So this is a new Idea I've been tooling around with thanks to the seed planted there by Stasis. After talking to her, and a couple of the others I have decided to start the first real interactive story thread.
This is just little snipits of things that happen within the schools daily operation or random encounters in other places.. No epic battles, or heroic settings, just short episodic peices, really just goof off stuff but also character devloping situations that we can also use for in game RP.
If your little scene would benifit from a name, then fell free to put a name to it.
So without furthur adieu I present to you
Class had just ended for the weekend and students were everywher,. most were intent on getting off campus and enjoying the relative freedom that two days off provides. It wasn't uncommon for larger groups to leave together and hit the hot spots of the town. Today was no exception as word of a new club had been spreading like wildfire all over the campus
'So your telling me that this new club is in another dimension?' Francis asked. Several of the upperclassmen, and a few sophomores were walking across the campus, intent on adventure. Mimi and Kali were laughing at her comment again. Hedgehod, as usual, was trailing behind a bit, not entirely comfortable in the middle of the group. Stephen Knight, one of the more outing, or more precisely unruly, underclassmen was shaking his head in disbelief. He was a cocky self sure student that was a natural fit with the older students, particularly Jaygo Jones, who shared his immature sense of humor.
' How many times do I have to tell you, yes.' some guy named DJ Zero opened a club in the middle of another dimension, apparently it's neutral ground and he has some sort of magic protecting the place. There's no fighting allowed. He's pretty serious about it. Fight and your out, permanently.' His laugh was an annoying cackle, often punctuated with heavy arm movement. Jaygo, laughing equally as hard walked in step with Steven, gave him a quick punch on the arm, ending the younger kids laughing fit.
' Stop being a dick, we all know your the expert on the club, you've been talking it up all week. Don't remind us, you might find we don't rush to help you next time you pick a fight with Hellions.' Jaygo's tone was part joke, part serious. Stephen wasn't as comfortable with using his powers for more that classroom pranks, but his headstrong attitude had gotten him into more than a few scuffles with some of the local gangs. Jaygo was just reminding him of why he wasn't in the hospital from it.
'Dude,' Stephen said, slumping a bit, not wanting to upset the status quo too much. Jaygo adjusted the black leather vest and bandanna; his latest trip into the city had scored him both at a great price and he was dying to get some use out of the garments. He took a quick stock of the group to make sure every one was there, people tend to wander if given the opportunity. His eyes found a familiar face a few feet away walking the opposite direction.
'Guys, I'll catch up.' He jogged the few feet until he fell into step with a willowy girl about his height with snow white hair. 'Hey fresh, how's everything going?' His question held a teasing in tone to it. He was playing the food chain card again, testing the limits of his status. His companion stopped, a slight mist radiating off her glossy blue body suit. she turned her head to look at him and canted her head slightly to the left.
'You have green eyes.' Stasis Kiss' statement seemed filled with disappointment. He quickly looked away, her piercing bluish/gray eyes never leaving his face. small dark wisps drifted from his head.
'Oh, uumm, yeah my glasses were a casualty of war.' He shrugged slightly, wanting to give the impression that it was a common occurrence. ' So, you finding everything now?' Concern edged it's way into the question, but couldn't overcome the confident tone.
' Yes thank you. It's been an adventure having to trek halfway across campus to study the only accurate map in the school.' She said, absently twirling one of her pencils between her fingers. ' But I think one of your upperclassman friends decided I was having it too easy and ripped it off the wall. Like they don't already make it hard enough on us new kids.' She seemed more than a little irritated. the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees as she vented. Jaygo shivered slightly, but made no other movements. His smile beamed, as if he as just eaten the cake off the counter. He deftly slipped a folded piece of paper into the small curve of her arm, between her books and her elbow
'Yeah heard about that.' Jaygo tried not to laugh but a slight chuckle escaped his lips. Stasis replaced her pencil and carefully opened the paper. It was a map of the school, only slightly vandalized. upon further inspection she noticed it was the displaced map. Her smile matched his, her eyes filled with a faint blue light before returning to their intense state.
'You.. but why?' She seemed honestly confused. He had helped her on their first meeting, but he had no obligation to further help her, or for that matter acknowledge her existence. she carefully folded the paper and placed it with her books, caring for it as if it was a precious gem. Jaygo looked away, refusing to meet her gaze.
' You kept running back to that map to find where things were, it was getting annoying seeing you run by all my classes all day. So I appropriated it.' He tried to keep a superior attitude to his voice. ' Besides, it gives me a way to mess with the other fresh meat around here.'
" Jaygo, lets go.. Pony up man, the bus is leaving. you can play with your pet 'fresh' later' Stephen's Voice cut across the Campus. Jaygo looked back to see him wildly waving at him. ' Yo lets go' Jaygo turned back to Stasis and weakly smiled.
'Sorry, i have to run.' He said, but stopped in mid turn. ' Hey, we're going to a new club a little later, you want to co......' His words died on the wind as a violent sucking pop filled the air leaving the faint lingering odor of ozone. Jaygo was now several hundred feet away, standing next to the laughing form of Stephen.
As the sun set on St. Joseph's School the heat of the day was quickly dissipating into the cool, drifting, breezes of evening. The quad, once filled with loud, chattering voices and jostling backpacks was now darkening its green and brown tones into purple and black.
It was at this twilight moment that Francis Cross, weary from a long day of Algebra, 19th Century English Literature, and Projectile Fluid Dynamics, found herself basking in the approach of night. Finding her favorite, out-of-the-way spot empty she happily plopped onto the stone bench and promptly began fishing through her tattered backpack. After struggling through a disorganized mess of paper and binders , several tubes of black lipstick, and a mismatched CD collection, she pulled out the remains of a crumpled cigarette pack.
