st_augustus | EVENT: Snowed In

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EVENT: Snowed In

[Early Monday afternoon, the snow starts. At first, a charming novelty glimpsed through the classroom windows, but within minutes it becomes a veritable blizzard. Any classes being held outside are urged to bring themselves inside. Within half an hour, the power's cut out and the snow is piled high enough to make entry/exit from the buildings difficult. Within an hour, it's impossible. Snow is piled halfway up the first floor windows, and most of the doors have frozen shut. The second story windows seem to be working just fine, though, as are any rooftop access doors.]

[The blizzard finally calms down, but students and faculty are trapped inside--or outside, if they managed to be on the wrong side of the doors during the storm. The power's out and the cold is starting to seep in through the insulation. Worse, there seems to be some kind of unseen presence in the buildings, an eerie cackle echoing through the empty halls or an unsettling sense that you're not alone.]

[Someone's going to have to restart the generator before we end up with a school full of studentcicles. It wouldn't hurt to clear some pathways out of the buildings, either.]

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[Duncan is in the middle of his Special Health and Anatomy class, trying to teach some of the finer points of treating concussions, when the snow starts. He notices, but goes on undeterred, because his classroom is generally kept warm enough that the weather outside is a nonissue.]

[And then the lights flicker and die and the background hum of electricity in the modern world goes silent. That is when he freezes up and turns to stare out the window like the apocalypse has hit.]

...Shit.

[After making sure his students got out of his class and towards their dorm, he made the appropriate adjustments as not to freeze his ass off - those who can't see the supernatural won't notice a thing, those that can - it's unmissable - and started to roam the building to see if anyone was getting to the generator or any students lingering.

Oh right, Duncan hates the cold even more then he does. He better make sure he isn't frozen solid and ducks his head through the door]

Is everyone all right?

[The classroom temperature hasn't dropped near freezing yet, but it's steadily decreasing and it's going to get there soon enough. Duncan's already snatched up his coat from the back of his chair and put it on, but it was intended to get him through the weather outside this morning, which was significantly less frigid than the current weather. He has a heavier coat in the infirmary, not to mention blankets, but that...is in a different building entirely.]

[Despite what his actions may have implied to others, Duncan does not hate the cold. He fears it. The cold has teeth and he knows what mouth they lie in.]

[He is curled up in his chair, still staring at the whiteness out the window, when Sinbad pops in. His head snaps up, he answers a little too quickly.]

Yeah, no we're fine. Everyone's fine. We're just all going to die of hypothermia but otherwise yeah, great.

[He tries not to roll his eyes at the sarcastic quip, but he did bring up a good point - no one was prepared for this storm and the temperature was plummeting at an alarming rate. The ears of his ice-form twitched]

I'm trying to track down the janitors to see if they can get the generators running, least it's early enough that we're not in total darkness.

[his eyes go wide at that last part, and he's silent for several seconds before letting out a nervous, high-pitched laugh.]

[BECAUSE GUESS WHAT ELSE DUNCAN IS AFRAID OF: THE FUCKING DARK.]

[He's been too busy worrying about the current cold to consider the potential darkness. but Sinbad's got a point, the later it gets the darker it gets, and if those lights aren't back up by the time the sun goes down Duncan is going to be a nervous fucking wreck.]

[He nods to the advance class students]

I suggest you should return to the dorms quickly if the paths are still cleared, they'll prioritize the dorms for getting power and heat back on. Dunc-

[Given this is a school, he should use surnames in front of students]

Jackson, want to come with me to hunt the maintenance down?

Edited 2015-03-09 00:51 (UTC)

Hey, you can't dismiss my students.

[he turns to the class, nodding toward the door.] Go do what he said.

[he stands, wrapping the coat a little tighter around himself, wishing he'd brought a scarf.] Yeah, that sounds better than sitting in here waiting to freeze. Let's go.

[He hid a smirk as Duncan turned around and dismissed them anyways. If pressed, he'll claim seniority.]

And moving will keep you warm.

[Sinbad knows there's a day when they're reduced to half staff - he just never bothered to remember which day, hopefully it's not today. Or that they're stuck somewhere]

Stick close, the air around me when I'm like this will be less biting.

Thank God for that.

[Duncan steps out into the hallway after him and immediately spazzes out and ducks back into the classroom] Jesus fuckin'--

[okay, breathe Duncan. It's just dark in the hallway because there aren't any fucking windows in it. It's dark, but it's not The Dark, you can do this.]

[he rifles through his pockets and digs out a mini-flashlight, switching it on before stepping out into the hallway again. you don't spend five years deathly afraid of the dark without learning to carry a light around.]

Okay. I'm good. Let's go.

[sounds like he's trying to convince himself more than Sinbad though]

[He stares for a moment, unsure what to think of how Duncan suddenly spazzed. It's not that much colder in the halls, is it? Or was it something else? The Djinn started down the halls, grabbing at the doorknob to the janitor's office and pulled when they arrived. It rattled, but didn't give]

Damnation. It's locked.

[The multiple tails twitched and ears laid back in agitation]

[Duncan is high-strung by nature, but during their walk he's downright jumpy. the slightest noise has him flinching and flashing his light to the edges of the hallway.]

[it is cold and it is dark and every so often he imagines he can hear a distant thump - scrape - thump - scrape echoing down the hall. by the time they reach the door his hands are shaking, and it's only partially because of the cold.]

Could always break it. [his voice is shaky too, in that particular quality of someone speaking through shivering. that, at least, is entirely because of the cold.]

