ArchivedLogs:Hanging Out

Hanging Out
Primarily upside-down.
Dramatis Personae Rasa, Lia	29 July 2014 Comics are for fun, faeries are crass, and sugar is delicious.
Location <XS> Playground
Set on the still-expansive grounds around the side of the school, this area is to the outdoors rather what the rec room is to the indoors. There's a large basketball court out here; a fenced-off tennis court adjacent. Further distant there are setups for other sports -- a large track, a soccer field. Closer in to the school, though, in its own large enclosure adjacent to the basketball and tennis courts, is the playground, a huge expanse of equipment set up on alternating plots of slightly squishy flooring and mulch. Centrally there is a large sprinkler-fountain, not always /on/ but it can be turned on with a push of a button; spreading out around this is the actual playground equipment, sturdy and varied. A huge dome constructed in honeycombed interlocked poles and rope netting rises hiiiigh for climbing; a large swingset holds four pairs of swings. A large roundabout in bright colours stands in one corner near a long see-saw. The huge bridge-and-tunnel castle structure at one end has many routes of entry, from poles to climb up (or slide down) to a small climbing /wall/. Monkeybars. Four different slides of varying lengths and spiraling. For the adventurous, between things to climb on and jump between and bounce across it is probably possible to skirt one end of the playground and back without touching the ground, though it might take a particularly adept feat of balance and agility. Or possibly wings. It is later in the afternoon, well after time for classes to get out, not quite dinner yet. There's a lone figure occupying the climbing dome, currently upside down. Ze is covered in blue and green swirled fur, ankles pressed against a bar, bracing hir calves. Hir knees grip a second, hir torso hanging down perpendicular to the ground. Hir tail seeks out other bars from time to time, pulling hir bum toward them and letting go, hir body swinging and swaying lightly in different directions as ze reads a hard bound comic book stuck in somewhat reptillian hands. Hir shirt is tucked in the front into a pair of cut-off jean shorts, the rest of the white material billowing and hanging around hir ears and shoulders, hir back exposed to the warm air. At some point, ze has to carefully release one hand and lightly lick a digit so ze can flip a page, every movement gentle to take care of the colorful pages. Summer! Though it doesn't mean a reprieve from classes, it /does/ mean that there is still plenty of sunlight after them for enjoying the outdoors. Not to mention warm enough temperatures to traipse about barefoot, top covered only by a camisole in fluffy-baby-chick yellow with small blue flowers embroidered on it, bottom layered in a double handkerchief hem fairy skirt in dip dyed robin's egg to navy blue over navy leggings. The purpose of leggings in summer becomes readily apparent as Lia scrambles up the dome only to swing down, hanging by her legs next to Rasa as if this is a normal way to meet people. Fortunately, the hem of the skirt is shaped just so as to avoid covering her face while inverted. One hand lifts in a wiggle-fingered wave, and goodness someone must have introduced the girl to nail polish because each finger sports a different shade of /glitter/. A quick inspection will show the same is true of her toes. "It... helps if you tuck the skirt between your knees. Won't get as caught in your arms -- but, you wouldn't look like a bluebell if you did." Rasa closes the book and turns hir head to study the other student, a small smile pulling at one corner of hir mouth. Ze then looks straight up/down at the ground and carefully aims, dropping the book so it lands flat on its largest side, the pages undamaged. "How's it going?" "Hm, yes," the girl replies pensively, swinging her arms a bit to start herself rocking. "I don't ring. But the flowers don't, either." Her head quirks to one side in a rather bird-like gesture as she looks back at Rasa. "Good. I am taking classes. We do not have any the same. Many people left for over the summer. They are supposed to come back soon." Lia points to the comic book once it is back on solid ground. "Is that for a class?" "Yep. I thought the class would be really fun, but the final project is kind of sucking the soul out of my love for comic books." Rasa gives a little shrug then lets hir arms hang over hir head, fingers wiggling at the ground. "I bet if you swing gently and say 'ding-a-ling-a-ling' you could be one of the few flower bells that does ring." Ze follows this up with a very important nod. "But, yeah. Lots of people left. They won't be back soon enough. Still got another break after classes end. What do you do during breaks?" "Oh, that sounds not fun. Projects are usually more fun than that, especially with books. Are you supposed to write one?" Giggling, Lia shakes her head at the ringing suggestion, long brown hair swooping as it hangs straight toward the ground. "I think that would not be so pretty as the metal kind when they ring. They make them special." She gives herself another swing, stretching her arms and fingers as if they might reach the ground. "I read a lot. And practice for dancing. And look at the stars. And walk in the forest. And make some sculptures. I have been thinking about learning swimming. I can't remember if I have ever tried it before." "Nope. I'm supposed to get a sponge and some paint thinner and take all the fun out of it." Rasa sighs. "I am just... not the type to analyze all the different nuance of a story to draw out hidden meanings - at least in comics. They're supposed to be there to so me dark, exciting worlds with aliens that are pretty much just like us anyway. I mean, I see and absorb all the stuff the author is putting out, but writing it up... it's kind of like using really scientific terms to describe physical intimacy." Another shrug follows before