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aguuThe Story – chapter 3 – Competence
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A/N: So, here it is. It isn’t a big secret that I love the interaction Nagant has with Browning. They’re just so…well, they’re quite a pair, aren't they? XD She's sweet, innocently insane and downright annoyingly weird, and he thinks she's an idiot in every sense of word.
...I fucking love these two characters, when they interact. And that is like, 90% of the time.
btw, subject of the day is homage to one of the most entertaining teachers I ever had back in the Philippines. Just got the news that he was sacked. I am angry over this, he actually had political views and made the students learn something, if not directly related to the subject he taught.
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Nagant was absent-mindedly scribbling in his notebook while his Algebra teacher wrote tips on how X was going to find Y, the smell of dustless chalk and too-strong, fruity perfume coming from roughly 40% of all the girls in his class. Almost as much as he loathed all 47 of his classmates, they served their purpose well enough. Turning his head slightly to the left, he faced a blonde and murmured, “Who’s the new head medic?”
The blonde was the kind of girl who’d done just about every drug and partied hard, easily swayed by a pretty face. Unfortunately, she also knew anything about any student. Leaning in, she murmured back, her lip gloss too shiny and smelling of some odd, artificially flavored fruit, “That weird chick next door? Yeah, I know her. Her name’s—“
“Thanks. I was just making sure.” Before she could get another word in, he had raised his hand and asked a question, successfully derailing the class from it’s’ discussion and possibly a quiz. The teacher was just about to drive his point home in response to Adrian’s question when the bell rang. “Guess my answer will have to wait another day, Mr. Nagant. Class dismissed, we’ll continue the discussion tomorrow.” Noisily, students scuffled and grabbed their lunchboxes or wallets, pausing as prayers before lunch were said.
He literally wanted to swallow the whole bottle of pills in his pocket when he noticed the same blonde was waiting for him near the doorframe, her perfectly tanned arms crossed.
Grumpily, Nagant looked at the girl. “Ashley. Let me pass, I’m late enough as it is.”
“For whom?” she riposted easily. “Just hear me out, Adrian.” She twirled a lock of her long hair, and Adrian’s fists automatically clenched together. It was the second time he seriously wanted to hit a girl, rules or no rules. Taking a deep breath, he uncurled his fists and rubbed his eyes with one of them. “No, for the last time, I am not asking Garand to change your grades. Now let me go.”
Pouting, she turned on her heel and walked, successfully bumping into someone small, wearing white.
“Watch it!” she complained bitchily. “Sorry.” Elizabeth watched the girl go, and to Nagant, muttered something along the lines of ‘marijuana-deprived junkie.’ She flashed him a happy smile. “Hi, I never really got your name, but do you want to go to lunch?”
Adrian Nicholas Santiago Nagant stared at her.
Before he could manage to shake his head or even say anything, she had grabbed his arm and was dragging him with her, her small childish grip not fully understanding how much he could hurt her, in more ways than one. Oddly enough, instead of bristling and shouting at her as he was akin to do, he just stopped and let her lead him around where she wished, knowing that the eyes of every senior student was set upon them.
She dragged him up towards the cafeteria, spotlessly white, save for the lush red carpet, and continued until they came to a table in the center of the room. He noticed that there was a significant gap between this table and all the others, and it was full of people.
“Okay, I have him!” He was, against his will, plunked down onto the table and faced the other officers, his comrades. Directly across from him was Miguel Ramon Garand, the eclectic Spanish Wing Commander, smiling at him as he took a bite of fruit-flavored sour tape, something he had always associated with leather.
“Ah, thank you very much Tiny. Adrian, it isn’t polite to keep avoiding lunch like this.” Nagant grunted an apology, and said quietly, “I’d like to buy something then, if that’s all right with you.” At this, Garand stood up and replied, “I’ll come with you. Stay here, Elizabeth. Get to know everyone else.” As the two of the highest-ranked officers left the table, he could hear Elizabeth’s laughter as she started another conversation.
