ArchivedLogs:Back To School

Back To School
Dramatis Personae Jax, Shane, B, Kavalam, Paras, Blink, Flicker, Matt, Mina, Kyinha, Spencer, Gaétan, Tian-shin, Harm, Marinov, Nessie
In Absentia	2017-09-08 "We got this."
Location <XS> Many places
<???> Jail "...for sex ed it's less important but you can't forget about --" Jax's brow is furrowed, earnest and more than a touch fretful. "-- art class, Pa, I got it. It's no big. You got this shit all scary organized anyway." Across the visiting room table, Shane is looking much more dapper than his father's prison attire; pinstriped vest and slacks and neatly tied bowtie cinching his collar snug. "I'm on top of this. Scout's --" He frowns deep as he lifts a hand, pinky /not/ quite bending free of his other fingers enough to make the proper gesture. Scowl. "-- honor," he finishes, regardless. "Right, no, 'pologies, I'm sure you're... an' I'll be there on Monday. It'll be fine." Jax draws in a deep breath, forcing a small smile. "I really appreciate it, honey-honey. You're a lifesaver." Shane's grin is toothy-bright. "You know you can count on me." <NYC> {Beachhaus} - Harbor Commons "-- /just/ got that machine how on earth is it broken alr... oh." Phone tucked against the side of his head, Shane's eyes have opened even wider. He sets down the neat stack of folders he's been holding, pacing the room restlessly. "Oh fuck. But nobody's /hurt/, right? We -- we can deal with a little bit of explo... oh." One webbed hand scrubs against his cheek. His gills flutter rapidly, quiet whispering noises against his starchy collar. "Shit, no, I'll be right there." Phone tucked back into his pocket, he dashes up the stairs in /kind/ of a rush. Just emerging from her walk-in closet, tugging a silvery tank top down over a half-sleeved fishnet shirt, B watches Shane's rapid departure with a frown. Hir black eyes tip down a moment later to the stack of folders left behind -- all neatly labeled by class in Jax's spiky handwriting. Hir lips purse, briefly. Turning back around, she disappears again behind the opposite closet door. When she emerges next time, it's in neat dark slacks, a faintly sheeny dress shirt, crisp vest. She's just finishing up with adjusting a carefully-tied bow tie, taking a brief glance in the mirror before nodding to hirself. Snagging a pair of polished dress shoes from a shoe rack, she swipes up the folders, tucking them under an arm to head off to school. <XS> Classroom "Nedry?" the teacher at the front of the room is calling, prompting a raised hand from a short plump boy near the front with a shock of orange hair. "Oakley?" Check, when a lanky girl to the side shyly raises her hand. "Olivier?" "Here," from somewhere in the back. "Excuse me?" Kavalam is raising his hand. Waving it. "Neelakantan should be in there? Please?" Wave, wave. "Phan?" the teacher is continuing, undaunted. "Pinsky?" "I think I have signed up for this class..." Kavalam sounds a little less sure than before. His hand waves more firmly. "Sazama?" continues the roll call. Kavalam pulls out his schedule to check it over again. Slumping in his seat, his head drops to his hands, fingers scrubbing kind of morosely through his hair. Though he pulls out his notebook with a resigned sigh, he pulls out his DS, too, staying slumped as he opens up Animal Crossing. <XS> First Floor Hall - FL1 "I know it is overwhelming at first, no?" Paras's smile is small and apologetic as she ushers a wide-eyed middle-schooler to the door of a classroom. "You have no idea how many times I was also lost, my first weeks. There should be a map in your welcome pack..." Opening the door to let the girl inside, she gives a brief glance to her watch. Takes off running down the hall with a worried grimace, clutching her backpack tight and cringing only slightly when the final start-of-class bell rings. She's just about to the door when she catches sight of a skinny green-skinned boy staring in confusion between his schedule and the signs on the doors. "... this isn't the Science Lab, is it." Paras's eyes screw up only briefly. Her smile returns, quick. "Oh. No, apologies, that one is --" Her teeth press down on her lip, momentarily. "... clear across the mansion, actually. Come," the look she gives her watch now is only slightly pained. "Let me show you." <XS> C&C The large main display currently shows the (ever-present but larger-than-usual) crowd gathered outside of the school's front gates. In addition to the usual gawkers and a few picketers, police and press, there are also at least three small but distinct group of protesters. Blink is standing at a console, frowning up at the screen. "I think the pray-the-freak-away people might get into it with the neo-Nazis," she says, glancing at her teammate. "Should we just /let/ them?" "Mmph." Nearby, Flicker is half-kneeling on the seat of a chair, backwards, elbows propped on its backrest. One knee on the seat, the other boot on the floor. Swiveling the chair back -- forth -- back. "Tempting." His right arm lifts. Points. Not -exactly- with the claw-tip hand on his prosthesis but a little red laser pointer nestled into one of its prongs. "I think those kids might be trying to get -in-. We should see if they're students or if they need an application." With a small wince at a sudden glare of (evidently harmless, at least) light on the monitor, an ensuing clamor from the protesters and press alike, "and either way probably keep them away from any scuffles." <XS> Classroom 'Paganism Through History!' the blackboard reads, in a flowing but somewhat uneven hand. Beneath this excited heading, Matt is writing his name. "'Matt' and 'Mister Tessier' are both fine," he says brightly as he sets down the chalk and turns around to face his class. He looks quite ill, skin pale and buzz-cut hair lackluster, but his smile is dazzling all the same. "Now, the syllabus is online, but I have hard copies, too, and we'll go over them in a moment, but the first lesson in this class is this..." He steps over to his desk and pulls out from behind it a pointy black hat, which he positions jauntily on his head. Most of the students chuckle, though a few just roll their eyes. "Paganism is alive and well today! And we'll spend the rest of the term learning about how it got here." <XS> Administrative Offices Mina's eyes are very wide. Her (luckily short-trimmed) fingernails are digging hard into the arms of the chair she sits in. Her smile ( also wide!) is just a little bit fixed. "Okay so," she finally manages, determinedly (maybe a little too) enthusiastic, "you're basically supposed to help me burn -- -learn-," very hastily, "how things work around here? 