fandomhigh | Adaptability And You, Monday, 2nd Period

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adaptability

Adaptability And You, Monday, 2nd Period

Kanan looked a little bit as though he'd been beaten upside the head with a brick this morning. A figurative one, not a literal one, though he had little doubt that would probably come later.

"The clinic, the dorms, and Caritas," he said, once it looked as though students had settled into the simulated Danger Shop classroom today. There was no way he was making them sit outside in the smoke, no. He was dropping a handful of cheap industrial respirator masks onto his desk and waving at them, gesturing for the students to help themselves. They had better back home, yes, but between waking up this morning and doing radio, he really hadn't had a chance to take a jaunt off to another galaxy and shake down some Imperials to steal them, so... "They're your safe spaces. If you get caught out and something too dangerous for you to handle goes on outside, make your way to whichever is closest as quickly as possible, if it's safe to do so. I don't know what's out there this week, but whatever it is, when it hits, I'm telling you now it's going to be ugly."

He was well aware that this summer was starting to make him sound like a paranoid maniac, but it probably didn't count when he was right, did it?

"These masks should at least help you breathe a little easier, if you're a person who needs to do that sort of thing and if you don't already have your own equipment. No, they aren't pretty, but they are functional. Help yourselves. Grab extras for your friends. I bought... a lot, this morning. There's a hardware store in Baltimore right now that I made very happy today. I know I had mentioned maybe talking about getting basic supplies like food, but it looks like the food's fine for the time being. This week, we're going to spend some time here in the Danger Shop making some use of improvised weapons. Or putting your running and hiding skills to the test."

Yes, he really did think it was going to be this bad.

"So far, and after last week I'm aware that this could change at any given moment, we have the benefit of knowing our way around town. This is a familiar space. So I'm not going to tear that rug out from underfoot. Not yet, anyway. What I am going to do is set you loose in a sim of the school, and something in here wants to grab you. You don't know what it is. You won't until it finds you. The exits have been locked."

He jerked a thumb toward the simulated door.

"Survive. Whether that means outrunning them, outthinking them, hiding, or coming up with makeshift weapons is up to you. Team up if you need to. Go at it alone if you'd rather. You just have to manage it for the next twenty minutes, and then we'll have a discussion about what worked for you and what didn't."

Space, his brain itched.

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He looks like he could use a juice box and a nap.

... He could probably use a juice box and a nap.

Should maybe have thought that a little less loudly because as Del walked over, a small and very localized rain of Capri Sun happened. In pouches. With the cool bendy straws attached in their little plastic wrappers.

"Would you like me to help your head feel better?" she asked carefully.

The anthropomorphic personification of insanity wants to help, Kanan. But even Barnabas didn't look too concerned.

Kanan blinked and managed to catch... one of those juice packs, staring at it for a few moments while he tried to figure out what it was before glancing back up to Del.

"... Make it feel better?"

These classes were basically turning into 'the students keep ending up helping Kanan survive another day' classes, weren't they? This summer was definitely... something.

"Make the ouch stop," Del explained carefully, "I can make it feel better for a little while. You wouldn't want me to make it feel good always. But a little while would help you ouch less right now."

You might hear someone whispering 'It's A Small World After All' in the back of your mind for an hour or however long it lasts, but that might be better than crazytown trying to find a foothold.

Del took one of the juice pouches and popped the straw in, sipping while she waited for an answer.

Kanan was silent for a moment, following her lead with the straw. Might as well, it was there anyway.

"... Maybe," he hedged. "There's a lot of... ouch... but I also have a sense for... other things, that I wouldn't want to have numbed. Would it be just the ouch?"

Going headblind wouldn't be anything new, but while there was potential danger out there, he wasn't in a hurry to embrace it again.

Del nodded, "Just the ouch. I can't make you not feel the words but I can make it not hurt for a little while." She bit her lip, "I can't for everyone. They have to have visited me before. You did so I can help. If you want?"

Not feel the words? The poison, whatever it was. The looming wrong lurking just around the corner. If she could leave his sense for it but make it feel a little less like his head was being stepped on by a walker, Kanan would take it.

He nodded.

"I would appreciate that very much, Delirium, thank you."

She nodded and squinted up at his head. She couldn't reach that if she tried. Well. She'd need a step ladder and if one didn't happen to exist that wasn't going to stop her from climbing it anyway so enjoy the sight of the tiny girl climbing the air as if there's stairs.

She reached for the sides of his head and explained, "I have to touch you. That's okay?"

There was a reason it was called 'touched by madness'..

"That's fine," Kanan replied, giving a curious glance to her standing on thin air and nothing more.

He'd almost been beaned by a juice box, he'd seen weirder in the past three minutes.

She'd also nearly beaned him with a snack cake last week too. It was a theme.

Delirium carefully put her tiny hands on his temples. She mouthed the words to 'It's A Small World' and they sounded as a whisper at the back of his mind. A tiny, cheerful little girl voice that was somehow louder than whatever foothold Silent Hill was trying to gain. He'd still be aware of it but the ache would be gone. As if he'd had a dose of some sort of mental narcotic - without the euphoric effects. She could see that he wouldn't want those so he got singing instead.

