AU: A Brand New Day

[Eli Morrison]

To understand how apprehensive Eli Morrison had been when Sean Neville had approached him to come work at RHMA, one needs to remember that he'd been working in the Hammel Institute library in one form or another since he was thirteen years old. Over half his life he had either been an assistant there or the librarian. So when the opportunity to work at a different school came up, he was hesitant.

That was, until he was informed that the Board of Trustees for Hammel was considering redefining the librarian position so it required degrees he didn't have. Then he'd talked it over with Midori and resigned from Hammel the next day.

It was still intimidating that he was the one setting up the library. Sean had procured a bunch of donated books from somewhere, and now Eli was organizing them. For every book he sorted through, he added one or two more to the list he had going on a legal pad. The donations were a good start, but were not nearly adequate for a school yet.

Not that there were many students yet either. But there would be, and they would need a place to do research other than the two computers he had already set up in the corner.

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As soon as the new school opened, Grams wasted no time in getting Jackson transferred there, to a meta-school clear on the other side of Pilot Ridge, despite Jackson’s protests. He didn’t want to have to get used to another school! It felt like he’d only just arrived at Hammel, though it was two years ago, and he still had at least another two years until graduation. Correction, he only had two more years until graduation, at least from his academics(at the rate his powers training was going, he wouldn’t be surprised if they kept him until he was fifty!). But changing schools halfway through his high school career?? That couldn’t be healthy!

Besides, that meant that he was all the way over here and Ginny was all the way over there! And Rue…well, he supposed he could still go visit Rue at his house, so that wasn’t such a big problem. And his cousins hadn’t transferred(yet) either so he actually had just a little bit more freedom here regarding…Rue. He wouldn’t have to sneak around while being in a sort-of-relationship with another man. After all, it was well known that the headmaster had a same-sex relationship with his partner, so the school had to be open to that sort of thing. Not that Hammel wasn’t, there were just so many more people and eyes watching.

So maybe the transfer was a good idea. He’d miss Ginny though. Grams was certain a “floozie” like her wouldn’t be allowed to go to a respectable place like Robert Hopkins. but she might….

Sigh, or not…

The classes here were maybe a little bit more strict, but also a little more…advanced? Jackson couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Either way, his attitude about school was still that it was just a thing to get done and out of the way so he could have time to do more important things. Like basketball. Or soccer. Or making-out with Rue….

That last one shouldn’t have been an option….bad Jackson!

He headed to the library with just that in mind, though. Jackson had an essay due for English and figured he may as well get it done quickly so he didn’t have to think about it anymore. It was a lot easier to concentrate on fun things when you didn’t have homework hanging over your head. Upon entering the library, however, he saw a familiar-ish face. “Ah…Mr. Morrison,” he said to the librarian, surprised to see him at this school. They didn’t know each other well, but Jackson had been in the library enough back at Hammel to warrant polite conversation when he checked out a book. Jackson looked at the stack of donated books and immediately stepped over to the man. “Do you need help?” he asked. “I can help!” Anything to procrastinate, unfortunately.

[Eli Morrison]

Eli had been pretty well locked into what he was doing. It was probably best that Jackson said something, or else he wouldn't have noticed that he wasn't alone at all. He didn't startle though, just looked up at the student. Like all of RHMA's students so far, he was a transfer from Hammel.

Though he had the organization under control, he wouldn't mind having a little assistance. One of the tenants of his agreement with Sean was that he would interact with students, like he had at Hammel. (And that was a lot easier as Vincent Verax was not a RHMA student.) "If you'd like to help, I'd appreciate it. Just open one of the boxes that's still sealed. Each of the table is for a different kind of book. Just sort them out the best you can for now. It'll help when it comes time to actually label them."

This was the quickest way he could think of to get the library started. It was going to take a lot of work, so Eli really would need the help. "And if you think of any books you think we should get, let me know and I'll add them to the list."

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Jackson wasn’t the most organized of people - his room was a stellar example of your average high school student who hadn’t been told to clean it in a month - but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to do it. And book, to him, were pretty darned easy to categorize. At least he hoped so. So that would make this task fairly easy, right?

The boy smiled and nodded, setting his bag down on one of the chairs and hefting one of the boxes up onto a table. He pulled out a stack of books and started going through them separating them first into smaller stacks that he would later tote to each of the tables. He didn’t know any of the books so far.

Jackson looked up at the next comment. “Oh…okay. Um…well, I don’t know what we…you have already, so I’m not sure how much help I’ll be there, but I’ll keep that in mind.” Jackson offered another smile and returned to sorting. It was quiet, though, and that made Jackson anxious. He liked it better when there was at least a little noise going on. How boring would it be if he and Mr. Morrison ended up completing this whole task without even saying a word to each other? That would be awkward! So….Jackson strained to come up with something to chatter idly about. “So….” he started tentatively. “You came here too, huh? My Grams transferred me over soon as she heard about it, right? It’s a lot closer too, I don’t gotta walk as far, so guess that’s kinda a good thing, y’know?” Rambling at it’s best. He hoped it would turn into something other than just the young telekinetic talking to the air in front of him.

