fandomhighdorms | Lawn of the Dorms | Late, Late, Late Night (2am EST)

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Lawn of the Dorms | Late, Late, Late Night (2am EST)

It was a quiet night. Just after midnight, a steady rain had started falling, drenching the island quickly and showing no sign of slowing. A few hours later, at 2am, the peace of the night was broken when the fire alarm started blaring. It would shrilly blare, stop and then repeat the same shrill blare two seconds later. And it was not going to stop until the all clear was given.

Thus, all the students had to carry their tired selves from their snuggly significant others or their snuggly beds to go wait IN THE RAIN on the dorm lawn. The fire department was making sure all the students were a safe distance away from the school so there were no awnings to hide under. All the students would be stuck out in the steady rain.

The fire department headed into the building but this could take awhile. Enjoy your fire drill, kids!

[IT'S FIRE DRILL TIEMS! Just remember it's raining but it's warm. Have fun! See here for fire drill details! And take a look here for our previous fire drill!]

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"A flat shield above my head makes for a brilliant rain shelter," Karla said, dimpling. She pointed upwards, where the rain looked as if it were landing on a large piece of glass. "I could probably make it big enough for everyone, but why put Turtle out of business? But invite people under if you'd like."

Dinah grinned, and looked around for poor Tony. "Definitely. I'm amazed you're awake enough to think of it." She yawned, and fished the still-annoyed Camille out of her pocket, brushes beads of water ouf her fur and cuddling her close. "Thanks, though."

"My shields snapped up when I nearly had a heart attack from the alarm. You...learn to wake up quickly, sometimes. Anyway, once I got out here and saw how miserable everyone was" and stopped snickering "I altered my shield a bit to make the shelter." She gave Dinah a measuring glace. "You could probably do something similar with your power."

"Hunh." Dinah squinted sleepily upward, considering. She'd picked up handfuls of popcorn before, moving them from place to place. This wasn't too different, really. "When I'm not half asleep, yeah. Something to try." She blinked at Karla, then said, "Oh, right. Fire alarm. You wouldn't have heard it before."

"Thanks. I was wondering." But laughing at people and then making sure the ones she liked were dry was more important. "Do we have them often?" Maybe she could just put aural shields everywhere...

"The last one was... hmmm, four months ago?" Dinah said, waking up a little more. "And if someone burns something and sets off the alarms in the dorms, I guess. So I'd guess every semester, to make sure the new kids know the procedure in case the place starts burning. But no real idea." She shook her head. "Better than burning or getting smoke inhalation, but wow, I hate drills."

"They deliberately picked a night when it was raining out, didn't they?"

Karla wasn't entirely certain who 'they' were, but was not about to exclude anyone, up to and including the very island itself.

"Probably?" Dinah cupped her fingers to catch water in one palm, and brought it back to Camille to drink out of, smirking a little at Karla. "What do you do for fire in Glacia? Or does it never get out of control?"

"We use Craft," she answered, shrugging. "There are fires, and sometimes really bad ones. But I don't think anyone had figured a system for detecting one." She eyed the building with new respect. "Hmmm..."

Dinah grinned. "There's heat-detectors on the ceilings. Smoke-detectors too. Which is why you're not supposed to smoke inside the building," she said, sending a look Chuck's way. "I don't know how they work, exactly." She tilted her head. "See what cool things you can learn here?" She rolled her eyes. "In such a fun way."

"If I could figure out how these electronics work, I would make a fortune," Karla grinned. "I bet I could get Turtle to help me, too. I'd provide the funds to invest, she'd provide the know-how..."

Dinah laughed hugely. "Oh! And I think Ender does stuff like this? He could probably explain it pretty well. Val said he's into making gadgets." She gave Karla a wicked grin. "You'll corner the market and do a public service too. Most awesome witch ever."

"Though, I'll be busy, what with the ruling Glacia and all. Might need additional help." Karla gave Dinah a considering look. "What are your plans five years from now?"

