Don't Mind Me, Just Talking to Myself [OPEN]

[Damien & Darcy Rittley]

"Whoo, those kids'll take it out of you!" Darcy panted as the twins all but fell over each other into the staff lounge.

"You can say that again." Damien stretched, popping his back as he did so, before wandering over to the coffee pot. Meanwhile, Darcy promptly flopped onto the couch in exaggerated fashion.

The D&D twins did enjoy working at Hammel, they really did, but some days were more tiring than others. Those days were the ones they coached football as well as taught their communications class. At least football happened after class. That way they didn't have to worry about changing into non-sweaty clothing. Well, non-sweaty, and also slightly more professional.

Really, it was a bit weird to be a teacher as well as a coach, even if an unofficial coach. Coaching had always been their main thing until now, and now it was taking more of a back burner. Much as they liked teaching, it was weird.

"I think we have papers to grade," Damien mused as he sat next to the flopped out Darcy, and handed him one of the two coffee mugs.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Darcy groaned, dramatically of course, as he sat up for his coffee. Black, with just a dash of sugar, just as they liked it. Of course, before he'd liked a lot more creamer in it... a weird thought. "Why'd you get to pick coffee preferences, anyway?" he muttered, though already grinning at his own ridiculous question.

"Whaat?" Damien blinked at him. "Neither of us had a say in... oh haha." He snorted and shook his head.

People had asked them before already why they talked to each other so much, because really, they were essentially talking to themselves. The best way the twins had found to explain it was that it was like their version of an internal monologue, which most people had anyway. They just expressed it differently. That, and, well, habit. They'd talked to each other a lot well before they became one person.

"We really do need to get that adult soccer team set up," Darcy sighed, then laughed a bit.

Damien nodded, also grinning, as he voiced the source of their amusement, "Yeah, like we need something else to tire ourselves out with."

"Of course, though."

"Maybe."

"Well," Darcy said as the staff lounge's door began to open, admitting another staff member, "Why don't we ask them?" He shifted to address the newcomer, even before they'd fully entered, "What do you think? We have lots of spare time, right?"

[James Lawrence]

James was falling back into the routine of school. His summer had been relatively uneventful, which included a visit back to New York with his parents for a week and playing at a few local bars in both New York and Vermont to earn extra cash. While he much preferred going on stage, working at Hammel was what paid the bills and allowed him to pursue other hobbies. He had just finished up a training session and had one before he could head back to his apartment for the night. The one, Dennis, was a real good kid and his training seemed to be coming along nicely. James enjoyed working with him.

Right now, the New York native decided that he would go to the teacher's lounge and relax for a bit before going back to work. He had gone for a quick smoke break and decided that he would grab something to eat. Wandering down the hallway, he caught a conversation happening rather rapidly in what appeared to be the teacher's lounge. He paused for a moment, listening in with a confused expression. James almost decided to call it quits and head in the other direction, but now that the thought of food had entered his mind, it was all he could think about.

Opening the door to the lounge, James raised an eyebrow at the sight. There were two men who looked identical, and it soon dawned on him that they were likely a gestalt pair. That power had always... weirded him out. Before he could even get himself in the door, the two... possibly one?... asked him a question.

"I don't know." He answered plainly. Even though they were all staff members, James didn't recognize them. James eyed them for a moment before heading towards the fridge where he kept his lunch. "Do you?"

[Damien & Darcy Rittley]

Damien and Darcy both laughed at the newcomer's response to their question. Fair enough...

"Not really." Darcy yawned. Despite his apparent apathy, he was actively absorbing the information Damien gathered from his study of the other teacher.

"Not sure we've met," Damien said before motioning to the two of them in turn. "Damien and Darcy. Darcy's the skinnier one."

"The better looking one," Darcy countered.

Whatever.

The two exchanged a brief grin before returning their attention to the trainer for his introduction. Once they'd been introduced, there would be nothing to prevent them from recruiting him for their (currently purely dream) adult meta soccer team. Because who wouldn't want to be a part of a meta soccer team? It was sad that only the kids got the pleasure!

"Sorry." Damien plopped onto the couch next to his twin. "Not talked much with Gestalts?" Yes, he had definitely noticed the raised eyebrow earlier. They got that a lot, really. Gestalts didn't seem to be the most common metas around. At least, not among Hammel staff. And really, they understood others, even other metas, being weirded out by them. They'd been more than weirded out themselves, after all. But hey, time was good for everything. Including getting used to talking to a single soul in two different bodies. They just had to regulate themselves a little more until that comfort level was reached. Which they were actually all right at doing-- they just preferred not to if possible.

