Life is Like a Boat [Darryl]

[Emiko Nakajima]

*--outfit

As soon as she was home, she was going to take a bath. A nice, hot, long bath.

Emiko had been working too hard, a classic Asian stereotype that, under certain circumstances, she’d be proud to admit to. She had been raised on hard work. However, that often meant that she worked too hard on a few occasions. Today, she had managed to pull a sixteen hour work day without realizing it- she had come in at six and she had clocked out just after ten, when she actually bothered to look up at the clock. I was because she didn’t have a window to look out of, to see the changing of light. Oh well. She had a big lunch, so she honestly wasn’t hungry anyway. She was exhausted, however. She had to remind herself that working like this was bad for her- it made her tired, which made her want to go out and traumatize someone for energy. If she had been younger, she wouldn’t have resisted the urge- being older, however, she knew better and could resist.

Fortunately for Emiko, she had worn comfortable clothes today- a nice dress and some sensible heels. As her footsteps echoed through the hall with resounding clicks, the female busied herself by pulling hairpins out of the bun she had set up before she had left for work. As her hair fell, she felt an immense relief already, so much so, in fact, that she let out a short laugh. The hallways of the school were empty- the teachers had gone home, the students to their dorms. It was just her.

Or so she thought.

Emiko noticed a light spilling out onto the floor of a side hallway. She almost ignored it, because she wanted to go home, but she sighed and went to check it out. God help her if it was a student that had picked the lock to a classroom to find grades. They’d have hell to pay. She glanced up at the sign above the door- it said it belonged to Mr. Bond, the Drama teacher. Oh. She had met him at the holiday party, albeit briefly. She went to his classroom and knocked on the door lightly, sticking her head inside as she did. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, because the light was on her, and moved farther in, to get it out of her eyes.

“Is everything alright, Mr. Bond? It’s very late.” She asked, once her eyes adjusted to the lighting.

[Darryl Bond]

Darryl had been pulling a lot of late nights lately. He was breaking his back for his students, and just to keep his personal life from taking over for a few short hours. Not to mention the Drama Club's play needed to be picked out, and since their numbers weren't what he had been hoping for, he needed to pick a play that had a small cast, would be fun for teenagers to do, and not cost them an arm and a leg to build a set for. You can imagine his list of plays weren't very extensive. He had one promising play, but Claude had yet to get back to him if it was school appropriate or not. He hoped it was, because there wasn't much time left for them to pick a play, assign parts and learn them, build the set and get costumes, and then actually perform it this school year. Needless to say, Darryl was popping out more gray hairs than he would have liked, being someone his age and someone who cares about their image.

Tonight, he had been working extremely late (though he hadn't yet realized how late it was) because his own classroom had been assigned to write a play that would last at least ten to twenty minutes with two (or three) acts in it. It could have been a comedy or a tragedy and could have been over whatever their little brains could come up with. They were set into partners for this task and he had been reading through them all, grading them, and making little corrections here and there as he saw fit. It probably wouldn't have normally taken him four to six hours to grade, but he hadn't exactly been what you would call...focused.

He never should have went to the Holiday Bash that Pilot Ridge throws every year. He never should have went, and he should not have drank anything, especially Scotch. That was a kick in the liver he did not need, and the veil it cast over his filter and judgment almost got his ass kicked. He vaguely remembered all that had transpired which didn't really matter because there were witnesses that filled him in on the crap that came out of his mouth, and what Clarisse said as well. It was just a clusterfuck, for everyone.

He jumped when there was a knock on the door. Sure he figured there might be...someone...still at the school but it didn't cross his mind that they would want to speak to him about anything. He sat up in his chair and straightened himself a little when the woman he had met just as the evening at the party came to a close...Emiko he believed her name was--he had been really drunk at the time so he couldn't be sure. He glanced down at his phone to check the time, not realizing how late it was, and widened his eyes in surprise when he did see the time. "It is late," he agreed before he looked back at her, "just grading papers, is all. Nothing too complicated, just time consuming." He wasn't the best of liars, but when he wanted to be convincing, he could be. "How are you? What has you here so late in the day?"

