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Nathan was stalling. Not out of cowardice or anxiety, though - he was politely giving the father and son time to speak for a few minutes before he intruded. He notified the counselor that there may be a young man coming to see her before she left that afternoon. The young half-fae was diligently completing paperwork, some that the principal probably should be doing himself. She gave him a small smile and nod in reply, then went back to work. He was too distracted to realize that maybe it was unnatural for her to seem happy about staying an extra hour or two.

As he headed back to his personal office, he stepped through the waiting room and saw Ronny seated in a small chair behind the reception desk. His unseeing eyes were fixed on the ceiling, head tilted to the left slightly as he hummed quietly, short legs swinging back and forth over the edge of the chair.

"Ronny, be good for Miss Roescher until Miss Meg gets back, all right?"

The little gingerbread boy brightened at the sound of his guardian's voice, but he stay seated in his chair, smiling in Nathan's direction. "Kay, Daddy. I be good." For a toddler, he seemed incredibly well-behaved, but in another two minutes he would likely be trying to find his way into the principal's office. He loved coming to his guardian's office - there were so many sounds and smells and corners to discover; but he wanted to see Miss Meg, and he knew that the old lady that Daddy called "Roacher" would get upset if he wandered off on his own. So for now, he would sit.

Once he was convinced his son was in good hands, Nathan turned and went into his office. The sight before him was one all too familiar in his parent-teacher-student conferences. Vate, the father was upset, and likely had just been lecturing his son, who was responding by staying silent and staring down into his hands.

"Mister Zulpin," he said immediately, holding a hand out to Vate and giving him a small, polite smile. "I'm Nathaniel Martin." The elf before him was clearly younger than he was, though they appeared to be the same age. He was vaguely surprised that the teenager had such a young father, though it was obvious that he'd been adopted. However, he kept his emotions in check, merely appearing friendly, polite, and helpful.

Not pausing to give Vate time to ask what sort of trouble his son had gotten into, Nathan immediately began speaking. "Howl hasn't done anything wrong, perse....but several of his teachers have expressed concern for his well-being. His behavior has changed drastically and, well, I'd just like to figure out what, if anything, we can do to help." He closed this statement with a sincere look, which turned to one of unconcealed concern as he glanced towards the silent blonde.

Nathan could've sighed at the elf's expression. It was clear he had thought his son was in trouble, and the principal had specifically asked his secretary to let Vate know that Howl wasn't in any real trouble - even if everyone suspected the boy was hungover. As he settled down into a chair in front of his desk, so that he was situated between Howl and his father, he couldn't help but frown lightly. "Six months?...." He gave the young blonde a sympathetic look. Howl was stuck in a limbo of sorts, not knowing if his mother was truly gone or not.

Even though the wizard denied that his behavior had something to do with his mother, Nathan could tell that he was lying. The principal himself had gone through a horrible, mischievous stage where he couldn't go two days without getting into trouble. He'd gone his whole life without a father, but his older brothers had grown up much faster than he had and moved away. At the time, he was angry, hurt, and confused - but he wouldn't have admitted it to anyone.

"Howl, if there's something you'd like to talk to our counselor about, she'd be happy to listen." He would have offered to listen to the boy's troubles himself, but Jessica had been chiding him about taking her job; and he needed to spend his free time with his son.