Administrivia ((Open to any who want to see the new Xavier's Headmaster))

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel was in the middle of remodeling what was now her office. Xavier has finished up the semester and given her the office as hers. Though she currently had no clue how to decorate it. So things were looking a little bare with her desk and two chairs across from it for adornment.

She had plans for the estate on her desk. She sat in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. There were pages of the requirements for a being a certified school scattered on the floor behind her. She had posted about her open office before the summer semester began.

The redhead didn't know if having visitors would be a blessing or not.

Comments

[firstbornrichards]

Franklin Richards could have teleported straight into the office, of course, but such a thing would be unconscionably rude. Instead he'd put on a suit, gathered his resume and CV and booked an appointment to discuss a teaching position with the Xavier Institute like a normal person would.

Coming to the door at the ppointed time, Franklin knocked on the door.

[nohoundsallowed]

Anyone who teleported without warning into the office while Rachel was there was liable to end up through a wall. Unless it smelled like brimstone. Then she would only momentarily dangle Kurt or his daughter upside down.

She looked up from the plans at the knock. She used her tk to open the door when she remembered she had an appointment. "Come on in and don't mind the echoes."

[firstbornrichards]

"Hi." Franklin would've probably just said "Hi, Rachel" but somehow it didn't seem quite right. Should she be Mrs. Ramsey? She wasn't a doctor or a professor exactly. Maybe "Rachel" was fine. Maybe he worried too much about things. Okay, not maybe. He did. "Congratulations on your new job, by the way. The Xavier Institute is in good hands."

It was warm, sincere, though he didn't go further because he was there to apply for a job.

"I know there weren't exactly open job postings, but I'm interested in teaching at the Institute, if you have any openings available."

[nohoundsallowed]

"Good morning, Franklin," Rachel greeted as he came in. She shut the door behind him while gesturing to the chairs in front of her desk. "Thank you. Have a seat."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Lucky for you I'm doing a bit of reorganizing of the staff to come into compliance with state laws. We may have some openings. What's your education background and experience?"

[firstbornrichards]

Franklin went over to the chairs and sat down. "I can imagine that's quite a headache in the making. I have a degree in physics, but I honestly think I'd be more useful in a history class. I've spent the last few years travelling through various points in history, getting firsthand experience of it. I have proposed lesson plans aimed towards a high-school and entrance-level university audience in the portfolio I prepared, if you'd like to take a look at them. They're made in accordance to state curriculum regulations for US and world history."

[iced_cherub]

Bobbi wasn't really there to see the new headmaster, considering she figured it wouldn't change anything, though she carried a tray with her, hot chocolate and a cupcake on it, figuring it might be a nice treat for Rachel.

"Thought you could use something of a break."

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel had a piece of paper in hand when Bobbi came in. It was one of possible designs for the office. The redhead wasn't impressed and tossed it over her shoulder. She ignored the paper gently floating to the floor.

"I'm sure I could. What have you there?" She gave a slightly tired smile.

[iced_cherub]

"We baked cupcakes earlier. Thought you'd want one, and brought hot chocolate." She smiled walking to the desk.

"Want help decorating?"

[nohoundsallowed]

"Thank you. That's very thoughtful," she said warmly. She leaned back in the chair and watched the girl's approach to the desk.

"I'm still trying to decide on how it should be decorated. The Professor's style was a bit to... old school for me."

[iced_cherub]

She nodded happy the gesture was taken well. "Your welcome."

"I liked it, but it's not something that fits for you." She set the tray on the desk.

[shadeblossom]

Hana knocked politely and waited patiently outside the office with a wooden box in her hands. A tupperware container was balanced on top of it and wobbled slightly as she contained the urge to bounce happily.

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel was standing in front of her desk with her hands on her hips. She seemed to be staring at the back wall, contemplating something. She glanced over her shoulder at the door.

"Come in," she beckoned as the door opened. She looked back at the bare wall and momentarily bit her lower lip.

[shadeblossom]

"Hello, bosslady!" Hana greeted as she came inside and stood beside Rachel. She hadn't had a whole lot of direct contact with Xavier, but somehow Rachel seemed more approachable to her.

"I come bearing welcome gifts!"

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel liked to think she got some warmth and approachability from her mother. Her father was not known so much for that. "Hello, Hana. That wall is very bare, and it's vexing me."

