This wont be awkward at all (Tally~)

[Anonymous]

Alaric hesitated at the door. Really, the entire trip to the door had been made up of many hesitations. He really didn't want to go inside. He really, really didn't. But he needed too, which made it even worse.

Roman's office loomed before him. Even once he had graduated, it was still...he couldn't really think of the word. Some word that would mix awe and dread, but in a non-cowardly, nonchalant, totally badass kind of way.

That word doesn't exist and you are being a coward. You should just tell him you can't handle candidates.

Can't do that. Gabriel asked me to take him.

Only because Gabriel is using you.

Kazef, not right now. Seriously. He didn't want to deal with the dragon at the moment, it was hard enough going in there.

It wasn't that Roman was a bad guy or anything. He seemed nice enough, though he had a total stick up his ass. What Gabriel saw in him, he didn't know. He and Roman had just never....connected much. It was so awkward talking to the man.

But today was official buisness. Well, relatively official, more just job related, really. With a sigh, Alaric reached up and knocked on the door to Roman's office.

[Tally]

Roman thought he might be dying.  His heart was running so fast he could feel it thudding in his chest and everywhere he looked the colors blurred.  He leaned against the wall in his hallway, cold sweat sheening his skin, thoughts held death-grip close lest Scheherazade or some passing Pilot catch a ripple of his difficulty.

He'd overdosed finally, but cold logic kept him rooted in place.  Amphetamine overdoses were rarely lethal, and he surely wasn't that bad off.  Just one pill too many, that was all.  A little time for it to work through his system and he'd be good again, and he'd just be more careful next time.  It was all right.

He must have stayed there for near an hour, waiting for the nausea to fade and his vision to focus again.  Eventually he was able to leave the support of the wall and stumble his way toward the kitchen.  Thank the gods he had the afternoon free—

—and just as that thought crossed his mind, his door buzzed.

Fuck.  He made himself stand up straight and only swayed a little.  It was a considerable improvement.  His heart still raced unnaturally, but he could see straight now and his head didn't feel detached from his body anymore.

He jabbed the button to open the door, and was surprised to see Alaric there.  It took him a moment to say anything.  "Gabriel's not here," he said.  He headed toward the kitchen for some water.

[Anonymous]

Uuuuuuh. Wow. This was not a good time. He had no idea what was going on with Roman, but it didn't look good. He looked like he was sick or something, like he had a fever maybe, not quite all there.

Alaric shifted, wondering if maybe he should just come back, when Roman wasn't so...indisposed. But he really wanted to talk about Vaughan. He was having problems getting through to the kid and he was on the fast track for TRIM. It worried him and it made him linger at Roman's doorway, "Uh, yeah. I know. I was here to see you, sir. About Candidate Liik. I was hoping I could get some advice...uh...maybe this is a bad time...do you want some help to the infirmary?"

[Tally]

Roman shot Alaric a look of seething rage.  He was usually more in control of himself but fuck.  The very idea of Alaric helping him to the infirmary like he was some fucking invalid shorted out all his self control.  He managed to grate a response out.  "No.  Thank you."

Passing into the kitchen took him out of sight of Alaric for a few blessed seconds and he was able to compose himself while he filled a glass with water.  He drained it in one breath.  It didn't help much, but he felt able to face Alaric without growling at him now.

"It's fine," he said, returning to the living room and rubbing at the ache in his temple.  "I might be coming down with something, I don't know.  Nothing serious.  We can talk."  They could try to talk. They'd never really gotten on very well.  There was no animosity but they didn't have a whole lot of common ground to stand on and Roman was unbalanced and snappish just then, which wouldn't facilitate this going smoothly.

[Anonymous]

"Um...I think I should come back at another time. You seem...preoccupied." There was something wrong with Roman and it wasn't a cold. He wasn't really sure what it was, and he really didn't want to know.

And it wasn't hard to tell Roman didn't want to see him. Not that Roman ever really wanted to see him, but now he seemed even angrier. Not really the mood he wanted to catch him in when he needed help with a tricky candidate.

"Uh...drink lots of fluids and I hope you feel better." Alaric stepped back toward the door, opening it without turning around, still facing Roman, "So...uh...bye."

Quickly moving, he exited and closed the door behind him. Well...that had been awful.

[Tally]

"Do what you want," he snapped.  This had been fucking pointless.  Like it would be anymore pleasant later?  They could do this now.  He'd rather do this now than put it off and have to go through this all again later.  But whatever, if he wanted to leave then let him go.

