Fandom High Security Office: Wednesday

[nookiepowered]

When she'd fallen into bed late last night, Bo had thought that after everything that happened yesterday, she'd want to crash until noon. Instead, after a few hours of exhausted sleep, she'd woken at three to stare at the ceiling and think too much (or maybe not enough) about vampires and werewolves and ghosts, oh my.

By the time the hardware store's delivery bell rang at six, she was beyond grateful for the distraction that the package from the Fandom High office provided. Ooh, the job that didn't involve politely explaining to sixteen year olds why they couldn't have a beer. Keys, I.D. badge, a couple of t-shirts, walkie-talkie, flashlight, a pepper-spray-sized bottle of something labeled Gremlin Repellant (with a pink-post-it note attached that read "Works, but Lemon Pledge is cheaper. We hate the smell. Love, Bob."), a handful of increasingly surreal pamphlets, and a map of the school.

Neatly hand-printed over the back end of a large area labeled Fosse's Closet was [SECURITY CENTER]. Less neatly-printed was "Sorry, we keep forgetting it's there; Constable Hotpants has his own teacher office and Dean Head just used his tube."

Bo wasn't sure which she did (or didn't) want somebody to explain first: the hotpants or the tube. Still. One trip over the wall later (what? it was shorter than walking to the gate), she'd made her way up to the school and let herself into an office with a bank of security screens that thankfully didn't remind her too much of the one on which she'd watched Annie disappear, since these were in color.

Also a spinny chair.

Oh, shut up, you'd try it out too.

[Open is as open does. Hush, there was always a security center behind the janitor's closet.]

Comments

[bigdamnprincipal]

Since Zoe had been the one to offer the job to Bo, she figured it was her responsibility to make sure she wasn't having any trouble settling in. The spinny chair kind of gave things away, but Zoe knocked on the door anyway. "Having fun?" she asked.

[nookiepowered]

THERE WAS NO SPINNING!

And that wasn't the sound of Bo almost tumbling out of that totally not spinning chair, either.

"Fun? Nope. No fun here. All serious business here!"

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe put her hand to her mouth to try to cover any sign of snickering. "It's all right if you're enjoying yourself. Trust me, we're not all serious here, not all the time. I see you managed to find the office."

[nookiepowered]

"I figured that right around the time you offered me the job, but it never hurts to pretend to be a grown-up on the first day, at least." Bo grinned and reached for the pile on the desk, holding up the top item. "The map helped. Though I'm intrigued by the references to somebody named Constable Hotpants. I'm guessing that wasn't you."

Wait.

"Who wrote it. Obviously I don't mean your pants aren't hot, because hi."

Very professional, Bo.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"That's probably in reference to Benton Fraser, our last security person. He's very easy on the eyes," Zoe said, feeling no shame because it was completely true. "Even easier than I am."

[nookiepowered]

"That seems unlikely, but I guess you wouldn't lie to me, so I'll have to take your word for it." Bo glanced at the desk. "Because using the security system to track him down and prove it would be wrong." Right?

[bigdamnprincipal]

"It could be good practice for using the equipment. To make sure you know how to use everything," Zoe pointed out. Because she was helpful like that.

[nookiepowered]

"That point has just the right mix of excellent and shady." Bo nodded. "I like it." Of course, since classes weren't in session, the monitors were mostly showing empty hallways and rooms.

And... a large hairy thing next to the bank of student lockers, waltzing with a broom.

"Um..." Bo tapped the screen then looked back at Zoe, brows lifted. "Should I be worried?"

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe looked at the screen and shook her head. "Ah, no. That's our janitor, Fosse. He got stuck here with us a while back, but he's harmless. And a little entertaining to watch, what with the dancing and all." If this wasn't a good crash course in how the school worked, Zoe wasn't sure what would be.

[nookiepowered]

Bo tilted her head left, then right, then peered closer at the screen. "I'm torn between asking what he is or just making up wild guesses."

Guess one being that he was somehow related to Tiny. On the hairier side of the family.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"He's a troll. We had a bit of an invasion a few years ago," Zoe explained, "and when we drove them out, he got left behind. It was hard not to let him stay after that, especially when he didn't try to kill anyone. We're big on redemption here, and second chances."

[nookiepowered]

"I like the sound of that." Not that she wasn't a little cynical about how well some of those played out, after this weekend. "Not the troll invasion part, though."