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Statistics: Posted by renegadeoftheshire — Thu Mar 19, 2020 12:05 am
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“You don’t have to tell her.”
“Tell whom what?” Joseph asked guardedly.
“The nurse.”
The simple half-answer did not match the complexity of Matthew’s loaded expression, but Joseph wasn’t about to try to unravel it. Not when it threatened to unravel his own troubles, and so soon after.... He suppressed a shudder. “No, no, I’m fine.” He set his hands on the ground to help himself up, if only to prove it.
“Your foot’s not.”
As if on cue, the wounded ankle throbbed and flared with heat. “Thanks for reminding me,” he groaned dryly.
Matthew stood and offered a hand. Joseph didn’t mean to cast doubt, but the younger boy’s small frame seemed hardly sufficient for the task. Matthew noticed. “I’m stronger than I look, you know.”
Joseph set an arm behind himself and took the proffered hand with his own. Between Matthew’s hauling and his own shove against the tree, he stood up with a breathless “Right then.” In a trice, Matthew situated himself on Joseph’s weak side and arranged their arms so as to provide the best support he could. Together they limped back to the school, pausing briefly to retrieve Matthew’s sketchbook. This he held in the hand that pinned Joseph’s own to his shoulder and he politely refused Joseph’s offer to carry it.
Silence fell. Though the walk to the nurse’s office would not be long, even hampered with an injury, and though the quiet seemed mutually agreeable, Joseph thought it reasonable to fill the empty space. “Thanks for the help.”
“Does it hurt bad?"
Joseph wondered at the mechanical politeness of his tone, as if he already knew the answer. “It could be worse.” He waited for a response, but Matthew only nodded. They reached the threshold of the Academy and the silence suddenly didn’t seem so agreeable anymore. “Pull up a moment,” he said as he detangled himself away to stand on his own, being careful to lean on his good foot. “How did you know?”
Matthew squinted. “Know what?”
Joseph chose the safe - the obvious, logical - topic. “My ankle. I’d completely forgotten I’d twisted it when I woke up.”
Matthew’s eyes darted to the resumed football game, more than far enough away to be out of earshot of anything but a shout. He hugged his sketchbook - unconsciously, Joseph thought. The younger boy sucked in a deep breath and spilled it back out with, “I see things. Dream things.”
Whispers of Matthew’s madness crept into Joseph’s mind even as pity filled his heart.
“You do too. I knew that Wednesday night.”
Joseph swallowed. He thought back his second night at the Academy. The night a yip of terror woke all but the deepest sleepers in his dormitory. The night that grumblings of insanity pierced the thin veil of restraint. The night he sat by the bedside of a boy who quaked with fear in what privacy his blanket afforded. The night he learned of the bond between those who had seen - still saw - unspeakable horrors. He just didn’t expect Matthew to have felt it too in the midst of his fight to stifle his sobs.
“You dreamed this?”
Matthew nodded. “Parts of it. Weeks ago.”
Joseph took a deep breath and released it. The whole business was fantastic, yet not so very unbelievable, he supposed, even if it was a shock to know his future had been witnessed through a dream in this world. “I see,” was the most he could manage. Laying a hand on the door handle, he continued with, “I think I’m ready to go in now.”
Matthew nodded and took his position at his side to escort him to the nurse’s office. At the door, Matthew released him and took his leave.
“Thanks, Matthew.”
He turned and offered a small smile before he retreated down the hall. Jospeh opened the door, but paused to watch the other boy, who had opened his sketchbook and torn out a page. Joseph frowned thoughtfully. Matthew was right. He had seen something. The difference was that Joseph’s wasn’t a dream.
Suggested: Let’s get to know some of the other kids better! Most of them are all together in a knot, so this is a great time for exploration!
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Sun Mar 08, 2020 3:59 pm
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)Anna peered into his face. "You should see the nurse, in case you're concussed."
"He's fine," Roger said. "Just a little bump on the noggin."
"It was hard enough to knock him out," Anna argued.
Hunter's face lit up and she patted the side of her leg, but then her mouth twisted into scowl. "Barf me out," she muttered.
"What's that?" Anna asked her.
"Nothing. Just a narbo who forgot that I can't look at the damage to his code - head. I mean his head." Hunter shrugged and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "Wouldn't work out here anyway."
