2024-09-07: Lonely Tomatoes
- Log: 2024-09-07 Lonely Tomatoes
- Cast: Stella Loussier, Trem Firmal, Elan Ceres
- Where: Asticassia School of Technology
- OOC - IC Date: Sept 7, UC 0099
- Summary: During detention, Stella and Trem discuss who's in charge at Asticassia and the qualities of "real" vs. "fake" with their temporary minder, Elan.
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
It's late afternoon on school grounds. Classes have finished and many students have vacated the main classroom buildings to go off and do whatever it is students do after class. Some clubs might still be around taking advantage of the facilities. But for the most part the classrooms are empty.
Except for one, where a few students are currently being punished for their transgressions. The ever dreaded 'detention'. A concept which persists even to this century. It even involves that classic punishment: Repeatedly writing down the same sentence discouraging whatever act brought the students here.
Stella is one of those students, rhythmic scratching and tapping coming from her direction as she writes. She clearly looks bored. Bored and annoyed, her brow scrunched a little as she writes.
The teacher on detention duty is currently watching the students like a hawk. Or that's probably what he wants them to think. In actuality he's just as annoyed and bored at having to stay behind extra time to watch over them.
So when an announcement comes over the intercom asking the teacher to go to the administration offices, he's actually briefly relieved. Though he quickly puts on a stern face and says to the two, "I'll be back. Keep at it while I'm gone." He makes his way out.
Of course, the moment he's gone, Stella puts her pen down, rests her head on her hand and starts staring out the window.
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Trem Firmal does not understand why she has detention.
It has something to do with an incident of staring into space in the middle of class and, when a teacher asked if their lesson bored her, responding honestly and with a smile: "Yes, it's not very interesting!"
She sits at her desk, looking down at her page of paper. It has the same sentence written on it, ad nauseum: "I will not do something I'm unclear about again, if such a thing is possible."
She keeps writing...
...until the announcement. Trem looks up; her silver eyes blink. Then she also puts her pencil down. She looks around the room.
"Does anyone else know why they're here?"
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Elan Ceres is not in detention. As head of Peil House and a member of the Dueling Committee, he'd have to do something pretty extreme for any of the teachers to even dare disciplining him--and he has a tendency against extreme actions.
That is, in fact, why when a certain teacher passes by him in the hall on the way to the administration offices, he double-takes at him, then stops to ask him to head to a certain classroom he'd just left where some students undergoing detention.
"One of them is from Peil House, so I'd just like you to keep an eye on them for me," the teacher explains--the only part of the explanation that is at all relevant to Elan.
He remains impassive like usual, though. It seems like even the world nearly ending and classes starting back up late isn't enough to melt the frozen, if pretty, face of the Ice Prince. But then, has it affected any of the Ringer students at Asticassia? "I understand."
And so Elan steps into the detention room. His yellow-green eyes flick around the room and immediately take in Stella and Trem. He doesn't say anything, but he does step to one side to watch over those taking their detention.
Or not, as the case may be. But the teacher never told Elan to enforce detention on the students, only to keep an eye on them--and Elan frankly doesn't care either way. His mere presence might inspire some of those who were thinking of slacking off like Stella to hastily get back to it. Stella or Trem... Well, they're both unusual cases, aren't they?
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
Stella is silent at the question for a while as she stares out the window. But she does eventually reply, "Not paying attention in class." Sounds like she's in for something similar to Trem. And it's clear she isn't learning anything from this.
The arrival of a new person in the room draws Stella's attention. She turns her head to look, saying matter of factly, "Elan Ceres." She looks expectantly at him for a moment but he doesn't seem to have anything particular to say.
And Stella doesn't seem to be particularly inspired by his presence.
So she goes back to staring out the window.
Before she admits, "Stella doesn't understand the purpose of this exercise..."
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Trem looks at Elan, as he enters. She blinks her eyes once at him. She didn't expect to see him here; not because she realizes he can't get detention (she isn't so versed in Asticassia politics) but because he doesn't seem like the type to get in trouble.
She nods once at him. "Hello, Elan," she says. Then, she looks at Stella.
She spaces out, for a moment.
