Third Injection - [video - action]

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor is curled up on her couch when she opens her book. She looks distant for a moment, as if she isn't precisely sure how she wants to say what she needs to say, and then she draws in a breath and shrugs.]

For anyone that knew her, Brigid Tenenbaum is gone. I've been in and out a lot lately so I'm not certain when she vanished but she has.

I'm sorry.

[There's a pause. Eleanor really has no idea how she felt about Tenenbaum, the woman was her tormenter and yet also someone who cared about her deeply, it created...conflicts. But she wasn't going to go into all of that. So, a change of subject.]

I've started school recently. Well, I suppose everyone has who's going. I've never gone before, I always wanted to but I was never allowed. Not counting that strange town we were in all, anyway.

It's...different from what I imagined, somehow. I mean, it's interesting, just...it's hard to explain. Mother always described school as something terrible, honestly. A place where parents who didn't care about their children sent them away to be indoctrinated. She taught me at home, said that she needed to 'control what I absorbed.'

[A faint smirk.]

It hardly worked at all. I think I prefer this way. [A pause, and the smirk fades into a real smile, possibly the first she's ever managed through the books.] Even the homework.

But I've been thinking...my childhood was hardly a normal one, and even for other children in Rapture, nothing was...what someone in a normal city would have experienced. I don't really know much about how school is 'supposed' to be.

What was school like where all of you came from?

[Action]

[Speaking of which, Eleanor could be found at school throughout the early part of the day, though she's a fairly quiet student who tends to hang around in the background of groups as much as possible. It might change later on, but she's still convinced people are going to realize she's a monster and start freaking out. So low-key is important to her. The only class she really actively participates in is art, though everything she works on has a somewhat dark tilt that would probably make a psychologist worry.]

[Afterwards she can be found going for a walk around the edge of the village, then to some of the stores to get things for the apartment now that Doctor Tenenbaum is gone, and a bit of browsing in the clothing store searching for more skirts. A trip by the battledome mostly results in her poking absently at the control panel for a while before leaving with no better idea of how it worked than when she arrives.]

[And in the early evening she can be found on a bench in the center of town, the ball-shaped helmet from her diving suit turned upside down in her lap. There's a pile of bits and bobs from various machines scattered on a white piece of fabric next to her, and she's humming softly to herself as she tinkers with the radio and light inside the helmet, trying to get it to work properly again.]

Comments

[action]

[stillplaying]

[She had spent the morning hunting, the same way she spent every morning here in Luceti. At least, any normal morning. She's usually back by late morning, noon at the latest. But thanks to a promise to take Foo Foo hunting with her, her morning had taken longer than normal. Sokka should have started training the animal long before. For a predator, Foo Foo struck Katniss as an utter failure.

She's stubborn though. And determined.

Rather than going straight home after dropping the saber-tooth moose lion off, she takes her time. Today's hunt had been one of the least successful in some time. With her bow and quiver over her back, she enters the store to do a little bit of shopping. Find some food to make up for the lack of success in her hunt. When she notices Eleanor, she offers a brief hint of a smile before moving on to the fruit.]

[action]

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor hasn't ever really had to worry about feeding herself. In Rapture, as a child her mother had handled everything, and when she was older, she'd had the pick of whatever food her mother's followers could find. It had been frustrating being the object of their worship, but it had given her an advantage sometimes.]

[So she is just sort of meandering, picking up anything that looks interesting. Figuring out how to cook it was going to be interesting, though. She's trying to pick a vegetable when she notices Katniss nearby, and the faint smile the other gives her. Hmm. It takes her a few seconds to recognize her, the girl who'd confessed on the network...they'd had an interesting conversation, at least.]

[So after a few moments, awkward moments where she tries to decide if she wants to talk to her, she finally picks up some broccoli and walks over.]

Hello. Katniss, right?

[action]

[stillplaying]

[She remembers the girl. She remembers all of those that had bothered to reply to the declaration she had made on the journal that August. Her stupid, pointless attempt to pus people away. It hadn't worked out. Not to the degree in which she had hoped.

But there's nothing that can be done about it now. She has to live with the consequences. Live with the consequences just like with every other stupid action she's ever taken her life. The consequences here aren't so dire. For some reason, people here still find her worthwhile to talk to. To get to know. Maybe Peeta was right all those years ago. She doesn't know the effect she has on people. Even still to this day.

While she recognizes the girl, she can't exactly remember her name. And so, after Katniss nods in affirmation, she gives the girl a sheepish sort of look.]

I don't remember your name.

[action]

[notyourutopian]

[Those early conversations are burned into Eleanor's memory, her first real talks with people who weren't her mother's followers. Even if some of they had gone rather terribly. So she shakes her head as if it doesn't matter.]

