Written by the Victor

[Appoline Meian]

When one came from a country outside the US, learning history in a US classroom quickly became an exercise in frustration. Nearly everything was subtly different, often evidenced by specific verbiage and lack of information on certain key subjects. (Not to mention learning another three hundred years of history when you already had facts from a country ten times that age already learned.)

Especially aggravating had been this term, learning in more specific detail about the world-wide effects of World War II. At least, according to the Americans. Normally, Appoline wouldn't have been upset about the difference in information - history was written by the victors, after all. It was to be expected. However, having grown steadily more... something, since her father returned from his training, nearly everything was bothering the shy girl in one way or another. And this was just one more thing, on top of so much else.

The fact that it was going to be a paired assignment bothered her to no end as well. She had always done projects on her own before just fine, and few people actually liked working together anyway. These group projects were often just proof of the futility of relying on others, since the mash-ups were often (inevitably) one of two things; a group carrying the weight of one, or one carrying the weight of the group. Paired projects were no better, and actually fit both of these observations more often than not.

So it was with a well-schooled mask of non-expression that the artist took her partner's name from a hat... and stared at it intently.

Jesse Adams.

Of course it would be not just one of her father's students, but Jesse fucking Adams.

(If her parents realized that she used that kind of language, even in her head, they'd probably have kittens.)

"Find your partners! After you meet up and discuss your project, you're dismissed!" The teacher's voice spurred action in most of the students, all of whom seemed ecstatic for the chance at getting out of class early. Appoline waited, then looked over to the other side of the classroom with something akin to nervousness on her face.

While she wasn't afraid of him, per say (not like the rest of the student body seemed to be), the Japanese teen also didn't have a solid friendship with the older student like her sister did. She also didn't trust him; she'd seen him following her around while her father was gone, and assumed that he'd been asked to keep an eye on her. As if she couldn't be trusted.

Well, whatever. She'd likely be carrying the weight of this project anyway, so may as well get the awkward part over with. Standing, she brushed out the wrinkles in her skirt and walked over to the blonde's desk, waiting until he noticed her to bow slightly. "It l-looks like we've p-paired," she stated, a nervous and forced chipperness in her voice. "Um... d-do you... want to start t-today? Or m-... maybe later in the w-week?"

[Jesse Adams]

Knowing that his graduation was probably at the very least a year away, Jesse didn’t often pay close attention to his classes. Half of them at this point were just about repeats. He was twenty two for God’s sake. How much longer could he slug through classes designed for students four years younger than him? Yes, he’d lost some actual school years during his time with MSAD, but seriously.

Oddly, World War II had been something he’d studied quite a bit at the compound, though his interest had been ‘encouraged’ in the direction of Germany and their ideals of racial supremacy. Once he’d followed the ideas of Gabriel in that metahumans were superior to baseline humans. Perhaps he’d lost his faith in those ideas now, but the point stood. He knew a lot about the subject.

He was halfway to closing his eyes and completely mentally checking out of the class when their teacher started talking about partners for projects. Sitting up from his lazy slouch, he looked around the room and scowled. He didn’t really want to work in pairs, and it only half had to do with having to work with another student. He was sure that whoever his partner ended up being was going to act like a scared rabbit, like he was going to eat them or something.

This was going to be a long project.

He had no idea who had drawn his name until a familiar figure approached him.

… This was going to be interesting. He’d kept an eye on Appoline from afar after Nakia had mentioned being concerned, and Vincent had specifically asked him in a letter. He’d thought he’d done a good job of surveillance, but it was always possible she’d known, too. He always got the feeling that Appoline didn’t like him much. Cassi, she was easy. She was a lot like Sasha, and it was easy to befriend her. But Appoline, despite being closer to his own age… she was almost impossible to read. But he was positive she didn’t like him like Cassi did.

“Yeah, I guess we are.” Well, at least she was better than some of the other seniors that liked to give him a wide berth. They were probably also the ones that liked to spread stupid rumors about him. “We can start today, I guess.” He honestly didn’t even know what the project was about. “Unless you have some after school activity or something.” Yes, pretend he didn’t actually know her schedule. That was smart. He didn’t have any, though he sometimes itched to run track again. It was just easier to run on his own. No pressure, no coaching. Just running. Unless Nakia caught him. The amount of times she’d told him off for stressing his knee…

[Appoline Meian]

Before the whole fiasco two winters ago, Appoline wouldn't have said she disliked the blonde. She just didn't warm up to many people easily, and Jesse wasn't the type to ask for help. Or, really, even look like he wanted it. He was the distant one, and... well, shyness allowed her to keep it that way.

