Getting Caught?

[Jessica Alcander]

Jessica would usually have ben doing... well, pretty much anything at ten thirty at night. She might have been playing video games, or hanging out with some friends, sneaking into a movie... even sleeping. There were so many options for a girl like her, and one of the more obvious options was the one that she had decided to do that night. Food.

With how much she played sports, and how active she had always been throughout her life, it was no surprise that Jessica coudl eat. She woudl probably have been three hundred pounds if she hadn't grown into such an athlete. But she had always been running, and she had alwaysbeen hungry. It went hand in hand, and she was no stranger to sneaking into the cafeteria after it had closed.

Wearing the clothes she tended to sleep in, an over sized t-short, and shorts, Jessica made her way down from her dorm, and headed to the dining area. There was always something god to eat, which was great for a girl like her. Because it was stocked for so many students, there was no chance she would ever go hungry at midnight, or three in the morning, or whenever else she went down.

Sometimes she made herself a sandwhich, sometimes she had some fruit, and sometimes she took the less healthy path, and got some ice-cream and cake. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. That night, she made herself a plate of cold spagetti, and hopped up on the large table used for preparations of all the meals. Once she was seated, she picked up her plate and started her after dinner snack.

[James Alcander]

James wasn’t sleeping. Even Lyxara had curled up in her canine form at his feet, gently snoring, but the man just couldn’t switch off. He had a ton of papers to catch up on, and nowhere near enough time to do it. It was one of those vicious circles. James didn’t have enough time, and so he spent time worrying about it, leaving less time to actually do something about it. Whoops. So, he had resolved to sit and work for a few hours later than usual to see if he could catch up on at least some of the things he was doing. He had promised his classes for the next day that he would have some things ready for them.

After three solid hours of marking, James’ stomach growled in annoyance. He hadn’t eaten since lunch time, and was starting to feel a little worse for wear. Standing, the professor stretching, the bones in his back cracking as they moved. Automatically, Lyxara’s ears perked up, her head following suit. The Ethiopian Wolf-form daemon yawned with a wolfish whine. She then copied James, standing on four legs as she stretched back and forth, bouncing on her haunches.

Still dressed, the man had on a black pair of trousers and a black shirt, although the shirt was left without any buttons done, his chest and stomach showing. It wasn’t cold or anything like that, so he gave Lyx a smile before leaving his office.

Down the corridors, it only took him a few minutes to reach the kitchens. The main door creaked like it was surprised by James’ arrival, so he quickly closed it again, hoping not to disturb anyone. In the service side of the kitchen, he noticed that the lights were on already. Going in to investigate, he shook his head, smiling. “Isn’t this a little late to be gallivanting around the site?” he said loudly as he spotted his daughter stuffing her face.

[Jessica Alcander]

At the sound of someone coming inside, Jessica put her fork down long enough to look up and see who it was that had come to interrupt her little rule breaking session. Honestly, it was veyr bad for her to be the daughter of the headmaster. Some might think that she had no respect for the rules, because she couldn't get in trouble, but that just wasn't true. If she had been anyone else's daughter, she would probably have behaved the same way. And she knew where to draw the line, so she wasn't worried.

When she saw her dad come it, she twirlled a generous amount of pasta around her fork, before stuffing it into her mouth, barely getting it all in there. She was forced to chew while her dad teased her, and had to wait a few moments before she coudl swallow and respond to him. It was a bad habit of hers, just one more to add to the list. Along with eating a lot, she didn't always have the best table matters.

"I'm not gallivanting, I'm hungry!"

She managed to get out, before swallowing, and starting to get more pasta on her fork. When her mouth was empty again, she grinned at her father. She loved him, just like any daughter should love their father, but there was more there. There was also respect, and a genuine affection for him that you could really only feel for your best friend.

"Want some?"

With more food on her fork, she held it out, offering the delicious cold spagetti to her dad. She figured that the only reason he'd come down to the kitchen himself, was so that he could get something to eat for himself. Othewise, she didn't think he woudl have found her there. She tended to do this quite a bit, and didn't usually get caught.