Eleanor. [She hesitates.] How are you?

[action]

[stillplaying]

[She's a lot better than she was the last time they had talked. But she doesn't want to bring that up again. If she could have it her way, she'd wipe that whole journal entry and all those conversations from existence. Because, it turns out, she's not as good at pushing people away as she used to be. She doesn't want to do that anymore. Not when she really stops to consider it.

She's just not that good a person. She's too selfish.]

Well. [She tilts her head a little, considering the girl.] You were new here, weren't you? When we last talked?

video

[fightforthelost]

[Pinged by the word, 'indoctrinated,' Shepard goes over the entry again. He's a hardass, but he's always had a bit of a soft spot for kids, especially ones without normal childhoods. Hey, he grew up as an orphan on the street and spent his childhood fighting in a gang.]

A place to learn, supposedly.

video

[notyourutopian]

[That's going to get a bit of eye roll. Sorry Shepard.]

That's the definition of 'school.' That says nothing about what it was like or how it worked.

video

[fightforthelost]

[He just shrugs.]

Don't look at me. I didn't go.

video

[notyourutopian]

Oh.

[Right.]

...Why not?

video

[fightforthelost]

School didn't seem as important as surviving.

[rashness]

[Man does he even fit into this school thing? He hasn't been in a long while, and now he's trying to to do his part to work out! Work out the kinks in his studying habits and his knowledge base. And that's part of why, when we're in a break after a math class, he has a hair clip putting back his bangs and he's got a notebook as he makes his way over to Eleanor - who looked quiet and therefore on the ball with things]

Hey, Eleanor...!

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor was quietly reading the math book, but the quiet was mostly one of quiet frustration than anything else. She had never had much experience with math, and yet she knew it. More 'gifts' from her mother...]

[So she's a bit startled when Rin speaks to her, and she looks up in surprise, catching herself from snapping and taking a breath before smiling.]

Hey Rin.

[A faint nod, to indicate he could sit down if he liked.]

[rashness]

Hey. ...Do you-- know what's goin' on right now?

[He will sit. He will sit and set the book on the table]

[notyourutopian]

[She frowns at the question, trying to figure out what he means, and then shakes her head.]

No...What are you talking about?

[rashness]

Like, what we were talking about in class. I didn't really get it.

voice;

[curiositykills]

I don't think school back home's all that different from school here. You know, minus all the fun stuff like magic and world-sharing. [Not that he was attending school in Luceti, but. You know. It was good to know these things.] There was a lot more people, though. A lot more classes, too. It was always pretty nice to get outta the house once in a while.

voice;

[notyourutopian]

I can't really get the hand of magic.

[She looks pointedly at the screen, even if he isn't on it.]

I don't recall seeing you there.

voice;

[curiositykills]

Me, either. I mean, it's neat to see, but I don't think it's really my style.

[Whoops. He kind of didn't expect to be called on it, somehow. He's actually a little embarrassed for once.]

Uh, well, the way I see it, I'm on an extended summer vacation.

voice;

[notyourutopian]

I have my own abilities. I'm not certain I'd want any more.

[She was unhappy enough with the current ones.]

Except it's October.

voice;

[curiositykills]

Makes sense to me. [He couldn't claim to know what it was like, but...] Sometimes, sticking with what you know is more than enough.

But hey, who's keeping track? I still keep up with my reading. I'm just taking a break from the homework stuff.

[...sorta?!]

Finally! Sorry this took so long! orz

[maximoff_girl]

[Much like Eleanor, Wanda has been doing her best to keep low key at school. Though not afraid of using her powers per se, she is wary of her father's warnings about loosing control at school. She also doesn't particularly want people to know how remedial some of her lessons are.

It is after school, as Wanda is leaving, that she spots the other girl. She recognizes her from art club. Remembers their conversation. A little nervously, she changes paces, so that they might fall into step with one another. ]

.... hey.

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor notices the girl a few seconds before she's close enough to talk, but doesn't change anything until she's sure Wanda is actually trying to catch up to her. Talking to her before had been interesting, though they obviously hadn't agreed on some things. But that was normal, right?]

[So she offers her a small smile and a bob of her head.]

Hi.

[maximoff_girl]

...

... How have you... been?

[With these two chatterboxes, where will the conversation end?]

[notyourutopian]

[Just look at them go. Chat chat chat chat.]

Uh. I've been well. I mean, as well as anyone can be here. [A hesitation.]

Yourself?

[maximoff_girl]

Um. ...

[She thinks briefly about everything that's happened over the last week or so. How do you answer that question? Fine, fine, Was brainwashed, killed a baby which may or may not have existed, found out I'm a mother. You know, same old same old?]

... About the same. Yeah.


...

How's school?