"Damn, only four left," she muttered as she slid a Djarum Black clove from the crinkled pack. She'd be back onto Talos this weekend to Scherazade's Magic Shop, it looked like. She balanced the black cigarette between two fingers as she held a small twig in the other hand and snapped her thumb over it. Tiny blue and purple sparks flashed from her fingertips as she tried over and over again to light the twig.
"FRANCIS!"...She nearly fell off the bench and into the bushes.
David Conrads, the school counselor, came walking briskly across the quad and snatched the cigarette from her hand. He looked disheveled and distracted but angry, none-the-less.
"How many times do we have to have our little talk about this?!" He asked sharply, "Hmmm?"
"Uhhhhh...," Was all Francis was honestly able to manage.
Conrads huffed, "I don't have the time to deal with you right now, Francis. But this has GOT to stop. Don't ever let me catch you trying this filthy habit again."
And then he was gone, walking with purpose across the campus yard, into the administration building, and jogging up the stairs...and the clove cigarette with him.
Francis sat dumbfounded on the bench for several moments before shaking her head and looking down at the twig still clenched in her hands. A shrug later and she pulled another Djarum from the pack and leaned in to spark her tinder twig.
"Ahhhh!".....the twig went flying over Francis' head. "There you are!" came Jasmine's familiar growling voice.
"You would not BELIEVE the day I'm having!" Jasmine snorted, "That cheerleader is gonna get her teeth knocked so far into her head that it'd take Shakespeare and seven of his dead friends to talk her way into a hall pass...."
Francis looked up at her friend and was about to say something when Jasmine's eyes widened, "Hey! Djarums! That's awesome Franky, thanks!"
With that, both Jasmine and the tiny black cigarette were half way to the tram station leaving Francis staring blankly into the night.
With tempermental deliberation Francis reached back into the pack and slid out another aromatic stick. She looked left and right around the quad and sat silently for a moment awaiting any tell-tale sound of activity.
Nothing. Silence.
She heaved a deep breath and with a contented smile set the clove between her lips and lifted a new twig to the end of the cigarette.
“Franky! Check this out…you gotta see this!” Francis nearly choked in an attempt to recover the cigarette and twig from her sinuses seconds before Mimi’s unmistakable green punk knots came into view. Francis fumbled with the cigarette as Mimi hopped onto the bench with a glitter to her eyes and a folded up newspaper in her hands.
“Look at this! Look!” She happily exclaimed as she nearly threw the newsprint into Francis lap. Mimi flipped through several black and white pages before settling on a large headline that read, ‘St. Joseph’s High School Named Number 77 In Paragon.’
“Can you believe it, Can you! This is amazing, we’re number 77 in the top 100. We gotta post this somewhere…oh, I know, the bulletin board in the Cafeteria! Francis, this is the most wonderful thing ever!...oh mi god, I gotta tell Tawney!”
Mimi leaped to her feet with a grin that would have put a jack-o-lantern to shame and jumped into the air, jetting towards one of the third floor dorm windows. Francis watched her go and smiled. ‘Top 100, eh,’ she thought, ‘Not bad for the ol’ Flyers. We’re totally smokin’…and speaking of which….’ But a brief glance at her hand revealed the clove was no where to be found. Instead, it lay a few feet to her left floating in the fountain, where it had fallen after its short battle with the Paragon Times.
Her eye twitched as she sat, brows furrowed, on the cold bench. The quad was rather dark and the stars were beginning to twinkle from behind the smoggy curtain of Paragon night. Her breath was now coming in deep, angry, gusts. Francis closed her eyes for a moment and willed herself back into the calm state of mind she had intended on nurturing earlier. Several cool wafts of an evening breeze buffeted her face as she opened her eyes and snapped another twig from the nearby bushes. She pulled out the last remaining cigarette and leaned back as she began to rub the twig into a tiny, glowing ember.
At that moment, Sister Salvation came bursting into the quad with a fiery look on her face, several strands of blonde hair falling loose from her cowl, and a habit that appeared to be slightly askew. As if by technological targeting Sister Salvation's eyes scanned the quad and immediately fell on Francis, only a few feet away.
"Hallelujah!" Salvation exclaimed as she passed bench, bushes, and girl with power one would not have expected from such a petit woman in holy orders. She flicked the clove into her hand, deftly lit it on the end of the smoldering twig still in Francis' poised hand, and took a deep drag. As she slowly let it out her eyes grew cloudy and she sighed, "Oh that's so much better...thanks kid."
And the last cigarette vanished into the night with the whirl of black and white smock.
Francis sat on the bench, her face void of any expression. She stared straight ahead at the burnt-out twig and her empty hand still poised before her face. Slowly, both hands dropped into her lap with a dull *clop*.
"That's it," She growled, her upper lip trembling, "I quit."
Stasis kept her head up and her strides even. She'd never be the smartest or the toughest or the strongest or the prettiest, but nobody messed with confidence. Confidence was knowing where you were and where you wanted to go. Confidence was taking care of the things that were important. Confidence was making sure that no matter how crowded it got, she didn't step onto the grass.
She kept her grip on the books loose, resisting the urge to clutch them defensively across her chest. That wouldn't inspire anybody to give her space. It was bad enough that she could see vapour rising in a haze as she walked, tiny ice bells pealing as they formed and faded. Breathe, Tara, breathe. She switched the heavy books to her other arm, tucking the nervous pencil behind her ear. Her boots hit the paved walkway with solid, deceptive steadiness. Nobody will even care if you look like you know what you're doing.
The best part about confidence was that even if you didn't have it, it was entirely possible to fake it.
Part of the problem at the moment was that she was trying to swim upstream. It seemed like the entire school population was intent on starting their weekend Right Now and all of them at close to top decibel. She skirted a square of arguing girls taking up an entire intersection, all of them in their school plaid and all of them looking like refugee models from the St. Joseph recruitment posters. She could feel her shoulders trying to hunch as one particularly loud blonde tossed her mane over one perfect shoulder and laid the law down about what they were going to be wearing that night to the club. It might have been the girl that had kept getting her name wrong but she didn't make eye contact to be sure, sidling silently past without notice.
