Description: Well, nobody thought she was a goner, but the Cammy came back, the very next day, and she just wouldn't stay away in her fixation upon Quon - enough to go and ask one of his more common associates these days about the happenings.
Welcome to 2011, a new year that has over its horizon new promises of another twelve months before 2012. Which... isn't that great a promise. It's rather standard stuff, really. Many people are still fighting off hangovers from hardcore partying the night before.
One Mr. Rust has had to pass on those festivities, if only because he needed to be up very early in the morning to mow the lawns and otherwise ensure everything about Pacific High's been in working order. He's a bit pissed about this since another guy who theoretically has the same job has decided he's not beholden to the same rules the balding man here is, leaving him to do pretty much everything.
Business as usual, really.
It's still quite early in the morning. School is still out for today, so there's not expected to be much in the way of foot traffic by students or other faculty members. Mr. Rust figures he might as well take the opportunity to get some more prep work for the next semester taken care of as he steps off the riding lawnmower and stretches out his limbs to the usual cacophony of popping noises.
"Let's see," he mumbles to himself as he counts things off on his hand, "this lawn," one finger, "uh... next semester plans," two fingers, "helpin' oversee Quon's community service," three fingers, "Kyokugen," four fingers, "uhh... I'm forgettin' something..."
But what is it? Either way, he's out there more or less all alone, sans the riding lawnmower, out by the front gates of Pacific.
Maybe Vega gets time off for New Years, but his minions do not. But that suits Cammy just fine now that Balrog is back, leaving roses in her chambers and generally being obsessive and slightly freaky with his de-thorned roses. Of course, it's not like Cammy is /ever/ obsessive or freaky herself.
So she's wandering the early morning of Southtown's new year, hands in the pockets of her cloak, thinking, as she is wont to do. Given the location, and recent events, it doesnt' take much for her mind to turn to Quon - is he out of jail yet? She doesn't even know, and given Shadaloo's reputation with the powers that be here, best not to hang around the forces of law and order herself.
She doesn't even know herself why she ended up walking the grounds of Pacific High. Maybe a subconscious urge, maybe am absent minded psychopowered piece of guesswork, maybe just random chance. But her reverie is disturbed when she suddenly sees a familiar shape over there on the field, with a familiar lawnmower. She blinks, and suddenly attentive once more, trots over to him silently.
Fortunately for Cammy, this man seems to be absorbed with trying to count to five. (How in the hell can someone who not count to five become a schoolteacher?) Whatever it is, he's so pre-occupied about it that he doesn't hear the subtle footsteps of an approaching assassin.
"This lawn," he sticks out a finger again, "Kyokugen," two, "Quon's community service, uh, now that he's out," that's three - Cammy can probably hear him say this - "and... uh, next semester plans, that's... four," he has four fingers out. What's the fifth? He frowns. God damn it, he drank a whole pot of coffee getting up early and now he can't even remember what the fifth bit was.
He counts to four on his hands again as he tries to silently recall everything he's supposed to be doing today. It is the perfect opportunity for humorous surprise.
Presumably he doesn't teach mathematics, is all. Or science in general.
Cammy comes within ten yards of Rust, and tilts her head in confusion at the finger sticking and counting aloud. It's not like she's trying to be subtle, either. Rust is apparently lost in thought as well.
Perhaps he is meditating.
Yes, that must be it. Kyokugen was mentioned, after all. Guessing that Rust doesn't like her much based on past encounters, and remembering how unhappy he was the last time she took the initiative to talk to him, she decides to stand quietly and wait for him to finish whatever he is doing, all respectful like. So she just stands there, hands clasped in front of her, gaze fixed upon him attentively.
Waiting.
The Killer Bee is patient.
He scratches the side of his head. There is a fifth thing he is supposed to be having done today, and he cannot remember for the life of him what it could possibly be! It's frustrating when you are such a busy man with little to no time to oneself through this season - to say nothing about the particular upset that came with his employers over when he could actually take off.
His dad is probably pissed at him.
