We've got holes, but we carry on (OPEN)

[Mr Altair Olympus-Thatch]

Mr Olympus was finally here.

The place where his parents had met. The place that they spent hours talking about. The place that had been in his dreams since he was just a little demi-god. He was finally here…and he was ready to make his mark on it just like his parents did. More than that, he was ready to get down to work and get some learning into these students, to tell them tales of his adventures, the people he met, the places he saw, and the lessons he himself learnt. It was astonishing how much wisdom could be gained from travelling from place to place, world to world, for five years. At this point he wasn’t even sure if it was only five, time moved differently in different places, but he had learned a lot and was ready to pass it on.

He looked around the room at his handiwork…yes, this would be perfect.

He had wanted to create a space where the students would feel like they would always be welcome, that they could come in to any time they wanted. One wall was filled with stacks of books, whilst the other wall had shelves of strange and interesting items that he had collected on his travels. There had been a desk but he got rid of that, it was too official; too constraining, if he wanted these kids to talk freely then he didn’t want any barriers in the way including physical ones…like desks…

Instead the floor was covered in mats, cushions and bean bags, calming acoustic guitar music played through speakers around the room, and an interesting looking contraption in the corner appeared to be emitting smoke which smelled like vanilla but clearly had different buttons for different smells.
He looked around the room and smiled, his gaze catching a series of pictures on one of the shelves, the pictures he had carried with him as he travelled around the worlds. There was one of his parents, looking so very happy, god father with one of his new faces on and smart father with a book in his hand. Another one was a candid shot of his brother when he wasn't looking, it was the only way to get pictures of him, as he sat as his desk writing; Al loved that picture. The last photo frame was empty, although it had a whisky flask and pouch of tobacco on either side of it...he smiled at it like he could see the picture it should have contained.

Altair, or Mr Olympus as he preferred to be called in this place of learning (he had decided to use his god father’s surname as he didn’t want people to think he was relying on the academic brilliance of his smart mortal father, he wanted to make his own way and not have people give him special treatment just because he was Milo Thatch’s son), crossed to what would soon be known as the ‘always open door’ and turned the hand crafted wooden sign he had made from ‘Chilling elsewhere, give me a call’ to ‘The doctor is in, lay down your worries.’

He then walked back to the bean bag he had been sitting on previously and waited for the first young soul that was in need of guidance.

[Jenny]

Jenny was having a crisis of confidence. It was something she had never experienced before - she knew she was beautiful, she was incredibly popular, she was rich, she was a princess and she was just like her father, and really, what else could she want? But all the same, something had changed in the last few days, and she just wasn't feeling as good about herself as she normally did.

She had tried everything she could think of to help. She had been shopping, she had completely redone her wardrobe, she'd been to the salon and had her hair done, her nails done, and a facial and massage for good measure. She had bought fifteen new pairs of shoes. She'd been clubbing and turned down sixteen different guys. She'd even been riding and ventured down to the archery targets to make sure she was still as awesome at that as her father, and she was. But none of that had helped. She had still gotten up that morning, looked in the mirror and just felt... inadequate.

It was making her nervous, and it had the potential to threaten her Queen Bee status. Her army of skanks could smell weakness, and if they got even a whiff of her drop in confidence, they'd be on her like a pack of dogs, and she'd be ripped to pieces and dethroned before she could say 'eyeliner'.

She'd heard there was a new teacher who was offering counselling. Somewhere to chat about what was bothering you. Obviously she did not want to be seen heading into the counsellor's office, that was like walking willingly to the guillotine. But... she wondered if it might help. Even if it was just to confirm that she was as awesome as she knew she was. She'd waited down the corridor for ten minutes; each time she took a step to head towards the office someone appeared and she turned quickly, studying the posters on the walls, the lockers, the noticeboards. Finally, the corridor seemed to empty and, with a furtive look around, she practically ran to the counsellor's office, shooting through the door and shutting it behind her quickly, before anyone could see her.

Turning around quickly, her back against the door she looked around the room, taking in the beanbags, the photos, the smells, the guitar music, the strange objects and books, and raised an eyebrow. Oh god, this was definitely a mistake.
She was about to turn and head straight back out again when she saw the man - the very attractive man - sat on a beanbag. Shooting one of her trademark dazzling smiles, she flicked her hair over her shoulder.

