A Ticking Time-Bomb (Open to staff!)

[Cale Hensley]

Cale stared down into his cup of coffee, black just like he loved it. He'd only been teaching at Hammel for a little over a year now, working as a trainer after he finished college at the university of V. He wasn't quite sure how he ended back up at Hammel, the place of his youth after he'd went to college for history. It wasn't exactly using his degree in any way, but he was passionate about it and that's what mattered. It would make more sense if he was a history teacher though...a lot more practical. Maybe he could double as one if he talked to the school officials. 

He leaned up against the wall and stared up at the clock on the wall. Sometimes it confused him, the actual ticking of a clock. he thought it was all in his head and he had to scrutinize it for a long moment before he could differentiate between them. He hated clocks because of it and only kept digital ones around. These ones drove him absolutely mad and he was sure he'd make an interesting impression if someone walked in and saw him staring down the clock.

[Adam Deulane]

It was, technically, Adam's second day as a math teacher at Hammel. He had signed the last of the paperwork yesterday, and his first class was scheduled for sometime next week. He had spent most of the day in his office, pouring over his notes and the textbook and trying to think of a good first lesson. The problem was that these kids didn't KNOW math yet, and way he thought about math was with more math.

He was proofreading the trigonometry section of the textbook for errors when his stomach began rolling with displeasure. He realized distantly that he hadn't eaten all day, and now would probably be a good time to do it. Rubbing his forehead with the palm of one hand, he locked his office and headed blearily down to the staff room. Which way did they say it was? Oh yes.

He didn't so much as look around the room until he had poured himself a cup of coffee and drank half of it, standing in front of the machine and staring at the wall. The only people in the school he knew were Ms. Rivera, the only other math teacher, the headmistress, and the person who had handled his paperwork. He noticed now that there was someone else sitting in the staffroom, staring at the clock as if he was hoping to set it on fire with his mind. Which, Adam reflected dryly, was a reasonable possibility.

His anger management counselor had told him to try and initiate conversations, it would help him feel less intimidated by his coworkers. The clock-hating teacher, Adam guessed he was a trainer, looked all right. He cleared his throat. "Hi. My name is Adam Deulane, I just started here. I'm the new math teacher." After half a second, he also extended his hand in greeting, though he didn't move away from the coffee machine.

[Cale Hensley]

Cale barely heard the door open. It didn't register in his brain. This was why he barely went into the staff lounge or any other room with a ticking clock, it nearly drove him mad and it made him look completely crazy to anybody who saw him. It wasn't exactly how he made a good first impression. But he wanted to help kids who had faced similar problems to him and the only way to do that was to go back to Hammel, even if there were clocks in nearly every room on campus. His office did not have one and his apartment didn't either. Only digital numbers. Less confusion--less headaches.

Someone speaking burst him out of his reverie and his personal battle with the clock on the wall, he turned his head, feeling the headache at the center of his forehead forming. "Cale Hensley," he responded, slightly strained. "Trainer." Ugh, math, that had been one of his worst subjects growing up and he'd barely passed each year. He met Adam's hand halfway and shook it along with thinking, 'Please tell me this guy is in no danger.' It was how he usually greeted people. "So, math huh? Sounds torturous." He was trying to not get in the topic of powers or why he'd been staring at the clock.

[Adam Deulane]

Cale felt nothing on Adam's behalf--he was in about as much physical danger as the Birkenstocks sitting in the bottom of his closet at home. He did let go of Cale's hand rather quickly, however, and took another sip of his coffee.

About sixty percent of the time Adam introduced himself and his profession, he was told 'Man, I hated/was terrible at math' in reply, and his usual response was, "Really? Were you able to learn how to read?" But not today. Adam was going to do better here.

"No, actually, I've been doing it ever since I was a kid." Adam looked at Cale grimly over the rim of his cup. "I spent the past few years at a research lab in Boston, but this is my first teaching position."

Unfortunately for Cale, powers was exactly what Adam wanted to talk about. His stepfather was a telekinetic, so he was no stranger to floating TV remotes or windows that closed themselves, but the bizarre range of abilities of kids at the school had him more than a little wary. A trainer was the perfect person to ask about it. "But working as a trainer must be exciting." Another long, intent sip of coffee. Sluuuuuurp. "What's the protocol if one of them gets out of control?"

[Cale Hensley]

"Well, most of us have. Unfortunately, my brain just couldn't wrap itself around math most of the time. Then again, it was never my strong suit," Cale offered. He was sure he got the same response when he said he was a math teacher all the time and Cale hated to be another person, but...well, how could you like math if you were horrible at it? "I prefer history. I want to double as a teacher along with being a trainer, but we'll see what happens."

