The Files of the Big Damn Principal

Office Hours - July 21

2008-07-21T14:54:12Z

A little problem with her wardrobe was not going to keep Zoe away from work. She had far too much to do, and there weren't enough metal bits in her top to prevent her from taking care of anyone who acted like they shouldn't. The door was open for anyone who wanted to speak with her.

[Open! I really miss Hercules and Xena sometimes.]

The Principal's Office, July 12

2008-07-12T17:13:53Z

Yes, Zoe was in her office on a Saturday morning. However, she had a very good excuse this time, and she was actually looking forward to the business of being principal for once. All she needed were those who she'd ~~handwavily~~ asked to come and join her.

[For two ladies in particular.]

The Woods of Northwest USA, Thursday Night

2008-07-04T02:45:23Z

John and Zoe's honeymoon had started like most do, with quite a bit of alone time spent indoors. But as the week progressed, and John spent more and more time overhearing the stories coming from the people in town, it seemed that their honeymoon wasn't going to be as normal as Zoe had expected.

Not that she necessarily minded stalking through the woods, searching for what John said was probably something called a wendigo - they had packed weapons in the car, after all. But she was still trying to decide if this went in the category of marital bonding.

[For the husband ~~omg I get to use that word now eeee~~.]

Office Hours - June 4

2008-06-04T15:56:40Z

If Zoe could have had anything she wanted, she would have figured out a way to get cameras attached to some of the wedding invitations she and John had sent out. Pretty, formal invitations were not something she thought would be expected of either of them, but as non-traditional as their wedding was going to be, there were a few areas where Zoe wanted to do something normal, especially if it was something she hadn't done the first time around. After all, she was hellbent and determined that this would be the last time she ever got married. She had an excuse to make it all count.

Despite how everything she read said she should be getting more and more nervous as the wedding date got closer, Zoe was relaxed, and in a good mood. It was possible that's what was keeping her from taking all of the annoying paperwork on her desk and just shredding it.

[Open! If you got an email from me, you got an IC invitation. If you're a teacher/administrator/etc. and you didn't get an e-mail, ping me at fireballofkatie.]

16 Unicorn Street, Sunday Afternoon

2008-04-20T18:21:44Z

Zoe was working quietly on the couch, glancing over occasionally to keep an eye on Grace. She had something playing on the television, some inane video that was sure to drive her crazy before Grace ever tired of it, but it was keeping her quiet and entertained, and for the moment that's what counted.

[For two certain young ladies.]

16 Unicorn Street, Sunday Evening

2008-03-31T01:40:20Z

Zoe was sprawled out on the living room couch, finishing up the paperwork she'd brought home for the weekend. Having the boys in the house had distracted her, but it certainly hadn't been an unpleasant distraction, and since they'd been gone for most of the day, she'd been able to get everything done. The baby monitor from Grace's room was blissfully quiet, and Zoe found herself wondering if John was busy with things she couldn't pull him away from.

[For one Winchester in particular.]

16 Unicorn Street, Saturday Afternoon

2008-03-30T00:57:30Z

After Zoe's encounter with Inara, she couldn't wait to get home and tell John about what was happening again. She had to admit, she was kind of looking forward to the possibility of the boys being little.

[For any and all Winchesters!]

16 Unicorn Street, Friday Afternoon

2008-03-21T17:45:49Z

After the faculty meeting, Zoe grabbed some piles of paperwork from her office, and headed home with John. She'd meant what she'd said about keeping an eye on him after his time traveling, and there were some very important things she wanted to make sure they discussed before the day was done. It was possible that having him go missing had made her start seriously thinking about the future.

[For the fiancé!]

16 Unicorn Street, Wednesday Evening

2008-03-13T02:33:05Z

Things were quiet in the house as Grace slept and Zoe looked through the letters again, but this time, she was too lost in her own thoughts to really read them. When she came home from the town hall meeting, she'd found that John had left her a note to say that he and the boys were going to take a look around town in the afternoon. But afternoon had become evening, and there was no sign of him, and Zoe was currently trying very, very hard to not think about what that might mean.

[For the lone future stepson.]

Office Hours - March 12

2008-03-12T18:08:50Z

When Zoe got to her office, she wasn't surprised to find her inbox full of mail, and as soon as she was settled, she started separating everything into the usual piles: Catalogues and Magazines, Credit Card Applications, Whining From the School Board, and Actually Important Things.