This was not one of those times.

[Emiko Nakajima]

Emiko cocked an eyebrow at Mr. Bond’s excuse for staying late- grading papers could be done at home as well, not only at school. She held her tongue on the subject, fearing it would be a breach of etiquette to point that fact out, and instead nodded like she understood. The sudden subject change to what she was doing there didn’t do anything alleviate her growing suspicions either. It seemed as if there was more to Mr. Bond than met the eye. She crossed her arms and lowered her eyebrow.

“I am doing well enough, I suppose. Work is tiring these days in security, I was busy filing security reports and didn’t see the time.” As well as taking the time flipping through the old student files to see if either of the suspicious people from the party were familiar faces in the halls of Hammel. She had no luck on the Asian girl yet- she had scrolled through all the names and clicked every Chinese surname to see if anything came up, but nothing showed. She’d have to go back through tomorrow. She hadn’t begun on the Spanish man yet. She had a feeling she wouldn’t find him, but she wasn’t sure if South America had a school yet.

She looked to the side and noted the room, looking around at the various theatrical items. She didn’t have to take a close look to know there was probably nothing from the Kabuki theatre or Bunraku theatre of Japan around. Many theatre directors tended to focus on the western theatre rather than the eastern, though she personally thought that kabuki should be given more attention in school. She had gone to see a kabuki production with her family- it was by far one of the most interesting experiences she had. But what did she know? She had never directed theatre before. She had never even been a performer- she had worked backstage at Eisai Gakkou, but only in set design.

She turned to look at Darryl again, crossing her arms. “You didn’t answer my first question though.” She paused briefly as she leaned back to sit halfway on top of a desk. “Is everything alright?” She wasn’t expecting him to tell her anything, but she could tell by the fears jumping out at her, however little they were, that something was very amiss. He was very stressed, and stressing was never a good thing in large amounts. Small amounts, yes. That was natural. But large amounts of stress were bad for a person, and she could tell just by looking at him that he had long since passed the natural levels. He was in the danger zone.

[Darryl Bond]

Emiko was correct; he could grade his papers at home. However, he felt that once he left his classroom, and the school grounds, his personal life would somehow manifest itself into a monster and eat him, or some other horrible thing. He was safe in his classroom, for some reason or another--however delusional his reasoning was. He straightened the things around him on his desk under her scrutinizing gaze and relaxed marginally as she admitted to him why she was here so late.

Her reason made more sense than his and he nodded his head slightly. He respected the security team for all their work to keeping them safe, especially after the one incident with James, in the recruiting department--Darryl didn't know the details, or really anything about it other than there had been an outside attack of some sort. Their job was dangerous, and Darryl's was not. "You shouldn't be working yourself so hard," he told her as he looked back at her after fixing everything on his desk. He figured if security was tighter these days, she would need her rest before her shift came--he had no idea what her schedule was like, but she couldn't really spend all day, everyday here. That just wasn't right.

He followed her gaze around the room, and couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about. He noted all this bookshelves that were full of script and playbooks. As it was, he didn't have any books on Kabuki theatre, because it wasn't required in his curriculm to teach. He had seen a few plays, during his time in California, and enjoyed them, but he hadn't felt his class wouldn't appreciate the customs of a kabuki performance--as all his students were very American (and just generally unappreciative of other cultures).

He had had a feeling that she wouldn't let his quick topic-change go, and he sighed faintly when she brought it up again. He watched as she leaned against a desk and he rubbed his eyes tiredly as he thought about how to word it. He probably shouldn't exactly confide in her, because she would probably jump to Midori's side (as it seemed everyone did), but he thought since she cared enough to ask, he should pay her back with an honest answer. "I've messed up," he summed it up with a slow shrug of his shoulders, "I'm just not ready to have a family yet--but I'm not about to abandon them, at all, and March is getting closer and closer." God there was a baby coming a few months away. "And now Clarisse hates me because she heard it from someone else, and I shoulda told her when I first found out about it, but I didn't because I'm an idiot. And now she's found this great posh guy and..." He let out a slow breath because he wasn't just confiding with her, but unloading. He looked down for a moment before he looked back up at her. "I'm sorry, don't mean to burden you. I'll be alright." If being 'alright' meant chewing your nails down until they bleed and re-reading a page seventeen times because you aren't focused, he was certainly 'alright.'

