soldtoarmenians

{{Journalism interview, which happened in Very Very Slow Play due to interview being with scissors__ who is on the other side of the world, and dbiers, who has the Kobolian Death Flu. Affects no one and nothing outside the bounds of gathering research for Xander's Journalism final.}}

Formatting shamelessly stolen from Grissom/Maia's conversation long ago and far away, because yay neatness.

Ed (scissors__)	Ed is inside his house, ~~knitting~~ nervously walking around waiting for his guests. He makes sure everything looks clean and nice, because he wants to make a good impression. Outside the house is a big garden, with various statues, shaped trees and bushes, and at this moment there are two snowman, with carrots for noses. They look somewhat like Xander and D'anna, though resemble them not enough to make anyone uncomfortable.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander, armed with a notebook and pen, stands at the front door, looking around curiously. "Nice landscaping," he says to D'anna, before knocking.
D'anna (dbiers)	Camera out and gear in her rucksack, D'anna follows Xander to the door. "It's definitely... unusual. How do you know this guy anyway?" she asks as they wait.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"He's in my music class," Xander answers, knocking on the door. "He's a little..." His head swivels to look at her, eyes widening as if a thought's just occurred to him. "Er, have you seen him? I probably should have mentioned he's a little..." Xander glances across the yard again. "Unusual would cover it, yeah."
Ed (scissors__)	Ed hurries to the door when he hears the knocking, and opens the door. "Hey, Xander," he says, and smiles. Than he looks at D'anna and waves a bit with his scissors. "You must be D'anna?"
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"Never had my own personal camerawoman...er.. person, before," Xander says, grinning. "I feel all non-slackery and professional. Kind of scary." He gestures towards the grounds. "Cool snow-people, Ed!"
Ed (scissors__)	"Thank you" Ed beams. "I like the snow. It's so... pretty and white. Say, can i get you anything to drink? Coffee? Tea?" he asks, as he leads the way to a rather large and somewhat depressingly dark livingroom. "Or, something to eat? Food? Brownies? Or d'you just want to start the interview?" Ed is somewhat nervous, he isn't really used to having guests.
D'anna (dbiers)	Turning her usual reaction of offering a hand to shake into wiping her hand on her trousers, D'anna had simply nodded and smiled when Ed greeted them. She snapped a few pictures of the lawn and snowpeople before following the guys inside. "Coffee sounds good, if it isn't too much trouble."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"I'm, ah, pretty much incapable of not breathing, not sticking my foot in my mouth if it's open, and not substituting brownies for the foot, if they're available," Xander adds.
Ed (scissors__)	"Oh- oh, no trouble at all!" Ed says, "Please sit down!" He hurries out of the room and comes back with a tray with a pot of coffee, cups, cream and sugar, and some cookies on a plate. "Please help yourself," he says, as he sets it down on a table. "I'm so excited for the interview!" ((There's brownies on the plate too!))
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"Awesome, thanks!" Xander reaches for the plate of brownies, then, wonder of wonders, doesn't shove one in his mouth. It could be politeness that causes him to sigh and pass the plate towards D'anna, but the sad little frown on his face might be a hint that he's suddenly realized that it's kind of hard to ask questions with your mouth stuffed full of food, dumbass. "Are you renting the house," he asks Ed, glancing around at the living room. "Or does your family actually live in Fandom Town?"
Ed (scissors__)	Ed shakes his head while he snatches up a brownie with his scissors. "Nope, just renting. It's kinda like a dorm, except for...all the people. I'm not very comfortable with a lot of people around me, you see, so i asked if there was anything a bit farther away from the school, somewhere quiet. So that's how i came to rent this house." He smiles at Xander. "Take a brownie. They're good! They have walnuts."