Is it gonna be as easy as fucking around with the fusebox, though? What if we have to restart the generator?

[He pauses at the question, frowning slightly]

Well, it's not like I really have much need for my paycheck - they could bill me for the door.

As for the generator... it should be a switch, or a pullcord, something like that, right? They shouldn't had made it so complicated that you can't operate it in the dark, that would defeat the purpose of one.

Edited (whoops wrong word) 2015-03-12 03:27 (UTC)

Yeah, but it's in the...

[there is something here. he knows exactly what not being alone in the dark feels like. he will never forget it. there is something here, he can feel it.]

[he presses his back against the wall beside the door, his eyes and his flashlight darting across the hallway to try to find the source of that feeling. he can't see anything amiss, and that's even worse. he doesn't care if it's goddamn Cthulhu, anything is better than the terror that lurks unseen.]

[he finishes meekly:] ...it's in the basement, isn't it?

(no subject)

ofsevenseas - 2015-03-12 05:59 (UTC) - Expand

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inchesofevil - 2015-03-14 23:23 (UTC) - Expand

[ That sure was a thing that happened. And Mikoto swears that it was not her fault for the power outage. This time, at least. But before anybody can go blame her for that, she's just going to.

Attempt to sneak out of the classroom.

Very discreetly as she gets to the door before looking over her shoulder and saying in a sweet tone - somewhat sarcastic, somewhat worried, sounding a little guilty even though she didn't do it: ]

You know what? Since there's a blackout and all, I guess we can't— y'know. Have class. So I'm just going to just leave now if that's okay with you.

[ Or at least try..... ]

[god, he can almost feel the cold seeping in already. slithering in under the windows, clawing its way into the room... it's not actually cold in here yet, the temperature hasn't dropped that far, but the anticipation, knowing it's going to happen, that's almost worse.]

[so he's kind of doing the deer-in-headlights stare at the snow outside the windows and doesn't even notice one of his students trying to sneak off until she speaks up.]

[at which point he spins around and points her back to her desk]

Absolutely fucking not, sit your ass back down.

[he's not angry, that's just...how he always talks... the most professional]

During my classtime, I am responsible for your safety, and there is no way I am letting you out in that.

[ She has absolutely no words for this, because she is not sure if she should snap back at him or comply, but she's leaning towards the latter, if only because she's a good student.

Ha, ha, Mikoto being a good student. . . Okay, admittedly she's somewhat of a jerk, but she means well! Honest!

But she will slink back to her desk with a disapproving grunt, sitting back at her desk as she crosses her legs. ]

So what, are you still going to teach while the lights're still out? I wouldn't highly recommend it, you know. [ Mikoto's basically asking what they're going to do in the meantime while this is happening. ]

Are you kidding? Of course not! Look at that shit! [gestures aggressively at windows] No, as far as I'm concerned, we're on lockdown until I hear otherwise.

[he grabs his coat from the back of his chair and shrugs it on before sitting down] Y'all can do whatever. Just stay in the room.

[he's not even going to tell them to keep it down, because the last thing he wants in a cold, dim room is quiet.]

It's just a snowstorm and a blackout.

[ No big deal.

But nope, she's not dealing with this, she's not staying here when she could be doing something to help the situation! She's going to storm off (get it? storm off? in a snowstorm?) or at least attempt to sneak away if he's not looking. It's not like he can do anything to her, right?

..... Right? ]

[he folds his arms, staring off into the distance through the windows like someone watching a furious dog at the end of its leash.]

That is more than just a snowstorm.

[not that "just a snowstorm" wouldn't have him reacting pretty much the same way. he IS from texas.]

[Duncan might look like he's not paying attention, but he's actually hyper-alert and Mikoto's sneaking attempt doesn't go unnoticed. He doesn't even bother turning away from the windows.]

I swear to god if you walk out that door I am going to give you, like, a week of detentions.

[ Of course it's more than just a snowstorm. They're in this kind of school. But she's brushing it off as simply something simple because there's other people around. Frustrated, she twists the heel of her foot onto the ground, scoffing as a wide mischievous grin slipped her lips as she shrugged her shoulders. ]

Go ahead, but I ask you this: what's more important, temporarily giving a person's safety or going and finding the cause of all this and guarantee it.

Edited 2015-03-10 19:17 (UTC)

[it's okay, this is basically a class in healing magic, Duncan's not exactly concerned with preserving the masquerade in here. everyone present should already know, whether or not they're aware the others do.]

[he turns to face her. wow mikoto that's not fair and you know it.]

Me not getting sued for letting you die of hypothermia, actually.

But if you really want to leave that badly, how's this: beat me in a contract duel and I will let you go.

[he spreads his hands in a wide shrug] I mean, I'm a literal demi-god, so good luck, but I'll make you that offer.

Alright. Don't go easy just because I'm a kid.

[ It doesn't matter if he's a demi-god or whatever, she'll find out a way to beat him. ]

[...WAIT MIKOTO NO]

You're not supposed to say yes!

[ ... She twitches a brow in frustration, folding her arms over her chest. ]

You were bluffing? [ AMAZING, DUNCAN, WOW. ] Now I'm kind of disappointed, teach.

[he drags his hands over his face with a groan.]

"Doc."

I didn't spend thirty-thousand a year to be called "teach."

[he sets his hands on the chair arms] Alright fine. [and pushes himself to his feet]

If you win, you get to walk out of here free of disciplinary consequence.

If I win, you have to stay until I dismiss you, and be my TA for a week.

Do we have a contract?