Just Another Thread Involving Snot

[Charity Croft]

So maybe Hope shouldn't have volunteered for this. It was her first real thing as a staff member at Bellefonte and she was feeling way, way out of her league, especially right now. Because it looked like someone had literally covered a dorm room in some sort of goo.

“Where did they even get all this?” Hope wondered as she stepped forward, looking in awe at the stuff coating nearly every surface. She could see the results and felt that tingling in the back of her mind. Super snot? Yeah, definitely not snot-kinesis, if that was even a thing. Sometimes Hope really hated her brain: other people surely didn't look at this stuff.

“Well, this is definitely against the rules,” said Hope, turning to look around. She stuck her head back into the hallway. “Hey, someone tell me who did this! They definitely aren't going to be punished and reprimanded for breaking rules or anything!”

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor hadn't been back at the Academy long but he could already tell much had changed. Two months didn't seem like a great deal of time but the image he had of the school when he'd gone on his approved leave of absence felt like such a drastic difference from the view he had now. Sure, many of the same old faces were around, floating about doing whatever it is they were there to do. And, yes, most of his old clients and associates were still drifting about as aimless and clueless as always. But it was the new blood, those wandering about the halls or school grounds that Trevor hadn't had the pleasure of meeting yet that made his homecoming all the more exciting.

Especially when it came to new staff members who were so obviously in over their heads.

"I'm afraid that method isn't going to work." Trevor said, looking at the back of the head that was jutting out from the dorm. From what he could see it was, at least, a pretty head. Prettier than most, in fact. His hands went into his pockets as he nodded toward the group of students that were being addressed. "What we have here is your standard, high school clique." He explained, his voice taking on a tone that was reminiscent of a nature documentary. "As a defense mechanism, the juvenile personality will often attach itself to personalities of a similar ilk in a futile attempt to assimilate with what it believes to be the 'cool crowd'." Trevor then shifted his eyes to the hapless young woman. "And one of the most common traits of these pockets of misguided youths is a false sense of loyalty which prevents them from offering information to authoritative types in order to desperately avoid being referred to by their peers as a 'snitch'." Leaning forward, Trevor peeked into the room where the disgusting display of... something was left behind and grimaced. "In short, you're better off just calling the janitor and waiting around to see which student has a runny nose."

[Charity Croft]

Some slick looking guy stuck his head out, and Hope turned to look at him. Being suspicious and all, she studied him intensely, looking for the tell-tale signs. Confidence and stuff, but that could come from anything. Something about the way he spoke though, he had this odd inflection and control, as though he knew his voice would do something.

So definitely not a snot-kinetic, but he could quite possibly have done something with his voice to cause it.

On the other hand, he was being helpful and all, which probably meant that he wasn't really doing anything wrong. Hope totally got what he said too, and nodded along to show that she so followed and knew exactly what he was saying and stuff. "Yeah, it's all about crowding and flocking to people who share your values and stuff," she agreed, raising her hands and interlinking them slightly. Hope nodded and worked at untangling them.

"You seem to know an awful lot about this stuff," she gestured at the room while trying to look as cool as possible. "How about you help me out here? I'm sure I could get something for you. You like cookies, huh? And by cookies I mean, like, actual cookies and stuff, not, like," she gestured toward her breasts, "these cookies." Because while Hope might be a totally cool teacher, she was not that cool.

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor was certainly used to being looked upon by those who didn't know him as the smarmy, snarky, rich boy who would probably end up living off a trust fund and generally being a terrible example of the human race. So when the young, obviously inexperienced teacher didn't instantly take on that demeanor with him it came as a pleasant surprise. Still, he sensed her looking him over and starting to form some sort of assessment on him. That's what teachers did, after all. It served them well to identify which students would be giving them problems in the future.

"Ah, well, observation is a powerful tool." Trevor replied as his eyes shifted to briefly look over the boys in question. He shrugged a little. "That and it probably takes a certain level of disconnect in order to not fall victim to the standard teenage faire." It was amazing the sheer amount of clarity that came with spending the better part of three months walking through a world wholly unlike the one Trevor had left. This whole 'school' thing almost felt boring in spite of it being comfortable and familiar to the boy.

