Zoe's Office Hours - September 2

[bigdamnprincipal]

Yes, Zoe was in her office on a Saturday.

No, she didn't mind much.

Because yes, she was charging the powers that be overtime for these hours.

The door is open for anyone who needs her.

[Feel free to drop by, but the door's mainly open for...yeah, I'm not even going to finish that joke. *g*]

Comments

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Well, you accomplished that much, even if it wasn't your intention. Because you are someplace safe now. At least, safer than where I imagine you were, if you felt the need to run."

[notajar]

"London." Door smiles a little wistfully. "The underside of London. It's home. But not safe, not now." She glances down at her hands for a second, then back up at Zoe, because she wants to be safe, but there's right and wrong, as well.

"If I stay here, though, I can't promise here will stay safe. The...creatures...I was running from wouldn't hesitate to hurt anyone they thought could lead them to me." Then she shakes her head. "No, that's not quite right. They'd hesitate, but only to enjoy it a bit longer."

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe takes that in, and thinks about the danger in terms of the rest of the students. Creatures hurting people to get to her...it was almost funny how that didn't seem so strange after her time here.

"I won't be naive and try to assure you that that won't happen. But when I say that you'll be safe here, I mean, you'll be safe even from creatures like that. This is a strange little island you've ended up on, and the people here know how to take care of things that mean to do someone harm, especially when that someone is another student."

[notajar]

Door thinks about that, then she thinks that if she thinks too much about it, she'll think about things she daren't think about yet. She'll slow down, and she can't do that, not...yet.

"What... do I do?" she finally asks. "I've never been to a school before."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Never?" Zoe asks, trying not to sound too incredulous, in case that might scare Door further. "School is basically...you take classes in subjects that you like, or that you might want to learn more about. We've got a lot of them," she says, handing her a list of the class descriptions.

[notajar]

Door nods as she leafs through the descriptions. "I've read about schools in books. Just we don't really have them in London Below." She chokes for a moment on whether or not she can say the words, but they do come out smoothly enough when she opens her mouth again. "My parents taught us things like this. Reading, history, maths." Opening, she doesn't add.

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe nods solemnly as she listens. "Sounds like you've got a good start then. That'll be helpful in whatever you decide you want to take. You don't have to decide right this second, but classes start on Monday, so you'll need to pick soon, if you want to stay." She considers Door carefully. "Do you want to stay?"

[notajar]

It's safe, they keep telling Door. It's certainly strange, and judging from most of the accents, it's far enough away from London Below that the only way she'll be found is if someone tells them she's here.

And then there's this matter of her 'guardian.'

"I suppose I do," Door says, the decision making itself as she speaks. She indicates herself with a twist of her wrist. "What you see is what you get, though. Going back to my house alone would be suicidal, and I've no money for new clothes, or books. I don't even know how de Carabas is paying for this."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"I don't know either. But..." Zoe grabbed a sheet from Door's file and handed it to her. "He also had an account set up for you here, so you'd be able to buy clothes and supplies. It looks like he wanted to make sure you'd be taken care of."

[notajar]

Door studies the sheet of paper, only half comprehending what she's looking at, but still aware that represents more real-world money than she's ever seen, and far more than a man like the Marquis de Carabas could lay his hands on. And if he had managed it somehow...

"He owed my father a favour," she says, shaking her head in confusion and handing back the paper. "But not that big a favour. What's he going to want from me, I wonder." The last, she mutters to herself more than to Zoe, before looking up again. "Sorry, you won't know that, of course."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"I don't, unfortunately." Zoe looks slightly disturbed as she shuts Door's file and puts it away. "For the record, when I say you're safe here against people who might want to hurt you, that can include guardians too."

[notajar]

"I doubt he wants to hurt me; he's just...self-motivated," Door explains. "To say the least."