And then came the questions about his job, although at least it wasn't about his powers specifically. Explaining it always confused others or just made them feel bad for him. "Well, it's interesting to say the least." Not really exciting. He'd been through training himself when he was at Hammel. "Well, we don't really have a protocol," he said with a light laugh. "We pretty much punish them with detention or not being able to leave Hammel grounds or we do more...extensive training."

[Adam Deulane]

Cale's ambition to become a history teacher did not especially esteem himself in Adam's eyes. History fell firmly into the 'not a real field' category in Adam's mind, rather like saying, "I want to double as a finger painting teacher along with being a trainer."

This nasty little comment was on the way out of his mouth when he remembered that those were the sorts of things that got him fired from his last job. A sneer had already started in his upper lip, but he shoved his coffee into his face again and recited the first row of the periodic table in his head. This helped take his nerves down a notch, but by the time he refocused all he heard was the tail end of Cale's sentence.

"Oh, ah, what sort of extensive training?" he asked helplessly. Another few questions and he could escape gracefully from the conversation. For Adam, most social interactions were a war of attrition to see how long he could go without losing control of his temper.

[Mai Adaire]

BAM!

"OW motherfrumples that hurt!"

The door rattles a moment but the person on the other side of the door seemed to be having audible trouble. The door rattles with the desire to open once more and then a mutter:

"Goodness where is my head today?"

Now the door opens. A box floats in, which was followed by a cheerful brunette in a red plaid dress swaggering in, having found the (obvious) solution to her problem. Okay, so it wasn't as much as a swagger as half a swagger hiding a slight limp but Maiella would never personally admit to it. The woman directs the box to settle on the nearest table while she sits down. Hopefully her foot would stop aching soon, she still had so much to do today! Bright blue eyes snaps to the two gentlemen already present.

"Oh! Good morning you two!" Mai greeted cheerfully, ever the picture of a morning person. So she HAD heard voices in the lounge...which means they witnessed her natural grace in action. Nope, best not to linger on that!

[Cale Hensley]

"More like you work more vigorously to help them make progress. Training becomes more intensive, they're watched a lot more closely. Although those students usually start to hate you. At least in my experience." Cale hated being the bad guy, but he was here to do his job and he wnated to make sure that nobody ended up like him, a shell of a person in his mid-twenties not knowing how to deal with his life because of what being a meta-human had done to him.

He turned to the young woman who had entered the room, who was all parts cheerful in a way that Cale could not understand, especially at this time of the morning. Cale's brain was asleep until noon and that's just how it was. "Good morning," he muttered awkwardly.

He felt estranged here in the lounge and slurped his coffee as perhaps a way to escape, considering that he wasn't so sure Adam liked him and the woman that just walked in seemed to contrast his personality greatly.

[Adam Deulane]

Adam frowned at Cale. Come to think of it, he thought his sister had gone through something like that when she first arrived. This gentleman wouldn't know anything about it though, her trainer was some old guy. "I supposed that's something you'd want to avoi--"

He was interrupted by the word 'motherfrumples,' which he didn't think he had ever heard before. His gaze shifted warily to the newcomer. She was one of those.

"Good...morning..." he said as a box was placed down on the table in front of him. He was wary of overly cheerful people. They had a way of not recognizing his overt signals of wanting to be left alone. Like his sister. But no, he was not that person anymore. "...What's in the box?"

[Mai Adaire]

"Oh don't mumble,lovelies. Especially you, Cale. Get another cup of coffee if you have to! Did you see how outside looks today? It's absolutely gorgeous!"

Maiella chirped happily before completely stopping to rethink what she just said. Had she actually met either of these two? The brunette does so much that she sometimes lost track of who she actually met here and there. Well, one she sorta knew from her usual ways of learning about her coworkers, but the other...no matter how hard she tried to match the face to a name, a blank was drawn.

Well, now was the time if any! The stranger had a a question and Maiella's smile brightens.

"Oh! Yes, right!" The woman reached into the box and procured another box, setting it onto the table. Inside were a dozen freshly baked doughnuts that varied in variety. Maiella had already taken a honey glazed doughnut for herself, but there was still quite many left to choose from.

"This little bakery in town had a special going on today, so I thought I'd bring some by for everyone to have. I even emailed them to pop by if anyone wants one. Looks like you two get first dibs~"

On that note Maiella would reach back in the box to get her empty mug, thirsting for some coffee.