"Five years," Dinah said, thinking aloud, "I'll have hopefully graduated from some university, with a degree in criminal justice. Annnd I'll be looking for a place to become an apprentice in private investigation." She grinned sheepishly. "I just found out lately that it's more than saying you'll follow someone for two hundred dollars a day plus expenses. There's a whole long process to become official with it."

"What else is involved?" Karla asked, thinking back to the silly show about the vampire. If she was remembering and understanding things correctly, his role seemed like it would be a very useful position at Court.

Not that she was thinking about that yet or anything. Of course not!

"Gathering evidence, physical and forensic, photography, testifying at court-- um, civil or criminal court, not like a royal court," Dinah amended as she spoke. "Computers, for checking on public records. Interrogations, we were actually learning that this week in my Criminal Justice class. Practical experience is best. I've already done some of this." She looked down at Camille in her arms, and said slowly, "I think I want to concentrate on missing persons. Runaways. And cold cases, the crimes that never got solved by the police."

Karla nodded. "That seems a very superior and useful skillset to have," she said. "Helpful wherever you go. And while your focus sounds like it might be less glorious than other paths, it seems most kind. Rescuing those that have gone missing and bringing peace to those her were hurt long ago...you are an admirable person, Dinah Lance," Karla said quietly, patting Dinah's arm.

Dinah turned red at the compliment, and thought that sometime soon, she'd tell Karla the rest of it. Not in the middle of a fire drill in the rain, though. "Thanks. My uncle keeps saying I should go into the regular police, but... well." She shrugged, looking wry. "I don't deal well with authority. I don't think I'd be very successful officer of the alw."

"What is it about authority you don't do well with?" Karla asked. She knew her own answers of course, but hearing Dinah's would also be interesting.

"My powers-- well, they wouldn't go over really well. Uncle Jim thinks I could turn it to my advantage, but I think there'd be too many cops who'd be scared of me, to work well together." Dinah stroked Camille, thinking. "And I like doing things my way, on the fly, without procedures getting in the way or the public to answer to. You can't pick your cases with the police." And there were plenty of regular police officers; not so many people who could handle metas gone criminal.

"So you're looking for a place where your powers would at least be respected if not fully understood, your superiors would trust you enough to give you free reign to do things your own way, without undue interference, so long as you mostly stayed on the right side of the law, and where you were free to choose your own cases?" Karla asked thoughtfully.

She stored that bi of information away for the future.

Dinah cocked her head, then nodded, amused. "I won't be ready for a while. I think I'll need a couple years of apprentice and associate work before I could strike out on my own. And I'll probably have to talk to my sisters about how to set it up, finances and all. I suck at that part," she cheerfully admitted. "Barbara's good at it, though. She'd figure out what I should charge, or the insurance I'd need to make it work."

"Ahh, an apprenticeship," Karla nodded. "Very wise. This does sound like it would have more learning than simply in a classroom setting. But what's insurance, and why should you need it?"

"If you're working alone, you need business insurance in case you get sued by someone saying you didn't do your job correctly," Dinah explained. "It's, hmmm. Kind of like building up a savings? Just in case? For court costs. Or if you lose, to make a settlement. A private investigator might get into some violent situations, people could get hurt. If I'm on my own, I'd need health insurance in case I get hurt. But sometimes the costs are more than you could earn, so you." She grinned. "Make a bet, with a company, that takes these kinds of bets with a lot of people. You're betting you'll get hurt; they're betting you won't. If you win, they pay out. If you lose, you keep paying, but hey! You're still healthy, unsued, and only paying a little money every month against disaster. The companies win over time, 'cause they figure the odds on lots of people not getting hurt are better than the odds of lots of people getting injuried or losing in court."

"That's a very interesting business arrangement," Karla mused. "There's nothing comparable in Kaeleer, I don't think. Most Healers are subsidized by Courts or covens, or something, so no one who is injured or ill can be turned away. And anyone who has a job like yours would probably have a contract with the Queen, who would handle a settlement directly, and then take it out of the pay or something."

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