Familiar Faces [Everett]

[Gabriel James]

Gabriel kicked the door of his old red junker with the heel of his foot. He had gotten the car cheap off of a neighbor when he decided to move out to LA, and drove it all the way back to Vermont when he decided to come back to Pilot Ridge. The car proved to be a fighter, and was still running -albeit not all that smoothly. He popped open his trunk to retrieve the cardboard bow he had packed full of folders and other supplies he felt he might want in the small office that he was provided with.

Gabe wasn't even sure why he would need an office, and was a little confused about what he may need. But he figured office supplies were a safe bet, and planned on plastering the walls with pictures his niece, McKenna, had drawn for him.

If you hadn't known better, you may have thought that Gabe was a student. He was dressed in jeans and a blue flannel shirt. There were converse on his feet, and the only taste of sophistication came with the thick black framed glasses that Gabe wore over his eyes. The fact that he was only 5'8" helped him blend in with the student body as well. He took note that maybe whenever he came into the building he should dress as if he were going to teach. He didn't mind throwing on the dress pants and bowties he had on hand, though for move in day he'd just have too feel like he was 16 again.

Walking down the corridor of many offices Gabe glanced at the nameplates of the offices he passes, curious as to which teachers and trainers he remembered from when he was at Hammel. He smiled whenever he saw a teacher he liked, and stayed too note to stay away from some of the tough nuts who he used to give a hard time. Some of his co-workers probably wouldn't be able to respect him at first after his years of jokes and shenanigans while he was a student.

There was only one name that made him stop and really look though. He wasn't sure he was reading it correctly at first, but after a few blinks Gabriel knew he wasn't hallucinating. Gabriel scurried over to the door, and pressed his ear up to it, trying to distinguish if somebody was inside. He couldn't tell for sure, so he knocked. What were the chances he was actually in? What were the chances they actually worked together? It had been so long since he had seen his old Hammel roommate - Everett Lilen .

[Everett Lilien]

Everett spun around in the chair in his office--it was plush and comfy and really, what else was he supposed to do? He had a pile of papers on his desk, eligible students to train who were in need of a trainer. He should be leafing through them, but instead he had the radio on and was drumming his hands on the desk and spinning around in his wheely chair.

Anybody else would see this and think that Everett Lilien wasn't trying to change who he was--that he wasn't trying to become more responsible and less childish, but...he really was trying. It was just so hard. Besides, he would get to the files. But he was just basking in the glory of actually having his own office and a name plate on the door. He had an actual job. He wasn't just going to college and failing most of his classes because he spent most of his time cooking in the dorm's kitchenette.

He'd just moved into an apartment and his things were still boxed up, besides, he still had to find a roommate. He'd barely dug any of his comic books out of the boxes.

A knock on the door made him straighten as he stopped spinning in the chair and put his feet on the ground. He quickly pushed the papers on his desk into a nice pile and opened up a file in front of him to show that he looked like he was working. "Come in!" he said, wondering who was at the door.

[Gabriel James]

Gabe waited a second for a response, when he suddenly heard swift shuffling of papers, and a quick 'Come in!'. The voice was unmistakable though. Possibly a little more serious than Gabe was used to, but Gabriel knew before he opened the door who he was about to find. "Duuude!" Gabe half yelled as he opened the door and revealed himself to Ev, who was looking super serious and busy behind his desk, but the music playing from the small radio in the corner proved otherwise.

"Everett. Freakin'. Lilien." Gabe said with a smile, readjusting the grip on his box. He stood in the doorway with his dorkiest smile, his free arm open in a gesture that said 'here I am'. Gabriel hadn't seen Everett since graduation - since Gabe up and left for LA. Nearly 4 years. They had kept decent contact at first, but drifted. Distance will do that to people. Gabe didn't expect Everett to be in Pilot Ridge, so didn't bother telling him he was back. Clearly, that wasn't true, and suddenly Gabe had a friend in town. Suddenly, it seemed, Gabe had a friend at work. "Dude do you work here?!"

[Everett Lilien]

Everett whipped around in his chair, expecting a school official or something, but what he found was a much friendlier face. One he hadn't seen in years. "Duuuude!" he shouted in response, dropping the pencil he'd been holding to pretend he'd been working. What the hell was he doing here? "Gabriel runaway James! What did L.A chew you and spit you out?! It's been forever!" This was definitely not who he'd been expecting.

