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team-au · 2 years ago

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Chapter 1 — Shady Brook Elementary

The Shady Brook Elementary School gymnasium is well-preserved and under-utilized and that’s where Vernon goes to blow off steam. Shooting hoops reminds him of the good ol’ days, reminds him of what life was like before the world ended and every waking second became about survival.

Dribble, dribble, jump, shoot. Dribble, dribble, jump, shoot.

His sneakers squeak on once-shiny hardwood, bringing him back to his childhood. In 5th grade, he’d played basketball for his own elementary school – the St. Mary’s Bulldogs. Vernon tries not to think about the original Broncos, the kids of Shady Brook Elementary who would have played floor hockey and freeze tag and kickball in this gym two years earlier.

It’s best not to think about kids in the apocalypse. It’s hard enough to wrap your mind around a massive loss of adult life, let alone kids, but living inside a grade school doesn’t make it easy. There’s still artwork hanging in the classrooms, kids’ names written on bulletin boards in the hallways, pink jackets and Spider-Man lunchboxes in the lost-and-found. It’s a tough reality, one the new Broncos face every single day, but that’s the price of living indoors.

Dribble, dribble, jump, shoot.

The swish of the net is simple, satisfying. Vernon doubles back, sprinting to the other end of the gym as fast as he can because he likes the feeling of his heart pounding in chest. He runs back to center court, feet planted on a faded vinyl decal of a red horse head, and throws the ball as hard as he can. Against all odds, and with an ugly bounce against the back of the rim, the ball goes in.

He’s so surprised by own his athleticism that he doesn’t hear the gym door open and shut.

“Nice shot,” says Seungkwan. He’s standing near the bleachers, apron tied around his waist. When Vernon sees him, Seungkwan smiles. “Jihyo’s looking for you.”

“Uh-oh,” Vernon says. He jogs after the rebound, then tosses the ball back into plastic crate that houses four more basketballs, two soccer balls and a wiffle ball bat. “Am I in trouble?”

Seungkwan shrugs. “Fuck if I know. I don’t ask questions. I just–”

“–do her bidding?” Vernon teases. Still smiling, Seungkwan gives him the finger. “Is Jihyo in her office?” Seungkwan nods once. Vernon passes him on his way out the door but before he steps into the hallway, he stops and asks, “Hey, what’s for dinner tonight?”

“Thanks to a hefty box of tomatoes from the Slums,” he says, “we’re having black bean salsa on slightly stale saltines. And if you’re really nice to me, I’ll sneak you a not-that-expired fruit cup for dessert.”

Vernon laughs out loud and reaches out to slap Seungkwan on the shoulder.

“Good man.”

It’s a short walk from the gym to the principal’s office. The Broncos have long since cleared superfluous materials from most of the main rooms – they burned a lot of books and papers for bonfires, traded the instruments and art supplies to the Slums in exchange for vegetables, looted cubbies for backpacks and non-perishable snacks – but some decorative clutter remains.

Vernon ignores the small, red and black handprints painted on the wall outside the principal’s office and turns the corner, stopping in his tracks when he hears an argument.

“I know that, Sana, but what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to actually look at this map and give me a real reason not to go for it.”

Vernon shifts his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other, more inclined to eat literal rocks than interrupt a marital dispute between Jihyo and Sana.

“Do you trust me?” he hears Jihyo say. “Do you trust that I’m trying to do right by this group?”

“Of course I do! But what is the point of Dahyun going out and scouting new locations if you refuse to explore any of them? Why do we even have runners if they’re not allowed to go out on runs?”

Jihyo makes a noise halfway between a scoff and a laugh.

“Jesus, Sana. When it comes to runs, you really value quantity over quality and that kind of overwork is exactly why Junhui is laid up right now.”

“Are you really blaming me for Junhui getting sick?”

Wildly uncomfortable and beginning to feel a bit too much like a voyeur, Vernon awkwardly clears his throat. Jihyo and Sana stop fighting and Vernon bravely pokes his head inside the principal’s office.

“Very sorry to interrupt,” he says, eyes glued to the floor. “Seungkwan said you wanted to see me?”

Jihyo laughs a little, humorless. She’s standing behind her desk, hands gripping the top of her chair. Sana’s a few feet away having a much harder time hiding her emotions.

“Vernon,” Jihyo says. She forces a smile and looks back and forth between her wife and the man hovering in her doorway. “Isn’t it awkward when Mom and Mom fight?”

Sana blinks, annoyed, and says, “We’ll finish this later.” She turns to leave and Vernon all but dives away from the door, giving her more than enough room to pass.

Once she’s disappeared down the hallway, Vernon says, “Sorry. I never did have great timing.”

