World Turned Counter-Clockwise. (C, J)

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani really knew better than to mess with someone who could probably beat you to a pulp and/or tell your parents what happened. She knew not to mess too horribly with someone you actually like. She also knew better than to mess with a person who could likely give her an eternal detention.

Really, she knew better. Honest.

So it was with all of these things shoved to the back of her mind that she sneaked into Dr. Campbell's obsessively neat office, wearing a nondescript black t-shirt and her cleanest jeans as to not attract unnecessary attention, and, leaving the door just barely ajar for a faster escape, began to turn things about. She turned most objects that weren't bolted down an inch or so counter-clockwise, rearranged his files, and opened all of his drawers just slightly so that you could barely tell they were open, but you knew that they were not flush with their surroundings. She messed up some other small things in the pauses between each task. She was examining the room for something else to mess with when she noticed it. The chess board.

Knight, C7. Moved now to D3. Pawns in various states of disarray, some sitting on the sidelines that were not there before. Dani had to hurry. Dr. Campbell was never away from his office for long. Black queen to G5. Maybe it was because of her concentration on how to best place the rook and bishop, or maybe it was because she had a blue iPod earphone in one ear, playing a Journey song at a low volume. But whatever it was, she didn't hear the person coming until the door was opening further, revealing her in the middle of an overall mussed and messy office.

[/size]


--
[[OOC: Sorry it took so long to post. Family bonding is important. ]]

[Chase Campbell]

On his way to his husband’s office, the thought that he would be walking into disarray hadn’t even crossed Chase’s mind. All he was going down for was to spend a few minutes of de-stress time before his next class, as well as to ask James when he thought might be best to approach Niko about the adoption topic.

He honestly wasn’t expecting to walk in on a girl, unless it was Ginny. For a moment, he paused. Was he even in the right - ... yes, he was. This was the right office. For a moment, he would have been content to wave her off as an intern in the recruitment office. That was logical, wasn’t it? The office took interns all the time.

... Wait.

Things were wrong. Even without James’ power, he could see that. He spent enough time in his husband’s office to know what it looked like. And it looked... off. And why would an intern be touching the chess table in the first plac –

Oh.

He cleared his throat, moving to block the door, and crossed his arms. “What, exactly, are you doing?” She had chosen the wrong time to pull a prank on James. With everyone in the family being so on edge, and Chase being more than a little protective of his husband lately, this was just bad timing all around. “Besides heading to detention.” Because she would be going, if he had anything to say about it.

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

There was a moment of complete and total silence between the two.

And then the man crossed his arms and spoke.

Dani recognized him from seeing him around school, and the picture that she had not only seen the many times she had been in Dr. Campbell's office, but just a moment ago when she had turned the picture just a smidgen, the same way as everything else. This was bad. This was Dr. Campbell's husband. The Husband. The person that had goddamnmotherfracking mind control. She made herself look as casual as possible, placing the pieces nonchalantly in random squares, and took a breath. She looked at him and said, "Actually, I'm playing a little chess. This board is the closest one I could find." She shrugged, hoping that her nervousness was not showing. She hadn't been caught in the middle of a big prank by anyone in... Two weeks now! She hadn't pulled a big one in about two weeks. And on top of that, this time it was an adult. An angry, grown man that was actually kind of intimidating Dani, whether she'd admit it or not.

Just after she finished her quick glance around the room, cleverly disguised as checking the chess board although it was actually to see possible escape routes from the room, she made a dash for the exit, hoping to dart around him and get through the door, sidestep him with some of her footwork learned in fencing. All that it accomplished was her hitting the door with her shoulder very hard at the exact angle that the door barely budged but she grunted in pain--that would surely leave a bruise.

And one more thing: she really knew better than to run. She knew better, really.

Really.

[/size]

[Chase Campbell]

Yes, Chase was James’ husband. The one with the ‘goddamnmotherfracking mind control.’ Of course, Dani didn’t need to know that his power had been in lockdown for a few months now. Just the knowledge that he did have it, and could use it seemed enough to inspire a little respect out of most of the students. This one included. He watched as she moved the pieces around, knowing full well that while some students came in to play with him (usually those taking advantage of the Safe Zone sticker on the door), it was odd for James to leave someone in like this. Especially with everything ever so slightly askew.

