Aberrant: Mutant High - "...Is This Going To Go On My Permanent Record?"

[Dave ST]

With a sigh Director Drumm sorted out a few stacks of papers on his desk. Stacking them, then neatly arranging them off to the sides out of his work area. He reached to the side and picked up a manila folder, opening it he inspected the contents of the students personal file. The picture was of a lovely girl and at the time she was scared and unsure of her new environment but as today was proving, she'd taken quite well to her new home.

He couldn't help but grin a bit. Each of the students here were special, and all of them were trying to come to grips with a world that didn't seem to want them. Saddened as the thought made him he found measure of joyful resolve in knowing that if the could find it their hearts to accept them, at least he could.

"Diretor, sir. The student you requested to see is here." A modulated voice buzzed in on his phone.

"Excellent, thanks Gracie." He closed the file and pushed away from him slowly. "Please, show her in."

[V. Vincent]

"Violet?"

The young girl managed a smile, doing her utmost to make it convincing, and looked politely up at the Director's personal assistant.

"Yes, ma'am?"

Gracie wasn't sure if the, "Gee, golly, am I in trouble?" tone in the teen's voice, or her wide-eyed, attentive expression was more entertaining, but as her employer had reminded her countless times, she was not to encourage the students' bad behavior.

"The Director's ready for you now. Go on in."

Just play it cool, Vi. Relax. You've done this at least a dozen times, right? No sweat.

She pressed her palms flat against the tops of her thighs, rubbing them over the textured ribs in her black knit stockings and hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt rising from the chair outside the Director's office. Self-consciously, she smoothed down non-existent wrinkles in her skirt and plucked at the hem of her sweater; if there had been a mirror on the wall, she'd have checked her hair, too.

It wasn't all nerves, of course. Director Jericho Drumm was a very fine example of masculinity and power, and there was definitely something intriguing about older men... It was probably the confidence, she decided, quietly closing the door behind her as she stepped into the Director's well-appointed office.

That, and a flawlessly tailored suit. Ugh, what I wouldn't give to be two years older...

"You asked to see me, Director Drumm?" she asked sweetly.

[Dave ST]

"Miss Vincent," He smiled widely and as graciously as one could imagine. "Yes, please, come in and take a seat." His motioned for her to sit in one of the overstuffed comfortable chairs in front of his desk.

He waited for her to sit, his hands folded in front of him as he prepared for the business at hand.

"I wish this was a happier visit, Miss Vincent, but it's come to my attention that you've been making use of the school's computer lab, and associated Computer Club members, for the duplication and distribution of copyrighted material. Namely Blu-Ray DVDs." He shook his head a bit and held up his hands, elbows still on the desk, like he was mock shrugging. Conversations like this with Violet were not uncommon. "So, I have to ask: how do you plead this time?"

[V. Vincent]

It took a moment for her to process the reason he'd requested her presence, and when she did, she had to fight to keep the surprise from registering. Pirating DVDs? Really? How trivial was that? Still, she had to respond somehow, and she had the feeling that offering him a share of the modest, but reasonable profits was not the best option.

Okay, think, Vi. Appeal to his... charitable side?

"Well, Director," she began, spreading her hands in a universally conciliatory display. I'm unarmed, and helpless, it seemed to say, and she let her shoulders drop a fraction of an inch as she inclined her head slightly forward. "I'd like to start off by apologizing." She sighed heavily, releasing the weight of the burden of her guilty conscience. "I apologize that we didn't go through the proper channels and get the fundraising project approved in advance. I know you're a very busy man, and this sort of tête-à-tête infringes on your time, and I'm sorry to have diverted your attention away from much more important things."

She pursed her lips, lifted her eyes to look at him directly again.

Two years, Vi. Two years, and you are so going to hit that. No. Doubt.

"You see... we, well... We were just so excited by the prospect of the project, we got caught up, and by the time we remembered the forms, it was too late to submit them. We absolutely intended to, though, I assure you, Director."

[Dave ST]

The man had willpower, that was for sure. As the young, purple haired vixen tried -once again- to get herself out of the wall trouble she'd built around her, he patiently waited and showed no signs of cracking a grin.

"That, uh, well, that's very thoughtful of you Miss Vincent," He raised his eyebrows and frowned slightly in appreciation of how Violet threw herself upon the dreadful responsibility of making his daily life so much easier. "But, as I'm sure you are aware, we do work within the mandates set forth by the State of New York and the Board of Regents. This means, Miss Vincent, that we do not have forms to fill out that permit the duplication and distribution of copyrighted material."

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin, unknowingly fulfilling several G.Q. fantasies the violet minor had swirling around in her mind. His tone was calm and he showed no signs of being anywhere in the ballpark of angry with her (truth be told, she amused the hell out of him). "Do you see where I'm going with this?"

[V. Vincent]

Damn it. Okay, okay, um... Shock! Yes. Shock, and dismay.

Her perfectly arched brows knit together in a puzzled frown that slowly gave way to an expression of unhappy realization.

"We- we don't? But," she protested, shaking her head. "If we don't have forms to get things like this approved, for extenuating circumstances, then why would they tell me-" Her violet eyes went wide, and she looked at the handsome Director in sudden, horrified awareness. "But, we were supposed to see a notary, and they... They lied to me?!"

She pursed her lips, scowling in indignation as she banged a pale fist on the arm of the chair.

"Director, I've been duped! I am so sorry that you have to deal with the fallout from this," she assured him. "What kind of society do we live in where you can't even get reliable information from the internet anymore?! It's just shameful, that's what it is."