Jihyo smiles and waves him off. “Forget about it,” she says. “Take a seat.”

There’s two chairs in front of her desk and Vernon takes the one closest to him. The principal’s office looks a little bit more like a bunker than it does an educational place of business. Gone are the motivational posters, filing cabinets and potted plants – Jihyo’s office is fit with maps of the city, inventory lists, boxes of miscellaneous ammunition and cases of bottled water. On a low table against the far wall, Vernon sees two handguns and a few half-full bottles of liquor.

“Is everything okay?” he asks.

Now sitting, Jihyo sighs heavily and says, “Everything is okay.” Her eyes fall to the doorway and Vernon can tell that Sana is still on her mind. “My wife and I aren’t currently seeing eye-to-eye on a few things but it’ll pass. Storms always do.” She spends another few seconds staring and then, appearing to remember what she’s doing, Jihyo clears her throat and sits up straighter in her chair. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Lay it on me.”

“We’re down a runner,” Jihyo explains, but Vernon knows all about it.

“Junhui’s still sick?”

Nodding, Jihyo continues: “Jeongyeon says he should be fine in a few more days. She thinks it’s just the flu. He’s young and otherwise healthy so it shouldn’t be too big a deal in the long run but fever and dehydration can be dangerous when you’re…” She trails off, unsure of where her sentence should end. “Anyway, I know you don’t usually go on runs but Minghao and Nayeon are still away and I don’t want to send Momo out her own. We could really use some extra medical supplies, especially if this flu starts making its way around the school. You won’t have to go far. Dahyun scouted out a middle school twelve miles west of here. Somehow, we’ve missed it until now. They should have some first-aid kits, maybe some ibuprofen, maybe some disinfectant. It’ll go a long way.”

Vernon listens attentively, patiently, and when Jihyo’s done selling, he says, “Whatever you need.”

Another smile, smaller this time, but genuine.

“Thank you,” she says. There’s relief in her voice – maybe she hadn’t expected him to say yes so easily. “We’re still doing fine on food and water but medical supplies…” She shakes her head. Vernon has never been able to get a read on Jihyo or guess what she’s thinking but he has noticed that her air of authority seems to thin whenever she’s speaking to someone one-on-one.

“Medical supplies dwindle quickly,” he says. He’s neither a runner nor an inventory manager but Vernon is observant. He’s quiet, stoic, basically unassuming and people tend to spill their guts whenever he’s around. He knows they’re running low on medication, bandages and certain types of ammo. He knows that their food supply is fairly strong, especially since Seungkwan can take just about anything he’s given and turn it into breakfast, lunch and dinner. And he knows that Jihyo and Sana have been having trouble getting on the same page.

“Yes,” Jihyo says quietly. “They really do.”

“I’m happy to help however I can. Going on a run will be a nice change of pace.”

“You’re a team player,” Jihyo says, “and I appreciate it. Momo will come find you after dinner tonight and give you the details. You guys will leave tomorrow morning. Seungkwan will have breakfast for you an hour before everyone else eats. For the rest of the night, though, take it easy, okay? I want you well-rested for tomorrow.”

Vernon nods once, stands, then pushes in his chair. He’s about to leave but hesitates, standing in the middle of the office, looking around. He’s lost in thought, a side effect from apocalyptic living, and Jihyo gives him another thirty seconds before prompting, “Vernon?”

“Sorry,” he says. “I was just trying to remember if I’d ever gotten sent to the principal’s office as a kid.”

Jihyo cocks her head to the side, equal parts surprised and charmed by his frankness, and says, “I doubt it. Something tells me you were a really good kid.”

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Vernon bows his head, exits the office and closes the door behind him. There’s no one else in the hallway, most of the Broncos tending to their respective duties for the day, and Vernon relishes in the quiet.

Now that he’s got explicit orders from the boss to kick back and rest, his schedule is clear. Briefly, he weighs his options; he could go back to the gym and play a little more basketball, he could go to the cafeteria and see if Seungkwan needs help prepping dinner, he could go back to his room (classroom 108) and read until it’s time to eat or he could check on Seungcheol and the hunting dogs.

Before he goes anywhere, though, he finds himself staring at the wall of handprints again. He knows better than to think about Shady Brook’s former students. He knows better than to worry about what became of the kids and their families when the world ended. He knows better than to let his mind drift back to his nephews, to his sister, to the fate of his family. But still, he reaches out his hand and covers one of the small, red handprints anyway.

Vernon stays there for just a minute, feeling all the feelings that he works so hard to avoid on a normal day and imagining the school alive with music and laughter and homework. He remembers school plays and art class and tater tots and recess and hopes against all hope that his nephews are someplace safe. Then he breathes deeply, slowly, and walks away, leaving all of his emotion and worry right there in the hallway.

