concoursec | She gave you everything she had, but she was young and dumb

Entry tags:

She gave you everything she had, but she was young and dumb

Character(s): Stephanie Brown and EVERYONE ELSE
Location: Balamb Town
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: Open
Summary: One second she was in the cave, the next she was... where was she?

The first thing she thought was "this can't be happening." Whether she was talking about her strange new surroundings or the fact that Batman had just fired her? For one stupid mistake? It was a combination of the two.

Her second thought was "this must be a test." She messed up, and now... what? He wanted her to go through some creepy training? Why couldn't he just say that? He had to know that she would do whatever it took.

Or maybe he didn't know. Maybe the reason behind this whole charade was because he wasn't sure she was really devoted to the mission. Her mission, not just his. Well she was up to the challenge. She could do it without his help. It was the same thing she had been doing this whole time. The only reason she went to him at all was because she wanted proper training and proper recognition. She wanted him to acknowledge that she deserved this chance. Instead she got a probation. Well if this was what it took, she'd play along.

First that meant changing out of her costume, which hurt, considering Batman's final words to her. She kept it in the bag her civilian clothes had been in, reminding herself that she would be putting it on again. Next she re-read the letter, then re-read it again and again. When she had it almost memorized, she knew what she needed to do.

Putting on her best 'innocent civilian' face, she found a crowded area and looked around somewhat helplessly.

"Hello?" she called out, hoping somebody who knew the area would find her. "Can somebody help me? I'm lost."

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Newcomers had been a part of Damian's new life from day one. Even if Damian remembered feeling lost and confused the first time he walked onto Garden's campus, he usually let other people give "the talk". (Not only were others nicer, they just knew how to handle newcomers better.) Damian knew he could probably give a decent speech if he tried, but it felt so... boring giving the same speal over and over again. Not to mention, people usually had the same reaction.

Well, at least this girl didn't destroy public property in her confusion. Already she was better than he in that regard. Damian tilted his head upon seeing her - she didn't even have the catalog. Huh. Maybe she hadn't seen the Headmaster yet?

He waved as he walked up to her, "Yeah. For starters, you're not going to get home anytime soon." The blunt approach definitely wasn't the best, but... well, Damian wasn't exactly known for his people skills either. He then amended, "This is Balamb Garden - a school for SeeD Cadets. If you haven't heard of it, it's a pretty good sign you're not from around here."

"Um, yeah," she mumbled, fumbling around for the letter and everything that came with it. Maybe she was pushing the act a little, but she really did need the help, and this kid seemed to know exactly what was going on.

"I got this letter? I'm just a little confused. Can you help me figure out where... geez, anything is?" She even held the papers out to him, an exaggerated show of putting herself in his hands. She was just helpless little Steph, all alone in a strange new world. That was probably worth mentioning, right? She wanted him to remember her like this, lost and confused.

"I'm Stephanie, by the way. Stephanie Brown."

Damian only had to skim the paper to understand her dilemma. He raised an eyebrow - partially because he hadn't met anyone this confused in a while - and folded his arms.

"Damian Razem," He said after a moment, trying to figure out the "proper" words to say. What would Boss do? Besides act like a pretentious twip? He'd probably explain it to the best of his ability, so... Damian gave in to his conscience. Stay and help the dumb blonde. How schway. "I'm a Co-Ops major here.

Basically... I don't know what city or world you're from, but you won't be able to get home. Time Compression nixed that for all of us. I know 'cause I'm in your boat too. Until they - meaning the school - figures out a solution, you're kinda stuck here."

She nodded again. What she really wanted was for him to hand her a map, point to where they were, and say 'this way is up', but she figured they were getting there.

"So I can't go home. Okay. That's... okay, so where exactly is this 'room and board'? Do I need to get a job? I'm supposed to go to classes or something?"

If this kid could make it as a Co-Ops 'major' then she should have it easy. She couldn't exactly hold back here, not if this was meant to help her be Robin, but at least she could throw any suspicion off her trail should she decide to keep working in the mean time.

In response, Damian held up his hand. Upon closer inspection, there was a silver ring with a lapis lazuli stone inset in the middle. "Didn't you get one of these?" he asked, sounding a little confused. "Off-worlders get sponsors that pay for your education while you're here - and they pay for everything, so you don't have to worry about a job. The color of your stone tells you what group you belong in. And technically, you don't have to go to class, but the world outside Garden isn't very friendly."

He felt like a walking PBS special. Come learn more about Garden! See what good it can do for you! Heaving a sigh, Damian tried not to lose his patience. He couldn't. Not this early in the game. Boss'd laugh at him and call him a twip again.

"Did you at least get a dorm listing? I can't do much else for you if you don't."

She gave the ring a dubious look. What was it, some sort of high tech credit card? "I gave you everything I had," she shrugged, not mentioning that she saw the ring and had even gone through the entire course list a few times. It was a little infuriating having to play dumb like this.

"I think it said... B...two-oh-five? Where's that?" At the very least she could get fool-proof directions to her dorm. She wasn't worried about getting lost, but it certainly made it easier. Hopefully all this acting would get her some extra credit with Batman.

Sigh. Damian gave her a disgruntled look, "Tt! It probably got lost somewhere among the stuff. All off-worlders get a ring to tell 'em who their sponsor is. It's good for sponsorship games and special effects and all that zidgit stuff."

He took a deep breath. Boss wouldn't get mad at her - he'd maybe make out with her if he and Dana were on the rocks again - so Damian wouldn't either. "It's over here," he said, motioning for her to follow him. His trip to the Training Center'd have to wait. (It was probably just as well; the Grats weren't much trouble.) "The girls' dorms and the boys' dorms are in the same building. No idea if you've got a roommate, but you're on the second floor."

What else should he say? Probably insult her to her face? (Well, no, maybe that wasn't the best approach.) "Curfew's at 11 PM. Unless you go to the Training Center, it's automatic grounds for a detention - and wake-up call's at 6:30 AM." At this point, he was listing random facts... that he really didn't take to heart. Even here, he still patrolled every so often.

Curfew. That could be a problem. She couldn't hide the twitch of a grimace at the thought of getting detention for sneaking off to save the day. It wasn't like she could just stay put at night. If nothing else, she'd be itching with boredom. But there was still her act to keep up.

"Six thirty? Seriously? That's so early." She was actually starting to hate herself for that annoying, girlish whine that was creeping into her voice. It was all but gone when she asked her next question. "But detention, that's not good. Do they do a room check?"

Room check? Now Damian raised a eyebrow. Most people typically didn't mind curfews - not this early in the game - until they'd made friends and usually snuck off to play rounds of Truth or Dare or something.

"Some nights," He slowly responded with a shrug. "I'd personally be more worried about the Disciplinary Committee. They're the dregs who're in charge of student discipline. If they - or an Instructor - catches you, then it's pretty much bad news."

Still. How'd they even get on this conversation anyway? He shook his head, pausing to point out buildings every now and then as a hopeful change in subject. "We were in the Quad earlier," He said after a moment, vaguely remembering to name the place they'd started out in. "That's like, the hubbub of activity. It's connected to the whole school and it's where major school events happen."

That was a relief. She tried not to let it show, but it was hard when her chances of detention (not to mention discovery) went down tenfold. It was just another part of the test, of course. She laughed it off as though it wasn't really a big concern, just something she was curious about.

"That's not so bad. What sort of events do they have, anyway? Like, football?"

Pffft. Damian couldn't help snorting. "I wish. Mostly festivals and sporting events and stuff. The big events're in the Ballroom. That's on the second floor."

He paused, trying to figure out the best way to say this, "Garden's like one big mobile school. It's got three floors: students're only allowed access to the first two. The third's the Bridge and Headmaster's Office. Oh, and a basement, but no one goes there either."

She didn't ask how a school could be "mobile". She'd find out soon enough anyway. As interested as she was in the basement and why nobody went there (or more precisely, how she could use this info to her advantage) she was pushing her luck already. Instead she nodded, making a mental note to check it out first chance she got.

"Thanks for helping me out. I never would have found all this on my own." Lies, of course, but they fit with the character she was developing. Later on she could revert back to her usual self.

"You're welcome," He shrugged. "Garden's like one giant ring - even if you get lost, if you keep walking in one direction, you'll find where you're going eventually."

Damian figured that someone else could do a better job of explaining the other nitty-gritty (like classes and the like), so he didn't bother with it. Instead, he finally stopped before the dorms, holding the door open for her. "Here we are," He said once they'd entered the area. "The B dorms're all girls. You're 205, so that'd be on the second floor and down to your... left? I think? It's not hard to miss."

She took a deep breath and let it out. Her next big step was meeting her roommate, assuming she had one. With her luck, she would. Sneaking out would be tough if she was sharing a room with someone. As though it weren't hard enough just living with her mom.

"Shouldn't be too hard to find. They just go in order, right?" It would be a pretty ridiculous setup if the rooms were randomly numbered, but not something she would have put past Batman.

"Thanks Damian. I guess I'll see you around?"

He nodded to confirm, "That's right." If they weren't, Damian might've had a few more words with Headmaster than before - and that was saying something, considering Day liked him.

His good deed done for the day, Day then turned to leave. "Yeah, probably," He smiled slightly. "See ya, Stephanie. I'm over in A115 if you ever need me."

Pausing, he then added, "Or you could just send me a PM on our BBS system. Your laptop should be in your room if it's not there already."

"Absolutely," she nodded, genuinely a little excited to be getting a laptop in her room. That certainly wasn't in the brochure. Maybe this boarding school thing wouldn't be so bad after all.

Of course, in a couple of days it would probably hit her that she wouldn't see her mom or Tim for a very long time, but right now she was looking on the bright side.

That hadn't been bad at all! Maybe he could do the new student tour guide thing if he put his mind to it. (But Damian certainly didn't want to make it a habit either.) He waved, finally ducking out of the dorms and back towards the Training Center.

"Good luck!" He called, walking backwards until she was completely out of sight. "You're going to need it 'round here."

Marco wasn't the type to help people out. Being a pirate meant not really giving a damn about the rest of the world. Or maybe he'd always been that way which is what led him into piracy. Still, the kid looked about the right age to be in the Garden, and that meant she was sort of crew or allies. On top of which, after Bulla's last post, he was consciously making an effort not to further crush her faith in humanity, whether he considered himself part of that or not.

"Where are you looking for?" he asked gently.

Score. This guy looked like he knew what he was doing. She made a show of fumbling around with the small pile of paperwork she'd received upon arrival looking for the right page, even though she had most of it memorized by now.

"I... I guess my dorm? I don't really know where anything is, and..." Of course her stomach chose that very moment to act up. That's what she got for spending the night being beat up, down and sideways by Gotham's worst. Batman could have at least given her a snack before firing her.

"Actually, I'm kind of hungry too."

"Ah, you're from another world like me then, eh," Marco nodded. "Well at the moment you're not in the Garden proper. This is just the town we usually dock at. Come on, I'll lead you back to the cafeteria and you can ask me questions along the way. I'm sure you probably have a dozen." Really, the whole lost and confused student thing was getting almost casual for him it happened so often.

Questions. She should have a million questions. There was no way that short letter and the little class catalog contained all the information she needed. What would Batman want her to ask? No, that was a stupid way of thinking about it. Just because he was her boss these days didn't mean she had to model her every move after what he wanted. What did she need to know? Best to go in chronological order.

"Thank you so much, I'm just hopeless with directions." Utter bull, but it couldn't hurt to make her seem just that much more useless, especially considering the stream of questions she was formulating in her mind.

"I got this course catalog, but how soon am I supposed to start classes? Like, right away?"

"Really? And here I was kind of impressed that you got this far. Most people just seem to wander the quad and dorms aimlessly," Marco grinned down at her lightly. "I'd recommend starting as soon as you can, they're difficult to make up. Especially if you're not used to magic. But I'm sure no one will notice if you take a week or so to get acclimated, eh."

"Am I someplace it's good to be? It's purely accidental, I assure you." She smiled shyly up at him, trying to ignore the sheer force of height difference.

The thing about magic sounded a little iffy though. There were tons of superheroes in Gotham alone, and certainly a couple of magic users, but Stephanie was not one of them.

"Soooo what if I can't use magic?"

Marco shrugged, "The Garden is definitely a nice place. Balamb town isn't a bad place to be or anything, just not exactly helpful if you're lost. And anyone can do magic here, it's just a matter of learning it. I'm terrible at it though. Other than just learning it, I just about never use it. Easier to rely on people who are good at it, eh."

So she could do magic now? That was just plain weird to think about. She looked down at her hands and wiggled her fingers around. She didn't feel any different.

"Cool. What about money?" After all, the only clothes she had on her were her Robin suit and the outfit she was wearing. She needed to do some shopping pretty fast.

"If you're from another world, there's sponsorship programs that cover it. It should be in your letter which group is sponsoring you. Though of course, when you graduate and go on SeeD missions yourself, you're expected to anonymously help sponsor the next generation of newcomers, eh," Marco explained and held up the small ring with diamond in the band. "You only have to wear these for formal occasions. Same with the uniform, otherwise, anything goes." Of course as a pirate though, he liked it. And it served to remind him that not only did he have people looking out for him, but that he would return the favor.

She dug out her own carbuncle ring, mostly just to reassure herself that she hadn't lost it.

"So no shopping, huh?" At least, that's what it sounded like. Not having any physical money probably made it a little difficult to buy clothes in regular stores.

"There's some shopping or extra allowance. It's a mercenary school after all, eh," Marco shrugged again.

"What is a mercenary school, anyway? This course catalog looks more like a military school than anything." Or a vigilante boot-camp, but she was still playing along.

That really just elicited another shrug. "I don't have much to compare it to," he explained slowly. "Academies in my world are rare and usually only for the very rich or near royalty."

She frowned at this answer, trying to wrap her head around a mercenary school.

"So if we're mercenaries, that means we get paid, right?"

"When you graduate and go out on missions, yes," Marco nodded, still leading the way to food.

That was... kind of cool, actually. Completely unethical from a vigilante's perspective, but gratitude was gratitude, right?

"I feel like there's more I should be asking, I just don't know what."

"That seems to happen for a lot of people who arrive here," Marco reassured the girl and offered a handshake. "I'm Marco. If you think of anything else, I'll be around to ask."

She took it with a smile. "Steph. And thanks a lot, Marco. I really appreciate it."

"Any time," Marco shrugged. "Here, this is the Garden, of course. And the cafeteria is this way. Any idea what kind of classes you might like?"

She already had several lined up that she planned to take, but she flipped through the catalog none the less.

"This one... Military movement? I'm on the gymnastics team back home."

"I see," Marco nodded. It seemed to fit the girl. "It's a little like that I guess. Bit more acrobatic and martial arts I suppose, but a good start at least."

"I figured it would be," she shrugged, closing the catalog again. "At least I won't be starting from scratch."

"Exactly, eh." Marco rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You don't need to pick a focus yet, but if you figure one out, it might help you pick which classes you want."

Tandy had taken to wandering around the Garden to get to know it better. While some people had helped her become familiar with the map, she preferred walking around on her own to make sure that she knew the layout of the school like the back of her hand. Scars and all. Moving about, she noticed someone who looked as lost as she had been when she first arrived. Because she didn't see anyone as helpful as Tom around, she crossed the room to the person, smiling warmly.

"Hi there. Welcome to the Garden. Can I help you?"

Her main interests right this moment were food and shelter. Food came first, but just for good measure she flipped through the papers she'd received looking for... something. Maybe a map. She didn't really think that far ahead.

"Hi. Um, I'm new here? I'm trying to figure out where food is." She coudl have found it easily on her own, but that would defeat the purpose of trying to appear totally harmless.

"I can show you the place, if you'd like." Tandy didn't know the school that well either, but she'd been doing her best to remember mentally, rather than just using the map. After all, that was how she had gotten through New York and the slums. Constant re-work and constant returning.

"That would be perfect, thanks!" She put the papers back in order and settled them under her arm. She could easily scope out the entire area on her own at night, but a tour would streamline the process beautifully.

Tandy nodded her head, smiling. "All right. If you'll follow me..." She stopped talking, blinking momentarily. "Uh, what is your name? Sorry. Forgot to ask."

"Stephanie," she replied with an amiable smile. "Stephanie Brown."

"Stephanie." Tandy smiled. "Nice to meet you, Stephanie. I'm Tandy Bowen." She put out her hand for Stephanie to shake.

"Same to you, Tandy." She accepted the hand and shook it heartily, not exactly in character but entirely impulsive. She kind of liked the girl.

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She gave you everything she had, but she was young and dumb

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