Voices from Heaven (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thespaceopera) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
driftfleet2015-10-20 11:18 am
thespaceopera) wrote in driftfleet2015-10-20 11:18 am
Entry tags:
- !event,
- ahsoka tano,
- coil lenn,
- margaret "peggy" carter,
- nami,
- natasha romanoff,
- nelkeila tarid,
- nyssa al ghul,
- octavia blake,
- one,
- phèdre nó delaunay de montrève,
- r. daneel olivaw,
- rapunzel,
- remy lebeau,
- riku,
- robin redbreast,
- rogue,
- santanico pandemonium,
- shawn hunter,
- sokka,
- stefan salvatore,
- steve rogers (ou),
- steven quartz universe,
- stiles stilinski,
- syeira,
- tadashi hamada,
- tekhetsio,
- the vision,
- vash the stampede,
- vima sunrider,
- wanda maximoff,
- wrath,
- yamanaka ino
...And also these.
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She closes her eyes for a moment to get used to the change. As she does, she calms down, jamming to the tune. When she opens her eyes, she's ready. ]
You know, convertibles are a step up from my usual ride. Lucky. My friend Chloe drives this old beat-up pickup truck. I'm surprised it even runs, sometimes.
[ She checks out the objects in the car. And- ] Whoa, does this say class of '98? How'd you wind up with a relic like that?
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[Shawn laughs, though it's a nervous one as he turns to look at her. There's no malice or distrust in his voice, just plain confusion:] I graduated high school this year, Max. It's about as recent as a tassel can get.
[Still, he takes it off the mirror for her to look at it better, or even to touch it if she so desired.] See?
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I'm... not actually kidding. I did graduate high school then.
[Nope, that tassel is super soft, with a shine that only really accompanies newly-made ones. As she touches it, the road ahead of them fades, and the car comes to a halt as a memory plays before their eyes.
An elderly man stands behind the podium at a graduation ceremony, with a large banner for the Class of '98 hanging behind him. "Now, it's time to introduce our valedictorian, a student who exemplifies academic excellence as well as extracurricular achievement and social conscience... Ladies and Gentleman, Ms. Topanga Lawrence."
As the young woman takes her place on the podium, she says, "Thank you, Mr. Feeny. My fellow class members of '98, I am very honored to be your valedictorian and I worked very hard on this speech. However, I'm not going to give it - because I know somebody who could give a much better speech than I ever could. Ladies and gentleman, my good friend, Shawn Hunter."
Shawn, who had been sitting in the front row, says to a friend, "Hey, you only go to high school once," as he stands up and hugs the young woman as tightly as he can.
Once he takes his place, Shawn begins by thanking Topanga before beginning with, "I attended John Adams High School sporadically during the last four years. I barely have a C average. That's why I'm here. Mr. Feeny asked us to write about what we were feeling this week - and of course, I was feeling like I always do, I couldn't wait to get out of here." He stares at the audience, the nervousness clear in his eyes. "But now, high school is over. Just when I'm finally free, I find myself sneaking back into this place and sitting in the hall, thinking about my friends and all the time we spent here.
And you, Mr. Feeny," Shawn points to the elderly man who had spoken earlier. There's so much pride in his voice - from that sentence alone, you know Shawn and this man have a long history together. "I started thinking about you. How you've always told us what to do, without ever telling us what to do. You taught us about life. I was thinking about how much this place has been my home - and how many times I screwed up while I was here, how I coulda done better. ... I'm sorry. I coulda done better. Congratulations to those of you who did."
Mr. Feeny comes up to him, right as the speech ends, and says as he pats Shawn's shoulder, "That was a fine paper. No one could've done better."
The memory fades back into the highway, and the car again cruises as a decent speed, but Shawn looks almost pensive as he stares ahead at the road.]
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...Wow. That was... quite the speech.
Your, uh, graduation speech. I guess I got to see it there. That means I can't say you were joking about it now. [ She clips the tassel back up where it belongs. ]
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I didn't think it was possible for a guy like me to get into college - which sucks, because I blew it off instead of actually giving school a chance.
I've gotta say, whenever I get back home and start college? I'm gonna give it a hundred and ten percent. [There's a small pause.] Sorry, I wasn't trying to go down memory lane here.