But now, the idea of being stalked on her father's order made any sort of camaraderie they may have shared vanished. Not overnight, but it was certainly gone by now. Maintaining the appearance of politeness was a must, though; everyone else in her family liked him for some reason or another. Best not to rock the boat, not like it mattered.

(She knew Jesse was a good kid. Scared, on the wrong side of things at some point, and abrasive, yes. But overall nice, and sweet in his own way. But that wasn't the point.)

Damn. I'd hoped he'd want to slack. Though, really, who did he think he was kidding? He knew she didn't have after school programs anymore, not since she stopped going to Art Club. But oh well; let him pretend. "N-no, I w-was just... we can start t-today. Um... to the library?"

It was an easy enough walk from here, and they'd be forced to keep quiet as much as possible. Quiet meant no talking, or at least minimally, which meant less interaction. Perfectly peachy.

[Jesse Adams]

It would have come as a surprise that Appoline hadn’t disliked him, especially after he’d ended up crashing the Meian household for the simple reason he’d been scared. Cassi had been amazingly welcoming, and even Nakia had taken to him quickly, even with everything he’d thrown at her in the infirmary. In a strange way, it had almost been good for him, being exposed to a somewhat normal family.

Then again, it had also driven home just how screwed up his own home life had been.

“Yeah, sure.” He shoved his books back into his bag and moved to stand up. Once they were out of the classroom and down the hall, he shifted his bag on his shoulder. “So I was only half listening. What’s the project actually on?” It wasn’t going to earn him any points, but if she wanted him to help, she’d have to tell him.

[Appoline Meian]

Feh, normal. What the hell was normal about her family? The only normal person was Cassi - everyone else was a weird quirk of genetics, outcast and disliked, discriminated against simply for being what they had been born as. Her father had been shunned and passed around foster homes for being a first-born twin whose mother had died. Her mother had been beaten and nearly killed for being albino. She herself had been tormented and denied a good education because of her appearance and deafness.

And to top it all off, each one of them was a metahuman.

Normal didn't apply to people like them. The best they could hope for was unobstructive.

Stepping away to give him space to move, Appoline kept her head down, face shielded by a wall of raven-black hair. She kept pace despite being so much shorter, a useful trait from having a father so ridiculously tall, and stayed as mute as possible. Until, of course, the blonde asked what the project even was. Chewing her lip briefly, she decided to tell him rather than beating about the bush.

"We need to... to research a s-single event. W-well, I mean... s-something not a major b-battle. Th-the lib-beration of Ah.. Auschwitz, f-for example. It can b-be anything that's, um, pertinent to the w-war, n-not just the United St-tates."

Wow, that may have been the most she'd ever spoken to Jesse in a single breath. Speaking of, the gymnast inhaled and exhaled quickly, her face flushing red as she dutifully did not set her gaze on the young man next to her. She hated her stutter, hated that her nervousness caused it.

[Jesse Adams]

Compared to his home, the Meian household was perfectly normal. Vincent didn’t push his daughters to the breaking point when it came to school or sports. He didn’t physically or verbally abuse them. Though Appoline seemed to be rebelling in small ways, she wasn’t doing what Keith had done and run off to try drugs or alcohol and run with wilder kids. Cassi wasn’t ignored. They were functional, if nothing else, and it had been hard to deal with at first. Cassi and Appoline didn’t know how lucky they were to have normal, loving parents instead of a violent control freak for one and someone almost scared to step in for the other.

“A single event?” Well that narrowed it down. Sort of. Already he was thinking about the smaller events within the much larger subject of the entire war. Well, there would be lots to choose from. Trying to be nice as they headed down the hall, he hazarded a peek at her. “Is there something you want to use for it?” If she wanted to take the lead, he was okay with that. With any other partner he might have attempted to take the backseat for the project. But Appoline? He had to be nice to her. Not that he didn’t want to be, but because she was Vincent and Nakia’s daughter, he tried a little harder than he did with most people.

[Appoline Meian]

Indeed; in the overarching scheme of things, Appoline really didn't know personally how lucky she was. She saw how cruel the world could be to those who were different, how hurtful it was to her family in general, without remembering that they themselves defied that status quo and a society that easily could reject them on the basis of their differences. Her family was warm and loving, considerate of its children and a safe haven for many from broken homes. Anger, bitterness, and hurt, though - those have the ability to twist perceptions on even the most faithful of persons.

