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Post by undrwhelmingquestion on Jun 24, 2015 19:19:24 GMT
[Continued from this thread.]Flustered at the mention of Arkady and relationships in the same sentence? Perish the thought. Mia, being above such frivolities, continues to comport herself with dignity and heroic sangfroid. "What does the 'G' stand for?" she asks, as she guides Arkady up the spindly fire escape on the fourth floor of the Criminology department. "In 'Arkady G. Zarovich', that is?" In accordance with Max's enigmatic demands from before, she is steering them roof-wards.
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Post by infiniteexponent on Jun 24, 2015 19:23:35 GMT
"Grigori. My mum thought I'd appreciate it, just in case anybody hadn't quite figured out that I was Russian yet. Anyway - what dark deeds has everyone's least favourite teaching spymaster decided to entrust you with?" Out of the corner of his eye, Arkady can see Rover charging across the grounds in a fit of destructive mirth, and studiously avoids looking at the big lummox so Mia doesn't notice.
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Post by undrwhelmingquestion on Jun 24, 2015 19:34:58 GMT
"Ah. Well, fear not - I can tell you quite definitively that it could be worse," Mia Morgana Mulholland informs him, sagely.
She walks over to the edge of the balcony and leans, chin perched on crossed arms. Are those paperclip-sized students to the far left of her peripheral vision... screaming?
Probably just another inept takeover bid from the bike shed crew. Doubtless the Student Council will deal.
"You're assuming our 'conversation' managed to yield anything remotely specific," she says, eventually. "No, it's nothing so dire as all that. Just - he's aware of... something. Most likely the same thing we're aware of. Which is ironic, because I had nothing solid to inform him of even if he'd asked directly." A beat. "Not that I'm hinting."
Another beat.
"But you did promise you'd share what you know with regards to the Student Council."
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Post by infiniteexponent on Jun 24, 2015 19:47:51 GMT
"Ah. That." Yes, that does seem to be genuine concern on Arkady's face. "I'd be very careful about taking this to Mister India. I mean, if we try to explain everything it'll just make us sound like mad conspiracy theorists. I mean, it sounds just too evil to be true. A malevolent conspiracy that, in order to make sure we all pass exams, is dedicated to making our mid-term papers so impossibly difficult, so harshly enforced, that through our struggle we will develop hitherto unforeseen ways to cheat? We'd never be believed. Not until we rip this conspiracy, student and teacher alike, out by the roots, and show them to the headmaster like grisly trophies." Arkady checks himself, getting a little carried away.
"Oh, and there's one more thing." Arkady looks down at his shoes. "Turns out my ex is in town. She's been away; she came back, and apparently she's been poking around the school. Now, I don't want the council - well, I don't want you, I don't give a toss about the rest of the council - to get caught in the crossfire. So... avoid her, basically. Whatever she wants, I'll deal with it."
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Post by undrwhelmingquestion on Jun 24, 2015 20:14:38 GMT
"Oh, I wasn't insinuating I trusted the man," says Mia, alarmed. "Not by a long shot. No - but it seems to me that he's got as much stake in, er, uprooting this malevolent group of exam-tamperers as we do." A measure of resignation clouds her face. "You've always struck me as a perfectly sane conspiracy theorist, for what it's worth. But prepared as I am to credit the existence of this 'Cabal', I still refuse to believe that it goes as far as the heart of the Student Council. The latter is a noble organisation, temporarily plagued by outside elements that would see to its destruction. The former is an offshoot. A simple aberration!" Mia... is not getting similarly carried away. Not in the slightest.
Then, Arkady mentions the second thing.
"I thought you -" says Mia, before actually checking herself. He'd specified healthy relationships. "Er. That is to say - no! I'm not just going to throw you to the wolves. Look. We're in this deranged pedagogical nightmare together, for better or for worse: the least we can do is have each other's backs."
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Post by infiniteexponent on Jun 24, 2015 20:25:51 GMT
"Hmm." Arkady shifts position slightly, umming and aahing like a mechanic about to tell you that it can't be done until tuesday. "We shall see how far this cabal goes. Maybe you're right, in which case, wonderful. Or maybe you're wrong, and in that case, if there is something nasty lurking in the council, then we don't want to end up with egg on our faces because we didn't prepare accordingly. We shall plan, and we shall pry, and if the latter kicks the former into action, so be it."
