@FALCOGRICE

[grice]

Please don’t try and fly out of here or go real high, if anyone else can. You’ll get really hurt no matter how many times you do it differently. I’m fine, though.

[ flying? maybe you might have seen something . . . ]

I found some things in my school before what happened last month and didn’t have time to let anyone else know. [ there’s a brief video of a sheet of ripped notebook that could be replayed at any time, rewritten in english. with that out of the way, ] The doors are locked now but I know a way to open them. I’ll try it as soon as I finish detention.

Thank you for your time and stay safe.

( ⭐️ there’s also an open log for more action! further into the month there will be more investigation prompts for this for those interested! )

Comments

@erwinsmith

[13thcommander]

Or, reconsider waiting for me to come pick you up, and then I can go with you.

[Parenting done right!]

[grice]

Thanks, Mister Erwin. But I wouldn’t be able to do anything if it’s day time.

[13thcommander]

What time does your detention end? I'm still at the high school so I can come pick you up.

[grice]

Until I finish writing. Maybe an hour and a half?

I can let you know so you don’t keep waiting.

[13thcommander]

[What the what?]

An hour and a half writing lines? That is a ridiculous waste of time.

Tell your teacher I’m on my way, and that I want a word.

[grice]

[ that sounds ominous ]

I have to write it one hundred times, I’ll just try and write faster!

I don’t think there’s reasoning with them!

[13thcommander]

[Ominous for the teacher, maybe.]

There is zero educational value in that. You're not a child who needs to improve his motor skills.

You leave that part to me. I'm on my way.

[grice]

[ he’s not sure erwin is someone to be reasoned with in this case either, but. well! it’s just two adults talking things out, right? what could happen? ]

Okay.

[ he’s in home room by the time erwin gets there, with a chalk board full of lines that read: I will not sneak. he’s probably only halfway through the one-hundred mark and is constantly plagued with breaking pieces of chalk and hand cramps. ]

[13thcommander]

[What could happen, indeed?]

[Erwin is in full angry commander mode by the time he gets to the school, storming in and carrying an aura of ill intent with him. It's a culmination of everything that's been going on lately, all the people who've been hurt by this place, that's built up inside him, and woe be to the poor Robbie teacher who is about to bear the brunt of it.]

This is insane.

[Maybe Falco wouldn't want to sneak, if people weren't disappearing and getting experimented on! Erwin glowers at the chalkboard for a moment, before clapping his hand down on Falco's shoulder.]

Come with me. We're going to find your teacher, and then we're going home.

[He's going to be That Parent(tm).]

[grice]

[ it’s strange that the little ball of warmth in his chest tells him he’s being cared for and that . . . swells, for a moment, when erwin comes in ready to take him home. strange because— erwin is not his father, and this was not his home, but for that second and maybe a few more moments after that, it felt that way, and disregarding what was completely wrong with santa rosita? he was actually okay with that. he wouldn’t mind having more of it if he could, even if he missed his father dearly was pretty sure he was dead along with his mother (falco was wrong) and knowing full well they would never be replaced.

but genuine care from a respected figure would always do this. he nods and feels his ears burn, puts the chalk down and flicks his hands to get rid of the strain whilst walking to his desk for his messenger bag. ]

Yes, sir, I— [ he’s emotional? he was an emotional kid. there’s a touch of strain in falco’s voice, but he’s good at swallowing it as he says, gratefully: ] thank you.

[ he has his back strapped and ready to go. ]

[13thcommander]

[Erwin has never wanted to be a father, for reasons both personal and practical. It never made sense to want children, being in the Survey Corps and knowing that every mission could be the last, and then he met his life partner and having children became an impossibility. In some distant, gauzy world that never was, a world where he lived long enough to retire, he might have taken on one or two of Historia's orphans, but that never happened.]

[But there's a reason Erwin had been able to inspire so many brave men and women into pledging their lives to his cause and then dying for it; for all his brutal tactics and insane gambles, Erwin cares about those in his charge, and Falco is now officially one of those people.]

You're welcome.

[With Falco all set and ready to go, Erwin heads off down the hallway with him in tow. He already knows where the principal's office is, and barges right in without an invitation.]

I understand my son is being expected to write lines this afternoon. What, may I ask, is the educational value of this exercise?

[While his phrasing is polite, his tone is frigid.]

@Cass

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Wait, you got detention?

Wait, did you hurt yourself by trying to FLY?

[grice]

For sneaking around.

And I didn’t hurt myself! Don’t worry.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Okay. Putting the sneaking thing aside for a moment.

Why were you trying to fly? Can... can you FLY?

[grice]

I can now? It’s a long story.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

I. Okay. I'll ask you about it later.
Anyway, are they punishing you? Is it serious?

[grice]

Owl knows. I told him before when he was in my room.

It’s not that serious I think. I have to write “I will not sneak” one hundred times but Mister Erwin is really angry about it.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

I guess I'll have to grill Owl about it too.

[She loves her bird son, her first one, but sometimes they need to better communicate.]

Good. That's a pretty crummy punishment.
And even if you were sneaking around, you weren't doing anything wrong.

[grice]

By school standards I think I was . . . But I can’t sit still knowing we could be home.

[ but also, hey— ]

Wait, you can talk to Owl?

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Yeah? Of course I can.
We're best friends.

[Your mother is a disney character, Falco.]

[grice]

[ but all the embarrassing gushing about gabi he did in front of owl thinking owl was just an owl— ]

I didn't know you could talk to animals, Miss Cassandra.

@kipo, text

[purplejaguareye]

Whoa, you can fly? I wish I could fly! Sorry it didn't sound like it worked out for you though.

[grice]

Flying still works! We just have limits around the city.

I think it might be ghosts?

[purplejaguareye]

Whaaaat there's ghosts here?

[grice]

That’s what it looks like. You didn’t see signs of them yet?