She glanced down at the wooden box and tupperware container. She had to smile at the gifts and patented Mojoworlder enthusiasm. "What sort of gifts?"

[shadeblossom]

Hana glanced at the wall in question. It was kind of naked. Drat. Maybe she should have brought a painting or something!

"Well, nothing for the wall, but I thought you might like them anyway." She carefully set the boxes down on the edge of the desk and handed over the tupperware first. "I made you a fresh batch of shortbread cookies. Plain, orange, and lemon ones."

Then she turned to the wooden box and opened the latches, lifting the lid. "And since they go so well with tea, I thought you might like this..."

Inside the box was an antique tea serving set. The delicate porcelain was painted with cherry trees in full bloom with snow-capped mountains in the background.

[talk_to_you]

Doug came by a bit late in the day to see how his wife was doing. "Hey, babe."

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel was sitting in a lotus position in the middle of her desk. Any paperwork that had been on the desk earlier in the day was all over the floor right now. She thought it made a good-looking carpet.

"Hello, sweetie. How was your day?" Her voice sounded more chipper than she looked.

[talk_to_you]

"Better than yours, it looks like," he said. "But I like what you've done with the place."

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel huffed out a breath. "Stripped bare and no idea where to go. Not my usual modus operandi. As you know."

She quirked an eyebrow at him before unfolding herself.

"At least when I get the portraits, there will be something on the walls."

[talk_to_you]

"Portraits, eh? Who of?"

[pyroprincess]

Stephanie had booked an appointment to speak with the new headmaster, about a number of issues, both relatively light and more serious. She'd arrived right on time for her appointment, knocking on the door of the headmaster's office. With her was a briefcase full of various files, paperwork and items to discuss. As a show of her serious professionalism, she'd elected to wear glasses instead of contacts that morning.

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel had expected to busy as headmaster, but she had not quite prepared for this level of busy-ness. She had managed to at least pick all the papers up from around the cavernous space by the time Stephanie arrived for her appointment. She had just settled back into her chair when there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in, Stephanie."

[pyroprincess]

Stephanie could probably give Rachel a few tips on handling extremely large workloads, though her ability to make up for a lack of sleep by punching a wall helped enormously. She walked into the office and sat down.

"Would you like the good or the bad items of business first?" While it could seem flippant in another tone, Stephanie wasn't particularly laughing. There were some serious things they needed to discuss. Vargas. The Hellfire Club. Sage's working with her fiancee's company.

[nohoundsallowed]

"Let's start with the bad, so we can finish on a better note," Rachel decided with a pause. She closed the door with a thought. Telekinesis was such a lovely power. Particularly for her immaculate nails.

[pyroprincess]

"Kayla was right. Her employer was on my list of mutant-friendly employers." Stephanie pulled a list out of the briefcase. "I hadn't made the list public yet, so that means someone close to me has leaked the information." She handed over the full list of employers, nearly forty names of companies, from small establishments such as the Sweating Bullets tattoo parlour and Bob's Coffeeshop to Veridian Dynamics, Marcelo's company.

"I don't know what order he intends to go in, but I expect he will be attempting to kill all the others on the list." Her jaw set. "A personal friend of mine and my fiancee are on this list. I want him stopped." The word killed almost slipped her tongue, but she stopped it. She did. But she would settle for him simply being stopped. They were the X-Men after all. Heroes.

She wasn't a hero, she didn't think. She wanted vengeance, and she'd admit such if asked. But there was more than that at stake right now. People she cared about, a movement she cared about.

The odd thing is that Rachel was privy to absolutely none of those thoughts. One of the things that Father had insisted she start wearing, a psi blocker. It was just part of being a Shaw, like an affinity for expensive alcohol and naked ambition.

"Secondly, my father isn't dead. He's assumed global leadership of the Hellfire Club. As far as I can tell, he has little interest and absolutely no designs on the Institute, though I cannot vouch for some of the other Lords Paramount. Selene and Mr. Sinister."

Stephanie pulled something else out, it looked like a cellphone, but it was designed to be utterly untraceable. It had functionality like any other cellphone, audio and text, but the signal was almost impossible to discern unless one was actually listening on one end or the other.

"If I ever get wind of something that anyone involved in their circles that immediately concerns the Institute, I'll send word through this. It's from my fiancee's company. There's virtually no means in existence to trace the signal."