D'anna (dbiers)	"Thanks." D'anna took a brownie in addition to her coffee. "Quiet is good. Sometimes I wonder if living off campus isn't better, all things considered."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"I'd sure have traded it for my room, before the roommate did his disappearing act," Xander said, reaching for a brownie. "Now I kind of have a single, though I'm not sure if they'll let me keep it or not." He turns to Ed. "So if you're not a local, where do you hail from? How'd you end up at Fandom High?"
Ed (scissors__)	"Well, i used to live in America, in a very pretty neighborhood. The houses were pink and green..." Ed stares at the ceiling, seeing the pretty houses in his mind. "I liked that. But, eh, well, unfortunate things happened. And i felt i needed some education. And then i found a flyer for this school, in which they didn't mention the zombies and crazy teachers, and that sounded kinda nice, so i decided to go." "Your roommate disappeared?" Ed furrows his brow. "Was he eaten by the locker 327?"
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander swallows brownie bits, then grins. "Actually yes, from what I hear on the radio. Sadly not permanently. He just moved out, from what I can tell. Didn't actually tell me he was moving out, but hey, any chance to not interact with him is probably a favor to us both." He scribbles in his notebook. "Unfortunate things in the hometown, and the lack of zombies and crazy teachers sounded nice, huh? I can relate. So you came to school voluntarily? Most of us tend to get forced to, one way or another. What didn't you know that you wanted to learn here?"
Ed (scissors__)	"No -i wasn't forced. I like to learn new things, really. I've never been to school, i was...well home-schooled you can say i guess. I thought it was time to go to a real school, meet other people. See what this 'homecoming' was they always talk about. It's a really interesting concept actually, a school."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander grins. "How's the execution? As good as the concept? Are you liking it here?"
Ed (scissors__)	"Yes, i like it here. The school's nice, and so are most of the people. I have a job as a gardener here, for mister Quayle, though i haven't seen him in a while. On second thought, lots of people seem to go missing. It creeps me out. I guess the locker had quite an appetite. Except for the missing persons, i really enjoy it here so far." Ed smiles.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"I saw the bushes outside - nifty!" Xander glances towards the door. "Did you get into the tree sculpture back home, or is that something you picked up here?"
Ed (scissors__)	"Oh, i did it back home, too. I like it, that way i can make use of my scissors without incidentally cutting people up!" Ed beams. "I can do hair, too. I make very pretty post-modern haircuts, actually." He beams some more.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander eyes Ed's own hair, and tries to keep his eyebrows under control. "Have you, ah... had a lot of call for haircuts around here?"
Ed (scissors__)	"No, actually. I think most people here value their hair to much to let me make it...postmodern. 'Cause the hairdo's i do are very postmodern. And i'm also very busy right now, with school stuff you know. Professor Chaucer wants us to write a poem, so there's not much time for cutting people's hair and stuff."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"Are you writing a postmodern poem, too?" Xander asks, not stifling his grin this time.
Ed (scissors__)	"No, it's about freedom, beauty, truth, and love...i'm a twue spiwit of the wevolution." Ed giggles. "But maybe in a bit of a postmodern kind of verse, i don't know yet."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander checks his notes. It's not that he's avoiding the obvious question - he's just... ~~avoiding the obvious question~~ ... putting it off? "So, what classes are you taking besides poetry? What does a guy who's always been home-schooled decide he wants to learn about when he comes to Fandom High?"