Yeah. She was in trouble.

“Are you now?” He kept his arms crossed, one eyebrow arched up. “Try the student lounge. Or better yet, the chess club.” Had he been less in control of himself, he might have gone over and snatched the pieces back in an attempt to calm the miniature chaos that had been created in the room. Fortunately, he was capable of keeping himself in check. Intimidation was his weapon of choice here. There was more than one advantage to being a staff member with a bit of a reputation, not to mention a power that tended to make the students nervous.

It didn’t help her case as she turned and tried to flee. The kids were fast, yes, but so was he. He was lucky when she hit the door. It made it all too easy to make a grab for her and pull her back into the office. With his foot, he nudged the door so it was almost closed all the way, and watched Dannica carefully. “I don’t think so. I think we’re going to stay here and wait for Ja- Dr. Campbell. He can tell me whether or not you were just playing with the chess table.” Which he seriously doubted.

What he didn’t think about was how bad this might look to anyone that came in. Especially James. He was holding a student in place physically, with the door almost shut. Yeah. This couldn’t look all that good.

[Dr. James Campbell]

James noticed instantly when he returned to the recruitment office that his door was ajar. On the whole, it wasn't unusual for someone to visit him, so he didn't think much of it until he pushed it the rest of the way open and saw his husband holding a teenage girl there.

Well.

"Chase....what is going on?" James stepped inside, leaving the door opened wide. No one was in the recruitment bullpen, but if someone did come in, he didn't want it to look like they were doing anything wrong.

So really, it was fairly understandable for it to take almost a full second to pick up how everything in his office was askew. His pictures, the drawers, his chairs... The bespectacled man's jaw dropped. Oh God, why did this keep happening to him? Was there some ongoing dare out there, among the students, which won respect for every teenager who decided to trigger his OCD?

Teenagers were cruel.

James bit the inside of his lip, and started with his filing cabinet drawers, pushing them in, then arranging the books on top of them. "Really, Chase, Danicca, whenever one of you wants to tell me what happened here, I want to know?" It was the girl, obviously. The worst Chase ever did to tease him about his compulsions was leave the cap off of the milk at breakfast, and that was a quick, easy fix. Now, he'd be straightening and reorganizing his office for at least an hour. (At the very least.)

[Danicca Waylan]

[D]A[N]I[C]C!?

Dani hated being caught.
It didn't help when it was by an adult. A student, she could handle. She could do something to make it seem... No, actually there was nothing she could do but fight, lie, and run. But at least there were plausible options that Dani was fine deciding between when it came to people close to her age--when it was an adult, it was run or lie or look ashamed and embarrassed, any of which meant getting in more trouble later. At the moment specifically, "run" had been ruled out for her.

So she did what she always fell back on: She lied. There was already proof that she had done something, and she would be punished for it. All she had to do was get together her nearly-expert, as she thought of it, lying Storytelling skills together and she could get out of this with very little punishment. She'd have to use the truth in her lie to get anywhere with these two. She bit a certain point in her tongue discreetly to bring tears just a bit more easily to her eyes--not full-on waterworks, just a little shimmering that would be convincing when she looked up. She focused on the floor and tried not to have the mixed reaction at Dr. Campbell's reaction to her prank. She took a breath--just a little shaky, to keep up the act--and started talking at a tone much quieter than her normal one. "I'm sorry, Dr. Campbell." She started. "I know it was mean, but I messed up your office, and then I was going to put it back because I felt bad, but Mr. Kilbourne caught me and I panicked and tried to go, but then he grabbed me, and then you walked in before I could try to explain." It wasn't going to win any academy awards--but Dani was hoping it would win a fan's choice.

She looked up with concerned-looking eyes--something she knew she was good with for at least ten seconds--and tried to make a rueful-and-apologetic smile. If this didn't work, she had one last chance: Shut Up and Look Ashamed. Maybe something else would occur to her in the interim.

[/size]