Then, she says, "I was asked a question. I gave my honest answer, which was that the lecture was boring. I'm not sure why this was such a problem."
She sighs. Then, after a moment, she tries to shake her hand out. Her fingers are cramping from all the writing. "I'm not sure that I do either." A beat. "You're... Stella Loussier?"
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
"Stella Loussier. Trem Firmal," Elan responds blandly, an indirect confirmation for Trem--not that he was saying it for her sake. He doesn't sit with the detention-takers, either, though their attention, however brief, does get him to add, "The teacher asked me to watch over you while he's away."
Stella mentions she doesn't understand detention. Trem mentions that she gave an honest answer, that the lecture was boring, and that she also doesn't understand detention.
Elan has an answer, or at least an assessment. He keeps it to himself, though. It's more cynical than the teachers would like, and it's not like saying it would help any of them. He does, however, note, "It's easier just to do as the teachers say. Why aren't you?"
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
Stella nods in agreement with Trem, "Not interesting." Most of it is stuff Stella has already been through before. And the rest she doesn't really care about. She can't be blamed for feeling bored in those situations.
Stella is then asked about her name. She turns her head to look at Trem, studying her for a moment. She then simply says, "Stella doesn't know you." Elan confirms their names though. And Stella repeats, "Trem Firmal..."
When Elan asks why she doesn't comply, Stella simply shrugs and says, "The teachers aren't in charge of Stella. Why should she do what they say when she doesn't want to?"
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Trem looks at Stella. She blinks; then she smiles at her. "Yes, I'm Trem Firmal. It's nice to meet you."
She looks at Elan, after he asks his question.
"I thought I did," Trem says. And it's pleasant, but there's just a hint of annoyance there. "I got distracted in class. He asked if it was boring. I said yes." She sighs. "Apparently, it was not what he wanted to hear."
But what Stella says next gives her pause. That doesn't fit with what she knows about the school. "The teachers... are in charge of us, though."
She frowns a little and looks at Elan.
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Elan considers Stella for a long, silent moment. Whoever her handlers are--and he thinks she must have handlers, after that incident when they first met--she isn't being handled very well, he thinks. More evidence that points that way, really. He doesn't say so out loud. It would be bad for both of them, and as far as her actual answer goes, in truth, he relates. He may follow orders, but he doesn't bother smiling for anyone for similar reasons, even though that would be convenient for his handlers.
What he does say out loud is merely, "I see."
He looks over at Trem and listens to her response. She already has a solid grasp of her situation, so he doesn't speak at first. It's only when she asks him that unspoken question that he replies, "They are. That's why she's in detention. I expect it'll resume when the teacher returns."
For while Elan has no reason to force them to keep on with their discipline, he also has no reason to cover for them.
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
Stella turns her head to look at Trem and as she claims the teachers are in charge. Stella asks, "Why?" She purses her lips for a moment before asking, "Point of teacher is to teach? To pass on knowledge? Up to student to accept to learn or not. Teachers not commanding students. Not employing students."
When Elan speaks though, Stella gives him a hard stare, "You think Stella here because teacher told her?" It does seem unlikely. Stella sighs, "Neo told Stella to come. To not cause trouble."
Stella leans forward, resting her cheek on the desk as she stares off at the wall now, saying wistfully, "Stella just wants to see tomatoes..."
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Mm. Yes," Trem says to Elan. She sighs a little; the teachers coming back also means her detention resumes. And, really, it's an annoying situation.
But, it is what it is.
Trem looks back at Stella. She is quiet for a moment. "The teachers are still figures of authority," she says. "Someone we're expected to listen to... and do what they say." A beat. "Within reason."
Then, though, her eyes narrow. She looks confused, but in a focused sort of way. It's a more measured look that she gives Elan, then; it's still questioning.
She isn't sure what she means about tomatoes. So she focuses on something else.
"Who is Neo?"
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
"It's the same in the end. Your 'Neo' didn't want to cross the teachers, so they told you to obey." Elan pauses. "Though, it isn't really the teachers who are in charge. They're just the enforcers," he concedes.
Another pause. He almost asks who Neo is, but Trem beats him to it. He assumes that's the name of Stella's handler. Still it would be interesting to hear what she's willing--or perhaps able--to say about him.