Adrian Nagant and Garand walked towards the numerous food stalls, all clamoring for buyers. Nagant picked one that had a picture of a cow in the middle of the stall and ordered some afternoon tea bits—including a small cake made entirely out of marzipan. “Is she seriously Head Medic?”
Garand’s eyebrow arched. “Of course she is.” He had taken a steel thermos full of Earl Grey tea that had been included with the cake. “I know she doesn’t look it, but she’s actually pretty smart.”
Nagant coughed and almost tripped. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. There were fourteen candidates, and she beat them all.” Garand smiled as he swallowed the last bit of sour fruit tape, and Adrian could feel the oncoming diabetes as the Wing Commander reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag full of Gummy Bears. Lazily holding the hot thermos full of tea in one hand, he reached into the bag and pulled out a green one, biting it’s’ head off.
“You want to test her?”
“Yes. I just have to know that she really can do her job,” Adrian explained as he and Miguel arrived at the table with ample time to spare, and Elizabeth was still there, still smiling and still laughing, her white cat-eared jacket hiding the top half of her uniform. Adrian could still see the piano motif stockings peeking out from underneath her skirt.
“There’s nothing worse than leaving your life in the hands of an incompetent idiot.” He sat down and ploughed a fork into his cake, observing Elizabeth. She looked like every other student—well, aside from her acute albinism—there was certainly nothing spectacular, and she didn’t have the certain…air around her that the rest of the officers had. His green eyes scoured the rest of the table.
There was Hiarra Sten fighting with Kyle Realonda Winchester, a pair so full of energy that it would be considered a crime to not have them on the roster. Allistair Mauser was part French and part Russian, and partly cynical genius coming from the Star class. He had an elusive aura that was all his own, and was busy swapping news with Raighn Megalister. The only one missing was Carl Piniple and he suspected that he was with another girlfriend or other, or off meeting with more new recruits.
The smell of warm tea brought him back, and he was surprised when he saw Elizabeth mixing in sugar cubes from a small container to a disposable, waxy paper cup. The albino smiled cheerfully. “I don’t like it straight.”
Garand had given him a paper cup full of tea as well, but with a tentative sniff he found it just how he wanted it—straight and strong.
“How long have you been here?” Nagant asked as he forked the last piece of cake into his mouth. It was the only food that managed to stay down long enough to be digested. He swigged down his tea.
“A couple of days…I just got the position last week. Oh—Nagant, by any chance, how long have you been on medication?”
His eyes narrowed. “What…do you mean?”
“I mean, have you been taking pills or syrups for insomnia, weight loss or anything? Your face just looks so thin and your arms are almost bony.”
“Oh, come off it Browning.” Megalister interrupted as he licked on a popsicle shaped like a panda. “You just say his arms are bony because yours are fat.”
“What? No, I’m serious—“
“So am I.”
Elizabeth peered into Nagant’s eyes and reached out for his hand, the same one holding the fork. Crumbs of cake and fondant stuck to the fork’s plastic tines. Not wanting to attract unwanted attention he let her do as he wished—the last thing he needed was more pills being banned from entering his hands because he created a scene in a high school.
“It’s so thin. Are you sure you’re fine?”
“Of course I am.” Nagant took his hand back and with the ring of the lunch bell, he got up and said coolly,
“Make sure you prep your future medic squad, Browning—you’ll be working with my Air Police Squadron.”
“Yes, yes. That means we’ll be working together, won’t we?” Elizabeth had picked up after herself as well and had fallen into step with Nagant, who was too focused to notice that every other girl and boy in the vicinity had been staring at them.
Garand tried to hide a laugh.
“What’s up, Miguel?” Kyle asked.
“Things are going to get a lot more interesting, Kyle…a lot more interesting. Those two…may very well rewrite Rosenrot History.”
