SW: Fire and Wind

[Vincent Meian]

Despite the fact that Halloween was his birthday, the holiday had become something of a wondrous time of year for the Japanese man. All of the costumes, showing off people's interests and religions, culture and creativity... it was a nice holiday, even when its origins were so conflicted. But perhaps that's what made it fun, for him anyway.

Thus, with the weekly meeting for the Multicultural Club now over, Vincent cleaned up the classroom as students mingled with each other further, discussing possible ideas for the Annual Meal Day that had been planned as their year-end fundraiser. For today's Spirit Week theme, he'd dug out a costume from a couple years back, and fortunately the weather had been cold enough to justify the long duster inside and out. It wasn't the most fanciful of costumes, but it certainly got the job done. After all, what was more "Halloween" than a wizard?

Tucking the papers away in a binder, the tall man looked up from under his fedora. "The club meeting has ended for today," he stated in greeting. "However, please look around. I am happy to have the company."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Halloween had been Sean’s favorite holiday for decades, because it combined all of the things he enjoyed most in life: sweets, children, dressing up, parties, and, with Josh in his life, he and his partner had the ability to coordinate their costumes, which only made it more fun. He loathed horror movies, but, fortunately, there remained many avenues to celebrate that didn’t involve slasher films or schlock fests.

However, while Sean was filled with enthusiasm for the holiday and enjoyed the themes inherent in Spirit Week, he considered it unprofessional to interact with the students as a psychiatrist when not wearing clothing that could pass as professional. He might chaperone the dances in full costume or dress down in jeans and an over shirt when on the annual retreat, but this was his day job.

As a result, rather than don a costume for today’s theme, he instead opted for a color pattern that connoted Halloween: a bright orange dress shirt, a black suit, orange and black argyle socks, and a Halloween tie, complete with candy corn. He also had a knit hat shaped and patterned after a pumpkin that he didn’t wear in sessions, but which he had put on during his break.

With the end of the day, he stopped into Vincent’s classroom to discuss a few matters, and he smiled when he saw the other man in a full costume; the trainer had chosen to go all out this week, given yesterday’s costume as well.

“I see we chose the same holiday.” A cursory scan of thoughts confirmed that, although the psychiatrist also remembered this costume from a dance a few years back. “I wanted to go over the plans for next month, if this is a good time?”

The Student Activity Council met tomorrow afternoon, and he wanted to have notes to bring back to them, given that they oversaw other club fundraisers.

[Vincent Meian]

Vincent's smile was quick when he sighted the older man. "Indeed we have," he confirmed, bowing his head in gracious defeat. "However, I believe you have won the day in your choice."

Because while Sean was not necessarily in costume, he certainly made people think of Halloween whenever they saw him. And that was somewhat the point for the week, was it not?

Gesturing for the administrator to make himself comfortable with an affirmative, the "wizard" bustled himself around the classroom briefly, putting away the papers he'd just gathered and pulling out another binder labelled for the event requested. Quickly flipping through the pages to be sure he had the right folder, English and Japanese mixed in his thoughts for translation purposes. Amusingly (and unsurprisingly), the majority of the quickly repeated words were food based.

Spreading the papers across the table between them, the trainer began explaining the concept. "It is a simple concept, though the execution may be more complex," he stated, looking at the papers with profound interest. "It began as a fundraiser dinner, however the students had a number of ideas for unique breakfast foods from their cultures as well. From there, we expanded and compromised on an a full day of meals."

It was a little complex, but the basics were sound. And with adults everywhere volunteering to chaperon (as there always were), the likelihood of damaging accidents were reduced greatly.

"We will likely need to work with the students in the Home Economics course, and I will certainly be involving Reynolds-sensei as well, should she be interested."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean sat down when Vincent indicated that he should, making himself as comfortable as he could in a chair that lacked the plushness or armrests of the chair he kept in his own office. Then he waited for Vincent to gather the papers that he needed. Once the trainer found it, he settled in to study whatever it was that the club had put together for their plans.

The psychiatrist listened attentively, nodding to convey that he was following along with the description, although he stilled his head at the description of the event as “a full day of meals.”

There was nothing wrong with that per se, but thoughts of the Holiday Bash a few months prior remained at the front of his mind. While the cause of that panic had been improbable, they had occurred, and he knew that neither the Headmistress nor the Board of Trustees wanted to invite closer scrutiny of the school or protests from PUSE.

To clarify, he half-asked, half-prompted, “When you say a full day, I assume you mean in blocks of time with different admissions?” From a fundraising standpoint, and for the amount of energy and time invested in each hypothetical meal, separate admissions were fair. From a comfort and security standpoint, blocks of time were necessary. “Since Yvette wants to host this in the courtyard, I don’t see her approving final plans with the community at large milling around for the entire day uninterrupted.”

Moreover, it would be exhausting, particularly if an incident occurred.

[Vincent Meian]

Having not known the issues that surrounded the Holiday Bash until after he had returned to the school, it had certainly slipped the younger man's mind that the event would be at all inappropriate given the circumstances. Fortunately, he nodded, having already thought of the idea for breaks, though for different reasons. "Yes; there will be three different times for the meal portion of the event. From noon until two o'clock, we will have a family brunch planned for those with younger children. After an hour break, we will host a late lunch for townsfolk specifically, from three o'clock until five o'clock."

