fandomhigh | Urban Survival - The Uglier Side of City Living, Wednesday, Period 2

"Okay," Sparkle said, clapping his hands and grinning at the students in the... fancy classroom. "So before we get into any of the 'now you are on your own and have to survive in a damn city with basically nothing' shit, first we have to figure out what you have to worry about in that situation. Or like, any situation. Those of you who aren't human are going to have to correct me if I'm wrong here- I don't want to speak for the basic needs for anyone I can't be sure about and lead you astray, but if there's something I miss that's pivotal, or if you actually don't need any of what I've listed, let me know. We want to end this semester with you not having wasted your time, you know?"

Unfortunately, all of Sparkle's extensive googling hadn't unveiled a list of basic Togruta needs or anything, so he was going to have to work with what he had unless directed otherwise.

"So, with trepidation in my heart of hearts, here there is a handout of fundamental human needs, which looked thorough enough to be useful while also seeming open-ended enough that most of it should apply to everyone in the room. Again, please, god, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm from one of the boring Earths." And was apparently the only one in this room who could say that. He was going to try not to let what an intimidating thought that was show on his face as he gestured to a stack of handouts. "This one is a table, most of what I've found are pyramids, which, while pretty, don't, like, actually go into depth about stuff like what 'physiological' is supposed to mean. This one has columns. You know it's being thorough when it has columns."

... Cough. Shrug. Grin sheepishly at the class.

"What we're mostly going to focus on this semester are the things in the 'subsistence' and 'protection' rows. Which isn't to say that the other stuff isn't important at all - I mean, freedom? Hugely freaking important too, and we'll probably touch on it down the road anyway. But a lot of the stuff below the top two rows kind of starts settling into 'suggestion' territory instead of 'requirement.' Especially if you're in dire straits and can't exactly make it to bingo night at the local church or whatever. Things like your health, your ability to eat, clothing and a shelter are a little bit less optional. They're also things that you've got a better chance of having at least some control over. I know 'equal rights' isn't exactly something we all have the luxury of saying we have. It's also not something you can necessarily focus on doing something about while you're struggling to survive. That one's a trap. We are definitely going to talk about that trap later on, too. But today... I just want you to look at the table. Get to know the table, and what your priorities on it are. Then I want you to go through the table from Affection on down and tell me a few things you think are most important, and a few things you figure you could probably get by without, at least for a while. A lot of that stuff is stuff we aren't going to cover in class, but if, like, half of you think I should be, I'm going to want to know."

Because seeing where people's priorities sat was fun and educational, okay?

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"I'm afraid I don't follow. I was asked my opinion and I gave it."

Rufus sounded bored.

Because he was.

"Uh huh. And how much of your life have you actually spent with literally zero leisure time or activities?"

He'd been designing escape routes when he was five. Ones that had been deemed clever and useful enough to be built into the ShinRa Building.

Even playing with Dark Nation was worked around his self-inflicted training regime.

"You seem to be looking for an argument, given how judgemental you're being," Rufus said, very mildly. "Why? Because I have a different view point than you? How big of you."

He gave her a dismissive glance.

"Nice of you to assume that everyone leads, or cares to lead, a life similar to yours."

Rufus saw no reason to explain himself to her.

And yet it was still play. That he fit in, even with a self-inflicted training schedule.

"You're the one who just dismissed, like, the entire population of the multiverse as unimportant, dude," Tip said. She was deeply unimpressed with your cool, Rufus, and she was more than used to being accused of being 'argumentative' or 'judgmental'. "'Cause, what, you're just too cool to relax?"

“Because I just don’t care,” Rufus said, absolutely honest. “If everyone upped and died tonight and I woke up alone tomorrow, I wouldn’t give a shit.”

"Oh, I definitely believe you think you wouldn't," Tip said. "And I'll grant there's a small possibility it might even be true. But it's a much bigger possibility that you'll slowly go insane and die a whole lot sooner than you would if the rest of the world hadn't vanished."

Tip had actually had the entire population of her world effectively go away, when the Boov loaded them all up on transport ships and she'd decided to sneak off in her mom's car instead. She knew what she was talking about.

Rufus waited, after she finished speaking, to see if she was actually done.

Okay, good.

"And what," he asked slowly, "if I don't care if I die too?"

He'd rather he didn't, of course--unless it served his purposes, in which case Rufus really didn't care.

Besides, if being alone really got to him that much (he didn't think it would) it wasn't like he went about unarmed. There was no need to die a slow, humiliating death to madness and starvation.

"If you don't care if you die," Tip said, not sounding for a moment like she believed him. "Why are you taking an urban suvival class?"

"Because I was bored," Rufus said, bemused. "Certainly not for my own survival."

Right, so Rufus was either an idiot, or he was full of shit. Tip stared at him for a moment longer, then shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Then smiled to herself as she imagined what the Chief would have to say about his nonsense. She'd had a nice dream about him the night before, so he was quite fresh in her mind.

Most definitely the second one. Tseng could attest to that.

Glad she was done with him, Rufus went back to ignoring that she even existed.

Urban Survival - The Uglier Side of City Living, Wednesday, Period 2

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