"Grbrhglegh," he grunts strangely as he decides to go about the low-brow way of getting the lawnmower back where it needs to go. Might as well just push it back for exercise. He puts his back up against the rear end and starts doing just that, when he sees someone standing there with her hands clasped in front all politely. Staring.
"Wh-whuh-HEY." He tenses up just seeing her, instinctively dropping into a ready Kyokugen stance even with Ol' Rusty there just dangling from the left hip. "You're, uh..."
He grunts again and lightens up his stance. "What, what do you want now?"
Cammy blinks when he looks like he's wanting a fight - but he soon calms. She waits a few moments before replying, a frown slowly marring her features. "It doesn't seem to really matter what I do, you always seem to react with vague hostility anyway." she tells him a bit sniffily. "Even when I am waiting politely for you to finish whatever meditation it was you were doing just then.".
She unclasps her hands and stuffs them back into her pockets again, and does a very bad impression of an innocent young girl pouting. With her glassy eyes it looks rather intimidating instead of the desired cute. "I am not sure why I am here, I just wandered, and my feet led me to you. Perhaps some subconscious action on my part. But now that I am here, maybe you could tell me how Quon is doing?" she asks, angry look fading away to nothingness.
It's a natural reaction for when anyone seems to just come out of nowhere unexpectedly. This is Southtown, after all, one of the very toughest cities in the world even with the uprooting of Geese Howard's criminal element. That's what the teacher would probably say if he weren't already of the mindset of the fact he's basically stepped on a landmine planted by one of the most dangerous people on the planet.
Just about anything Cammy says or does is intimidating when the teacher has a pretty good grasp on the social dynamics going on between her, Quon, Sagat, and whatever other members of that shadowy organization have interest in. All this because of some crazy friggin' teenage hormones, he has to guess, as he starts to push the lawnmower back.
"He's... he's doin' just... peachy," he says tersely as the riding lawmower is slowly wheeled back towards whence it came.
Dr Senoh would be very unhappy to hear about any hormonal afflictions in his Dolls! But maybe Rust is right, nevertheless. Cammy raises one eyebrow, as Rust starts struggling with his lawnmower. She sighs softly, and takes a few steps forward, to help Rust push the lawnmower to wherever it is going. Maybe this will mollify him?
Maybe Lord Vega is right, it's so much easier to simply beat people up and take whatever it is you want.
"He's peachy?" she asks. "That explains very little. Is he still in jail?" she asks. "I only visited him there once. Jail is a dangerous place, after all.". She glances over at Rust, looking a little sly, a little conspiratorial. "He was happy to see me." she tells Rust, proudly, and in a somewhat challenging tone.
"N-no, no, I got this, I... I got this," he says although, taken at face value, it is a bit of a struggle. That's the point, it's just a bit of exercise. This was the same man who had the strength to dead lift a blast door over a year back, something he's... pretty sure he doesn't have in him to do again.
He shakes his head at the mention of him being in jail without outright saying it, too busy pushing the lawnmower to say it outright.
The pushing stops when she gives that little sly look about him being happy to see her. It does correspond to what Quon told him, how he couldn't bear to tell her his real feelings under threat of Cammy's terrorist co-workers coming to erase him if he ever broke her heart.
Great, he thinks, she's not going to shut up about it, she's just going to rub it in his face and happily cling to him without knowing she's basically destroying him and his life, inside-out.
"He was, huh," he says, already knowing the full truth of the matter.
Cammy ignores any complaints from Rust, she's helping him, whether he wants to or not.
"Well, he was, yes. See. I knew he likes me, like I like him." she tells Rust proudly. "You were wrong. I did do as you requested, though. I am happy Quon did not choose to leave me.".
Yeah, she's going to rub his nose in it, just a little bit.
"So, he is out of jail. That is good!". Telling Rust he was wrong, Quon no longer in jail - it's shaping up to be a good day. "I will have to go visit him again soon. I will have to think what we will do. Maybe we can go to the arcade, he still has not done that, though he did promise. Do you think that is acceptable behaviour?" she asks, looking over at Rust. "I think it is.".
He grunts in response to this continued help, even if it will make things easier and make him just a bit less sore prior to Kyokugen. He always runs on a bare minimum of soreness going throughout his body, a pop in his knee a solemn reminder of this fact.