"Hi. I think I'm totally in need of some counselling."

[Mr Altair Olympus-Thatch]

Altair had decided to partake in a little bit of meditation as he waited for his first student in need of guidance to arrive and so his eyes had been closed when said first student stepped into his office. Opening his eyes and smiling he said, “Well done. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one, you’re doing fantastic already.”

The young girl did not look distraught or on edge, in fact she looked very well put together and cheerful. However he had been around the world enough and met many people to know that such first impressions could be shockingly deceiving. She needed help because she had asked for it, and he was more than happy to provide that to her.

He got to his feet and crossed over to her, “I’m Mr Olympus, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you. Please, come in, take a seat, can I get you a drink? I’ve got this amazing new coffee that I got from backpacking somewhere in the Ottoman Empire, would you like some?”

[Jenny]

She raised an eyebrow slightly at the soundbite, again wondering if this was indeed a big mistake and she should just turn around and leave right now, and pretend she'd never stepped inside the office. But then he got up, and she noticed again just how attractive he was - and sure, he was a teacher, but he clearly wasn't that much older than her, so no big deal, right?

She smiled as he offered coffee, and nodded, fluttering her eyelashes. "Coffee would be perfection." She said with a slight and very deliberate husk to her voice, stepping further into the office and looking for a real chair. In the skirt she was wearing, she wasn't sure a beanbag was such a good idea. It probably wouldn't leave very much to the imagination. But given that there didn't seem to be another option, she awkwardly lowered herself onto a beanbag, keeping her knees tightly together and thinking how proud her mother would be that those princess lessons had at least taught her one thing. It was definitely a long way from comfortable though, and she shifted slightly on the bag, almost falling off the side, as she tried to pull her very short skirt a little further down her legs.

"I'm Jenny." She said, looking around the room again. "This office is... something."

[Mr Altair Olympus-Thatch]

He was glad that she had accepted the coffee, it sounded like she might need something warm for her throat, it did sound awfully huskie. He crossed over to his little wood burning stove that he had installed, replacing the electric heater that had been there and listened to her. He briefly looked around the office and smiled, “Thank you. I wanted to try and recreate the interior of one of the nomadic tribes of Mongolia, unfortunately the school drew the line at me holding my sessions in my Yurt, at least during the winter months in any case. During summer they are all for it. I’ve got a great Yurt.”

He continued to work on brewing the coffee and said, “I just really wanted to create a space where students like you could feel comfortable to come by and chat whenever you wanted. So please, make yourself at home.”

Turning around with a copper mug of a very strong smelling coffee he walked over to her and handed it to her, sitting on the beanbag opposite and lounging, “now tell me Jenny, what is it that brings you to my office today? What would you like to talk about?”

[Jenny]

Jenny didn't know what a yurt was, but she smiled and nodded anyway, putting on her best interested face. Years of flirting had taught her that you didn't need to know what the other person was talking about to nod along, make interested sounds at the right times, flutter your eyelashes and flick your hair. And so she did each of those things at the exact right moment as he spoke about his yurt, smiling as she sat precariously on the beanbag, pulling her skirt down ever so slightly - she knew the difference between just the right amount of thigh and slut, after all.

Taking the mug he handed to her, she shifted again on the seat, trying and failing to get comfortable without spilling hot coffee all over herself. That was a trick she could always save for later - the spilling a hot drink over her shirt so she had to take it off before she got scalded... a voice in the back of her mind briefly reminded her that this was a teacher, so she might want to tone it down a bit, but the voice was quickly quieted. After all, he couldn't be that much older than her, so it hardly counted, right? She shook her head slightly as Raff's face appeared in her mind, focusing back on the guy in front of her. Sure, she'd come here to talk about the crisis of confidence she was having, but the most important lesson she'd learned from her dad was this: hot guys take precedence over everything. And this guy was hot.

Taking a sip of the coffee, she thought for a second, his question throwing her. What was she going to say now? She'd expected some old librarian type woman with glasses and a tweed skirt to spill her issues to, not this guy. She felt a little thrown. "Oh, erm, you know... I just wanted to welcome you to the school." She said with a dazzling smile. "As the most popular girl in school, I figured it was my duty to extend a warm welcome."