savetheearth | 010 ♦ Open

Entry tags:

010 ♦ Open

who: Winter and interested parties
when: Halloween morning and around noon
where: Locke City High School; front gate, then cafeteria
what: Who watches the ~~Watchmen~~ police? Winter does, mostly because she's the only one that can see there's the potential of a situation developing, and because she takes her job ~~way too~~ seriously.

[1 - morning]
It's a very cross-looking Winter that's standing near the front gate the morning of Halloween; on paper, she's here making sure none of the students' costumes are against dress code (too badly; it is Halloween), but in practice, she's keeping an eye on what feels to her like a swarm of police that have taken up shop in the school today. She is not at all subtle that's she's keeping an eye on them, but with her glasses polished to a shine and having actually dug out a red armband with "student council" written in Japanese characters on it, dressed in what looks suspiciously like an authentic Japanese school uniform from somewhere, long hair in a single ponytail and flowing out behind her, she actually has presence today. (Yes, she's managed to come both in costume and dressed exactly right for her job. Sue her.) She's still cordial enough to students that greet her as they walk by, but her attention is clearly diverted a little. When the bell rings, she continues to linger for a few minutes, as is her habit and duty; if anyone's late on their way in, they'll normally get a gentle scolding. Today, they'll get a very gentle reminder to please be on time, and worried looks to make sure the fuzz won't jump the gun.

[2 - lunchtime]
Winter's been visibly distracted and demonstrably tense all morning; she actually snapped at a teacher in a class, though she would have spent the next five minutes apologizing if the teacher hadn't stopped her. So it's a sullen girl that sits down for lunch somewhere she can see the whole cafeteria, Raquel on her lap; he's been markedly absent all morning, but that's mostly because she's had him sneaking through the vents and making sure nothing untoward came up. They met back up on her way here, and as she idly picks dust bunnies off him, she sighs heavily.

"How long is this going to go on...?"

Pushing her tray aside, she leans forward, resting her head on the table, Raquel frowning but keeping silent; her gaze goes out the window to the world beyond, and the police cars parked outside. This is fairly out-of-character behavior for her, so it's not unlikely it calls attention. Beyond that, if you'd like to make sure she's not getting angst all over the table, she'd appreciate it.

[3 - ???]
Winter's activities and emotions today aren't exactly normal, and it's easy for anyone to see - if there's anywhere you'd like to find her at some point during or after school today, she'll be happy to chat... well, maybe not happy, but she'll do it. She'll also actively leave classes to respond to incidents in the school - Raquel will be on watch again in the afternoon, as he was in the morning.

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Sanae had been watching Winter for most of the time that they were in class, and something just seemed... off. Her energy--outside of a rather unexpected outburst--had all but disappeared, and by lunch time the other girl had become concerned.

Quickly unpacking her lunch, Sanae, dressed in a dark burgundy dress and giant purple ribbon on her head walks over, pushing one of the desks against Winter's and sitting down. "Hey, is everything okay? Are you feeling sick? You don't seem like you today."

Winter raises her head just a little, smiling slightly before letting herself crash against the desk again with a dull thud. "I'm okay... I'm just a little tired. And... anxious," she admitted. "I don't like having o-outsiders here, after everything that's happened. They... make me nervous."

Picking herself back upright, she sighed. "Thank you, though... I'm just feeling a little rough today. I'll be okay when this is over."

So something was bothering her, although her answer was interesting to say the least. Sanae blinked a few times. "Oh, you mean the police?" Looking over her shoulder toward the classroom door, she frowned. "Yeah, I don't like it either, but," She then turned back toward Winter, trying to smile, "If they're here, that means that nothing bad will happen here. Probably. Right?"

That was when she noticed him, the blue Raquel sitting in her lap, her eyes lit up a bit. "Cute! Where did you get that? Is he part of your costume?"

She shakes her head, frowning a little. "I'm not so certain. If the police are here... they are expecting something. If what they are expecting doesn't happen, I suppose it will be just fine, but..." Looking out the window again, she spots one of the funny-looking dogs the police have been trotting out today; she grimaces in distaste. "...some of the students here are fond of making trouble where there is none. I'm not so sure today is going to end well."

The comment on Raquel, meanwhile, startles both of them - she hides it better than he does, gripping him a little tighter as a reminder to keep cool about things. Recovering, she laughs lightly. "He's... an old friend of mine. I thought it would be a good day to bring him along... to keep me company. I used to pretend he could make faces at me, or talk to me... of course, that was back when I didn't have a whole lot of friends. I'm... doing a little better in that regard now, thankfully, but I'll never forget Raquel.

