[ In some paradoxical way, the creepy mist is a welcome distraction from the strange daily life James is starting to get accustomed to in this prison. There is nothing less enthralling than day in day out talking about the sex you're expected to be having - at this point James feels like he'd gladly remain celibate for life.
So when the cemetery gates hang open in the mysterious fog, he goes into Mission Mode. Is it wise? Maybe not. Is it something else to occupy his brain? Definitely. He just has to check it out. He wishes he had any mission gear though.
And still, he is wandering through the gates, into the low visibility field awaiting him inside. Keeping himself close to gravestones as if looking for cover from gunfire, he proceeds--
and stops dead when a familiar silhouette stands in the middle of the path.
Good morning class, we have a special... a special... ah, what is... says the disoriented voice of Mrs Robinson from middle school. ]
[ there's a sum zero of anything about their current predicament that keith is fond of. from the fog so thick that he can barely see what's in front of him to the oppressive red glow from the lighthouse, keith's nerves are on high alert. adding to an already tense situation is the fact that keith apparently can't figure out where the fuck he's going.
he'd thought walking this way would mean getting back to his cube from the commissary, but somehow he's managed to miss every indication to turn left at the housing and has instead marched right past the barbed wire fence he'd cut through ages ago to end up in the cemetery. annoyed, tense and hyper vigilant, keith has his knife drawn ready to jam the pointy end right at anything that might be a threat that emerges through the roiling fog.
what he hears is a threat alright, but not the kind he was expecting.
a familiar voice from one of his old nightmares echoes in the distance, making keith freeze in place. ]
Hello?
[ the call is tentative as he starts walking towards the familiar voice. fuck, this whole set up has the fishy smell of being a d-grade horror movie trap, but how is he not supposed to investigate? but disoriented as keith is, it's not as though he gets a real say in where he's going. he takes three steps towards the sound, feels more lost than ever and then practically jumps when he all but stumbles into griffin, only narrowly avoiding an actual collision. ]
What are you doing here? Where's the lad....
[ the question dies in his mouth as keith looks a little further ahead at the face of their former junior high teacher. ]
You're late, Keith. You'll last a week at the Garrison with this kind of disrespectful behavior. Unlike James. A model student, our James is. Such a special class we have today ..
[ too bewildered to be offended, keith looks to griffin. ]
[ There is something relieving about Keith's presence, if only because Keith is not dead, because Keith is alive and annoying and-- ]
I didn't do anything--!!
[ He snaps back automatically, though the pitch of his voice betrays some panic. ]
Of course he didn't. [ says Mrs. Robinson, entirely unhelpfully.
James has a hard time taking his eyes off the woman. He hadn't thought about her much after middle school - a teacher among many. She praised him a lot and he was proud of that, but he'd always made sure to be extremely praiseworthy in front of any adult so it's not as though their old homeroom teacher had been particularly special.
It was only when the war started that she came back to the forefront of his mind. And then, it was only because her death was one of the few they could explicitly confirm. ]
... you're a ghost. You have to be. Please... return to your grave peacefully.
[ Is this what you say to a ghost? James feels as though he's reciting some stupid movie and he feels as though he also looks very stupid doing so, but what else is there to do? He doesn't know. He kind of wants to run, but that is out of the question. ]
[ keith's eyes snap back to their former teacher when she defends griffin's apparent blamelessness. this time, his focus stays on the woman like he's seeing her for the first time. keith had been all too happy to forget all about mrs. robinson when he'd left that dreary school for good, but he must have done a proper job of forgetting because he can't help thinking that she looks... smaller somehow. older, too, and much less like some towering figure who rained detentions down upon him.
no -- of course, that's all just a trick of perception. in reality, keith's the one who outgrew his short kid stature and has seen creatures and entities far more intimidating than an underpaid middle aged school teacher.
but while keith is caught staring, griffin is prattling on about ghosts and graves and ... and keith is too blindsided by an immediate surge in irritation that griffin doesn't know that some of their fellow inmates are actually people who've died in their realities for the iimplication to infiltrate. ]
Griffin, you sound like a discount spirit medium. She could be a new prisoner.