[Eli Morrison]

Eli shrugged and offered the student a small smile. "By the end of the day I'll have a list of all the books we do have in my head. If you suggest something we've got, I'll just edit it from the list."

It helped that he remembered literally everything. The librarian didn't know if that was a widely-known fact, but he knew the students hand an idea of what his power was. He kept sorting the books from the box he'd already been working on, fine with not speaking. But that didn't mean he was annoyed at all when Jackson tried to strike up a conversation.

"Dr. Neville asked me to come work here. I basically haven't left Hammel since I was a student, so I thought it was about time to try something else." That was an approximation of the truth, but he knew better than to go and actually bash his former employer. His lack of a degree had come up in his latest performance review at Hammel, and it was something that had been looming over him for a while, even before Sean had confirmed that the Headmistress was looking for a way to push him out. "I'm hoping Midori--Ms. Hawkins, the recruiter--will join us as well. Did you ever meet her?"

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“Oh….okay. I guess you have a good memory then.” Or something. Jackson didn’t know much about the librarian’s power, just that it was something that helped him be a librarian and that a lot of the other students had mentioned it at one time or another. Jackson himself didn’t have a great memory, though, so he could have heard it wrong or was remembering it wrong.

Oh, well. Jackson didn’t really have an interest in getting to know his teachers anyway. But he hated the silence, hence why he started up conversations so easily. Listening to people drone on about themselves was better than listening to crickets, and he could always figure out how to turn it towards something more interesting anyway…well, usually. Probably. Maybe. Who knew…?

Jackson nodded like he was invested. “Oh, that makes sense, I think. Dr. Neville thinks really highly of you, doesn’t he? Not that he shouldn’t, I just…I mean, I don’t really know you too much, y’know, I’m just a student really, and I, uh….” Whoops, it seemed his mouth ran away with him, as it often did. His face flushed and he tried to laugh it off, going back to focusing on sorting the books. But he was glad that Mr. Morrison kept the conversation going. “Ms. Hawkins? I think I’ve heard of her,” and maybe seen her around campus, “but I don’t think we’ve met officially.” Jackson’s recruiter had been someone else. "Are a lot of Hammel teachers going to come over here, you think?" Jackson wasn't sure how he felt about that, but if so, he hoped that some of his favorites joined them...or that his non-favorites stayed away.

[Eli Morrison]

"You could say that. I actually remember everything. I have perfect recall." Also, he seemed to be capable of learning anything and everything, so long as he had the time to understand it. Eli's power was the reason he had stayed at Hammel for as long as he did. By the time he was old enough to live on his own, he'd long since graduated the academic side of Hammel and had been working at their library for four years.

He continued to work as Jackson rambled. While he also liked silence, he didn't mind having students chatter at him like this. (After all, nothing would be as bad as having Vincent Verax constantly harassing him.) "She's a good friend of mine, and I'd like if she moved here, but I don't know how Dr. Neville is planning on running the recruitment office. She has a son, so she can't be the only one in the department." Though, Eli would be happy to watch Tory while she was away, just like he already did.

"I don't think there will be a mass exodus, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few more came. This school is going to be smaller than Hammel."

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“Oh….that’s cool.” Jackson hadn’t really known anyone with perfect recall as a power. He knew people with pretty darned good memories though, but…how was that different than perfect recall? “So like…what’s the term, an eidetic memory? Is that’s what it’s called?” Maybe, he could be completely off with this, but it was (mildly) interesting to know about something like that and to know someone who could do that.

Jackson paused for a moment as Mr. Morrison explained. “Uh-huhh,” he uttered with a nod. What was he supposed to say next? Uh… “That sounds like….well, I guess if you think she’d do well here, then I hope she comes too! I’d like to get to know her, y’know? There were always too many people at Hammel to keep track of anyway, and I kinda like knowing who people are, but…” He made a gesture. “Clearly I couldn’t…wasn’t able to meet everyone, right?” He laughed, trying to cover up the awkward response. “Mmm,” he hummed, trying to think of something else to say. “She has a son? Does he go to Hammel too?” he asked ignorantly.

“Yeah, I can tell that already, but…small schools are nice. It keeps the teacher to student ratio down, y’know? I think I’d like that better…at least I know my Grams would. She thinks I had way too much, uh….freedom? At Hammel? Like, there wasn’t enough discipline, and she didn’t like me getting involved with those kids and all.” Not that he was undisciplined himself, but he had his own problems, most of which he kept from his grandmother just because he didn’t want to break her frail little heart.