Their voices grated against the buzzing in his head. Joseph waved a hand at them. "I only need a minute, alright? Just... give me a minute."
Everyone backed away a respectful distance till the only grating voice was that of Nico asking Hunter what "barf me out" and "narbo" meant. Joseph allowed himself more than a minute to calm his drumming heart and breathe away the lightheaded fog from his brain.
(80's slang time, since Joseph didn't get to hear the answers. "Barf me out" is an expression of disgust. "Narbo" means "idiot".)
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:47 pm
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Despite his misgivings at listening in to Matthew and Evelyn's conversation, Joseph found himself straining his ears to catch what was being said. He had only caught a snatch of something that sounded like "Thanks" and "That's all right." before Nico returned with the ball, and everyone was talking at once.
Nico took charge, tossing the ball and catching it as he talked over everyone else. "All right then... where shall we put the goal posts... those two trees over there should do... and for the girls... how about that gap in the hedge there? Good! All right then, have at it!"
In a few minutes everyone was running like mad. Nico was by far the most aggressive of the boys, and the real conflict seemed to be between him and Anna, who was half a head taller than him and could quite decently hold her own. Matthew did his best to back Nico up, but all he could do was to catch passes and pass again as fast as he could before Hunter was upon him, lashing out with her feet to get the ball away. Joseph and Evelyn were quite content to guard the goals.
With a sudden, furious kick, Anna managed to put a stop to the stalemate and shot the ball across the field to the boy's goal. Joseph lunged to block it, and immediately he felt a surge of ripping pain in his ankle as he twisted it on the roots of one of the trees. He fell, and his head struck the tree's trunk.
A minute later, he awoke sitting up against the tree. Five anxious faces stared into his.
"I say, are you alright?" asked Nico.
"I... I'm fine." said Joseph. "Go on ahead. I'll be there in a minute."
He dared not try to tell them what he had seen in that brief moment of unconsciousness.
Statistics: Posted by cleander — Mon Mar 02, 2020 3:20 am
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"Evelyn?"
She turned to find Matthew a few paces behind her. When he did not come any closer, she approached him.
He scuffed a shoe in the grass. "I, uh.... Here." He shoved a folded paper at her. "It's for you."
She accepted and examined the gift. There were only two things on the page: a still-life of daisies and a portrait of a girl who looked up at the rest of the empty paper with an expression of wonder. It took Evelyn a moment to realize that it was a reproduction of herself.
"I'm sorry I knocked you down," Matthew said. "I didn't mean to. I mean, I did, but... I had a- a dream." His voice had dropped to a whisper so that Evelyn had to strain to hear him. She noticed him look at someone behind her, so she looked too. Everyone feigned disinterest except Joseph. Joseph stood quietly by, hands in his pockets, and watched. He might have given Matthew a slight nod, but Evelyn couldn't be sure. She turned back to Matthew, who continued. "It felt so real. They were, Over There. And... well, anyway, I'm sorry."
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:14 pm
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MK plunked down across from him and wrinkled her nose to push her glasses up. She opened her mouth to say something, then decided against it. She shoveled a forkful of food into her mouth and darted her eyes to her right -- where there was nothing to look at but the wall beside them. Matthew turned his own eyes away and back down to the sketch in his lap. She wanted something, all right. She just didn’t know how to say it. Maybe if he discouraged conversation, she wouldn’t say anything at all and he wouldn't have to defend himself.
“Why, it’s Evelyn!” she exclaimed around a chipmunk'ed cheek.
“Shh!” he hissed desperately. He hugged his sketchbook to his chest and looked around to see if anyone had taken notice. No one had.
Unfazed, MK continued, though she did lower her voice. “I do a little doodling myself, see?” She pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and laid it before him. On one side was a tally of checkers games won — MK was the clear winner —, but the rest of the page consisted of scattered sketches. A pocket watch. A raindrop and a ripple. A tangled vine of flowers, some with five round petals, some with extended stamens, some simply represented by swirls. A string of loops and dots and heavy strokes that might be another language. Matthew nodded to acknowledge them.
“It’s not great art, I know,” MK said, “but I do it to remember the worlds I’ve seen.”
