30/Office Hours 4 -- Darien Shields

Office Hours 4 -- Darien Shields
Date of Scene:	04 July 2023
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	Darien was out late and gets a lecture.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Kyouka Inai

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The slip of paper he got in physics was... unwelcome.

Darien Shields did, however, get caught coming in late after getting yelled at at work and then shortly thereafter getting lectured by his roommate, and now he's got 'getting lectured by the guidance office' to look forward to. There's way too much on the teenager's plate for him to worry about lying to yet another person, and yet, here we are.

Darien knocks before pushing the ajar door open and stepping inside Kyuoka Inai's office and giving her his best affably rueful expression. "Hello," he says, then gestures behind him. "Should I close the door or leave it?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Inside, the office is brightly lit by sunlight coming in from the window behind the desk. Seated at the desk is the guidance counselor herself- or at least what the school tries to pass off as one. Sitting in the padded office chair with the seat tilted back on its swivel, one leather shoe up on the corner of the desk. As there comes a knock on the door, she calls out 'Come in' before Darien does just that, and as he asks about the door, she lowers her foot and swivels the chair around to face front, leaning forward over the desk on her elbows. "Close it." She says, her voice neutral as her ash-grey eyes study the properly-uniformed young man.

    She waits in silence while he does so and presumably crosses towards where she sits. "Have a seat." She says, her tone mild yet not exactly warm, gesturing towards the two overstuffed armchairs facing the desk, in a shade of green slightly less offensive than Darien's famous jacket. "I have to admint, I've been waitin' a while to meet you, Mr. Shields." Her voice has an informal accent, like you might hear on the streets, rather than the educated pronunciations the teachers here often utilize to make themselves seem smart.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
This guidance counselor is already interesting. A shoe up on the table? And then her accent-- a faint smile tugs at one corner of Darien's mouth as he closes the door, then comes over to sit. He looks comfortable enough, just like an honors student and high school prince might, just like a kid who already has a business internship in a zaibatsu might.

Darien sits forward just a very little bit, elbows on the arms of his chair, fingers loosely laced in front of him. He smiles crookedly and ducks his head, practiced and perfect, just apologetic enough to keep from being rude. "I'm very sorry, Inai-san. Things just kept coming up."

He doesn't give her anything.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Yeah, I bet they do." Kyouka studies this smarmy dude with something of a faintly grey tinge to her expression, though it's unclear exactly why this may be. It doesn't stop her from matching his crooked smile with her own though, one which shows just a hint of slightly too-sharp canine that lends the expression a predatory mien where perhaps none is intended.

    "But you're here now, aren't you? So we can finally have that chat that we've been mandated to have." Not by her, is the implication, but if that's so she doesn't offer a replacement culprit. "I understand you were out after curfew the other night. That's a bad look for an honor student. You should really be more careful."

    She exhales and leans back in the chair, the leather creaking as it rocks back on the swivel. "You're not.. in any sort of trouble, are you, Mr. Shields?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Smarmy might be an exaggeration -- practiced liar doesn't necessarily mean used car salesman, after all. Darien takes careful note of the unhealthy tinge to the counselor's face, a faint crease appearing between his brows at the 'I bet they do'. He tilts his head a little, studying Kyouka and her matching smile, her slight and unexpected tension.

"There was a problem at work," he answers frankly enough. "I did get in trouble for taking a risk I shouldn't have, but it didn't have any truly negative repercussions, so I'm in the clear. I just, as you say, need to be more careful. Here and at work. But-- I have to ask, Inai-san..."

The crease is back, and his dark blue eyes are concerned. "For a one-time infraction, you seem somewhat more worried than I'd expect. Is there something I should know?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Kid," Kyouka says, heaving a faint sigh and swiveling her chair halfway around to look out the window again. "There's probably a lot you should know, but most of it I don't think I'm the one to tell you." She looks like she wants a smoke, the pack tucked away in the pocket of the leather jacket hung over the back of her chair, but she knows better than to light up in her office in front of a student- but it doesn't mean she doesn't want to, sometimes more than others.

    "Work, right. What is your job again?" Her head lolls to the side, against the backrest of the chair, to regard him without moving from the relaxed position half-facing the window. "Pretty nice of a school like this to let students have after-school jobs. Wouldn't fly everywhere. Probably provides invaluable experience though, huh?" Is she probing for information, or just making conversation? It's hard to tell, but this certainly isn't coming off like a lecture.

    "It's not that I'm particularly worried," She circles back around, "Just that I think we both know being careful isn't always going to cut it. Not lately."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Oh that's interesting. Darien's eyebrows go up. His body language changes slightly, weight shifting fractionally to make it easier to get up; his eyes flicker briefly across the room, looking for something he doesn't find.

He was definitely listening, though, because when Kyouka is done, only one eyebrow is quirked a little bit upwards and the crooked smile is back. "My job's on record. I'm an intern in the marketing research division of Obsidian. It's not soul-crushing, and I'm paid pretty well for a junior member of the team. Prestigious school, prestigious career to follow-- that 'invaluable experience' you're talking about is no joke, and the money is nice."

The flight instinct seems to have been supressed, because he leans back in the chair a little and crosses one leg over the other, unlacing his hands to prop his head up on one. "I'm not sure what you mean about being careful not cutting it lately. Just because something isn't practice doesn't mean there aren't safety nets built in."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Uh huh." Kyouka responds to the summation of the job (which totally is in his files, which she totally has and even looked at) as if that wasn't even a question she asked. It was, but also it wasn't and perhaps she seems a bit disappointed in the answer she was given. Her eyes are back out the window as he talks- it's a pretty nice view actually, out over the athletic fields and the interior courtyard of the school.

    When he claims to not know what she means, her eyes cut back in his direction, and the grey that had formally been soft like fallen ash is now hard like steel. "I mean," She says, her tone still neutral but an edge to her words that somehow comes through despite that, "that sometimes safety nets fail. And sometimes no matter how unlikely it seems, the dice come up snake-eyes. It pays to be prepared. Especially with a job like yours." What's /that/ supposed to mean? It's clear she knows more than she's saying, but isn't willing to actually be frank with Darien for some reason.

    It could be because, to her, he reeks of Dark Energy. But he wouldn't know that, and she isn't about to tip her hand if she doesn't have to.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"... I'm not," Darien says quietly, his eyes searching Kyouka's, taking in her expression and the edge to her voice, "very junior. It's just not polite to say so, is it?"

He doesn't move from the relaxed pose for all that, but then he chuffs out a laugh and breaks the spell, sitting up and dropping both feet to the floor, arms slouched over the arms of the chair. "I'm as safe as anyone, Inai-san, and if the dice come up snake-eyes, it won't be my problem anymore, will it? I'm doing my best to keep it from interfering with my schoolwork-- but if it goes wrong, that won't be my problem either."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka's hand slapping down on the desk in front of her rings out like a gunshot in the small office, the force of the blow somehow belied by the speed of the action. Her expression is intense as she peers at him across the desk, those steel-grey eyes narrowed faintly, and her mouth pressed tightly into a frown that has something of a scowl about it. "Unacceptable." She says, her tone low. "That is unacceptable.. Darien."

    She leans forward slightly over the desk even as Darien slouches further in the chair. "My /job/ is to keep you safe.. all the students. Especially ones with certain leanings, which I am fully aware that you possess. You need to consider the fact that a failure on your part hurts more than just you."

    She leans back, taking a deep breath.. then pulls open the drawer of her desk and starts rifling through it. "I used to be like that. Takin' risks without giving a damn about the consequences. Trust me, even if it works for a while, inevitably it all comes crashing down."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Something behind Darien's eyes relaxes even as he physically flinches back from the sudden sharp sound. His lips press together and he watches Kyouka like she might bite him with those overly sharp canines-- cautious and unsettled. He doesn't address 'certain leanings'.

"And that's why I'm being careful. The risks I take are directly related to others not being careful. Do you get it? The members of my team are valuable, and if they're going to be my safety net, I owe it to them to be theirs as long as I can," he insists, and he sounds younger, and he looks annoyed about it. "That's how it works, isn't it?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka seems to find what she's looking for, pulling out a package of business cards from the drawer even as Darien is speaking. "I get that you're sixteen and you think you know what the fuck you're talking about," She says, her tone suddenly dismissive, "but that's just the hormones making you think you're invincible. I'm glad you're loyal to your friends," eyes dart upwards, then back down as she scribbles on the back of the card with a pen retrieved from her desk, "but you need to consider the fact that their loyalty may be done a disservice if you undermine their efforts in the name of reciprocation. Sometimes being a leader means stepping back."

    She expertly flicks the card across the desk at him. If he doesn't catch it, it will hit him in the chest and fall into his lap. It's her business card, the front side embossed with the logo of RHA as well as her name, position and office phone number. On the back, it just has the character for 'responsibility' written in none-too-neat strokes.

    "Hang onto that, will ya?" She leans back in her chair again. "And if you find yourself in over your head.. don't hesitate to give me a call. After all... sometimes you need an outside perspective, no matter how good this 'team' of yours is."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He's sixteen, so his eyes narrow -- and he scowls -- but he doesn't do anything stupid. "They're not gonna get fired on my account," he says firmly, and it sounds like 'they're mine', it sounds just like that somehow. "And I'm being careful."

His breathing is measured and even; he can't afford to lose his temper, and after all, she thinks she's helping, and it's fascinating how much she seems willing to let go for so little. So very little. (So much.) Barely anything at all.

Darien catches the card without blinking, without thinking about it, automatically. Two fingers just stop it in midair, and he glances at it, then sleight-of-hands it away into nothing. Responsibility. His jaw clenches for a split second.

"Thanks," he says, and there's so much bottled-up something behind it that it comes out practically flat. "They're the best. But I'll keep it in mind." A beat. "Was there anything else, Inai-san?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka seems to deflate just slightly at this point, shaking her head and flicking her hand again in a 'shoo' gesture. "No, I've said my piece. Just try and remember it. And don't get caught out after curfew again or you and I will end up having another chat, and that's probably more than either of us wants to deal with at the moment."

    She sits back in her chair, letting the back swivel tilted again as she turns to gaze out the window at the sun inching towards the horizon. "Take care of yourself, Mr. Shields." Of all the things she's said, that's the one she sounds like she means the most.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien stands up, and in the time it takes for him to go from sitting to up on his feet, he's at least managed to collect himself on the outside well enough to pass for affable and easygoing again. "I will," he says mildly. "You take care, too."

And then he silently leaves, door left ajar as it was when he came in.