ze runs hir fingers through the floop of hair dangling from hir scalp. "Bells are kind of pretty. Others are loud and bonging and I wouldn't actually want to be up close with one." "I do not think you are supposed to put paint thinner on books." Lia's dark little brows knit with some concern at that. "That does seem like a very odd project to do." A peculiar slip of smile pulls at her lips, ever so slightly baring teeth, at Rasa's physical intimacy comparison. "I took that class last term. They keep saying the other class does that /more/ but it seemed like they did it a lot in my class." One of her hands reaches back /up/ to find her mouth, covering that little smile with bright-bright fingertips. "How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, / In the icy air of night! / While the stars, that oversprinkle / All the heavens, seem to twinkle / With a crystalline delight..." Lia gives herself another swing, giggling rather than ringing herself. "I like that one. It has lots of pretty sound words." "It's a good one. Who wrote it?" Rasa inhales deeply and clears hir throat. "The thing about the sponge and the paint thinner was a metaphor. I'm really just writing a critical essay about a comic book." Ze wets hir lips and starts to swing gently in counter-motion to Lia's. "The sex-ed class was a little more amusing when I took it because Mr. Holland-Zedner couldn't stop blushing about the somewhat crass things his kids said. I don't know. Otherwise, it was kind of.. uncomfortable with all the intimate things and very informational about all the things to do to be safe." "Edgar Allan Poe. That one is about all the different bells. But he always writes with beautiful sounds, even when it isn't about bells. I like the way his words feel." A violet-glittery forefinger points to her lips in further illustration. It is convenient enough that it is there already for her hand to lift a little further to cover her mouth once more. "Yes, /that/ class. I took the class that is just...health? And they did that enough in that class. I can't even think of a whole /other/ class." Lia starts giggling all over again at the thought of Jax blushing over the kids, brown eyes gone even /wider/. "Oh...oh, Mr. Fairyjax you would think would be used to...faeries say very crass things, many of them." "Oh, Yeah. Poe's pretty amazing. Always a lot of feeling in his poems. The stories, maybe a little less so, but still incredibly evocative." Rasa's swinging slows as ze considers the poet. "Well, it's probably more for older kids, the sex one. I think we're supposed to want to know more by the point we take it, rather than just the basics." Ze inhales deeply and closes hir eyes. "Mr. Fairyjax lives in a world where lights shine and dance. I think he's used to it, but at the very same time forgets that pillows aren't made of cotton candy and everything safe for small ones. But yes. Fairies, they are pretty crass." "A lot of his stories are scary. I don't like the ones about being stuck." Lia's expression waxes thoughtful again, her pendulum-swing reducing to more of a rock as she forgets to provide any additional effort to it. "How much older? It is one of the ones they say you have to take." A fond-pleased smile brightens her features once more, perhaps not fully taking the meaning. "I like Mr. Fairyjax's lights. It would be very hard to eat a pillow, though." "Yeah. Being stuck is very scary." Rasa agrees, hir eyes shifting to an amber color. Ze curls forward and reaches out, grabbing the bars and starting to disentangle hir legs. "But I think it was what he knew, so it was what he wrote." Ze thinks over the question and pulls hirself onto the top side of the dome, letting hir legs dangle as ze lays on top, looking down at Lia again. "Um, older than me, maybe. I still took it because I had to. We've only got so many years in the school program, so I guess we get the information when we can handle it, not necessarily when we would find it most useful. But knowledge is good either way." Once that is out of the way, ze is able to lose the concentration and reflect amicably on other things. "Well, if it were actually made of cotton candy, it'd be different. Have you had cotton candy before?" Lia simply nods at that, shuddering as if suddenly catching a chill though the evening is still warm. She swings herself harder to gain momentum before reaching with both hands to pull herself back up after Rasa. Likely it is a good idea not to be upside down for /too/ terribly long, anyhow. “I think...yes. Maybe you are right. Already I am older than most of the people in most of my classes. I had a birthday.” Glittery nails tap-tap-tap along the bar Lia is perched on. “Yes? I had a thing in a plastic tub that one of the girls said was cotton candy. But another one of the girls said it wasn't, really. So I am not sure.” "Oh? A birthday? How old are you?" Rasa rubs at the side of hir face, then pulls hir legs up onto the bars as well. "Good. I kind of like cotton candy. It's best if everyone tries it. So simple, but mmm. It's the texture." Perhaps hungry, ze starts to look toward the school. "Some people younger than me were far more engaged. It's not exactly an exact age." Ze starts to climb down. "Do you know what they are having for dinner? I kind of hope they have meatloaf." Another nod answers the birthday question. "Seventeen now. The cotton candy from the tub felt like...foam? Like make-up sponges in little triangles, but sugar." Lia's fingers squish together in mime of squeezing a dense sponge. "Oh, I /don't/ know. I want a salad. I like to put all the bits in and then pick them back out again. Also, cupcakes." Cupcakes go without explanation, and the promise of food calls for dangling down by her arms and letting go to reach the ground. Quick-like. There /might/ be cupcakes, after all. "Well, let's see what we get. Maybe everything will be available." Rasa pauses to slip back inside the dome and grab hir book before following after Lia a few paces behind.