He may not be able to help the former Broncos but he sure as hell can make a difference now.

#the broncos #vernon #jihyo #shady brook elementary

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pigeontheoneandonly · 4 years ago

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In celebration of the upcoming MELE release, I am revisiting some of my favorite fics I’ve written for Mass Effect.

Kaidan. It’s hard to explain how much this character means to me, or how strongly I relate to him. Of course I don’t have telekinetic powers granted to me by a science-magical substance, but I am someone who has felt different, and alone, and out of place for most of their life. Autism and biotics don’t have a lot in common. But the way people look at you, how they pick up on all the million ways your very existence makes them uncomfortable, is familiar. Watching Kaidan push through that to succeed and find happiness is absolutely a comfort to me, and a story I’ll treasure.

However, part of the story that’s always intrigued me most is the part we don’t see in game-- Kaidan’s early life. This fic is an alternate version of Kaidan being sent to BAaT.

Excerpt:

They were walking home from school, through the broad streets of the quiet Vancouver suburb where a number of Alliance families made their home. The neighborhood was typical, cozy, boxy houses with big bay windows overlooking mature trees turned red and yellow for the season. It was outside both the urban crunch of the city and the dirty utility of the base, and it had good schools and a reasonable cost of living, explaining the popularity.

The Alenko family had lived here for the past five years, once his father finally got a posting home after being stationed in Singapore and Mumbai. Kaidan had only vague memories of that time. For him, the world was this one winding street, down the road from Shady Brook Elementary, and two doors up from his cousins.

“Can I try it?” Kyle asked eagerly.

Kaidan handed over the ball, and watched carefully. A half a thought and a little effort, and soon Kyle’s bounce was even higher than his own. His mother would kill him if she caught him doing this. The first time he moved something without using his hands, when he was five, she sat him down and very carefully explained that most people didn’t have that ability, and it would frighten them to know he did. Kaidan didn’t know how he did it, exactly- he just sort of felt the presence of the ball in his head, and pulled a bit of space just behind it, gave it a twist, and up it went.

But today, on as perfect a fall afternoon as ever there was, nobody would notice the brief flash of blue against the brilliant sky. He couldn’t see how it could hurt anyone, never mind why it would be frightening, but mom went ballistic whenever she caught him doing anything where someone might see.

The two boys were so caught up playing with their new toy that they didn’t notice all the cars on the Alenkos’ drive until they nearly walked into one.

#mass effect #kaidan alenko #yes there's a comic but canon is optional #pigeon writes

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drudragonrose · 7 years ago

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Chapter One ~The Houses of Shadybrook pt.2

Pt. 1 Nella rolled her eyes. “How about you bug off and leave the little kids alone.” She said making a go away motion with her hands. Galileo thought that he saw Henderson’s green eyes glow making him back away.

“Or what fruit bat?” He asked sneering. Nella looked around and saw that one of the teachers was there. She smiled then climbed the jungle gym. When she got to the top she took off the plastic hall monitor badge she had pinned to her jacket and held it up to over her head. “I, Prunella, with the power vested in me by the house of Jones extend our protection to this boy, Galileo Muffet, none may harm him!” She yelled so the entire schoolyard heard her.

How much power Nella really had Galileo didn’t know but the reaction to what she did was mixed. Some of the kids clapped while others hissed seeing her. The teacher that was monitoring this recess walked over. “What’s going on here then?” She asked watching Nella climb down from the tallest platform of the jungle gym.”They were bullying these two kindergarters, Ms. Kirk.” Nella said her arms crossed.

Ms. Kirk looked at the boys with a raised eyebrow. “We were just trying to get the know the new boy,” Henderson said defensively.

Ms. Kirk smiled at the boys. “Since you boys are so eager to get to know the younger students why don’t you come and help me get afternoon snack ready.” She said kindly. Knowing that they had been cornered, Henderson motioned to his friends to follow him with a scowl on his face.

“Thanks, Nella, you were amazing,” Pansy said running up to her sister.

Nella shrugged. “Thank Umbra. She was the one who told me you were in trouble. Thanks for the help there by the way.” She said with a grin.

Pansy puffed up proudly. “I projected your name into Nella’s head so she’d know it while she was speaking up there.” She said happily. Galileo didn’t know why this was a big deal but seeing Pansy so happy made it clear that it had to be something that she had been working on so he smiled at her.

