FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

[bedtime]

Characters: EVERY STUDENT
Format: Action/prose, whichever you want!!
This log is: open
Location: Fortitude school
Summary: FLOWER ARRANGEMENT CLASS
Warnings: oichi is creepy

Oichi arranges the flowers. It is a very simple arrangement-- one red spiderlily standing tall on its stem, and long stalks of some miscellaneous plant alongside it. It's all in a small black vase.

"So like this... yes... did you know? Listen, listen." She turns to face the class. She has some grasp on what she's supposed to be doing here, but does it with her own incoherent flair. Students have been set up with various flowers and containers; flowers sit on a central table, and containers line the walls.

The room is silent. "Did you know? That these flowers, these pretty red blooms, pave the road to hell." She laughs, hiding her mouth with her hands. And then she gestures to everyone in the room, spinning around and rushing limply behind her desk. "Your turn, your turn... Ichi will look at what you put together, so impress Ichi, ok...? Don't disappoint her... remember to be simple yet strong... beautiful like a death poem, ok?"

Comments

[drawsdeath]

I like dark things. But if everything's dark, it all runs together... I want to try something with purple next, but I need some advice.

[Looking to the teacher for help.]

[bedtime]

[ Oichi just wanders away without a word. She's gone for a few minutes, shuffling around the table with flowers on it. She returns with a few miscellaneous flowers colored with various shades of purple. ]

Ichi likes this one the best... isn't it like the night sky? [ She takes Becca's hand and forces a dark purple flower on a stem on her. ]

[drawsdeath]

[She takes it and considers it.]

I'd put small white flowers with it, to be like stars at midnight...

[bedtime]

Yes... yes, just like that... [ she laughs and hides her mouth with both hands ] A flower set like that... is much better than one simply put together... you know? Ichi likes flowers with stories.

[drawsdeath]

My favourite flower is gardenia...but I don't know what to do with it...

[She sets out some small white flowers beside the deep purple one, then turns her eyes to the vases. Which one to choose, for the night sky? Black comes to mind, but it'll swallow that deep purple flower that's the main piece. White would blot out the stars and ruin the mood. Which to choose?]

[bedtime]

[ Oichi lets her pick for herself; she's quiet and watchful. ]

[drawsdeath]

[She finds a bottle green one, like grass in the dark. She brings it over and carefully arranges the flowers in the vase, then stands back.]

[bedtime]

[ She nods her approval, touching the vase. ] Yes, just like this... how lovely, how pretty...

[drawsdeath]

Will I get an A?

[She seems amazed by this concept. She's never gotten good grades, but she can't remember why and isn't inclined to think about why not.]

[bedtime]

What's "A"?

[ Peering at Becca as though the answer were on her face. ]

[drawsdeath]

. . .

The best grade. Don't you grade with letters here?

[bedtime]

Grade...? [ She's struggling to understand what she means, but the concept is totally foreign. ]

[drawsdeath]

... You're a teacher and you don't know about grading?

[bedtime]

Ichi has never heard of something like that... never ever...

[drawsdeath]

You get a book and you write down everybody's name. Then for every day, you write down A, B, C, D, or F next to their names, based on how good they did. A is the best, F is the worst. Then at the end of the semester, you average it all together and give them their final grade. Anybody with an F fails the class and has to do it again if they want credit for it.

[bedtime]

[ She looks around the room, as though a book might appear for her to write in. ]

But what does A mean...? What's a semester...? And how does Ichi average?

[drawsdeath]

It's just the best. A is the best, it's worth four. F is the worst, it's worth zero.

Semester is how long classes last, it's usually September to January and February to June, but I dunno at this school. You'd have to ask the headmistress.

And averaging's math, you add it all together and divide it by the number of days.

[bedtime]

Ah... Ichi sees. [ kind of, anyways ] Thank you, little one... you are so helpful for Ichi... Ichi will give you the best, then...

[drawsdeath]

I've never gotten an A before...