Pre-Jump Earth Literature

[aestrix]

It's a new term, and the end of the break between terms most students have been enjoying. But time marches ever on, and so at 1:00 PM, just after lunch, twenty-six students all around the age of fifteen are finding seats in an obnoxiously decorated classroom. It's one of those classrooms that tries very hard to be peppy and inspirational, and only succeeds at being very out of touch, and kind of creepy.

Soon it will be time to read about things long-dead people wrote.

Comments

[poll_the_stars]

"Sabine would have helped. She has quite the shouting voice."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Potentially also hilarious, but less easily imagined since I've never met her."

[poll_the_stars]

Giggle. "This is true. Oh well. I can introduce you to her sometime, I think you'd like her."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Sure."

[poll_the_stars]

"Hmm, want me to help spell check the essay to see if you missed anything? ... I promise not to try to space the terminal."

[thisvorlunatic]

"That is good. If you space the terminal I'll just have to write the whole thing again. Sure, go ahead."

[poll_the_stars]

Read read read wince suppressed hug urges read read minor punctuation fix, read, deep breath that sounds like it is building up to a ramble about the value of human life, but then is cut off, read read read minor correction. And then she is out of essay.

"Looks good to me. Time to send it in?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yeah."

He submits the essay.

"Alas, I will probably never find out if he cried."

[poll_the_stars]

"Maybe not, but you do get to watch his in class reaction to seeing you after getting the essay."

[thisvorlunatic]

"True!"

[poll_the_stars]

...

Yvette considers how to politely and non-condescendingly mention that if he is having a self hating moment he can call her and she can insist that he's awesome. This is a harder problem than it should be.

She considers how to tackle it.

[thisvorlunatic]

And this time Miles has no essay to distract him, so he notices her considering things. But he isn't quite sure what to ask or how to ask it - 'what's wrong' would seem to slightly overstate the extent to which something appears to be wrong...

[poll_the_stars]

She notices him looking at her, and looks down, embarrassed.

"Sorry, um. I was. Trying to figure out a way to say 'You are free to call me if you would like to talk,' without being. The term I am going to use is too Betan."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I wasn't going to assume that the contact information was strictly for museum-related correspondence and galaxy-saving emergencies," he says, half-smiling.

[poll_the_stars]

Snort. "Good."

(... She noticed that dodge there. There is nothing she can do about it though. Not without pressuring him more than she thinks she should.)

[thisvorlunatic]

"Although if I do have a galaxy-saving emergency, I now know where to turn."

[poll_the_stars]

Giggle.

"Excellent. We can save the galaxy more efficiently."

[thisvorlunatic]

"It's good to have friends for this sort of thing."

[poll_the_stars]

Giggle. "That we do!"

...

Gosh she is tired and would like to go curl up in her bed and not do things. Entertaining as talking to Miles is. (She has a brief visual of getting to talk to Miles while in bed, possibly with him, and then that thought is evicted, no no no, wait until there is less freakout associated.)

How to gently extract herself from a conversation without implying that the conversation isn't fun. .... She has no fucking idea. Uh.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles definitely has no idea about any visuals Yvette is having. Which is probably a good thing, all things considered.

"...And thank you," he adds, a little awkwardly. "For - not being too Betan."

[poll_the_stars]

"Ha," says Yvette. "You're welcome."

[thisvorlunatic]

"And... thank you for not being too Barrayaran either."

Whoops he didn't quite mean to get that serious.

[poll_the_stars]

...

Yvette snickers.

"Actually that was the point of coming here, aside from - galactic education. I have been systematically ripping out all of the nasty things out of my head that I do not want to be. So - you're welcome! And thank you, I'm glad it's working!"

[thisvorlunatic]

He smiles slightly when she laughs. (It's... a good thing that she's doing, sort of, he thinks, but something about her laughing right then just hit him wrong. It's fine, she didn't mean anything by it.)

[poll_the_stars]

"Sorry," she says after a pause and noticing the flash of expression on his face. "I don't mean to - demean anything there. You're welcome, really. And seriously, thank you. That - is - sort of the first time anyone's noticed that I try not to be terrible, I am happy about it."