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Post by thea on Jan 23, 2010 18:11:05 GMT -5
It had been a surprisingly good day. Fiona was beginning to feel, although the city was still a little overwhelming and she remained more than a little bit lonely, it was not all terrible. Sure, things could be better, but the rational part of her brain (the majority, really) argued that things could very easily be much worse. She was exceeding in her studies, was reasonably friendly with one or two of her classmates, and could now manage navigating the campus without getting hopelessly lost. The Hen was someone who was firmly looking ahead to the future, and for a moment there the future appeared bright. That was until she realized someone had stolen her science journal. One moment she had it with her in her bag, and she only left it for one second to pick up a few papers that the wind had chased away. When she had returned, the journal was gone. She was despondent. Why would someone take it? What use would it have to anyone else? All that was in it were some current events, discoveries made in all fields of science, and a few long articles. One of them had been written by one of her professors, which detailed chemical biodiversity in poisonous plants. She had been looking forward to discussing his thesis with him the next time she saw him, but now it looked like she’d have to track down another. It had been hard enough getting the first one, since nearly everyone who had Professor Knox had bought a copy. Fiona wasn’t sure if that bothered her more, however, than the principle of the thing. Thievery was so crass. She sat down dejectedly on a bench, a sad collection of feathers, feeling all the hope seep out of her. |
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 24, 2010 15:05:55 GMT -5
Daytime patrol was one of Fetu's absolute least favorite parts of being a police officer. They knew - they knew! - about her extreme sensitivity to light, and yet they still assigned it to her because they'd seen her functioning "just fine" during the day. Wearing ridiculous-looking glasses and wincing underneath of them where they couldn't see. Even the crappy tinted filter was far too bright for her. She always returned from this sift with a screaming headache that lasted for hours and streaming eyes that refused to stop leaking for a while. Miserable. Utterly miserable. But she wasn't a member of the Night Watch and so she couldn't easily request late hours, especially being so new. She just took whatever they needed her to take. It was enough to make her want to quit, but she wouldn't. The pay was just... it was steady. She didn't have to scrape by like she had before, literally scrape. She could afford a tiny little apartment now instead of sleeping wherever she could find a safe space. She really didn't want to lose it. She was allowed a coffee break every so often, so long as she remained a "presence" for people to look over and see. Police officer around. Don't do anything stupid. That sort of thing. She paid for the caffeinated beverage and went to the shadiest spot she could find in the area, one of the college spots. The shade at least made it a little easier to deal with the daylight, and she was outside and visible. Sighing and closing her eyes, she took a sip, taking only the barest notice of the girl beside her. |
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Post by thea on Jan 28, 2010 17:43:25 GMT -5
Fiona zoned out, lost in her own thoughts. Sometimes she just wanted to go back to Kahmden, but even now – even when she felt lower than low – she just had to remember why she was here in the first place. It wasn’t to make friends, or learn anything from city life itself. No, she was here, despite the fact that each and every fiber of her being would rather be back home, to eventually be able to help others. Well, maybe not quite that personal; at any rate, she wanted to help discover cures for diseases and find new ways to screen for genetic mutations. Not a doctor, exactly (although she wasn’t completely opposed to the profession). Ideally, she’d do mainly research.
That was far off in the future, though. Right now, she wasn’t even an upperclassman, and although she was learning enough things to make her head spin, it was only the beginning. There was always work to be done, and Fiona assumed it would only get more intensive as she earned more responsibility. A tiny, pensive smile lit up her features; she was a workaholic, and nothing pleased her more than the promise of no free time.
She tensed, realizing a very strange-looking stranger was meandering over. A quick, discreet look over let her know that the woman was from the Wasteland, but really, anyone with eyes could tell that. She had the bones of one, and that emaciated look that was so very common. What she found infinitely more interesting and pleasant was that this woman was a police officer. An officer of the law. It was too, too perfect to be true.
“Hello,” she said meekly, driven by her desire to set things right but well aware that she was speaking to someone of authority. “Do you think you could help me?”
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 29, 2010 10:44:52 GMT -5
There was a voice next to her, and it was asking for help. Why did she think that Fetu would- Ah yes. The badge. That made sense. People asked her the weirdest questions sometimes because of the badge.
Could you help me? I swear, my brother was innocent! What do I need to do to get him out of jail? Who were you and who was your brother? Was she supposed to know this?
Are you always just lazing around with a coffee while the rest of us are paying taxes to the Courts and Capital to support you? Um, no. Not at all. Go away.
Could you help me? I think my boss is sleeping with my coworker and that's why she got promoted. Even though I do all the work! Why... were you sharing this? She didn't know what to do. Talk to someone in the station. Or sleep with him. Or something. She didn't really care.
So, what was it going to be this time? Keeping her eyes closed, though it wouldn't be visible behind the tinted wrap-around lab glasses, she turned her head in the direction of the voice. She would open them when she had to. "I might be able to. What do you need help with?"
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Post by thea on Feb 2, 2010 21:40:24 GMT -5
The Hen was hit by a momentary surge of anxiety. No doubt the police officer was busy with other, more important matters than her stolen science journal. Did she really want to be a cause of annoyance for someone who worked for the government and protected civilians? This was similar to the trepidation she often felt when she had to have any real conversation with her father… and she didn’t like it, not one bit.
But it wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it? No, no of course not. The Officer wasn't ignoring her, which was some encouragement. “Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but someone has stolen my copy of Science Times Now, which wouldn’t be so awful except I’m not sure I’ll be able to get another issue any time soon. You wouldn’t happen to have a pattern of such things occurring in the area, would you?” She asked, caught between embarrassment and her innate naïveté.
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Post by The Jenn on May 6, 2010 18:13:43 GMT -5
A very flustered Kahmden. A feathery one, at that. From Fetu's experience traveling through the realm, they became flustered fairly easily when their orderly lives were upset. The Capital was especially good at making that happen.
Petty theft on campus? Wasn't that fairly common?
After a moment's hesitation, the chipmunk projected a thoughtful expression as best she could while wearing the glasses. "Have you reported the theft to your school? I take it the book is specific to one of your classes. It's probably only useful in an academic setting?" Weren't certain books worth a lot of money, even used? Someone could probably steal them and sell them back to students, if they were so inclined and didn't have anything better to do with themselves. Talk about 'petty'.
"I can take a lost report, but unless your copy had a specific identifying feature that distinguished it from other books of its kind then it will be exceptionally difficult to return."
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