(2019-10-29) The Final Straw
The Final Straw
Summary: Idioms are not Buddy's friend
Date: 2019-10-29
Related: Related Logs (Say None if there aren't any; don't leave blank. You have to use full URLs, like http://coralsprings.wikidot.com/logtitle)
NPCs: Players go below, other chars that deserve mention can be listed here
Scene Runner: Who ran this scene, NA if no-one or mutual
Players:
buddy..cora..rain..

Patio
Coral Springs

The patio is all cobblestone as well with a waist high, elegant wrought iron fence all the way around it, and gates to each path, each with a brass plaque labeling where it goes. The patio has teak wood tables and chairs for eating, homework, and parking coffee on. There are also benches along the fence, and like the chairs, they have burgundy velvet cushions, and are quite comfortable to all but the most sensitive behinds.


Zoom! Running across the patio as fast as his little legs can carry him, Buddy charges through the area with his arms full of straw which he has apparently taken from some Halloween decorations. The students who have been working on the decorations are running after Buddy, three students to be precise. "Buddy! Stop!" the girl yells. One of the boys calls out, "Come on, Buddy! Give it back!"
It is amazing how such a short kid can run so fast especially considering that he can barely see with the straw covering most of his face. Little pieces of straw trail behind him as he goes.

With the late summer giving its last hurrah you can bet Rain is making sure she enjoys the warm, sunny weather while she can. Hence her sitting on the patio enjoying a light snack while she does some light reading. If her A&P text book could be considered light reading that is. As Buddy and his chasers dash across the patio she looks up from where she sits, sunglasses hiding her eyes, stoic expression on her face.

Cora… is not one of the ones working on the decorations! She has her own things she's doing for the holiday, but this is not it! Instead, she's just hanging out as she so often is at one of the patio tables on this nice evening, playing with her tablet and with headphones on. Of course, she's in the shade. As she is always inclined to be if the evil glowing orb is in the sky!

The third student, a stone manipulator, causes the ground in front of Buddy to suddenly grow upwards creating a wall. With the straw in his face, Buddy cannot see it in time and runs into the wall with a loud thud. Knowing the other kids are too close for him to get away now, he clutches onto the straw as tightly as he can and says, "No, no, you can't have it. I won't let you." The girl stands over Buddy with her hands on her hips and says, "Give it back right now, or else."

Rain continues to watch, her text book still open in her hands. The stoic expression on her face breaks as her eyebrows lift at Buddy's refusal to give up the straw and the other girls refusing to let him have it. "All this commotion over an armful of straw?" she asks after letting out a sigh "You two are acting like it can be spun into gold or something."

Cora looks up for a moment and sees the commotion - hard not to notice motion like that. Then she ends up rubbing her forehead for a moment. Then she's looking back down at her tablet and tapping a few things before she looks back up again and takes off her headphones. "Is Buddy trying to make a nest?" She says, loud enough some might here, but as much to herself as anything.

"No!" Buddy turns his head to yell at the girl. He is actually crying now for some reason. His yell and his tears really bother the girl. She looks really uncomfortable and says to Rain, "We need the straw for our decorations. We had some, but someone kept taking it. So we set up a trap and saw Buddy stealing the straw."
Buddy clutches the straw tighter and shakes his head while looking at Cora. "No, no nest. Saving him. She was going to kill him!"

"Exactly how expensive is straw that you all have to steal and/or horde it?" Rain is asking quite seriously. She has no idea what straw costs, though she can't imagine it is all that expensive "It is really worth all this fuss?" currently she has no sympathy for Buddy's tears or the theft victims. She is more annoyed by the fact that this has disturbed her study time. Though Buddy's final protest has her looking confused "What are you talking about? Him? Her? Killing? Explain it in a way we can understand."

Cora ends up just slipping into silence, and shaking her head about this whole thing. The look on her face more than saying it all - she expects this to go somewhere unexpected. As such, it's just silence… and looking back down at her tablet for a moment. Almost like she's about ready to just tune out and put headphones right back on.

"I heard them," Buddy says pointing to male student who raised up the wall in front of him. "The straw that broke the camel's back! They were going to use all this to break some poor camel's back. The camel wouldn't be able to get up and eat or drink or anything. Then the camel would die. What did that poor camel ever do to you." So, Buddy is being Buddy again. The three who were trying to get the straw from Buddy look even more confused than before.

Realization dawns on Rain's face and a hand lifts to cover it as she shakes her head. Misunderstanding euphemisms and cliches is something she has grown quite used to. She still has to occasionally explain some of them to Besa. In other circumstances she might find this funny, but not this time. Knowing what the situation is though does have her feeling more for Buddy in this case. Her experience with her brother makes her able to empathize with the younger boy better "It's just an expression, Buddy. There is no camel." she pauses a moment and realizes where she goes to school "There really isn't a camel is there?" she asks the other students that were chasing him. It really wouldn't surprise her if there was. Stranger things have happened.

Thunk. Yep. Cora just did a real, honest to god, facepalm. Palm slapping against her forehead loud enough to be heard, and now she looks downwards. Yep - worse than she expected. Her head just shaking back and forth. "Ask your English teacher about it Buddy." Cora finally says, flustered indeed.

"No, Camel?" Buddy asks. "Did you do something to him already?" he asks. Clearly the idea of it being an expression is starting to take hold on his mind though it might take a bit to make it all the way through. The girl, the leader of the three, shakes her head. "No, camel. I problem. Blockhead here was just saying that he couldn't take any more work." Buddy slowly lowers the straw down and says, "That doesn't have to do anything with camels. Camels are really hard workers. They call them the ships of the desert." He steps away so the girl and her two friends can get the straw. Asking Cora and Rain, Buddy says, "Why would someone make such a mean expression about a poor camel."

"That's exactly the reason they made up the expression." Rain explains calmly to Buddy "Because they are sturdy and can handle a large load, but only to a certain point." she looks between Buddy and the Halloween decorating students "Are you all good now? No more figthing over straw?"

"Language is complicated, Buddy." Cora says, sighing softly. "Like I said. Ask your English Teacher, they probably have a better answer than I ever could. It's an idiom, and it means something, and every language has lots of them and they're some of the hardest parts and they don't mean exactly what they sound like, but they mean something and it's how you get if you're a fluent speaker." Yep, she just blabbered that off quickly. But then, and only then, seems to notice that Rain said something more to the point and she gets a bit more sheepishly quiet.

Buddy nods his head and says, "If they aren't going to hurt a camel, it's okay." Buddy reaches up and rubs his head some. "You know, barking is a lot easier. So is meowing. Bird whistling is fun. Dolphese is way cool though."

With the altercation resolved Rain lets out another quiet sigh "Take her advise, go do some studying. I'm sure there are books in the library about cliches and idioms. try to keep this type of misunderstanding from happening again." she then sits back down and tries to focus once more on her studies.

"Without weird things like that, we wouldn't have poetry and other beautiful parts of language. And then it's just… boring." Though even as she says that, Cora looks to Rain with a sort of world weary expression as if to give the impression she expects it to keep happening, and this isn't the first time. Just about then, there's a beep from the PA system, "Cora Thiel, report to the Counselor's Office. Cora Thiel to the Counselor's office." She blinks then gathers her stuff and smiles, "See you all later." As she starts to head out to said place!

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