Old Habits Die Hard

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy cursed as the coffee pot hissed and spat coffee out of its top. He might not have been a mechanical expert, but he was fairly certain that coffee pots weren't supposed to function like that. He'd only barely missed getting his face scaled thanks to his remarkable height. Instead the stream of coffee had erupted right over Guy's head, sprinkling the top of his hair with hot droplets that certainly didn't feel pleasant, but were hardly going to do much to him. He cursed and jumped away, practically flinging the file he'd had tucked under his arm toward a couch, hoping that it would work for safety.

Normally, Guy wouldn't even have bothered with the damn thing. He knew that pot all too well, knew that it had probably been new back when he was a student. Didn't stop him from trying this time though, hoping that maybe someone had fixed it or done something. He didn't exactly have a lot in the way of options, considering the sheer mass of paperwork he needed finishing. The end of a school year barreled toward them, reminding everyone of mundane things like "graduation requirements" and the like. Which meant that Guy had dozens of files to sort through before it was all done. He found that he worked better at the school, and the quietest place on campus, well, usually, was right here.

The problem had come when he'd wanted a cup of coffee. Guy stared at the machine while it continued to burble forth far more coffee than he believed could actually be contained within it. Probably had been modified or something. Guy had to just stand there and watch, not quite believing his eyes. Maybe he'd get lucky and someone with magical coffee pot fixing powers would just appear and fix everything. Why not? There were certainly stranger abilities.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tam didn’t go to the teacher’s lounge often. Because she was no teacher. But at the same time, she liked being a tiny bit delinquent and go there to rest. Sure there was an office for the dorm monitors in the south wing but everyone would expect to find her there. And she was tired of running after students who barely listened to her. Most did, of course, they would go back to their dorm when ordered to, they’d have a good explanation for walking around when not supposed to and they listened when Tam gave the explanations for those who would leave them by the end of the year. But there were always one or two of them who couldn’t care less what the monitors had to say. Or figured, since the year was coming to an end, that they better make their best trick to be remembered. Or whatever other silly reason they could come up to make Tam’s life a misery.

Not to add that the teacher’s lounge was rather quiet. Especially when teachers were busy... well, teaching. Even when they were there though, it was a good place to go. It was a welcomed change from all those students. Now, Tam loved kids, or at least tolerated most of them. But they were driving her crazy at times. If the school didn’t want her to blow up and actually kick one for real, they better let her cool off somewhere children-free.

There was one horrible thing about the teacher’s lounge: the shitty coffee machine. After being burned twice and been told it was always a gamble with it, Tam chose not to trust it anymore. You’d think they could buy a new one. How much should it cost anyway? One for decaf, one for regular, it wasn’t that pricey. She bet the teachers wouldn’t even mind contributing if that meant good coffee. So Tam came with her own cup, poured safely in a pot that was not possessed by the devil.

When she entered, someone however had decided to tempt fate with it. She smirked looking at Guy who had backed away from it and was looking at the machine, as if expecting it to blow up on his face any minute now. “You might want to hide behind the couch. You think we should get a priest? Might not say it loud, it will probably try to attack us in retaliation,” she let out as she walked closer to the man. That thing sure needed someone to come and put it out of its misery.

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy heard the voice and turned to look up at Tamara Sulik. He remembered her, having dealt with her quite a bit in the past, and, well, he did still have male parts. Hard to forget a pretty face when your male parts were attuned toward looking toward them. Guy at least had the good judgement and sense to look at the dorm monitor's face instead of where perhaps 75% of the male population would stare instead (and where Guy fully believed Tamara wanted at least 50% of those 75% to look).

"Perhaps, but I think we'd have to call one who doesn't believe that mutants are demon spawn, and that's just a horrible screening process," he said, looking back at the machine. It sputtered again, seeming content to mostly just bubble its contents over. "I think that whomever modified the damn thing just set it to do that,' he said, gesturing, "as some kind of cruel joke."

He sighed, rubbed his face, and looked back at Tamara, his brow contorting. "Why, pray tell, are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be in the trainer lounge?" Because it wouldn't be like Fate to forget where someone should be or just assume that all staff went to the same lounge or anything. That would just be silly.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tamara knew Guy pretty well. Like most men around the school, she tried to get over his head at first. Not literally of course, as this was an easy task for someone a good foot taller than he was. She learned later on that it was pointless as not only he was better at throwing snarky remarks at people, but he also didn’t question her place here. And so she learned to respect the man. Sadly for him, or at least for his male parts, it meant she was not flirting, or only doing so occasionally in a jesting manner. Did he complain about it? She wouldn’t know. She was unable to think of him in a sexual way. Not because of his height, despite what some may think. She didn’t sleep with those she respected, she kept that for boy toys and those she might have a future use of.