[James Alcander]

Jessica didn’t look too fazed at all seeing her father come in the room. James didn’t expect anything less, to be honest. That was just the way that she was. “Oh, you’re always hungry,” he smiled, walking forward. Reaching the main bench, he then leaned forward, resting his head in his hands as his elbow stood upright on the metal workbench. One thing that James had always been grateful for was the relationship with his daughter. They had always been close, and although the primary bond between them was strictly parent and child, there was a point where they were best friends. Oh, each of them had secrets from the other, but that wasn’t the point. For the most part, James was himself around his kids. Unless he thought it would hurt them in some way, of course.

Looking at her choice of food, Lyx shook her head in disgust, but deigned to keep quiet. “I think I’ll get something a bit more… appetising,” he then said, smiling. His eyes dopped a little, but that was understandable. He needed to be up at about six in the morning to finish some administrative work before his classes started, so he was sleeping less and less. He didn’t really talk about it, though. He didn’t want to worry anyone, but he also didn’t want to admit that he actually had any obvious weaknesses.

So, he stood back up straight again and found himself at the industrial sized fridge-freezer. A sandwich would do. Slices of chicken breast were wrapped in tin foil, and James decided that no one would miss them really. There wasn’t enough to miss. Pulling out a couple of slices of break from the nearby breadbin, the professor found a knife and buttered the bread, putting everything together. Oh, and giving a couple of slices to Lyxara so she would feel part of it. “You know, if anyone else had found you down here, you would have been in trouble, Jessie. You should be more careful,” he warned.

[Jessica Alcander]

Jessica probably would have argued with her dad, but he wasn't really insulting her. It was perfectly and 100 percent true, she was always hungry. Whenever she wasn't doing anything else, she was eating. When she watched a movie, she had snacks. But it was one of the reasons she could hang out with boys all the time, because they pigged out too. She was the one girl within a hundred miles that could really go all out at the all you can eat buffet.

She shrugged when he dad said he wanted something else, but she wasn't going to admit that her food wasn't delicious. She thought it was awesome, it was why she was eating it. So in defense of her choice of food, she stuffed another large amount of it into her mouth. It was really good, no matter what her dad said. But then again, Jessie could eat anything, almost. As she chewed, she watched her dad, and coudl tell that there was something up.

It wasn't like a huge change to his normal way of looking, but there was defintiely more of an edge to it. Like he was more tired than he usually was, and she didn't like ot see him that way. He worked too hard, and he didn't spend enough time for himself. Plus, he didn't sleep well enough, and she was starting to worry about him a little bit. He was always worrying abotu her and her brother, it was only fair for her to be able to worry back. She spoke through her food, having gotten good at talking with a full mouth over the years.

"Maybe you should be the one being more careful."

After than sentence was out, she chewed a little more before swallowing, and whiped her mouth. She was actually being pretty serious.

"Are you okay?"

[James Alcander]

Biting into the sandwich, the man’s stomach finally gave in and kept quiet. He really shouldn’t forget to eat like that. He was possibly a little underweight for his height, so he couldn’t afford it. That fact didn’t help his tiredness, either. To be honest, he knew all of these things logically, but he couldn’t help it. James had far too much to do to worry about himself. He wasn’t being a martyr, far from it, but he just had to get things done. Without his input, then the administration of the Academy wouldn’t get done. Yes, he was understaffed, but sometimes it was difficult, considering the size of the town. Berryn Falls was far from one of the big cities. James preferred it that way.

“What, is that a threat?” he teased. If anyone else had said it, James may have been worried. Jessica was just worrying about him, though, he knew that. “Of course I’m okay. Just working late tonight. You know me, getting behind. It’s my fault, really,” he lied. Lyxara would usually have said something sarcastic to contradict him, but she knew how important it was not to let anyone worry about them. Instead, she left the little scraps of meat and went to nuzzle Jessica’s legs. Daemons weren’t supposed to touch anyone else, but because of James and Jessica’s close bond, they could ignore convention. Plus, it had been Lyxara that had told the girl silently that she wanted to comfort her.