Ed (scissors__)	Ed knows he is ~~avoiding~~ putting off the obvious question, and smiles. It will come up one moment or other anyway. "I'm mostly trying to take classes for things you can't learn from books. I'm taking music, with a teacher who wants to be called 'dude'. Very odd. I was also taking fashion classes, but that...stopped. Quite suddenly. It was a fun class..." Ed is silent for a moment. "I took gardening, but the teacher disappeared. And i was in the ~~virginal men in need of making out skills~~ Male Fans of Celine Dion, but then ~~everyone got laid and the club got cancelled~~ that stopped, too." ((what's with the disappearing people, anyway? 0.o))
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander nods. "Right, I'm in Professor Dude's class with you. So two of your teachers disappeared? That's impressive. One of mine did - Professor Jareth - but I managed to find another class to replace it just before the drop/add deadline." "I don't know what's up with the disappearances either." He shakes his head. "At home, we'd, uh, usually assume they got eaten by something, but Fandom seemed like it was a little tamer that, at least until the Kitty Pryde thing happened, and well..." Xander 's gaze hardens for a second. "That problem came here from my hometown." Xander grins again, a little meanly. "Now that Angel's back in Manilow-mode, maybe he'll start up the Celine Dion club again. ~~After all, no way he's getting laid anytime soon.~~" He glances at his notebook again. "So there's the postmodern haircuts, and you must like gardening, if you were taking a class and doing it for a job. Any other hobbies, stuff you like to do outside of school?"
Ed (scissors__)	"Oh?" Ed says, trying to figure out what kind of hometown that actually would be. "Angel and a Celine Dion club? I think he's scary. I don't like scary people," Ed says, and looks a little lost. "I like ~~knitting~~ ~~applying make-up~~ ~~eating peas~~ to go for a walk in the town, sometimes i go to Aziraphale's book shop. He's got those recorded books, on tape you see, so i can read books without actually slashing them up. That's nice." Ed thinks for a while. "And i like cats," he concludes.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander nods. He glances at Ed's hands, not missing the irony here. "Angel is scary. In totally different ways from when he doesn't have a soul, mostly involving the fact that he manages to find more shades of gray sweater than Land's End actually makes, but still scary." "Books on tape - that's a good idea. You might want to ask Miss Calendar -- she's the new psych teacher? About one of those speech-to-text programs for your computer, too - she may be pinch-hitting in psychology, but she's really a computer science teacher. I'll bet she could hook you up." Xander glances again at Ed's hands, and coughs. "Do you.. um. Can you have a cat?"
Ed (scissors__)	"Miss Calendar eh? Haven't met her yet, but it sounds like a good idea. Thanks!" Ed smiles. "The typing is not very easy. I've broken four keyboards since i got here." "Eh, i think i can have a cat?" Ed contemplates it. "I just shouldn't pick it up i guess. But i think it could work actually."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"You could get a longhair and give it a postmodern haircut," Xander suggests. He coughs, then smiles awkwardly. "Ok, let's face it, I've been dancing around the big question about as well as a hippo on roller skates. What is the story on your hands? Extreme body art? Long-lasting gremlin bite? Just born with 'em?"
Ed (scissors__)	"I guess you can say...born with it. Except i wasn't born, i was created. And i...never got finished. I was supposed to have hands, they were very pretty, but before i got them...excuse me," Ed says, and sniffles a bit, his head hanging. "It's just tough to talk about that. Anyway, i never had hands. I don't know what it's like, though i'd say it's a lot more comfortable."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander just raises an eyebrow at 'created' - and not very far up; it's not exactly the first time he's met somebody who wasn't exactly born - at least this one isn't a murderous mini-pizza-baking robot. He nods when Edward finishes. "You mentioned the books and the keyboards. I'm guessing school in general's got to be kind of a challenge - I'm thinking the wrestling club's a no-go, for one."
Ed (scissors__)	"Actually, i was in wrestling club, before that...stopped. I wrestled against Han Solo." Ed looks proud. "I wore some kind of scissor guards, some rubber device so i wouldn't hurt anyone. I'm not very sad it ended though, coach Ash was kind of a jerk." "But apart from that, things like band practice and eating peas are kinda hard to do, yes. Luckily i don't have to write a lot for the classes i'm in, because i'm not very good at that. And the cafeteria has corn, i can eat that. So it's actually not that bad, really."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"Whoa, cool, on the wrestling team - I didn't know that. Guess the administration's pretty good about trying to make sure students don't get excluded from anything they're interested in." Xander coughs. "Even if they occasionally suck at the teacher hiring process..." "Have things been good with the other students? I know back when the weapons ban came down, there were a lot of people on both sides worried that there'd be prejudice against non-humans or people with powers or..." Xander shrugs one shoulder. "...pretty much anybody who didn't qualify as 'normal' somehow."
