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[open]
Who: Clamor & open!
When: Late April, vaguely between the 19th and the end of the month as needed
What: Mostly Nerd Stuff™ but basically just Clamor going about his daily business. So... Reading. Study club. Conspiracy notes. Not sleeping. etc.
Warnings: whatever you call PTSD from having your soul ripped out of your body and placed in an inanimate object, there sure is some of that in the last prompt
[A - Library, any days during lunch or between classes]
[B - Class 3-A, after school club hours]
[C - Class 1-C, after 6PM]
[D - Cooking room, between midnight and 6AM]
When: Late April, vaguely between the 19th and the end of the month as needed
What: Mostly Nerd Stuff™ but basically just Clamor going about his daily business. So... Reading. Study club. Conspiracy notes. Not sleeping. etc.
Warnings: whatever you call PTSD from having your soul ripped out of your body and placed in an inanimate object, there sure is some of that in the last prompt
[A - Library, any days during lunch or between classes]
Books are a scholar's best friend, and Clamor is certainly no exception. Anyone looking for Clamor would be wise to check the library first, as it's the place he tends to gravitate to when he has nowhere else to be—during school hours, anyway. Books are a comfort, and he'll usually be seated far in the back with piles of them stacked at his sides, or browsing the shelves of history and fiction to pull out anything that looks interesting. Sometimes he'll pull out a book and just start reading it right there, in the middle of the aisle, being a nuisance to anyone trying to pass through. Sorry, old habits.
Books are a comfort... and yet, he rarely looks comfortable, even though he goes out of his way to visit. He sits with his back to the wall, always, jumping at the slightest movements that catch the corner of his eye. It takes some time for him to fully settle in, and as the days pass his trips to the library become less frequent. But he does still drop in, from time to time, to check what's still on the shelves if nothing else. Not even the unnerving atmosphere is enough to keep him from surrounding himself with books.
He'll usually have a notebook out for writing, if he does decide to sit down and read, and he certainly doesn't mind the company. He doesn't seem especially picky, either, but his stack is usually populated with an abundance of history books and horror novels. Care to trade some recommendations, perhaps?
[B - Class 3-A, after school club hours]
After school comes Study Club, and Clamor is diligent in his attendance—not for his own studies, really, but to make sure that a certain someone is getting enough help with his homework. He's usually hovering near wherever Noah is, though he's not glued to the kid's side at all times. Just most of the time.
But really, he's happy to step in and help anyone who looks like they need it. He's a patient teacher, and he's adamant in making sure everyone understands the material rather than just giving the answers. Rest assured, you will understand the value and importance of algebra before leaving this room, and you'll know how to actually do it!
Of course, there's also the other kind of studying that goes on once the last of the "normal" students leave for the day. Past 6PM, he'll stick around the room for awhile longer to chat with anyone who wants to discuss the murder investigation, the current transfer student situation, or any other weird shit that's going on. He keeps a special notebook set aside for these matters, filled with personal notes of what's been discovered thus far. Did you miss that clusterfuck of a meeting? Clamor can hook you up with the details.
[C - Class 1-C, after 6PM]
When free time comes around again and all the students and staff have gone home, Clamor once again returns to the library... but he doesn't tend to stay very long, unlike during school hours. Rather, he heads in with a purpose and walks back out with a book or two in hand, apparently fearless of the consequences. He's an acquired a few bandaids on the ends of his fingers recently... but only a few, and no more past the 25th. And every night before 11PM he returns like clockwork, putting his books back where he found them and walking back out, equally fearless.
Yeah, that's right. There's a loophole and it's called being responsible. Who would've thought?
Anyway, he's much more at ease reading in his homeroom, and he can sometimes be found scribbling down notes in his notebook when his nose isn't buried in a novel. Sometimes it actually is just homework notes—he's already a fan of history, and being from a vastly different world only makes it more fascinating to learn about—but other times it seems like he's writing out his thoughts in an attempt to sort through them. It's not always very coherent, unfortunately, but lines like "Students and teachers - real? illusion? based on whom?", "Physical displacement - why recreate my body? how??" and the constant mentions of cultists might stand out more to confused shoulder-readers.
Don't worry, he only kind of looks like a crazed conspiracy theorist over here. It makes more sense in context, probably.
