New office

[Lumen]

((Continuing this.))

By now Shayla's mood had improved so much she was ready to start humming random song while walking through the halls. The only reason she didn't it was because it would be kind of odd seeing a student going into the new principal office with a happy expression.

She remembered the first time she'd actually been there, when professor Xavier was alive. That had been way back, when she arrived at the institute for the first time. Even if he's dead now... the places are still the same and everything seems bad now and I'm going to end like a human bomb again. So how exactly the 'yay!' moment to a 'dooms day' moment? Am I really that moody? Great now she was having self-esteem debate with her mind with the guy that could read minds... before even reaching the office. Sure it helped her to pretend to be worried about him but if she kept thinking like this, crying in the middle of the hall would start to look like a good idea.

"Oh, what's your name?" Starting a conversation was good, that way her mind would be busy and wouldn't go on the moody comments and her mind could focus on much better things like... well, sweets. Or something just overall happier.

((Totally sucky post. esfjsefn BLEH Sorry. ))

[Jake Sheppard]

Clicking the door to his (his! That still wierded him out) office open, Jake stood to one side to allow Miss. Blume, as he currently knew her, to enter. That was how important people opened office doors in films, wasn’t it? Possibly. Maybe that made him look slightly less out of place… though he doubted it. He had yet to get the authoritarian thing downbat. Probably never would… and though this was probably a good opportunity to practice, he didn’t have the heart to get pissy with a student just now. Not one with out-of-control powers (he could sympathise with that easily enough, and despite having milked his own situation to show off and wreak mayhem tended to give people the benefit of the doubt) and definitely not one whose only crime was thinking Northstar a dick.

”Officially it’s Professor Sheppard.”

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh ambles down the hallway, looking for something to do - and happens to walk past Xavier's office.

Well. Xavier's old office, but it would really always be his, right? Josh shakes his head. He his telepathy had manifested shortly before Alkali, and ever since that Xavier had been extremely busy. He'd helped as much as he could to help develop Josh's, but it took time. He'd been meaning to talk to the new head about it. Rumor was that he was also telepathic.

What the hell. Don't have anything else to do. He takes a few steps backwards and knocks at the door.

[Lumen]

"Sheppard.." Shayla repeated as she walked inside the room. The name (surname, whatever, it was the same difference for her) was odd for her but she couldn't criticize it, most people wouldn't consider her full name normal either. She was about to ask if there was going to be any punishment or if they were going to do something at all when someone knocked at the door.

Someone here already? Busy, busy new Sheppard guy. She turned around and opened it expecting one of the x-men people, instead there some guy standing there. His face seemed familiar but there were so many students at the institute that Shayla couldn't really remember his name.

"Oh! Sorry." She moved to the side so he could go in. Great, now it looked like she was the little office assistant. Well, that way she could think of pleasant things which was better than thinking up traumas.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

The girl, Lumen, opens the new head's office door. Josh had seen her around alot - he just tended to float in a different circle.

"Hi Lumen, is the new Head around? I had something I needed to discuss with him." He spots Jake once he steps inside. "I see that you two are discussing something, though. Did you want me to come back later?" His eyes rove across the Head. <I hear you're telepathic. I was hoping to discuss the subject with you.> He gives a smile, and jerks one thumb back towards the door.

"I can wait outside if your conversation is private." His eyes look to Lumen for a second, then return to the Head.

[Jake Sheppard]

<"Sheppard.."
”You got it” he grinned. ”Though off the record y’can call me Jake. None of this ‘Sir’ nonsense or anything.”

Well, this wasn’t going too badly, was it? He had it all planned out, how this was going to go, starting with offering a seat and finding out her name (the conventional way, for once, since he’d picked up on her aversion to ‘mind raping’ earlier)…

… but just when he thought he’d got the hang of things, life had to change the game board again, bring a new piece into play. Okay, calm down. You’re the Head, for crissakes. You can handle this

< I hear you're telepathic. I was hoping to discuss the subject with you[/i]
Well, that was interesting. And why he was here, after all… supposed to be an expert on these things (ha!) and to be able to help out (haha!). Made sense to get down to the job eventually, didn’t it? He quirked a smile in Josh’s direction. <You heard right. That’s me, the resident telepath. Though it looks like I’m not the only one, right… erm, Josh?>

Helping a student in genuine need should have been more important than socialising with a reckless one for no better reason than a shared dislike of another staff member, wasn’t it? Sigh. He’d have to get matters with Lumen over and done with quicker than he would have ordinarily liked and settle into the grind of running this place. How the hell had Xavier coped with all this?

”No, now’s good. Take a seat… That is, if Miss. Blume doesn’t mind.”

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh takes a seat as he sees Lumen leave - apparently her business was taken care of? He settles down into the leather chair, looking around a little. Everything looked pretty much the same. This is slightly weird.

"Well, you probably already know this, but my name is Josh, and I'm one of the older students here. Bobby's actually my roommate." He looks a little intimidated. What's this guy gonna be like, anyway?

"Professor Xavier and Dr. Grey worked with me to develop my telepathy, but Jean and I really worked on my telekinesis mostly. It comes much more easily... when I was finally starting to make some breakthroughs..." Something passes across his eyes. "Anyway, stuff happened, and I no longer have either one of them to help me." Josh looks around the room a little. He's probably too busy to set anything right now - I mean, he just got here, right?

[Jake Sheppard]

Jake nods as if to say Sure, of course I knew all that. I’m a responsible teacher while mentally making a note – with a sickening sense of déjà vu, since he’s fairly sure he’s made and failed to keep this resolution far too many times to count since arriving here – to start reading the masses of paperwork that somehow end up in his to-do box, and to maybe check his email once in a while.

”And you’re hoping I can sort-of take over where they left off?” he asks with another small *understanding* nod, though mentally he’s screaming Oh bollocks. Erm, yes. Help. Right…. Technically he is the resident expert on such things now, isn’t he? Which would be absolutely hilarious if there wasn’t so much riding on that.

”Well, Josh, I’m going to be honest with you.” god help me ”I’m never going to measure up to them” understatement of the year ”and the only reason I got this job is because I didn’t die piloting the shiny chair. So I don’t know how much use I’ll be”

Way to go, Jake. Talk about a downer. Hardly the best way to cement any sort of reputation as a teacher, let alone acting head, and hey, crushing this kid’s dreams on the way was a brilliantly brutal touch. Fan-bloody-tastic. A hastily added postscript seemed the only way to salvage anything. ”But if you’re still willing to trust the new guy I’ll give it my best shot.”

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>I’m never going to measure up to them”

Josh eyes Jake warily. Great. I suppose that means I'm going to go wacko and start atomising people now, right? He suddenly realizes he's in the presence of a telepath with an as-of-yet-unknown moral code that is certainly more powerful than him. Jean had always given him his mental privacy when they worked together... but he suspected that had more to do with her than him. Oop. I mean, that's a given, right? Ah. Shut up, Josh.

>”But if you’re still willing to trust the new guy I’ll give it my best shot.”

Maybe he's just a little overwhelmed by this whole thing. I would be, too. The Professor left some pretty big shoes to fill.

"Okay. Um. What do we start with? And when?" Josh tries to look more interested than leery. I hope this doesn't end with me convulsing in the med lab.