She was about halfway through the pile when she found the first of the letters. The age of the envelope made the note stand out, as did the postmark - London. Zoe set the other mail aside to open the letter and read it, and the more she read, the more she stared. Going through the rest of the mail produced another handful of letters from all over the world, all just as yellowed and faded with age as the first one. Though each letter was different, the essential information was the same, and Zoe read through them all before carefully folding them back up and tucking them together. She had to speak to everyone right away, before more people got hurt.

[Establishy!]

Office Hours - March 3

2008-03-03T20:18:56Z

Zoe had taken spring break as a break for herself, from having to deal with anything school-related. When she went into her office, she was expecting a little bit of dust. The disco ball and redecorating? Was more than a little surprising.

It was entirely possible that she wasn't going to make it through the semester without killing someone.

[The door is open!]

16 Unicorn Street, Monday Morning

2008-01-21T18:28:19Z

Last night, Zoe made sure John was in bed with her, where he could hopefully stay out of trouble. As amusing as it was to watch him in doll-sized action, she was much, much happier to wake up curled up against a full-sized man. After the way he'd acted over the weekend, she felt it was completely within her rights to reach under the covers and make sure that all of him was back to normal size.

[For John. Hee!]

Office Hours - January 10

2008-01-10T17:12:47Z

Zoe was at her desk, organizing the new student records, and watching Grace play with some of the shiny toys she'd gotten for Christmas. At least, that's what she was trying to do. Every once in a while, she'd think about her encounter in the library and just stop what she was doing as she got lost in thought. This had all the makings of being a very long day.

[Open!]

Office Hours - January 2

2008-01-02T15:54:02Z

With the holidays officially over, Zoe was back in her office, making sure everything was ready for the arrival of new students on Friday. She had to admit, this was one of her favorite parts of the semester, trying to guess who would give her trouble, and who wouldn't.

[The door is open!]

16 Unicorn Street, Christmas Eve Evening

2007-12-25T02:22:47Z

Zoe was used to spending holidays in the company of quite a few people. But there was something about the idea of spending Christmas Eve with John and Grace, and the boys, and their girls that made the holiday seem that much more special.

She had, of course, taken the opportunity to get Grace a pretty dress for her first Christmas, but at the moment, Grace seemed far more interested in trying to get out of Zoe's arms to attack the Christmas tree ornaments. They were going to have to find some that weren't quite so shiny for next year.

[Open to anyone who's coming by for the holiday, except the Grinch. There will be a post for stealing later. *g*]

16 Unicorn Street, Late Friday Afternoon

2007-11-16T19:42:31Z

Zoe double-checked her bag to make sure that she'd picked up everything that was on her list. She'd gone home to get some things for Grace, hoping that if Grace had familiar items with her, like her blanket, and a stuffed toy, she might be more comfortable in the clinic.

Zoe felt exhausted, but she didn't think that was unusual until she realized she'd spent the whole time she was in the house scratching her arms. Pulling her sleeves up, Zoe found the rash running halfway up, and sighed. Maybe, if she was careful, she could blend in unnoticed with the rest of the sick people, and stay with Grace.

[Establishy! AND IT ALWAYS SAID FRIDAY LA LA LA!]

Office Hours, November 12

2007-11-12T20:22:18Z

It had been a good weekend, but Zoe was glad to be back in Fandom. The office was nice and quiet, so she was taking the chance to get some serious work done.

[open!]

Office Hours - November 9

2007-11-09T12:14:40Z

Zoe was engaging in her usual battle against the growing piles of papers in her office, but she was putting up a stronger fight today, to make sure that she had nothing to worry about over the weekend. She wanted to enjoy the wedding, after all.

[Anyone who's having a bad feeling about next week? Come on in! Or, feel free to just stop by randomly. I'll pick up pings around 5pm.]

16 Unicorn Street, The Office, Sunday Afternoon

2007-10-22T01:15:23Z

Zoe was thankful that John had convinced her to create as much space in their shared office as possible, as she sat down with him, Missouri and Bobby. John's two friends had come to the house together, requesting to speak to him, and Zoe had been content to leave the three of them be until Missouri suggested that Zoe join them. Whether they wanted her to hear what they had to say, or wanted another ally to get sense into John if necessary, she wasn't sure.

