Oh balls (Vincent)

[Tamar Harris]

It was quite the whirlwind of a last couple days for Tamar. Just a few weeks after she first teleported a recruiter from Hammel had come to talk to her and Sally, the social worker assigned to her case. A few days after that and she had once again packed up her bags. This time, though, she had had to travel further than she's ever been. Tamar hadn't ever even been on an airplane before now.

Tamar was used to having to move around and go to different schools, but this was different. It was very weird being at a boarding school and then of course there was the matter of her powers. She was still a little bit uneasy about them. She couldn't wait to learn how to use them, but she had enough common sense to realize that something like teleporting could have some unwanted side effects. All day she'd kept her eye out for students doing crazy stuff. She half expected to see kids with blue skin, fangs or wings.

Since it was after classes and she didn't have anything to do or anyone to talk to, Tamar set out to explore the school. After walking around the interior for awhile and discovering that there was a pool, that was good to know, Tamar decided to head outside. She wondered around for a little while, picking up a tennis ball on her way, and eventually ended up in the courtyard.

Tamar stopped and looked around, tossing the tennis ball from hand to hand. With nothing better to do she started tossing the ball at the wall, letting it bounce once on the ground before catching it. The ball was hitting the wall dangerously close to an open window, but Tamar didn't seem to be all too concerned about that and continued throwing.

The thing was, Tamar wasn't exactly a great thrower and inevitably she eventually threw wrong. The tennis ball, instead of connecting nicely with the brick wall, sailed through the open window into who knows where. "Oh shit." She heard something fall to the floor and, without waiting to see what might happen, she turned to make a run for it.

[Vincent Romanov]

The computer screen on Vincent's desk glowed it familiar faint light and the cooling fan on his computer hummed lightly for some background noise. The man himself sat slightly to the side in his chair, staring blankly at the screen before him. On his desk were two stacks of folders. He had been going over mandatory evaluations of his security team, rating each member on a variety of mandates and tests. Everyone was tested and rated in the same fields, but in different ways. Physical fitness, mental acuity, meta ability control and understanding, and last but not least, their loyalty. Yeah, everyone on staff was paid, but not everyone who applied to be on the security team was picked. Hammel needed people who were going to stand and fight when and if the time for such things was needed, not some slack jawed coward looking for a pay check. Hammel was the best line of defense these kids had from a world which still didn't understand them and Vincent would be damned if he failed to protect them.

Paper work had always bored him and unfortunately, being head of security meant a ton of paper work. Evaluations, background checks, weekly inspections of the school's perimeter defenses, not to mention the usual dealings with the delinquent students. On occasion, Vincent would have to head into town and deal with the local law enforcement over some hot headed student who decided to tease some of the townies. Vincent's job wasn't easy by any means, but he enjoyed it and pushed on the best he could. His position here at Hammel allowed him to make the best use of his powers in a positive way and also gave him some room to find rest from his own personal demons. Having so many kids around kept him in a good nature, despite the rough act he put on for show, plus it helped that there were several highly educated individuals to help him if he should ever need the help.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Vincent leaned back in his chair and looked up. His window was open despite the cooler weather outside. He enjoyed the cold as he found his ability caused his body to generate extra heat. Outside he could hear the soft thud of something beating against the wall, but he paid it not much attention. Just as he was about to try and finish the current evaluation in front of him, Vincent's quite world was quickly interrupted. A tennis ball came flying through the window, bouncing off his desk and then into his slim computer monitor, knocking it off his desktop backward. His eyes went wide, but Vincent just sat there, sort of glad for the distraction. Yeah, he probably should have been made, but it wasn't like Hammel couldn't afford to buy him a new computer monitor if he needed it.

Decided it probably for the best if he find out who threw the ball through his window and why, Vincent pushed his chair back from his desk and stood. He wore his usual attire while on the clock so to speak. A white button up dress shirt and black slacks with dress shoes. His coat hung on the coat rack in the corner of his office and his tie...well.....he had burned that horrid thing ages ago. Casually walking over to the window, Vincent stuck his upper body through it, supporting his weight by putting both hands on the bottom of the window sill. Outside there weren't too many people about, save for one small and paranoid looking girl. She seemed to turn, ready to run and Vincent couldn't have that. Giving a sharp and long whistle, Vincent made sure he had this little girl's attention before calling out to her. "Going somewhere?," he yelled, holding back the better part of his smile.

[Tamar Harris]

Tamar had only taken two steps before she heard a sharp whistle behind her and then someone call out. She slid to a stop on the icy ground, almost losing her balance then turned around slowly to face her accuser. This was not good, this was not good at all. Would they kick her out of Hammel for miss-throwing a ball? She wondered. She hoped it would be nothing worse than a detention, she could handle that, but she'd only ever been to public school and didn't know if it would work differently here.