[D - Cooking room, between midnight and 6AM]
Clamor does try to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. He's quite adept at sleeping in uncomfortable places—chairs, desks, the floor... and sleep is important. He knows it's important. It's what's going to keep them all a little more sane, when their lives have been drawn into this strange prison and the threat of death looms in the air. He succeeds, most nights. By the time morning comes there's only an hour or so left of the silence, and he's too busy making himself presentable to dwell on anything else. Everything's fine. He's fine.
But some nights, he doesn't succeed. The silence always gets to him, but it's worse when he tries to close his eyes—when he can't sleep before the strike of midnight, or when some terror jolts him awake and it becomes impossible to go back to sleep again. Not when all he can think about is the unnatural silence, the darkness, digging his remaining fingernails into his arms just to make sure he can feel something, that his soul isn't being ripped away again and left to rot in a place where not even time can touch—
It's a futile effort, and he'd rather just fall asleep in class than keep trying to force it.
So, it's late night tea time now.
The prepackaged tea isn't great, but he makes enough of it for a few cups. It's cheap lemon flavoured, with a hint of boiled banana water. He's happy to share, even if his smile doesn't seem to linger as long as it normally would.
He has his notebook with him, too, both for communication and idle distraction... but it's even harder to write coherent theories when you haven't slept a full night in possibly days. He's mostly just scribbling down nonsense, maybe some plans for the day, the occasional magic-looking spell circle... you know, normal school stuff.
no subject
its just easier for me 2 help others
its not like we can get out of here right now 2 deal with the order
[And Noah hasn't seen any Order members around, not that he thinks anyway; everyone has been comparatively normal. Maybe there's that one cult that hangs around sometimes? Maybe he should go interrogate them. With his fists.]
i dont want to drag people down with me
its not like they can help us fight the Order?
no subject
But there are adults here, too. Most of them have already proven themselves skilled or knowledgeable in some useful way, and some of the older teens seem like they could be strong allies even if he dislikes it. Meanwhile, what good has Clamor been, really? It's baffling that Noah would think that Clamor, of all people, is the only reliable one here, but perhaps that's his own fault for trying to sound like he knows how to handle any of this. At least Noah can fight.
He twirls the pen in his hand a few times before putting it to the page, stopping several times to carefully consider his words.]
Even if my magic was working, a spell like this is way out of my league.
I don't work with illusion magic, let alone anything to do with combat...
What I meant is that I don't want you to face these problems alone, because I don't think I'll be able to help you with them even if I tried.
I'm nothing special.
[... it's nothing he hasn't said before, but writing it down and having to read his own words sure makes him feel even more pathetic about it. ugh.
He almost considers ripping out the page and trying again, but he already committed the words to the page, so... maybe all this needs is a positive spin.]
We're all in the same situation, so it makes sense for everyone to work together, right?
What about Ain, Gawain, Norton, Abel? Some of the kids around your age are pretty smart, too.
Who knows? Maybe our information on the Order is the last missing piece that will get us out of here.
We won't know for sure if we don't try!
[the cheery exclamation mark doesn't quite carry onto his face when he flips it around, but he's trying his best over here]
no subject
Nothing special, says the only person Noah has left. Nothing special.]
ur special to me
[His response is swift, tapped out quickly on the PDA screen as he sits up instead of being hunched over on the table as he is. He shows Clamor that single message first before he takes the device back and hurriedly types the rest of his opinions on that in particular.]
ur all i have u know??
ur special enough to me to want to go get ur body back when we get outta here
id kill for u. anything to keep u safe.
[There's a brief pause as Noah contemplates what to add to that. How can Clamor think he's worthless when he's legitimately the reason Noah is still standing most days?]
im not good at this but
as far as im concerned ur basically family
uve been there for me more than my parents ever were anyway.
plus u can just learn new illusion magic anyway
[Gotta deflect a little bit at the end there, can't get too sentimental at 3am.]
no subject
Anyway, he's a lot more surprised when the rest of the message Noah is furiously typing turns out to still be about that, and not about Noah's worries or trust issues—that is what they were talking about, right? Working together, opening up to people... Noah's problems? Clamor isn't the one that needs reassuring here, he was just stating the facts. He isn't special.
(but he's special to Noah, and... yeah. yeah, it does make him feel a little better to hear that, not that he needed comforting in the first place.)