As smooth, confident and in control as Trevor always seemed to find himself it did take a moment to register the babbling about cookies. With a furrowed brow he turned his attention back to the teacher and had to clear his throat in order to bite back a laugh. Cookies (not those cookies) in return for his services. That was certainly a new one. His head shook and he waved a hand dismissively. His first instinct was to politely decline, he wasn't particularly inclined to partake in either type of cookie to be honest, but something gave him pause. It had been a while...

Trevor took a moment to look over the boys and mulled over the teacher's offer. Someone other than the culprit probably knew of the gooey incident. It would probably be fairly simple to pinpoint the cause and bring them to whatever justice coating one of the dorms in mucus would warrant. And in return... "Anything without raisins." He smirked, now looking back to the teacher.

Yes. THE Trevor Paige had just been bought for cookies.

[Charity Croft]

"Tell me about it," said Hope, nearly giggling as the boy mentioned how powerful observation was. Given her unique power, well, let's just say that the statement had quite a few levels of meaning for her in particular. She definitely understood the bits about standard teenage fair, and also happened to take note that Trevor happened to be really good at using his words.

Persuasion of some kind, probably involving a psychic backup of some kind

There was a pause there, and he was clearly mulling it over. Hope was busy going over cookie recipes and trying to decide which one would be best for bribing a teenage boy. Maybe something with chocolate? Before she could say or do anything, the boy accepted, just setting a lack of raisins as criteria.

Hope nodded. "Right," she turned and pointed, "that sort of result probably means that the person in question has some kind of body-kinesis or maybe some kind of power that can force excessive amounts of, you know, junk and stuff," she gestured at her nose, nodding. Then Hope clapped her hands together and turned to Trevor, gesturing with two fingers at him. "You should be able to use that persuasion thing of yours to get people to give us answers, unless you've, like, already got some idea or something?" she tilted her head to the side, clearly waiting to get the exact details.

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor smirked a little as he studied the faculty member's reaction. Yes, he would help her out and yes, it would probably be a startlingly easy case to crack. Breaking through the pockets of like-minded students here at the Academy was hardly like trying to squeeze information out of a gang member in a Texas prison or anything. He did, though, prefer to work his 'magic' away from the prying eyes of staff in case he had to resort to cutting a deal.

He almost went to speak but was cut off by the clapping of hands and fingers being pointed in his direction. His brow furrowed as Hope outlined his power with remarkable accuracy. Trevor nodded, obviously impressed. "And I'm sure your power comes in handy in these situations as well." He observed. She was obviously a reader of some sort as it was apparent she didn't know who he was. Then again, it wasn't as if Trevor ever found himself on any faculty radar because of his power. "And yes. It's a very useful tool at my disposal." He agreed with another nod. "But it almost feels like cheating to use it." He said. "It takes the fun out of things."

The bit of a smirk that had toyed on Trevor's lips turned into the full-blown affair as he started to move around the teacher and toward the group of kids she had been addressing earlier. "The easiest way to get ahead in life is to always have a plan." He pointed out looking very much as if he'd had one all along.

[Charity Croft]

Technically all that was impressive about Hope was her power and her willingness to keep trying in the face of absolutely daunting odds. Still, she wasn't going to let either of that slow her down, just nodding along with the boy's assertions. She did have to smile a little at the cheating thing.

"Right, cheating, makes sense," she agreed, though at this point Hope would probably be willing to agree with anything. She had to remind herself that the boy's power would mean that she'd literally be that much more inclined to go along with whatever he said. He did follow up by saying that he had an actual plan, which lifted Hope's spirits somewhat, or at least made her feel like she wasn't, well, cheating or something.

"Right, so you have a plan then?" she said, only turning it into a bit of a question. She turned to look for a moment. "Does it involve looking up numbers or something? I do have access to a room directory or something," Hope was already pulling out her phone, flipping through the emails and dozens of notes she had on how to run things around here. So much to remember, and so little space on her phone to remind her.