Finishing off his sandwich, James rubbed his hands together, getting rid of the crumbs on them. “You know, maybe we should get a nightshift set of kitchen staff!” It was safer for James to sit and joke with his daughter. It was the easiest way to change the subject. The man hated lying to his daughter. He already kept a big enough secret from both of his children without adding little ones to the list. If he could avoid anything uncomfortable, he would. “You’re not down here a lot, are you?”

[Jessica Alcander]

There was one thing that they had in common. They both tried to hide when things were going rough, and they covered it up with jokes and sacasm. It was always like that, and now didn't seem to be any different. This time Jessica wasn't sure she was ready to just take what he said at face value. Sure, he worked himself hard, he always did that, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was taking it too far this time.

Then Lyxara came over to Jessica, and she turned her attention down to her father's Daemon and the young girl let out a little smile, putting her plate down. She hopped off the table, so that she could hug the sweet creater, and and pet her. Jessica rarely followed rules, and this was just one more that didn't matter. Her father was able to tough her puppy, just like she could touch his, but it was a sign of how close they were, not how much of a rebel Jessie could be.

"I know. I know. You take care of him. You gotta make sure he quites working so hard, though."

She had lost her mother very early in life, which was one of the reasons the two of them were so close. But it meant that she wasn't going to let anything happen to her dad. She was the first to defend him, and get into a physical fight about him. Nothing was allowed to go wrong, when it came to that.

[James Alcander]

“You try getting him to relax,” Lyxara said, tongue just as sharp as ever. “He doesn’t listen to me. I’m only his daemon!”

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen,” James then laughed. He didn’t want Jessica to get worried about him. He was a grown man, and could look after himself. He had done well enough so far, and he thought that he was going to be fine. Yes, his workload had increased, but he would get used to it. It would just take a bit of time. The man was still young and mentally agile; it would just take a little extra for his body to work just as hard on a little less sleep. That was just the way of the world, though. Everyone expected everything of you all of the time. James didn’t help himself on the matter, mind. If anyone needed anything or even just wanted anything from him, then he found it difficult to say no to them. It was just part of his personality. “Anyway, you shouldn’t be up this late,” he commented, turning attention away from himself and back to Jessie. “Is there something bothering you?”

If anything was upsetting his daughter, then James would be the first to try and resolve it. Sometimes it was good having a parent with such power in school and things – plus, he was genuinely interested in what his daughter was doing, unlike a few parents. You only had to look at his children in the wrong way and he would be right up there, demanding that he get justice. “You know that you can talk to me about anything, right?”

[Jessica Alcander]

Jessica stroked Lyxara's fur a few more times before she stood up again, and picked up her plate of pasta. She knew that the daemon had a point. As much as they were a part of each other, her dad could be just as stubborn as his daughter, if he wanted to be. There were times when he just wouldn't listen to anyone. They really were quite a pair, but it got dangerous sometimes. Jessica didn't like thinking about what would happen if her dad didn't take care of himself.

She didn't think it could get to the point of being life threatening, but even if it was someting as simple as lack of sleep, it could lead to other things. Usually she didn't have a lot of reasons to worry, but he seemed to be a lot more tired lately, and she really didn't like that. After taking another bite of her food, she put the plate down again, and went over to her dad.

"You shouldn't be staing up so late either."

Why did she always argue, some might ask? Well, it was fun, and she wasn't really fighting. Her father knew that she didn't really mean anything by it, though she did wish he would sleep more, sometimes. When he asked her if anything was bothering her, she shook her head, though her mind was actually on getting something to drink. SHe was about to go to the fridge when he made sure she knew she could tell him anything.

"Of course, I do."

That brought her back to their conversation fast. He had to know that she would tell him anything that was bothering her. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him from the side and resting her chin on his arm as she looked up at him. What woudl make him think that she woudl hide things from him? It wasn't like she'd ever done anything like that before. In fact, she told him things he probably didn't want to hear. She had never been the shy type.

