Gigi didn't want to be there. At this rate, she didn't still want to be at school. The slimy, creepy feeling from the previous day hadn't quite disappeared, and some visit with the Counselor, yeah, like that'd help. Add another line to the long list of Tapendra's bad ideas.

All she had to do was to go in, mumble a bit, nod assent, and then flee. Right? That seemed like a plan. Smile and nod Gigi, smile and nod. Though her attempt came out more as some sort of weird mocking grimace. Bad face, and she couldn't just go off and tweak it up a little. Mess with the Counselor like that. Not at school.

But at least she wasn't going to knock. She had shoes for that.

And while her appropriate and incredibly boring school shoes didn't sound too loud against the door, they did throw up enough noise to inform anyone nearby that she was there. As if they way she'd stomped her way over to the office hadn't been enough.

She was pouring herself a cup of tea when--

BAM BAM BAM

Maiko jumped, though she didn’t spill any of her drink. She glared up in the direction of the offending noise and set the teapot down. By the time she reached the door, she was no longer irritated—but entertained. It wasn’t everyday that someone pounded on her door—usually the knocks were quiet and polite. She opened the door and looked down first at Gigi’s feet, then the scuff marks on her door, and then up at the Slytherin’s face.

Maiko attempted to keep a straight face, though her lip twitched in amusement. “You’re right on time, the tea is ready.” Maiko led Gigi back into the office and sat down. There was a bowl of little candies that she had procured from her last trip to Hogsmeade sitting at the corner of her desk, open for the taking. When Gigi had gotten herself settled (or as close to settled as she would likely be), Maiko looked at her and smiled.

“Did my door say something offensive? I see that you gave it some battle scars. Good for you, defending your honor. You deserve a sweetie.” She motioned towards the bowl of candy.   


(Edit: For formatting and my dumb repetitiveness. I also accidentally a word.)

Was the Counselor snarking her back? Gigi took a bit of the candy before sitting down, legs crossed, and her posture casual. "Peeps who can't even handle doors get turned into ferrets. Not going to get shown up by the architecture." Once she'd finished the candy, she crossed her arms and leaned back, eyeing Maiko a bit suspiciously.

"So, what'd you do to convince my brother?" Taprenda wasn't, well, apparently he thought that Maiko could help with the whole mess, unless her being here was some sort of strange reverse trolling.

Which she wouldn't quite put past him. "And what's the plan? I don't do fluffy, if you were planning on it." Her scowl wavered a little. Despite the bluster, she didn't know all what to make of this. Trouble she'd not quite known.

Maiko smiled—Tapendra’s sister, apparently, had a sense of humor. A snarky one, yes, but it was still funny. “Of course.” She nodded,  “You ‘ad no choice. If I was in your position, I would’ve done the same.”  It was silent for a few moments as Georgiana ate the candy, but then she started getting at the reason why she was here. And apparently, Maiko had said something to Tapendra to convince him to make Gigi see her? She had no recollection of such a conversation.

“Franky, I ‘ave no idea what you’re talking about. Obviously, part of you thinks it’s a good idea to come here. We both know that your brother cannot actually force you to see me.” Mai raised her eyebrows. “I don’t ‘ave any plans. I don’t even know why you’re  ‘ere.” She leaned forward and eyed Georgiana carefully.

“What is your plan, Ms. Trishna? Or is there something else you’d prefer to be called?"

Heh, at least the counselor had a little sense. Even threats to the 360 and her WoW account couldn't force Gigi about. Usually. She lounged back in her chair, eyes barely focused on Maiko. "Go with Gigi. 'Less you don't want me to respond to it." Miss Trishna didn't sound like anyone in existence that she knew of, not even Cy unless you added a few years onto her.

"And it's about charms. Even Tapendra thinks maybe I should drop it now, and can't say that I've ever heard anything more frightening from his mouth ever." Her expression twitched. "Can't say I want to get stalked, either. So here I am." She spread her arms wide and shrugged, then kicked one of her feet up a little.

Tappy encouraging her into something was so confusing. Couldn't tell if it was reverse-psych or if Kesali had just acted up that much.