Something told him it would be even more difficult later, when he didn't have anger lighting a fire under him, when he was only running on the dregs of adrenaline and willpower.  He was going to feel like shit once he stopped and allowed his mind to catch up with his body.

"Yeah, I'll do that."  Roman didn't wait for him to go.  He was heading into the hall while Alaric was still opening the door.

[Anonymous]

Alaric left Roman alone for a few days. He wasn't really comfortable enough around Roman to deal with him when he was in a mood like that. He didn't really know what to do and he was already feeling awkward about admitting he didn't know what to do with his candidate.

Once he felt a little more comfortable that whatever mood Roman had been in was gone, Alaric tried again. Carefully knocking on Roman's door, he waited for permission to enter.

[Tally]

For awhile, no answer came, and when it did it was Scheherazade speaking directly to Alaric.

"Go on in, sugarpie.  He can't quite get up right now but he's done with his work."

Roman was seated at the kitchen bar, staring intently down at a wolf spider in front of him.  It stirred little, held there by a mind far more complex than its own.  Roman hadn't heard Alaric knock, but Sher had been vigilant for him and reached him in his trance.  He'd told her to let the kid in, having already shrugged off their last unpleasant meeting.

He just hadn't been able to respond himself.  Giving a spider an order was a simple thing, but delving down into it's mind was rather like lowering oneself into a tiny, dark cave and getting back up again took some time.  He awoke his own senses one at a time, climbed his way back up to where there was light and self-awareness and humanity.

"Agh."  Roman stretched, having exactly the same feeling you got after waking from a too-short nap, all dulled and out of sorts.  "Sorry.  Couldn't hear you."

[Anonymous]

Watching Roman have a staring contest with a spider was...really not what Alaric was expecting. Yet, somehow, he felt he should have. Blinking all three eyes, he watched Roman's sense pull away from the spider, the thread his other eye could see pulling back into Roman.

"It's cool. I wasn't really waiting long. Scheherazade said you were finished with your work and I was wondering if you had a second to talk. I...uh...am having some problems with the kid I'm mentoring. I can't figure out how to get through to him or motivate him. And, well, you are the candidate master and all that."

[Tally]

Roman blinked, then rubbed at his eyes, his vision overlaying sporadically with a dimmer, movement-triggered view—the wolf spider's sight.  His fingertips felt near bombarded with vibration and sound from the counter top upon which they rested.  It would all fade in a few moments.

"Yeah, I'm done.  Just playing around really.  Trying to see how far I can convince him to travel."  He waved a hand and the little guy skittered off.  It'd be around the next time Roman needed it.

"Vaughan?  How long you been with him now?"

[Anonymous]

"That's really cool. I always wished I could do stuff like that." Alaric's abilities were all so...heavy handed. He had never been able to do anything delicate and he had never gotten any of the cool powers, like talking to animals and stuff. He just got telekinesis and a lot of it.

"But yeah, um Vaughan. I haven't been with him that long. I took him over when Gabe lost his mentoring privileges. I've tried talking with him a bit, but he's really unresponsive and he just seems to really hate it here. He wants nothing to do with the program and hates Pilots. He's been having some problems, as I'm sure you know. Uh...mentoring Nika and all..."

Alaric was babbling, he knew. It was a nervous reaction to being around Roman. The man intimidated him, and, well, less that, he knew Gabe liked him and he wanted to get along with him, but he never knew what to say and he was sure Roman didn't really like him much.

"But yeah...I'm not sure what to do to get him actually motivated. To actually want to be a Pilot. I was hoping you might have some ideas. Sir."

[Tally]

After the business with the spider, Roman needed a drink, something to remind his senses he was human.  He grabbed a soda—a cheap off-brand kind that he liked—and held one out to Alaric, his brows raised in question.

"That was a mouthful.  How long you been worrying over this?"

[Anonymous]

Alaric took the soda, holding it in both hands, though a little too distracted to remember to open it. He was never very good with people, let alone one like Roman. He nodded his head, fidgeting in place, "Uh..yeah. Sorry. I just- uh, yeah."

[Tally]

"Okay."  That hadn't exactly been an answer, but Roman let it go.  The question was more rhetorical anyway.

He leaned against the counter top, soda in one hand.  He didn't have the reports in front of him, but he could remember the gist of most of them.  "So you've tried 'talking with him a bit'.  What else?  And how did you talk to him?  What did you say?  What approach did you take?"

The first step was identifying what hadn't worked so they didn't go repeating efforts that had already failed.

[Anonymous]

Alaric did his best to go over exactly what he had done with Vaughan, which had mostly met with total failure, "I, um, I think I'm not really mentor material. I don't know what to do to get him to want to pass."