Pet fresh.
Jaygo... Jaygo had noticed. The triangle point of the liberated map stuck out like an accusation from under the fly leaf of her Comparative Histories book. Jaygo had not only noticed but he'd made sure she knew he'd noticed. He'd made a point of talking to her in front of all his friends, hadn't he?
Stasis shook her head. It didn't mean anything. It was more than obvious she was just the flavor of the week. That last comment by his agitated friend had pretty much spelled it out in skywriting. Had seen her out of the classroom windows, had he?
Ruffled blonde Jaygo with the kilowatt smile obviously played the field, and probably not only knew all the cute cheerleaders disappearing behind her he'd probably dated them all. Concurrently. So he'd been friendly, so what? Maybe he just needed something in platinum to complete the set.
Head down again without thinking about it, she had about a half a second of warning before her nose impacted on the solid object that appeared like magic in front of her. Pulling back, she looked up into the grinning face of another upperclassman - this one however didn't make her feel like doing anything but grinning back.
"Hey, Detective!"
"Stasis! You okay? Didn't see you there."
But the smirk on his face was just a little too angelic. Stasis examined the last few moments of introspection on high definition rewind and then looked up in accusation. They were creating a traffic muddle but for the moment she didn't care.
"You... flew into me!"
Detective held up his hands and stepped back, laughing. "You're imagining things. Fly into you? Why would I do that?"
Half a dozen likely excuses sprang to the tip of her tongue, ranging from 'you thought it would be funny', to 'you were showing off' to 'you like scaring girls'. She squashed all of them and settled for wrinkling her nose.
"No comment. What's up?"
Detective being Detective, he actually looked up to find out. "Sky, mostly. Rain later, I think. It's pretty slick up near the free-for-all, real downdraft friction. Hey, you wanna go to the club with me tonight?"
Slick? Free-for-all? She'd only known Detective for just over a week so she knew her translation back to standard English was suspect at best, but that was a little obscure even for him. Friction? Then the rest of the sentence kicked in and she'd have held up her hands in protest if she could. Stasis settled instead for a lukewarm glare.
"I went once. I spend the entire time trying not to feel like somebody's dinner." A little traitor voice in her head pointed out that a certain cocksure scrapper had asked pretty much the same thing not fifteen minutes before. It was like comparing apples to... armored tanks. Detective wouldn't know guile if it walked up and chewed his leg off.
"Oh c'mon Stas, it'll be fun! We'll have a good time again."
Okay. So maybe she'd been distracted by other stuff. Maybe trying to decipher a pair of green eyes had dulled her sense of survival. But when Detective mentioned 'fun' and 'good time' in the same sentence... Stasis woke up in a hurry and the paint by numbers picture assembling in her head wasn't pretty.
"You're going to see that barely-clad wanna-be vampire chick and the tattooed wonder, aren't you?"
Detective looked down at her, his lashes dark against his pale skin. The light in his eyes wasn't exactly apple pie. "Mistress? No. Well... maybe. She could be there, I guess. It's a free world, last I looked - unless you're in the Zig. It's probably hard to party in the Zig."
"Detective!" Stasis looked around and broke her personal rule; grabbing him by the arm she dragged him onto the grass and shook him once, hard. "She's bad news! She's the baddest news I've ever seen pretending to be a pair of high heels and fishnet. She probably garottes her hairdressers for messing up so bad. You can't possibly be thinking of hooking up with that barracuda again."
"So? You coming?"
Stasis opened her mouth.. and closed it again. Detective might be three baby steps and a tailwind from graduation, might spend most of his remaining class time zooming around seeing how fast he could do a barrel roll around the spire on the auditorium, might spend the rest of it jockeying as one of the strongest kids in the school... but that didn't negate the instant understanding that the guy desperately needed a keeper.
Her first and only experience in the Pocket she'd spent an uncomfortable hour trying not to watch the guy drown in sticky, neo-vampire quicksand. Fending off the party animals intent on dancing and dealing with the tattooed wonder hadn't helped either. By the time she'd left she'd had a tension headache the size of... well, Detective's ego.
"Great! Meet you there!" She couldn't even protest that she hadn't said a damned thing because he was six feet above her head. She blinked. "Bring money, I'm flat busted again. And wear something nice!" Then the entire view she had of him was the bottom of his shoes, dwindling away.
"Wear something... this is the only thing I own!" Too late, he was already gone. "Damn it. Damn it, you nutcase!" Throwing dignity to the winds she took off for the dorms, cutting across the grass in bounding leaps. She'd lose the books there and grab a couple of pick-me-up pills. Maybe you couldn't fight in the Pocket, but she still had to get there on her own two feet.
Necessity might be the mother of invention, but haste is the father of wrong turns. Taking a short cut between what she thought was the north wall of the Library and the shop classes, she hung a left, a right and two more lefts in quick order.. and found a part of the campus she'd so far failed to get lost in before.
"Atlas save me."
Stasis blew the hair out of her eyes in serious annoyance and did a survey. Nope, nothing familiar in the slightest. There was a smaller building down a slope that showed police tape over the door, a piecemeal attempt at what might have once been a formal garden next to it, half a retaining wall and the broad backsides of two buildings that didn't seem particularly noteworthy and certainly didn't seem to be the dorms she was trying for.
A flutter of panic settled in her stomach but suddenly she remembered.. the map! Two shakes and she'd be turned back around again and she'd catch Detective before he got himself nibbled on again. Maybe she'd feed him to the cheerleaders as payback - they seemed the piranha type, but at least they were St. Joseph piranha. Keep it in the family.
The books went on the ground in a haphazard pile and the map opened to reveal its glorious secrets. She was so engrossed in her contemplation, orienting the paper in likely configurations that she failed to register the ominous shadow that appeared over her shoulder.