He nods with some reluctance about Quon being out of jail, yes, Quon is out of jail. His mood drops a bit more at how eager she is to visit him despite the truth of the matter. There is a definite discomfort to his steps as he pushes the riding lawnmower along, realizing he's in a position of authority here with someone who is really under the authority of someone even more dangerous.
After all, despite disagreements, she keeps ending up near him. She must at least hold /his/ word with some tiny shred of regard - and there's the matter of trying to keep Quon safe and relatively confident in continuing his life after that drunk driving incident.
"Arcade, uh... yeah, that's... there's nothing wrong with... with that," he nods as he tries to organize his thoughts, not even really making much eye contact with Cammy. "But, uh... y'know, okay, so," he clears his throat, "maybe... maybe Quon doesn't mind you so much," this is so a god damned lie and he's hating himself for saying this as he lifts up a hand, "what 'bout... what 'bout your other friends?"
Well, he is a teacher, and he's used his 'boss the pupils about' voice on her before. And he's the only person Cammy knows who is another one of Quon's friends, as she hasn't met the likes of Antoine yet.
She nods. "Arcade it is, then." she says simply. Lucky Quon. "My other friends?". Cammy looks a little blank at that. "I don't really have many other friends. Aside from Ibuki. Quon likes Ibuki.". She tilts her head to one side, looking over at Rust with a wrinkled nose. "There are the other Dolls, but they have never met Quon before. I don't think they would appreciate Quon as much as I do, anyway.".
Little does Cammy know that Marz isn't too dissimilar from her really, just that Marz is far, far more subtle.
After all, who else can Rust mean? Balrog is no friend.
"Ibuki, huh," he knows that name's actually gotten a fair bit more exposure after someone by that name defeated the Neo League champion of two whole seasons straight - that bastard Adon - but is it the same Ibuki or some other girl with that name?
Maybe he'd better find out with her as soon as possible. Didn't he see someone by that name last year when he was out shopping for <<CENSORED - THIS IS A TOTAL GUY THING AND YOU ARE NOT PRIVVY TO UNDERSTAND THIS GUY THING UNLESS YOU ARE ALSO A GUY, AND EVEN SO THERE IS NO REASON FOR A GAL TO REALLY KNOW WHAT IT IS>>.
Other dolls? 'Appreciate' Quon? He's really disturbed by these choice of words, visibly, as he stops pushing for a second to give her a look-over.
"Appreciate... Quon?" He asks. "I mean, I might be... behind the loop a li'l, but, but what do you mean by that?"
Cammy is happily oblivious to Ibuki being anything other than a high school student, so even though it is that Ibuki, she assumes it isn't that Ibuki but a totally different Ibuki. If that is clear. Though if she did find out that Ibuki shared her dislike of Adon, and indulged in occasionally beating him up, then that'd be something they have in common at least.
"Well. I like Quon. I appreciate his many qualities. I am not sure the others would though. They are much more...". She gives Rust a searching look. "I suppose you do not need to know." she eventually says with a shrug. "As you do not know the dolls, apparently.".
He's going to have to find her before Cammy does, he's sure, whether it's the rising Neo League star or just some other ordinary girl that really shouldn't get mixed up in all this Cammy drama. Little is he aware of the can of worms she herself has already opened due to participation in recent world-shaking events...
The shop teacher slash groundskeeper slash Kyokugen student slash middle-aged man slash tired worried adult isn't sure how to translate what she means by his 'many qualities,' hwo the others wouldn't... and she talks about how he doesn't need to know. He could probably agree with that.
"Uh... yeah," he shrugs his shoulders. "I mean... uh, keep goin' 'bout these, these qualities," he says as he starts to get pushing the lawnmower again.
"Well.". And now Cammy actually has to think, as when it comes to Quon she's being uncharacteristically irrational. "He's... very determined. And he is a good actor. And he is very good at playing games. He used to be quite happy at least. And he is friendly. He is afraid too much, which is why he is not as happy as he should be, but he is only young, so I am sure that will go away in time.". The Doll eventually manages to enumerate a list for Rust, glancing over at him as she helps push lawnmowers around like some Shadaloo trooper.
