The Immeasurable Benefits Of Biology

[The Delaney Twins]

ooc: For the reference of the future, Kennedy's POV is in green font and Lyndsey's in yellow.

Kennedy suppressed the urge to laugh as Arihant jumped back from the bag that Sally suddenly thrust into his face.
"You can't say you don't like them until you've tried one, Ari!" she wheedled.
Arihant threw a desperate glance at Kennedy, but he wasn't getting any help there. Oh no. Kennedy lived for scenes like this. The absurdity of his sister was one of his chief diversions.
"No, Lynn, I really think I can. I don't like sweet things, honestly."
It was fun watching Ari trying to stand up for himself against that avalanche of enthusiasm. It was like a little deer learning how to walk.
"But you will like marshmallows, Arihant, I promise. Everyone likes marshmallows."
Kennedy rolled his eyes. He mayn't have grown up here, Sally, he sent to her, but the boy's not stupid.
His sister glanced over at him irritably. Arihant noticed.
"Look, we should be getting in there now," he said, gesturing at the door of the classroom they were standing outside. "The bell rang ages ago."
The twins stared at him for a moment.
"You are adorably conscientious, comrade," Kennedy laughed.
"You really are," Sally agreed.
Arihant glared at him. "Fine, stand out here if you want, I'm going in."
"No!" said Sally. She walked in front of him. "Please, Arihant, just try one. Just for me." She pouted up at him ridiculously.
"I'd just do it, Ari," Kennedy interjected as yet another frustrated glance was thrown his way. "She doesn't give up easily."
Arihant paused, then relented. "I can see that one," he said, and hesitantly plucked one of the marshmallows from the bag. It was fortunate, Kennedy reflected, that Sally'd been able to persuade him to switch from the suede gloves to significantly more durable leather ones that weren't ruined by such trifles as powdered sugar.
The expression on Arihant's face a moment after he actually put the sweet in his mouth got the better of Kennedy so that this time he did end up laughing like a prat.
"Jesus!" Arihant said, his words muffled by the pink goo. "Lynn, that's disgus- "
He couldn't continue.
Sally was clearly offended. "Excuse me, mister, you can't just take my food and then get on like - "
"Sally," said Kennedy. "Let's be fair. You did force it on him."
"I think I'm going to be sick," coughed Arihant after unceremoniously disposing of the marshmallow into a tissue that he had had in his pocket.
"Rude git," muttered Sally.
Then she noted the colour of his face. "...Christ, you're not joking, are you?"
She received a glare in response.
"Fine," she said, moving forward and grabbing his hand. "We'll go to Nurse Gornray."
"What? No, Lynn, it's not that -"
"You're not throwing up in the biology classroom. That wouldn't be fun for anyone," she said. "C'mon."
He looked as if he were going to protest, but changed his mind quickly. "OK," he said. "Ken, could you tell Professor -"
"Excuse me, you're abandoning me?"
"Yes, we are. You're a big boy, you'll survive," said Sally, and she grabbed Ari's hand and started pulling him down the corridor.
Kennedy stared after them irritably, then turned and walked into the classroom. He smiled as charmingly as he could muster at the teacher.
"Good evening, Mr Delaney," she said pointedly.
Pity she was such a sour old bat.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he said politely. "My friend was sick and I had to take him down to Nurse Gornray."
Well, it was almost true.
Luckily for Kennedy, the teacher had more important things to do than interrogate him. He looked up at what was on the board.
Ah. Enzymes. Always fun.
"Just seat yourself before you hold up the class any further," she grumbled.
There were plenty of empty desks, but Kennedy wasn't exactly prepared to sit on his own. His luck held, and he saw a free seat beside a girl he'd seen many times before in spy training.
Sophie Mathieu, he remembered. How could he forget? After all, he'd been at the Christmas Formal.
This could be fun.
He moved over to her, ignoring the frowns that were still being shot at him by the teacher who was muttering incoherently about "subordinates" or "sub-eights" or something.
"Morning, Sophie," he said brightly, holding his winning smile in place and tossing his bag on the table. "You don't mind if I sit here?"

[The Delaney Twins]

ooc: Check the date, babe, your reply was so posted yesterday.

