AGE PLOT SHENANIGANS

[microbrobotics]

WHO: Everyone and anyone!
WHERE: De Chima, various
WHEN: Around 6 PM EST, March 25th
WHAT: Age plot kickoff!
WARNINGS: Cuteness.

[ LET'S GET THIS PARTY OFFICIALLY STARTED! Opening events so we don't do too much comm flooding (although people are welcome to make their own posts for the event). You're welcome to toplevel with your character if you'd like to have them show up somewhere else for this plot.

Current toplevels:
Spring Festival in a De Chima city park
De Chima #1
De Chima #1, later (Minato)

The age plot will run from March 25th through Sunday, March 29th. More deets available at the plotting post. ]

Comments

[takethestairs]

[Wow, rude Kitty. Miles frowns when she scoffs at him, not amused in the slightest]

I'm not lost. And they aren't here. [He shrugs, trying not to sound bothered. Or scared. Or worried. Nope nope nope, he's fine, perfectly fine] The Porter left them at home.

[kittenjones]

[ Oh. ]

You're an imPort?

[ Kitty's frown lightens just a little bit. It's not easy for kids in his situation. ]

How long have you been here?

[takethestairs]

About a day, but-

[His frown deepens as he glances to the ground. He knows he's been here before, but it doesn't seem real. Just how long has he been here?]

...it feels like a day, I mean.

[kittenjones]

That's weird. It's not really time for that.

[ But that doesn't matter, she guesses. She sighs, and runs her hand through her hair, and then wriggles to the edge of the bench to stand up. Her anger and fear and uncertainty are...considerable, and horrible. Yeah. She wants to scream from the weight of what's pressing on her. But that doesn't mean that she's not going to set it all to the side when there's someone who needs help. ]

But - okay. We've got to get you set up, then. Have you had something to eat?

[takethestairs]

Uh-

[Wait, she's helping him now? Why's she helping him seriously this makes no sense. He straightens up, looking at her]

I'm already set up, really, I-

[Aaaand his stomach growls, and his eyes widened, instantly embarrassed. Ugh, why's he so hungry lately?! He just ate! Properly humbled, he glances away, mumbling]

...I wouldn't mind some food, though.

[kittenjones]

[ Yeah, she heard that grumbling. Her voice is gruff, but far from unfriendly, when she says: ]

Come on, then.

[ And she shoves her hands into her pockets, hops off the bench, and starts forwards, out from the park, towards Heropa. She hazards a guess: ]

How old are you? Eight?

[takethestairs]

Nine and a half.

[That half is very important! It means he's almost ten. Double digits. That's practically a milestone. As offended as he sounds, though, it doesn't stop him from from following along]

[kittenjones]

[ That indignant response softens her just a little bit more. She actually, reluctantly flashes a half-smile at him before turning back ahead. ]

Nine and a half. Okay.

And you're all right without your parents? Not scared? That's good.

[takethestairs]

[Shakes his head]

It's fine. I go off on my own all the time.

[...okay so his dad wouldn't let him wander around a city all by himself, especially one that's on the opposite side of the country. But he knows how to watch himself when Dad has to work, and he knows how to keep himself occupied. This can't be too different.]

[kittenjones]

[ Well, good. It's definitely better for him if he can take care of himself. That experience will be good for him. ]

You're still in school, right?

[takethestairs]

Mm-hmn. Well, back home, I am. There's no point going to school here.

[Because he's not going to be here long enough to need school, right? ...Right? Ha, ha...]

[kittenjones]

[ She looks over, a little surprised to hear that. Because...Well, honestly, because a posh, brainy-looking kid like this, dressed like that - She'd have thought, looking at him, that he'd be mad for school. ]

Why not?

[takethestairs]

Well... we don't know how long we're going to be here, do we? We could be sent home next week, or the next day. That kind of makes going to school here a waste of time, doesn't it?

[Another shrug]

Anyway, there's other stuff we can learn here that we can't learn in school.

[kittenjones]

Yeah, but you'd learn that stuff regardless of whether you were in school or not.

[ She crosses her arms. ]

Do what you want to do. Obviously. But the schools here are really good, honestly, and they're free. And if you let yourself stay ignorant now, you won't be able to make up for that later. If you decide to drop out, to not go, then you'll have really a lot of paths closed off to you.

