Dear James, Advice Please? [Morgy and James]

[Dr. James Campbell]

Ginny had once started bugging James and Chase to tell her about how they had met. While her father had waffled a bit, more embarrassed by the context of the trip to Arizona than anything else, the blond man had gleefully recanted everything James had done. (Well, except the part where they'd had sex on his couch before he'd agreed. And then again afterward. But everything else had been told in detail, right down to how James kept taking off his glasses to try to dry them, but his shirt was too soaked to do much good.) He shrugged slightly at the man seated across from him. Maybe from the outside, he might have been able to recognize it as a fairly stunning act of love. From where James was sitting though, it was fairly standard.

Yes, James was so comfortable with who he was, but Morgan was also meeting him more than a decade after he'd realized how deeply in denial he'd been. Hell, he'd conceived a child, and married a woman. (Both of those events happened because he'd gotten a little drunk and very much wanted to prove to his two best friends that he was, in fact, straight. No matter what he had done the previous weekend while drunk.) He repeated Morgan's sentiment. "It really is."

James could tell that Morgan hadn't noticed the sticker until he'd pointed it out. Nice coincidence, though, that the man had chosen him to come to. "Yeah, I did it a few years ago, when I first got my own office." Come to think of it, he should probably get a new sticker. The one that was there was a little faded, as it had been Aristea's when she'd worked from this office. "I really am glad I can help. It's nice...well, it's nice to know that I can help so other people don't go through what I did." With a rueful smile, he added, "On that note, don't get someone pregnant in a rush to prove you're straight. Or marry her because of it."

[Morgan Tonaya]

“I wonder why it isn’t mandatory for faculty.” Morgan mused. There were certain things all teachers and trainers were required to ‘understand.’ Suicide watches, mental instability…that sort of thing. If they went through training for that, why not the safe zone training as well. “Couldn’t hurt.” He added indistinctly, tugging at a curl of blond hair near his ear. Maybe he’d bring that up with Claude sometime.

Though Morgan supposed it was Aisha’s job as the counselor to ‘take care’ of students needs of that sort, Morgan couldn’t think of a single time he’d gone to the counselor when he needed council. It was always a teacher or other faculty member he’d gone to in his school days. Even now it seemed that when council was needed, Morgan overlooked the most common choices of his friends and mother in favor of someone else. In this case James (who had turned out to be the perfect decision, if not having made him slightly uncomfortable).

Sinking into his chair slightly, Morgan’s face burst into a rather impressive blush. It wasn’t so much the thought of getting someone pregnant that made him squeamish, but at the thought of marrying someone for any other reason than because you wanted to marry them. Perhaps Morgan was still a schoolboy in that respect, or maybe he was simply old fashioned, but that was something he’d spent his whole life waiting for: Marriage he would not rush. “I uh…I won’t. Nothing to worry about there.” He said with a wide smile and another nervous laugh. “I plan on making sure I marry the One; first and only.”

[Dr. James Campbell]

James shrugged, "Some people feel uncomfortable with it, and even if they're conscious about that, and want to help, it's better for students to go to someone who puts themselves out there voluntarily." When he'd gone through it--though it should be taken into account that he'd been a good deal older than the students at the time--he had gone to Aristea, the recruiter who had been the one to discover him. Despite him resenting the hell out of her for bringing him away from his family, she was the first one to actually confront him with the possibility that he was gay and in denial over it. (He'd been the one to later convince Aristea to go through the training, though he doubted many students had gone to see her. She was the same age as his mother, which made her older than all of theirs.)

And really, he was glad to be there. If he saved one person the mental anguish he'd gone through, it was worth it.

Watching Morgan sink back into the chair, James couldn't manage to fully hide the smirk on his face. He shook his head and laughed self-consciously. "That's what I'd thought too. But really Morgan, what I'm trying to say is that so long as you like the guy, it's fine." Then he actually grinned. "Oh, yeah, and just remember to be safe about it. There, I've usurped Sean's job."

[Morgan Tonaya]

“Hn…That makes sense.” Morgan acquiesced quickly. Though Morgan wasn’t always one to rely on logic (he preferred the ‘follow your heart’ approach to everything), he was never one to deny someone else’s, especially when it was as solid as James’ tended to be. Sighing, Morgan tapped his chin. “I suppose I’ll keep an eye out for the next training.” He mused, nodding softly to himself as he made a mental note to do a little more research on the subject.