He laughed, sitting down and pulling his textbooks out of his bag - a feat which involved more than a little searching, considering the general state that the rucksack was in. Sally had told him that she wouldn't have been surprised if he found notes dating back to the Renaissance in there. " 'Course, I've got my handy tube of superglue with me at all times. You don't want to get involved with a man who doesn't know where his superglue is," he said solemnly.
Then he looked over at her, smiling, and saw just why she'd said that. He'd seen that beaten, vaguely nauseous look on many people before.
And an irrational shock of jealousy flowed through him. It was an experience he longed to try for himself, but sadly that was not possible. He'd managed to acquire quite the intolerance to alcohol throughout his... travels. The faintest taste of it gave him a migraine that had had him lying in bed for hours, being berated by a sister (made sour by being brought up from the party to care for her twin) who insisted that his perfectly justified pleas for sweet death to ease the pain were just him being melodramatic.
It made him wish for the simple pleasures of a hangover, really.
He pushed the nonsensical envy away, and managed to ask, "Big night last night, then?"

[The Delaney Twins]

Wow, she looked scared. That was a little unsettling. Kennedy didn't deal well with great shows of emotion around him.
He glanced away nervously for a moment, and saw the teacher glaring at him irately. Sensing that he was a just a few seconds away from yet another reprimand - and considering the foul temper of Professor Jordan, that time was probably vastly overestimated - he lowered his voice before he answered.
And actually, hungover people weren't supposed to be dreadfully fond of noise, were they?
"Relax, Soph," he said, and he grinned down at her. She still looked insanely pretty, regardless of her fragile state. But that made sense. Sophie Mathieu wasn't a legend among the male population of Orchid Hill for no reason. "Do I look like the lecturing type? Hell, I'm jealous."
And then he paused, and amended, "Well, not exactly of the amnesia part, but of the being-able-to-drink-part, definitely."

[The Delaney Twins]

"No idea," said Kennedy, although he knew full well. It wasn't his fault he had a good memory, anyway, God only knew he didn't put it to its full use. Revision, homework, coursework... it all seemed so pointless when there was a war raging next door. And anyway, his parents hadn't exactly had a fantastic education - both proud fifth-year dropouts of an obscure magic school in Scotland that had, in all likelihood, been shut down by now. They hardly had the right to berate him for not doing better in school.
"And to be honest, I don't care," he whispered, not wanting to attract the Hawk-Woman's wrath again. "I can't stand biology - I mean, come on, all those guts and dissections, it's disgusting!" He laughed. "I guess that's what I get for letting my sister help me choose my subjects. I swear, that girl's out to get me."

[The Delaney Twins]

Thank her?
That was a strange idea - almost novel, in fact. He and Sally never really thanked each other for anything. They had one of those... boisterous relationships. They never thanked, they didn't often invade each other's personal space - hugging, kissing, whatever - they didn't talk about their feelings much.
Of course, one of the times that they did actually talk about that was the time that this relationship had some light shed on it for Kennedy. Sally was always better at dealing with people, after all. 'Course she'd be able to figure it out.
She'd said that it was because they'd spent so much time apart; they didn't really feel like a proper brother and sister. They had had to get to know each other all over again after... after they got out of there, so now...
Well, they were friends. Proper friends. Best friends, regardless of any family ties. If they weren't related, it would make no difference whatsoever to their relationship.
Kennedy didn't quite know what to think about that, but he knew that she had been right.
"And if you don't, you may know how to take out her kidneys or something as revenge."
He burst out laughing, but had to disguise it quickly as a cough as Hawk-Woman turned around again, her eagle eyes trying to identify the cause of the noise.
"Are you quite all right, Mr Delaney?" she asked pointedly. "Perhaps you should join your friend at Nurse Gornray's office... or Professor Hoodham's, if you find yourself unable to refrain from further interrupting my class."
"No," he said, after his 'coughing fit' had finished. "No, sorry, Ma'am, I'm fine. I'll be nice and quiet." He smiled widely.
Professor Jordan glared at him a little while longer, then turned back to the board. That was one of the advantages of being in such a stressful class, he guessed - there was no time to stop for disciplinary measures.
As soon as she was properly distracted, he whispered to Sophie, "I can see how that would certainly be a fitting punishment," he said. "But I'm afraid I mightn't be able to take that advice - I mean, I value my life, so operating on an overzealous Warrior mightn't be in my best interests, y'know? I just bet she'd get some of her little friends to tag-team me, too."