________________________
A/N: So, here it is. It isn’t a big secret that I love the interaction Nagant has with Browning. They’re just so…well, they’re quite a pair, aren't they? XD She's sweet, innocently insane and downright annoyingly weird, and he thinks she's an idiot in every sense of word.
...I fucking love these two characters, when they interact. And that is like, 90% of the time.
btw, subject of the day is homage to one of the most entertaining teachers I ever had back in the Philippines. Just got the news that he was sacked. I am angry over this, he actually had political views and made the students learn something, if not directly related to the subject he taught.
________________________
Nagant was absent-mindedly scribbling in his notebook while his Algebra teacher wrote tips on how X was going to find Y, the smell of dustless chalk and too-strong, fruity perfume coming from roughly 40% of all the girls in his class. Almost as much as he loathed all 47 of his classmates, they served their purpose well enough. Turning his head slightly to the left, he faced a blonde and murmured, “Who’s the new head medic?”
The blonde was the kind of girl who’d done just about every drug and partied hard, easily swayed by a pretty face. Unfortunately, she also knew anything about any student. Leaning in, she murmured back, her lip gloss too shiny and smelling of some odd, artificially flavored fruit, “That weird chick next door? Yeah, I know her. Her name’s—“
“Thanks. I was just making sure.” Before she could get another word in, he had raised his hand and asked a question, successfully derailing the class from it’s’ discussion and possibly a quiz. The teacher was just about to drive his point home in response to Adrian’s question when the bell rang. “Guess my answer will have to wait another day, Mr. Nagant. Class dismissed, we’ll continue the discussion tomorrow.” Noisily, students scuffled and grabbed their lunchboxes or wallets, pausing as prayers before lunch were said.
He literally wanted to swallow the whole bottle of pills in his pocket when he noticed the same blonde was waiting for him near the doorframe, her perfectly tanned arms crossed.
Grumpily, Nagant looked at the girl. “Ashley. Let me pass, I’m late enough as it is.”
“For whom?” she riposted easily. “Just hear me out, Adrian.” She twirled a lock of her long hair, and Adrian’s fists automatically clenched together. It was the second time he seriously wanted to hit a girl, rules or no rules. Taking a deep breath, he uncurled his fists and rubbed his eyes with one of them. “No, for the last time, I am not asking Garand to change your grades. Now let me go.”
Pouting, she turned on her heel and walked, successfully bumping into someone small, wearing white.
“Watch it!” she complained bitchily. “Sorry.” Elizabeth watched the girl go, and to Nagant, muttered something along the lines of ‘marijuana-deprived junkie.’ She flashed him a happy smile. “Hi, I never really got your name, but do you want to go to lunch?”
Adrian Nicholas Santiago Nagant stared at her.
Before he could manage to shake his head or even say anything, she had grabbed his arm and was dragging him with her, her small childish grip not fully understanding how much he could hurt her, in more ways than one. Oddly enough, instead of bristling and shouting at her as he was akin to do, he just stopped and let her lead him around where she wished, knowing that the eyes of every senior student was set upon them.
She dragged him up towards the cafeteria, spotlessly white, save for the lush red carpet, and continued until they came to a table in the center of the room. He noticed that there was a significant gap between this table and all the others, and it was full of people.
“Okay, I have him!” He was, against his will, plunked down onto the table and faced the other officers, his comrades. Directly across from him was Miguel Ramon Garand, the eclectic Spanish Wing Commander, smiling at him as he took a bite of fruit-flavored sour tape, something he had always associated with leather.
“Ah, thank you very much Tiny. Adrian, it isn’t polite to keep avoiding lunch like this.” Nagant grunted an apology, and said quietly, “I’d like to buy something then, if that’s all right with you.” At this, Garand stood up and replied, “I’ll come with you. Stay here, Elizabeth. Get to know everyone else.” As the two of the highest-ranked officers left the table, he could hear Elizabeth’s laughter as she started another conversation.
