A Week in Rural Scotland

[rainne]

Thank you for joining us here in picturesque Glen Macalie, on the shore of Loch Leven in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. We welcome you to the campus of the Glen Macalie School for Girls and hope that you will enjoy your stay.


This week will largely be unstructured; you are welcome to investigate the castle (which dates back to 1237 CE) and the nearby village of Glen Macalie. Some resources which will be available to you include:

In the castle:
Comprehensive Library
Modern Kitchens
State of the art Training/Exercise Room
Extensively landscaped grounds and gardens
Horseback Riding
Fishing
Hiking

In the village:
Shopping
Pubs and restaurants
Museum
Historical buildings
Golf

We ask only that you take care to observe the following rules:

1) Please do not leave campus near or after dark.
2) Venturing too far outside after dark, even on campus, is not guaranteed to be safe. You do so at your own risk.
3) There will be occasional evening events. Participation in these events should be considered of minor risk; however, anyone taking part should endeavor to follow all directions to ensure his or her safety.

If you have any questions, please feel free to see Mr. Giles or Ms. Summers.

Comments

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Yeah. She's got her own shit going on though. She's bipolar and hardly ever stays on her meds. She crashes hard.

I don't know. I just remember looking at her while she was bleeding all over the kitchen floor and just thinking about how it wasn't fucking fair. You know. She comes home, gets caught up in it all, stops taking her meds, takes some drugs, screws dad, makes babies. And then just goes. Leaves me her family to raise.

And five days. Five fucking days of doing what I do all the time, and she slits her wrists. She gets to just go. And the kids are watching. And once again, I have to clean up her fucking mess. That's what I was thinking while she was maybe dying. About how I was going to manage to make this alright for those kids. About how mad I was that she put me in that position.

I'm guessing that makes me pretty selfish too.

It wasn't until much later that I actually felt sad.

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

You're not selfish, Fiona.

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

*gives him a lopsided grin*

Thanks. But it sometimes feels like I wasn't thinking about what I shoulda been then, you know?

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

Well someone needs to be concerned about your siblings, and it sounds like it's you or nobody.

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

*she nods in agreement*

Yeah, it kinda is. I don't mind, really. but, when I was a kid, I didn't imagine being 21 and a mother of five, working 8 jobs. It's not a bad life, just a busy one.

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

Eight jobs? Do you ever sleep?

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

Of course I do. I don't work them all every day or anything. Some are just nights, some weekend, some seasonal, some are just one day excursions through a job placement agency. So I get a few hours every night.

Why? You worried about me or something?

*said as if its an impossible idea*

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

Maybe.

I can go for days without sleeping, but I also know that's not normal.

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

*gives a one shouldered shrug*

I'm mostly used to it now. It was hard at first.

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

Any chance of things getting easier? Better?

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

Well..*she paused* kids grow up. Lip will be 18 in a year.

Assuming mom doesn't make anymore babies. Liam's 2 now. Assuming he leaves or does his own thing at 18. That means I'll be free in 16 years.

I mean, not that kids are ever a done deal. But, it should be easier then. And I'll still be young enough to enjoy things. Do things for myself. Like maybe go to college. Get a real job. You know, like a career. have time for trips to Cabo, or wherever.

I mean I'll only be in my 30s.

Or if I got a rich uncle somewhere that I don't know about who dies. *gives a throaty laugh*

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

You shouldn't have to wait 16 more years to be able to do things for yourself.

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

Well, what do you propose as an alternative? Marry rich?

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

*shrugs*

Maybe?

~Sherlock

((And of course he still has no idea what all of his feelings mean.))

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

*she shrugs in a non-committal way because she's not sure how she feels about marriage. Most times it just sounds like another person to have to take care of, sacrifice for. And marrying just for money to make her life easier, is something she hoped her life never came down to*

I don't think it'd be that easy, Sherlock. For a smart guy you seem to not know much about how the world really works. Rich guys like the idea of slumming it more than they like the reality of actually slumming it.

~Fiona

((I feel so bad for him))

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

My upbringing wasn't exactly... conventional. Mycroft and I were supposed to be accessories and when I didn't conform to the mold Father envisioned for me... I think he'd rather Mycroft had been an only child.

And while it may not exactly be slumming it, I did turn my back on all of that to live in Central London with a flatmate.

~Sherlock

((Considering the way Mycroft and Sherlock interact in canon, there was no way their childhood wasn't fucked up.))

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

Accessories? What like trophy kids? Fuck that.

I guess that's one thing I got to be thankful about. No one tried to show me off. Or expect anything of me. Pin their hopes and dreams on me.

*she laughed*

Good for you. Branching out on your own. But I don't know if I'd call that slumming it. *to prove her point she adds* Last year we stole a hot water heater from a recently deceased neighbor.

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

*raises an eyebrow* Well it's not like they were using it, were they?

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

*she laughs*

I really fucking hope not.

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

I can't fault you for being resourceful.

*bites his lip* Before the flat with John I was in a bad way for awhile.

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

Well then you might find that I have very few faults. *she half teased*

What? Homeless? Or something?

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

Briefly. I had developed a habit for cocaine and got evicted. Mycroft kept trying to force me into rehab instead of giving me money.

~Sherlock

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

Probably the best thing for you. *Fiona points out* So did you do the rehab? Or just quit on your own? Or are you the most functioning addict I've ever seen?

~Fiona

[csichick-2.livejournal.com]

I met Lestrade. He realized I could help him solve cases, but I had to get clean before he could get me access to Scotland Yard.

So I got clean. Didn't have a reason before that.

~Sherlock

((Though the people that actually care about him - which is a damn short list - are occasionally afraid of relapse.))

[ondragonflywing.livejournal.com]

*she nods, grins, though it hurts some to think about how he could do it for something as simple as solving cases and her parents couldn't do it for them, for their own children*

Good for you. How long have you been clean? That's something to be proud of.

~Fiona