[log] pretty pretty princesses [closed]

[theurgy]

Characters: Cassel and Adelina
Location: Building 145
Date: Day 190
Summary: Two teenagers try very hard not to freeze to death.
Warnings: Will edit as necessary!

[Cassel finally makes it to the storage unit minutes before lockdown. It doesn't take long to slip from the grocery store to the little building beside it, but by the time he does, he's already shivering violently. He's wearing a leather jacket and gloves more suited for fall than for winter, and while they cut the wind a bit, it feels like the chill has seeped down into his bones. He isn't used to cold like this, and he'd be lying if he didn't admit that his heart sinks when he sees where they'll be spending the night—a bare concrete floor and an empty, echoing room.

Cassel closes the door behind him and hears the lock engage a moment later, then drops his pack to the ground. He already looks a little ridiculous—there's a pink leopard print cutting cape wrapped around his throat like a scarf, and he's wearing sneakers that certainly weren't made for traipsing around in the snow and the ice. At least he has fresh food.]

Comments

[theurgy]

[Huh. That gets a smile out of Cassel, slow and genuine, and he takes the shiv from her. Maybe he really won't need to worry about her.]

Alright, alright, fine. Twist my arm.

[bloodbiter]

I am twisting nothing.

[She says, but there's a smile in return once he's taken the weapon from her.]

It's certainly no replacement for a sword, and I hope neither of us will have cause to use it at any point soon, but all the same.

[theurgy]

[He shakes his head.]

I'd definitely find a way to cut my own head off if you gave me a sword. Knives are perfect.

[bloodbiter]

[She raises an eyebrow for a moment.]

I imagine that would be more difficult than you might assume. You'd have to be swinging it very hard, after all, and in the incorrect direction.

[Because he definitely meant that literally? Totally.]

[theurgy]

[He can't quite tell if she's serious or not, but he laughs anyway. And then, just to mess with her:]

Yeah, maybe it would be easier than I think. You swing it like a club, right?

[bloodbiter]

[It's her who laughs next, though it's incredulous, and she shakes her head.]

Like a club? No - not at all!

[theurgy]

[Cassel shakes his head, expression suddenly serious.]

No, definitely like a club. What else would you do with it?

[bloodbiter]

[She shakes her head again. Swords are serious business.]

It's much different than a club. You have to wield it like it's a natural extension of your arm, as if it's a part of you.

[theurgy]

[Come on, Adelina, you can't be this easy to tease. Cassel raises his eyebrows.]

Are you a knight or something?

[bloodbiter]

[She is absolutely this easy to tease.]

Well... Soldier is a more accurate term. You aren't a knight until you're more accomplished.

[Predictably, all of the teasing has flown over her head.]

What about you? What did you do in your home?

[theurgy]

[Seriously? His eyebrows go up, but she says it so earnestly he finds himself believing her. Plus, what would she get out of lying?]

I'm just a high school student. That's not nearly as cool, but I've got the dorkiest blazer in existence at home.

[bloodbiter]

I don't know what high school is... Or what a dorkiest blazer means.

[But from her tone, it's pretty clear she's curious. If she notices his raised eyebrow, she doesn't bring it up.]

[theurgy]

[Right, right, the whole past thing.]

Where I'm from you have to go to school until you're eighteen, and the last four years are called high school. A blazer is a jacket, and dorkiest means you'd be embarrassed for me if I wore it in front of you.

[bloodbiter]

Until you're eighteen? What could you possibly need to know that would take so long to learn?

[It's said with some skepticism. While things like the communicators and other technology are met with fascination, this is the first real moment of culture shock she's come up against.]

Then... The garment you're speaking of isn't particularly fashionable.

[theurgy]

Calculus.

[He says this with a completely straight face, as though it's the most important thing in the world.]

Do all soldiers wear fancy dresses where you're from?

[bloodbiter]

I don't know what calculus is. Would you explain it to me?

[She shakes her head.]

No, this was for my coronation. It's a shame I wasn't on the battlefield when I was brought here, I might have had more appropriate clothing in that case...

[theurgy]

[He's about to tell her that she really does not want to know anything about calculus when she hits him with that, and he stops with his mouth halfway open.]

Coronation. Coronation for what?

[bloodbiter]

[The reply is on her lips before she pauses with a small smile.]

I will tell you once you explain calculus to me.

[Priorities.]

[theurgy]

[His lips quirk up just slightly, and he can't help the dry response.]

I thought the one upside to freezing to death was not having to think about homework.

[bloodbiter]

Homework?

[The hole grows ever deeper.]

[theurgy]

[God, this is so weird Cassel can't help but laugh.]

Schoolwork that you have to finish outside of class.

[bloodbiter]

Your tutors give you subjects to study outside of their lessons? Or - someone mentioned that they learn in a larger group. Is it like that for you as well?

[Strange or not, she seems interested in hearing more about it. It's such a foreign concept to her.]

[theurgy]

It's like... one tutor and fifteen kids. More depending on the school you go to.

[Cassel just somehow conned his way into a super nice one.]

They give you work to finish between classes, which everyone hates.

[bloodbiter]

It sounds fascinating. So many people being instructed at once... How did your tutor handle all of your questions?

[A small frown.]

Why would you hate the opportunity to learn more?

[theurgy]

It's not—

[God, somehow Adelina makes him feel bad about complaining about homework.]

Sometimes after being in class all day I don't feel like doing French translations for another two hours, you know?