fandomhigh | The Modern Workplace and You [Friday, period 1]

Responsible teachers might have put today’s class in the Danger Shop, so that no one could get hurt. Pam and Cheryl were not those people.

The chairs were cleared out from the classroom and had been piled in the hall. Pam, instead of her usual business attire, was wearing a sleeveless tank, grey sweatpants, and fingerless black leather gloves. Were those bloodstains on the shirt? Yes. Yes, they were.

They might be from the frozen side of beef that she’d hung from the ceiling, that she was casually punching. None of the bums she’d found in Baltimore wanted to come get their asses kicked for a class demonstration. Not even when she’d offered them $20. Punk-ass bitches.

Cheryl, on the other hand, was still dressed like Cheryl, though today she was snacking on a bag of gummy bears. (At least, they looked like gummy bears, right?)

"I keep expecting fewer of you to actually turn up," she said, watching the students file in. "Don't you guys have somewhere better to be? I know I do."

Well, kind of. She really liked the idea of watching a bunch of bloodshed, but she would have made it later in the day, at least.

“Today, we’re gonna talk about ways to make extra money since your boss doesn’t pay shit,” Pam supplied helpfully. “Or ways to pay for your college education, if … any of you lot are going to college.”

They were all kind of weird, was all. This wasn’t really the AP class or anything, as far as Pam could tell.

"Or if you wanna support your crack habit!" Cheryl chirped helpfully. "What? You might develop a crack habit. I don't know your lives."

“Point is, most of you aren’t secretly worth half a billion dollars,” Pam said, giving Cheryl the look of someone who resented the fact that her best friend was quite literally worth half a billion dollars. “So … underground fighting! There are clubs in all kinds of cities. You just have to find them. This isn’t like that movie, where dudes beat each other up because their dads skipped town; this is people paying good money to watch a coupla fighters beat the shit out of each other. If you can take a punch, you can rake it in, big time.”

Pam, exactly no one in class looked like the type who could take a punch. Like, at all.

"But say you're a lover, not a fighter," Cheryl said, waggling her brows. "Or...a person who loves watching fights, anyway. You get to bet! 'But Cheryl,' you might be asking yourself, 'if two of my friends are punching each other in the eardrums, how do I decide who to bet on?' You choose the one who looks most likely to get creative."

She reached over and gingerly patted Pam on the shoulder. "Like, I know I can count on Pam to win. It doesn't really matter how. And it'll be interesting. And kinda hot. She might bring a chair in from the hall, or bite someone's ear off or something!"

“Biting someone’s ear off is against the rules,” Pam said. “And kind of a pussy move. I did punch a guy so hard once that he coughed up part of his liver.”

Reach for those stars, Pammy.

“So today you’re gonna pair up and duke it out! If it’s not your turn, put up some bets on who you think is gonna win. Cheer ‘em on, or just yell stuff. Get loud! So, who’s first?”

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"No one is beating me up here," she said earnestly. "I just do not think that, if it happens, that it matters."

"Oooooooookay," Joker replied. "This little pity party that you've got going on here? This is not good. Like, seriously not good. It matters if anybody is getting beat up, and that includes you. Capisce?"

Yeul blinked.

"It's not pity," she said, actually looking a bit surprised. "It's just, in the long run, it doesn't mean anything."

"In the long run, nothing means anything!" Joker insisted. "That's why we live in the short run, where people matter, and you need to stick up for yourself!"

"Why?" Yeul wondered. "I only have a long run, not short runs." Or she had many, many short runs that blended into one long one? Either way. "Being here at this school is the first time in a... very long time that the day-to-day has had anything I've needed to do. If I get hurt today..."

She shrugged.

"The idea does not bother me."

"Soooo... You're immortal, and not capable of feeling pain?"

It was just a guess.

It wasn't a bad one!

"Change pain for fear and that would... not be incorrect," Yeul said, smiling slightly.

It was a simplistic explanation but that didn't make it wrong.

Joker took a moment to stare at her. He hadn't actually expected... Fine. Fandom. Whatever.

"Okay, so you're saying it's okay for you to get beaten up because you're not afraid of it?!?! What the actual fucking FUCK?!?!?" Joker facepalmed. "Look -- I have a STRONG philosophical objection to pretty girls getting hurt!!!"

Yeul stared back at him, not quite sure what to make of his reaction. Or what to say to it. She couldn't promise to stay safe from harm.

"I don't understand," she said, instead. "My Guardian and Professor Starsmore both have reasons to wish that I stay safe from harm. But... you do not even know me. Why does it matter?"

"Youuuu don't get out much, do you?" Joker asked. "Most people are generally against the idea of other people getting hurt. The ones who aren't are what we like to call 'douchebags'."

"I suppose it's possible," Yeul said agreeably. "Though I still don't understand. Of course, happy people are better to see than unhappy ones, but if I get hurt, it does not make me unhappy."

So it... shouldn't matter, right?

Yeul considered that. "It does not make me happy either, but... it's just something I do not factor in as important."

"It doesn't make you unhappy to get hurt?!?!"

Joker stared. And stared.

And then leaned in closer. "Look, whoever's abusing you back home, you don't have to take it. You're here, now, and you're free, and you have a right to not be hurt. You don't deserve it. Does that... do you understand that?"

His vehemence only made Yeul even more confused. It was very sweet, that he was so concerned but...

"I do not think I am being abused," she said slowly. "And no one deserves pain, but it comes to people anyway. It just... does not bother me any longer."

Joker stared some more.

"I have no response for that."

"I'm sorry," Yeul said. "I don't know how else to explain it. Professor Starsmore might be able to help you there. Otherwise... I appreciate your concern, but do not think it necessary."

The Modern Workplace and You [Friday, period 1]

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Re: Pair up and fight! [02/07]