She gave the man a nod as they talked of priests. That sure might be hard to find one who would be brave enough to enter this demon’s pit that was Bellefonte Academy. “How many times do we have to tell them never to trust a student around teachers’ things,” she replied as they stared at the machine. Why, it could be possible. Some had a twisted sense of humor. Tam was even ready to give whoever claimed this as their work some credit for the inventiveness of the thing.

She dropped herself on the couch before groaning at what Guy told her. She eyed him almost like a child taken at fault. “Yeah, where they all know I’m supposed to be, so they can come and tell me that this one is making too much noise and that one is using a skateboard indoor or that one trashed the room. I think I rather deal with the demonic coffee machine,” she told him. She was exaggerating but she did need to see some adults as well. There was a limit of kids one could endure.

She looked at him and drank some of her coffee. She wanted to tease him since he had to wait for the thing to die before getting his and she was pretty pleased not to be in the same situation as he was. “What about you, shouldn’t you be making children cry or something?” she asked in return.

[Guy LeGrange]

"Some of the students respect and appreciate us," replied Guy, "as surprising as that actually is. I actually work with a few," didn't mean that whomever had created the coffee pot from hell counted among their number. He kept his eyes on it, glad to see that it was, at least, starting to wind itself down. Gave him more attention to spare for Tam.

Who had moved to the couch, groaning and offering an explanation for her actual presence. Avoiding those very children she was supposed to be working with. a small part of Guy felt like he should berate her for that, avoiding her duties and all that, especially considering that he was technically in a position of authority now, not that he'd ever wanted that honor to be bestowed upon him. He ended up chuckling instead, knowing all too well the desire to get away from the young and be around people closer to your own age.

As for himself: "Reports," he said, jerking his thumb toward the stacks he'd been dealing with. "It's the end of another school year, despite everything else that's been happening. Time keeps marching on and all that. Which means that I have to fill out and check on nearly every student and their trainer to get things in order. hence," he gestured, "the obviously need to caffeinate." He sighed and looked at the finished machine, obviously debating heading toward it and trying to coax it into working better.

[Tamara Sulik]

“I guess you’re right. So do I, when you think about it,” she replied as they talked of students. Of course, Guy had been here long enough for most the other trainers to probably have been trained by him in the past. He had become part of the furniture. As for Tamara, she was referring to Mike Rhodes. Sometimes, she did think he was way in above his head. She was confident he was a good father, you are not a good one if you don’t worry as much as he did. But these worries got in the way sometimes and he didn't to fix that.

She shoved Mike from her thought. Guy gave her far less headaches and kept her more entertained than the younger male. For example, another one would be lecturing her right now about their responsibilities towards those children and how important it was to always be there for them. He probably thought that too. Tamara knew what was asked of her. And she usually made herself available. If there was any emergency, she’d jump right in. But right now, as the school year was coming to an end, it was all bickering on how one roommate stole their nail polish and how this other one was not helping to clean everything up. Mike could deal with that. She earned the right for a little break. It was best this way too, Tam was terrible when in a bad mood. Worse than a dragon.

Tam looked over and saw the files he meant. “Oh yeah, look at that,” she let out as she saw them. Poor Guy. She hated reports too but she luckily didn’t have as much to write in those compared to him. The bureaucratic side of their job could be tedious. But also necessary, especially in his case. Still, there should be a circle of hell where the damned are forced to fill in reports for the rest of their lives. It seemed appropriate.

When he talked of coffee, Tam looked at the one she had in her hand. She handed it over to him with a fake innocent look on her face, could it be anything but fake with her? “Things sure took a turn for the unexpected. I’m still keeping things ready in case we are forced into another lockdown or something. Governments can be a little... thick-headed,” she replied, her tone a lot more serious now as this was no laughing matter. Would she probably not go through the same kind of trouble in any other country, Tam might consider going back to Serbia.

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy didn't look at the reports. He didn't want to look at the reports. Looking at the reports meant acknowledging their existence, and he didn't want to acknowledge the existence of anything like those reports over there. He'd almost rather deal with another government attack than more paperwork. Though, now that he thought about it, the two often went hand in hand. Several of those reports dealt with students that had passed away during the recent attacks, the question of "what do we do with them" having been left more or less to Guy's discretion.

Tam offered him some coffee; Guy took it without question, still wrapped in his thoughts. she seemed to be more or less thinking along the same lines, with what came out of her next. "I don't think they'll be doing anything any time soon. This was botched from their point of view,' Guy pointed out, taking a sip. It proved to be potable. "You have to give them credit, calling the press like that. It probably helped that those damn agents gunned down teenagers."

