Visiting the HOH Office on Teppenpaw Commons

Daniel Nash

May 13, 2011 8:43 PM

Visiting the HOH Office by Daniel Nash

He was in the hallway somewhere near the Teppenpaw Commons. As an Aladren, Daniel did not know precisely where the Teppenpaw entrance was, but he knew where the Teppenpaw Head of House office was and it was Professor Crosby he was going to see today. He figured he had a better chance of finding her here on a Saturday than he did in the Transfiguration room.

After a lot of thought on the matter, he had eventually decided that he would not speak about his Charms Incident with Professor Fawcett or the school medic. There were only two professors in the school who were even remotely likely to do something like that to him again, so he would just speak to Professor Crosby and McKindy individually himself.

And hope they didn't tell anyone else.

Fortunately, they were both Head of House, so if they did feel it was something that had to be shared among the administration, it would only expand to probably Fawcett and Pierce and, obviously, the Headmaster. He didn't mind overmuch if Regal knew, so long as it did not impact his candidacy for Head Boy again next year (but since he was doing a perfectly capable job of it this year, he didn't think that likely). He wasn't sure he wanted Fawcett to know he had mental stability problems, as he had a great deal of respect for his own Head and didn't want the man to think any less of him, but he could handle that, too, in absolutely necessary. Pierce . . . probably thought he was mad already. He was, after all, the Aladren Captain.

At this point, though, he thought he could keep it between himself, Andrew, Charlie, and Professors Crosby and McKindy.

He stood in front of the Teppenpaw HOH office, fist raised as if to knock, but paused there, as nerves fought to make him keep the secret limited to himself and his chosen friends. But no. What if he had been partnered with someone other than Andrew? No, he couldn't risk this happening again. He was taking precautions to prevent it, but this was the most surefire one.

And so he knocked on the door of the hallway entrance (which would tell her he wasn't one of her House charges) and spoke up, removing all doubt, "Hello? Professor Crosby? This is Daniel Nash. May I have a word in confidence?"

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HoH Lilac Crosby

May 15, 2011 12:12 PM

My door is always open. by HoH Lilac Crosby

When Lilac heard a knock on her door, she expected the source to be one of two possibilities. It could either have been a student who had forgotten the wicked dance moves necessary to enter the Common Room, or Seth. Admittedly, she had been hoping for her the latter.

As she stepped towards the door, she was surprised to hear a voice that was neither of the two considered options. “Hello? Professor Crosby? This is Daniel Nash. May I have a word in confidence?” She wasn’t sure why he would need a word with her; he was doing quite well in her class, and she would have expected that with most problems he would go to his own Head of House. In any case, she opened the door.

“Of course, Daniel,” she answered with a smile, leaning against the door casually. If this was about some sort of personal problem, the brunette professor wanted the boy to know that she was not going to make his telling her awkward. She wanted all of her students to feel comfortable with her, even the ones who weren’t in her own House.

“Do come in,” she insisted, gesturing him inside before turning and seating herself behind her desk. “Sit down, if you’d like.” Lilac did not instruct him to shut he door, but if he wanted a word “in confidence,” she assumed he would do that on his own.

Adjusting her ponytail of straightened hair--for it was beginning to fall out, which seriously got on her nerves--she asked, “What seems to be the problem, Daniel?” The Transfiguration professor did not use the formalities of Mr./Miss Insert-Last-Name-Here because an unscheduled meeting in itself was informal, and putting his trust in jeopardy at this time was not worth it. For all she knew, he was not looking for a professor. Perhaps he simply wanted her to listen, to be a friend of sorts.

0 HoH Lilac Crosby My door is always open. 0 HoH Lilac Crosby 0 5

Daniel Nash

May 15, 2011 9:27 PM

I'll be closing it for just a few minutes by Daniel Nash

Daniel entered the office as Professor Crosby moved inside. Closing the door behind him, he followed her and took the seat across from her. Once there, he wished he had worn school robes so he could straightened them for a few extra moments without his hesitation being obvious. Instead, he claimed those seconds of putting off this conversation by picking off an imaginary piece of lint from his trousers.