Tamar tried to hide the concern she felt from her face when she turned to look at the man in the window. Her eyes quickly cast about, taking him in. She didn't recognize him from any of her classes, though that wasn't saying much since she hadn't been here long. He was big, she could tell that even though she could only see his torso, and he had a firm jaw line. He was a bit intimidating to say the least.

Tamar saw what she thought might be the hint of a smile and decided to take a risk with what she said next. "This kid, he just ran by and threw a tennis ball in your office. I was gonna try and get him. Prob'ly woulda caught him too, if you hadn't stopped me." Tamar said, giving her best, over exaggerated look of wide eyed innocence. She figured he would either think it was funny and let her off or he would drag her into the principals office by her ear. Hopefully the former. Tamar just couldn't bring herself to whimper and apologize though or give him the lame excuse that she'd simply been throwing a ball and missed. Hopefully he wasn't in a bad mood.

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent nearly lost it when Tamar went into her innocent little girl act, giving some ridiculous story about running off to save the day and what not. It was typical of someone with fire in them, and despite his strict attitude and devotion to his job, Vincent liked that sort of thing. He demanded and expected respect from the kids here at Hammel, but at the same time, Vincent also expected the kids to stand up for themselves to some degree. As long as they had their manners and knew their place, then all was well.....Too bad Mia Keystone hadn't learned that rule yet. Tamar didn't seem that off the tracks though in her answer to Vincent and that was a welcome change. Had Tamar been older, Vincent might have treated the situation a bit differently, giving some sort of lecture about being more careful in their actions or what not, but he knew little kids had the attention span of a gnat.

Looking down briefly, trying to hide his growing smile, Vincent collected himself and then looked back up to Tamar. "Oh," he said simply, giving an equally exaggerated look of seriousness as Tamar was trying to give him, "Well then little miss, I'm so glad your here to save the day then. Maybe I should put you on the security pay roll then?," he asked her, giving her a wink and smile. Motioning for Tamar to come to the open window, Vincent cleared his throat and studied the little girl. Trying to pin a name to the face of any of the countless students here was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Vincent usually limited himself to knowing the trouble makers by name and sight and left the teachers to keep track of who was who among the students. It might have seemed heartless and uncaring, but in reality, it was just the way things had to work. It wasn't like Vincent didn't want anything to do with the kids, it just really wasn't his place. He was paid to keep the peace and to make sure nothing disrupted the natural flow of Hammel life.

Outside of work, Vincent was very involved with the local youth of Pilot Ridge. He volunteered at the Youth Center every weekend and once a month he visited the children's ward of the hospital to read stories or whatever was needed of him at the time. Vincent loved kids and while no one would really believe that, it was still the truth. Family was a very important part of Vincent's life, even if his family only consisted of his sister and mother. He had thought about finding a wife and settling down one day, even having a few kids, but that life had always seemed to escape him. He was beginning to get along in years and while he wasn't old, Vincent really didn't want to start a family this late in life. Finding a good woman, well....that could still happen but having a child, that might be different. He had thought about adoption before, but never really followed that trail to the end. "Come on little one, your not in trouble, I just want to talk to you a second," he said, reassuring Tamar that despite her wild pitching arm, she was safe from any sort of discipline.

[Tamar Harris]

Tamar tried to hide her expression of relief when Vincent seemed to think her act was funny. That sort of behavior had gotten her in trouble before, both with foster parents and teachers. They always told her it was lying and that lying was bad. She didn't understand how they couldn't see that it was just meant to be a joke, but for some reason they thought that this sort of lying would lead her to worse lying, even though they were just harmless stories. Though she had managed to lead on the less bright kids at some of her schools.

Those stories she'd told kids usually consisted of ridiculous tales about her parents. When she was little it was that they were explorers out on adventures discovering new lands and that was why they weren't around, but they were coming back for her and were going to take her away too. But as she grew older the other kids learned what Foster Care meant and no longer believed her. She hadn't said anything like that in quite awhile. Kids still asked though, often to be cruel because they now knew that foster kids' parents were often in trouble. In that case Tamar would respond with the very simple, yet powerful statement, 'they're dead.' That usually shut them up real quick.

He even played along with her a bit, jokingly suggesting that they should put her on the pay roll. With those words Tamar cracked a smile and when he beckoned her she started to make her way toward the window. She wondered what he did, here at the school. If he was a teacher she wanted to take his class, it would be a relief to have someone with a sense of humor.

When he called her 'little one,' though, Tamar stopped and crossed her arms. "I'm not so little. I'm twelve, you know." Tamar did her best to look as tall as possible. She didn't feel like a little kid, not after all she'd been through. It was odd to be reminded that she was, in fact, a child.