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That's so true. Thanks, Max.
[At that moment, a green exit sign pops up on the right hand side, with four options:
A) Topanga Canyon, 5 miles away
B) Pennbrook University, 7 miles away
C) John Adams High, 15 miles away
D) Cornelius Corner, 8 miles away
Shawn shrugs, as the glove compartment as well as the Chubbies keychain are still available for her to check out. He's not in charge of the itinerary: she can check out all four options, some of them, or absolutely none at all.]
Feel like checking any of these roads out?
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[Shawn has to grin as he puts his turn signal on and gets ready to move to the exit. Instead of getting off the highway, however, the road ahead fades out with the clicking of the turn signal, and the car comes to a halt as the road and the sky disappear into a memory.
Since Max's witnessed the graduation speech, it plays out in third person rather than second (video version here, at 7:54 and 10:24):
Shawn's estranged brother Jack has decided to attend Pennbrook University, of all the universities in the world, and the anger's as clear as day on Shawn's face as he glares at Jack. Nevermind their physical similarities, and that they share a parent - Jack and his mother bailed on Shawn a long, long time ago.
He wants nothing to do with this guy and his fancy three bedroom apartment in downtown Philadelphia, but Cory's hellbent on making sure his older brother Eric rooms with Jack too. After the most awkward reunion at the gang's favorite restaurant, Shawn were hoping that would be the end of it.
Except he dares to show that ugly mug of his at the trailer home. Dad's so proud, like all "lookie here, I've got me a boy in college!" and it's all Shawn can do to hold in his rage. He's not Jack. He doesn't have a wealthy stepdad looking out for him. If he got into college, it would be a long shot and - well, kind of a miracle in itself.
Jack even dares to say that he came here to visit SHAWN. Now that can't be right. Jack has shown absolutely zero interest in meeting Shawn before - why would he bother now? After what, a whole life of pretending Shawn don't exist?
Then it comes, the big slap in the face: he offers Shawn a room in his fancy apartment, and "if you're worried about the rent, I can make the difference."
NO. Shawn did not ask for any kind of charity handout, and he's not going to be rescued by some guy who shares half your DNA. Nope. He's done, and Jack can barely keep his composure even as he turns to leave - though, of course, he tells Dad stuff about how nice it was to see him.
Good. Shawn wouldn't want to live with a complete stranger anyways.]
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But she's seen the other end of that, too. She's been the betrayer, the abandoner. When she left Arcadia Bay, left Chloe, she didn't mean to hurt her friend. But as days turned into weeks turned into months turned into years, it became harder and harder to even try to reconnect.
She didn't know the full story. She just knew what happened here. She wondered how genuine Jack was. She wondered how Shawn would feel once more time had passed. ]
That was... wow. That was intense.
How did things end up? ...If you don't mind talking about it.
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Surprisingly well. I was expecting Jack to take me on as some charity case, but instead, he treated me like the brother he never had. [Which is still weird to him; he's too used to siblings wandering in and out of his life, never to stay in one place for long.]
I guess... him coming to Pennbrook wasn't such a bad thing after all.
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[ She's silent for a moment. Then- ]
I, uh, actually have some experience with that kind of stuff. From the other end. Not with a sibling, but when I was younger, I basically... abandoned my BFF. Moved away, never kept in touch. It was during a bad time for her, and she had all the right in the world to hate me for it.
When we met again later, I felt like the worst kind of scum in the world. But then we reconnected, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
So I'm glad to hear that it worked out for you guys, too.
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[He shouldn't be this surprised to hear that she had experience on the other end, but he is, and it catches him off-guard for a split second. It takes him a second, but when he smiles, it's a pretty genuine one.]
Yeah, I... don't think I was mad at Jack for abandoning me and Dad so much as for coming back, but he's been a really great guy. Heck, he was my only family at graduation. Dad kinda took off again, saying he had some really great business opportunity...
But Jack hasn't left once. Not since he came back.
[So maybe Shawn's parents kinda breezed in and out too. It's a sad recurring pattern in his life: he gets close to someone, only for them to bail at the last possible moment.]