"When have I ever kept my big mouth shut?"

[James Alcander]

Rolling his eyes, James picked up and quickly finished off his sandwich. Feeling a bit lazy, he looked at the crumbs he had left behind and sighed. He would need to clean that properly if the kitchen was going to be germ free for the next day’s servings. Still, before he could even say anything, Jessica looked more worried than ever. She moved over to her father and threw her arms around him. Hugging his children was one of the most wonderful things in the world. He wouldn’t be alive without those two, as they were his entire life. Without them, nothing had any meaning.

Hugging her back tightly, the man sighed contentedly. Rubbing her back comfortingly, so much was left unspoken. “Oh, I know, I’m just not used to the peace and quiet,” he teased. By rights, he should only be a newish father, but because of his teenage marriage, everything had jumped forwards so quickly after his relationship with her mother at school, children had been a natural progression. Not once had he ever wished it any other way. Harshly, he had almost wished that his wife had died instead of just leaving, but even that wouldn’t have been fair. In his own pathetic little way, the man still loved her. And he would never see her again.

“Anyway, you know me. Just nosy.” Standing up, he left the hug as he walked to the sink. Twisting his neck to make the bones crack, he then yawned. A turn of the hot tap, a bit of cleaner and a scourer later, the man wiped up carefully behind him. Nobody could say that he wasn’t careful and caring. It wouldn’t be fair to have someone else clean up his mess. “Are you going to wash that up before you leave?” He doubted that she would forget, but James was just being careful – once again. “When we’re done, I can come up and tuck you into bed and read you a bedtime story if you like!”

[Jessica Alcander]

"I might. If I'm in the mood."

Jess was being her usual annoying and unhelpful self. Well, she really wasn't as unhelpful as she sounded. She would say things like that, or just flat out say no, but she would never realy be serious. Jessica had been taught well by her father, and even if she was kid of messy when it came to her own room, she knew to pick up after herself when she was in the kitchen, or living room, or someplace like that.

The plate of food still on the counter wouldn't go forgotten. Since her dad had walked away from her hug, she'd ended up pulling herself back up onto the counter and sat there, her legs swinging. She probably should have been going to bed soon, but she wasn't sure she would. Maybe she would go for a walk, first. Not that she was tring to break the rules, she just didn't sleep a lot. Another little thing she'd gotten from her father.

"Oh, yay! Then tomorrow, can we get an ice-cream cone with pink sprinkles?!"

Jessica said that with a slightly higher, and more childish tone of voice, clapping her hands. Yes, she was teasing him. But if he was going to talk about reading her a bedtime story like she was five, then she was going to come right back with something she used to do when she was five, too. Actually, she still liked sprinkles on her ice-cream, but she also like a lot of other things. Hot fudge, whipped cream, four scoops, things like that.

"Damn, I want Ice-cream, now."

[James Alcander]

With that sarcastic tone, James knew that Jessica was going to do exactly that. If she had been down here a few times to eat, then she would have had to wash up behind her. Otherwise, the kitchen staff would have gone and complained to James about some unknown students going down and making messes. Plus, Jess wasn’t an idiot. She also had consideration for others, and wasn’t coming down to deliberately irritate anyone. This was all about getting something to eat. James couldn’t exactly tell her not to do this again: how bad a father would he be, denying her food if she was hungry?

Letting out a small, controlled snort of a laugh, James shook his head. “If you ever suddenly stop being sporty, you’ll get a hell of a shock,” he then stated. Honestly, how could Jessie eat so much and never seem to gain a pound? James wasn’t able to watch her every second, so he didn’t exactly know how much exercise she did, but it had to be something amazing to stop her rolling about the place. It was probably a huge exaggeration, but he smiled at the thought.