[Vincent Romanov]

Women.....all women, had this raging inferno in them about one thing or another. Vincent had always said that at birth the doctor would install a button which would send them into anger overdrive. Growing up in a house with two women had been an adventure and no matter what sort of evidence Vincent could have to back up his claim of how terrible it was to live with one woman, much less two or more, his mother and sister always shrugged it off as a man being a man. Women never would understand the plight men had to go through in living with them. Men had their faults by the dozen and putting up with each one was stressful, Vincent wouldn't deny that fact, but at least in most cases you could reason with a man. Trying to find rhyme or reason with a woman was like trying to breath in out space, it just wasn't ever going to happen. So when Tamar stopped abruptly and gave that all too familiar face, Vincent smiled and dropped his head, smiling widely before looking back up. He had played this game a billion times before and knew the steps to take to disarm this bomb.

"Excuse me then," he said looking all serious, or more like a comical serious, "I didn't know I was dealing with someone who was almost an adult," he added, smiling a bit, one corner of his mouth lifting a bit crookedly as he held back his laughter. This girl had some fire....lots of it as a matter of fact. Vincent realized Tamar might be one of those on his watch list in the near future. If one knew Vincent well enough, say from his early childhood and adolescents, they might see a slight bit of that kid in Tamar. This wasn't to say she held his ideals or physical traits, but rather her attitude. Vincent was a very dogmatic person and held his beliefs solidly. Right and wrong was as simple as black and white for him and if he figured something was wrong he wouldn't budge in his belief or actions otherwise. He could see that stubborn look in Tamar right now and so, he would have to be the one to bend.

Vincent's day had started out as any other and had looked to be ending the same, however, it seemed fate had other ideas in store for him and for young Tamar. What were the odds of Vincent's window being open today or the fact that he was saddled with so much paperwork that he would be in his office all day long? Usually Vincent was out and about the school and had he not been around when Tamar was throwing the ball, then his window would not have been open and he would have missed meeting this fireball. Of course, fate sometimes worked slowly and it took time for her plans to come to fruition. After a second, Vincent spoke again, "What's your name?".

[Tamar Harris]

Tamar could see that Vincent was holding back laughter at her statement. She took a moment to decide whether or not to be annoyed, but ultimately he didn't really seem to be making fun of her. She shouldn't be annoyed anyway, she realized. She had obviously disturbed him in a less than pleasant manner and she knew that most teachers would not have reacted too well to a tennis ball flying into their office. She was lucky that she hadn't been immediately hauled off to the principal's office by the collar.

Tamar crossed the few yards between them so that they were at a more natural distance for holding a conversation. It was nice to actually have a conversation with an adult, it wasn't something that usually happened. Most adults in Tamar's life either talked down to her or held one sided conversations about what she should be doing while she barely listened. Then again, Vincent didn't know anything about her yet. She figured he would probably see her differently when he found out about how much she'd moved around and how many schools she'd already been to. He would then probably see the tennis ball incident as lashing out and suddenly, instead of joking about putting her on security, she'd be being watched. That was the scenario that ran through Tamar's head, anyway.

"Tamar Harris" She answered. "I only just got here a couple days ago. Are you a teacher?" She asked, trying to peer past him into his office to get some hints. If he was a teacher he seemed very laid back, maybe she would even like his class. Or maybe he was a trainer, that would be cool too. Tamar couldn't wait for power training

[Vincent Romanov]

Tamar was new to Hammel, only a couple of days under her belt. Everyone from Hammel seemed to remember their first day at the school differently, but still remembered it none the less. For some, it was an awe inspiring event and for others it was frightening. There were few who weren't impressed with Hammel and what the institute had to offer, but those were usually the kids who were born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth. Vincent was one of the ones who was awe struck. The size of the school had impressed him the most. The city school Vincent had attended in his youth was large for sure as most inner city schools were, but Hammel just swallowed him up. Even now, the school still seemed large, but that could have been the kid in him resurfacing just a tad. He wondered how Tamar felt about this place and if she was impressed. For someone her age, he felt for sure she would as he was in his youth.

Tapping his fingers against the window sill for a moment, Vincent smiled. "Not quite," he answered in response to Tamar's question, "I'm the guy who makes sure we're all safe around here," he answered hoping that Tamar wouldn't find him too intimidating. Security meant rules and kids tended to hate rules....as did adults for that matter. "I'm mister Romanov, but since your still pretty new, you can call me Vincent for right now," he said, trying to make Tamar a tad more comfortable than she appeared. She didn't need the jail house treatment, no, she looked as if she might need a friend for the moment. Being the new kid was always tough, especially if you were an orphan.

With a sigh, Vincent looked Tamar over. The moment was sort of awkward and conversation was dying fast. Guys just weren't really the talking sort of creature and Vincent was a good example of that stereotype. "Yeah, I'm not real good at making conversation," he said with a little chuckle. "You need any help getting around Hammel or just need some help figuring the place out?," he asked her before clearing his throat. "Its not like anything around here is exactly within the so called 'normal' category," he added with a nervous smile of sorts.