[Trevor Paige]

Of course Trevor had a plan. He always had a plan. Wasn't she listening? Trevor had plans for things he didn't want. He had plans for things that hadn't happened yet. Plans for other people, should they feel the need to ask. Trevor's life, it seemed, had revolved around one big plan intersected by thousands of little ones all working in unison toward some unseen, predetermined, ultimate goal. He had to admit that was getting a little frustrating. One of these days he just might do something without there being a distinct resolution in mind.

Maybe.

"I was just going to talk to those guys over there and see what they heard or saw." Trevor gestured in the direction he had been heading. "I'm not a criminal investigation major but I think they might know a thing or two about who's been around that might be our culprit." He pointed out.

The teen paused a moment, though, as his interest had finally shifted from the task at hand to the young woman he'd agreed to help. He glanced in her direction while she scrolled through the menus and whatnot on her phone. She certainly lacked the cold, stoicism most of the other staff and teachers seemed to carry but he figured that could simply be due to her inexperience. He figured there were a hundred (or more) students (or staff, for that matter) that would slowly drain the bubbly personality from her in due time. Or maybe not. Perhaps she was the type who would find the best in every situation regardless. The question made her all the more intriguing. Trevor had a few pieces to the puzzle but he needed more in order to start seeing the picture.

"Is Bellefonte your first teaching assignment?" He asked curiously, still moving toward the small cluster of potential witnesses, albeit far more slowly now. "I'm Trevor, by the way." Introductions were probably in order if they were to be working together to bring the perpetrator of such a savage crime to justice.

[Charity Croft]

"Ah, right, interrogate potential witnesses," agreed Charity, turning to look down the hall. She really should have thought of something like that on her own but, well, she was still feeling a bit overwhelmed. Yeah, that was it: the snot and the explosion and just stuff in general was just all kinds of overwhelming. Charity nodded and then looked back to the kid, who seemed to be looking at something on his phone.

Well, he probably just had stuff to attend to and stuff. Maybe some friends were giving him texts or something like that. He did look up and ask a question, which soon had Charity shaking her head. "I did some teaching before this. I got my degree about five years ago. Only just got here recently," she nodded and then extended a hand. "I'm Charity by the way, Charity Legrange. You can probably just stick with Charity though: I don't think there's any reason to be super formal when we're investigating stuff together."

Charity nodded and put that beaming smile back on her face for a moment. It would last long enough for a handshake (that Charity probably wanted to turn into a hug) and she would turn back, looking toward the possible witnesses. "Right, we'd better get started then."

[Trevor Paige]

"I wouldn't call it interrogation." Trevor replied coolly, still taking the time to study the young woman. He got the strange feeling Charity was possibly blowing up this situation a little more than necessary, but it still gave him an opportunity to get on the good side of a new staff member. Not that it seemed like this particular one had much of a bad side that he could see.

He took in the bits of information as Charity offered them and nodded. He accepted the introductory gesture and shook her hand politely, smiling as his head tilted at the mention of her last name. LeGrange? That was peculiar. Of course Trevor was familiar with the grumpy head trainer but it wasn't as if he'd interacted much with him. Hell, Trevor hadn't had much in the way of any interaction with the trainers here compared to many of his peers. There were good things about having subtle, almost passive mutations.

"Well, Charity." Trevor said, flashing his trademark smirk as his eyes shifted from the pretty woman to the students that they had been heading toward before conversation slowed their progress. "On behalf of the student body, welcome to Bellefonte." His hands found his pockets as he moved along, already pondering the role in which the young woman had within the Academy. She was far too informal to be a teacher and she didn't seem the type to catch on with security. Perhaps she had followed in the footsteps of the man who's surname she shared and was a trainer. All would be revealed in time, Trevor supposed. "If you need anything at all, my number's in the directory." What, exactly, a new staff member would need from one of the enrolled college students, however, remained to be seen.

[Charity Croft]

"You are really just going to suck all the fun out of this, aren't you?" Charity asked, before sighing. She did suppose it probably wasn't a good idea to suggest interrogating students. She just really wanted to make sure and find who was responsible for this and bring them to justice and all that. It could be a really good mark on her record and an excellent start toward her time here. She already had the whole name thing to live up to and all.