Ed (scissors__)	"Yeah, i was worried about the weapons ban for a bit, because i thought people would find it unfair that they had to hand in their knives and i got to keep my scissors, but actually i didn't notice anything about it. Thing is though, some students..." Ed sighs. "Some students seem scared of me, or they think i'm odd. I don't got a lot of friends here." He looks sad. "But i'm used to being alone, so it's no big deal, really. It'd just be nice to know some more people."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander purses his lips, and may in fact look slightly guilty. Not because he himself has been particularly avoiding Ed, but it's not like he's gone out of his way to make new friends, either, is it. And if he's truthful with himself, it's not like he hasn't looked sideways and nervously at those scissors in class -- not for the Freddy Krueger flashbacks, but because 'it's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye' isn't just something your Great Aunt Mabel says when she wants you to stop running in the house. "You're sure not the weirdest thing around this place, believe me," Xander tells him, and he's able to smile sincerely for that, because God knows it's true. "Is there anything you want to tell the students at Fandom High about yourself? Maybe something that might make them see you're not a scary person, just another student they might like to get to know better?"
Ed (scissors__)	"I- i don't know. I would like the interview to reflect that i'm just a nice person, and would never hurt someone on purpose. I just want to meet some nice people, learn new things, and don't get attacked by zombies, if possible. But i'm, well, kinda shy so i don't really go up to people and start talking to them. But i'm glad i'm not the weirdest thing around." Ed smiles.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"Nice people, new things, no zombies," Xander repeats as he writes it down. "I think that's a pretty reasonable Christmas wishlist," he adds. "Most places, anyhow." Xander glances at D'anna, then back to Ed. "Did you decide on something for us to take a picture of that's important to you?" he asks.
Ed (scissors__)	"Yes, i thought about it and i think at the moment my house is the most important for me. This is where i go after school and really feel at home, a place i really can relax and feel at ease. So i thought maybe," he looks at D'anna, "you could take some pictures of my house?"
D'anna (dbiers)	If one were to look closely at the tray of brownies Ed had brought out earlier, he or she might notice that more than just one has gone missing. It might be said that the accompanying photographer resembles something quite like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, too. D'anna brushes off a bit of brownie from the corner of her mouth. Sheepishly she says, "I couldn't resist." She gathers her gear from where she'd set it down and stands up. "Would you mind if I took a few of you as well, Ed?"
Ed (scissors__)	"Not a problem." Ed grins. "The brownies' only purpose is to be eaten anyway." "Eh, pictures, yes," he says, and pokes a bit at his hair, though it doesn't change much. "Yes, pictures. Okay, go ahead." He smiles.
D'anna (dbiers)	D'anna smiles warmly and raise her camera. "Just relax and let the camera do the work." She snaps a few pictures while they're still inside and then a few more of the guys, the snow people and the house once they're out.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	While D'anna is taking pictures of the house, Xander -- rubbing his fingers a bit in the crisp winter air -- skims over his notes, and snorts when he realizes what he hasn't asked. Looking back up at Ed, he says, "I think we probably have everything we need for the interview except the name, rank, and serial number stuff. Like how old you are and what class you're in? Sophomore, junior, senior, that kind of class."
Ed (scissors__)	"Sixteen, sophomore, serial number...?" Ed laughs. "Haven't got one."
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"One of a kind, huh?" Xander grins. "Thanks for helping me out, by the way -- I think that's really all we need for the article." He laughs a bit nervously. "Now all I have to do is actually write it."
Ed (scissors__)	"No problem," Ed says. "It was fun to do. Well, good luck with the writing then, i'm sure you'll do fine." He smiles.