[Dave ST]

His hand palmed loudly into his face. His head leaned back and he finally grinned. The pure tenacity this child had at flipping the script was on a level that border lined amazing! "Miss Vincent, have you ever considered the Drama Club?"

[V. Vincent]

"Righteous Indignation" mode was broken with that, and she chewed her lower lip thoughtfully, clearly giving the matter some consideration; if Director Jericho Drumm suggested she take up nude skydiving, or lion-taming, or just about anything, really, she'd have given it serious thought.

"No... No, I don't think so. Why?" She asked innocently. "Do you think I should?"

[Dave ST]

"Most certainly, Miss Vincent." He chuckled and regained his composure, slightly. He was a casual man and had never seen any reason to treat the children of the academy like they were prisoners. "I've the gut feeling it's something you'd excel at."

"Now, while I'd certainly never," He emphasized the word with kind sincerity that let his guest know he was completely onto her scheme. "Call into question your credibility, and I find it truly tragic that our world fine information super highway has misinformed you, I am however, forced to shut your operation down. For legal reasons."

He nodded sympathetically, his hands out to her in a gesture that was apologetic. "Surely, you understand?"

[V. Vincent]

Her nose crinkled unhappily, but, really, it was going much better than she'd expected. Usually he'd just drop his head into his hands and ask her to be quiet for a couple of minutes while he warded off a headache; this was definitely an improvement. Still, this was business, and Drumm was the consummate professional, so she had to keep her game face on.

"But, Director," she protested affably, "isn't is true that, as mutants, the students here are technically outside those sorts of restrictions?"

"Technically, yes," Drumm conceded, holding up the first finger of his right hand. "For good or ill. The school, however, is not. Distributing the discs, and profiting from that distribution, while on school grounds," he continued, his voice rising slightly toward the end, "is, unfortunately, not appropriate use of Academy resources."

"We weren't selling the discs on school grounds," Violet refuted calmly, and when the Director raised a skeptical brow, she shrugged and smiled. "No money exchanged hands, and, anyway, all the profits would have been redirected to an offshore account."

The silence in the office was deafening.

"You have an offshore account." It was a statement, not a question, and almost an accusation as the Director leveled the full force of his attention at the precocious sophomore.

Her smile broadened, and she shrugged again, a nonchalant gesture that verged on insolence.

"No, but it's a good idea, isn't it?"

[Dave ST]

"No off shore accounts, Miss Vincent." He grinned and glared at once letting her know her jibe was accepted for the good humor it was meant to be.

He folded his hands together and looked into her dazzling purple eyes, something she wasn't used to from men. "Well, it appears we understand each other," He paused and his gaze was as enchanting as it was piercing. "We do understand each other, right Miss Vincent?"

[V. Vincent]

Doing her best to look chastened, and struggling not to just stare like a lovestruck schoolgirl into those gorgeous (!) brown eyes, Violet nodded meekly, folding her hands primly in her lap.

"Absolutely, Director Drumm. We are utterly simpatico on this point. No offshore accounts."

Even as she agreed, she crossed two fingers of one hand beneath the protective shield of the other.

"And," she added as he regarded her with brows raised expectantly, silently urging her to continue. "No pirating of copyrighted digital media. Even if the internet has cruelly betrayed my trust." Her expression was almost petulant, but it was genuine enough. A flicker of hope, or perhaps mischief danced in her eyes as she straightened her skirt, preparing to leave.

"I don't suppose offering you a share of our modest, but still altogether reasonable profits would-"

"No," the Director sighed, compressing his lips into a thin line that resembled a grimace more than the grin it was meant to conceal. "No, Miss Vincent, it would not."

"Right." She nodded, exhaling sharply. "Well, then," she said, rising from her seat, "I'll just be on my way. It's been a pleasure Director Drumm, as always." There was a faint purr beneath the words she couldn't quite negate, so she quickly cleared her throat and moved to the door.

"No, no. The pleasure is all mine, Miss Vincent, and as much as I do enjoy our little talks, I trust our next meeting will be under better circumstances, hm?" Despite his smile, the directness of his gaze left no doubt in her enterprising young mind what he meant.

"O-of course, Director." Nodding again, emphatically, Violet walked back out into the reception area, closing the heavy door behind her.

[Dave ST]

He watched her leave, and he felt achingly guilty for doing so. There were times when his job was not an easy one and with the abundance of superhuman beauty floating around his school the Director's willpower was his greatest asset.

The door closed and he grinned. Three, two, one...

The door opened just a crack and Violet's gorgeous features poked through. Her amethyst hair fell down from her shoulder, teasingly covering her soft, rosy cheeks but accenting her sensually shaped purple eyes. "Is this going to go on my-" She asked earnestly.

Always so punctual. He contained another smile, attempting to remain cool and collected. She, like many of his students was quite entertaining, in her own way. "Out, Miss Vincent."

"But I was just curiou-" she retorted, her words almost jumbled together with haste before he cut her off again.

"Out." He was faster, but cheated she decided, since he'd shortened his sentence and went with a one word short cut. A sign of weakness. She was wearing him down.

[V. Vincent]

As the door closed behind her, she glanced quickly at Gracie, who was studiously typing away on her keyboard, and allowed herself the luxury of a dreamy sigh. Twenty minutes along with Director Jericho Drumm was better than any therapy the Academy counselors could cook up.

Violet gave a tiny wave to the receptionist, smiling as she half-strolled, half-skipped back out to the main hall. The sound of her cell phone chirping didn't even faze her.

Oh, yeah. Totally worth getting caught, she mused. Totally.