Adrian Nagant and Garand walked towards the numerous food stalls, all clamoring for buyers. Nagant picked one that had a picture of a cow in the middle of the stall and ordered some afternoon tea bits—including a small cake made entirely out of marzipan. “Is she seriously Head Medic?”
Garand’s eyebrow arched. “Of course she is.” He had taken a steel thermos full of Earl Grey tea that had been included with the cake. “I know she doesn’t look it, but she’s actually pretty smart.”
Nagant coughed and almost tripped. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. There were fourteen candidates, and she beat them all.” Garand smiled as he swallowed the last bit of sour fruit tape, and Adrian could feel the oncoming diabetes as the Wing Commander reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag full of Gummy Bears. Lazily holding the hot thermos full of tea in one hand, he reached into the bag and pulled out a green one, biting it’s’ head off.
“You want to test her?”
“Yes. I just have to know that she really can do her job,” Adrian explained as he and Miguel arrived at the table with ample time to spare, and Elizabeth was still there, still smiling and still laughing, her white cat-eared jacket hiding the top half of her uniform. Adrian could still see the piano motif stockings peeking out from underneath her skirt.
“There’s nothing worse than leaving your life in the hands of an incompetent idiot.” He sat down and ploughed a fork into his cake, observing Elizabeth. She looked like every other student—well, aside from her acute albinism—there was certainly nothing spectacular, and she didn’t have the certain…air around her that the rest of the officers had. His green eyes scoured the rest of the table.
There was Hiarra Sten fighting with Kyle Realonda Winchester, a pair so full of energy that it would be considered a crime to not have them on the roster. Allistair Mauser was part French and part Russian, and partly cynical genius coming from the Star class. He had an elusive aura that was all his own, and was busy swapping news with Raighn Megalister. The only one missing was Carl Piniple and he suspected that he was with another girlfriend or other, or off meeting with more new recruits.
The smell of warm tea brought him back, and he was surprised when he saw Elizabeth mixing in sugar cubes from a small container to a disposable, waxy paper cup. The albino smiled cheerfully. “I don’t like it straight.”
Garand had given him a paper cup full of tea as well, but with a tentative sniff he found it just how he wanted it—straight and strong.
“How long have you been here?” Nagant asked as he forked the last piece of cake into his mouth. It was the only food that managed to stay down long enough to be digested. He swigged down his tea.
“A couple of days…I just got the position last week. Oh—Nagant, by any chance, how long have you been on medication?”
His eyes narrowed. “What…do you mean?”
“I mean, have you been taking pills or syrups for insomnia, weight loss or anything? Your face just looks so thin and your arms are almost bony.”
“Oh, come off it Browning.” Megalister interrupted as he licked on a popsicle shaped like a panda. “You just say his arms are bony because yours are fat.”
“What? No, I’m serious—“
“So am I.”
Elizabeth peered into Nagant’s eyes and reached out for his hand, the same one holding the fork. Crumbs of cake and fondant stuck to the fork’s plastic tines. Not wanting to attract unwanted attention he let her do as he wished—the last thing he needed was more pills being banned from entering his hands because he created a scene in a high school.
“It’s so thin. Are you sure you’re fine?”
“Of course I am.” Nagant took his hand back and with the ring of the lunch bell, he got up and said coolly,
“Make sure you prep your future medic squad, Browning—you’ll be working with my Air Police Squadron.”
“Yes, yes. That means we’ll be working together, won’t we?” Elizabeth had picked up after herself as well and had fallen into step with Nagant, who was too focused to notice that every other girl and boy in the vicinity had been staring at them.
Garand tried to hide a laugh.
“What’s up, Miguel?” Kyle asked.
“Things are going to get a lot more interesting, Kyle…a lot more interesting. Those two…may very well rewrite Rosenrot History.”
no subject
Date: 2010-03-18 15:36 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-18 20:46 (UTC)