ArchivedLogs:Mean

Mean
Dramatis Personae Anole, Derek, Ellin
In Absentia	2015-11-02 < Im taeking myself away from ur necrophobic cislocal bad vibes. > (part of Flu Season TP)
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's a gorgeous sunny day, unseasonably warm for November, and probably Anole should have been in class, this last period. Probably. But as it so happens, most of his class has reported to the infirmary, so with very few students to actually /teach/ his teacher has let them out of class early. Early afternoon finds the lizardboy stretched out sunning himself atop the large castle -- or, well, kind of finds him. At this exact moment it would be sort of hard /to/ find him; he's shifted in colour, skin and clothes alike blended in to the roof of the playground equipment where he's fallen asleep out here. At least until the lunch bell rings, bright and clear around the grounds and loud enough to spook him awake; he sits up with a start, a sudden squeak, blinking blearily in the sun and scrambling up higher on the roof as if he'd perhaps expected the bell to be /attacking/ him. A comic book -- the second trade of /Saga/ -- slides down off his belly, suddenly returned from its rooftop-colouring to the bright shading of its actual artwork as it flutters down towards the squishy padded ground below. Still kind of half-asleep, Anole watches it fall with a helpless sense of loss. Nooo, comic book. I loved you well. Derek really did try to go to classes today but with the constant annoucements in regards to the recent flu just remind him that his sister is sick with it. After not being able to concentrate during his first class, he's decided to cut his next class. He doesn't realize that for the last hour or so that someone has been sitting on top of the castle that he's nestled himself inside. Granted Derek's had his earbuds in so faint music has been drowning out most of the noise, until the lunch bell rings. While debating if he's actually going to go get lunch, he hears the thud of something falling to the ground and notices the comic book. Picking it up, he looks around for the owner. "Someone drop thith?" He asks to noone in particular. Normally, the Ellins would be running around like chipmunks with ADHD in all this playground equipment. Normally. Except, she's looking a little sniffly. Luckily, she seems to have had the foresight or generosity to be wearing a surgical mask, though with her lack of proximity to anyone right this moment, it's pulled down around her neck. It would probably not even be that noteworthy if the exact same tableau were not repeated multiple times with her. The odd visit to the infirmary was also not entirely welcome, but... her parents are doctors, so whaddya gonna do. Still, upon seeing someone else, the masks go back on, and she is approaching Derek's place, all five of her waving at the same time. There's another squeak from Anole at the sound of a /voice/ inside his castle. He plants his hands -- one standard-sized, one huge and clawed -- on the roof, slowly crawling head-first down towards its edge. And then straight /over/ its edge to move slightly down the castle wall and peer from this upside-down vantage point at Derek. "Oh. Oh, um, hi, yeah, hey. That's, that's mine, I -- fell asleep," he sounds a little sheepish. Or maybe a little guilty, judging by his following very-hasty-explanation: "I didn't have class anyway. We have a sub my French teacher's sick so I thought..." He trails off, though, blinking -- several times -- as the Ellins wander out onto the playground. "... Woah. Uh. Hey. Hi. /Woah/." Very astutely: "You all have masks." Handing the book to Anole, Derek gives him a smile smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm not one to judge. At leatht your excuthe ith that your clath was canthelled." He doesn't exactly come out and say he skipped. "I didn't even know there wath any...one... wow." He breaks midsentence at seeing five identicle girls approaching the area and slowly and maybe a little uncertainly returns the wave. "Don't worry, I'm not thick." He says in responds to the masks. One of the girls holds up a finger when addressed. As per usual, their shirts of the day are all numbered, one through five. All five of them unsling a purse and draw out their tablet PC. Number Five is the one to flip hers over, first, after tapping on it. < You arnt sick. I am. My frinch is terribad. I can fingerspl a little. It's slow. > Apparently her spelling and grammar? Not the best. Number three flips over her tablet after tapping a moment later. < Daddie made me taek masks w/me from home. > Number One flips over hers a moment later. < Nice 2 meat u. > A pause as she notes Anole, and then she stifles a giggle. Number Two continues the conversation as the others are busy erasing. < Both of u! I bet u clim super good. > Anole scurries further down the wall, prying one hand off of it to reahc out and take the book. "Thanks. And yeah, seems like /everyone's/ getting sick, I hope this passes soon. I mean, not that I'm in any hurry to get back to class but it's getting kind of spooky, you know? And Halloween's /over/." His nose wrinkles up. He holds the comic book against his chest, his other hand still planted against the wall as he peers out towards the Ellins. His brows wrinkle as they start to write; then, a moment later, his eyes open wider. Swiftly he scurries the rest of the way down the wall (yup, definitely good climbing), hopping down to the ground. 'You deaf?' he signs, finger tapping curiously at ear and mouth. "Should I be writing does that help?" he signs this, too, as he says it. "Did you just get here? That's pretty sucky though, like. Being sick right away! Though maybe Ms Chavan will make her tomato soup, it's fantastic. -- Uh. I'm Anole." He staaarts to offer a hand out but then eyes the Ellins' masks and thinks better of this, just waving instead. "Nice to meet you, too." The five girls seemingly working in synch just takes Derek off guard. In some ways it's a bit more unnerving than anything eles he's run into here. "My roommateth thick. Even my thithter got thick." Then at Anole's words about her possibily being deaf, he looks between the two. He takes out his cellphone and starts fiddling with it to find the notebook program. It takes him a while but after he's done typing he holds it out to the Ellins. It says one word. 