"But don't worry about D - about my ex. There are two options here; either she wants me back, in which case tough titties because i tried love once and didn't like it, or she's here to cause trouble or take the dog back, in which case I'll be happy to enact a repeat of last time this happened, when Cassie got angry and defenestrated her. Frankly that'd make my day. But thanks, anyway - it's nice to know somebody's got my back in this bloody school.'
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hotmess
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Post by hotmess on Jun 24, 2015 20:41:54 GMT
Above the rooftop, a small magpie circled swooping too and foe before swooping and landing on the railing a little way down from Mia.
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Post by undrwhelmingquestion on Jun 24, 2015 20:44:28 GMT
A sharp look. Mia is not impressed by the umming. Or the aahing. Or the patronising. "Oh no, Arkady. It's not a case of sit on our hands and observe - I'm thoroughly sick of the entire business of distrusting my closest friends and colleagues on the basis of paranoid conjecture. There's more than metaphorical eggs in the balance here! The fact that I'm even considering the Council might be anything less than a bastion of scholarly integrity constitutes a betrayal of the very principles on which it was founded." She does that slow half-tilt of the head she always does when she's severely pissed, and trying to shake it off. "I want to take this to the Council President."
Then, a hesitant smile. "I'm going to ignore the fact that you just used the phrase 'tough titties', seemingly in all earnestness. I just hope you know what you're doing where your ex is concerned." (Trying really hard not to think about comments to the tune of 'I tried love once'. Failing, for the most part.) "... But I trust that you do. Know what you're doing, that is." She laughs. "I more or less just trust you in general."
This touching admission is thoroughly scuppered by the impromptu magpie invasion. Mia eyes the bird with suspicion. "Oh, you cannot be serious..."
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hotmess
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Post by hotmess on Jun 24, 2015 21:50:03 GMT
The bird tilts its head, beady eyes fixing on Mia before its beak opened.
"What? Can't a bird take a rest with out having random abuse flung at it? Wow. Rude much?"
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Post by undrwhelmingquestion on Jun 24, 2015 21:57:19 GMT
Mia blinks. And then slams her fist down.
(Onto the slab of balcony next to the idiotic thing. She wouldn't be so crass as to forgo a warning shot.)
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hotmess
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Post by hotmess on Jun 24, 2015 22:06:59 GMT
Reve jumps back, wings flaring before he settles himself again.
"Has anyone told you you have serious anger management problems? Like, nearly as bad as Eva." The bird flapped its wings and took off, not before landing a pretty sizeable shit on her shoulder. "You asked for it."
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Post by undrwhelmingquestion on Jun 24, 2015 22:20:05 GMT
Calmly, slowly, and rationally, Mia discards the sweater-cape.
"Arkady," she says. "Right now, I'm going to need you to give me a very pressing reason as to why I have better things to be doing than heading straight over to the music room and issuing that gutless shrew as many behavioural sanctions as the Student Council is authorised to submit."
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Post by infiniteexponent on Jun 24, 2015 22:25:28 GMT
"Well, there's the fact that getting a rise out of you is precisely what she wants. There's also the fact that we really don't have that many sanctions open to us at the minute, at least not enough to cover bird shit as a means of assault. Finally, there's the fact that my sister's just climbed over the fence, and I promised her a tuba, so if Eva stays in the music room she'll have to deal with Cassie. All pretty compelling, I'd say."
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Post by undrwhelmingquestion on Jun 24, 2015 22:34:51 GMT
Mia thinks about this - hard - for about a second. "I'm not convinced. I want to hit her." Again, she reflects. "Or at least punch the balcony again."
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Post by infiniteexponent on Jun 24, 2015 22:43:23 GMT
"Well, hitting her won't do much good. But if you want I can send Rover after the bird. But for now, we have more fun things to consider than roughing up our mortal frenemies; we need a plan of attack. A way to root out the cabal and, um, restore the student council to its former glory. Such as it was."
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