[OFFICE] Professor Red's Office

[Bittiface]

Screw scared. Try terrified.

Mot had somehow unleashed the beast within. Or was it? Was this a Red thing to do? Or was this the showings of something irregular? Darker? Was Red in trouble, or was Mot in trouble... or both?

Mot took a step back for every step Red took forward. He felt and looked horrified, curling his arms under his poncho for some semblance of comfort. He fought every urge in his body to run or submit to the gym teacher's terror.

"I...." Mot stiffened his shoulders. "I won't kneel.." Begging for forgiveness.. that just didn't seem right. In the past, he might have done it. "Kneeling to you now won't be any less meaningless to you than an apology would. At least I don't think it would..." Maybe Red liked that sort of power, after all. What did he know?

"So kneeling to you now.. that would be my price? Don't you think that's a little cheap?" Mot squeaked, seeming to regret his own words. "I-I mean... uh..." Talking back to a teacher, that was insta Detention! Or death... yeah, he was in a bad spot here.

"I'm still sorry! That it happened, and that it hurts and haunts you more than any of us. But I did what I thought was right at the time! I'll accept punishment if that's what you feel should happen, but I won't deny my actions of the past."  

[Marushii]

Red glared. It was a flat glare from glowing red eyes, the tint untarnished by the tell-tale yellow of Insanity. She held his gaze, unwavering as he spoke.

Her cloak seemed to clatter unnaturally loud as she turned away from him, her back to him as she picked up the coffee cup he brought her.

"Can you make coffee?"  

[Bittiface]

Mot blinked, his posture stiff, his bones shaking. "I... can make coffee..." He answered, hoping there wouldn't be any trick questions or traps.  

[Marushii]

"I'm glad." When the professor turned to face him again, there was a noticeable red flush to her gray cloak. Her eyes were no longer glowing, however the cup Red placed back on the desk made a hollow sound. "While your Fear offers substance, very little can beat how... invigorating a cup of coffee can be after a long case."

She considered the boil in front of her. "You have courage. But be wary that you do not mistake courage for pride. After all, courage is not the absence of fear, but the presence of fear with the willpower to move on."

"I will not lie. Even though your bullets merely grazed me there is a lot of rage and grief that I am still coming to terms with. You will begin atoning for it by making me coffee every morning, bright and early and set it so that is made after the morning run." It wasn't a request.  

[Bittiface]

Red seemed to return to normal, and that is when Mot seemed to realize what he'd just seen. He'd had limited run ins with Insanity at it's worst, so the signs were not always obvious to the young Grim Reaper. So then, Red suffered not only of the memories, but of a disease thanks to that dreadful day.

Mot nodded softly, taking her words to heart. He certainly did possess a ridiculous amount of fear in his wimpy little heart. At the very least he wasn't chained to it anymore. "I'll be sure to keep my pride in check." Wow, he never thought he'd have to say that. Hel would laugh for sure. Mot and Pride in the same sentence was usually followed up with lack there of. Maybe Mot really was changing..

While the 'request' really and truly was more of an order, it was an order he was much more willing to carry out. "O-Of course! Bright and early." Mot hardly slept as it was, so early mornings were a breeze. But this certainly would be a huge break in routine. He'd have to brew the coffee and allot the time to travel. Hm.. he might have to get up even earlier...  

[Marushii]

"Before the gloom-sun rises," Red continued. "You will also need to acquire a coffee machine and brew. Every morning there will need to be more than enough in order to be a hospitable host."

"And then, of course, comes the consideration of your punishment." Red continued smoothly, clicking her talons together. "It will not come swiftly. I will need time to think and decide, and come up with something... suitable. In the meantime." The professor approached Mot and began to circle him, studying him. "Why do you wish to become a bogeyman?"  

[Bittiface]

Gosh, Mot hoped he'd be able to meet this tall order. He nodded again as she clarified what she wanted of him, mentally scurrying about to remember it just so.

Mot would now live in fear of Red's punishment. There was no telling what it would be. Nor when. The reaper's gaze followed Red as she circled him, though his body remained frozen n fear of her. "At first.. it was just a scareling's dream of mine... And at one point I decided I'd just been in over my head. But the more I think about my future, and what I really want of myself.. I realize that what I want most is to protect Halloween. Not just my friends, nor just this school. Whether it be collecting Fear like so many other Grim's out there, or keeping the peace, law and order of the every day world. I want to be a part of that powerful force. Even if they do tend to portray a tainted image as they had in the last couple of years. It's still my dream.. and now my goal."  

[Marushii]

"An admirable dream," Red complimented. "But if you follow orders too blindly, you may end up where I am." A warning? Red continued to circle him, eying him. "Do you strive to lighten their darkened image? To become a force strong enough to protect those and uphold the law and lay your life down for the ungrateful?"  

[Bittiface]

Mot grimaced. Yes, like her. Orders were important to follow, and he always tried to be an upstanding student. However, if he followed them too strictly, he could hurt himself like Red had hurt. Or something like this could happen to someone else.

"I do! I want to change how creeple see Boogeymen. I want them to see what I had always seen. No matter what it takes, I want to do everything in my power to become what I had always envisioned of them. I want creeple to feel safe with them again."

Marushii

 

[Marushii]

Behind Mot, Red had stopped pacing. "They aren't all like that," she said quietly. "Not all Boogeymen are like the ones seen here. There are some that are better, others that are worse."

The teacher continued to circle him. "Safety is something that is in the eye of the beholder. There are times that this place is a sanctuary, others a prison." She stopped again, leaning close. "You catch your ghoulfriend was caught red-handed slipping poison into the drinks of all reaper patrons at her cafe. What is your action?"

Bittiface

 

[Bittiface]

The grim nodded, "Right! I have met many who were upstanding and everything I had invisioned them to be.."

Mot stiffened his posture at her hypothetical question. "Ah.. Ideally, I would report her. Right?" Someone so close to him, initially he'd want to protect her, of course. But as a Boogeyman, giving into such bias would be bad. There were some personal matters that needed to be broken when it came to this. "If I'm to be honest with myself I'd want to ask her why, of course..."  

[Marushii]

Red shook her head. "What a bogeyman should or should not do is something that you may or may not learn later depending." Red stepped in front of him, leaning forward to poke him hard in the chest. "What I am asking is what would you do if that were to occur right now?"  

[Bittiface]

Mot gulped as she poked him hard i the chest, grimacing as he worried and pondered his words. What was the right answer here? Was there a right or wrong one? Maybe he should just try and find the most honest one and go from there.

"If it were to happen now, as I am?" He lowered his gaze and thought a moment. "I would most definitely ask her why she was doing it. I'd want her to stop. After all.. I don't see what could be so important as to poison so many.. especially fellow reapers."

"I don't think I'd feel very safe around her, knowing that."  

[Marushii]

Red leaned back, giving him his space again before she continued to pace. "Your ex ghoulfriend, Hel. She becomes a Trick-or-Treater. You hear rumors that her pranks are going too far and are hurting people. What do?"  

[Bittiface]

Oh boy. He was really feeling exposed now. Red knew a lot about him he'd always assumed was private. His temples began to sweat a little.

"I'd definitely warn others about her, as I have no doubt such a thing would occur. However, I doubt anything I say would deter her from her actions, so I'm afraid I don't know what more I would be able to do after that."