Ah, which Trevor seemed to have picked up on, if that head tilt was any indication. Charity just smiled and nodded, taking the smirk in stride. Yes, he certainly came off like the kind of person who smirked at people. It sort of made Charity like him a little less, but it didn't dim that overmuch and all. She did love to be charitable in her estimations of people (helped that it was her name and all).

"Right," she said, nodding, "will do. But for now," she gestured, taking a few steps, "let's ask some of the students around here. Surely someone had to have seen it and all. Maybe I'll start over that way,' Charity pointed, "and you take the other direction?" It sounded like a solid plan to Charity, and she thought she totally pulled off sounding like she was in charge. OR taking charge, yes, totally taking charge.

[Trevor Paige]

Yes. Charity was absolutely taking charge of the situation. Trevor gave a polite smile and offered an obedient nod as he went to follow the trainer's direction. This was probably going to be a lot easier than she was making it out to be, hence his lack of enthusiasm surrounding the debacle. The weird, snot like substance that was coating most of one of the dorm rooms was disgusting, sure, but Trevor really didn't find much interest in learning of the culprit. Still, he'd offered his services to the Academy official and would see the impromptu investigation through to its end.

"Five minutes." Trevor said curtly before heading off in the direction Charity had suggested. There was probably something to be gleaned from greasing the palms of a couple high school kids with a few extra bills Trevor had in his pocket, although the exchange would have to be discreet. Last thing he wanted was to attract the wrong kind of attention so quickly. He did, after all, have a reputation to uphold.

[Charity Croft]

"Five minutes," Charity agreed, nodding. She turned and headed off herself, questioning various students. Despite her earlier bluster, Charity found it a lot easier to be sweeter to students, suggesting that it was all for the greater good and that nobody was actually going to be punished. She even demonstrated her own ability on a handful of them, to show that she really meant to try and find the student to help.

She got some vague answers in response, mostly stating that it was someone young and kind of roly-poly. Charity jotted down her findings and headed back to where she'd split from Trevor. She mulled it over, nodding.

"I think," she said as Trevor came back, "that it's one of the younger students, probably either thinks this is funny or they genuinely lost control..." Charity tapped her finger to a cheek for a bit, before looking up at Trevor. "Did you find anything?" Because hey, he did look like the kind of guy who could find out stuff.

[Trevor Paige]

In a way, Trevor was cheating. Not that he and Charity were competing in the first place, but his methods certainly fell into a more dubious moral ground than the young woman's. Whereas she chose words and exhibitions of her power, Trevor had made judicious use of his reputation as someone who's good side you wished to remain on while dashing just a sprinkling of bribery and just a hint of a less than ethical deal to get the name of the culprit. If given more time he would've poked around the school's records for any information he could get on the kid just for kicks, but that felt a little much given the circumstances.

"I think you might be right." He said with a nod once he'd reached the corridor where they had separated. "According to one of the guys back there." He gestured behind him. "A tubby little guy name Tyrone has a unique, glandular mutation he hasn't quite got under control." You may be able to catch a good number of flies with sugar, but Trevor found plain, old fashioned green usually warranted better results. "Apparently when he laughs too hard that's what happens." He then waved toward the room where the goo was splattered all over. "But, on an interesting note, they say he likes being tickled for just that reason."

[Charity Croft]

It did sound as though Trevor had gathered more information than Charity. The trainer was slightly disappointed, but she figured that he did know them and had his ways and stuff. That's why she'd wanted his help and been thankful. "Tyrone, huh?" she said, nodding. She put that with the other information and pulled out her phone. It took a few swipes to pull up information on the situation, eventually finding a file for him.

"Yeah, it looks like I'll have to try and find Tyrone later," said Charity, looking up at Trevor, "give him some time to cool down," she looked over her shoulder. "So that just means I'll have to get someone around to clean this up," another nod. Charity could definitely manage that: it just required her to find someone after all. Yep, everything was definitely looking up.

"So I guess that's mystery solved!" she said, putting her phone back into her pocket and nodding. "So just tell me what kinda cookies you want and where to leave them. You know," She smiled, "for thanks and all," because Charity still hadn't forgotten her offer, clearly.