He doesn't remark on the 'point' of teachers or what the role of the students is in relation to them. He does, however, consider Stella when she mentions tomatoes. There's one place in Asticassia anyone might think of when it comes to tomatoes. The fact that Stella is saying she wants to see them, but is speaking like she can't, is about what one would expect from any mention, however implicit, of an encounter with Miorine Rembran and her garden.
As for Trem, Elan is technically tasked with looking out for her, but if she crossed one of the teachers, it's more effort than it's worth to cancel her detention, particularly since she's already halfway through it. She just needs to finish it.
Also, the deeply-hidden spiteful part of Elan thinks it serves her right to face a consequence, however trivial.
"Why are you interested in tomatoes?" he asks of Stella instead.
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
Stella shakes her head on the desk in response to both Trem and Elan, "Stella listens to Neo. Will listen to teachers too if they're good teachers. But many are not... Maybe too much enforcement, not enough teaching?" She seems to agree with Elan on that point.
Trem then asks about Neo and Stella's eyes light up a bit as she pushes herself up, "Neo saved Stella! He helps her. Gives he a place to live. Fun things to do. Sometimes scary things... But it's okay. Stella trusts Neo."
Leaning her head against her hand again, Stella hmmms as she stares off in thought, before saying, "Tomatoes seem lonely? Stuck in fake ground. In fake world. Under fake sky."
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"I suppose... they are the enforcers," Trem admits, after Elan points that out.
She frowns a little as it strikes her that it bothers her, somehow. She ends up idly fixing a strand of pink hair that fell loose, before she looks back towards Stella.
"Mm. I can see that," she says about the teachers. "This Neo, though... he looks after you? He isn't at the school, is he?"
Then she blinks. She glances out the window, for a moment. "...It is a fake sky," she says. "It's not so bad, though."
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
"Maybe," Elan maybe-agrees back about teachers. Trem frowns, but there could be any reason for that. He probably is privy to it, even. That's precisely why he doesn't point it out.
Regardless, it's curious to see Stella, whom Elan generally knows to be a detached person, light up at the talk of this Neo. It's even more curious to see her so openly attached to him. Did he misread her situation--project his own onto her? He bows his head in thought. Fun and scary things, hm... "Like what?" he wonders. He lets Trem ask more about Neo himself.
Stella's assertion about tomatoes, though, gets her a bit of a stare. Just a bit of one, because this is Elan Ceres. But the confusion there is real. Even her explanation on how tomatoes could seem lonely doesn't make sense to him. "Why does that matter?"
Maybe he's a little too used to fakes himself. He glances at Trem when she asserts the fake sky isn't so bad. Almost funny, the differences in their views. But only almost.
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
Stella shakes her head again, saying, "Neo is not at school. He's too old for that. But he does visit sometimes! But only sometimes. He's busy a lot." It is certainly rather rare for Stella to be so enthusiastic about... Well... Anything.
Stella mmmms and she ponders what kinds of things she does, "Stella reads? Watch videos and shows. She likes videos with cats. Stella has never had a pet..."
Stella is distracted though when Trem suggests the fake sky is not so bad. She frowns a little, "Staring at fake sky is like staring at sky on TV. It's not as fun as real sky. So deep, so blue." Stella looks between the two of them, "You don't like real sky? Stella has heard it makes people from space sick."
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Trem does glance at Elan, for a moment. She can still only guess what he thinks of the teachers. He is still hard to read, even with some of his truth known to her.
Trem tilts her head to the side. She has never had a pet? She looks again at Elan. There's a look in her expression: 'I think I see what's going on here.'
She stays quiet on that, though.
Instead, she considers the fake sky for a moment. "I'm from Earth," she says. "I like the real sky, too. But..."
Her silver eyes become distant. Her smile fades, as she thinks on something other than skies entirely.
"Something made artificially isn't any less real," she concludes, her tone of voice distant.
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Elan listens to what Stella says about Neo. He's not at school--only visits sometimes--but he's in communication with her enough to be able to tell her to attend a detention she would have likely skipped out on otherwise. Perhaps she got in touch with him to ask him what she should do; she seems to respect him enough for that.