After brushing his fingers together as though to knock the lint loose onto the floor (which he wouldn't have done had there been a chance off actually dropping litter onto a teacher's office floor, but rubbing the imaginary lint free gained him another couple of moments), he took a deep breath and tried to decide if he wanted to follow his most recent memorized monologue, revert back to a previous version, or just wing it.

Before the Charms class she substituted, Daniel would have probably just recited what he'd come to say to Professor Crosby. Today, he decided his lack of flexibility was what had caused the problem in the first place. He opted to keep it much simpler.

"Professor, I would like to make a request. Would it possible to warn me beforehand in cases where my surroundings or clothing might be changed suddenly or unexpectedly? I am attempting to improve my ability to handle surprises, but I haven't yet reached the point where I can gracefully."

Also, it didn't sound quite as mad.

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HoH Lilac

May 15, 2011 9:41 PM

Well, this is the exception. by HoH Lilac

After Daniel spoke, Lilac felt very confused, and she blinked her grey eyes a couple of times. “…What?” As she started to get past the formality in his voice, an actual understanding took place of her puzzlement. To make a long story short, he wanted to be warned if a lesson would involve changing the classroom or his wardrobe.

“Not the best with surprises, eh?” she inquired rhetorically. “Personally, I’ve always found surprises to be refreshing ways to break through a mundane society, but I understand your less-than-enthusiasm.” Wow, that sounded a lot smarter than what she had intended, but she was a teacher after all. Intelligence was sort of required, and she supposed showing it in her vocabulary was hardly wrong.

“But yes, I can most certainly try to remember to warn you in advance if my lessons involve a surprise,” said the woman, “on one condition.” She grinned. “Don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin the surprises altogether.” Not that she had been using surprises in her more recent classes, but if she ever wanted to go back to her previous style of teaching, ruined surprises would just make everything bland.

Rising from her seat, Lilac walked around the desk and placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder supportively. “Is there any particular reason you don’t adjust to surprises?” inquired she. “Anything else I should know to help you better?” It was very critical to her that all of her students did their best, and if there was any more she could do to help, well Merlin darn it, she would do it. Plus, it seemed like there was something deeper going on here, and she was slightly invested for curiosity’s sake.

0 HoH Lilac Well, this is the exception. 0 HoH Lilac 0 5

Daniel Nash

May 17, 2011 8:22 PM

I can be exceptional by Daniel Nash

"Something like that," Daniel agreed, loud enough that Professor Crosby could probably hear him, but quietly enough that she might wonder if maybe she hadn't been supposed to. Admitting that he wasn't the best at something - even handling surprises - was hard and not a thing he had much intention of making a habit of. Besides, he was pretty sure the question had been rhetorical anyway.

He was both surprised and impressed by her defense of surprises, and even if he didn't agree, he could respect her position on the matter now that he understood the psychological reasoning for it. "Thank you, and I promise I won't give anything away. I'm very good with secrets."

Then she stood up, and took a 'supportive' position that Daniel had not entirely believed actually occurred in real life (it was not the first this had happened to him, and it would probably not be the last either; sometimes he thought the nearest his life had ever ventured toward 'normal' was what happened around him when the film was rolling).

Daniel should have known he wouldn't get out of discussing the root cause of his Trouble With Surprises that easily. Especially with a Teppenpaw. Teppenpaws liked to 'help' - it was probably even in Crosby's Head of House contract.

He sighed quietly and decided he would accept defeat gracefully instead of looking suspicious or evasive. "Mostly it's because I'm a method actor who takes his cues from his surroundings and wardrobe," he explained, hoping that a matter-of-fact voice would make it sound like a professional hazzard most of Hollywood had to deal with instead of a mental instability that he had probably inherited through his mother's genes.

"Honestly, I'd rather behave like an Aladren student during my Advanced Charms lessons than some kind of brain-dead surfer who doesn't even know what 'conjure' means." Which was not what Nate was at all, but throwing in a dramatic extreme for effect probably also sounded less crazy than saying he morphed into an alternate personality he'd been interchanging with since he was nine.

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