'Derek'. He then offers his hand to Anole. "I'm Derek by the way. I'm thtill fairly new mythelf." The girls shuffle until they're lined up one through five. One signs: Hold on. Then they begin typing on their tablet. Each one lifts the next tablet as one runs out of room so they can keep a running conversation going. < No. Not Deaf. No som sign from education therapee. I can hear. U can talk. Doc Macoy said no speaking english when sick. Other langs not so easy for me. Sick sucks. Nose itchy. > Three rubs a hand over her nose through the mask, and Four has a tissue ready when Five is about to sneeze. The effect might indeed be eerie for some. < Im new. Dont write so well either. > A pause, and then they all clear their tablets, and write the same thing. Then they flip it over. < I'm Ellin. :) !!! Im sorry ur sister is sick. :( > Perhaps the effect /is/ eerie for Anole -- at the least, the boy is backing up, now, pressing back against the side of the castle again. His green hands are shifting once more into the cheerfully painted colours of the playground equipment. "No English? {... no English,}" he reflexively switches to French, a softer mutter. It's probably not much of a comfort his next abruptly blurted: "... are you going to die?" "Wait, what? No theapking Englith when thick? Fuck." Derek lets out an audible sigh. "At leatht I know before I thee Daith later." He mutters to himself. The worry about his sister distracts him from the weirdness that is the five Ellins. "Oh pleathe don't thay that." He says to Anole. "Thith whole thing hath to be curable right? It'th jutht a weird flu..." Yeah right, a flu where the doctor tells you not to speak English. Oh, hey, look at that. She WAS typing something to Anole. Then he said that THING. < The flu dosnt have a cure either! > And then she was all sniffly and... well... Ever wonder what it sounds like when five identical voices begin sniffly wailing/crying at the exact same time? It's almost like a train whistle. Very unpleasant. Anole cringes -- kind of apologetic, as he looks over at Derek. Kind of guilty. But kind of just, well... scurrying further up the side of the castle. Out of /reach/. "Idon'twanttoget/eaten/," he squeaks out in a rush. His head ducks, hunching down into the oversized collar of his grungy ragged sweatshirt, mouth setting into a grimace at the wailing. "Noooo stop I mean there /is/ a cure. Not for flu! For the language disease. Just don't be a zombie okay? Don't be /five/ zombies!" Derek visibily pales and then looks over at Anole with a dumbstruck expression, he was not expecting that reaction. There's five identicle girls crying in front of him and Anole running away. "What do you mean get eatten? Zombie? What ith going on?" There's audible fear in his voice even though he's trying his hardest not to freak out. "What the fuck ith going on?" He repeats a little more harshly this time. Yep. The girl is in a snit. Luckily, she hasn't forgotten not to speak. She IS doing some very angry typing, then. All five of her. < UR MEAN. > All caps to show this is srs bsns. < Im taeking myself away from ur necrophobic cislocal bad vibes. > Did... did she just invent her own politically sensitive terminology? The girls turn up their noses as one, still sniffling, and turns to begin walking off in lockstep. Derek, it seems, may be unlikely to acquire answers from her quickly. The look on Anole's face is -- kind of /dumbfounded/. It shifts from uncomprehending to aghast, first at Derek's questioning at then at the Ellins' angrytyping. "... ohmygod," is all he manages, eventually, to respond. The comic book falls from his hands again as he scurries back down the far side of the castle and drops to the ground. "I hate this school we're all going to die." Derek watches Ellin march off but doesn't acknowlege it, the new information has left him numb to anything with the exception of his sister. The ground starts to rumble and vibrate underneath his feet until Derek starts taking a few deep breaths to calm down. It takes him almost a half a minute to stop the ground from shaking before he turns to Anole. He speaks slowly. "What do you mean? My thithter ith thick with thith, Daith can't die. Thee can't." There's another sharper /squeak/ from Anole at the small earthquake; as Derek tries to calm himself, /Anole/ is busy /fleeing/ the playground, scrambling up its fence with a rattle of chain links and back down the other side. He pauses only when the ground has quieted and Derek speaks again -- though he pauses still looking on the verge of continuing off towards the woods, weight tipped up onto the toes of his ratty old sneakers. "... /what/?" He doesn't sound angry so much as utterly confused. "What are you /talking/ about." The way he slooowly (reluctantly, still looking poised to continue his flight) turns to look back (wiiide-eyed) at Derek, the other teenager may well have just grown an extra head. Blink. Bliiink. "You thaid thomething about zombieth, we're all going to die? You don't want to be eatten? Zombieth aren't real." Derek says, unless.. He takes a deep breath and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jean jacket. "Daithy ith all I have. Thee'th the only family I've got and I can't... Thee'th all I got. I jutht want to know what'th going on cauth I can't looth her." There's almost a desperate plee to his voice. Anole just /blinks/ when Derek says 'zombies aren't real'. Something in his expression shuts down, tightening around the corners of his eyes and mouth, his posture coiling harder into itself. "... what planet have you been /living/ on." It's flat, and /tired/ more than anything else. "I really wish I could go there." And then he turns, his weight finishing that forward-shift it's been promising: *bolt*. Zoom. A quick rushing sprint, soon lost as he vanishes into the trees. Derek stands there for a while just staring at the area where Anole vanished too. He's really not sure what to make of... everything. He looks around one final time before heading back to the building. Classes are just a distant thought to him now as his only priority is finding his sister.