Guy hadn't been near any of that. He'd been too busy with crowd control. So many hundred students, all worried, all with powers, crammed into various places. Guy had run around almost literally putting out fires, hopping from student to student, suppressing powers before they got too far out of control. "Some of the reports,' he said, nodding, "they're from students that passed away in the attacks. One was eleven." he paused then, feeling the weight of it all on his shoulders. Odd, considering that he hadn't much to do with it. He couldn't imagine what those involved on either side must feel. Or the Bellefontes, for that matter. so young for so much...

[Tamara Sulik]

Reports could be such a tedious and often useless job. People wanted to keep a record somewhere of what happened but Tamara wondered if they even bothered reading them. This was bureaucracy to you, useless labor. Still, it was necessary. And Guy will have to deal with his ton of paperwork eventually. Just like Ta, will have to make go and check up the rooms and do her own reports in due time. The end of the year meant some student would leave while others would move to the college area. She could complain all she wanted, this information was important. She needed that for her job. That didn’t make it any more enjoyable.

She was almost sad to see her coffee go but Guy seemed like he could use a cup more than she did. “I take mine black, hope it’s not a problem,” she told him. She wasn’t sure the way they liked to take their coffee had even come up in a conversation before. Had it been the case, Tam wouldn’t be all that surprised not to remember. She was not some little airhead receptionist there to fetch Mister LeGrange’s coffee at request.

She shrugged as he mentioned SPECTRE. Yes, there little attack did prove a failure. An utter failure. And she assumed they would now retreat and think of a better plan before striking again. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Though it’s probably what people preparing for a Zombie Apocalypse say to justify their act. Never thought I’d have something in common with them,” she replied. Though now they could probably call it a Mutant Apocalypse or something. Unless they were ready to listen to reason. She nodded as he mentioned the press. It had been a smart move. But at he recalled the gunned down students, Tam stiffened. She remained silent. For some things, it was all you could do.

Tam did help during the attack. The action for her had been to calm the students while trying to keep them safe. Both difficult tasks with kids unable to fully keep their powers under control. In a way, she’d say they managed to hold on pretty well. She would say that, had there not been kids who died. To speak it out loud seemed almost like an insult to those who did not survive.

Guy pointed out some reports. Those of the kids who died. She found herself gulping down with some difficulty. What could she reply to that, really? Eleven... her son was almost this age. “I’ve never been happier to have sent my boy to my parents. Had he been caught into this...” she said in almost a whisper, not bothering to finish her sentence. Guy might have no kid, or at least none he ever mentioned to her, but she was certain he could understand what she was talking about.

[Guy LeGrange]

"It's coffee," replied Guy. He'd never been overly picky about what when into his coffee so long as coffee itself happened to be the foremost among the ingredients. This did happen to be rather on the strong side, which did seem to be his experience with the whole black coffee and those who drank it. However, it tasted like what he needed right now.

Tam provided more of that too, though Guy had to chuckle at her comparison. Zombies to mutants? "Who's to say they're not right too?" he said, gesturing with his hand. "Perhaps we'll have mutants versus zombies at some point," the idea amused him, and likely would've distracted him for a least a few exchanges, if not for the folders and what they held.

Guy was all for moving on, for mourning and getting it over with. Hard to do that when you kept staring the situation in the face. Forgive and forget, that's what people often said. Guy thought those people were idiots. Forgive, possibly, if you could be the bigger person. But forget? Not likely.

"It's times like these that I'm glad that I don't know of any of my own children,' said Guy, his voice somber again, sadness even creeping in there. "Though some of this kids... I trained at least three that went down. I trained several that were wounded. The girlfriend of one of my students is the Lesbian Pikachu, who got shot with Slade Konrad. Another is the girlfriend of the skunk girl," Guy sighed, rubbing at his temple. "Boy, aren't I a bundle of joy? See, this, this is why Santa rejected my application. Not enough joy. That and I only know about two Christmas carols."

Guy sipped at his coffee, or, well, Tam's coffee. Someone's coffee. He sipped someone's coffee and hoped that they could move the conversation to something happier through sheer force of will.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tamara only found shrugging as the proper answer to Guy as he claimed the coffee was good as long as he had one. She could understand him. And somehow, drinking it black seemed to suit the man. She could not imagine him putting lots of milk, cream or sugar. Call that whatever you want it just didn’t seem right.