[That the four of them talked is fine for broadcast, but the contents of the conversation are NFB, please.]

Office Hours - October 20

2007-10-20T14:40:27Z

Having been through Parents Weekend once before, Zoe knew that she needed to make an appearance in her office, to deal with any concerned parents or friends.

Luckily, she had Grace with her this time, in the hope that anyone who was truly angry would keep their yelling to themselves in front of a three-month old. She wouldn't be surprised if it didn't work with some people though, but hopefully they'd be stopped when Grace screamed back.

[Open for anyone who wants to talk to the principal!]

16 Unicorn Street, Late Friday Afternoon

2007-10-20T01:50:45Z

By the time Zoe and Mal made it through the crowd in the park and got to Zoe and John's house, Grace was definitely ready for her nap, and was crying enough to let everyone nearby know.

"It should only take me a few minutes to get her down," she promised Mal, and before he could say anything, she was heading upstairs with Grace.

	Mal was having a bit of trouble at the moment, processing all the different things Zoe had left out of her letters over the past few months. Sure, she'd talked about Grace, and that she was going to be living with John, but she'd failed to mention the house. A damn house, with a fence, and a yard, and strange-shaped things in the kitchen, and furniture that didn't even look like it got used all that often. It was wrong, is what it was. Houses tied people down, kept them in place if trouble came, and that wasn't the sort of thing Mal wanted to think about where Zoe was concerned. With Zoe upstairs - leaving Mal in the gorram living room - he was left to try to figure out what the hell Zoe had gotten herself into. At the moment, he was looking at the assorted pictures in the room, trying to figure out who the two little boys were.
	Office hours finished, John came home, looking forward to spending some time with Zoe and their daughter before Bobby arrived and the whole drama of Parents Weekend got into full swing. Because you never knew what that was going to bring. Hearing someone moving around in the living room, he headed that way. "Zoe, I was thinking that we could -" He stopped dead when the person who was most definitely not Zoe turned around.
	Mal's attention was pulled away from the photographs when the other man spoke. He figured that this was probably John, since he'd let himself in and all, and Mal couldn't resist starting to size him up almost immediately. "Zoe's upstairs," he said.
	John nodded, giving the stranger the once over. "And you would be..." he asked.
	"Captain Malcolm Reynolds," he said. It seemed like an appropriate time to sound important. "I'm a friend of Zoe's."
	"John Winchester," John said, crossing his arms over his chest. "So you're the infamous Malcolm Reynolds."
	So this was Zoe's man. He wasn't what Mal had been expecting, that was certain. "I don't get called infamous much, least not to my face. Zoe must be telling you real good stories."
	"A few. From what I can figure, seems trouble follows you around."
	"Yeah, it has a bit of a nasty habit about that," Mal admitted. "I reckon it's better than starting the trouble myself though."
	"Marginally," John observed.
	"Bit more than marginally," Mal replied. "But you're a teacher up at the school now, right?"
	"That's the day job, yeah. Just like Zoe's the principal."
	Mal didn't really need reminding about what Zoe's job was, or the fact that she had a job that didn't involve working with him anymore. "You got a night job too?" he asked. "To help pay for this fine lookin' house of yours?"
	"More of a calling, less of a job," John said, tilting his head to the side consideringly as he spoke. "I'm a demon hunter. And the pay's crap. At least monetarily. " He smiled faintly. "But Zoe's and my school salaries together are enough."
	"Demon hunter? That some kind of fancy term for preacher?" Mal was definitely going to have to have a long talk with Zoe about what kinds of information were necessary for him to know in the future.
	John chuckled. "Hardly. It's some kind of fancy term for someone who hunts demons."
	"There ain't no such thing as demons, unless we're talkin' about the personal kind." Or Reavers, but Mal was pretty sure that wasn't what John meant.
	"And you know everything to be so certain of that, do you?"
	"I know enough to know when someone's trying to pull my leg."
	"Apparently you don't."
	"Fine. Let's say you are some kind of demon hunter. You still doin' that now, with the new baby and all?" It didn't sound particularly safe, for Grace or for Zoe.
	"Demons don't go away just because I have a new daughter," John said.
	Oh, Mal did not like this at all. "I see. You ever bring your work home with you?"
	"I do everything in my power to make sure that there's no way anything evil will ever be able to even cross the threshold of this house." John gave a ghost of a smile. "The only way it could be any safer was if it was built on consecrated ground and I've a friend I'm considering inviting for a visit to see if we can do something about that."
	"This friend of yours another demon hunter?" Mal asked. "I'm just tryin' to imagine Zoe around all these types of people." Because he'd never gotten her near unsavory types before, of course.
	"He's a pastor," John said. "True man of God if I ever met one. And yeah, he hunts. You would too if you'd seen what we had. Or so I guess, considering what Zoe's told me about you."
	"And what has Zoe told you about me, just out of curiosity? Because it seems she missed a few things about you," Mal said.
	"That you fought in the war together, that you're a smuggler, a thief and a fool, often at the same time."
	There was a small pause. "I reckon I can't deny any of that," he said. "She could have mentioned how I make smuggling and thievery look so damn good though."
	"She may have been too busy elaborating on the fool part."
	"That's undoubtedly a description from Zoe," Mal said with a fond smile.
	John returned the smile. "She also said you look after your own and you try and do the right thing, even when you think you're a fool to."
	"She told you all that?" Mal asked. "You must have caught her in a good mood."
	"Getting her in a good mood?" John grinned rather wolfishly. "Hasn't really been a problem."
	"I don't know if I want to know the deeper implications of that statement," Mal said. "But there was a time not too long ago that tryin' to get Zoe into a good mood wasn't worth the effort or the bruises. But I reckon you understand that, from what she told me about you."
	"Zoe's always worth the effort," John said. "And the bruises."
	"You ain't just saying that out of self-preservation, are you?"
	John chuckled. "Saying something for self-preservation isn't something I'm often accused of. Generally the opposite."
	"Good. Because I would hate to find out you're takin' advantage of Zoe in some way," Mal said. "That would lead to a conversation that would be far more painful for you than it would be for me."
	"You have met Zoe, right?" John asked. "That's one woman no one's going to take advantage of."
	"Doesn't mean men haven't tried. I don't suppose you'd still be breathing well if you had, but I still had to check."
	"I'm sure Zoe appreciates it," John said dryly. He paused and then added, "She's not going back."
	"She certainly seems to have her fair share of reasons to stay," Mal replied. That didn't mean she had to, though.
	"This place does that to you."
	"So does Serenity. Turned out to be more of a home than I ever expected."
	"We all find the places where we're meant to be," John said. "Or so a friend of mine keeps insisting."
	Mal gave John serious consideration for the moment. "I reckon you think Zoe's meant to be here?"
	"Yeah I do. Our relationship and Grace aside, this place needs her. The kids here need her."
	He had to go and bring kids into the conversation, didn't he. "She seems happy," he admitted, however reluctantly it may have been.
	"She is," John confirmed. "We both are. Much, I expect, to both our surprise."

