neville; I’m the staff psychiatrist. Please don’t worry about the handshake, since your hands are full.”

Fortunately, the hall wasn’t so long that they wouldn’t near the desk before everything fell. He added, “Welcome to the Hammel Institute.”

[Artemis Andreou]

Artemis smiled up at the tall man when he helped her with one of her boxes. She could see her desk from where she was, but Artemis was never one to say no to someone just trying to help her out. "Nice to meet you Sean," Artemis giggled, and looked around the school. "Staff Psychiatrist?" She asked as the two walked towards her desk, "That's crazy! You must be so smart!"

As the reached her desk, Artemis put her box down, and turned to take her box from Sean. "Thank you so much," She said with a smile, "And I'm so excited to be here." She said placing her other box down. "Let me properly introduce myself," She said holding out her hand, "I'm Artemis Andreou, and you are Sean Neville, it's very nice to meet you!"

Artemis was one to talk a lot. Whenever she made a friend, she was known to talk their ear off.

"I've always wanted to come to Hammel growing up, but I never received any powers, so I just went to regular high school." Artemis said with a shrug, "My parents both came here, and always used to talk about it, I guess this is my way of attending Hammel," Artemis said with a giggle.

"Now, are you powered Mr.Neville?" Artemis teased as she started setting up her stuff.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The telepath walked beside her, holding one of the boxes carefully in his arms to prevent from dropping it. He didn’t know what they contained, but at best, a spill would be inconvenient; at worst, something invaluable would be destroyed, which was why caution was always best. “It’s nice to meet you too, Artemis,” he replied, keeping an eye out for the alcove which served as the reception area. “And while that’s a lovely compliment, I assure you it’s also unwarranted.”

While Sean had the requisite intelligence to get through medical school, he was hardly Eli. He also was not one to boast.

Upon reaching her desk, Sean walked to the other side where there was plenty of clear space, and he set down his burden. “You’re quite welcome,” he replied sincerely, returning her smile. When she offered her hand, the telepath took it in one of his quite large ones, although he kept his handshake light. “The pleasure is all mine.”

With her boxes down in her area, Sean stepped back somewhat to allow her room to maneuver. He nodded sympathetically with her statement about how she wished she had attended; while that wasn’t a sentiment he often encountered, it wasn’t unheard of, particularly when a non-meta who had meta relatives was involved. His nephew had expressed similar regret.

At her question, he nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, although this as a relaxed, and non-confrontational, pose. “I am. Most, although not all, of the faculty is; most of us are alumni.”