"You disagree?" she wonders, curious. "I do not really know why I like Quon, I suppose." she confesses, now she's actually had to think about it. "I suppose it must seem rather random. He tried to teach me how to play this game, nobody did that sort of thing for me before. Even though I don't really like the game that much.". Fei Long was beating up Vega in it after all, what an insult!
The man casually listens to her list them off. Determined... okay. A good actor... and very good at games. Used to be quite happy, friendly... but afraid too much, he's only young? He gives her another look - she doesn't look any older than a teenager herself, but it's getting increasingly harder to tell these days.
The older man scratches the side of his head as she mentions all these things, as if wondering what the hell it must be like within that particular organization. "Huh."
"Disagree? No! No, no." He shakes his head and puts his back into pushing the lawnmower some more as she continues asking as to why she's not sure she likes Quon. All this over teaching her how to play a game, huh...
"I... I never played games much, but, uh, I wasn't too bad at Ms. Pac-Man." He has next to no real experience with modern games these days, aside from maybe casually messing around with a Wii display some time back.
"I do not think I have heard of that one. I do not normally frequent arcades, so am hardly an expert." Cammy confesses. "It was only pure chance that I found Quon in there. Actually, I was looking for someone else at the time.". So she could beat them to within an inch of their life, as it happens, on Lord Vega's orders. "Though Quon was the better find. I found the other person a few weeks later anyway." she says with a thin smile.
Mission Complete!
She turns back to concentrate on pushing the mower around, which is quite easy when there are two people doing it. "You appear to be in a better mood now. So helping you with the lawnmower was a good decision." she says after a short pause.
She hasn't even heard of Ms. Pac-Man?! The man seems really surprised at mention of this, that's... that's one of the classics right there! But then again, she's... not... exactly an ordinary girl with an ordinary upbringing, far as he knows or, to some extent, cares, when Quon's life and confidence in living it is on the line.
"Someone else, huh," he's not sure he wants to really dwell on that, whoever that may be. Have been. Given what she's a part of that person is probably dead. He really doesn't like that smile on her lips when she says it. It's worrying enough it gives him that little extra boost to keep pushing the lawnmower so that he can just disengage from this conversation as soon as possible.
"I, uh... maybe, but, you... you didn't really need to," he clears his throat as he keeps pushing. It is kind of uncanny how much her help adds to it, though. She's so lithe, in comparison to himself. Then again, Southtown is full of tiny, young women who have the capacity to hit harder than the average punch he's taken through his life.
Cammy wears a red cloak mainly to cover up the Shadaloo uniform which is usually underneath it, but the fact that the uniform does little to cover up vat grown muscles is a part of it. Lawnmowers are not much problem for the Doll, especially with the help. "No, I did not need to, but that I suppose is the point. That I did not need to, but did anyway, makes the help more appreciated.". She glances over at him with another sort of smug smirk. "See, you say 'maybe'. I am right, again.". She just might have to go back to Lord Vega and brag at how her calculated winning ways can win people over now she has had a bit of practice She's happy not to dwell on the 'someone else', as well.
"Where are we pushing this thing to anyway?" she asks, faintly curious just how far she's going to have to push it around. It is a little demeaning for Doll Zero after all.
It's always the young ones who have to be right, all the time, every time. Something he's dealt with in no small amounts in speaking with Marisol, supportive as she often was of helping him find his previous love - well, current love - of fighting. He's single now, so one supposes it's okay to say that's his current love, but this is splitting hairs.
"'m pushin' this," he clears his throat, "'scuse me, pushin' this back to, to its garage," he gestures with his head, "just... just doin' it to warm up before Kyokugen."
Is it really a good idea to let her know what he's doing for his training routines these days? Sure, the kids there are on average pretty tough but he doesn't want to end up /leading/ Vega to wanting to slaughter them all simply because the middle-aged balding man with the horrible combover is an acquaintance of someone who should not be viewing a man like this as a 'friend.'
"Just... just gotta keep workin' out," he says with another grunt.