[James Lawrence]

"Then I would recommend changing that." James replied. To him, free time was important. He enjoyed filling his spare time with hobbies such as playing the guitar or watching documentaries on historic events. There had to be a balance between the two, and by the sounds of it, they still needed to strike it.

"I don't think so either." He said, nodding as they got introductions out of the way. "I'm James." His real name was William but nobody needed to know that. Instead, he chose to go by his middle name. He ran a hand down the length of his forearm, before pausing in front of the fridge. He turned to dig out his lunch, a hastily thrown together chicken salad. "This is my second year here, so maybe that's why our paths haven't crossed." He suggested, closing the fridge door and leaned against the counter to eat his lunch.

And they noticed the eyebrow raise. James dug a fork into his lunch, mixing around the greens and veggies. "No, not really." He admitted with a nod to confirm their suspicions. It seemed like a horrible power. Two people becoming one? The loss of control? He was thankful his helped rather than detracted. "It seems... difficult."

[Damien & Darcy Rittley]

"Eh, we have more free time than we let on." Darcy shrugged.

"We just fill it with enough stuff that some people don't consider it really free time," Damien grinned as he finished the thought. Though some people might've considered their breakneck pace and schedule impossible, they actually tended to enjoy it. Their mother had always said they had too much energy. Now it was paying off!

"James." Darcy smiled. "Nice to meet you." The two watched as he retrieved his lunch from the fridge, relaxing quite contentedly on the couch as they did.

"We just finished our first year here, too!" Damien said. That was pretty cool-- they'd been Hammel teachers around the same time. It was nice to meet someone who didn't have the whole seniority thing going on. Not that they didn't get along with the teachers who had been there longer, but it was natural to enjoy meeting a person you had something in common with right off the bat. "What do you teach?"

And as they'd expected-- He didn't really understand the Gestalt thing. Of course, not many people seemed to, meta or not. They themselves hadn't understood it for a long time. "It isn't really that bad," Darcy mused. "Sounds rough, but it isn't really."

"It was at first," Damien said, recalling memories of the pre-Gestalt Damien. "Before we actually really merged I was pretty ticked about not being myself anymore."

Darcy nodded in agreement. Oh, he remembered those days, of his twin being so furious about the whole existence of Gestalts. "It's handy now, though. I mean, we have the rare ability of being able to be in two different places at once." He grinned. "How many people wish for that??"

[James Lawrence]

The two weren't speaking simultaneously, which is what James had been expecting upon hearing they were Gestalts. At least, that was the impression he had been under until now. Instead, they were finishing each other's sentences. Which was still mildly... weird.

Damien and Darcy. He looked between the two, trying to remember which one was which. He couldn't tell who was skinnier when they were seated. Was there even a difference, or was it so subtle that they wouldn't be able to tell? "Nice to meet you guys as well." He replied, popping open the tupperware container that held his lunch. "Oh really? That's cool." He said. It always seemed that the trainers and teachers at Hammel had years of experience compared to the New Yorker, and that in turn always made him a little uncomfortable. Not that he voiced any concern over it. But it made keeping the suave, put together image all the easier to maintain.

"I'm a trainer, how about you guys?" He asked, his voice automatically slipping into the plural. Or did they prefer to be addressed as one? James decided against saying nothing, since he figured they'd say something if it bothered them.

He'd heard stories about the one half losing all sense of self and James couldn't imagine that. "Or is it just because you're use to it?" He asked, out of curiosity. Taking a forkful of lettuce, James took a thoughtful bite before continuing on. "I guess that'd be convenient, but still at a cost. I wouldn't be so positive had I merged with someone else." He said with a small chuckle.

[Damien & Darcy Rittley]

A trainer, huh?

"That must be really interesting," Damien mused. "We wouldn't mind training fellow Gestalts, but it'd be weird training other powers..."

"Unless they were enhanced strength powers," Darcy added, as it occurred to them that enhanced strength would probably be the same whether the meta was Gestalt or not. "Do you teach powers different from yours? Or do you stick exclusively with what you know?"

They had more questions, it was true, but they bit them back for the time being. No need to bombard the guy with an avalanche of inquiries, curious as they were about their fellow teachers. Instead, Damien took responsibility of answering the question James had put forward. "We teach Communication."

Darcy nodded. "And coach football."

They really didn't care how people referred to them, whether singular or plural. Actually, they would have though it sort've strange to be referred to in the singular, just because they were so often referred to in the plural. They spoke about themselves in the plural, even, for the same reason they still talked to each other-- residual habit. Then again, lately that had been wavering a little-- as they caught themselves saying "I" about themselves on occasion. Of course, typically it weirded people out to hear that, so they tried to avoid singular usage more often than not. It just took a little extra paying attention to how they talked-- just as it had taken more attention to not talk at the same time, or interrupt each other in the middle of sentences all the time.