His nervous laughter continued as he rubbed the back of his neck, James’ smirk only exacerbating his embarrassment. “You’re right. And that’s all that should matter, anyway.” Morgan’s laughter momentarily leapt up an octave in actual amusement, the blond man pressing the thumb and forefinger of his right hand against his eyelids and sighing. “Ahh…Thanks. I guess I get to graduate now that I’ve had the mandatory lecture?” In an effort to look at anything but James’ eyes, Morgan’s gaze dropped on the recruiter’s hands.

Laughter trailing off, he tilted his head. “Woah, hey…” He looked back up to James’ face, seemingly oddly surprised that he hadn’t noticed the bandages before. “What’d you do there?” He inquired, not realizing that the question not only was intrusive, but could have been bringing up something James did not want to discuss.

[Dr. James Campbell]

James tried to be logical, because he knew he wasn't always rational. And since he couldn't be both--he was also a shameless romantic and obsessive compulsive--he tried to at least go for one of them, and usually succeeded. He smiled when Morgan implied he would take the training as well. "Good for you."

He had to laugh out loud when Morgan's voice skipped up an octave. "Yes, you can graduate now." James shrugged, "It's the same thing I say to students. And at least you don't have to sit through Sean's sex-ed lecture, like they do." He had the rare privilege of never having gone to that lecture. By the time he'd attended Hammel, he had a daughter, essentially failing him for the course. Getting permission to not attend had been one of the "highlights" of his first year at the Institute.

The question threw him. James stopped laughing abruptly and pulled his bandaged hands back, off of is desk, as if that would shield them from sight. Chase had re-wrapped them that morning, and though they looked better than they had the first day, he would need them wrapped for a while longer yet. "I...ah, when I was attacked, and someone got into my head..." The staff knew what had happened; the power had been described fairly meticulously to them, so they knew what they were up against. "Well, whoever it was made me break some glass." Nervously, he looked over to the empty spot on his desk where the picture frame had once stood.

[Morgan Tonaya]

Nodding humbly, Morgan gave James an enthusiastic, dorky thumbs up. In truth, he was rather excited to have the little triangle sticker on his door. He couldn’t see any real downside to completing the training anyway. It was relevant, there was a need, and it could probably help him come to terms with his own nerves.

Resting his hands palm up on his knees as if to accept the extra embarrassment brought on by James’ laughter, Morgan smiled sheepishly. “I can definitely say I don’t envy his job.” He murmured, shuddering at the thought of having his first history class as a sex ed lecture. Emma wouldn’t be able to save him from that one. In fact, she’d probably only make things worse. He made a face, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. “Ughn. Plus I had enough sex ed when I studied here. I think I’m good.” He said, chuckling.

Morgan immediately regretted asking the question, realizing that it wasn’t only mental wounds left behind by the attack, but that physical ones had been inflicted as well. Appalled at his own insensitivity, Morgan just looked at James blankly. “I’m…sorry I brought it up.” He apologized quietly, still shocked that the mental attack and such a serious looking wounds were connected. “I…didn’t know that was possible.” He added, never having been the brightest bulb in the box (no pun intended). He wasn’t a genius; not a detective, and certainly no warrior, but he couldn’t help (like the majority of the Hammel staff) to feel the need to fight back. “But we’ll find him…or her…We will.” Morgan said, more for his own assurance than anything else.

[Dr. James Campbell]

Well, there's some assurance for James. Even though one his hobbies was collecting, painting, and staging campaigns with miniature models from Lord of the Rings, he still was not the dorkiest man employed at the school. Morgan's thumbs-up sealed that.

"Me neither." Ginny had once commented that he was hideously unqualified to tell anyone else the facts of life. Unless he was speaking from experience. Don't be ashamed for enjoying something, so long as it was consensual. Don't have unprotected sex with a stranger. Don't marry someone because of society's convention... There were at least a dozen mistakes he had made that would make excellent bullet points in a sex ed lecture. But really, who needed to know about that?

James laughed too, more at the face Morgan made than anything else. "I didn't have to take it when I was here, thank God." Little could have been more embarrassing than sitting through one of Sean's seminars as a college graduate, surrounded by teenagers.

