fandomhighdorms | The Roof [Monday afternoon]

Entry tags:

The Roof [Monday afternoon]

Four had spent the last week exploring the island, learning the ways out, the places that were easiest to defend, the places that served food (he'd have to talk to the faction leaders about getting his monthly points for food and clothing converted into something he could use here), the places that sold clothing, and most importantly the shooting range and gym.

He was pretty impressed with the facilities, despite Chuck's warnings about them.

And now he was up on the second to last place he had to scout out--the roof--staying by the door and breathing through his fear of heights. After he was done here, he'd check out Selkie Point.

His eyes closed briefly as he worked to calm the pounding of his heart. He'd check out Selkie Point tomorrow, probably. Maybe even the next day.

[OOC: Open!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"So maybe we can move a little away from the door?" Rapunzel suggested, and then took a couple steps away -- closer to the ledge, but not on it, or anything. "I'm gonna be over here, if you want some company to distract you from being up here." She waved her sketchbook. "I can draw you!"

She was going to do that anyway.

Four visibly steeled himself and stepped away from the door. "Why would you want to draw me?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Abnegation didn't take pictures or allow for artwork and he hadn't stayed in Dauntless long enough to learn their rules--aside from the pro-tattoo and piercings stance.

"It helps me keep names straight, for one thing," Rapunzel said, neatly tucking her legs under herself and setting her sketchpad on her knees. "I've never seen this many people in one spot, so...I've been sketching people, along with the foods and objects I don't recognize."

She held out her sketchpad, on which was a half-finished drawing of Anders with his name and the word roommate neatly scribbled underneath, the bare bones of a sketch of Edward that bore his name as well, and a stylized but accurate drawing of a can of Coke.

"Plus it's fun. That helps, too."

Four looked a little shy, which was a step up from looking a little green from the heights. Excellent distraction technique, Rapunzel! "No one's ever drawn me before."

"It's okay," Rapunzel assured him with a grin as she plucked up her pencil and started forming the lines that would eventually be his head. "It doesn't hurt, promise."

"If you say so," Four said. "What do you want me to do?"

"Whatever you'd normally do if I wasn't here," Rapunzel said, waving a hand at him. "Relax as best you can. Um, tell me more about where you're from. You guys have those, um, categories you fit into, right?"

"If you weren't here, I'd be down in the lobby," Four said a little wryly, "but that wouldn't be very Dauntless of me. It's one of our five factions, and we're known for our bravery."

"That explains the roof thing," Rapunzel said with a little smile, glancing up from her sketch. "What are the other four, again?"

She was curious where she'd fit in, really.

"Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Abnegation," Four replied, gazing up at the sky.

"I bet I'd be in Amity," Rapunzel decided, her pencil swirly on the page. "It just sounds fun."

...yeah, she'd be in Amity for that reason alone.

"Your hair would fit right in there," Four agreed, "and they're most of our artists, too."

"Do you get to choose?" she asked curiously. "Or does someone else decide where you go?"

She hoped you got to choose. She, personally, didn't think she'd fit in with him in Dauntless.

"You get tested the year you turn 16," Four said. "And then you choose at a ceremony in front of the entire society to either stay in the faction you were born into or switch to another."

"Tested?" Rapunzel looked a little alarmed at that. "Does it hurt?"

"Only if you cut too deeply with the knife," Four said. "You have to drip your blood into one of five bowls symbolizing the five factions. It's symbolic--faction before blood. Your faction becomes your family, if your family isn't already in your faction."

"Do most people stay with their families?" Rapunzel wondered quietly, doing a bit of shading on his nose and cheekbones.

"It really depends on the faction," Four said. "Most Abnegation stay, but the rest of the factions are more divided."

"And that's the only one where I don't know what that word means already," Rapunzel noted thoughtfully. "What do they value, in Abnegation?"

"Selflessness," Four replied quietly, then shook his head once to clear it. "They aren't a very large faction."

"There aren't a lot of selfless people out there," Rapunzel said, glancing up. "Sorry. Was that mean to say?"

...it seemed like it was true, anyway.

"No," Four said. "It's true. The Abnegation take it to extremes, though. They'll stand at a bus stop for hours, letting other people on who need to get there first. They don't have mirrors in their house, or art, and they never talk about themselves. It's not much of a life if you're looking for one to choose, even if they do run the city."

"No mirrors?" Rapunzel asked, staring at him for that. Even she had a mirror, back in her tower. "What's selfless about not having mirrors? I mean, you don't have to get all vain about things just because a mirror's in your house. I'd wander around with paint on my face my whole life if I never had access to mirrors."

"If you don't care about yourself that way, you can go around with stuff on your face without caring," Four said dryly. "Maybe that's why I'm not Abnegation. I care about my hair."

His haircut didn't exactly scream "I care about my hair," no.

"I can tell," Rapunzel said, raising a brow. "I'm kind of an expert on hair, you know."

She was joking. But that didn't mean it wasn't also totally true.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject