Fifth Floor Common Room [evening]

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla, after listening to the radio avidly for the last few days, had decided that the other candidates for Student Council had tapped out the baked goods bribery market, which was why she was seated at the table writing a series of very polite notes to the members of the sophomore class and tying blue (which were scary, but school colour-related!) and yellow carnations to each with a pair of blue and yellow ribbons.

Jims was snoozing in a wicker basket nearby, and pot of tea was waiting by the stove. She'd share with anyone who stopped in, but especially if you were a Soph.

Comments

[wasthecuteone]

"No, we're good," Petra said from where she sat on the floor surrounded by crafting supplies, on the other side of the room where she wouldn't bother the baby with glue and marker fumes. "Hi, I don't think we've met? I'm Petra West."

[batwaffles.livejournal.com]

"New student?" guessed Stephanie, who'd at least done her junior-detective homework by reading up on the student rosters. "So probably not. Stephanie Brown, not-new student, and not running for Student Council so that should free up some extra poster-making space for everyone else."

[wasthecuteone]

"Yep," Petra said. "Got here a week ago, got convinced it wasn't an asylum, decided to run for Student Council. Go figure. What class are you in, Stephanie? And if you change your mind I'm sure we can free up some space, it's a big floor!"

[batwaffles.livejournal.com]

"The asylum thing," Stephanie intoned dryly, "is a completely understandable assumption to make. Luckily most people tend to swerve away from that one eventually -- oh, I'm a junior, by the way."

[wasthecuteone]

"So am I! Okay, you have options, I'm not going to ambush you here. Do you want to hear my platform, or would you rather wait to see a finished poster and decide whether it's awesome enough to win your vote?" Petra asked. "I'm not planning to stoop to bribery; you should know that right away."

[batwaffles.livejournal.com]

Stephanie laughed. "Wow, honest politics. That's either the smartest campaign decision ever or a bad move depending who you ask, but being as it's so refreshing and all, I'm going with the first option." She spread her hands. "Go on, hit me with the stump speech. I'll hear you out, and you can use it as practice."

[wasthecuteone]

"Okay, so," Petra said, assembling herself into pageant mode--perfect posture, three-quarters turn of the torso, smile solidly in place--in half a second flat despite being sitting lotus-style on the floor. "Though I'm new, I feel that I have a lot to bring to the Fandom High Student Council, due in part to my fresh perspective. One thing I've noticed since I've gotten here is that a lot of people aren't sure if I'm new or not, which speaks to me of a lack of dorm cohesion and community spirit. As your Student Council representative, I'd arrange a series of events for the entire dorm, and some by floor, to help us all get to know one another. These could include door-decorating contests, makeover nights, and community dinners. Second, I think we should work on disaster preparedness, as it is no joke. I spent six weeks on a deserted island, and if my example helps anyone to not have to learn how to catch fish with a straightening iron by trial and error, then I am here to help and more than happy to serve. And finally, I have a great sense of style and flair which I will bring to any events I help organize in my capacity as your Student Council representative. Thank you for your time, and please consider me at the poll."

And then she basically turned back into a normal human, if still a really pretty one. "How was that?"

[batwaffles.livejournal.com]

Blink. Well. Wow, that was some impressive gearshifting into pageant mode and back, and also straightening iron?

"Boy, you sure hit all the key points," Stephanie offered. "I like how you snuck the whole deserted-island thing in there casually. Gets attention, but there's a whole 'see, I handled it just fine!' thing that works."

". . . except," she admitted after a moment, "I really want to ask about the straightening iron now."

[wasthecuteone]

"We were on our way to a beauty pageant, so those were the kinds of things we had in our luggage," Petra explained with a shrug. "Like, we turned an evening gown into a tarp to collect rainwater. The trick to the straightening iron is to be really patient and then really fast, and you sort of--" she made a snapping motion with her hand. "Close it on the fish. It only works for the little ones, though. For the big ones we sharpened spears with pumice stones, and then eventually we worked out how to melt down our jewelry into fishhooks." To hear her tell it, this was no big.