deck | early evening | saturday | september 12

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

In the Community, going out after certain hours hadn't been permitted save for the those with Assignments that required it. Even being three years removed from that place, it still took Jonas a few weeks to realize that he could go out and stay out without the fear of punishment.

There were so many things he knew he could be doing or could be learning but, tonight, he found himself just staring up at the darkening sky. It was overcast but the clouds still captivated him in ways that might seem mundane to almost everyone else. It was amazing to him how they moved, changed shape and combined with each other so effortlessly.

Jonas hoped he might see stars later, when the sky grew dark, but watching the clouds was all right with him for the moment. The book he'd brought lay unopened next to him, ready if the clouds grew boring. Jonas didn't see that happening though.

[the deck's open!]

Comments

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

Turtle had figured today might be a good time for some little campaigning, so she'd thrown together something new to hand out, little bags (with a nice green plaid design on them and little tags that said 'Vote 4 Turtle!') filled with various candies and sundry. She had them all in her messenger bag at her hip, so that she could easily pull them out to offer to people. Coming out on the desk, she already saw a potential taker.

"Hey!" she waved. "How's it going?"

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"Hello," Jonas said, pulling his eyes away from the clouds to give Turtle a small smile. He vaguely recognized her just from time spent around the school and dorms but couldn't recall a name. "It's going pretty well. And yourself? How are you?"

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Very well," Turtle answered brightly, and dug out one of the little bags of candy. She held it out. "Want one?"

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

Jonas examined the bag, examined the colors but didn't reach out and take it just yet. He wasn't sure what she was being offered or what it did.

"What's this?" he asked curiously.

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Just a bag of candies," Turtle said, still smiling, with a slight shrug of her shoulder as she held it out. "Chocolates, some Fun Size candy bars, little bags of Skittles. I'm running for Student Council, and this is just a little something I'd like to offer to get my name out there and be considered for the spot."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"I don't know what any of those are," he admitted though the word candy was familiar. A sweet food, mostly made of sugar, that was very rarely allowed in the Community. "Student Council? I thought you made posters for that."

Well, at least that's what he'd seen Jean doing. His knowledge of this whole Student Council thing was new.

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"All the more reason you should have some!" Turtle informed him, starting to dangle the bag a little in what she hoped was an enticing manner. "They're good, if you like sweet things. And, sure, everyone makes posters. I thought I'd try something a little different. People can't enjoy posters as well as they can enjoy candy, after all."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"Candy helps convince people to vote for you?" Jonas asked, taking the bag carefully since he was being offered and he didn't want to turn a kind gesture down. "It seems like a giveaway could easily be taken for granted by those getting the items."

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Well," Turtle explained, "the candy is more of a gate opener, you know? It's a nice gesture that hopefully encourages people to get to know me a little better and learn of the qualifications I have to bring to the table as a representative."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"What qualifications do you have?" Jonas asked, interested now that she'd said that. "Jean told me about her own qualifications when I helped make her posters."

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"I've got plenty of experience," Turtle offered, right off the bat, with a smile; Jonas wasn't even in her class, and she knew that because she'd studied the class lists to memory, but that didn't mean it hurt to get some practice in, nor did it do any good to ignore the rest of the student body. "My fellow classmates have trusted me to be their representative for two years now, and I've always put in a good hand with helping with all sorts of events. I'm personable and I try to really get to know the student body. Because it isn't just about me; it's about all of us, you know?"

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"You're very confident," he complimented with a small grin, "and you seem very enthusiastic about the position. Does it require a lot of hard work?"

Even from helping Jean, he didn't know what a member of the Student Council would do. He assumed it was like an Elder position, one of power but he hadn't yet gotten to study it extensively.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

Beka had survived her shopping trip with Emma and this was her first trip out wearing actual jeans (http://www.bluefly.com/AG-Adriano-Goldschmied-indigo-stretch-Angel-bootcut-jeans/cat290024/304370201/detail.fly) and a top (http://www.bluefly.com/C-C-California-treehouse-organic-cotton-terry-top/cat20004/301574002/detail.fly) instead of her usual tunic. Mayhap she didn't look as out of place now, but she felt it more. The clothes were strange to wear (especially the undergarments), but she'd get used to them.

She was a bit relieved to find Jonas, even as she wasn't certain why. "Evening, Jonas."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"Beka, hello," he said, looking away from the sky and holding a hand up to wave at her. Considering that he'd worn tunics himself during his time in the Community and had just recently made the switch himself, he just smiled at the new clothing. He knew that adjustment wasn't always the easiest.

"How are you?" he asked, smiling. "Were you exploring?"

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

She nodded and sat down in the chair facing him. "I got bored," she admitted, leaving out the part where her roommate's pictures gave her the creeps if she looked at them too long. And somehow it was impossible not to end up looking at them. "You look at ease."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"I've been watching the clouds," he explained, pointing and looking back up. "They've calmed me considerably. I never really noticed them before."

They weren't important, weren't something the Community paid attention to unless the weather turned bad. In hindsight, Jonas was surprised they hadn't found a way to control the weather.

"It's relaxing," he added.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

Beka automatically glanced up, leaning her head against the back of the chair. The sky wasn't something she paid much attention to either, despite having a constellation for cat.

"As long as they don't rain syrup?" she guessed.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"Yes, that," he said and laughed, keeping his eyes on the sky and the clouds for a moment longer. "If it were raining syrup, I probably wouldn't be as interested. It's interesting to think that something so sticky could emerge from something so...soft looking."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Do you think they'd really be soft if you could touch them?" Beka wondered.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"I think so," he said after a moment spent considering that. "With the way they look, I can't see them being anything other than soft. They remind me of cotton."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

She nodded and reached up to rub her shoulder, not aware that she was doing it. "Or wool, that's yet to be spun."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"I don't know if I know that is," he said after a moment spent searching through his memory banks for the word, for the context. "A material of some kind?"

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

She could have foreseen that, she realized. "Do you know what sheep are?"

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"An animal," he supplied, nodding. "I've never actually seen one save for in pictures. They're made of this wool?"

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Beka, right?" Turtle called out with a smile, and lifted up one of the many bags of candy she had in her messenger back. "Think fast!"

And she very lightly lobbed it underhanded her way.