[ which... is kind of disturbing on multiple levels actually?? keith makes a face, trying to look for any sign of an anklet. but then again, if she's a new prisoner, why isn't she in that horrible orange uniform? should he even be questioning that or is it simply a blessing that he doesn't have to look at his old teacher in booty shorts? ]
I'm exactly where I ought to be, James. Right here, teaching my class. I'm not due to retire for many more years yet. You'll help me find my students won't you? I'm... afraid. For their safety. There was a terrible explosion outside....
[ she takes several steps forward, hands outstretched to take james by the arm. if he allows contact, he'll find her hands are cold and stiff. ]
[ Whatever reasonable thing Keith has to say about the possibility of her being a newcomer to the prison doesn't really reach James' mind. As soon as Mrs Robinson steps forward, even Keith himself becomes an afterthought to James' experience of the situation.
I've seen your body, I've seen your body, I've seen your body runs through his mind as he helplessly listens to a woman who sounds so very very alive.
Her fingers touch him and he yanks away in the very same moment, a movement so violent that it's hard to believe it comes from him. The James of the past would have never treated a teacher this way, but the James of the present feels like screaming.
The apparition of Mrs Robinson seems to be as shocked as the real one might have been in the same situation. ]
My, what's gotten into y--
It's gone.
[ James is going for 'firm reality check' but again, his tone is a little off. ]
The school is gone. I'm sorry. There's nobody to find.
[ the jerk back and away is startling even to keith who's never seen james react to anyone in a position of authority that viscerally. it's frankly disorienting all over again, for once being on the same page as mrs. robinson, but the thought is quickly quashed by the next outburst.
keith's never known sendak to be anything but a piece of shit who splits opposing defenses by targeting helpless civilians. sendak wouldn't target earth's military bases only -- of course not. why woul he even havee to when earth's technology is so far eclipsed by what's om board a single galra cruiser?
knowing all that doesn't soften the impact. if the school building is gone, then the group hohome and every other place keith once would have described as hell on earth might now exist as rubble and in the synapses in his brain. is his dad's cabin gone too? it'd be far enough out of the way that keith thought maybe it could have survived, but....
no. there are bigger things going on here than a delayed onset existential crisis. like griffin having an apparent meltdown. ]
Griffin, you're just agitating her!
[ agitating. confusing. perhaps neither. whatever's going on in mrs. robinson's head, her expression stays strangely blank, like a movie reel that's reached the end of the film. ]
I found you and Keith. The others can't be too far away now.... Come on, James. We must find somewhere safe. Then we can continue our lessons, wouldn't you like that? The Garrison will sort out the explosions. Yes, the Garrison... we're not too far from the Galaxy Garrison.
[ Being scolded by Keith of all people is a splash of cold water into James' face and it makes him ball his fists and will himself to calm down. When he evades Mrs Robinson's arm this time, it's with a firm step back rather than with a rapid motion.
He can't even explain to himself why he's so averse to her touching him - she's not trying to harm him, she is looking for support. Even if she is a ghost, doesn't she deserve that much? Hasn't she been enough part of his life that he owes her?
And still, her rigid hands make his hairs stand on end.
Mrs Robinson seems confused again, almost hurt,looking down at her own hands as if she is also wondering what is wrong with them. ]
Mrs Robinson. Were Keith and I in your class when the explosions happened? Please try to remember.
[ If she is a new prisoner, then this cannot possibly be true, right? There were no Galra attacks when the two of them were in school. She's mixing everything up.
The carbon copy of his former teacher still stares at her hands. ]
I... Of course, dear. You're the pride of our school. You've always been-- you're always in class, you never miss a day. Not like Keith.
[ "That's not the point," James thinks and it's a little funny because it used to always be the point.
Mrs Robinson turns to Keith, frowning. She seems to forget what to do with her hands, holding them unnaturally stiff in front of her even as she is no longer observing them. ]
[ there's a couple of words keith could use to describe this interaction. bizarre, for starters. creepy would be another choice. however, all it takes is another couple of seconds for keith to decide the only way to eescribe this whole situation is underwhelming. expression souring in nanoseconds, keith is somehow actually caught off guard enough to be affronted. ]
The hell are you on? Has Griffin ever listened to me?
