Being For the Benefit of Miss Redfield-Kennedy

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

After being trapped in a mistletoe force field with Vega, and her subsequent rescue by her father, Sherry retreated into her room to study. Just like she'd intended to do in the beginning. Her hairband sat next to her on the bed and she kept playing with her lengthening hair as she read. Every once in a while her brow would furrow as she memorized a difficult problem, or her lips would move as she mouthed a sentence or passage.

Chemistry was kind of fun, though when she saw something that she clearly remembered not being on the periodic table, she had to stop, read it, read it again, and try to fit it in. That was the real problem with people from all over: science not fitting where it was supposed to.

But that wasn't science's fault, now was it?

Sherry pulled her eyes away from her screen and looked at her mother's bed. She knew she couldn't be rightnext to Claire all the time, but she hadn't seen her mother in a few hours (at least this time, Sherry was fairly sure she wasn't missing somewhere with her father - Leon had to work), and wondered just what Claire was up to. For a moment, she pondered asking her mother what she was doing with her day, and when were they eating dinner.

What did she have to study next?

Oh. Right. English. Bleh. She looked for the lesson and groaned. She already spoke English, and spoke it very well, if she said so herself. So why did they insist on teaching it for years and years? It was just the same thing over and over. Adjectives, nouns, prepositional phrases...!

Still... "Infinitive Phrases," she started aloud. "An infinitive phrase is what you get by combining an infinitive with an object. Pfft. It may be used as a noun, adjective or adverb. Boring." Sherry read the examples and frowned "...Why would a person's secret desire be nuzzling flagpoles? How do you even nuzzle one?" she questioned the empty room.

Comments

[letmelive]

That got her to finally crack a smile, and she looked down at Leon, shifting her legs around under his head a little.

"I don't think he'd ever be able to get the hang of knitting."

[governmentninja]

He always did like it when she smiled.

"Tell him it'll involve 'a creative use of sharp objects'. He'll be dying to learn then."

[letmelive]

"Maybe," she replied, tilting her head to the side like she was seriously considering talking Chris into taking up knitting. "I'm a little afraid of the prospect of lumpy sweaters for Christmas, though."

[governmentninja]

Leon made a bit of a face as he considered that.

"Yeah, we'll pass on that." He chuckled a bit, then looked up at her. "What about you, though? You finding a way to keep yourself busy between crises?"

[letmelive]

Claire wrinkled her nose at his question, tilting her head back and contemplating how she'd been keeping herself occupied.

"Most of the time. Admittedly there isn't a hell of a lot for me to do around here without evil corporations to dig dirt up on and organize protests against." The life of a TerraSave member. It is so glamorous.

[governmentninja]

He considered that for a moment. "True, but its not like that's the only thing you're good at."

[letmelive]

"Being really hard to kill isn't exactly a skill I can put on my resume." Not that she hadn't tried before.

[governmentninja]

"Yes it is." It's on his, actually.

[letmelive]

Claire smiled, nudging his shoulder.


"If I'm looking for a job as a secret agent or in the BSAA, sure."

[governmentninja]

He grinned a little bit at that.

"So what kind of job would you be looking for?"

[letmelive]

Her smile melted into a thoughtful frown as she considered that.

"Honestly?" she replied, sighing a little heavily. "I have no idea."

[governmentninja]

He frowned a bit at that, thinking for a moment.

"What did you want to be... before Raccoon City happened?"

He knew she was a college student, but after Raccoon, both their lives ended up revolving around Umbrella and bio-terrorism.

[letmelive]

Claire bit her lip, leaning her head back against the wall and looking up at the ceiling.

"I wanted to be a teacher." She'd never particularly regretted the turn her life had taken after Raccoon City. It was hardly the normal life she'd initially envisioned, but she did a lot of good working with TerraSave, and she knew she'd never really be able to settle into a life where she wasn't able to take an active role in ending all of the suffering Umbrella caused.

[governmentninja]

He was surprised by that, pleasantly enough.

"Really?" He couldn't say that he had ever pictured her as a teacher.

[letmelive]

She heard the surprise in his voice, and looked back down at him, smirking a little.

"Yes, really. I always knew I wanted to work with kids."

[governmentninja]

"That's... ok, that I can see," particularly when placed in that context.

"You always were good with kids." Better than he was, in any estimation.

[letmelive]

"I actually wanted to be a mechanic for a little while, too." Now that she was thinking about it, it was a little easier to remember back when she'd been so much younger and biohazards were something that she never would've even dreamed of dealing with.

"And a bunch of other motorcycle-related careers, but I ended up settling on going into Early Childhood Education. I figured I could be that one cool teacher who rides a motorcycle." Because she definitely wasn't the school marm type.

[governmentninja]

He had to laugh a little at the image of Claire rolling up to school on a Harley, to teach a bunch of first graders.

"I bet the parents would've loved that," he remarked.

The more he thought about it, though...

"Would you still want to do that? The teaching part, at least."

[letmelive]

Claire swatted him for the laugh and remark. She knew it was kind of a funny mental image, but she'd never settle into being one of those people who drove a sedan. Plus Leon was pretty easy to hit right now, being right in her lap and all. He was practically setting himself up for the physical abuse.

At his question though she frowned a little thoughtfully again, tilting her head slightly.

"...Yeah. I mean I didn't really get past all the preliminary stuff while I was in school, but I do still kind of want to teach."

[governmentninja]

If Claire didn't swat him on a regular basis, he'd be worried about her. The abuse was how she showed affection, after all.

"Well," he stated thoughtfully, "it's not like there aren't a whole mess of kids here who need to learn. About something other than nuzzling flagpoles."

Seriously, wtf was that?

[letmelive]

She laughed at that, shaking her head slightly. Now that Sherry was out of the room she could find that a little more hysterical.

"Yeah, sure. But what would I teach? Lockpicking 101 and how to disassemble a sniper rifle in less than thirty seconds?"

[governmentninja]

He knew she was being sarcastic, but Leon gave that some serious thought for a moment.

"...why not? Much as I hate to say it, this isn't the safest situation. Those kids'll need to learn how to be resourceful, if only to get themselves out of the way of whatever trouble that finds them."

[letmelive]

Claire opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but closed it again, actually thinking about what he'd said. She'd only been a little bit older than Sherry when her brother had started teaching her the things he'd been learning in the military, and it was true that this wasn't the safest situation. And as much as she disliked to think of it, the fact that Steve had been the one to rescue Sherry during the outbreak was proof enough that she and Leon wouldn't always be around to protect their daughter, let alone the other kids.

"You're right," she replied after a moment, nodding her head a little. "Maybe something more like scouts, though. Survival stuff and maybe some gun safety. Just so they know what to do if we aren't there to help them right away."

[governmentninja]

"How to be the Worst Hostage Ever 101," he named it. Though it was something they would need to know.

"You're definitely qualified to teach that."

[letmelive]

She snorted, smiling at that and shaking her head.

"I'll have a talk with the kids' principal about adding it to the offered courses."