Clamor rereads the message a couple times before making his move, but when he finally does he's quick to scribble out a reply, leaning in a little closer to the page in a fruitless attempt to hide how flustered he is. He slides the book over and then oh look, is the teapot getting low?? This sounds like a great distraction he's just going to stand up and refill that—]
Sure I'll just master illusion magic in a couple of weeks! It's not like learning an entirely new school of magic takes years of study and practice or anything!
But anyway, that's beside the point
I won't always be able to help, so you should try to rely on other people sometimes too, okay?
no subject
thats not what i meant about the magic
im just saying u can learn it
u would probably be good at it
[And then, hmm, what is he supposed to say? Because he can't argue with the fact that Clamor won't always be able to help, after all. No one has that sort of power, not even the person Noah looks up to most. But...]
eventually we're gonna go home and i dont think others are going to be able to come with us u know?
ain yeah but not abel and not sidney and not nene et cetera
they have their own worlds to return to i think
[He's like... pretty sure about that.]
and even if they wanted to come with us i dont know if thats a good idea
i just dont want to involve people who arent going to be around on top of what i already said earlier
[That's always the thing with Noah, isn't it? The lone wolf who won't involve anyone else in his problems, someone who sees "reaching out" as an insurmountable peak, because at the end of the day it's much easier for him to turn away from admitting there's an actual problem. If he faces everything alone, he doesn't have to admit that it affects him. That's how it works. That's how it's always going to be.]
ur the one person i can trust completely with anything anyway
u trust me too, right?
[It's just text on a screen. It's just text on a screen in the never-ending silence of the early morning, and yet it betrays just the smallest bit of anxiety. Clamor doesn't want him to reach out to others because they're growing apart, does he?]
no subject
... Is he being too pushy? Maybe he's trying too hard to make Noah do something he's not comfortable with. It's certainly not that he doesn't want the kid coming to him for help, but... there are so many things he can't do. And if Noah won't trust anyone else, what if he gets hurt?
Or worse—he doesn't want to think about "worse". He's thought about that enough for one night.
Maybe it is just up to Clamor to make sure other people are looking out for Noah... it makes him feel like a nuisance, but if it's for Noah, he'll bear it. Besides, he's a good kid. People would want to help him even if Clamor didn't ask. So maybe it's okay to take things slow...
Speaking of taking things slow, the water has now been triple-boiled and triple-filtered, with an extra tea bag thrown in for the hell of it, so. He's out of excuses to keep stalling, alas, it's time to go back and face the Noah. Surely by now the kid is starting to get tired again and hasn't written any more about oh sweet lady of el that's still a lot of words
He sets the freshly-filled teapot back down, looking a little more tired himself, and takes a minute to read through all of that.]
Of course I trust you. We're partners, remember?
Who else is going to lug a chatterbox like me around once we get out of here?
I'm sorry if I was being pushy. I just worry about you.
You can always come to me if you need anything.
Even if I can't do much right now, I'll still do everything I can to help you. No matter what it is.
[really, his main take away from all this is... he needs to find a way to become more useful. If he can get his mana flowing again, maybe he can ask some of the other mages here about what they can do... that's much better than just waiting around.]
no subject
yeah i know
[That Clamor trusts him. He knows, he tells himself he knows, but Goddess forbid that this stops and that he's left alone again and—
Okay, okay, reel in the emotions. It's fine, just a misunderstanding, a small moment of worry over nothing. This whole school is getting to him, clearly. Obviously the school is to blame and not the issues he's had his entire life haha.]
ur not pushy. i just dont want to involve people if i can
to be fair i cant do much either
i dont have my magic back and i dont have a weapon but thats not ur fault
to be honest id rather have u as a person. i can just use a kitchen knife. i said id help un-sickle u one day anyway
[And he meant it, and still means it, no matter how many times Clamor is going to attempt to deflect that.
They get out of here. They get revenge on the Order, for both of them and Harque and anyone else the Order has wronged. And maybe along the way, they discover how to restore Clamor to a state where he's alive like he is now. Those are the goals, and to be frank, Noah doesn't intend to change them any time soon.
All that aside, Noah kind of forgot his tea existed. He looks at it, looks at the fresh pot, and kind of just... guns back what he currently has, gross cold leaf water, so that he can actually drink a fresh cup of thrice-boiled tea.]
thanks for making tea tho
how long have u been up anyway???