"And what is this?"
"Whassuh?" Stasis looked up and found herself staring in the eyes the color of dirty mud. "Sister.. Sister Moltar!"
"Yes." The nun's look was anything but jovial, belying the myth of dedicating one's life to others. "That is my name and I'm glad you know it. What is that in your hands?"
Stasis looked down and blanched. Oh no. Oh no. Jaygo, you bastard. She thrust the incriminating evidence behind her back, knowing it was already too late.
"Um... nothing? Laundry list?"
"Nothing. A nothing that looks a lot like school property. A nothing that looks a lot like the school property that was vandalised not two days ago and missing until just now, when here I find it in your hands."
There was no pick-me-up pill in the world that could fend off the righteous waves of indigation near pouring off the Sister's rigid form.
"To the office... march!"
Last edited by Stasis Kiss on Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
What a day... I mean really! First theres class after class with the nuns, ( gawd who woulda ever thought I of all people would be learning from nuns!)
Then my lil run in with Mr Conrads and His " Miss Jade I really dont think that spiked collar is a part of our school uniform now is it?"
Gesus that guy needs to loosen up . We gotta have something with a lil flare on that damn uniform. I mean gawd!!!
Ok so i deal with it and remove my collar , hide it in my bookbag til classes are over I'll wear it later right... right.
Then theres the hallways. Students rushing everywhere to get to class on time. I mean like those classes aren't going anywhere people .... Hello !!!!
Lighten up , take a minute to calm down and relax , you're gonna be stuck in them hard wooden chairs soon enough so why rush?
See thats what I'm sayin!!!
So anyways I'm following the herd of other students from the cafeteria to 5th hr and I round a corner of the hallway and I run smack bam into guess who???
Amends!!! I mean Oh my gawd .... I never met Him before but I know who He is. And He was so nice about it, helped me pick my books up , asked if I was ok and stuff. What do I do? I stutter and don't know what to say .... AGAIN!!!!
Good lord I'm gonna find one of these sisters to say a prayer for me to stop that!!! I mean they got all these Saints right? So surely theres like a Saint for shy stuttering girls??? If not there should be.
Finally schools out .. Thank gawd for that! So I run back by the dorms throw my bookbag on my bed , grab a shower and change clothes and head to Pocket D.
Its a lil early yet but i figure hey I'll check things out and then go patrol a bit. I can always pop back over later when things are picking up right?
And who is there...... *sighs* Jaygo.......
Of course He didnt see me , He was upstairs prolly talking or something I don't know but anyways... All I could do was stand on the dance floor and stare. Thank gawd He didn't see me.
I was staring so hard and so long I didn't even see Lycia at first. Thats so rude of me I know but I swear I couldn't help it!!!
She finally got my attention and we talked a bit but I decided I better leave before I made an ass of myself ... AGAIN!
So I took off from PD and headed out for some patroling. Couldn't keep my mind on things tho so eventually I just went back to the dorm and crashed early.
I'm sure that was a shock when they did bedchecks and I was actually there for a change HAHAHA
Oh well gotta keep those penguins on thier toes somehow I guess huh
“Stasis Kiss: Sometimes you just have to do something drastic and shake things around a little. ”
Kris handed the paper in, and was suddenly aware that everyone was staring at her. Looking at the desk, she saw that most of the other papers were one to two pages in length, whereas her volume was a whopping 100 page dissertation. Even the teacher was giving her a baleful look.
"Miss O'Sullivan, when I asked for an essay with a minimum of three paragraphs on rivers, the last thing I expected to get was..." she stated as she looked through the textbook quality paper. "An environmental text. I'm affraid this doesn't even appear to be on rivers at all, Miss O'Sullivan."
"But, Sister, I did write on rivers," Kris stood her ground. "On pages one through five, I have expounded upon them to fulfilment, and to the point of needing to explain the broader principles of Ecological Kinetic Hydrology."
"Please, Kris... Go sit," the nun said with a look that said she wasn't going to fight it this time, but that it was unacceptable.
"Yes, Sister," Kris said quietly as she went back to her seat, not daring to look anyone else in the eye.
"In blessed memory of Sister Mercy (Sister Mary Catherine St. Claire {Dec 12, 1923 - unknown date})
Her memory lives on with St Joseph School as a testament to the good that can be done by healers at the scene of conflict."
As Kris was sitting down, Detective walked in and asked the Sister if he may talk to her for a second.
"Sister, I would like to talk to u about one of your Students in your class right now" Detective (Mr. H) said with a smirk on his face
“Of course Adam witch one" the Nun said with curiosity
"The one who just put a Book on your desk calling it an essay” he said with a smile as if trying to sound funny
“What about her it seems to me she is a bit of a show off” the Nun said with a frown on her face
“let me ask u a question, how many students have u ever had that even if trying to show off had the time in about 2 days to write a report….and handed in a short story?”
“Well none but still I asked for 3 paragraphs this cant be excepted”
“Please Sister at least let me talk to her after all she is new”
“They are lucky to have a teacher around like Adam; they all seem to like u a lot”
“I hope so Sister and thank u for letting me talk to her”
“It’s not a problem, but y the interest in this one besides the obvious?”
“I have a good feeling about her and her abilities, and I know she will be a great asset to man kind”
“Well now that that is taken care of ill wish u a good day and to see u soon”
“Same Sister”
As Detective looks in threw the small window of the door he gives a small wink to Kris and a thumbs up.
She peered over the rim of her dark glasses with disdain.
"This school is a dump." she muttered to herself, but she knew that Mr. Conrads had heard her. There was something creepy about that guy, he always smiled... and she had intentionally been nasty to him just to test him. All smiles. Creepy.