[Emiko Nakajima]

The Japanese guard couldn’t help but smirk at his comment about her working too hard. “Coming from you.” She gestured to his desk with a raised eyebrow, as if daring him to counter her point. She had known ever since she was a child that she could never be a teacher- she had the patience and the temperament for it, but not the dedication or the compassion. She could never try to make herself relate to her students- she was terrible enough at relating to anyone in general, let alone a group of sullen, ever-changing, hormonally imbalanced young adults. It took a special kind of person to do that, and even if Darryl thought he was bad at it, she could still respect him for it. It took dedication to be a teacher, a kind of dedication she didn’t have.

Emiko paused and crossed her arms as the man began reeling off his problems. She nodded as she pulled up a desk, the soft scrape of the movement not too loud to interrupt. She sat on the tabletop and crossed her legs at the ankle, hands in her lap as she listened to him. His explanation was very disjointed- but with the fears she was picking up, she was able to tell what he meant. She blinked and nodded, leaning back in thought. “As far I was aware, Mr. Bond, it takes two to tango. But correct me if I’m wrong.” She smiled a little, trying to insert a tiny joke. She continued on. “So as far as I’m concerned, it’s just as much the woman’s fault as your own. Having not heard her testimony, of course, I cannot be certain. However, I think she’s simply playing the woman card: everyone pities the woman in these sorts of situations.” She raised her hands. “As for the other woman, this ‘Clarisse’, if she isn’t the one who’s pregnant, I certainly think it is, pardon my language, none of her damn business. If this pregnant woman really didn’t want to stir up any drama, I’m certain she’d take whatever help you gave her and wouldn’t go around stirring up hornet’s nests.”

Emiko was far from a feminist. She believed, like many Japanese women her age, that old values were doing nothing but hindering progress. And why should she believe otherwise? Mr. Bond, at this point, certainly could not progress forward. He was too busy looking over his shoulder to do that; all because of a careless decision that he had made, not by himself, but with someone else as well. Yes, he was to blame- but so was the female. If she wanted to point fingers, Emiko could feel no pity for her. Had she been in the woman’s situation, she would’ve owned up to her own mistakes too, not just yelled at someone for their part in it. “I don’t think you’re an idiot, Mr. Bond. An idiot would not care. You obviously do.” Her eyes softened and she tilted her head, smiling. “And you aren’t burdening me.”

Smoothing out her dress, she continued. “So, what do you plan on doing for this? And what has this woman done so far in regards to the fetus?” Ah, yes, Emiko loved her technical terms. They made things sound so much more… removed. “Seeing as now she is due in two months, I’m under the impression she’s planning on carrying it full term. But is she giving it up for adoption, or is she planning on keeping the newborn? Or does she not want you to be privy to this information?” The latter option was one Emiko said with disdain- if it was true, she would find this woman despicable in the highest degree. No one deserved a fate like that.

[Darryl Bond]

Darryl smirked slightly at her reply to his comment about her work load. He flippantly waved his hand and told her, "it takes one to know one." Darryl grinned faintly before his eyes started to wander again. He really didn't need to be staying up so late and stressing, but it wasn't like he could just shirk his duties as the head of the Drama Club, and his duties as a teacher. That had to come before everything else, which he was trying rather hard to do. But he was going to be a father soon, and he couldn't put that on hold either. He needed two of himself, to handle everything on his plate, but that was impossible.

Darryl, as much as he couldn't believe that he had actually told her what was troubling him, could hardly believe the words that came out of her mouth afterwords. She didn't pity Midori because she had gotten pregnant against both their wishes (and Darryl still freaking swears he was wearing a condom--and again, WHAT woman doesn't have birth control nowadays?), and she also didn't think he was an idiot for wanting to help, but not knowing how. He was twenty eight, very much a bachelor, and did not want to buckle down with a kid. Midori and himself had already trashed the idea of getting married because neither was even slightly attracted to each other, and that would really just cause more problems than fix them.