She smiles fondly, looking down at the plushie; she can feel him wibbling in her arms, and while she's calm on the outside, she's panicking. 'Winter, congratulations, you've just managed the biggest instance of lying through your teeth since you got these damned numbers, and it's not even really a lie. Gotta keep this going... or we're going to have problems.'

Edited 2013-11-01 01:56 (UTC)

Again, Sanae frowns. "I guess, but we did just have something bad happen and school just started again. Maybe they think it was someone around our age that was behind it?" Which, in and of itself was a bit terrifying to think about, but she was going to try to put that as far out of her head as possible. There was no way, right? "Anyway, it's not a good idea to borrow trouble. It might seem scary, but they're here, which means that at least the school is kind of safe."

When talking about her toy, Sanae smiled a bit warmly, "But why would you miss him if he's right there?"

"That... might be true..." That was what the police existed for, after all - to keep people out of trouble, and to investigate whatever trouble might crop up anyway. "But I'm w-worried all the same. I'll be glad when this is over."

She smiles, putting a hand on Raquel's head. "Exactly."

While Bakura loved the hell out of Halloween, he was not the type to go to school in costume, so instead, he was wearing a hoodie that passed for one. Kinda.

He paused, making such a face as he spotted Winter. "...You seriously went all out."

Shifting so her glasses catch the light, she takes on a hard tone. "The best disguise is the one that does not look out of place, and allows you to hide in plain sight."

Then she relaxes, grinning. "I wanted to... be dressy today. To step further into my role... and g-go beyond myself. Maybe then I won't worry quite so much, if I'm t-thinking about something else."

"I was going to say, you're missing the point of Halloween if you don't want to look out of place..." Bakura smiled slightly.

He looked over at her a moment more. "Cops bugging you too? Or something else."

"Even I know when to relax and have fun, Bakura..." It's a light admonishment, but she's not really complaining. After all, he'd at least noticed, so it wasn't all bad.

At his question, though, her smile faded into something a little more serious. "Yes, they are. I... I'm not sure what to think... why are they here? Do they k-know something, or... are they just on the lookout?"

There was a soft snort at her first comment, but he let it drop. Because really, Winter.

He scowled slightly as she continued. "If they do think they know something, it's because of that asshole wanna be chem teacher..."

"Chem teacher?" Well, this was news. Was there a mole in the school somewhere? Or... another of the numbered? She knew of Mr. Lyall, but... "What do you mean?"

Bakura dropped the volume of his voice, stepping a bit closer. "Saw him out in the Dead District not long after the explosions, talking with the cops."

"Oh? That is n-news," Winter noted. And honestly, it was - she'd known there were people connected to the police on the network, but one of the teachers was, too?

"Do you have any... thoughts? Is he working with them, or... working for them? Or was he j-just there at the time?" Without being there, Winter didn't want to draw conclusions, but maybe Bakura had an idea of what was going on already. That would give her something to ask about, once all this died down a little.

"With how casual he was chatting them up? Bet you that little--" He bit back the expletive, making a face instead. "is reporting to them one way or another...."

"Hmm..." That was definitely worrying, she had to agree. But at the same time... "I don't... have enough information. I'll b-be careful, though. Not that I'm not anyway, but..."

Bakura nodded. "Don't say anything on the network that might get you in trouble, okay? Don't give him anything he can snitch about..."

"R-right... I'll be careful. Um... thank you, Bakura."

Although... she couldn't help but wonder if it was really as bad as he was making it sound.

"With the terrorism accusations? Probably a couple weeks."

A certain delinquent happened to be walking by as Winter said that.

"Don't worry about it."

She sighs - she knows that voice. "I'm still... going to worry about it. You don't just accept the introduction of several armed men inside a building of young men and women... and not wonder if everything w-will be okay."

There's a silence for a moment. Then: "Especially with what we are."

As Winter finished that last sentence, Britany suddenly grabbed her.

"Then what're you gonna do, huh?", she said aloud.

Then, more quietly, "Don't mention what we have in common where people can hear."

Aloud, with a tiny hint delivered... "Seriously. You're here to enforce rules, right? These guys aren't a problem for you. Let the delinquents be the scared ones, okay?"

Winter scowls a little. "I'm going to keep an eye on t-things... exactly what I've been doing. There's no need for this," she says with a little bit of pride, clearly meaning the officers, though she's careful not to actually gesture in case any of them are listening. "Isn't this... a little much, anyway?"

"Guess they figure the grafitti's related to the case somehow or something. I mean, completely ridiculous, but whatever."