'Cuz I have -so- many questions." Kyinha is sitting on the other side of the desk, looking very burny indeed, surrounded as he is by a visible fiery halo. When he opens his mouth to speak, the yellowish glow from inside him makes stark contrast with his black-black skin. "Yes! I have some answers -- probably not all the ones you need, but I will do my best to help you find them." His accent is distinct but difficult to place, his smile careful, small. "But today is hectic and you will doubtless have more questions soon, so let's set up a time to talk next week." His head turns slightly toward the open window letting in the sun "Outside, if you like." <XS> Classroom "...your term papers will need a full citations page in the Chicago style. I trust you all have you manuals by now, but if not I expect you to acquire --" The instructor's droning voice breaks off when there's suddenly an extra young person in her classroom. She blinks owlishly at the boy, eyebrows slowly rising up. In quick succession, the students turn to follow her gaze. "Oh hey Ms. Kramer!" Spencer waves, then smiles brightly at Gaetan, whose desk he had materialized next to. "{My religion teacher made rugelach and I wanted to bring you some you know cuz it's your first day,}" he blurts out in a rapid stream of French as he thrusts a paper bag toward the other boy. Gaétan is sinking lower in his seat. His eyes lift briefly -- not to Spence, not to the many pairs of staring eyes around them. Just to the ceiling and the HEAVENS beyond. After a pause he crooks a sharp-thin smile at Spence, taking the bag from Spence. "{Man, I hope you brought enough to share.}" <XS> Teacher’s Lounge Tian-shin stalks into the lounge, her perfect posture looking oddly forced against the obvious weariness in her carriage. Her smartly tailored clothes are rumpled(!), her glasses sitting slightly askew, and her glossy black hair unraveling from the bun at the back of her head. She slumps down onto the couch with a quiet groan. "Just put me out of my misery now." Kyinha has been carousing at the table with a few other exhausted teachers, but now he takes up the bottle of cachaça amarela he's been passing around and brings it to the couch. He sits down on the arm of the couch, takes a generous swig of the liquor, then places the bottle into Tian-shin's hand. "This may not be enough to drown your misery, my friend, but I'm sure it's a decent place to start, hm?" <XS> Forest HACKhackhackhackcoughcoughsplutter. Kavalam's eyes are watering, one fist held to his chest. Though one hand is balled tight, the other holds a joint quite delicately between two fingers. Careful. His eyes dart around rapidly in quick check -- anyone looking? Anyone? And for once the (slightly wheezy) breath he exhales to find no eyes turned toward him is a little relieved. He wipes his eyes dry, pulls in another lungful of air. Sits up straighter, holding out the -- crap. Deliberately rearranges himself into a more casual posture, /focuses/, intent, taps a couple people on the shoulders just in case! NOW holding out the joint. If his eyes are still a bit watery and his breathing juuust slightly raspy /oh/ well. "Someone is next?" Gaétan has a bottle of Tito's, which he's been holding on to for a bit now -- not actually drinking. He's just in the middle of passing it off when there's a -- well, Kavalam's /probably/ been there for a while but he still starts. A little. Shaking his head, he takes the joint from Kavalam. Unlike the vodka, he /does/ take a hit from this, eyes squinting up slightly but no coughing. "Hey, you survived." Harmony takes a (somewhat hesitant) swig, wincing hard as they swallow. "/We/ survived," they declare, holding the vodka up as if in /salutation/ to the night sky before passing it along. "Thank the gods, great and small." Accepting the joint from their roommate, now, they draw in deep -- clearly a more practiced smoker than drinker -- without the least hint of difficulty, handing it to the the person beside them before exhaling in a long stream up into the air. "We've got a /lot/ of school to go yet, but...this is a fine start." Marinov takes a drink of the vodka when it is passed to them, sending it along in silence, and also partake of the joint. Both are as casual as a well-practiced delinquent. They pass the joint along while exhaling and look skywards thoughtfully, "Yeah, you know, it-" They cough a couple of times, "it really is. A nice start. I guess... welcome to Xavier's." Holding up an imaginary glass, they say to nobody in particular, "May the middle be as fine as the beginning." A sketchpad in her lap and a small smile on her face, Nessie is occupied with drawing -- though in her lively depiction of the teenagers in the forest Marinov is waving a Harry Potter-esque wand rather than a joint. "It's not what I expected," she muses quietly, "but this is alright." Mina snags the vodka, takes a swig, lifts the bottle cheerfully to the others. "Psh, it's only gonna be up from here." She sounds brightly confident. "We got this."