"Oh, its like a training thing. I understand.". Cammy promptly lets go of the lawnmower to let Rust push it along. In fact, she hops up on top, so he can push her along too, and she can sit down crosslegged balanced adroitly on top of the thing, and still look down upon him to talk. "Kyokugen. I have heard this before. Who is teaching you?" she asks him, curious. The Doll may as well do some information collection for Shadaloo as well as herself while she's here, after all. "I am not allowed to train Quon." she says, a little mournfully.
When Cammy ceases helping and instead jumps atop it herself, the older man just realizes how much she was actually contributing to the pushing. It becomes noticeably more challenging, to say nothing of the added weight. He withdraws for a moment to gather himself and roll his left shoulder - appropriate and expected popping noises - before all but hurling himself at it again to keep pushing it.
"How in the, how in the hell do you not know 'bout it?!" He asks between laborious grimaces in pushing the lawnmower. There's a very slight incline here, making this just that much more of a chore, as she starts to lament about not being allowed to train Quon.
"Let me... let me handle, handle that," he speaks up very suddenly when she mentions this regret, "I'll, I'll train him, okay, just... just... don't... worry," he growls with another good hard shove of the lawnmower.
"I am not very worldly." Cammy tells Rust freely enough. "And I do not watch TV much, though the other dolls do. It's just boring, and I have never had any business with Kyokugen practioners before. I have heard of Ansatsuken, is it like that?" she wonders. "You will train him? I did not think you were a sensei yourself.". She reaches out to prod at Rust's shoulder. She never really thought of him as all that muscly.
...he doesn't really look the part. But then neither did Clark Kent.
That's... not really a surprise, not being worldly, maybe that's the reason why she's been so keen to wrap herself around Quon or, to a much lesser extent, himself. There she goes with 'Dolls' again, what are they? Sounds more like something you'd call... an object, not a person? Then again, with the occasional stiff way Cammy talks and chooses her words...
"Uh... maybe?" He mentally shrugs as much as he does physically when he's pushing the lawnmower along towards the garage. "Yeah, I'll, I'll be handlin'... that."
She pokes his shoulder. It's thick, all right. Tense, even. The shoulder doesn't give way to any mere prods. It's debatable if he even notices her touch, given how focused he is at moving the lawnmower.
"So, so... just, uh... just... don't... worry, okay? Okay?"
Cammy hmms, impressed. And he is shifting this lawnmower as training. On New Years Day no less. Cammy wouldn't be so diligent herself, she's actually quite lazy. If not for the vat grown bit she'd probably be distressingly normal. "Mmm, OK. I guess. I will ask Quon how he is going. I thought Sagat was supposed to be training Quon, and I even found a movie person for him, but then he ended up in jail, I am not sure if any of that still applies.". Maybe she'll have to nudge Eagle a second time as a result. "I suppose I should talk to Quon about that and see what the situation is.".
Even on days like this, the man's gotta work. That's been a reality for most of his life - easier to stomach, if not something he enjoys the facts of. It's going to be a very, very, very busy day for him even with all the festivities and celebrations about town.
His face sours at the thought of her asking Quon about things, when he's trying to think of some method - any method - to get Cammy off of the both of them without drawing down the wrath of some truly frightening people. People beyond the measure of being considered 'people.' Something grander, yet something less.
All this when you have to deal with the usual mundane BS is quite heavy stuff indeed. Far heavier than just a riding lawnmower. Especially when Sagat has expressed his interest in Quon's continued development and has sought this particular man's help in doing so.
"Uh... yeah," he mumbles thoughtlessly for an entire loss of words, an elbow and knee popping as he continues along the pushing. His shoes start making indents across the lawn, something that he's going to have to take care of after he pushes it back in the garage.
Maybe he shouldn't have chosen to push it back.
Cammy mmms, as she looks down at the monosyllabic Rust. "You look busy, and now you are going rather quiet. Do you want me to go away?" she asks. "After all, this time you have been comparatively friendly compared to our past encounters, and I would hate to ruin this unusually cordial encounter." the Doll tells him, shifting around a bit on her perch on the lawnmower. Really it's quite uncomfortable, especially with the big red cloak on, which is not the best attire for anything even remotely gymnastic. Her knees are practically going through the cloth.
