fandomhigh | Living on the Outskirts, Friday, Period 2

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living on the outskirts

Living on the Outskirts, Friday, Period 2

When the students made their way to the classroom for Jonothon's first ever class on the island (and really, what the hell had he been thinking when he had decided he could do this?!) they'd see that the setup for the room was a little on the informal side. Jono had given up on desks, having decided that they were anathema in a class that was supposed to be about making antisocial teens just get over themselves and socialize, already. In their place, sofas. Loveseats. A few bean-bag chairs if people so desired.

And a requisite shadowy corner. Big enough for one. Because he was a brat and wanted to see if any of his students would give one another dirty looks over it. He liked to think he knew their type, for some reason or other.

"Congratulations. If you're here, you've either decided that you're sick of standing in the shadowy corners, or else whoever it is that wrote your schedule for you has decided that you need to get the hell out of them. If it's the former, I hope I don't disappoint. If it's the latter, then I hope you don't disappoint. If you haven't noticed by now just by looking at me, yes, I do have some passing experience with not quite fitting in among my peers." Understatement was fun and educational! "My name is Jonothon Starsmore. You may call me Professor Starsmore if you wish, though I'll likely give you a strange look for it. Jono is just fine, informal though it might be. Everyone else calls me that, you might as well too."

Why mess with something if it worked, right?

"An entire week of classes is nearly out of the way, and I'm certain you're all sick and bloody tired of introductions, but there are half a million of you in here, and I'm going to need to know what to call you if you want to get an attendance mark and pass this course." This course on playing nice with others, yes. "So. Names. Year, if you feel so inclined. And a little something about what it is I'm to be working with, here. Tell me what it is that you feel puts you on the outskirts. Why you feel as though you'll never quite fit in, or what makes your life harder than everyone else's. You're most likely all teenagers. There's a good start. I haven't met a teenager yet who doesn't feel at least slightly as though their life is a ball of misery and darkness so bleak that the sun might never shine through the despair that simply waking from day to day brings them. I know how it works. I used to be a teen, myself. And what you share with the class doesn't have to be anything utterly horrible. If your biggest complaint is that you have to sit here and listen to a large grey British man lecture you about what it's like to be a teen, then that will do just fine."

His grin took on a slightly playful twist to it, perhaps a little in spite of himself.

"And then I want you to talk with your classmates, the people who have just introduced themselves to you, and give them one bright side. Even if that bright side is just that they woke up this morning with all of their body parts still attached.

"Oh, and..." Jono glanced at his class roster. "Surreal and Cade. Congratulations. You have been selected at random for the right to complain that you've just been drafted into a semester of extra responsibility as my TAs. If it's any consolation, that means you get to sit in the recliners near the back of the room, today."

Lucky them.

[Open!]

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There are couches, beanbags and whatnot. There are also pastries from J,GoB, as well as coffee and tea, if you so desire. Jono isn't exactly expecting you to go out of your way to casually get to know your classmates, but if ever there was an atmosphere to do so in, this is probably it.

Stephanie wasn't antisocial, really. It was just that outside of Fandom, she had very little patience for most teenagers.

So when she helped herself to pastries and coffee, she looked pretty cheerful about it. And hello, beanbag chair! You were comfy to flop in.

Mercy curled up on a corner of one of the loveseats. There was enough room for someone else to sit on it, but only if they didn't mind sitting particularly close - which she was kind of figuring no one else would.

Feel free to disappoint her.

Enough room was a relative term.

Arietty scaled the back of the loveseat and flopped down on top of one of the back cushions. She gave the other girl sitting there a little wave, but otherwise didn't go out of her way to draw attention to herself, yet.

If someone tried to sit on her, she'd be pretty put out, though.

Mercy hadn't seen anything quite like that before. Her nose told her that it was indeed a human type being, but it was a little hard for her eyes to take in. Maybe she was fae? Some of them were supposed to be quite tiny - or able to appear that way.

Still the other girl certainly wasn't encroaching on her space or making her feel uncomfortable in any way, so Mercy was glad to have her here.

"Hi," she said with a wave of her own. "I'm Mercedes Thompson. I don't think we've met before."

"Arietty Clock," Arietty said. "And I haven't met many people yet, actually. I spent the first couple of months mostly hiding."

As you do.

"I can understand that," Mercy said. "We must be a pretty loud and intimidating lot. Nice to meet you, Arietty."

"Mostly, I just try to make sure you all don't sit or step on me. Or dissect or eat me."

"Dissect or eat?" Mercy shuddered. "Wow, yeah, I can see why that's a problem. Must be hard getting around, too."

She hesitated. "Hey, look, if you ever need a ride - on a shoulder or in a pocket or something - I'd be glad to help out."

"Thank you! I'll keep that in mind if Eggletina gets a bit to lazy." Arietty gestured behind the couch, where a fancy rat wearing an improvised harness made of hemp twine was taking a nap. "I'd love to get something like my friend Jame's car, but I don't know where to look."

"Um... hi Eggletina," Mercy said to the rat - just in case, you know? "A car. Like a small mechanical one?"

Her mind was already considering possibilities. "We could probably find one in a fancy toy store - or online - and it probably wouldn't take too much to get a motor that would..." Her voice trailed off as she considered whether her mechanical skills would be up to it and if Charles might e willing to consult over email.

"I might be able to help out with that."

"Would you? I can make a lot of things out of my borrowings, but I don't know anything about how to make cars! James just put his controller into his car so that I could use it."

Mercy was sketching on a piece of paper and jotting down notes about what she might need. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can."

"If I mount the remote controller here and shift that over here... Yeah, this should be easy enough to do. If you want to come to my room later we can look up some cars you might like and where we can find them."

"Sounds like fun. What room are you in?"

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