She is strange, though. There's something clearly wrong with her, but her hobbies are so mundane. Or is it just that it's easier to handle a girl if her hobbies are all about looking at books and screens? ...It's hard to tell. But he shares a glance with Trem, and he gets a sense that she's thinking along the same lines he is.
Trem is from Earth. But he...
"I've never seen the real sky," Elan replies.
He's never seen the real ocean, either. That thought slips into his mind, along with a memory of his recent trip to one of the Frontier's Island beaches. But it was just as Trem described: not so bad.
And when Trem makes her conclusion, his gaze, too, goes distant. Something made artificially, huh... His gloved hands flex, subtly, then fall still.
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
Well it's not like secret covert ops pilots are going to have hobbies like stealing candy from babies or practising their maniacal laughter in the mirror. Though whether Stella is such a thing is still a guess. Either way she has definitely gone through some things.
Stella doesn't seem to disagree as she replies to Trem, "Mmmm. Still real. But natural things made by artificial are not right. Right? Don't feel the same. Some places Stella has been to serve artificial meat... Doesn't taste like real thing. Not as good. Still real though." She definitely isn't considering some perspectives. That or she's been taught not to. Or worse.
Elan mentions he's never seen the real sky. Stella tilts her head at him, "Does Elan Ceres want to see real sky? Or happy with fake?"
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Trem Firmal shares a glance with Elan Ceres, and it tells her that they are thinking the same thing.
But then she she blinks at what Elan says. He hasn't seen the real sky. She didn't know that. Even if -- from what she knows -- it shouldn't surprise her. It still takes her aback, and she isn't sure why.
She looks distracted, when Stella replies to her. She looks up -- and her expression becomes more withdrawn as she explains. Trem's silver eyes glance downward, and her fingers fall from adjusting her hair.
'Right?'
"They..." She trails off for a moment. "They aren't 'wrong,' I think. But... no, they aren't the same."
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Elan isn't one to talk, anyway. (Or think, as the case may be.) Reading is his only hobby, too.
Even so, she certainly has opinions on artificial things. He wouldn't remark on it, until her question.
"It doesn't matter," he replies, which may say more about him than he intended.
And whether artificially made things are 'real' or 'right' or not, they definitely aren't the same as natural things. Isn't that why they can't stop killing each other?
But he doesn't say that. He does, however, observe how much the conversation is weighing on Trem, if the look on her face is any indication.
<Pose Tracker> Stella Loussier has posed.
Stella definitely doesn't seem to notice how Trem is taking it as she simply shrugs in response to both of them. She leans forward again, placing her arms across the desk and resting her head on them, "Fake sky covers up the stars, which are pretty too. Would be better without fake sky..."
Footsteps in the hall outside draw Stella's attention. Given the low number of students still around, there's a good chance they can guess who's coming. So Stella sighs again, sitting up once more and picking up her pen. She goes back to writing, shortly before the teacher enters the room.
He doesn't seem especially happy to be back, but he looks over the two in detention before turning to Elan and asking, "Did they behave themselves?"
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Mm."
It doesn't matter. Trem looks distant for a moment more -- not quite noticing the way that Elan does notice and the way that Stella doesn't. She stays quiet, then she looks up when there's footsteps.
She sighs, and lifts her pen. It's back to writing; she is quiet. Though, she glances at Stella again, and considers that about a fake sky.
And then she looks at Elan at the teacher's question. Then, it's back down to her paper.
<Pose Tracker> Elan Ceres has posed.
Are the stars really that much prettier without a fake sky? When he's out in space, Elan can't see them at all. But then, the point of space is that they're beyond the sky. Trem doesn't disagree with her, either, so all he can do is take Stella's word for it.
Footsteps approach; Stella and Trem both return to their punishment. Elan watches them in silence until the door opens. He's still standing nearby--he never opted to sit--so he simply looks at the returning teacher.
Elan has no reason to cover for them, but phrasing is everything. Did they keep up with their punishment? No. Did they behave? All they did was talk and sit, so they didn't disbehave.
And so: "Yes," he replies.
He'll leave soon after. The rest of this detention has nothing to do with him.