[ There's a bitter note in her voice as she says that. But she shakes her head a moment later. ]

Anyway. Learning's never a waste of time.

[takethestairs]

[Huffs, frowning at Kitty]

I know that. And it's not that I don't like school or anything, just...

[He looks down at the sidewalk, his frown deepening, his voice getting quieter]

If you get comfortable here, then that feels sort of like... like you're just giving up on what you've got back home.

[kittenjones]

[ Her response is not unkind, but it's very firm. ]

Rubbish. Giving up is giving up. Anything less isn't.

You can't let yourself not do things that are perfectly sensible and quite good for you just because it feels like something you oughtn't do.

[takethestairs]

[Miles doesn't answer immediately, and he remains quiet as he thinks over Kitty's words. After a moment he finally tears himself away from the cracks in the sidewalk and looks at her properly.]

What about you? Are you going to school here?

[He's speaking more slowly now, more carefully, and his voice actually resembles a polite tone now]

[kittenjones]

[ And Kitty takes a moment to respond as well. Going to school there...She feels a little twist of regret. She'd like to. She'd like to learn more, to go to university, to be someone...learned. To spend a few years just learning things. But she's looked at the sorts of things they learn in university. Kitty's clever, sure, but cleverness doesn't make up for never having gone to a proper school. Having spent all her time on crafting pottery and taking in propaganda instead of analyzing texts or learning history or learning what on earth algebra is.

Her voice is a little quiet. ]

I know I don't look it, but I'm a little too old for school. [ Then, pushing down her unhappiness to try to pretend to be brash and confident: ] I read a lot, though, so that's definitely worth something.

[takethestairs]

[Miles furrows his brow, giving her a funny look]

You can't be that old. And even if you are, nobody's too old for school. Like... my old teacher, Mr. Pierce, he went back to school just so he could be a teacher. He was old. So if he can do it, you can do it.

[kittenjones]

[ Ouch. Way to demolish her convenient excuse, kid. Kitty hesitates, and tries to come up with a lie he'll swallow, and can't find one. So she finally gives a little shrug and says, her manner less blithe and more bitter than she'd want it to be: ]

Well, school's also really different where I'm from. Most of what I know, I taught myself, so it's different from what's in the classrooms here. Teachers wouldn't know what to do with me. There wouldn't really be a place for me.

[ Then, fiercely: ]

Which is completely fine. It saves me time.

[takethestairs]

[And now she's angry again? Why is she so angry about this? Miles pauses, not sure what to make of it]

Well... [Keeping his tone quiet now, and while he's staring at her, he's no longer giving her funny looks] You won't know until they try, right? And schools still have libraries, and books you can't get on your own. So if they can't teach you, then you can still teach yourself.

[kittenjones]

[ He's...right about that. She guesses. But the thought of it - Kitty's spent her whole life being sneered at and scoffed at. She's always been treated like an ignorant commoner, and at home, that was always fine. She could pretend to be dull-eyed and simple, and she could privately gloat about how much she was underestimated and how she would change things. But here...Here, she's gained a reputation for being clever. There are people who genuinely respect her intellect, and that fact is completely intoxicating. It makes her so happy. The thought of going to school, and being so hopelessly ignorant, and having people look at her with the contempt they showed her back home, of everyone losing that respect for her -

She doesn't know if she can take that. ]

Um - maybe.

[ Abruptly, she points at a cafe she's never been to before in her life. ]

That place is really nice. That one right there. You should try it some time.

[takethestairs]

[Miles is about to say something, but once Kitty points out the cafe, he loses his train of thought entirely. There's one thing on his mind now: food]

Oh. Erm... do you want to go here, then?

[She was dragging him to get some lunch, right?]

[kittenjones]

What?

[ Which is a stupid response. What does she mean, what? It's a natural question, and logical, and one she ought to have expected. Get with it, Kitty. ]

Erm - I mean - Yeah, let's...go there.

[ Smooth. ]

Here, come on.

[ She reaches out her hand for him to take. ]

[takethestairs]

[He looks at Kitty, then at her hand, and then back at Kitty, only this time he's staring at her like she grew a third eye. Honestly, how old did she think he was? He stuffs his hand in his pocket, his only act of defiance as he follows alongside her]

So, what kind of stuff do they have here, anyway?