The Zombie Apocalypse. Seriously, it might make a good idea for a movie... scratch that, this wasn’t even a good idea for a movie. So to have some people think it possible, that was just ridiculous. She better not laugh at Americans though, she was trying to be one. “Yeah, not sure I want to see that happening. The two of us wouldn’t stand a chance against a zombie anyway. People will probably leave us behind to be eaten,” she replied. Well, she knew what some people might say she could do to a zombie should one come her way but this was a horror movie-style fight they wanted, not something that was meant to turn into a very bad porn movie.

Of course, the silly things coming in her mind as she could almost imagine some Mortal Kombat: mutant vs zombie version was darkened by the thought of those who died during the assault SPECTRE attempted against the school. Even to Guy however, she dared not ask if it made her heartless to want for things to move on. Sure she was sad and it was awful and she obviously did not want them to forget what happened. But they had to learn from it and find a way for it not to happen again and get on with their lives. The world did not stop because a tragedy hit them. But that was the problem. A tragedy did hit them and it took time to get back on their feet. Tamara was not used to that. But then again, she wasn’t quite used to the whole experience of loss.

Tam did find some interest as he talked of any children of his own. She would have to remember that one to nag him on another occasion, one where they wouldn’t mourn over dead kids. “You can’t exactly blame yourself for what happened to them though. It’s not like we’re given them any kind of military training. No matter how good you are, if the other is holding a gun at you, there’s little you can do about it,” she told him. The way he talked she felt like he blamed himself for what happened. She would not have that.

She chuckled as he talked of Santa. “Santa’s a tool. Never gave me the gifts I wanted. You’re better off without him,” she said, amused by the little change in the conversation. She got the message, it was time to talk of something else. Santa was as good as any other topic.

[Guy LeGrange]

"We'd be wonderful in a zombie apocalypse! Invaluable members of the team and everything!" insisted Guy, spreading his arms wide. "I have my years of experience and humor, and you have an absolutely splendid set of breasts. Everyone would want to protect us. You would, of course, have to have sex with about half of them, and I'd, out of the goodness of my heart, handle the other half."

All said with a straight face and the utmost of sincerity, at least until he got to the end. he chuckled then, trying to force that light mood to continue, shine a little onto the dark which was their current existence. Sadly, that was a bit like pointing a flashlight at a void. Tam's comments only went so far too. They weren't a military school; that had never been Bellefonte's mission. You just had to look at the brood that shared that name to realize that much. Other schools though...

No, better to think of Santa. Save the in depth conversation for another time. "I don't know. Did you see that Guardians movie? The animated one with Hugh Jack-bunny. That Santa was quite the impressive badass, all muscles and swords. Sounds like an excellent person to have for that zombie apocalypse. You might have to polish his tool a little, but I think we'd be alright in the end," Guy saluted Tam with her coffee before taking a sip. he set it down then, sighing and going toward the coffee pot. He figured he might as well get it as put away and cleaned as it possibly could.

[Tamara Sulik]

Had this been anyone else pointing out her best asset was her breasts, she’d be punching his face so hard his mother would never recognize him. But it was Guy who said it. Now, when she first arrived, she would have kicked his ass. Since then, she grew to respect him and loved his sense of humor that he precisely put as one of his asset. “That is so generous of you to get us starring in the first post zombie apocalypse porn movie. That was just the one thing I have yet done,” she replied with a smirk on her face. The only reason why she didn't mind his comment was because he allowed her to throw some too. Not like he needed it though, the man could make fun of himself pretty well on his own. As oddly as it may sound, she kind of respected that. He had skin thicker than anyone else she knew of and it came from accepting his difference. She wasn’t quite sure she could do that.

Not to add he laughed at the end, something she quickly joined him into. He then mentioned the movie Guardians. “I know I said my son I’d watch it but I can’t say that I really did,” she confessed. Her son did watch the movie and gave her some details about it. Like most kids, he was more eager to talk about the movies he’d seen or the cool stunt he’d last pull with his friends than how was school or life with his grandparents. Since she couldn’t see him, those little chats were too precious for her to really care about the topic. She raised an eyebrow however as he found a connection between Santa and the Zombie Apocalypse. Well, she technically raised it more at his comment about polishing his tool a little. “Please tell me this isn’t another suggestion to porn like it could so easily be,” she let out.

She looked at Guy when he went for the coffee machine. “For Christ’s sake man, you really want to die today! You’re far too valuable to this school for that. Or at least, you way too entertaining for me to let that happen. If you want caffeine so badly, I can just run down to the cafeteria,” she exclaimed. She never trusted that machine ever since it spat the burning hot liquid on her once. It was now calm but Tam was staring at it as you would an old enemy. She could almost hear the bad western song and see the amaranth bush blowing in the distance.

