Good food and hope

[Larkin Jones]

It was good to return to the lower stations at the end of the day. Her internship brought her one step closer to government where she wanted to make a difference. But at the end of the day she was still just a girl. She was still just someone who tried with hope, but not the privilege to get what she wanted, what her friends needed. She had come down here just in time for most people to eat, so Larkin had no choice but to sit next to someone she hadn't met yet. She smiled brightly.


"Hey, mind if I sit there?" She asked him. "Nothing else is free." And she needed a place. She might have to come back in to cover the night at the radio. Some engineers were scheduled for a night maintenance. They had to work the night too to entertain them. That was their job. And that was her stepping stool to actual power. Power to change things. She wanted this, she had to remind herself. She wanted a better life for herself and her friends, for everyone on the lower stations. "I'm Larkin."


Theodore Keller

[Theodore Keller]

His best friends had been around him for most of the day as they usually were, but now Ruby had left to spend some time with that idiot of a boyfriend and Cameron had taken off for the gym. Theo was contemplating how good he was probably looking doing sit-ups and what not, but then forced himself to stop thinking about one of his best friends that way. He sighed as he let the lump of mashed potatoes fall down from his fork and tried to ignore the group of kids sitting at another table laughing and pointing their fingers at him.
He felt confident enough to just sneer back at them when he had his partners in crime with him, but he wasn't so brave when Ruby and Cameron weren't around. That didn't happen all too often fortunately, but it just made him feel all the more uncomfortable whenever he was sitting alone just like right now.

Theo was getting even more nervous when he saw those kids that always teased him in class, get up with those evil grins still on their faces and walks toward him. But just as they were close enough to yell at him, an older girl appeared at his table. Theodore looked at her with his eyes wide in surprise and his eyebrows raised. He looked over at the bullies and saw their resolve to torture him crumble at the sight of the newcomer.
Theo looked back at the girl with a smile and nodded at her, gesturing at the seat opposite him.
„Yeah sure, sit down!“, he offered and noticed with satisfaction that those other kids were leaving the dining hall.

Tag: Larkin Jones

[Larkin Jones]

Larkin smiled at the boy. But she noticed the look. Following it for a moment, she noticed the leaving kids. The puzzle pieces fell together immediately. Kids, youngsters of any age could be incredibly mean. "Are they bothering you?" The girl asked. She looked at him, her ponytale swaying slightly with the movement of her head. It had a certain spring to it, which it had to have. Appearances were a lot more important on GoSci, sadly.  "You know you could just let them talk. The Ark gets everyone down eventually. They don't realize it yet, but it's unlikely they will be that big mouthed in the future." Unlikely didn't even cover it. Everyone had to pull their weight on this ship.

"On top of it, you should ignore them. They're looking for a response. Do they deserve one, if they treat you wrong? I don't think so." With a smile she pushed a bit of her desert to him. "Whats the point in engaging with people like that? They'll just keep teasing you and find reasons to tease you more based on your response." But she had the feeling he usually wasn't their usual victim, at least not like that. He had a comfort zone and he was out of it. 

Theodore Keller

[Theodore Keller]

He followed the kids with his gaze as they left the dining hall, but Theo's attention was quickly caught by the girl's words. His eyes widened in surprise once more and his eyebrows shot up when he heard the passion in her voice as she was holding this whole speech about ignoring his bullies. He wasn't sure if she was just talking from her own experience or if she was actually keen for him to stand up to the kids that teased him. But why would she even care if someone was bullying him? It wasn't like she knew him or anything.

„Wow, you sure have a way with words!“, he said, genuinely impressed and smiled at her. But he then just gave her a shrug in response to her heartfelt words about how he should response to the bullying. „I'm just an easy target I get. They leave me alone mostly, because I'm usually with my two best friends and they wouldn't let them give me any grief.“, he explained and smiled fondly as he thought about how Cameron and Ruby always got so worked up whenever anyone said something to their friend, especially Ruby who turned into a wild lioness whenever someone tried to pick on 'her boys' as she liked to call them.
„I'm Theo by the way!“, he added with another smile at her and put a grape into his mouth.

Tag: Larkin Jones

[Larkin Jones]

“It’s my job, literally.” Larkin pointed out. Since she worked for the entertainment on the Ark. Not many thought of the people behind it. They had deeper problems. And with good reason. Those on factory kept them alive. Larkin knew that this was not where her talents lay so she had steered away from it, successfully now. She was much more comfortable where she was now. It helped her feel useful. 

“Well, Theo, why do you let them give you grief?” She asked him. He was probably shy, probably not wanting confrontation. “What do your friends do to protect you?” She asked him, wanting to see if their tactic might work for him, too. But he would eventually find his own, once he tired of their shit. And he would. He just needed the confidence to stand up to the losers that found pleasure in bringing others down. “So how old are you?”

Theodore Keller

[Theodore Keller]

Theo didn't really know what he could answer to his question. Why did he let does other kids bully him? Maybe it was just out of habit, he was just so used to being put down by the others who thought of him as weird. People often didn't like things that were different or unusual and they had different kind of ways to react to that. He just shrugged his shoulders in response though, not knowing how to put his thoughts into words.
„They just always have a clever response when someone says something mean to me.“, he explained with another shrug answering her question about his friends' protection. He was often so impressed, especially with Ruby's quick comebacks to their peer's insults. He could never just shake a clever response out of his sleeve. Even hours later, he'd still go over the conversation and only then, he would come up with a good answer, triumphing over his bullies inside his mind and wishing he could go back in time.

„I'm sixteen.“, he answered her last and easiest question. „What about you?“, he asked and took a spoonfull of the porridge in front of him.

Tag: Larkin Jones

[Larkin Jones]

“You could always practice some comebacks and keep them in mind.” It was less spontaneous, but it was what he could do. It was a way for them to be shut up. He was not spontaneous, she guessed. But there was ways to give him something to shut the others up. It could be a simple training, to relax his mind and allow him to just go there, to stand up to them. Maybe that would be enough to keep them at bay. They could always try. She could always offer to help him with that. “If you want, I can give you a bit of training in that department.” She had training herself after all.

“I’m twenty.” Larkin provided. She was a bit older than him. Maybe his lack of experience helped that along, too. She didn’t know anyway. At least there was a chance to help him. “I’m working in the entertainment. And I guess you’re going to school, right?” Ha had to be a student at that age or actually learning to become something.

Theodore Keller

[Theodore Keller]

Theo wasn't sure why she'd want to bother with a kid she didn't even know, but he was sure it would be an advantage to have her on his dide. The problem was the biggest when those bullies got him alone. Fortunately, he spent most of his time with Ruby and Cameron and they would protect him from anyone who dared make a nasty comment. Plus he felt much more confident when he wasn't alone and found it less hard to speak up because his friends encouraged him to stand up for himself. Having another ally in the form of Larkin meant more support and less opportunity for the bullies to catch him alone, so it could only be an advantage.

„That would be so kind of you. I always freeze up when they attack me on my own, I only come up with good answers once they're gone.“, he explained with an annoyed sigh but then smiled back at her again.
„Yes, I'm still a student and unfrotunately so are they.“, he continued and rolled his eyes.

Tag: Larkin Jones