Gemma Taylor


Classes were over and Iggy had just finished meeting up with Juliette. They had been getting pretty close over the course of the month that they have been talking. Iggy considered her his big sister and stole her chocolates every time he sees her. It was a cute thing they did. Juliette had told him that he should meet with the guidance counselor to talk about how he was feeling and anything else career wise or anything like that. She also told him that she went ahead and called her that he was coming to make sure she wouldn't be too busy. 

Ignacio had only met Ms. Gemma a few times and that was from a distance. He heard that she was an adapt human and could turn off mutant's powers. That didn't bother Iggy since he thought that they were just spreading rumors. She seemed pretty nice to him. The now eighteen-year-old knocked on Ms. Gemma's door to her office and waited for a response. Before she opened the door, Ignacio turned to look at his reflection in the mirror. He made sure his tank top and khaki shorts worked together. He still looked good.

Every once in a while, Gemma got to do actual counseling work. Between dealing with mutant issues, keeping the Mansion safe, keeping an eye on her family, and the million other things that she was responsible for, she was still the guidance counselor, and even mutant kids had run-of-the mill questions for her sometimes; questions about careers, school, personal life, the works. Today was one of those appointments, with one of the more recent Mansion residents, Ignacio Ramírez.

Gemma knew the basics about the boy - she knew the basics about everyone who was in the school's system - but she had never exchanged more than a friendly greeting with him. She knew from other staff that he was a friendly person, and he had helped other students in all kinds of ways; she also knew what his powers were, and that he had not required help from her to deal with them. All in all, he was one of the more balanced students at the Mansion.

As the knock on the door came, Gemma opened it with a smile.

"Right on time" she greeted Ignacio "Come on in. Would you like something to drink? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate?"

As soon as the door opened, Ignacio turned to look to see Ms. Gemma standing in the doorway. He was about to speak when he started to notice that he felt a little cooler. It wasn't too bad, but he finally knew that the Mansion had air conditioning. Even his eyes changed from their unique kaleidoscope eyes to a dark brown. Huh. The eighteen-year-old looked at himself in the reflection of the window and sighed. He knew that this would happen.

>> "Come on in. Would you like something to drink? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate?"

Ignacio quickly turned his head to look at the Mansion's counselor, "¡Aye, Buenos tardes, señorita Gemma!" He greeted with a smile. It wasn't as right as usual, but it was there. He entered her office and sat down on one of the chairs. "And hot chocolate, por favor."

Gemma could see the effects of her aura on the young man. She had told him about her adapted field when he asked for an appointment, but even for people who knew the theory the physical change was often surprising. To his credit, Ignacio took the transformation in stride, and even with a polite smile.

>> "¡Aye, Buenos tardes, señorita Gemma!"

"Buenas tardes, señor Ramírez. ¡Entra!" Gemma smiled, opening the door wider; her Spanish was far from fluent, but she had picked up a lot of it over the years, and practiced as often as she could with Jorge and Chase as well.

>>"And hot chocolate, por favor."

"Vale." Gemma turned on the machine that made both hot chocolate and coffee, and offered a seat to Ignacio in one of the various chairs and armchairs in her office. "So... you said you wanted to talk to me about career options?"

Ignacio gasped happily when Ms. Gemma spoke Spanish. He was so happy in fact that he began clapping and jumping some. After Iggy calmed down, he peeked hismwld up in his newfound seat and crossed his leg over the other. It was nice to have a conversation with someone who also spoke Spanish. It reminded him so much of being at home.

>> "So... you said you wanted to talk to me about career options?"

"Oh! Yes!" Ignacio cleared his throat and continued taking, "Sooo I was thinking of becoming a model for US Bison! Ignacio squealed with joy. That was all he had to say, really. Simple, sweet and to the point.

Ignacio seemed excited that she spoke Spanish. Gemma was glad her learning the language could make someone happy like that; she would tell Jorge about it later. They took seats, and it was time for him to tell her what was on his mind.

>>"Oh! Yes! Sooo I was thinking of becoming a model for US Bison!"

Gemma blinked.

Usually, when students came to her with their plans, they wanted to talk about grades, and college... or possible apprenticeship options, maybe. Technical schools, job hunts... but even among those, modeling was not one that she encountered very often. Especially with that level of excitement. The young man was definitely handsome enough for the task, but... there was more to modeling than that.

"Um. Alright. Let's talk about that." she smiled, curious where the conversation would lead "Tell me about US Bison... Why them?"

>> "Um. Alright. Let's talk about that...Tell me about US Bison... Why them?"

"Becauseee I love what they stand for and...I love, love their clothes!" Iggy gestured to himself with a still wide smile on his face. "Plus, I'm gorgeous so why not?!" He bounced a bit in his seat and waited for Ms. Gemma to comment.

Gemma had heard some career plans in her time that made her do a double take, but modeling had so far not been presented to her as a valid option. Honestly, she was curious why Ignacio wanted to go down that particular road, but she had an open mind, and sincere interest in what he had in mind.
What she got, however, was this:

>>"Becauseee I love what they stand for and...I love, love their clothes! Plus, I'm gorgeous so why not?!"

Gemma had to admit, the guy was not hard to look at. Not her type, but as far as modeling went, he had the basic requirements down. She blinked at the bouncing, but she decided to take in in stride.

"Okay..." she smiled "I can understand the excitement for fashion. To be honest, I have never worked with someone who wanted a modeling career... but I understand there are more requirements than looks. Have you already looked into their recruitment practices?"

>> "Okay...I can understand the excitement for fashion. To be honest, I have never worked with someone who wanted a modeling career... but I understand there are more requirements than looks. Have you already looked into their recruitment practices?"[/color][/i]

Huh, Ignacio never really thought about it, but he guessed he hadn't really looked into anything. "...Recruitment practices? What are those?" He asked with a tilt of his head. Ignacio didn't know anything about going through recruitment practices. Would he have to do that first before auditioning?

>>"...Recruitment practices? What are those?"

"Well..." Gemma ventured, turning on her computer "Some companies might have requirements for people that want to apply to them. They might require you to be represented by an agent, or have a portfolio of some sort." she typed in the of the company to pull up their website "Have you done professional modeling work before?"

This was uncharted territory, but Gemma was dedicated to figuring it out.

>> "Well...Some companies might have requirements for people that want to apply to them. They might require you to be represented by an agent, or have a portfolio of some sort...Have you done professional modeling work before?"

"...No." Ignacio poked out his lip. Why didn't he know about this? Why hadn't anyone told him that he needed to get these "requirements". "...B-but I'm beautiful! I'm unqiue! That should enough...right?" Oh, Ignacio. With a sigh, he slumped back in the seat. He was about to take out a piece of chocolate when an idea popped into his head.

"Wait! I have head shots from when I did commercials and played supporting characters!" Did that count? God, he hoped so!

So, Ignacio was not as prepared for the practical part of the job as he was enthusiastic about the general idea. While his career choice was unusual, Gemma had worked with plenty of kids before that had the same problem.

>>"...No. ...B-but I'm beautiful! I'm unqiue! That should enough...right?"

"It is definitely an advantage" Gemma allowed with a smile. Many people were beautiful and all were unique, but he did not need to hear that right now. "But it's rarely quite enough..."

>>"Wait! I have head shots from when I did commercials and played supporting characters!"

"Okay, now that's a start." Gemma nodded, glad to grab on to something "That is a good start for a portfolio. You have photos, and apparently you have done some... acting?... before. That goes on your professional resume. Have you done auditions before?"