daybreakacademy | Afternoon at the Museum

Entry tags:

Afternoon at the Museum

Who: Yang... and you!
What: It's time for a field trip to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris, France. The afternoon is in the museum. But Yang took everyone at like 10 AM as an excuse to get out and see Paris.
Where: Paris! And at the Army Museum.
When: February 25
Notes: The following prompts are if you want to interact with Yang directly! Otherwise, please feel free to use this as an excuse to do threads in Paris! Yang's taking basically anyone -- heck, even other teachers, TA's, and RA's -- because he really just wanted an easy field trip after grading all the papers and despairing over the fact he might have made his courses too hard.

A. WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE PARIS RIGHT NOW

[The helicopters have landed at Charles de Gaulle airport, everyone has bused into the city center, and it's now about 11:00 in the morning. They aren't supposed to be at the museum until two. Thus, standing in front of the crowd, Wen-li Yang...

...is due to give a speech.]

So, Paris! It's a pretty big deal.

[Hm, what else is important...]

Meet at the Army Museum at 2! And try to not get in too much trouble. Have fun!

[He'll hang around for a second in case anyone has questions.]

B. AND NOW: OLD STUFF!

[At about 1:57 PM, Yang comes running up with a sandwich still in his mouth and a paper cup with tea in it in hand. He skids to a stop in front of the museum's steps, looks around, and... peers at the people waiting for him.

Then, sheepishly, he waves.

The museum is much too big to do a guided tour. However, unlike the free roam period in Paris, Yang is actually a good source of information here. He roams between the different groups of students, answering questions, providing historical detail, and showing that he isn't actually terrible at his job all of the time.

He'd be easy to approach during any of this.]

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Maybe the myth and coincidence was just because magic was less secretive back then?

[It seems reasonable enough to her - that magic just became more and more closely guarded as the years went by and technology started to gain traction.]

But that makes a lot of sense. [She hums thoughtfully.] In the end, they're only human.

Except for those that aren't, I guess...

I think that could be some of it. But... it's deeper than that. When we see a coincidence, we have a thought that says something like: "Yes, these two things happened at the same time, but one didn't cause the other." I think in the past, they would find a meaning in it that's harder for a lot of people now.

[He pauses, though, and then laughs.]

Yeah. That part... that's taking some getting used to, to remember our non-human friends have been here as long as we have.

Or longer.

Do you think a lot about the meanings in coincidences, Professor?

[She fidgets, looking back at the display.]

And do you...think it was hard for them? Living through all that change?

It's hard not to, sometimes. It's comforting to think coincidences aren't misfortune or luck out of our control, but the product of something, I think.

[He thinks about that for a second, though. Then, he nods.]

Change is scary. They must have, right?

...Yeah. It'd be nice if things happened for a reason you know. Would probably make things less scary or overwhelming...

[Which...]

Maybe that would make living so long less terrible, if you knew the reasons for everything changing all the time.

Hmm. I think so, but... when terrible things happen, I think they're going to be terrible either way.

[That, though, prompts a blink.]

Living so long?

So it's not like bracing for impact?

[Probably not, but she sags anyways.

And then she realizes she said too much, and panic crosses her face for a moment. People she's met so far - they seemed disgusted with vampires. Maybe even afraid of them.

But...he's a professor. There's probably some sort of rule in place to protect students like Adelaide that the professors have to abide by. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Still, she hesitates, looking around to see if anyone else is listening in.]

Well, it's just... You know. I'm probably going to live through a lot.

Well... maybe a little like that, but bracing for impact means impact still comes.

[Yang... well, Yang hasn't learned, yet, to read every student's bio. He sometimes forgets they may not be human. It never occurs to him, really, that she might harbor a secret.

He looks at her, discerning for a moment. There aren't too many people around, at the moment.

A lot are distracted by the exhibits. Yang taps a finger against his cheek, deliberately lowering his voice.]

...Mm. Yes. We've all been born in a time where we get to -- and have to find a way to -- live through the end of the world.

When you put it that way...

[He's not quite getting it, she's realizing, and she's not sure if that's a good or bad thing. It means she could keep on lying and pretend she's just some normal girl who stumbled into all of this on accident.

Or she could just tell him and rip the bandage off. The secret's going to come out eventually - or maybe he already knows and is just pretending he doesn't?]

It's not just that...

[Her words are slow, careful, and quiet.]

The reason I started coming here- [The academy, not the field trip.] - Is because I was turned into a vampire. They live for a really long time, don't they?

[Richard had been born centuries ago - he had told her that much before the clan decided to send her off to Daybreak where she wouldn't be a shame to them. She's going to live just as long if she survives all of this, isn't she?]

...Ah.

[His reaction is understated. Yang is a person with many contradictions in himself; someone who takes everything in stride, who is rarely shaken by the big things, and yet someone who can be left grousing for days by the little things.

He glances down for a moment, then he nods.]

...I think I understand, a little, Adelaide. I can't understand completely, I'm afraid. But...

...I believe that's the case. How long has it been true?

[She's glad for the understated reaction - it seems to solidify in her mind that it's not a big deal. That things are okay, and fine, and some semblance of the status quo is left unchanged.

It's not a big deal if people don't act like it's a big deal, and she can handle that.]

Only for a couple months, now.

[Understated is Yang's entire nature. He really only gets animated and frustrated and overly emotional about the little things -- irritations, video games, work foibles, and the like. With the big stuff, he finds a comfort in being understated. But he still feels something about it, and his brow furrows for a moment.]

It seems like... it must be a lot to take in.

I only learned about these things recently. It was... eye opening, but I sometimes regret that, and wish things had stayed the same, too. Sometimes, I'm glad I know more and feel I can do something about it.

[He tilts his head.] What about you? What do you think about it, so far?

[What about her?

That's a good question. Her life before all of this - maybe it hadn't been great, maybe parts of it had sucked, but she was on her way to getting out of all that. She was doing good.

And now...]

I wish this had never happened.

[It feels like a failure to admit it. She wants to be okay with it, wants to act like she's not upset and it's not a big deal, but she just...can't.]

...There's nothing wrong with that. It's not a weakness to admit that you wanted things to turn out differently.

[Yang's not, really, sure of this. It's far out of his field of experience. He only knew vampires were theoretically possible as of, roughly, last fall.

He sighs, then looks up.]

I don't think this world is very fair. We're learning that the idea of the planet we're sold, since we were young, is a lie -- that things that shouldn't be real, shouldn't be possible, are. It changes lives. Yours more than mine. But, I think...

[He falls quiet again, for a second.]

...It's your life. It's okay to wish it never happened. Now that it has, though, you get to decide what it means for you and who you should be. No one, definitely not us teachers, gets to tell you that.

...It still feels bad to admit.

[It's honest, at the very least.

She feels a little embarrassed having this conversation. She shouldn't be bothering anyone, least of all a teacher, with something as trivial as this. It should just be trivial.

Her life change, sure, but...who cares? It happens to tons of people. She's not the first person to get turned into a vampire.]

But...thank you, Professor. You didn't have to talk to me about all of this.

If we never admitted things we might want to keep to ourselves, I think it'd be harder to deal with them.

[There's a small smile on Yang's face, when he says that. Then, he shakes his head.]

No need to thank me. I don't mind talking about it. And if you do need to talk to someone... I'm happy to.

[It's the important part of being a teacher, as far as Yang's concerned.]

[She goes quiet for a moment, thinking it over. She doesn't want to bother him with it, but if he's offering to talk isn't it ruder to just ignore it?

She's not sure. She hates that she's not sure, but she tries to tamp down on that feeling.]

Okay.

[She manages to bite back another "thank you", but she does manage a small smile back at him.

While she does in some ways feel worse, she also feels better.]

I'll keep that in mind.

[It's a little hard for Yang to gauge how effective of a response he had. He thinks he did okay. He hopes he did okay.

Teaching is hard.

He smiles, though, and looks at the group.]

You ready to rejoin the others? If not, we can stay put for a bit and let them appreciate a little more.

[It's okay, you're doing your best.

Adelaide nods, as if trying to hype herself up, before looking over at the group.]

I think I'm ready.

[A pause.]

And thanks, again, even though I know you said I didn't have to...

[Don't have to, Yang thinks, but should do. That's his job as a teacher. More than that, really. He should be helping them be the best they can.

He smiles down at her, before there's a slight nod.]

Let's walk back over together, then.

[Less awkward that way, he thinks. He's the teacher. He commands more attention, sometimes. Especially given the lecturing.]

[She nods, falling in step beside him. She's going to have a lot of thinking to do after this, but for now...

For now she'll just focus on her time here.]

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Afternoon at the Museum

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