Darryl knew, through his best friend, what it was like growing up without a father, and he was not about to do THAT to a child, especially his own. He wanted to be there, but Darryl's slight aversion to commitment scared the crap out of him. Apart from baby books (he'd actually read up), he had no confidence in his parenting skills. He didn't have any nephews or nieces he could practice on, so he would be going into this nearly as blind as Midori (though from what he'd learned about her over the past few months was that she was actually good with kids. He had no doubt that she would be a good mother).

He look relieved, in part, because of her opinion on the matter. It made him feel just an ounce better that someone else out there thought like him on it. It wasn't all his fault. He wasn't the bad guy. Ok, ok, so he had yelled at her when he first heard about it, and hadn't told the woman he was dating about it either, but it wasn't like he had been dating her seriously when Midori got pregnant. She was pregnant before, and Darryl hadn't known until they had been dating about three weeks....Fear of denial and rejection kept his mouth shut. "Thank you," he finally said in reply, a relieving sigh left his shoulders deflated.

"Well, I am planning on doing whatever I can..whether that is just supporting her financially and looking after the baby whenever she wants me to...or coming over for dinner....Raising it with her, or whatever." There wasn't an ounce of confidence in his words as he spoke because he hadn't gotten a definite answer from Midori on what she actually wanted from him--if she decided she could trust him at all. "I think she thought about adoption at one point, but she is keeping it. She doesn't much care for me, and probably thinks me having any part in the baby's life is a bad thing, and I am inclined to agree with her--I have no idea what sort of father I am going to be but...I can't just ignore them." He couldn't live with himself if he did, Morgan would hate him as well. And Elaine would probably kill him. He sighed a little and to distract himself, he started to pack up all his things to take home with him. He might get in a few more papers tonight or in the morning, but it was really time for the both of them to head home. It was late.

[Emiko Nakajima]

The relief that came to Darryl's face made Emiko smile. Despite her power and the effect it had on her, she always felt a little better when she could alleviate a person's fears and soothe their thoughts. For one, it made the environment less tense- she could feel his stronger fears dissipating a slight bit- and it also made her feel like a good person for a short amount of time. She would feel awful about herself later, but for the moment she felt happy. That was what counted in the long run, right?

When he thanked her, she waved it off. "It's common sense." She muttered, but apparently common sense was in short supply these days around Hammel. Had she been in Eisai, they would've dismissed both staff members; such behavior was considered to be a bad example for incoming and existing students. She did not point that out to Darryl, but she kept it for herself. She could only imagine what effect this woman's pregnancy, obviously out of wedlock, was having on the students she came in contact with. She contemplated going to the headmaster about this problem but thought better of it. Unless it was a security issue it was really none of her business.

Her brows creased in thought but she snapped out of it once he began again, focusing all of her attention on him once more. She noted his lack of confidence as he told her his plan, but otherwise kept her mouth shut and nodded in agreement. Once he was done, she stood up and moved the desk back as she gave her reply. "I suppose you offer what you can. Financial aid certainly wouldn't hurt her cause, and if she refuses to let you see the child you could always take the case to court. Better to do it now then later when the child could remember. Custody battles, as far as I'm aware, are emotionally scarring on multiple levels."

As the desk was put back in place, she turned and looked at him expectantly. "You really should be heading home. Get some rest. You look like you need it." Her voice was soft, almost motherly. Her heels clicked as she crossed over to his desk and gently took the pen and papers from his hand, laying the pen aside and the papers face down. "Despite what you think, not every assignment a teacher hands out needs to be graded in one day." She gave him a small smile before straightening back up and retrieving her purse and coat. She looked to him expectantly after she had put her coat on, waiting for him to realize that he was going to have to leave before she went anywhere.

It was rude to keep a woman waiting, after all.