The words 'you' and 'work' seemed odd in the same sentence, but he gave Gabe a weird look anyway. "No, I freakin' broke into someone's office and put my name on the door so that I can pretend I have a job." It was sarcasm of course, but it would definitely be something he'd try! "Yeah, I work here! Do you work here?" He eyed the box in his buddy's hand.

[Gabriel James]

"I guess you could say that," Gabe said with a laugh when Ev brought up LA. Sure, it wasn't all that unsuccessful. It was just a few mistakes that made Gabe unable to live with himself and continue on his path to possible success. "Either way I found my way back to the ol' P.R." He set the box down on a chair that sat on the other side of Everett's desk.

"And actually I just came to steal various office supplies from old teachers who didn't like me," Gabriel said with all seriousness, shrugging and tucking his hands in his pockets. He couldn't keep a straight face for too long, and ended up cracking a smile. "I'm teaching intro to music theory and music appreciation starting in the fall," Gabe finally announced. "Dude, do they provide the little plaque on the door or do I have to get my own?" He was half joking - mostly due to the fact that he couldn't believe that his old friend was working at Hammel. He couldn't believe he was either.

"How long have you been here? What are you teaching here anyway?" Gabe wondered aloud. He and Ev weren't the most academic in high school. He couldn't remember Everett having a favorite subject. Maybe if comic books were a subject...

[Everett Lilien]

Everett didn't ask for the specifics, all he knew was that Gabe was back in Pilot Ridge and working at the same school as him--the school they'd both attended together years back. "Glad you're back," he said with a grin. At his comment about stealing office supplies from teachers who didn't like him, he chuckled. "We had a lot of teachers who didn't like us, didn't we?" He remembered the good ol' days of him and Gabe causing trouble in the dorms and around campus.

"They provide the plaque! I think it's the only time my name will ever be in gold, even if it isn't real gold," he commented, spinning around in his chair again. "I just started! I'm going to be a powers trainer! Can you believe that?" He even couldn't sometimes, with the reputation he had. But he knew how to control his powers because of the excellent trainer he'd had at Hammel who had put up with him for four years. "And it sounds a lot more fun than your music theory to be honest."

[Gabriel James]

"Oh god," Gabe said with a scared tone. "If you're training these kids I'm just going to hide in my office and never come out," he joked - knowing that Everett's old antics should be proof enough that he wasn't 'trainer material'. though Gabriel figured that Ev had matured a bit. Gabe knew he had matured quite a bit himself. Of course, he was still 22 and still dedicated to music and music alone. "I'm kidding I'm sure you'll be great. You can probably relate to these kids better than our trainers ever could," Gabe noted, specifically remembering his trainer who was a 65 year old man with pheromone manipulation. He didn't understand Gabe or his power as well as some of the other student/trainer match ups.

"And don't diss my theory class! Sure, it may be kind of... technical... but it's important!" Gabe made a sour face crossing his arms across his chest when Everett made fun of his job. But his face softened again after a moment. "Man this is great! I wish I had known you were here I would have hit you up weeks ago when I moved in!" Gabe took a seat in the other empty chair across from Everett.

[Everett Lilien]

"I'm going to be a hell of a good trainer!" Everett said defensively and then looked down at the pile of files in front of him. "Once I actually read all of these files and get several students." He grinned sheepishly over at Gabe. "And that's what I'm hoping. I went through exactly what they did and look at me! I'm still alive." He was sure his trainer had been better than Gabe's, but then again, their powers were different.

"Sorry man, but it's lame. I mean music is cool and all, but theory just makes it sound boring," he told him before brightening up as well. "I know! I had no idea you'd be back here! Let alone working at Hammel!"

[Gabriel James]

"I'm sure you're going to be great," Gabriel said, agreeing with his old friend. Everett had a way of genuinely caring about people and any student who got him as a trainer was sure to get one hundred and ten percent from their mentor. "Just don't tell any of them about the way we acted in high school. I don't think I could handle having a student who tried to pull the same shit that we did back in the day."

Gabriel laughed at the memories. Everett would kill the lights before big tests - making it impossible to take them. Gabriel would charm teachers out of the detention they had given the boys for climbing onto the roof and throwing water balloons at the students walking below. They would stay up late coming up with ways to torment the teachers they hated, and rarely got in too much trouble due to Gabriel's ability. It was a great partnership they had.