Shaking her head slipped a few strands of white loose from the clip that held the forelock back underneath the rest of her hair, and though irritated, it was a smooth motion to simply return the strands to a good position behind her ear instead. "N-not really," she admitted, though she had a number of ideas from the other half of the Axis lines. "M-most of the events that I kn-now are... on the J-Japanese side of the w-war."

Which was not to say that she knew nothing about the rest of it - she simply hadn't been drilled as extensively on the subject here as she had back at Eisai. But the idea that Jesse would have tried on a project just because she was her parent's daughter would have aggravated the shy girl completely, had she known. Once again, stuck in the shadow of her much stronger and more capable parents.

"The p-project is also in, um, two p-parts; a r-research paper, and a v-v-visual p-piece." Her stuttering was getting worse, and with it the blush of crimson across her cheeks and nose.

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse had had the chance to see the Meians in action at home firsthand. It had been the first time in a long time he’d been in a home where no one was yelling, no one was forcing themselves to excel beyond their means. It had aided his relationship with both Vincent and Nakia to a point where he was much more comfortable around them both. That had been a hard bridge to cross when it came to Vincent himself, but he had made it. And he’d befriended Cassi, which had helped to fill the gap being away from Sasha had left.

Okay, so maybe that had been kind of a dumb idea. Of course what she knew best was the war from the Japanese side of things. Still, it felt right to offer. He wasn’t sure what small event might make for a good project, but he supposed that was what research and planning was for. “Right.” Shifting his bag on his shoulder, he looked at the ceiling as they walked towards the library. “We’ll figure it out.” Somehow.

Two parts? … Visual projects were so lame. They needed to be left in first grade, where they belonged. A stormy look passed over his face, but it quickly vanished. He didn’t mean to be that way. Especially when he was supposed to be being nice to Appoline. She had enough going on and didn’t need his sourpuss attitude, no matter how dumb the project. “Okay. That doesn’t sound that hard.”

[Appoline Meian]

Given the fact that Appoline had shared all of senior year with her father's student (well, all of senior World History, that is), it wasn't terribly surprising that Jesse had asked her where to start. What had amused her in her dry and bitter-humored way was that he still wanted to help at all. Oh sure, he did his assignments and turned in projects, but from what it looked like, he didn't really try much with them. Therefore, why would he want to try with her? Unless, of course, it was simply because he was "looking out" for her.

Such was her own cluster of storm clouds that she completely missed her companion's expression as they walked.

Chewing on her lower lip, the small teen tentatively offered, "I... I don't mind d-doing the v-visual part mys-self. I am an... an art student." Seriously, I can do most of this myself if you just want to go away.

Good think Jesse wasn't a telepath. Not like Rory, who had poked her nose too deep into the Meian girl's head the other day. Thinking of the other girl brought a familiar darkness that wasn't really defined as an expression over her face; if the blonde looked closely, he'd recognize it (probably a little distantly, given how much time had passed). It was the same look her father got when he was getting particularly frustrated with attitude during his sessions. Knowing that, of course, would make the gymnast even angrier, but it was the truth.

She was her father's daughter, after all.

Still, she tried to pass it off, turning her face away as she spoke, "A-also, if you want a, um, a p-particular event, I d-don't mind. J-just let me know, and I'll l-look for the g-graphics."

[Jesse Adams]

Okay, fine, yes. Any other partner, and Jesse probably would have slacked more than he was planning to right now. Just because he had straightened out a little didn't mean that he seriously applied himself to schoolwork, especially now he didn't have his father breathing down his neck about his grades. But Appoline... if he didn't at least try, it wasn't really fair to her. Besides, Vincent would probably be disappointed in him, and that was oddly one disappointment he wasn't quite sure he could handle.

"... Okay. If you really want to do that part." He wasn't going to argue with her on that. He sucked at art in general, and unless she was okay with the visual being a bunch of printed pictures glued to a board, they were both likely better off letting her handle it.

... Or maybe that was making her mad. He knew that look. He'd received it from a man older than himself more than once, though that had been a while ago now. Appoline really was Vincent's daughter, even if she wasn't thrilled about that fact right now. He made a mental note to step carefully around her. He didn't want to make matters worse.

Event. Event. He wracked his brain for something that wasn't like the Holocaust or anything particularly gruesome. Not that there was anything nice about war. Maybe... ".... Russia. What was it called...? Germany invaded Russia in... 19...4... 1? Operation something. ... Barbossa?" Yes, that was how much he'd paid attention recently. At least all the pieces were there.