He was giving her the grand tour, but she wasn't interested. She would, of course, make the most of her time here... but she wouldn't be happy about it. A Catholic school. Her parents had actually enrolled her in a Catholic school. They really didn't know a damn thing about her.
She'd also met with the headmaster and the priest. Her parents were there for that, and the more the two officials spoke... the wider their eyes got with what looked like pleasure to Zia. She decided to lower the 'tude while at that meeting. She didn't need to press everyone's buttons right away, that would ruin the fun for later.
"...and now I'll show you the girl's dorms." Mr. Conrads chimed up, interrupting Zia's thoughts.
She picked up her bag with a huff, then slid her glasses back over her eyes with her middle finger. "I'm not going to have to room with anyone, am I?" she almost snarled.
She definitely wasn't going to be happy about this new school.
It's always cold here. There is no day, no light, no warmth in this forever and always twilight. Steel over concrete over echoes, everything whispers to itself of glory days long past. The buildings struggle to remember fragments of stories to tell the children, not minding that they remember only fractures.
A giant must have built this place; an entire race of monsters she thinks. She can only imagine talons placing the stepping stones as large as houses over the cisterns, sees in her mind's eye the macabre spiders that spun the highways across the skies in webs. No human could have conceived this, loved this, built this. There is frantic motion but no life. Mindless purpose without any aim, save restlessness.
Dirty, noisy, filthy, ugly.
Angry.
She has taken the lecture, the disapproval, the meticulous stain carved onto a white sheet of paper. She has never lied. She has never stolen. Yet now she has committed the first, accused and judged of the second. She feels as if these things are covering her, visible in the half light of this terrible place.
A lie of omission is still a lie; she said nothing while the censure was measured out in full and bitter dose. She is not a thief nor a vandal yet she let them believe it, permitted it to be written without outward protest although the room was chill with words unsaid. The meted punishment was as nothing to that inward betrayal.
The cartographer said nothing and that makes her feel worse. A map of St. Joseph's, complete and unabridged has been ordered and she will return in three days to convey it to the sharp hand of the Sister. Returning through the dusk resentments she tries to think of nothing at all lest she choke on it.
Who is to say why things fall out as they do? In her inattention she makes a mistake, an beginner's error. She misjudges the leap to the subway platform, grey on grey on dark and falls. It is a shock but not fatal, a long drop to a ground she hadn't known was there. The train she has missed rumbles over her head, shaking both teeth and nerves.
If the Above is twilight apathy, here in the Below there is only stygian malice. There are eyes here and they find her, cover her, revel in the whiteness of her body. Honey. Baby. Sugar. She discovers a different kind of heat as they crowd around. Come and play. Dance. Give us a kiss. So many, so tall they seem like a shade of those long ago giants. Lost and male and so terribly angry.
She is angry.
Warmth then as the air turns arctic and pain blooms in a red, untouchable flower. They laugh even as the first one falls and then it's just them and her and she is not a thief, not anybody's sugar, anybody's baby, not a damned liar for a boy who smiled and didn't tease at her confusion, not anybody's damned pet fresh.
There is blood in her mouth by the time it's over, heart shot. Breath is an outpouring of white against all this gray. She feels no better which is an atonement of a sort.
A sound murmurs in her ear; unexpected, unlooked for. Come meet me. See me. Be with me. She feels as if her bones are ice, white and blind. His voice whispers of sunlight.
Up, then, out of the mistaken darkness, rising into the Above where he waits impatiently at the train. He is changed and different and the same. His hair is dark now, but his eyes see no shadows. He smiles to see her.
A giant's playground, is Skyway. Its echoes never quiet. The buildings drowse and wait for the world to find them again. Dirty, noisy, filthy, ugly.
Happy.
Last edited by Stasis Kiss on Thu Oct 11, 2007 2:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
The yearbook office was dark. Of course it was; it was nearly four in the morning. Most of the school was dark, and certainly all of the meeting rooms. A light down the hall shone from the computer lab. The soft click of fingers on keys came from within. Probably Kris, working on yet another treatise.
Mimi fiddled with the doorknob, but it was locked. She cupped her face with her hands and pressed her nose against the glass, peering in. The soft blinking lights from the computer monitors, the eerie green glow from the digital camera docking stations. But otherwise, nothing. And across the room, near November's cubby, lay a small pile of forms.
Mimi pulled away, and saw she had left tears on the glass. She reached out quickly and wiped them away with the cuff of her jacket. They streaked on the windowpane but were not entirely absorbed by the fabric. Mimi shook her head.
Bending down, she put her lips to the lock and hummed. The tumblers began to vibrate free; Mimi could hear them click against each other. A raise in tone, a drop in pitch, and the lock gave up. The door swung inwards.
Mimi heard footsteps coming from down the hall, and she quickly ducked inside the yearbook office. She sat beneath the window in the door and held her breath. A voice accompanied the footsteps: Doctor Oliver, taking one of his migraine walks. He was muttering, almost incoherantly. His pace was measured and even. Mimi heard him say something about the twenty-nine required dimensions of the universe, then he was past the door and walking away. Her intrusion had gone unnoticed.
She stole across the darkened room and made her way to November's cubby. She picked up the small stack of papers and began to leaf through them. The forms were all the same: at the top of each stapled two-page packet was printed Cast Your Votes for the Yearbook. Each packet was filled out in different handwriting. Some, she recognized. Many she did not. She saw that Hedge had voted for her as a Class Leader; that was sweet of him. Would he change his vote if he saw what she was doing?
Her eyes finally fell upon her own ballot. Finally. Be done with it and let's go, she said to herself. She scanned down the first page of her ballot, then flipped the page and scanned the second. There it was. The sentence she had written not twelve hours before, the sentence that had been tearing her up inside ever since she went to Pocket D's and saw her there.
Most Likely to be Friends for Life:Tawney and Mimi
Mimi grabbed a thick black marker out of a cup near the cubbies. She uncapped the marker and smelled the acrid odor of its ink. She lowered the marker to the paper. And then she stopped.
