“Caliburn is ready to see you now.” the young costumed sidekick manning the reception desk said, waving Harry and Ron into the hero’s office.
Harry and Ron nodded politely to her and went in. They hadn’t been waiting too long, having arrived just a little early for their appointment with the Stalwart Hero and she had been nothing but professionally pleasant to him. Which was pretty par for the course for this particular hero agency given Caliburn’s utter fascination with British folklore and Arthurian legend (as could be guessed from his deciding to go with the hero name Caliburn). Those employed at the Avalonus Heroics Agency were held to the strict chivalric standards that King Arthur and his knights stood for (taking into account how times had changed from when King Arthur was said to have lived).
“First of all, let me thank you for agreeing to assist me with this little project of mine.” Caliburn said with a warm smile as they entered his office, shook hands, took seats, exchanged pleasantries, offered and declined the obligatory refreshments, and finally got down to business, “I understand that it doesn’t seem like actual hero work at first glance, but I’m a firm believer that hero work is more than just stepping in during a villain attack or natural disaster. Educating today’s youth about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse may seem like such an inconsequential thing - and yes, it is a fairly small step that would be easy to overlook if we didn’t pay attention - but it still is an important thing to do if we wish to give the youth the best chance possible to shine bright and succeed in this world.”
“It’s not a problem. And you’re right about the necessity of programs like this.” Harry replied cordially. While he hadn’t exactly volunteered to help Caliburn with his youth anti-drug PSA program, it was definitely something he could get behind (and something that he likely would have volunteered for if he’d actually been given a chance to, but what was done was done and all that rot). He’d lost count of how many calls he’d been on as a paramedic that involved either drugs or alcohol this year (and there were still about four months left); not all of them ending with a positive outcome for those involved. And there’d been that whole mess with his (former) coworker Billy back in the spring. If helping Caliburn spread the word kept even one kid from ending up coding on his gurney on the way to the hospital then it would’ve been worth it.
Caliburn nodded, pleased with Harry’s willingness to help. For someone who was only a part time rescue hero, Harry exemplified all the virtues that he strived for Avalonus to stand for. And should Harry ever wish it, all he would have to do is say the word and Caliburn would scoop him up right away. “Now then. I know that the start of the new school term is still a few weeks away and the program isn’t set to start until a few weeks after that to give the schools time to settle into the routine of things, but I feel that it’s better to start planning earlier rather than later and risk running out of time due to having to deal with the unexpected emergencies that will no doubt crop up.”
“Plus this gives me time to make sure that I’m able to actually get the days off I need in order to do this. I don’t think that my supervisor’ll have any issues, but the department head can get a little... funny... about these things and it’s easier to make sure that all the ‘i’s are dotted and the ‘t’s are crossed; just in case.“ Harry said. Theoretically everything should be fine but his department head had a reputation for being a real hard arse; very much a firm believer in his way or the highway and if you didn’t like it you could quit or transfer to a different company. And you never really knew when he was going to come down all unreasonably rigid about a topic. There were stories floating around that you shouldn’t make any actual plans - particularly the kind that were nonrefundable paid in advance and took you out of commuting distance - if and when you managed to snag some holiday time or a personal day because he was just as likely to retroactively cancel it and threaten to write you up when you didn’t show up for a shift you hadn’t known you were on (because you were on a holiday that he himself had approved). It’d never actually happened to Harry, or anyone on his crew (and if it had, he would’ve known because the others would’ve been bitching about it for days if not weeks) but there was a first time for everything. At least if he followed the proper procedure and went through the right official channels he’d have a better time fighting having his permission for taking the time off reversed as the paper trail being left would be able to clearly show that he had in fact been granted the time off.
“Currently I’ve gotten seven primary schools and four secondary schools to agree to have us come in and address their students. We should be looking at giving a one to two hour presentation during a school wide assembly, although one of the primary schools has requested that the assemblies be grade wide instead, and only for the upper years since they don’t deem the subject to be age appropriate for the younger children.” Caliburn said, laying out the proposed structure, “All of the schools are fairly open as to when during the year that these presentations occur, so long as they don’t interfere with the major exam periods.”
“With only eleven schools to contend with, we can easily knock it all out during October; maybe stack all the secondary schools towards the end so that the information’s fresh come Halloween and Bonfire Night. I remember those two nights being rather popular party nights back when I was still in school.” Ron pointed out.
“It might make making sure I can lock down the time off for the program a bit trickier if we do everything in October. I know, it shouldn’t be a problem since I’d be asking for the time off over a month ahead of time and it’s not like October’s a popular month for going on holiday, but you know how my work gets sometimes.” Harry said, thinking it over. Perhaps he was being a bit paranoid and in the end everything would work out scheduling wise the way it should but there was this niggling worry in the back of his head that he couldn’t get rid of suggesting that there was going to be a Problem despite all indications to the contrary.
“Perhaps if we schedule all the secondary schools for October and then split the primary schools between the winter and spring semesters.” Caliburn suggested as a possible compromise, “That way everything's fairly spread out in regards to when you'd need to request time off and we can address the issue of substance abuse closer to when the children are more likely to encounter it."
"That sounds reasonable.” Harry agreed. Sadly, all three of them knew that there would be some children for whom being around people with drug or alcohol issues was a normal part of their daily life (and that for some of those same children, it was them struggling with those issues. There really was no minimum age for addictions after all). But such was life and why running programs like this were so important. (If they could save even one person through this, be they a child or an adult and no matter how far in the future it was, then it would all be worth it).
“So we’re agreed then?” Caliburn asked.
“I think so. It sounds like a solid plan. I don’t anticipate it, but if anything comes up regarding my work schedule, I’ll let you know as soon as I can.” Harry replied as everyone stood up. Caliburn shook their hands again as they said their goodbyes, making sure to (once again) slip his business card into Harry’s hand in an unspoken statement that if Harry ever decided to rethink the whole paramedic thing (or simply found himself without a job for... Reasons... that might not be one hundred percent kosher) he’d have a place at Avalonus.