"It's okay." He tried to be reassuring, but he knew his voice was not quite pulling it off. The staff had been informed of the attack, and Chase, Claude, and Sean had given them his discription of what happened. But James himself hadn't been there, as the thought of everyone looking at him and knowing how he'd let himself be taken over was enough to start an anxiety attack. (And without Chase using his power to calm him down, James had been significantly more stressed since the attack.)

"Yeah. It's possible. I was conscious, but he'd taken over my body." James was abrupt, but was trying his hardest not to be curt. It wasn't Morgan's fault. He'd just been trying to be a good coworker. "I just hope we find him soon. Or Chase might decide to go vigilante."

He was kidding, of course. His husband would never do that. Chase wouldn't put himself in harm's way, particularly since they had Niko to take care of now.

[Morgan Tonaya]

James’ voice was definitely not pulling it off. His heart sank and lurched in his chest as he watched James move through the motions of explaining the attack for what was probably not the first of many annoying times. Perhaps annoying didn’t cover it, but Morgan couldn’t bring himself to fathom the kind of memories connected to such an invasion. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself to keep out the chilling feeling.

Slightly jarred by the direct manner of James’ explanation, his only response was a pained, horrified look, and a whispered
“God…” Had he had the presence of mind, Morgan would have been impressed by the exercise in composure James was showing. Unable to keep anything from writing all over his face, Morgan could never have been in James’ current position without breaking down…or at the very least having to pause to compose himself.

Snorting, Morgan gave his own waist a slight squeeze. “Chase might not be the only one having a go at that decision.” Morgan was no vigilante, however much he adored them in the world of comic books. He was frightened and angry. Mostly frightened. Frightened for his coworkers, the future of the school, and his students. Suddenly Morgan was also frightened for Jake. He didn’t like not knowing exactly what was going on. Somewhere far down the list, there was also a natural fear for his own well-being. Was that enough to make Morgan fight if the occasion arose? You had better bet.

An uncomfortable silence settled over James attempt at joking, Morgan chewing the inside of his cheek. He was filled with a sense of remorse for bringing it up at all, and overwhelmed by a desire to call Jake---no . He needed to call Jake. Just to check. Morgan stood up, his hand falling into a neutral position at his sides. “I’m…going to go…make that call.” Morgan said, managing a weak smile as he leaned near James’ desk. Could he shake hands would that hurt? Having already made it awkward, Morgan simply stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Going back to what I actually came here to bring up…Thank you.” Morgan said, shrugging one of his shoulders. “Really, just sitting there listening to me ramble helped a lot.”

[Dr. James Campbell]

James could only look at the pained expression on Morgan's face for a moment before he looked away. He didn't want to other man pitying him. But he was resigned to people seeing him a little differently since the attack, knowing what had happened to him. And most of his coworkers had at least tried to avoid the mention of what had happened at all.

Ignore what had happened and it wouldn't have any effects. That was his plan.

No, he didn't actually think that would work.

After giving a hollow laugh, he shook his head. "Chase won't actually do that." Was his husband pissed? Yes. But he was too careful to do anything really stupid.

The moment of sad, awkward silence passed, after lingering a bit too long. Morgan stood, and if it wasn't for the bandages, James would have as well, to shake his hand. (When had this discussion become so incredibly formal?) "Go, talk to him."

The thanks made James blush slightly. "It's not a problem, really. If you ever need advice, I'm here. Though I can't promise it'll be any good." He gave a weak smile, again, trying to ignore the awkwardness. As the other man turned to go, James said, "Morgan, really, good luck with him."

What else was there to say?

[Morgan Tonaya]

There really was nothing left to say, and Morgan hated it. He wished he could come up with something smart and soothing to say, something to make up for his horrendous blunder. He wished he could remember how the filter between his brain and his mouth functioned, but he was always one to say whatever popped into mind. The most he could manage to do to salvage the situation was to just leave.

With a warm smile as he laid his hand on the door, Morgan nodded and took a deep breath. When he looked back over his shoulder at James, his excited, nervous smile much like that of a teenage boy’s before prom. “Thanks…I think I might need it.” He said slowly, stepping out the door and waving stupidly as he exited the office.

He was hardly three steps from the door when he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He looked at the signal and cursed with frustration as he recalled he could rarely find bars inside of the institute. His rarely heard expletives were probably still audible to James, as he was still rather close to the office. That didn’t last long, as his walk quickened and he headed almost straight home. If James had really meant his well wishes, Morgan hoped his luck would kick in and Jake would pick up the phone. Fast.