What are you doing? she asked herself. Just do it and go back to bed.
Maybe it will be different this time, she thought.
And maybe it won't.
Mimi stood there for a long time before she made her decision.
Last edited by Mimi on Mon Feb 20, 2006 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
As classes let out for the afternoon, the students of SJS spilled out onto the schoolyard. Finally free of the mundane activites of class they revelled at the opportunity to head out into the city sprawl. Friends gathered and waited for one another... all the while none were aware of the sallow, frail frame that watched them from the rooftop. He watched and waited...
Ezekiel spent most of his free time just watching the other students. He was never comfortable around large groups, so he stayed out of the way and simply observed thier lives, desperatly wanting to be part of them. Every facet of thier being facsinated him. He pictured himself down there, among them, part of the every growing throng of humanity. All the pleasures and pains of a normal existance... "...Normal..." he thought "...that is not a word that applies to my life..." As he watched he didn't even notice the smile that had found it's way to his usually stoic face.
A burst of laughter caught his attention. A group of girls had gathered near one of the outer walls... they were all gigling at a piece of graffiti. "Jaygo wears army boots"
Ezekiel ponderd the phrase, trying to find the humor "...what does that even mean... why is Jaygo's choice in footwear funny???.." He moved closer to the roofs edge, trying to get a better look at the group. "...Maybe there is something else on the wall they are laughing at..."
"HIYA ZEKEY!!!" A voice rang out from below.
Startled, Ezekiel lost his footing and fell from his perch. He landed in a puddle in the schoolyard below. Suddenly people were all around him, some were pointing, others laughing, some had an expression of concern. But they were all paying attention to the now moist figure lying on the ground. Ezekiel calmly stood up, dripping and covered in mud. He was fine, but confused. Looking at the faces on the growing crowd around him, the mixture of expression confounded him. "...I am unharmed..." he assured them, hoping they would disperse. He began to panic when they did not.
"...please excuse me... I must depart..." Ezekiel rose into the air and left the commotion behind him. "...was that funny?..." he wondered. "...Some seemed to think so...others looked worried...perhaps I will never understand...Maybe there is something wrong me"
Kali leaves Pocket D a bit confused. She didn't even tell anyone goodbye. Just left.
What exactly happened she's not sure. She thought she was fitting in here. She thought alot of things. But she was wrong.
She wanders back to the dorms.Her head down , a mass of dark hair covering her face and eyes from those she may come across.
As she enters the dorm , she sees Sister Mary coming toward her. The look on her face shows Kali is once again in trouble for curfew violation.
" Miss Jade... where exactly have you been and how many times must I stress the times for being in the dorms?" She asks Kali with a scornful look on her face.
" I know... I know 9 pm on school nights and 11pm on weekends" Kali says quietly.
" Then why are you so late? Or do you care to divuldge that information to Mr. Conrad instead?" Sister Mary asks as she crosses her arms across her chest .
" No reason Sister , I just didn't pay attention to the time I guess. " Kali replies still not looking up.
" Head to bed Miss Jade , We will deal with this problem of yours tomorrow"
As Kali heads to her room she realizes she didn't even make a penguin joke this time. Man her heads really messed up tonight to have passed that up.
She heads quietly into her room and undresses, sliding into a night gown after carefully laying the new dress and boots in her closet. Then slips under the covers of her bed and closes her eyes. Sleep , yes sleep thats all I need ... just some recharge time for my brain. Everything will make perfect sense come morning.
Sleep comes quickly to her exhausted body . She lays and dreams of how things use to be. The friends she use to have , her Mom and Dad.
Happier times, Times when she had someone to hang out in the malls with . Places she could go and people she could talk to.
Times before this curse she has now. Before the spots appeared , before the black ooze started dripping from her fingertips at the most worst times. Before her mother hated her. Oh sure everyone says she doesn't , " Your mother just needs a chance to understand these changes Kali " , her dad told her. So they sent her here ... to this school , to these people.
Waking to the sound of a nearby alarm clock , Kali rubs her tired eyes and crawls from the warm blankets. Looking at the open closet door she sees the new velvet dress and matching suade boots. Both so soft , so pretty.
" Pretty things for a pretty girl , anything for you Kali " He had said.
But now she understands... He says everyone is pretty. Its just His way of being nice. How could she have thought anything more?
Carefully she removes the dress from the hanger and folds it , replacing it in the box the tailor had originally put it in at the store. The boots she replaces into their box also , sliding both boxes under her bed hidden from view.
"No , better not to wear them anymore , maybe later , but not for awhile. I sure don't feel pretty " she thinks to herself.
She grabs a dark sweater and black jeans from the closet and puts them on. No classes for me today... I think I'll go wander around Kings Row and see what there is going on there. Anyways noone will even notice I'm not there.
Kali grabs her jacket and leaves the dorm headed for the train .
“Stasis Kiss: Sometimes you just have to do something drastic and shake things around a little. ”
The cat yawns and stretches, turning onto her belly, letting her arm hang down off the ledge. She is warm and happy. The sunlight feels good.
She had noticed the rose window her very first day walking accross campus. How could she not? It wasn't like the chapel wasn't prominent. But she had wondered about the width of the outside sill. From the ground, it was diffucult to tell. And it wasn't until earlier today that she had been able to explore. She was delighted to learn it was wide enough for her to lay down into the curve of it, almost comfortably.
She's spent most of the day there. Life is too short for classes on a sunny day. Far below, she watches students scurry to and fro, carrying their books. They talk, and argue, and laugh. But none of them are living in the moment. Not like the cat.
Someone flies by her, a flash of color. The cat softly growls at the interruption of her sunlight. Just as she settles back into her half-sleep, the shadow returns. The cat squints up at the haloed figure, who bobs lightly up and down before her.
