self_inflictedexhile | tvd / nysm } { the salvatore school for the young and gifted

tvd / nysm } { the salvatore school for the young and gifted

Nestled just on the outskirts of the tiny town of Mystic Falls, Virginia is the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. As far as most of the town is concerned, the school is exactly how it's marketed - a boarding school for rich and gifted students - but a few are aware of it's real origins.

A school for young supernatural students, so that they can grow up somewhere where they didn't have to hide.

The headmaster is actually much older than she looks, having not aged a day since she was seventeen, but she's learned to dress herself up to fit the part. Her long hair is swept up into an elegant twist, her pant suit is perfect and polished, and her makeup is appropriately adult. Still, there's not a lot that can hide the youthfulness of her features no matter how hard she tries.

She's standing at the front of the school, watching as the car pulls up in front before flashing the man who arrives a bright smile and wave. Once he emerges from the car, she waves and makes her way closer to shake his hand.

"Mr. Rhodes. Welcome to the Salvatore School."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"She's a good kid. She cast the spell to help us find a lot of the students we do have, and she goes out and helps pull in a lot of kids who don't have anywhere else to go." Caroline rubs her arm as she walks keeping her attention on the hallway in front of them. "But adults have a tendency to shuffle in and out of her life."

Things have been steadier in recent years, with Freya, Vincent, and the rest of the pack in New Orleans, but losing her mom had been a heavy blow. Add her father and uncle on top of that, and it only makes things even harder.

"Her father's trust issues are genetic, apparently."

"Either that, or it's hard to learn how to trust people when they don't stick around long enough for you to be able to," he says by way of agreement. Again, yeah, he gets it. He'll try and be less bristly about the whole thing until he actually gets to know her, and depending that might not take too long, even if she doesn't warm up to him all that quickly. Daniel, for all his bullshit, has always been an exceptionally easy read, after all, and he's still dangerously good at reading people, even when they're not.

"She good with magic, though?" he asks after a beat, on a breath out and regardless of whether or not he thinks he already knows the answer to that one. It's as good a way as any to change the subject so they don't keep talking circles around Hope while not really changing the subject.

"Oh, she's one of our most promising students in that regard. Her aunt taught her a lot before she even got here, and she takes to it like a fish to water." She pauses with a small smile. "While they're known for being vampires, it turns out that witchcraft was their real selling feature."

Which is saying something, considering what the Mikaelsons really get up to. "She could probably do with some challenges, if you think you could come up with any."

"I might be able to come up with something," Dylan drawls, already thinking about it. His magic will never be as strong or as broad as Hope's, he thinks, for all that werewolves shouldn't even have magic and how hard-won the fight to steal their talents back was, but -- well, puzzles and tricks are kind of their thing, his thing. He'll come up with something to grab her attention and provide a challenge. He might even do it without it being obvious it's from him, like he did the Horsemen, so she doesn't immediately turn her nose up at it.

"Gimme some time with it," he finishes after a beat.

"Good." She nods again, before they reach the back end of the building, and she turns to face him again. "And this concludes our tour. Is there anything else you want to check on while you have me?"

Taking a moment to consider that, Dylan shakes his head. He can't think of anything else he wants her to show him personally, and he really doesn't have any questions -- or, well, not specifically about the school, anyway. After wetting his lips with his tongue, he does start, "I think I'm on board, but ... you mind if I take a walk around on my own, first?"

He wants to see if there's any places he shouldn't be sticking his nose, and what happens when he does go there. He wants to see if there's something sinister here that he's not seeing and she's obviously not showing. He wants to talk to the rest of the faculty. He wants to eavesdrop on the kids a little more. Take your pick. He's still a cop, a Fed on top of being a werewolf. So sue him if he wants to clear a scene before he walks right on in.

"Of course. Feel free to browse as you see fit. You have my number if you need anything, or just swing by the administration office."

Caroline's not really concerned because she also knows that the kids are nosy enough that if he gets into anything he shouldn't, he'll have a cluster of students on him fast enough to keep him from doing anything too crazy.

"I'll let you know," Dylan promises, nodding. "And I'll swing by, when I'm headed out, too." To give her his final decision on whether or not he's sold (though, like he said, he pretty much is), and to let her know he's leaving, so she doesn't wonder where he's gone or what he's getting up to, out of sight.

Either way, after a beat, he adds, "Thanks for the tour." And then he's turning away, heading at first aimlessly, then more purposefully back towards the classrooms. Maybe he'll talk to some of the other teachers here, see how much of the Kool-Aid they're drinking. That seems like a good place to start, he thinks.

Well, there are a few teacher options he can choose from. There's the the headmaster, human, who teamed up with Caroline to start this school along with her daughters. There's the librarian, also human, who seems to be more skeptical of Alaric and Caroline's grand dreams for the world they want to create, but still clearly cares for the kids, and then there's the guidance counselor, a witch, who is rather friendly and charming, but mostly works one-on-one with students.