“I was happy to step in but you have to careful. Jasper and Jade are professionals at skirting around the rules you know.” Nella said. She had a very stiff tone to her but Galileo could see that she was worried about her little sister. He could relate. His little brothers were annoying but if anything were threatening them like the boy, who he now assumed was Jasper, was just doing to them he would try to protect them too.

“I know, and Sapphire is our class too. We’re almost surrounded.” Pansy whined.

“Is that the girl with the blue streaks in her hair?” Galileo asked. He remembered her because she had been the one that had made him so sure that he wasn’t going to be making any friends here.

Pansy nodded. “I’m sure that’s hair chalk though. I doubt her mom would let her dye her hair like that.” She said. Pansy was a bit jealous. Her mother and father were very strict and didn’t let them even get their ears pierced let alone get their hair dyed. Pansy wanted pink hair.

“Are they all bad?” Galileo asked. He wanted to know who he had to watch out for. Pansy and her older sister seemed nice so he was sure that sticking around them would be a good idea. That and it wasn’t like he had a choice now that Nella had made that speech. How much of it would hold with the other students he still wasn’t sure but it made him feel better to know that someone liked him enough to say what she said.

“Anyone who follows the house of Henderson,” Nella said. Seeing Galileo’s confused expression she continued. “The rules and laws for us vampires are made by the council of elders. The Council was founded and is controlled by two families. The Hendersons, who you met and the Jones’. That’s our family. How mom puts it, we’re trying to understand humanity, evolve so we can leave Shady Brook and live along with everyone else. The Hendersons however, they like this town and believe that the entire world should be like this. It doesn’t help that Jade and Jasper are total spoiled brats.” Nella said twisting her lips.

Pansy bit her lip trying to not to giggle. She happened to know a certain vampire who had thrown a tantrum because their parents hadn’t gotten her the exact brand of dress she had wanted.

Galileo tried hard to understand all this. This was almost too much for the five-year-old yet easier to process because he hadn’t been taught not to believe yet. “Ok, so I won’t play with the Hendersons.” He said confidently.

“Good, I don’t wanna have to stop being your friend,” Pansy said with a bright smile on her face.

“We’re friends?” Galileo asked looking at her.

“Duh! Now let’s go play this is boring and recess is almost over!” Pansy yelled pulling him towards the baseball diamond where others were playing kickball. Nella shook her head looking after her little sister then followed them. She had to help the teachers keep order after all.

As he waited for his turn to kick the ball, Galileo noticed that the yard was divided in two. Pansy had introduced him to the kids that she knew and it became clear that she was as popular as he had been around the bakery. The others were nice to him now that Pansy was talking to him. He looked over where they had come from and he spotted the boy that had wanted to walk away with him. They were talking to the girl he had mentioned. Sapphire he assumed. As if feeling that someone was watching her, she looked over at him.

Her huge blue eyes seemed to glow like her brother’s had during the argument. “Galileo, what are you doing?” Pansy called over the head of one of her friends. Galileo blinked and saw that he was several feet from the line that he had been standing in. Pansy went up to him and brought him back.

“Never look into Sapphire’s eyes. She can make you do things that you don’t want to do.” She whispered into his ear as she took him back to the line. Galileo shivered. Even now he could tell just how deep he was getting into things here. His question to himself now was how much did he like Pansy to keep coming back.

On that note did his parents know that Shady Brook Elementary was a school full of vampires? How far did this go? He didn’t get a chance to think about it more because his turn came up. He kicked and was made out almost instantly because one of the older kids ran faster than light and caught the ball. Galileo didn’t feel bad though because this was the first time he was playing kickball anyway.

Recess was over and done with and they went back to class. Again he noticed that the kids in the class divided themselves as best they could while still forming a line. Galileo followed Pansy as did about seven other children. They and those seven sat together for the rest of the day. He noticed that sort of the same thing happened around Sapphire but while everyone around him seemed to be having fun, it looked like those around Sapphire were a little afraid of her.

He felt sorry for them and wanted to invite them over to play with them but even now he knew that none of them would come around him. The day ended and his mom came around in the van. “Hey, baby have fun?” Loretta asked hugging him. Galileo rubbed his cheek clean of his mom’s kiss.

“Oh so now you’re too cool to have a kiss from your mom?” She asked putting her hands on her hips.

“No mom but it’s embarrassing in front of everyone!” He said with a groan. “And yeah, I had fun,” Galileo said. He had decided that yes, continuing at Shady Brook was worth it if it meant to would have a friend like Pansy. If his parents knew, then they had felt it safe enough to have him come. His brothers yelled when they saw him get in the van. He smiled at them. If anything, he could warn them when they got to go to school in a couple of years.

#Vampire Brook #Dru does NaNoWrimo #Galileo Muffet #Chapter One

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