The twins laughed. Was it just because they'd gotten used to it? "That probably has something to do with it." Damien nodded. "Especially considering my personality before we merged."

"But it isn't like one of us completely disappeared," Darcy mused. "We just sort've combined into one, awesome, super Rittley." They grinned. "I can see your point though. I figure that so long as we're happy with our lot in life now, it doesn't really matter whether it was that we made peace with our lot, or just got used to it as we merged."

The two shrugged. They had a feeling that it was a mixture of both. If Damien-before hadn't calmed down some, it would have made things ten times more complicated and drawn out to become fully merged.

[James Lawrence]

From time to time, James did find it a hard adjustment training powers outside of his area of expertise. Take Dennis, for example. While the young pryo was a pleasure to work with, James felt relatively clueless about the dynamics and what would work best. But, it was his job to learn and adapt and provide for the student. He even set aside his pride to ask trainers with more experience for advice. "It's definitely easier with powers I'm familiar with." He agreed. "But I accept any and all students. Worth a shot, right?" That's what the New Yorker figured anyway; maybe with time he'd be more selective about what powers to train.

He was glad that both Damien and Darcy seemed to be the talkative, outgoing type just like him. Mindless chatter to keep the room from going quiet was necessary, especially during the lull of a school day. He nodded once the two said what they taught at Hammel. "I see." James answered. "Clearly you enjoy getting involved with extra-curriculars." Their conversation up until this point had proven this. "You go to the university here then?" He asked. Seemed like the majority of graduates stayed local. He'd been one of the few to get out, only to get reeled right back in.

"Gotcha." James had been under the impression that one twin, for lack of a better word, 'took over' and the other one was lost. Even if a merging of personality was better than completely losing yourself, he was grateful that he wasn't a Gestalt.

[Damien & Darcy Rittley]

"How would you train someone with powers that weren't like yours?" Damien leaned forward, curious. "Just do a lot of research or something on it?" Even then, the twins were pretty sure it would be majorly hard to teach a student that didn't share power similarities.

"What's the most unalike power to yours that you're training?" Darcy inquired. "Or that you've trained in the past?"

Oh, extracurriculars... "Definitely!" Damien stated. "I mean, what's school without distraction? You play sports at all?" The question. The most important question, of course. "We're putting together an adult meta soccer team, and we could use some more players! Bet you'd be awesome at it!" Of course, even if James was horrible at it, that wouldn't stop them from recruiting. Everyone could play sports, in their opinion.

"Oh, we went to the university for a little bit." Darcy shrugged. "Then we went to a university back home and taught for a while around there. We missed the community here though."

Darmien nodded. "So when we heard that there were openings, we jumped at it. Not that we disliked the schools we taught at before." Far from it. But there was no where like Hammel. Being around other metas was just... comforting.

[James Lawrence]

James opened his mouth to give an answer, but already another one was fired his way. Not that he minded a fast paced conversation. "Exactly that." He said with a nod. It was what he did with a handful of his students, since having an ability to do with the senses wasn't a common one. Since he was new, James also had students rotated through him that stayed with him for a maximum of two weeks before a better suited trainer was found. "I ask the older trainers and see what I can do. If I'm really that terrible at it, then we find them a new one." He said with a shrug. Though, he'd like to believe he wasn't all that terrible at his job.

Off the top of his head, James replied with "I had a telepathic student for a couple weeks. Mistake in the system, I think." He said with a low chuckle. That had been an interesting and frustrating experience, for both himself and the student.

Shaking his head, James ate a couple more mouthfuls of his salad before continuing on. "Not huge on sports." He admitted. His exercise consisted of cardio and lifting weights. Organized team sports weren't his thing. Of course, playing music or watching historic documentaries were better. "Maybe." James said with a slight shrug. Couldn't hurt to try it, so long as he didn't make an ass of himself. Because image was important, and a craft he had cultivated over the years.

Pilot Ridge did seem to have a strong, tightly knit community. Even though he tried to get out, James inevitably came back. He questioned whether or not it was the right decision, but it worked for now. "Everyone does seem close here." He agreed after another bite. "It's... familiar, for sure."

[Damien & Darcy Rittley]

((Sorry it's taken so long to reply! D&D's muse has been problematic lately XP))

"Sounds like a good system." Damien nodded. "Always good to ask advice from the elders."

"Damien and I had to do that a lot at first," Darcy said. "Still do sometimes. We were coaches for a while before we came here, so that comes easy, but actual classroom teaching is quite a bit different from that, you know?" For one, it was much less moving around. Well, in theory. They still paced the classroom like crazy, but even that had gotten better than when they first started.

