Office Hours, Saturday, 10/3

[tyler_gone]

Tyler was in his office, and more than a little curious about what this year's crop of parents might be like.

He'd fill the time until anybody showed up by trying to read the xkcd archives.

Comments

[myname-isalice.livejournal.com]

"That's a 'do it to survive' activity," Alice said. "Umbrella Corp really fucked the planet up."

[tyler_gone]

"I wish I could come up with more to tell you, but nothing's jumping out at me," Tyler said. "He's a smart kid, though. You must be proud."

[tyler_gone]

"Yeaaaaaah." Tyler through he remembered the name. "Is it recovering? At all?"

[myname-isalice.livejournal.com]

"Well, we've got a plan of attack," Alice said, smirking. "And I've got an army, now."

[smokin-guardian.livejournal.com]

He was a tall man on the bulky side of trim--all of it pure muscle.

"You too," he said easily, noting the man's demeanour. "Mentioned me, hmmm?" Good to know. "What's the girl been up to?"

Blunt Asuma was blunt.

[itwaslogical.livejournal.com]

"I am. He always makes me proud." Worried and sometimes frustrated too. But proud, always. "It's been very nice speaking with you, Tyler. I hope Spock's father can make it to the next Parent's Weekend, so he'll have the chance to talk with you too."

[tyler_gone]

"So you're in charge, huh?" Tyler asked, hunching forward in interest. "Didn't realize that. Congratulations."

[tyler_gone]

"... are things getting worse at home or something?"

This was Tyler's way of saying he thought she was probably in the process of some kind of slow-motion breakdown.

[tyler_gone]

"I should still be here," Tyler said. "Thanks for stopping in, Amanda. Here's my card in case you want to stay in touch."

[myname-isalice.livejournal.com]

"Not exactly something I asked for," she said. "And you don't even want to know about the army."

[smokin-guardian.livejournal.com]

Asuma could think of several answers to that, ranging from bemused to serious.

"What's your definition of worse?" he asked finally.

[tyler_gone]

"I'll take your word for it," Tyler said. "Still -- good luck with it. K-Mart's a good kid, anyhow."

[tyler_gone]

Tyler sighed. "Is there a reason she'd be -- 'acting out' sounds like a cliche, but I swear to god, that's what it feels like from this end."

[myname-isalice.livejournal.com]

"Thanks for your time," Alice said. "Keep an eye on her for me, would you?"

[smokin-guardian.livejournal.com]

He played with his smoke, twirling it with absent-minded ease, while he considered that question.

"Ino's wilful," he answered. "It could be anything or nothing. Her missions have changed lately, though, if you're looking for a solid possibility."

[tyler_gone]

"Count on it," Tyler smiled. He'd decided K-Mart's guardian was all right.

[tyler_gone]

"Could be it," Tyler said. "Depending on the kind of change. She -- we had a disagreement over Fight Club. Not my finest hour, I'll admit that, but she completely lost her temper. And then yesterday I had a girl in my office telling me Ino wanted to stab her to test her healing and asking if I thought it was a good idea."

He shrugged. "She's always been strong-willed, yeah, it just seems ... closer to the surface these days."

[smokin-guardian.livejournal.com]

"Maybe it is," he conceded. "I see her when she's the most focused--on missions. The letters I get are closer to reports than anything else."

"Did you get the whole story on the stabbing thing?" he asked curiously. "Ino didn't mention that."

[tyler_gone]

"I think it's recent," Tyler said. "And no. It was -- it felt like the other girl had agreed without thinking it through, like maybe she just needed somebody to talk to so she felt like she could back out. She had an accident. Her physiology's a little different now. Tougher. From what I heard, Ino offered to try to push it to the limit."

He looked a little amused at the next thing. "Once the other girl told me she'd been shot and healed without a scar, I ... questioned why testing was necessary."

[smokin-guardian.livejournal.com]

"Mmm," he said, looking thoughtful. "I can think of a few reasons, but a lot of them depend on what she was going to do during the testing."

Asuma shook his head.

"Look," Asuma continued, "this world, from my understanding, isn't much like ours. Ino's missions probably aren't--acceptable here. If it was up to me, she'd have been pulled from your pretty little island years ago, simply to avoid problems springing up on her end. If she's acting out but not talking, then she likely doesn't feel she's safe enough to talk about things. And," he added dryly, "she's always been good at lying."

[gothamlights.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I'm Dinah Lance's guardian," she confirmed. "Barbara Gordon. I'd thought to check in on how she's coming along in her classes, since that is the usual purpose of these events," she said with a wry grin. "Much as I'm sure the kids wish otherwise. You're teaching her science class, right?"

[tyler_gone]

Tyler couldn't entirely repress his urge to roll his eyes. "Trust me, I wasn't asking to pry out Ino's darkest secrets. I've noticed a change; we're barely on speaking terms just now, but I figured you might wanna talk to her about it."

He lifted his chin. "Why is she here if you don't want her here?"

[smokin-guardian.livejournal.com]

"Because I'm not the end-all of the command. Didn't mind her going at first, some space..." He shook his head. "That made sense. She needed it. Other than that, well, her father doesn't mind, Hokage-sama doesn't mind, and Ino herself wants to stick around. I get a say when it starts affecting her missions."

[tyler_gone]

"I am," Tyler said. "Dinah's doing pretty well. She always seems to enjoy the experiments, at least."

[gothamlights.livejournal.com]

Good God in heaven. "Experiments? She hasn't blown anything up yet, I'm guessing, or we would've gotten a bill."