Dropping charms, Maiko knew, wasn’t a fantastic idea. Many careers that students would eventually get into, required a strong knowledge of charms, especially if their career involved wand work. Herbologists and Potioneers didn’t need to be too concerned, but Maiko didn’t want Georgiana to limit her options. She wondered what would have happened to make even Tappy think that it was a good idea to drop the class. Maiko didn’t know the whole story, and it was time to figure it out.

“Why do you want to drop Charms? And what does that ‘ave to do with being stalked? Is someone stalking you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. It wouldn't be the first time a student had approached her-- Church Comer had his own issues when it came to the class. She didn’t sound critical, but rather concerned instead. Stalking was a serious matter. She had read a frightening statistic awhile back that indicated that one in eight Britons had been stalked, with up to 45% of offenders becoming violent. If something like this was happening, action needed to be takent. (These statsitics applied to muggles, and Maiko didn’t know much about wizarding statistic surrounding these issues)

But, if she was using the term ‘stalking’ to refer to a feeling of being followed, then it would be less concerning, and certainly less dangerous.

"Kesali's a creeper." Gigi shrugged and leaned back a little more. Probably couldn't get away with throwing her feet on the desk. "Had us followed for our midterm. Very closely, he said."

Her face twitched a little. "Glad I didn't go off to take a bath. Don't need eyes on me there." Professors didn't need to know everything. Certainly not what she looked like with her clothes off. Though that wasn't something she considered an appealing sight.

Tattoo was still cool, though. Her own little secret.

"Guess he had to move on from threatening Oliver sometime." Another shrug, shoulders tensed up enough to make it stiff. Winnie was way annoying, sure, but didn't mean she deserved anything beyond glares and orders to STFU. And well, anything that upset Cy got a spot on Gigi's radar.

A creeper? Because he had students followed for a midterm? Maikohighly doubted that he was able to accurately follow everyone. And even then, the way he said it could have been a joke. She hadn’t been in the NEWT class, so the point of view she was relying on, was Gigi’s. And apparently Gale had threatened a student? Mai knew she would have to approach him and ask him how he was doing—to make sure that the things she was hearing wasn’t  a cause for concern. The way Gale came across was sometimes a bit too much for people, especially those who just did not understand him.  In general, he was a well-intentioned person, who just so happened to be facing many personal demons.  Georgiana didn’t need to know about that, though.

“I doubt he followed you into the bath.” Maiko said, “But, even if you think that he is a creeper, you need to consider that charms is an important subject. A charms NEWT is required for many different careers. I advise you not to drop it. Your future is more important than someone that you are turned off by.” She leaned back in her chair.  Gigi, Maiko felt, needed motivation to stay. Motivation that didn’t belittle or shame her. From what she had seen in the halls, and from what she gathered from their few minutes together, Gigi was snarky, sarcastic, and in some ways, isolated. She didn’t seem to take too well to being patronized, just like anyone else.

Professional language would turn her off—she preferred to be called Gigi,  not Georgiana. Not Miss Trishna. Gigi rejected professionalism. As a counselor, Maiko was required to speak in a language that was relatable for her client.  “I suggest though, that you try to focus less on Professor Kesali, and more on Charms itself. Study. Practice. Kick  ass at charms. Be your best.”

"Maybe he shouldn't talk like it, then."Gigi shrugged a bit more, trying to act nonchalant about it. Wasn't quite working, but didn't mean she was going to stop. "Not going to help my future if he up and snaps my wand, either."

And hey, she liked her wand. "Not sure why Tappy didn't give me the school is important so you can stand in front of the Ravenclaw door and get confused by it quoting Tolkien lecture himself. Think he's bothered. And not just the asking for punches sort." A promise which she'd unfortunately not been able to cash in on, yet.

She thumped her shoes together and looked up at the ceiling. "And what would I need charms for, anyway? 'Many' doesn't say much." Wouldn't help her Halo game, for one, or her drawing, and she wasn't too sure how good it would be for the sleeping in a bed of money plans or terrorizing an army of mice[1] things either.

1.	Two Mice Ran Up the Clock