"It wasn't really part of the plan," Gabriel admitted, "But life has a funny way of turning upside down when you least expect it." Gabriel shrugged. "When things didn't work out in LA I decided to come back to be closer to the family, really," Gabriel elaborated a bit. "Well... I still don't really talk to my parents much but I have a niece now and I couldn't stand being a 4 hour plane ride from her when things weren't working out."

[Everett Lilien]

"You don't have to tell me that again," Everett told his old friend. "I can barely even handle me, why would I want to handle somebody like me?" It was true, they had their fair share of causing trouble years ago at Hammel, but really, you had to make the place fun and they had to make use of their powers. Gabe's worked wonders for getting out of trouble, especially since Everett was known to cause it.

It wasn't as if he often studied for tests but if he was really dragging it that day, he'd put the power out long enough to have it rescheduled. Detention was easy to get out of with Gabe on his side and the two worked together. It was pure luck that Gabe was here again, at his side. Except this time, they were here as Staff, something Everett never expected to happen.

"Good to have you back buddy," he said, finally getting up from his rolly chair and clapping Gabe on the back. "Regardless of what got you here, I'm just glad I'm back roaming these halls with you."

[Gabriel James]

"It's weird how things come full circle, huh?" Gabe offered with a smile, looking around Everett's office. "You need some posters in here or something man. It's so bare. So unlike you..." He wondered if Ev would actually throw up some super hero posters like they had in their dorm back in the day.

"Or maybe paint the walls or something. This place is an awful shad of white. I'm sure I could get your supervisor to allow it," Gabriel suggested with a wink. He sighed after the joke though. It was weird to be back. He never expect he'd even want to come back. Ever. Part of him still didn't want to be back. But having Everett there made it better. "I'm glad we both managed to get into this together. Even if we didn't do it purposely."

[Everett Lilien]

"So weird," Everett agreed, but he beamed knowing that he had somebody here who he could really be himself around. "Who would have thought they'd let us both in here?!" He chuckled before considering what Gabe had said. "You're right...it's really fucking boring in here, but I've barely gotten any of my things in here yet so there will definitely be a huge batman poster going up on that wall..." he gestured to the wall behind him. "And definitely....an Avengers poster...ooh! Where am I going to put my superman poster? See, now you've just made it a hard decision!" His apartment was already full of comic book posters.

"If it was up to me, this office would have a whole theme! But maybe you shouldn't go charming the supervisor yet," he replied. "At least until they somewhat trust us as staff."

[Gabriel James]

"I feel like by the end of the year your office WILL have a whole theme. I'll deck out your office chair like the bat mobile for Christmas," Gabriel joked, loving the passion his friend had for comics. It rivaled his passion for music but was slightly more quirky and ridiculous.

"Clearly whoever did the hiring this year is somewhat new, because there's no way that they would let us both teach here if they were around while we were in school," Gabe suggested with a laugh. He had already made a personal promise not to use his charm at work, anyway. Generally he tried not to use it at all. He always felt absolutely awful after. Guilt overtook him and going to apologize usually made people mad when they were perfectly happy to begin with.

[Everett Lilien]

"If you do that, I think you will officially be the best friend ever!" Everett told him, liking the idea of his chair being modeled after the batmobile. He also couldn't lie that sometimes when people came into his office (now that he had one) he wanted to be facing the wall in his chair and spin around while petting a white cat. But first he'd have to find a cat...

"And you're right about that. It's some miracle...or mistake that we both got in here at the same time. But I'm glad it happened. Just don't go getting me fired," he joked. It would be just like old times at Hammel with Gabe, except they were older and somewhat more mature.

[Gabriel James]

"No promises," Gabriel mused, a little smirk crossing his lips. Why did he let himself drift from Everett again? The guy was hilarious - and they had be inseparable before. Gabe was wondering why he let that change. Sure, LA was a far ways away... but there were phone calls and text messages and emails. A sudden rush of guilt washed over Gabriel and he sighed a bit.

"I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly and unexplained after graduation," he finally said. "I kinda got ahead of myself and lost sight of the past and the people who were important to me. I'm like... just now realizing how much I've probably missed out on in your life. And then I think about all the friends I lost touch with and... now I feel kind of shitty," Gabe admitted, though still with a laugh. Because it was funny, after all, that it took him until he was back home to realize he had been missing everybody.