There are other various teachers, on various spectrums of the supernatural world, but these are the ones that the show has told me about so these are the options Dylan can choose from.

As luck (or the narration rolling dice behind the scenes) would have it, Dylan finds himself in the library. He pauses, just inside the doors, taking it in, comparing it to the archive the Eye keeps in London, and then continues on, keeping an eye out for signs of life. And just so he doesn't creep up on someone and scare the shit out of them, he calls, "Hello? Anybody home?"

It takes a moment, but eventually a head emerges from his office, glancing around for the sound of the voice, before nodding with a small smile.

"Hi. Can I help you find something?"

"I was wondering more if I could ask you a couple of questions," Dylan answers, shaking his head. A pause follows and then he adds, "I'm one of the guys the headmaster called in for a job interview." And not just some random guy, sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Mostly.

"Oh, yeah. Rhodes, right?" He shifts, before holding out a hand to shake the other man's. "Dorian Williams. Nice to meet you."

Dylan doesn't bother correcting him with his first name, like he did with Caroline, just Rhodes a little less formal and a little more familiar, considering his day job, than it would be with the title before it. He goes for the shake instead, that in mind, and as he pulls back, offers, "Yeah, you, too."

A beat.

"So, you liking it here, so far?" He did mention having questions, right?

"I've been here with Caroline and Ric since the beginning. I'll admit that there are days when Ric and I don't see eye to eye, but these are all good kids." And the kids make it worth it, at least in his mind.

"You get into it over what direction the school should be going in? Or ... ?" The kids are important, yes, and if he tells him the reason they don't always get along is because Ric thinks they need to be pushing the kids to be harder, faster, better, whatever, that's going to raise some red flags for him. He thinks the kids should understand what they are and what they're capable of, and know how to defend themselves, sure, but there's a difference between that and being a monster.

Did he mention he's still a little paranoid this is somehow going to bite him in the ass, hence him sniffing around a little? How about the part where, if this does turn out to be some kind of trap, he's going to get all of the werewolf kids out, even if he has to go down with the ship to do it?

"Depends on the day." It's not so much the direction that they disagree on, but more Ric not giving Dorian his space when he requests it. "Mystic Falls tends to be a bit of a hot bed for crazy, and you don't always have room to breathe when things start going down."

And also they've had differences on curriculum, but that's more Dorian being wary of how far these kids should go, while also acknowledging that when Ric is picking spells for witches, it's only going to go so far in protecting them.

"Yeah, so I've heard," Dylan answers.

A moment of pause follows, more than as he takes a moment to mull things over, and then finally, he lets out a breath of a laugh, though the sound is largely without humor. He shakes his head, too, before he explains, asks, "This place really is just a school for kids like us, huh?"

This place really is what Caroline says it is, no tricks.

Dorian smirks, before shaking his head. "Yeah, it is. And trust me, it's a mess sometimes because if you think human kids get into trouble, supernatural ones are just as bad. But they're good kids. They're just doing their best, and we're trying to help them do that."

"I can deal with kids," Dylan tells him, shaking his head faintly. "I got four of 'em at home." Never mind the fact that, again, none of the Horsemen are teenagers. Still, though. The point still stands. "I just -- I don't know. I guess I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, here."

For this to be some kind of trap, if not for him than for the kids. Either way. But this all feels on the level and he can't smell the lie on Dorian, so maybe not. Maybe this is real, vampire headmistress or not.

"I get that. But Caroline was a teen supernatural herself. She really does just want to do right by these kids."

The best she can, in whatever way she can.

"I guess it's up to you whether or not you want to buy in."

"Yeah," he drawls, thoughtfully. A moment of pause follows, a heavy breath out, and then he returns his attentions to Dorian where it had wandered to some middle distance. "Anyway, uh. I should probably let you get back to whatever you were doing before I barged in."

"No problem. Enjoy the rest of your tour."

And then he will go back to that research he was doing, but he doesn't seem too bothered by the fact that he was interrupted. Probably because the teenagers tend to do it all the time.

Now Dylan is free to choose his own adventure again: another teacher or poking at one of the students?

He might try one of the students, now, for all that he's not sure going that route will get him too far. Teenagers aren't likely to talk to adults on the best of days, then add in the fact that he's a stranger, who's snooping around, and well, yeah. He's not sure how this is going to go, but he feels like he needs a kid's perspective on all this, too, so he is going to give it at go.

Dealer's choice as to which kid he ends up talking to.

Well, one will come looking for him then. A brightly smiling student rounds the corner, smelling faintly like death - standard for a vampire - and he flashes Dylan a bright smile.

"Mr. Rhodes? Ms. Forbes sent me. She's getting a little tied up with administrative things but I can pick up the tour and take you if there's anything else you want to see." Then after a pause, he holds out a hand. "Milton Greasley. Most people call me MG."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject