Disdain in the Membrane [Emily/Wren]

["Wren"]

If there was one thing Wren did not understand about the 'correctional' school she had demanded to be sent to, it was all the violence.

She sat at the base of a nearby tree, reading from a battered looking book and trying to ignore the sounds of an argument escalating. Two angry, muscular teens getting in each others face about... something. Wren really wasn't paying attention.

“YOU'RE A FUCKIN' LIAR IS WHAT YOU ARE!”

“OH YEAH?”

“YEAH!”

“WELL MAYBE YOU'RE A PUNK ASS BITCH.”

“THE FUCK YOU SAY TO ME?!”

“WHAT, YOU DEAF AND STUPID? I SAID YOU'RE A WHINY GODDAMN PISSBABY AND I DIDN'T DING YOUR RIDE.”

“I FUCKIN' SAW YOU FROM THE DOOR!” The shouting was getting progressively louder. Wren glanced up briefly to watch as the young man who was evidently very mad about his car stormed after the one who had, apparently, scuffed it. “I SAW YOU, YOU FUCKIN' LIAR!”

He swung, knuckles colliding with a meaty thud on the other kid's jaw. He staggered, his eyes losing focus for a moment before he snapped back, a snarl pulling his lips as he lunged at the kid who hit him. Within seconds the two boys were trading heavy blows, with onlookers beginning to form a circle around the pair, chanting and whistling.

Wren's upper lip curled disdainfully and she turned her upper body slightly to face away from the fight. ”Simpletons.” she scoffed.

[Emily Suddenfield]

Both boys would, during a pause in their little lovers spat, get hit with quarters in the side of the face at the same time. From above. Crouched on the edge of the roof, hood pulled up, the School Captain stared down at them. She was lowered onto her haunches, forearms resting on her knees. She would watch them for a second, making sure she had the undivided attention of everyone around.

"Hi. Fights over. Brian, Darien- detention, after school. You'll each get thirty minutes. Now go."

Of course, the option to refuse was theirs. And of course, she deeeeeeply desired that they decide to cause a problem for her, so she could get a workout in today. The school had been dead, and she really needed to work off some steam.

["Wren"]

The melodic chime of metal clinking against the asphalt brought Wren out of the reverie of her book, her eyebrows pinching together in annoyance at the sudden surprised yelp from each of the boys. There was a collective gasp in the crowd as a calm and clear feminine voice spoke up above the din, and much of the onlookers began to scatter.
"Hi. Fights over. Brian, Darien- detention, after school. You'll each get thirty minutes after school. Now go."

Wren blinked at the silhouette on the roof. This girl was throwing quarters at people. From the roof. Why was she on the roof? That seemed like a bad idea. But how did she get up there? Hmm. Caught in the sweet void between irritation and curiosity, Wren quietly dog-earred the page of her book, closed it, and began to watch with a reluctant interest.

The boys –Darien and Brian, evidently--, after a brief, stunned silence, began shouting over each other as loudly as possible.

“THIS MOTHERFUCKER--”

“--I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING--”

“--MY CAR IS FUCKED--”

“--LYING SACK OF SHIT--"

“--STUPID ASSWIPE--”

“FUCK YOU”

“FUCK YOU!” Brian turned to the School Captain in his rage and flipped her off. “AND FUCK YOU, TOO!”

[Emily Suddenfield]

Emily stood and walked a few steps along the edge. Hopping off and turning, she lithely gripped the drainage pipe and scrambled down like a spider monkey. Above fifteen feet up she dropped, landing with a little bend to her knees and standing straight. The middle finger was helpful. Walking through the now parting crowd, she'd walk right up to Brian, staring him in the eyes.

Then, she'd lash out with a right uppercut, intent to knock him out with a single blow.

Assuming it did as she hoped, she'd turn and look at Darien.

"It's an hour now. If you make me put you down, you'll get two. So get the fuck out of here."

If Darien understood what was good for him, Emily would turn to the girl who had been reading and point, the crowd probably dissipating at this point.

"Hey. Mind helping me for a sec?"

["Wren"]

 "W-What?!" Brian shouted as Emily approached at her unhurried (and yet, very threatening) pace. To his credit ('I'd like to thank my stupidity, for always being there for me when I really don't need it'), in spite of looking nervous, he didn't back down. Puffing up like a toad trying to get a predator to back off, at least to the observing goth. "YOU WANNA FUCKIN' GO?! OKAY, LET'S G--"

CRACK

--and just like so many toads that found themselves with a pair of fangs pumping venom into their bodies, down Brian went like a sack of stones. As Emily turned toward Damien (who promptly raised his hands and backed away slowly; "Alright alright I'm goin', already."), Wren found herself scowling, looking at the unconcious young man. Yeah, okay, just give people brain-damage, that's probably fine.

...and then the roof-jumper lady called over to her, asking for her help. A long sigh of irritation blew past her lips, but Wren tucked her book into her bag and got to her feet nonetheless, swinging it over her shoulder. Sauntering over, she  flicked her dark eyes between the black-haired girl and the unconcious Brian, silently counting in her head, and raising an eyebrow in silent question.


Now what?

[Emily Suddenfield]

Emily, her lust for a KO satisfied, would turn to the girl and ask her question.She'd bend and lift up Brian's body into a firemans carry and point at his backpack as she spoke.

"Will you grab that for me and bring it along?"

Assuming she did, Emily would start off. She spoke calmly, keeping her eyes forward and on the people around them.

"What's your name?"

Admittedly, she hadn't seen this girl before. Was she....new?

["Wren"]

Wren's eyes flicked down to what was presumably Brian's bag and back at the taller, older girl. She gave her a very bland, unimpressed look –this has nothing to do with me, why do I have to clean up after idiots, I don't deserve to be punished-- before reluctantly acquiescing and stooping to snatch the top loop of the kid's bag with her long, bony fingers. Evidently, this satisfied the girl and she started off towards the main building with Wren trailing behind.

She could have refused. She wanted to refuse; she was already annoyed at being interrupted in her reading by the two idiots, and now the tall girl who literally knocked a guy out with a single punch was asking (demanding?) her help for something she had no part in in the first place, save for as a casual observer.

What convinced her not to was actually the state of Brian, now dangling across the taller girl's shoulders in a fireman carry. The goth's frown deepened, and felt like the chapter on 'head trauma' in her book was burning a hole through her pack.

The girl spoke again, inquiring about her name. Wren paused a moment before giving it, deciding it pointless to hang onto the information otherwise.

“Wren,” The goth replied in her flat, dull voice. Her dark eyes lingered on the swelling appearing on the young man's jaw. “Where are we going?”

[Emily Suddenfield]

"The infirmary."

The girls look to the boys injuries was not unnoticed- Emily was a pro at seeing the abilities of the people around her. That's what made her Captain, after all. She was highly perceptive of things of that nature. She would open one of the doors and let Wren in first before following, heading off down a side all and glancing over at the girl.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him. They have the drugs that seem to heal pretty much anything here."

She assumed, perhaps, the girl was worried since she was inspecting him so much. Or maybe medical things just interested her. Maybe she was like a medical ninj- NO. NO NARUTO REFERENCE. That's why you broke the TV at your last foster home, Emily.....

["Wren"]

The tiniest amount of tension that had formed around Wren's dark eyes eased at the word 'infirmary'. Well that was a start. Though she was skeptical about these so called 'drugs'. Wren wasn't aware of any medication that could literally reverse cranaial swelling, or stop someone who was concussed from internal bleeding or WORSE, becoming comatose from a disrupted O2 supply. But the girl seemed to know what she was about, or, at the very least, noticed Wren's well veiled disapproval and thought to address it. Thoughtful.

"Hmm." she hummed skeptically. After a monebt or two as they walked down the hall, the goth spoke up again, a tiny note of curiosity in her deadpan voice. "Never seen a student give out detention before."

[Emily Suddenfield]

Em adjusted Brian on her back as she walked, looking over at Wren with a cock of her eyebrow.

"I'm the School Captain. Sort of the...inspiration for kids to get stronger, I guess. I'm able to give out detentions and break up fights. Whole 'strong monitors the weak' deal."

She would turn and walk into the infirmary, the nurse promptly coming around the counter. Emily carefully handed the boy over, speaking to the nurse quietly.

"I hit him in the front of the chin to avoid as much damage as possible."

The nurse nodded and smiled as Emily helped her put the boy in bed. After, the SC would come around to the girl who helped her. She would glance at her small frame but say nothing.

"Thank you for helping."

["Wren"]

Strong monitor the weak, huh?

Wren was about to comment, but kept her silence as The School Captain and nurse had a quick exchange of words and the invalid, watching very intently.

And came to the conclusion that no one knew what they were doing. The corners of her black mouth tugged down slightly and she waited for the two to 'settle' the young man. The School Captain walked back around to her, giving her a once over (?) but otherwise thanking her.

Wren looked up at the girl and nodded, once, before she caught the nurse leaving the room out of the corner of her eye. Now was her chance.

She zipped past The Student Captain, dropping Brian's bag on a nearby chair as she approached his bed. She felt around the bottom of the bed for a moment before finding a lever that elevated different parts of the bed. If uninterrupted, she wpuld crank it a few times until Brian was more-or-less sitting upright while still reclining.

"Knock-out means concussion," she explained, perhaps unnecessarily, in her gritty voice tight with effort as she strained to slide the lock in position. "Short circuit from hitting the skull. Not always brain damage. No way to know unless there's an MRI. Trauma to blood-brain barrier like the brain bouncing around in the skull can lead to pooling of blood against the occipital lobe, or swelling of affected area. Sitting them up," she stepped back with a satisfied grunt at the angle of the bed. "Allows for proper drainage and flow. If damaged, will kill them slower, more time for medical intervention." She shrugged. The kid had already been out for MINUTES now and each one that passed was killing brain cells. The longer he was put, the more likelihood of a coma, a hard reset for the brain's self repair.

Wren glanced back at The School Captain and nodded at Brian. "Snap his trapezius. Like a suspender. Should bring him around. Works for wrestlers."

It was literally the most she'd spoken in weeks, and she was speaking it to literally the most dangerous person in the school. This was probably going to get her detention, but she couldn't get the thought out of her head to make sure she wasn't an accidental accomplice to murder.

[Emily Suddenfield]

Emily was just about to brush around Wren to leave when the girl beat her to it. She moved over to the boy, causing the School Captain to turn and follow her with a questioning stare. Then....Wren started breaking some shit down surgeon-style for Emily. Em would move over to the bed slowly, looking down at the body and cocking an eyebrow.

"I knock people out constantly. You're saying I'm making their brain bleed at least some of the time?"

That was....a little disconcerting. After all, she cared about the students (yes, even the block headed bullies) and didn't want to harm them permanently. She just needed people to shut up sometimes is all.

["Wren"]

Wren looked up at the older girl with only the slightest furrow in her brow. Incredulous. CONSTANTLY?

"Grades for concussions go from one to three, one being mild and three being severe," She looked back at the young man and frowned again. "Chief exhibition of a Grade Three is being knocked out. Rough estimate based on the school; one in five at Grade Three suffer at least a minor brain bleed. Depends on how many concussions they've had previous. If none, likelihood less. If two or more..." Wren trailed off with a shrug, still staring at the young man.

The longer he was out the worse it would be on his brain. These so called 'drugs' The School Captain had mentioned were dubious at best. Pursing her lips together slightly, she counted down his ribs until she felt the bottom two. Wren looked over her shoulder at the blue-eyed girl.

"Hit him here," she instructed, pointing to the spot just beneath his ribs on the right; the liver. "Wake him up. I'm not strong enough."

[Emily Suddenfield]

Brought would bring up a fist and strike right where she said swiftly- she knew points of the body to hurt but....nobody ever bothered to show her the most effective way to heal. It was an odd realization, knowing you'd caused enormous amounts of pain without doing much to help people in return. For someone whose sole mission was to protect these kids....she was apparently pretty shitty at it.

"As School Captain, you don't have a lot of effective options when fighting. People aren't going to restrain themselves against me. Rather than break their legs or cause severe internal damage, I try to end it as quickly as possible. The fastest way has always been a knockout."

She would watch this girl work. It was good to know that someone here had the experience and knowledge for this kind of stuff. Em...could definitely put that to use.

["Wren"]

She nodded absently at The Student Captain's explanation for why the knocking out thing happened so often. The punch to the liver did just the trick, as Wren had predicted. The sudden jolt to the sensitive organ would send electric jolts and sharp cramps all over poor Brian's abdomen, his body's pain response startling him awake.

"jeSUS F-FUCK OW OW SHIT--" he started to rise off the pillow only to be pushed back down by Wren's tiny, bony fingers. He looked between her and Emily with glassy eyes, still clearly dazed, clutching his abdomen. "Wh-whuh??"

"Don't move." she instructed in a no-nonsense tone. She pulled out her phone and opened the torch app, shining the bright light in his eyes.

"OW AH WHAT THE FF-" He arched back, lifting a hand to hide his eyes.

"I said don't move," Her voice was so dry it might have caught fire if it were kindling. She pushed his arm aside and grabbed his chin, turning his face towards her, shining the light unrelentingly into his eyes.

"Name?"

"Uh..." He looked back at Emily pleadingly. Help me, he seemed to say. I don't know who this weirdo is or why she's assaulting me, but pleASE HELP "B-Brian Luchester."

"Look at the light. Do you know where you are?"

"Uhhh," he said again, blinking rapidly, "...Sssssschool?"

"Who is the President?" She turned off the torch and seized him by the wrist, holding two fingers lightly against his pulse.

"Oh come on, that's a dumb thing to--"

"Did I ask your opinion?" She asked him with a raise of her brows. "Who. Is the President?"

"Fuckin' Obama, shit calm your tits, lord." he pulled his hand back as Wren released it, grumbling. She nodded once, looking back at Emily.

"Heart rate normal, good dilation, adequate responses. He'll be fine. As long as he stays away from fights," she looked back at Brian very meaningfully, still talking as though he was not here. "If he gets tapped the wrong way, he could die. What a shame that would be for the gene pool." She turned from him and shrugged at The Student Captain.

"I don't know what alternatives there are, but I bet there is one. Better than being charged for second degree murder, probably."

Though the truth was Wren didn't really know that. She was new to the school and it's weird hierarchy was confusing at best to an outsider like her. She was in here for an entirely different reason than most of the kids here, and fighting was the last thing on her mind. She'd never even been in a physical fight. There was no way she could give any advice on that.