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy just grinned as Tam insisted that zombie apocalypse porn was something she hadn't done. He had a fairly good idea of what Tam had done, since he was now privy to files if he wanted them, though he usually reserved that only for those people who actually worked under him. It only surprised him a little that she hadn't seen the movie. Guy had only done so because one of his students had insisted he see it because it was "the best thing evah." He did try to appease them from time to time, after all.

"It is a suggestion for porn. Excellent deduction, Tam. You could be a very good sidekick to a detective as well. Those don't even require that you show your breasts; you could just rely on your tongue, and I'm actually referring to your sarcasm," he favored Tam with another wide grin, "since that could be easily mistaken."

He still approached the coffee pot though, wincing as Tam went on about it. He looked over at her, smiling ruefully. "I can't very well leave the damn mess now that I've made it, can I? What kind of example would that set for everyone else? I made the mess: I need to buckle down and clean it." Though as he turned back to the pot, his nose wrinkling, he began to wonder if that was really a good idea. He sighed, reaching for the cord and following it toward the wall. The last thing he wanted was for it to do something... odd when he was working it. Best to kill it while he still could.

"Though your concern for me is admirable. You do realize that you don't have to do my work when I'm gone, right? Different fields,' he called over his shoulder, not deterred from the task at hand.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tam knew she did a lot of jobs in her life. The usual and boring ones you do as a child, like walking other people’s dogs or babysitting and also working at her parents’ inn. The real interesting part of course was the past decade, after she moved to America. Amateur stripping, working in fast food joints or cafes along the highways, barmaid, doing the cleaning service in cheap motels... she tried it all. She even took some pictures, the kind she really wished her son would never, ever land his eyes on. She was not ashamed of it, she did so to get money for her son and herself. She was not talking of it openly either. You don’t just come up to a person and bring out you’ve taken your clothes off for money. She wasn’t sure if she gave all the jobs she did in the five or six years before joining Bellefonte but if she did, they didn’t seem to mind. It was not like she’d suggest building a stripper pole in the cafeteria.

She grinned back at Guy at the other pornographic suggestion. She did wonder if he really meant it that way at first or if he didn’t simply jumped on her comment. When it came to repartee, no one could beat him it seemed. She should know, she tried before and found he was a lot better than she was. Could be the age. She’d definitely blame the age and the extra years of experience. “I think I make a better Irene Adler than a John Watson,” she pointed out. It was all she knew of detectives. Oh no wait there was that French one in England, what was his name again? She didn't bother to find out since, from what she recalled, his sidekick was even more naive than Watson and she refused to be there for comical relief.

She could say she’d leave the mess and go, hoping no one knows she ever went here. But she knew what he meant and she knew she wouldn’t have done that. As much as she hated cleaning, she could never leave and make it someone else’s problem. Not when, as he put it, she would’ve made it. Besides, it was just a coffee machine and not really possessed by the devil. It was just old and not working fine. “Your funeral. You’d think they could afford a new machine for the teachers. Ours at the housing office works just fine,” she began to say, pausing as she realized the meaning of it. “I better not find it replaced by this one or I’ll know who to blame for it,” she added with a little smirk playing on her lips.

Guy took care of the monster, he pulled the plug. They should all be safe now then. Her smirk grew wider as he talked to her while keeping his mind on the task at hand. “But if you’re gone, who will be there to tell me all the things I can achieve using my breasts?” she asked in return. She stood up and decided to join him. She was here, might as well give the man a hand.

[Guy LeGrange]

"Depends on the rendition of Miss Adler. I'd lean away from most modern interpretations of the character," replied Guy, his tone still drawling a little. Easy enough to picture Tam dressed in the outfits befitting the time period, though a little odd to think about. Then again, odd sort of was the normal around here, so there was that.

Speaking odd, the machine still burbled even after Guy pulled the plug. "Oh, they could certainly afford it," he said, eying the machine, "that's not the problem. The problem is that this... concoction was made by a student with a knack for things, and it's supposed to be better than anything currently on the market," he gave the machine a long, weary look then, before moving to begin mopping up things. Despite having unplugged the machine, Guy still kept a distance from it, preferring to clean up the general area around the machine first. This did require the valiant sacrifice of several paper towels, but Guy was certain their sacrifice would not be in vain.

"I'm sure there are several qualified individuals to tell you how to use them," he continued, wrinkling his nose and depositing a sodden towel into a trashcan. "Perhaps you should get the machine itself," he said, as he realized she'd come over to help. He pointed helpfully at the device in question. "Since you're taller and all. not because of your breasts, since we were on the subject and all."