"A telepath?" Damien raised his eyebrows. "That must have been... Interesting while it lasted." Teaching kids that didn't have your same power must have been difficult enough, but telepaths and similar powers? They had a whole other level of awareness than others had. It'd be like trying to teach someone to read when you yourself were blind. At least, that was how they imagined it.

Aha! A prospective soccer player! "Don't need to be huge on sports to enjoy them!" Darcy crowed. "You should come to our next meet so you can brush up! It's a really simple sport, really. The best one out there, too."

"'Cause we're not biased at all," Damien joked.

"Very familiar," the twins agreed at the same time, before Damien took over again, "Can't imagine living anywhere else. You lived many other places?"

[James Lawrence]

OOC: No worries! <3

James nodded in agreement, since he believed it was better to swallow his pride and seek out help instead of blindly going ahead. Less embarrassment in the end. "How is it being a teacher?" He asked. He had the credentials; they were necessary to be a trainer at Hammel as well. It was reassuring to know that there was another backup plan in case things didn't go right as a trainer.

"Yeah." He said with a chuckle, remembering the frustration on both ends. James, because he had no idea what to do to help the student. The student, because he was not the right fit for the job. Oh well. It had been a learning experience. Not to mention, the student could tell that James wasn't confident about his abilities. Could read the majority of thoughts, which only made the New Yorker more frustrated.

The excitement both twins showed was... different, for sure. James was use to students having that much enthusiasm, but the adults around Hammel seemed more calm. "I could, yeah." He'd have to read more about soccer to understand the game. There was no way he was stepping onto the field without some knowledge. "Don't want to make an ass of myself." He said with a grin, to mask the serious statement as a joke.

"Not really, just New York. Home state. Went back there for college." James decided against mentioning his attempt to break out on the music scene. Although he'd tried, failure wasn't something he liked to talk about. "Came back once I heard 'bout the school needing trainers."

"How about you? Where you from?"

[Damien & Darcy Rittley]

"Oh, being a teacher is fun." Damien nodded. "Nice change of pace. It's good to have variety, you know? We can teach a subject we enjoy, then run around with the kids outside. And that wears everyone involved out." The twins chuckled. "So it's a good set-up. And it's nice being able to hang out with the kids in a less professional setting, too. The classroom is fun, but there's a difference between a teacher-student relationship and a coach-student relationship." They shrugged.

Speaking of a good set-up, both were plenty excited at the prospect of having another member for their attempted soccer team. Excitement-- that was a trait plenty of people had commented on about them. If anyone thought they had energy now, they would have thought the twins complete maniacs when they'd been students. And, of course, they had been maniacs.

"Psh." Darcy waved a hand. "You won't make an ass out of yourself." Damien nodded in agreement as Darcy went on, "We can show you the basics before we actually have a practice with everyone. And you won't be the first newbie, you know. And even out of the ones who have played before, a lot of them are rusty. You'd do fine!"

Damien nodded. "Figured somewhere around there. Never been to New York ourselves. It's on the bucket list though." He grinned a bit. "Like'd it there, I guess, since you moved back after Hammel. We're from South Dakota ourselves-- it's nice there, too, just not as nice as here." They shrugged. "We travel back when we can to visit family and stuff. You have a lot of family yourself?"

[James Lawrence]

If there was one particular subject James wanted to teach, it would be either history or music. History, since that was his college major, or music since that was his main interest outside of school. Maybe that'd be his backup if his job as a trainer fell through. Not that he saw a reason that it would. "Gives variety." He added on, another perk of teaching an academic subject and then volunteering. That said, James wasn't about to go volunteer and spend more time with students. He liked them... in small doses.

A hint of a smirk pulled the corner of James' lip up. Darcy seemed to be sure that he wouldn't. But how could he be completely sure? The offer to help out would've made most people relieved, but instead, James had to hope it'd be somewhere private. His ego didn't allow for him to accept help graciously. "Yeah, sure." He agreed after a moment. If worse came to worse and he didn't enjoy the sport, then he'd stop. Simple as that.

"It's great, I definitely recommend it." James told the pair with a nod. If there was anywhere he longed to be, New York topped the list. He still felt a little homesick and wished that his first career picked up, but that was life. "Yeah, I enjoy the city life. All the passing strangers." Unlike Pilot Ridge, where the same core of people saw each other everyday. "How come you like it better out here?" He asked, out of curiosity. James had never been to South Dakota and presumed there wasn't much of a bustling nightlife.

"Not really, no. Just me and my parents. What about you guys? Big family?" He could see it.