Office Hours, Wednesday, 8/5

[tyler_gone]

Tyler wasn't normally in his office on Wednesdays, but this wasn't exactly a normal week.

He'd lost time. Flickered out like a light in the middle of a conversation with Tony, watched for a couple minutes, then either gone home and gone to bed (which he ... sort of vaguely remembered, in a 'power of suggestion' way) or gone to Caritas and acted like beer alone would keep him alive (which he didn't remember at all). The taste in his mouth suggested it was the second one.

Thanks, Evil Twin. He slammed back a couple aspirin, brewed a large pot of coffee and tried to focus on his class proposal for the next semester.

[OOC: Open office, sure!]

Comments

[tyler_gone]

Zack. Who he had calmly told about killing his father. Who had seen him kick the shit out of Tony. Who'd played the most twisted game of catch either.

... his other self liked Zack.

"I know," he said, reaching out a hand for the cookies. "It ... yeah. We weren't ourselves, right?"

Which didn't answer the question of whether everything was all right.

[puppy_fair]

See? Cookies! Cookies made all things well with the world again!

... If you lived in denial the same way that Zack tended to.

"We weren't," he agreed. "I mean, it wasn't even us at the time. We were just sitting back and watching."

He rubbed at one elbow awkwardly with one hand. "I can't imagine what it would take to put me in the same mindset that the other-me was in. I can't imagine anyone here is really... like that."

[tyler_gone]

"Just watching," Tyler echoed.

See Tyler. See Tyler's major mental health problems.

"For the record," he found himself saying, "my dad's alive." Tyler had actually called the guy Monday, just to check. He'd just bought a boat.

Life went on.

"I don't think you could function here for long if you kept murdering people," he said, feeling a twitch of conscience. He wasn't a murderer, but parts of him really weren't much kinder than he was as a vampire.

[puppy_fair]

Zack shook his head, trying to smile. It was a relief to hear that Tyler's dad was fine. And he hadn't asked anybody for permission to kill his mentor back home, so life was good again, see?

Oh, denial.

"You couldn't. There are too many people who are too strong, who care too much about this place to let something like that happen. This is the closest some people have to a family, or to a home. They'll protect that with everything they've got in them."

[tyler_gone]

"You're strong, Zack," Tyler observed. He wasn't trying to flatter the young man; it was just what he thought of. "Idealistic. I hope you aren't wrong."

He opened the bag of Oreos and offered them to Zack. "Want one?"

[puppy_fair]

It would be a sad day indeed if Zack ever ended up turning down a cookie. Honestly, now.

He smiled and picked one out, holding onto it thoughtfully for a moment.

"Thanks." For the Oreo, for the vote of confidence. For whatever. "I hope I'm not wrong, too." A beat. "I think in this case, I'd be willing to fight to be right about it."

[tyler_gone]

"So if vampires ever come for real, I'll call you to come bash their skulls in," Tyler said. Not smiling; he meant it.

He was pretty sure he'd have to either fight them right off, or end up getting turned.

[puppy_fair]

"It's my job," Zack replied, shrugging faintly. "I'd do it."

He'd enjoy it. There was possibly a little bit of depravity lurking under the surface of all of that chipper optimism, yet.

"Vampires, gargoyles, behemoths, griffons, whatever. I don't think there are many teachers around here who are okay with that, though."

[tyler_gone]

"Okay with you being a hunter?" Tyler wondered. "Zack, that's what the principal's husband and stepsons do. They talk about it on radio every single week."

[puppy_fair]

"Yeah, but when the alligator things invaded, I wasn't allowed to leave the classroom," Zack pointed out. "It all depends on the teacher, I guess. Next time there's an invasion, I'd probably be better off getting out there and fighting, and maybe... leaving a note, taking the detention for it later."

Zack wasn't a fan of getting in trouble for doing the right thing. But he'd take the trouble if it meant that the right thing would get done.

[tyler_gone]

"It probably helps that I see a lot of you in Fight Club," Tyler mused. "I have a good sense of who can handle themselves and who would just go out and get killed."

"Who wouldn't let you go?"

[puppy_fair]

"Professor Mitchell," Zack replied, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "It was Teevee class, so I guess he's probably just the kind of guy who isn't used to that sort of situation, or the idea that people really do this kinda thing."

Oh, Zack. Oh, poor, deluded Zack.

[tyler_gone]

"Don't know him," Tyler admitted. "He's English, right? Irish or something? They're all weird about violence up there, unless you're drunk when you're doing it."

And so he cheerfully slurred an entire country.

[puppy_fair]

"I have nooo idea," Zack admitted with a shake of his head. "He's got an accent that I can't really place, him and Arthur both. All I know about this world is that French people eat snails, and in some place called Asia a long time ago, their warriors wore funny hats and lit camels on fire."

And so Zack cheerfully added his own interesting world views to the table.

[tyler_gone]

"I'm pretty sure it's English," Tyler said. (What? Like he could tell an English accent from an Irish one if you paid him.) "But Arthur's, like ... before it was England. Something like that. Anyhow, it's an island way, way, way" -- he gestured -- "that way. They owned America until we kicked them out."

He added, "Why did they light camels on fire?" He wasn't arguing the funny hats.

[puppy_fair]

Oooh. Educational conversation! Score!

"To scare some ephalants," Zack replied. "Elephants? Really big animals decked out in war gear, so that they'd trample the other guys instead."