[The worry never ends.]
no subject
I'd like to think I'm a little more useful than a kitchen knife. [let's lighten the mood with a joke, instead of addressing the fact that he probably hasn't slept at all since midnight rolled around]
I could get used to being like this... but try not to get your hopes up.
I doubt it's going to be this easy once we get out of here.
I'll just have to make the most of this while it lasts!
[The bright side of being in murderschool... even if it's the same reason for why he can't sleep, and why he feels dread every time the sound disappears. It sure would be easier to deal with a lot of this if he didn't have a body. Maybe that's the real reason why their mysterious kidnappers gave him one.]
You should try to get some sleep.
You don't want to fall asleep during class and get in trouble again.
no subject
[Who taught this kid to use emojis in the first place? Noah takes a sip of his tea, trying to scan Clamor's face for any signs of... oh, eye bags or something, whatever it is adults get when they're really exhausted and stressed.]
also
u should try to get some sleep too
im not sleeping until u do
[Reaaaal mature, thanks, Noah.
At least he's serious about that, though, and he's not about to budge from this very spot until Clamor agrees. He's got that determined look in his eyes like he's willing to sit here all night and drink tea well into the morning if Clamor refuses.]
what if U fall asleep in class HUH? what then
no subject
A response like that isn't completely unexpected... well, there's nothing stopping him from playing along until Noah falls asleep, then going back to his insomniac ways. It's the perfect crime. He smiles back, confidence unfazed.]
After this cup.
I wouldn't want to be responsible for you failing another math test.
Do you need me to tuck you in?
I'd offer you a lullaby, but I don't think you'd be able to appreciate it right now.
[... again, blatantly ignoring Noah's own question, but hey. don't worry about it.]
no subject
im not 5!!!
[Aaaaand he's almost pouting now, almost. Sure, his response is defensive, and he definitely doesn't think he needs to be babied, but he's also the same person who suggested a blanket fort, so...]
drink ur tea
its just hot leaf water
just chug it
[Noah's already chugged his hot leaf water, after all! It's not difficult. He'll just, you know, patiently wait until Clamor is done drinking his tea before dragging both of them off to a classroom to sleep... while also looking expectantly at Clamor like he absolutely would love to see him chugging a cup of tea.]
no subject
I thought you wanted to stay up with me?
You must be more tired than you want to admit.
Good! ♪
[He's not going to chug, he's going to drink his hot leaf water at a completely reasonable pace here. Maybe he wants to enjoy it, huh? Some of us here actually like triple-boiled hot leaf banana water.]
no subject
...he thinks to himself, tiredly, while being tired and really wanting to fall asleep while slumped over the countertop like he was earlier.]
im not tired ur tired
[What a level of staggering maturity.]
i do want to stay up with u
if were pulling an all nighter im gonna need more leaf water
if were not pulling an all nighter im dragging u to go sleep
if i lay on u u cant escape sleeping becuz it would be rude to wake me up :P
[Taps side of head, Clamor can't escape sleep if there's a dead-weight sixteen year old flopped over on him!]
no subject
When he weighs his personal comfort against Noah's health... well, he doesn't have to like it, but he'd rather try to let Noah sleep. But there's also the risk of him having some kind of nightmare or panic attack and then having to explain himself, and Noah wouldn't be able to sleep anyway if that happened, so maybe it is better to just let the kid stay up instead of admit to anything...
Or, he can try to take the third option again.]
I roll around a lot in my sleep. I doubt you'd be able to sleep at all if you tried that.
But I promise I'll be there right next to you when you wake up.
[It's a flat-out lie, since he's more used to sleeping in desks or against bookcases than anything, but Noah doesn't know that. But anyway, it's much easier to just lay there awake for 3 more hours if there's a bit of space between them... he could make that work.]
no subject
pretty sure i weigh more than u so u wouldnt b able to
ur skinny and u cant lift me
[Yeah, but like, if Noah wasn't all raw muscle, the opposite would be true... because he's fucking short and sixteen and most short sixteen year olds are easily-yeetable.
At this rate, though, these two are going to be arguing well into the morning about sleeping. They might as well pull an all-nighter and risk getting in trouble in class.]
finish ur leaf water so i can prove u wrong