"I got... I got a long, busy day, long busy day 'head of me," he mumbles between another good powerful shove. The ankle that's been aching after Yahsiro gave it a good kick starts to complain under the stress he's put on it - should he really be doing this /and/ Kyokugen today if it's not really fully healed in comparison?
Ehh, he thinks to himself, I'll tough it out.
"Well... well, y'know," he's not sure he really should be justifying the hows and whys of his mood in her presence when she loves to drop in on him unannounced - especially while he's technically on the clock, "guess the... the day hasn't... really started to make me... really, sour yet," which is the truth. It's still very early in the morning. There is plenty of time for events to really ruin his day.
"I see. I will bear this in mind, and be sure to visit you in the morning should I ever need to talk to you again." Cammy replies, still atop her perch then. So picky! Not 2am, not the evening, but the morning. "It sounds like you need a different job. You were on this lawnmower before, back when the weather was better." she notes. "A long time to push mowers around. If you are a sensei maybe you should do something else.". Lord Vega is a sensei and wouldn't be seen dead doing this sort of menial crap after all.
The morning, just about when work starts and in most circumstances will be full of children...? Maybe he really should've re-thought what he was trying to say to her, he realizes with a worried look on his face in-between pushes.
It's when she suggests he gets a different job he gets somewhat defensive of this, looking up from the back of the lawnmower. "This is, this is the best job I'm gonna get," he grunts out, "do ya... do ya even /know/ what the, the average pay for this stuff is?" It's better than the average pay back home for similar work, despite all the shit it gives him of course he's not going to give it up! That and... well, someone's got to show these kids, these kids from influential families, how to be able to do things with their own hands and not just order around butlers or other people about it.
Assuming they aren't just going to run around and beat each other up like the (rather quiet, lately) Pacific Resistance has been doing.
Cammy blinks at Rust, and shakes her head. "No, I do not know how much you get paid for this. I could find out easily enough if I wanted to, but for some reason it never occurred to me to find out. I do not generally have to worry about money.". She nods though, a thoughtful look on her face. So this is why the Shadaloo troopers put up with all the abuse from people like Adon and Juri. "I wonder how much you would need to pay someone to get beaten up a lot." she muses aloud.
"P-Please don't," he says not as pleading, but the sort of tone that suggests 'if you do I will be very unhappy with you'. He rather not likes the idea of terrorist organizations looking into his bank account for their own amusement of knowing how much is or isn't in the bank!!
"L-Listen, it's... it's great y'don't have to worry 'bout money, but... but I do," well more specifically he cares about having enough paid leave days, which are a precious, precious commodity for him now, "'n... 'n I'm on the clock."
"Hmm, I think you are making hints. That you really do want me to go away. Alright. On the clock man, I will leave you so you can make whatever money you are paid for pushing lawnmowers around.". Cammy think this is unlikely to be a lot. She slides off of the lawnmower adroitly, and offers a wave. "I will go visit Quon soon, thank you for telling me he is out of jail.".
"I'm a teacher!" He calls back with a somewhat more annoyed tone of voice, "and... and, and I guess, uh, an everyman." 'Groundskeeper' is the more fancy title for it. He's working two jobs on campus now, and both of them love to take every mile out of whatever inches he can give for them.
It's not easy.
He just shakes his head and half-heartedly waves his left hand at her in hopes she's more or less done. Strangely, he finds the lawnmower just a little easier to push with her off of it. It's not a huge difference, but enough for him to notice.
He thinks better about asking her about her weight, which almost slips out of his tongue in the heat of the moment as he wipes some sweat off his brow.
What was that fifth thing he needed to do today, anyway?
Cammy may be a bit odd, rather different from most young girls, but even she wouldn't be too happy about being asked how heavy she is. "Teacher. Yes, I remember. You don't remember how we first met?" she asks. She hunted him down precisely because he was a teacher. She is mostly done, anyway, as she ambles off. "Goodbye, Rust. Until the next time.".
Log created on 15:58:03 01/01/2011 by Rust, and last modified on 20:22:38 01/01/2011.