Shifting some of the papers slightly, the trainer pointed out the shift in overall planning for the dinner. "The dinner will be after an hour break as well, and will last from six o'clock until the close of the event. This is primarily for students, faculty, and older family members, in order to keep control over who will be on school grounds so close to the evening's curfew."

While it was instead for the benefit of the students participating, the breaks had been planned for in the initial stages. Part of it was designed so that students could enjoy the event even if they were involved in the cooking, and part of it was to provide a different atmosphere for each group. Since he was thinking of the students involved, rather than potential consequences, the fact that the planning of events on both ends had been met close together was almost miraculous.

Still, he looked to Sean, a question on his face due to the fact that he wasn't thinking at all about the disastrous event a few months ago. It was also a look requesting approval or improvement, as the psychiatrist had planned far more events than he, even with all of the holiday functions Vincent helped organize for the Velvet-Tone.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

As one of the few staff members who had been at the Bash for the entire fiasco, and having played a more prominent role in the cleanup than he had hoped for or that the administration would have wanted, all factors equal, the events and the fallout of the Bash remained at the front of Sean’s mind. Particularly with PUSE still having meetings and rallies, the psychiatrist viewed everything through that lens, and he knew that the rest of the administration, including all of the higher-up decision-makers had similar concerns. As a result, the breaks were welcome news.

However... “Will an hour between meals be enough time? Between cooking, clean up, prep, and costume changes?” That had nothing to do with concern about people milling around the grounds and everything to do with making sure the students didn’t become overwhelmed.

Break periods aside, Sean nodded in approval at the rest of the specific breakdowns, particularly with limiting the supper aspect to students, staff, and faculty members. That would make it easiest for security, and it would create the least amount of disruption for the rest of the student body. To that end, he said, “The rest of that sounds fine. Since it will be a weekend, we won’t have to worry about parking, as most of the spaces should be open.” Only the weekend security staff and the housing staff would have to park, plus whatever staff members volunteered for the event. That would provide ample parking for the community at large. “Have you worked out the ticket prices?”

[Vincent Meian]

The trainer thought through the question again, despite the fact that the answer was readily available and already confirmed. Still, he went over the planning once more before answering. "Yes; much of the preparations will be done the afternoon before the event. That which is more time-sensitive, such as initial cooking, will be done by the students and a supervisory faculty member during the break. There are enough students participating thus far that a rotation has started to be established, though once we announce the event I expect more volunteers and will plan accordingly."

The problem with costume changes in regards to the breaks was an easy one. "I have asked the students to pick two planned outfits; one that they feel they can safely cook in, and one which will be their costume for the event," the younger man explained. "This will keep the students from needing too much time between the meals, and the faculty from being away from the area too frequently."

His own outfit was still a bit up in the air, though given the event's formality (which was to say, not much but enough to warrant something nice), the season, and the fact that he was cooking for a goodly portion of the day meant careful thought. There were a fair number of things he could wear, so he had some options and quite a bit of time to choose.

Shifting a few other pages revealed a budget planner, with numbers written in a hand that was not the Japanese man's own - he had not taken these notes during the meeting, but rather a student who could calculate much more quickly than he (and thus had been elected the Secretary of the club three years ago). "We have," he answered. "The full details of our meeting notes are here, however the students have calculated that a five dollar ticket price for adults will be sufficient to cover the cost of the event. This means that we can have discounted admission for the young and the elderly, and may invite small children at no cost."

Reminded of such things, Vincent flipped through some of the loose pages to find a student suggestion that had been hastily written at the meeting and handed to him without being discussed. "Though we did not have time to speak of it, another student thought we could increase the revenue by offering a student-produced cookbook for the event, detailing the dishes that would be there throughout day. Considering that there will be a restricted venue for the evening service, I thought this had some merit and will be bringing it to attention next week."

The student who had asked him was also part of the Newspaper, and knew someone at a local printing press. They would have word on the final costs of the books by the next meeting, which meant they could discuss price and final deadlines.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean listened attentively and made a mental note of that, since he would have to report this twice: first to the Student Activities Council students tomorrow afternoon during their regularly scheduled meeting, and then to Yvette when giving her the complete rundown of the schedule and the plans. If the trainer was confident in the time allotment, then the psychiatrist was willing to vouch for it, since he trusted Vincent’s ability to break down everything, particularly in light of how much of the preparations would be completed on Friday. “That all sounds good,” he informed the younger man with a smile of approval.

Then, he added, “You’re in good company; I haven’t settled on my outfit either.” Sean knew what his partner would want him to wear, and he took that under advisement, but he had yet to make his final decision.

When Vincent held up the notebook, the older man reached for it. “May I?” He wouldn’t’ snatch it away, but he thought it would be simpler to read everything himself rather than to make the trainer repeat everything when it had been written down already.

The telepath smiled at the suggestion and nodded approvingly. “I like that idea, assuming it’s feasible and everyone is fine with sharing their family recipes.” He assumed that any students who expressed discomfort would be allowed to opt out, which would be fine. Otherwise, Sean found the suggestion charming. “I know I’d be happy to buy two.”

Two because he would want one for the house and then one to give to his nephew, since Ryan enjoyed cooking and, even all these years later, loved the idea of Hammel as a meta-human school and would want anything that they published.