[ forget the fact that he'd just been telling griffin that their former teacher is confused and disoriented and should probably be approached with greater care. no, all of that goes flying out the window as soon as the ridiculous accusation leaves her mouth.
as bulletproof as keith's argument is, however, it only seems to solidify whatever narrative mrs robinson has built up in her head as she turns her scowling face towads him, hands long forgotten. ]
You ill-tempered child. You mustn't speak this way. Come. To the pincipal's office.
[ she lunges, grabbing at keith's wirst. the ice cold of her hand makes keith snap his arm away, but it isn't the only thing to snap. as he twists his arm free, there's a sickening pop as tendons snap in the older woman's wrists making her hand dangle uselessly .
keith blinks, horrified for a moment. mrs robinson stares as well, not quite comprehending the wrongness of her own body when she turns to james, flailing with her drooping hand. ]
He broke my hand......
[ and yet there's no cry of pain or anything else to indicate she's suffering in any real way. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action, call of the wind event
So when the cemetery gates hang open in the mysterious fog, he goes into Mission Mode. Is it wise? Maybe not. Is it something else to occupy his brain? Definitely. He just has to check it out. He wishes he had any mission gear though.
And still, he is wandering through the gates, into the low visibility field awaiting him inside. Keeping himself close to gravestones as if looking for cover from gunfire, he proceeds--
and stops dead when a familiar silhouette stands in the middle of the path.
Good morning class, we have a special... a special... ah, what is... says the disoriented voice of Mrs Robinson from middle school. ]
no subject
he'd thought walking this way would mean getting back to his cube from the commissary, but somehow he's managed to miss every indication to turn left at the housing and has instead marched right past the barbed wire fence he'd cut through ages ago to end up in the cemetery. annoyed, tense and hyper vigilant, keith has his knife drawn ready to jam the pointy end right at anything that might be a threat that emerges through the roiling fog.
what he hears is a threat alright, but not the kind he was expecting.
a familiar voice from one of his old nightmares echoes in the distance, making keith freeze in place. ]
Hello?
[ the call is tentative as he starts walking towards the familiar voice. fuck, this whole set up has the fishy smell of being a d-grade horror movie trap, but how is he not supposed to investigate? but disoriented as keith is, it's not as though he gets a real say in where he's going. he takes three steps towards the sound, feels more lost than ever and then practically jumps when he all but stumbles into griffin, only narrowly avoiding an actual collision. ]
What are you doing here? Where's the lad....
[ the question dies in his mouth as keith looks a little further ahead at the face of their former junior high teacher. ]
You're late, Keith. You'll last a week at the Garrison with this kind of disrespectful behavior. Unlike James. A model student, our James is. Such a special class we have today ..
[ too bewildered to be offended, keith looks to griffin. ]
The hell did you do?
no subject
I didn't do anything--!!
[ He snaps back automatically, though the pitch of his voice betrays some panic. ]
Of course he didn't. [ says Mrs. Robinson, entirely unhelpfully.
James has a hard time taking his eyes off the woman. He hadn't thought about her much after middle school - a teacher among many. She praised him a lot and he was proud of that, but he'd always made sure to be extremely praiseworthy in front of any adult so it's not as though their old homeroom teacher had been particularly special.
It was only when the war started that she came back to the forefront of his mind. And then, it was only because her death was one of the few they could explicitly confirm. ]
... you're a ghost. You have to be. Please... return to your grave peacefully.
[ Is this what you say to a ghost? James feels as though he's reciting some stupid movie and he feels as though he also looks very stupid doing so, but what else is there to do? He doesn't know. He kind of wants to run, but that is out of the question. ]
no subject
no -- of course, that's all just a trick of perception. in reality, keith's the one who outgrew his short kid stature and has seen creatures and entities far more intimidating than an underpaid middle aged school teacher.
but while keith is caught staring, griffin is prattling on about ghosts and graves and ... and keith is too blindsided by an immediate surge in irritation that griffin doesn't know that some of their fellow inmates are actually people who've died in their realities for the iimplication to infiltrate. ]
Griffin, you sound like a discount spirit medium. She could be a new prisoner.
