Thread Roulette: Ingrid and Sean

[Event !]

We can't be that old, can we?

[Ingrid Barnes]

Ingrid walked stiffly through the door of the staff lounge, eyes dead set on the coffee maker. Classes had been over for a while, but she was still here, lurking around her classroom and banishing her red pen against lab reports. She still had a stack to go, and to her dismay, her coffee mug hadn't measured up to the number of pages. And she still had some senior papers to go over before tomorrow.

She turned on the machine, grumbling to herself after checking no one else was in the room, about how she was getting to old for late nights. Tapping her foot as she waited- patience wasn't Ingrid's strong point- she leaned back against the counter and bused herself by cleaning her reading glasses. It was odd to find the staff room so empty, but Ingrid figured her more sensible co workers had left for home already. Richard was going to be late again, and Ingrid was already dreading heading back to an empty house. She sighed, and jumped when the coffee maker beeped, almost dropping her glasses. She turned to stare at the machine a brief moment before laughing at herself. "Goodness, what's wrong with me today?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

((OOC: For timeline reasons, I need this set before “The Wild Woods.” I hope that’s all right with you.))

Sean typically stayed late at the school; when it wasn’t a weekend, he often had nowhere else to go. Josh was spending the evening with his mother and father at the center, which reduced Sean’s potential supper plans to cooking for himself, watching NBC and falling asleep. Little wonder that he was in no rush to go home to that.

He also had a pile of work, but rather than reports for grading, they were files he had to examine. Because of the confidential nature of his work, he’d left the pile back in his office while he ventured to the staff lounge for a cup of coffee and the remnants of whatever Anya had brought in this morning. He needed the energy boost to get through the rest of this evening.

While he was used to prowling the halls at this hour, he wasn’t used to having company. Usually the students had returned to their rooms, the grounds, or the cafeteria and all of the day staff had long since left for their homes and whatever they did at night. However, Ingrid was there, and he gave her a smile of greeting before making a direct line for the coffee pot. “I didn’t think anyone else was here this late.”

[Ingrid Barnes]

(OCC: Completely fine with me.)

Ingrid barely contained the urge to jump when she heard Sean speak. Instead she turned around and tried to keep her face from looking like he'd frightened her. She just deny it anyway. "Sean, how nice to see you." She drawled, going back to preparing her coffee. She placed her readers back on face, giving herself a moment to calm down and then smiled up at the man.

"Most sane people would be. But I suppose that's why I've remained." Oh yes, Ingrid did love taking shots at her own mental health. It didn't make any sense why she did, not even to her herself. As she aged, she found the urge to berate her upcoming loss of mind when ever she could, making light of something that undoubtedly haunted her.

She stepped away from the pot, staring at him kindly. "That wouldn't explain why you're still here, however. Shouldn't you be out having fun while you're still young? Give it a decade or so and you'll be like me and won't have the chance." Ingrid crossed her arms, clearly amused by her own little joke.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean knew better than to accuse Ingrid of being startled, which is why he ignored his usual polite urge to apologize for surprising her. One didn’t get into that with Ingrid Barnes, and while it had been three and a half decades since he had last been a student at Hammel, there were certain lines one simply didn’t cross with a former teacher. That was one of them. “It’s nice to see you too, Ingrid,” he returned the pleasantry with a smile.

It was a fair enough point; although she was famously married, Richard had a habit of working too hard and thus she likely had no more reason to leave than Sean did himself. That was a pity; he didn’t wish his schedule on anyone else.

Once she moved out of the way, he maneuvered around her to pour himself a cup of coffee and then to stir in the milk and sugar he preferred. “The only place I have to go tonight is home,” he remarked with a slight undertone of self-deprecation. “It doesn’t matter if I work here or at home, so I thought to save myself the drive.” He was in no hurry to go home to his big empty house.” Shaking his head and taking a sip of his coffee, he added, “Considering the age gap between me and most of the faculty, I don’t have much of a social circle for weekday nights anymore.”

[Event !]

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