Faculty Meeting (Friday after classes)

[bigdamnprincipal]

With the semester in full swing, Zoe thought there might be a need for the teachers and administration to talk to each other. Or maybe it was just Friday and Fridays deserved to be celebrated. Either way, a handwavy message had gone out to the staff to meet in the student council room for an informal faculty meeting. Zoe had set up coffee, cold drinks, donuts, and pastries; there was nothing alcoholic yet, but it was still early in the semester.

"Good afternoon," she said once it looked like everyone was there. "I wanted to give everyone a chance to get together now that we're past the introduction phase with the students. Feel free to take some food and talk to each other about whatever you need to." Whether they talked about students or things that actually interested them was up to them.

[Hey, look what RTM reminded me to do this week! Open to all staff and OCD free.]

Comments

[raspberryturk]

Reno gave a little grin at that.

"You're good at that," he observed. "You some kind of professional of that sort of thing?"

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal laughed. "A psychiatrist," he agreed. He held out his hand. "Doctor Hannibal Lecter."

[raspberryturk]

"Reno." He took Hannibal's hand and gave it a shake, grinning a little. "Just Reno. Of the Turks, but that doesn't mean a hell of a lot to most people around here, yo."

It meant dirty people doing dirty work in dark suits, and fear and death and regret. At least to most of the people where he was from. To the Turks, it meant something a little different.

Not much different. But a little.

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Unless it means you're from Turkey, I'm afraid not," Hannibal answered. "What does it mean to you?"

[raspberryturk]

"It means I'm a man who takes a lot of pride in his work," Reno replied, and there was a sharp edge lurking under his grin, even if his tone was open, casual, almost even sleepy-sounding. "However the job description might change over the years."

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal eyed him curiously and nodded. "Forgive me; I didn't mean to pry."

Which was a total lie. He was a professional prier. But he did know when to back off.

[raspberryturk]

And at that, Reno just laughed. Yeah, he knew prying when he saw it, Hannibal. You thought you were good? You clearly hadn't ever met Reno's boss, Tseng. Reno wouldn't hold it against you, though, since he had brought it up himself in the first place.

"It's nothin' I'm ashamed of," he shared, shrugging his shoulders easily. "But there's a time and a place to discuss my job description, and here and now ain't it. If you're interested in hearing the particulars sometime, I can be bought out with booze."

Well. Somewhat bought out with booze. There were things even Reno wouldn't share.

"But, if you're a psychiatrist, that's good. Mind if I touch base with you about the students from time to time? Edge is home for me, but maybe a bit heavy for them, especially the ones who don't know how to handle what they're feelin' about the place."

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Damn, caught. Hannibal grinned and shrugged himself. Just so long as Reno wasn't offended. "In that case, I have a very well-stocked bar, and I never mind learning new things."

He nodded at the last part of that. "I would be happy to offer any insight I can give. Some of what our students here go through is far beyond anything they've known previously. And some of them have already known far more than they should. I feel rather protective of them myself."

Which was why some people weren't getting pastries.

[raspberryturk]

It was pretty tough to offend Reno with curiosity. Say something unflattering about his Rookies, his girlfriend, or his job, on the other hand...

"I appreciate that," he replied, nodding. "I taught here before, and was a student on the island even before that, so I know the kind of shit they can go through, and some of the crap they might have seen before Fandom. But I'm not exactly Mister Sensitivity."

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal shook his head. "If you care about what happens to them, that's the most important part. For some, it may be as much a new experience as all the rest."

[raspberryturk]

"Having somebody care?" Reno nodded as he mulled over that. "Yeah, I can see that. Some don't even figure they're worth that much effort."

He frowned. Maybe 'some' was understatement, around here.

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Too many of them have been taught they aren't." Hannibal had definite Opinions on that, yes. He sent Reno a smirk. "I challenged one of my students - if he could keep from belittling himself for one week, I would take him to the opera. He made it. Even if you come to them late, there's never nothing you can do."

[raspberryturk]

Reno gave a low whistle at that. Yeah, he approved. He wasn't above bribing people to be less shitty, either. Probably. He'd never tried.

"He keep that up, though? It's easy to keep something up when you have a deadline to hit, yo. You do it right for a while, and let up the moment it don't matter no more. I'll be more impressed if you can tell me the kid ain't shittin' on himself as much as he used to, now."

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal thought about it. "A little less, I think." He shrugged. "If I told you he thought only the best of himself, you would know I was lying. But he's managed for a week several times, and I have caught him thinking well of himself once or twice."

Bribing worked wonders. Yo. "Once they get in the habit of it, it's easier to continue without bribes. A positive self image is, after all, its own reward."

[raspberryturk]

If you thought the 'yo' was bad Hannibal, you should have been around before the nonsense 'zoto' and 'yoto' started to phase out of his daily vocabulary.

"No kidding," Reno agreed, grinning faintly. "Not an easy habit to start getting into, but you think something about yourself enough, you start believin' it eventually. Probably a big reason that kid you mentioned was shittin' on himself so hard. Hell, probably a reason the kid I mentioned was."