[Pre-played between bigdamncaptn and demons_death. To be continued in the comments.]

Office Hours - October 9

2007-10-09T23:41:17Z

After her usual paperwork was done, Zoe got on the internet and looked at websites of baby and toddler clothes. Someday, Grace was going to look back and probably demand to know what kind of drugs Zoe had been on when she'd decided on how to dress her, but since Grace couldn't talk, Zoe figured it was her duty as a mother to use the time to dress Grace however she damn well pleased. Heh.

[For a certain roving reporter.]

Office Hours - September 23

2007-09-23T23:55:21Z

Yes, Zoe was in her office on a Sunday afternoon. It was getting to be a habit for her, and thankfully, it was only for a few hours this time. If nothing else, there were troublemakers who needed to be dealt with before the school week started.

[For a specific duo who were handwavily called in. Woo!]

Office Hours - September 12

2007-09-13T00:03:28Z

There was a pile of paperwork on Zoe's desk that would have to be dealt with before the day was over, but for the moment, she was ignoring it all in favor of playing with Grace.

[For someone specific.]

Office Hours - September 3

2007-09-03T21:00:35Z

After most of the main office workers had ~~fled from Umbridge~~ left to take summer vacations in parts unknown, piles of unanswered mail had slowly crept up in the mail room. Rather than make anyone in the office deal with the mess, Zoe was sorting through some of the mail herself. At the moment, she was trying to decide whether or not the school was really eligible to win a million dollars like the letter she was holding said.

[Open for some specific people.]