[ which... is kind of disturbing on multiple levels actually?? keith makes a face, trying to look for any sign of an anklet. but then again, if she's a new prisoner, why isn't she in that horrible orange uniform? should he even be questioning that or is it simply a blessing that he doesn't have to look at his old teacher in booty shorts? ]
I'm exactly where I ought to be, James. Right here, teaching my class. I'm not due to retire for many more years yet. You'll help me find my students won't you? I'm... afraid. For their safety. There was a terrible explosion outside....
[ she takes several steps forward, hands outstretched to take james by the arm. if he allows contact, he'll find her hands are cold and stiff. ]
no subject
I've seen your body, I've seen your body, I've seen your body runs through his mind as he helplessly listens to a woman who sounds so very very alive.
Her fingers touch him and he yanks away in the very same moment, a movement so violent that it's hard to believe it comes from him. The James of the past would have never treated a teacher this way, but the James of the present feels like screaming.
The apparition of Mrs Robinson seems to be as shocked as the real one might have been in the same situation. ]
My, what's gotten into y--
It's gone.
[ James is going for 'firm reality check' but again, his tone is a little off. ]
The school is gone. I'm sorry. There's nobody to find.
no subject
keith's never known sendak to be anything but a piece of shit who splits opposing defenses by targeting helpless civilians. sendak wouldn't target earth's military bases only -- of course not. why woul he even havee to when earth's technology is so far eclipsed by what's om board a single galra cruiser?
knowing all that doesn't soften the impact. if the school building is gone, then the group hohome and every other place keith once would have described as hell on earth might now exist as rubble and in the synapses in his brain. is his dad's cabin gone too? it'd be far enough out of the way that keith thought maybe it could have survived, but....
no. there are bigger things going on here than a delayed onset existential crisis. like griffin having an apparent meltdown. ]
Griffin, you're just agitating her!
[ agitating. confusing. perhaps neither. whatever's going on in mrs. robinson's head, her expression stays strangely blank, like a movie reel that's reached the end of the film. ]
I found you and Keith. The others can't be too far away now.... Come on, James. We must find somewhere safe. Then we can continue our lessons, wouldn't you like that? The Garrison will sort out the explosions. Yes, the Garrison... we're not too far from the Galaxy Garrison.
[ again, she reaches for griffin's arm. ]
no subject
He can't even explain to himself why he's so averse to her touching him - she's not trying to harm him, she is looking for support. Even if she is a ghost, doesn't she deserve that much? Hasn't she been enough part of his life that he owes her?
And still, her rigid hands make his hairs stand on end.
Mrs Robinson seems confused again, almost hurt,looking down at her own hands as if she is also wondering what is wrong with them. ]
Mrs Robinson. Were Keith and I in your class when the explosions happened? Please try to remember.
[ If she is a new prisoner, then this cannot possibly be true, right? There were no Galra attacks when the two of them were in school. She's mixing everything up.
The carbon copy of his former teacher still stares at her hands. ]
I... Of course, dear. You're the pride of our school. You've always been-- you're always in class, you never miss a day. Not like Keith.
[ "That's not the point," James thinks and it's a little funny because it used to always be the point.
Mrs Robinson turns to Keith, frowning. She seems to forget what to do with her hands, holding them unnaturally stiff in front of her even as she is no longer observing them. ]
Did you put him up to this? Have you been lying?
no subject
The hell are you on? Has Griffin ever listened to me?
[ forget the fact that he'd just been telling griffin that their former teacher is confused and disoriented and should probably be approached with greater care. no, all of that goes flying out the window as soon as the ridiculous accusation leaves her mouth.
as bulletproof as keith's argument is, however, it only seems to solidify whatever narrative mrs robinson has built up in her head as she turns her scowling face towads him, hands long forgotten. ]
You ill-tempered child. You mustn't speak this way. Come. To the pincipal's office.
[ she lunges, grabbing at keith's wirst. the ice cold of her hand makes keith snap his arm away, but it isn't the only thing to snap. as he twists his arm free, there's a sickening pop as tendons snap in the older woman's wrists making her hand dangle uselessly .
keith blinks, horrified for a moment. mrs robinson stares as well, not quite comprehending the wrongness of her own body when she turns to james, flailing with her drooping hand. ]
He broke my hand......
[ and yet there's no cry of pain or anything else to indicate she's suffering in any real way. ]
Will you look at it for me?