Eyes vague and looking sort of through him, Del spoke. "Is it better?"

Kanan was silent for a few moments, just... kind of adjusting to the shift. Taking a second to process the singing. And then slumping forward a little and sighing, actually letting the relief show on his face.

"Much better," he agreed. "Thank you, Delirium."

He was going to be singing this song for weeks.

"Oh good," she smiled, giving his head a little pat before climbing down from the air-stairs. "I like it when things work."

"That makes two of us," Kanan replied, laughing a soft laugh as he straightened a little in the shoulder. And then, as an afterthought, sipped his juice again. "Yeah. This? Is good. You did good."

Delirium beamed. "Yay!" She looked thoughtfully at the juice, "It's kind of sweet but sometimes that's good but other times it's not good because too sweet can make you thirstier but for now we have water, right? Somewhere?"

She eyed the simulation doubtfully, "Am I supposed to run around and pretend to escape?"

"For now we have water," Kanan agreed. "If that changes, I'm sure somebody will mention it."

He nodded toward the simulation. "You can, if you like. I know nothing can hurt you, but maybe you can help your classmates if they seem to be having a difficult time."

Re: Talk to Kanan!

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Re: Talk to Kanan!

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Re: Talk to Kanan!

following_my_fishie - 2019-07-09 13:29 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Talk to Kanan!

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Re: Talk to Kanan!

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Re: Talk to Kanan!

uncertain_dume - 2019-07-09 17:05 (UTC) - Expand

UGH! Why did BDG's class have to be so early?? Granted, Summer was usually up by now putting in orders at T&C, but, then again, Summer hadn't also usually spent the long weekend being a weird little furry Muppet thing that seemed way too fond of dismembering herself and hopping around everywhere, either.

Anyway, at least the town seemed fairly normal this morning (the term being incredibly relative here), she headed on over to the school to catch him at the end of his class, carrying with her a white box.

"I come bearing a gift!" she announced, foisting the box at him proudly.

And in that box, Kanan would find a cake. No, she didn't make it. She didn't have time for that this morning; it was from J,GoB, as indicated on the box. But she did have them write "Sorry For Trying to Take Off Your Head This Weekend!!!" in icing on the top.

Funny thing was, they didn't even think twice about the message, and that was the sort of thing Summer liked about this place, really.

"You come bearing-- hey, I know where that box is from," Kanan chuckled. "Is this revenge for all the birthday cakes, Summer?"

He seemed to be in a pretty good mood now, at least. Comparatively. Still waiting for the other foot to drop, sure, but he also had 'It's a Small World' playing on loop where the creeping poison from the town across the Causeway had been.

"Why would I want revenge for that?" asked Summer. "Those cakes were awesome! Buuuut...." Her expression shifted from one of amusement to one of oh-so-convincing uncertain doubt as she slowly pulled the box back a little, "if you don't waaaant, I'm sure I can find someone else who might."

His wasn't the only head she'd tried to remove last week, after all.

His was just the only one that mattered.

SORRY NOT SORRY WAYNE.

Oh yeah, Kanan was oh-so-convinced.

"Oh no, I want," Kanan replied, shaking his head and smiling crookedly. "I need to see what the occasion is, at least. I don't think it's my birthday, anyway."

"Awww, come on, BDG!" said Summer. "Do I really need a reason to get my best friend in the whole multiverse a cake? I mean, there totally is a reason, but that doesn't negate the fact that I don't exactly need a reason."

She held the box out for him again, practically nudging him in the arm with it.

"I'm not going to just tell you, either," she added. "You just have to take a look and see for yourself."

Kanan shrugged, shook his head and smirked a little, and then took the box and opened it.

"Okay, okay, I'm taking the cake," he said, and peered inside.

And blinked.

And then pretty much barked out a much-needed laugh.

"This," he shared, "might very well be the best cake anybody has ever given to me."

It might very well be the only cake anybody had ever given to him.

Which was, like, so sad.

"Well, duh-doy," said Summer, smirking for a moment before it just sort of dissolved into a pleased little beam at his response. "Obviously it is; it's from me! And I figured, hey, what better way to celebrate you keeping your head than by stuffing it with delicious cake, right?"

She didn't even really feel bad about it or anything; she hadn't even really tried. But, like she said, she didn't even really need a reason to bring him cake, right?

"Any day I don't get my head plucked off by a monkey-lizard version of one of my nearest and dearest is a good day," Kanan decided, setting the box down on the desk and considering the cake for a moment. "... Is it cheating if we use the danger shop to make plates and forks?"

A beat.

"Or just forks?"

And dig right on into that cake like the disaster people that they were?

"I'm surprised you're even going to bother with forks!" Summer remarked, and she laughed. "But no. Definitely no. Why would it be cheating to use the resources that are available to you?"

Even if it was cheating, she'd be down, because, not gonna lie, she wouldn't mind getting some of that cake shoved into her head, either.

"I'm not sure hard light forks technically even count," Kanan mused, pulling out the controls and programming a few onto the desk, "but they'll still get the cake into our faces, so in the end it probably doesn't matter anyway."

He picked his up and held it up in a sort of... forky toast.

"To taking any excuse for delicious cake, then."

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