"You're Faster Pussycat," says the silouette. A girl's voice. The cat doesn't recognize it.
The cat opens her mouth to speak, but a long, sensuous rumble comes out instead. The cat hates it when it happens, like a tiny betrayal her body keeps making. She clears her throat. "Not exactly. But mostly, sure," she says groggily.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asks the hovering girl, an irritated tone rising. "Either you are, or you aren't. So which is it?"
The cat rolls onto her side. "Whatever." She extends her arm and her hand at the shadow. "Move along." Then she finishes the roll, leaving her back to both the sun and the flying girl.
"There's no need to be a bitch about it," says the girl.
The cat sits up, and unsheathes her claws. An angry growl escapes her throat. She gestures towards the flying girl. "Move along or lose a boob. You decide."
The girl backs off as bit, and the cat rolls back over, suddenly feeling the cold of the stone seep into her. She hears the girl muttering, but eventually, she feels the sun fall full upon her back again. She is happy.
Amends wrote:nature evolves antobodies for every situation, eventually... faster is clearly the cure for the overwhelming plague of kawaii that overwhelms the servers when the cat costume parts are discovered
Jaygo walked into detention with a smile on his face and an apple in his hand. sister Mary looked up in shock as Jaygo placed the apple on the corner of the desk. He smiled at her and turned into the classroom that served at the detention hall. it was, as usual relatively empty, only the usual suspects occupied the small room. Biff, his large form straining a chair sat in the corner looking for all the world like he was in a torture device. biff smirked and, again as usual Flipped Jaygo the finger. Jaygo grinned and returned the favor. Ritual complete Jaygo turned from Biff and sat, as usual in the middle of the class.
'Well Mr. Jones, so glad you could make it. What was it today? skipping class, setting fire in the science lab again.' Sister Mary had a way with words that could scald even the toughest of hides. Jaygo was no different on most days. Taking the lecture with a sigh and a nod. Today though Jaygo smiled back, content with his position in the grand scheme of things.
' Sister Mary, It was the usual. I do so enjoy our talks.. I'm sorry, this is the last time you'll see me here for a while.' Jaygo sat back and pulled a small book from his pocket. 'Taming of the Shrew' was one of his least favorite books, but reading it got the sister off his back. all he wanted to do was get this over with and go on patrol. His heavy sigh echoed off the walls.
Sister Mary sat at the front grading papers when a chill draft suddenly blew into the the room. She looked up, ready to yell at Jaygo for leaving the door open, but stopped upon seeing a new face. Jaygo shivered and looked up, his eyes, half closed from on coming sleep, suddenly shot open. There she was standing at the front of the classroom.
There was a slight haze around her, the difference in temperature he was sure. She turned and meet his gaze. Her eyes, usually hidden behind stray hair were clearly visible. Small silver berets with Sapphire colored stones held her hair back. the stones catching the light, making them stand out even more on a field of white. Her smile beamed off her face like a spot light, encompassing the entire room, Jaygo no longer cared about the book, his attention was fully on her.
She was different though, gone was the blue and gray suit, the boots that thumped when she walked. A black blazer, plaid, socks. Jaygo noticed these things, but couldn't be bothered with them, her gaze was intense.. it was everything. she with the amazing gray/blue eyes. She who's smile brightened the world..
Jaygo hoped he got detention again tomorrow..
"Up. Up! Get up, lazybones! We've got class in an half hour."
Wha? Half hour? Class? Lycia let that percolate into her clogged synapses even as she snuggled farther down into the blankets, pulling the pillow over her head. Half an hour. That was plenty of time. Bucketloads. She had at least ten more minutes before she even had to think about moving; fifteen if she decided to skip the hair combing stage.
"I said, wake up!"
"Hey!"
The pillow was gone and only a desperate grab and tuck saved the blankets. Lycia glared at the other girl.
"Kris, I'm sleeping! Up late. Tired." That was enough explanation for anybody, she figured.
"You still have class. In twenty seven minutes. You don't want to be late again, do you?"
"Yes." That had to be the silliest question ever asked in the history of any school anywhere.
"Here. This will make you feel better." A mug of some dark murky liquid was thrust under Lycia's nose. It didn't take an eyelash of time for the deep, rich smell to penetrate right to the back of her salivary glands.
"Guh..." Thankfully Kris knew the morning ritual. Even as Lycia lunged, it was being maneuvered into her greedy fingers. She barely registered that the blankets were being whisked away as she inhaled half of the offering immediately. By the Seven, that was wonderful. Before she knew it, she was sitting up crosslegged in bed and awake.
Kris was, of course, immaculately dressed already even after having been up half the night before burning the midnight oil with her roommate. Her tie was knotted, her pleats were in perfect order, even her socks had the regulation number of creases. The only thing missing was the dark blazer, standing ready on the back of her study chair. In contrast Lycia was in her pyjamas which consisted of a pair of cotton pants and an old tshirt with the barely readable slogan "In Dog Years, I'm Dead", hair in six different directions.
Lycia crossed her legs and settled down, sipping her coffee in moderate gulps. Well, awake. Vertical, sort of. Guess it was time to get up. Without thinking she put her bare feet on the floor.
The yelp was heartfelt. "Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold!"
"I know. I've got the heat cranked and everything but it's still barely sixty in here."
"I thought you said you were going to have them fix it." She hopped to where she'd thrown her uniform the night before, trying to contact the frigid floorboards as little as possible. Lycia was hazy on who was 'them' or what needed actual 'fixing' but she was confident that Kris was on top of it. Although perhaps this time her confidence in her smart roommate was mistaken.
"Maintenance said they'd look into it as soon as they could. I guess they've been busy. Get dressed, it'll help."
"I guess they just hate us. It's like a ghost lives here or something. Brrrrrr." The bottom of the mug was fast approaching, a fact that Lycia tried to ignore as much as possible. With the ease of long practise, Lycia dressed while drinking.