With that, Rita turned around to start off. "Stress isn't becoming for you, by the way."

"Somehow I doubt t-that's what they're looking for," Winter tried to reason. "Not like this."

And then Britany's walking away already, and Winter's incensed by that last comment - she wouldn't be stressing if the police weren't here! The rest of the events of the last week or so weren't helping either. And so Winter can't keep one last parting comment from passing her lips, hopefully quietly enough that Britany won't hear: "Brat."

"Proud of it," Birtany finished.

It had been a hell of a week or so. Had it been a week? Maybe? Something resembling a week, at any rate. Time blurred after so many sleeplessness nights and hours spent chatting with cops who couldn't find evidence in an evidence room. A snort leaves him as he closes his car door. Incompetent, corrupt idiots. Maybe he has a hand in the corruption, but at least his brain actually gets used, too often as of late.

Simply put, Richard feels exhausted. Between paperwork and investigations and grading assignments and making lesson plans and whatever else? It's a miracle he hadn't fallen asleep on the drive to school, although he had slept in and is officially late to his class thanks to that. Ah well, the kids can have those few precious moments of hoping their teacher isn't there today.

Upon making his way to the building, the sight of Winter giving the cops the evil eye catches his attention instantly. Shame looks alone can't make them leave or those officers would be in Mexico about now (it goes to say how bad this is when a fellow officer dislikes the police presence). "If you keep watching them with such intensity, they may begin to believe you have something to hid."

"Everyone... has something to hide. But all the same... this is excessive. It'll have a n-negative effect on classes, I believe."

Finally taking a moment to evaluate the instructor walking in, her expression grows a little more worried. "Are you okay, Mr. Locke? You seem... tired. And the bell's about to ring. Not that... you need me to tell you t-that, but... it's unusual."

"Perhaps so, but better the police assume otherwise." The more innocent they think the people at school are, the better. Kids needn't get dragged into jail all for being slightly out of the ordinary, as most kids are.

Maybe Richard feels a bit bad at making her worried. Really, he's fine. Tired from being everywhere except his bed most of the week, but fine. "No, it's nothing necessitating secrecy. I've simply underestimated how little sleep I require in order to function properly."

"That's fair," she had to admit. "It's just a little... jarring, for me. I don't l-like it."

Shaking her head, she smiled a little. "Mm... I understand that well enough. Try not to o-overwork yourself, sir."

"Most likely share your sentiment." A brief glance gets sent over at some cop with his back towards them. Richard's eyes narrow ever so slightly. "This extreme of a police presence is unnecessary."

"Thank you for your concern, but take care to not do the same to yourself." Few would so diligently be out here watching other students like this.

"It's definitely... difficult to justify. If they h-have a feeling something will happen... this is not the place to look for anything suspicious. There are... better places.

"And I'll be okay. You have your j-job... and I have mine. I try to take this seriously, and do work I can be proud of, one w-way or another. We're really not that different, that way."

"There is no justification for treating high school students and staff as though they were all potential criminals." If it sounds like he dislikes it? It's because he really does. All this is far too extreme.

"Your work is more admirable than my own. Adults are expected to work; students doing so and with as much dedication as yourself is rare."

"I agree," she says easily. This couldn't be the person Bakura was warning her about, that was a mole for the police - he was too reasonable, too set against it. "For now, nothing's gone w-wrong. Hopefully... it stays that way."

She smiles; the praise is uplifting, but it's not why she does what she does. "My work is only a l-little thing, and... it's as much vigilante work as anything else. I don't think this... is the s-student council's role, normally. But it's how I can help. That's... what's important to me."

"We may only hope and lend a hand in preventing anything from happening." By making sure everyone's behaving best they can and that nothing blows up. Nothing blowing up would be edpecially good, yes.

Modest in addition to possessing this strong a work ethic. She really ought to give herself more credit. "You are going above and beyond your duties, something only worthy of praise."

"That, I can do," she agrees. Whether or not anyone would listen to her was another matter entirely, but she could argue plenty well enough.

That's enough to get her blushing faintly. "If you s-say so... If it's beneficial to someone, then I'm glad. Although... I'm sure the p-people that I catch don't agree so much."

"That's already more than enough." Trying is what it's all about. As long as someone tries then the possibility of succeeding exists.

"People dislike being told they've done wrong because it would force to admit them having been wrong. They may not appreciate your effort, but you've corrected them and done all you can to help prevent them from doing the same wrong again." A blunt statement, but a true one.

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010 ♦ Open

2; assuming they're classmates and at least friendly

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We'll go with 1

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Gah, my reply got eaten ><

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2

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1!

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