Matthew raised his eyes to meet hers. They were green and inviting, shining bright from behind her spectacles. He looked at her drawings again. She bent her head down to search him out. He clutched his sketchbook tighter. Maybe he could share some of his sketches. Not the ones of Marus, and certainly none of the dreams — though at least the one of Evelyn and the bullet and the shattered window was safely tucked away in his drawers. But the ones he showed Professor Kirke? Those he could share.
A chorus of laughter caught his attention and he swivelled to discover its source. Anna, Evelyn, Joseph, and the others were rising from their seats. He opened his mouth, then shut it. He licked his lips and shot MK what he hoped looked like an apologetic glance. Without bothering about his dishes, he trotted after the group, carefully tearing the latest page of sketches from his book.
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:20 am
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When she's finished going through the line, she pauses briefly and scans the room sighing. Once again she must make the choice of who's table to sit at. Spotting Matthew at the back she makes her way over, glancing out of the corner of her eye at his artwork as she approaches. "May I join you?"
Statistics: Posted by Lil — Mon Jan 20, 2020 3:55 pm
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@Rennie: It would help if you gave some context when you change POVs.
Miss Plummer searched her memory for any student named Joe, in the event that she could place Hunter’s grandfather as a former student. As far as she could recall, there had been a few scattered about through the years. Joey Farrow the stableboy. Josiah - what was his surname? - the linguist. Joe Blackwell with the club foot. Of course, the current Joseph, arrived only a few days ago. There were more, she knew, but none she could positively identify as Hunter’s Grandpa Joe. But Grandpa Joe wasn’t the one here for an interview, nor did he have to be a graduate of Chinks and Chasms to have known of it, so she set aside her questions about him for the time being. All except for the most important one for the moment:
“Does he know you’re here now?
Hunter nodded and swallowed a mouthful of food. “Yeah, he does. He even drew a map for me.” She reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “He figures you could help me with something, though I’m not sure how.”
Miss Plummer smiled. “We can certainly try.”
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Sun Dec 08, 2019 8:54 am
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Evelyn had noticed the look between Joseph and Matthew but put it off as her imagination. She also realized that since the lunch had begun Roger had been the only boy who had said anything. And most of the boys (Joseph included) were ignoring her. Was she invisible? She decided to concentrate on her new friends and let the boys to their own affairs.
(sorry if this sounds weird, but I couldn't help but notice that most people speaking to Evelyn were girls)
Statistics: Posted by knightofnarnia — Fri Nov 29, 2019 8:49 am
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Regarding ages, I'd like to know too. Matthew is eleven. Anna and Hunter have been described as teenagers (I assume Anna is an older teen, but that's not been stated outright; she was the oldest student in the sitting room). I don't believe anyone else has been given an age.)
Joseph collected his lunch and surveyed the room for a spot to sit.
“Hi! Joseph! Over here!”
It was Roger Harding - a name he wasn’t allowed to forget, so said the boy in question. To his credit, he’d been right: of all the names and faces Joseph had muddled up in his few days here, Roger was not one of them. Maybe it was his distinctively pale features. Maybe it was the voice too deep for his slight frame and fourteen years. More likely it was his fervour for absolutely anything he chose to fix upon. Including, apparently, his self-appointed title of Joseph’s new best friend. Joseph hadn’t decided how he felt about that just yet, but Roger seemed a decent chap whose friendly beckoning warranted rewarding.
“You’re late.”
“I was with Professor Kirke.”
“I suppose that can’t be helped.” Roger let out a mock sigh of long-suffering before his smile flashed back. “But now that you’re here, you can meet Evelyn! Evelyn, this is my swell bunkmate Joseph; Joseph, Evelyn.”
Joseph nodded cordially and greeted his new acquaintance. She responded in kind.
“She’s just arrived today. Between her and that girl over there -” Roger pointed at a girl sitting with Miss Plummer - “you’re rising in seniority already!”
Joseph tucked into his lunch with as much efficiency he could politely manage. He had lost time to make up for, after all,
(Just so everyone knows, I have zero ideas for Roger outside of what’s written above, so don’t worry about waiting for additional information about him, just do whatever you please.
)Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Thu Nov 28, 2019 11:24 pm
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