“Ice cream? No. Not at this time of night,” James then decided, putting his foot down. “You’ll ruin your teeth. No sweets when you should be asleep. It’s not a sleep-over!” He wasn’t being overly harsh on what Jessie could have, he was just being careful. Maybe he showed his age not choosing the Americanised phrase ‘slumber party,’ but he wasn’t even thinking.

“I wouldn’t mind ice cream,” Lyxara piped up, hopefully. “Jessie isn’t six any more, Jay-Jay.”

Scowling at Lyx’s decision to call him some idiotic name his parents used to call him, James sighed, glancing back at Jessica. “I’ll make a milkshake if you want. No ice cream, though. That goes for both of you. Fair?”

[Jessica Alcander]

"Yeah, maybe. But It's not like that's going to happen any time soon. I'm the captain!"

It was a position that she had earn. She'd only recenty gotten that job, actually, and it hadn't been much of a shock. The captain who had been there for years had graduated, and it had gotten passed down to Jessica. Nobody had been surprised, as she was the one who did a lot of the big plays, she came up with alot of the ideas anyway, and it was pretty much her team. The only difference now was that she had a title and official power. It wasn't the kind of thing that had gone to her head, though, she knew the responsibility that the role carried, and how careful she would have to be.

When he told her that she couldn't have any more sweets, and started sounding like the very good father he was, Jessica let out a loud sigh, and leaned back on her palms. It was so very like him, but she loved it just the same. He had always been the best dad, which had to have a lot to do with the way Jess and her brother had turned out. He was probably right about the Ice-cream, though. She already didn't get enough sleep, and if she had too much sugar, it woudl definitely not help the situation. Not that she minded it much.

However, when his own daemon agreed with Jessica, she couldn't help but let out a victory cry, and grinned down at the creature. She had always loved that girl, and she looked back up at her dad, with a very smug look on her face. She was mostly teasing her dad at being outnumbered by girls, but it was fun all the same. And when he gave in, talking aboutmaking milkshakes, she let out a cheer, hoping off the counter. Her dad did make some amazing milkshakes.

"I'll have banana, please."

[James Alcander]

James just smirked. It was good that everyone knew how Jessica had earned her right to be team captain. Anyone else would have thought that it had just been down to her being the daughter of the headmaster, but Jessie had always tried her best. That had been something that her father had been insistent on. As long as she – and Daniel – tried their best, it didn’t matter whether they passed or failed. James would always be proud of them as long as he knew that they had simply done their best. What more could any parent ask for?

“I don’t know how you can stand banana. That’s definitely something you didn’t get from me,” he grinned, not thinking about what he was saying. James was far too tired to really censor all of his words. “Now… strawberry. That’s a good flavour.” No wonder the man appeared to be a little camp sometimes. He was the one that always had to do the things that both parents were expected to do. When Amanda had finally left for good, he had to go back home and beg his mother to teach him how to bake cakes and cookies and things. Having a little girl, he originally presumed that Jessie would want to be a princess with flouncy dresses and the rest of it. So, James had to be prepared. Milkshakes were one of the things that calmed his kids down when they had been younger: standing watching daddy in an apron was definitely fun to start off with. It had taken him ages to get the milkshake right.

Suddenly, that was when James realised that he had pretty much gone back on what he had just said about having something sweet before bed. Well, it didn’t really matter. Yanking a decent sized mixer from one of the metal cupboards, James then found one of the big tubs of vanilla ice cream from the school-sized freezer. Using a scoop, he half-filled the mixer before going in and finding the types of syrup that he needed. Squirting twice as much as he needed into the mixer, the man finished it off with a tablespoon of unneeded sugar. Healthier than an ice cream? Whoops. Making sure the lid was in place, James started up the machine. As that was whirring, he then retrieved two large glasses and long, plastic straws.

Of course, the banana concoction was ready first. Finding the school supply of fruit, James then poured the thick liquid into one of the glasses. Manually ripping the banana into pieces, he dropped the bits right on top of the mixture. “Right. There you go, love.” He would get his own as soon as he was sure that Jessie was happy. “That alright for you and your bottomless stomach?”