"There are no such things as ghosts," was the automatic reply.
"Oh yeah?" A shadow passed over the pyjama clad girl's face, but it was so quick that it barely registered. "Then why's it always just this side of the north pole, huh? Huh?"
"No idea."
Lycia gave a crow of triumph. "Hah! So you don't know everything!" Figuring it would be easier and warmer to just keep the tshirt on, Lycia grabbed her jacket off the floor and wiggled into it. Nobody would be able to tell underneath that she wasn't wearing the required shirt. Really, it wouldn't be that obvious. Where was her tie? She found it wedged under one chair leg.
Kris gave her a look. "Never said I did."
"Oh yeah? What about that report you wrote about that hydroencephalo.. water stuff? That wasn't a report, that was a bible! With commentary! And that 'What I Did Last Summer' thing? That was most of our graduating year biology course! I swear, you're just like some machine or something."
It took a minute but when Kris didn't reply back, Lycia looked over. Her friend had turned her back and had hunched her shoulders. Oh. Oh.
"Kris, I'm .. I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! You know I'm just jealous that you're such a smart cookie." Lycia put the empty mug down and rushed over to put a tentative hand on the other girl's shoulder. She always ran away at the mouth! Kris was really sensitive and she'd just said a really terrible thing. Of course Kris wasn't a machine! She was a dear friend! "I wish I was good at school, like you." That wasn't too bad as apologies went. Lycia bit her lip and hoped that Kris wasn't crying.
"A cookie, huh?" There was something odd about Kris' voice. She was crying. Lycia felt about six inches tall. "Well.. eat this!"
A second later, Lycia had feather pillow in her face. She shrieked. "No fair! I wasn't looking!"
"Not my problem!"
Lycia dove for Kris' bed, for the other pillow and then it was full scale war. In a twinkling there were feathers everywhere in a snowstorm as the school issue shredded under the onslaught. Laughing too hard to see, Lycia tripped on the blankets Kris had pulled off the bed and sprawled in a heap. Kris leaped to the advantage, trying to wrap her up before she could scramble away.
"Excuse me."
"You're gonna look like a chicken by the time I'm done with you!" Lycia sang, trying to stuff more feathers down her friend's shirt between giggles.
"You first!" Kris dove in for the kill, wiggling her fingers under Lycia's shirt and starting to tickle mercilessly. Lycia howled and thumped her heels, trying to escape.
"No fair! No fair!"
"Excuse me."
Kris and Lycia looked up. There was a girl in the door, looking vaguely uncomfortable with a duffel bag over her shoulder. The newcomer cleared her throat again, obviously not for not the first time in the last few minutes.
"Is this a bad time?"
Kris and Lycia both stared up at the stranger with identical expressions. A stray feather drifted onto Kris' pert nose, causing her to sneeze. That broke the tableau and both roommates scrambled up, struggling to tug clothing back into more or less approximate position. Embarrassment seemed to be running at an all time high, with the new girl looking at everything but them.
"Um. No, no. Uh, can we, you know, help you? Or something?" If Kris' voice squeaked on the last syllable, Lycia wasn't going to complain.
"Can you tell me if this is quad five?" She was taller than the two squabbling friends, with pale hair and paler eyes. She wasn't large but she seemed to fill the doorway at the moment. Could have just been the circumstances.
"Yes. This is quad five."
"Well. Hello, then. My name is Stasis.. Stasis Kiss. I've been assigned to this room." Swinging the duffel to her other shoulder she advanced into the room, and shook hands gravely with the pair. Her fingers were cool to the touch. "Pleased to meet you. Is this how you usually wake up in the mornings? If so, how many pillows do you recommend I buy to be competitive?"
Lycia blinked.. and then clapped her hands and laughed. "Three! At least!"
Stasis inclined her head. "Goose or down?"
"Oh, down for sure! Harder to clean up; drives Kris crazy! Hello, I'm Lycia. This is Kris. Welcome to quad five!"
Stasis grinned and ducked her head. "Glad to be here. I think. Which bed is mine, please?"
Lycia waved a vague hand over her shoulder. "Either one next to the window. Nobody's taken those yet, but I'm telling you, they're really, really cold! You're going to need to have like, sixteen blankets or something to sleep there. Maybe even a dog."
"Thanks, but I don't think that will be a problem."
"Hey. I've seen you before." Kris drew her brows together and studied the intruder. "You've been on campus for a few weeks. How come you're just getting a dorm now?"
Stasis blinked. "Well .. um. Huh. It's a long story?"
"Well, you can summarise then."
With her pale skin, you would have thought that a blush would be more than apparent but all she did was stare at the ceiling for a long moment, a hand creeping up to rub the back of her neck. "Well, it's sort of.. you see, I had the appointment to go and see someone about being assigned.. and I sort of, well .. couldn't seem to find it."
"Couldn't.. find it?"
"I was .. well, uh. Lost. For awhile. I have a map now. Well, actually I had a map. I've uh .. well, lost that too. But I think I've got it figured out now!" The voice was confident enough. Personally, Lycia had used that tone herself too many times to believe it.
"But.. if you've only just gotten your dorm assignment, where've you been sleeping all this time?" Kris was obviously on a quest for information here. The new girl blew the hair out of her eyes and suddenly looked sheepish.
"Uh. On the roof. Actually, right above this room to be exact."
"Above us."
"Yeah. Did I mention that cold isn't a problem?"
Lycia might not have known her metatarsals from her marsupials but she put it together faster than Kris did - street smarts out-trumping book learning. "You're.. you're the one making our room so cold!" She charged forward and put a hand on Stasis' arm before the other could move back. "I knew it. You're some sort of ice queen!"
A sound swelled outside the window, deep and rich. It took a moment but then Kris whirled around and looked at the clock. The groan that rose from her rivalled the sound of the bell.