See? He so knew stuff!

[tyler_gone]

"Elephants," Tyler agreed. "Makes sense if you don't think about the poor camels."

Tyler ... was not so concerned about the camels.

"That's a really random thing to know," he added.

[puppy_fair]

"Fiona told me about it," Zack noted. "Trying to teach me about how doing the unexpected makes for surprises."

He did look amused at that wording, yes.

"She's going over books with me, for the reserves. So I don't miss anything important, I guess. I probably wouldn't light any animals on fire. I don't even know what a camel looks like."

[tyler_gone]

"People get surprised when you don't do what they expect," Tyler repeated, looking about as amused as Zack was. "That's good to know. Also, when you're predictable? They can figure out what you're going to do."

He rested his chin on his hand, feeling more solid in himself than he had these last few days. "I don't keep up with reserves. Do you guys do a lot of strategy work? And a camel's like a horse with a long neck, a sheep's head, and two humps on its back."

[puppy_fair]

"... Weird animal," Zack decided, blinking. And then he shrugged and nodded. "We've been trying to work out strategies, yeah. We covered guerilla tactics and laying traps last week, and making ourselves familiar with unfamiliar terrain the week before. This week, we took it pretty easy. Just some trust building stuff. And fruit."

The fruit was arguably the most important part of the entire meeting. Seriously.

[tyler_gone]

"Fruit probably tasted pretty good, after ..." Yeah. After. "I'm not conventional military, but I respect what you guys are doing with it, Seems like it came in handy a couple of times."

[puppy_fair]

Zack gave a little grin, finally starting to munch on his Oreo.

"Most of us aren't conventional military," Zack noted. "I mean, I am, more or less. But then we have members like Turtle, who wants to be able to make sure she can handle herself if a situation gets rough. Or Blysse and Blind Seer, who aren't military, they're wolves."

Mmm, cookie.

"I have to say, your Fight Club is kinda doing the same, to some degree. We teach tactics, yeah, but it does a world of good to be able to throw a punch and take one, too."

[tyler_gone]

"Fight Club's mostly about catharsis," Tyler said. "Now, you ask Professor Atreides, she'll say something different. But really we're there so people can learn to throw a punch, learn to get hit, and learn to keep going When I started it the first time, I'd never been in a fight. Didn't want to die without any scars, you know?"

Ah, Fight Club philosophy. They might be there for days.

[puppy_fair]

Zack could babble about fighting for catharsis for the rest of his life.

He was standing there with a bit of a shiner and a bruise on his cheek from yesterday's spar with Arthur, after all.

"It's something you throw yourself into, because doing it reminds you that you're still alive," Zack decided. "That's part of why I love being in SOLDIER so much. I mean, it's helping people, and I'm going to be a hero someday," sssh, don't crush the dream, "and it's a good job to be doing, sure. But it keeps you moving, too."

[tyler_gone]

"You don't wanna be the one standing there looking stupid when real shit happens," Tyler said. "I respect that. And if you get a little cut up doing it, you heal."

He eyed the bruise carefully. "So, did you feel better after your last match?"

[puppy_fair]

Zack lifted a hand to idly prod at his cheek.

"This? Was probably the best wake-up call I could have asked for. I mean, I woke up to the invitation to this fight. Arthur is always a good opponent, too. He's not super-strong or anything, but he analyzes when he fights. I... don't so much. I'm working on that." He grinned. "There are some bigger, nastier bruises under my shirt. And he got my nose to bleed again. It was a good match."

[tyler_gone]

"It's been a while since Arthur got an assigned match," Tyler observed. "We probably owe him one."

And that was something to keep in mind for Sunday.

"But it's good to know strengths and weaknesses," he added. "Me, I'm never going to overpower with muscle, but I can keep going a long time and don't mind if I get hurt. I always end up bleeding if I really get into it, anyhow."

[puppy_fair]

"And me, I'm... stronger than a lot of the students my age," Zack shared. "And I can take a beating. That's part of the job, too. If you have a problem with getting hurt, then throwing yourself into a spar probably isn't really a good idea in the first place."

Duh, Zack.

"I try not to put all of my muscle into matches at Fight Club unless I know that the people there can take it, though. I'm not in it to take people down, I just like the action."

There was a note in his voice that suggested that if he were in it to take people down, most of them probably wouldn't be getting up again.

[tyler_gone]

"Thanks for holding back," Tyler said sincerely. "We've only sent two people to the clinic ever. I like keeping those stats up."

[puppy_fair]

"They're good stats to have," Zack agreed. "I've got some healing items that I could bring with me in case someone gets hurt again, if you'd like. A potion may or may not heal someone completely, but if nothing else, it'll keep them long enough to get them to the clinic."

Which wasn't a way of suggesting that it'd be awesome if he was allowed to pummel people into the floor, no. It was him actually offering some potions in case people got stupid and didn't know when to quit.

[tyler_gone]

"Not a bad idea," Tyler noted. "We have a healer, Ronan, but he's going to have to be off the island soon. A little more firepower couldn't hurt."

[puppy_fair]

Oh, awesome. Zack grinned a little, resisting the urge to bounce on his toes at that.

"Well, then I'll come in with a bunch of them this Sunday, maybe. They're really easy for me to get my hands on, after all. The company sells them to us, back home, so I could order just shy of a hundred and have them overnight!"

Yay!