Biological Horror

[Hollyquin†]

[[OOC: Particularly I'm looking for a lab partner for Maria, but anyone's welcome in this class!]]

[[Maria Santiago continued from Dear Agony, Love Hatred]]

Maria strode into the classroom, rolling her eyes dramatically as she did so and wrinkling her nose at the smell. Ugh, Bio sucks... This wasn't quite true, even to her. Unlike math, Maria was legitimately good at science- she'd taken physics as a freshman in an unusual move, then chemistry as a sophomore and bio as a junior. It was her choice to take advanced bio as her senior year science class, and that was because she, in fact, liked bio. But likes and dislikes in school were only relative, and to Maria every class was torture.

Class hadn't yet started- the math wing and the science department were close enough together that she was one of the first to arrive for class. She took her place at her work station- walking slowly, dramatically, as so to make sure as many people as possible were watching her- and saw that her lab partner had not yet arrived. The smell that filled the classroom air, not to mention the fact that they were in a lab rather than the classroom, pointed to a dissection on the agenda. Maria was fine with that. Her looks and attitude would suggest that she would be the type to squeak and cry and whine over dissections, but she found them interesting.

Or maybe it was just wielding a scalpel that she liked. Whatever.

She began setting up the work station- taking out the dissection tools from their place underneath the workstation- as more kids filed into the classroom. Their teacher, Mr. McKenzie, wasn't particularly interesting or engaging- the animals they dissected had more personality than he did- and so Maria paid him no attention as she set up.

[ZombiexCreame†]

((Fiona Sparki continued from After School Confinement))

Fiona Sparki walked into the lab that the class was assigned for that day and glanced around. She knew that they were dissecting today, but a bubbling feeling kept rising in her stomach. She was really on the fence about dissections. She loved animals, but she ate meat, so she wasn't exactly an animal activist... Therefore, she convinced herself that she should have no problem with dissecting animals. If she ate animals, she can slice them open. No big deal, right? Unfortunately, no matter how many times Fiona convinced herself that dissection was easy and interesting, the smell always made her a bit queasy, and her partner always ended up doing all the work... But today she would make an effort to try! She promised herself that.

Brushing her dreads off her shoulder and glancing around for her lab partner, she noticed Maria at one of the lab stations and immediately strode over. Maria Santiago was her partner, right? She vaguely remembered Mr. McKenzie telling her that a few days ago. She didn't really know Maria that well, but now would be an excellent time to acquaint, right? Putting her bag down and scooting it under the work station, Fiona drummed her fingers on the hard surface of the table and smiled at Maria. "Hi there! Ready for some dissection fun?" she asked, her voice holding a tone that was a wee bit too cheery for this early in the morning.

Without waiting for Maria to respond, Fiona continued to chat. "I wonder what we're dissecting! I can't remember if Mr. McKenzie told us or not, but I really hope it's not a cat or something. I wouldn't be able to stand it... Well, I could try. You're always supposed to try everything at least once. I'm not fainting and getting a zero on this assignment, no sirree." She paused for a breath and began again. "It smells kind of funny in here, doesn't it?"

[Hollyquin†]

Having set up her work station, Maria got to work...playing with a scalpel. She set on carving her name into the table- after all, she was graduating soon. What were they going to do, hold her back 'cause she caused some property damage? She was gonna leave her mark all over this school, and this was a good way to start. She was just putting the finishing touches on that last 'a' when she heard a voice nearby. ""Hi there! Ready for some dissection fun?" She jumped, managing to leave a small cut on her left index finger with the scalpel as she did so. It was only her new lab partner- Fiona, her name was, probably? Maria was never good with names- who had apparently been sitting there without Maria having noticed. She winced and stuck her bleeding finger in her mouth- blood didn't bother her, but pain did.

"Yeah, uh...Fiona, your name was, right? Try not to freak me out like that again," Maria said, pouting through the finger in her mouth. She hadn't talked to Fiona before- the opportunity to meet someone new overwhelmed her natural urge to bitch the girl out. "Yeah...I like dissections. They're fun. In a weird sort of way." She listened to the girl talk- she did like to go on and on, didn't she? Maria tuned her out for the most part. It's not like anything she had to say really mattered. She did get the gist of what she was saying, though she didn't bother responding to her last question.

And suddenly class was beginning. Maria took her finger out of her mouth- staunching the bleeding with her skirt- and looked up at Mr. McKenzie, who was holding...Oh, ew. It was a tiny pig. A tiny, dead pig. "Our last dissection of the year shall be the fetal pig..." the teacher said in his droning voice. "Oh, Christ," Maria muttered under her breath. "Give me strength on this one..." No sooner had she said that had Mr. McKenzie arrived at their table with a fetal pig. "Ugh. Mr. McKenzie, I understand that teachers are supposed to torture their students, but this seems a bit overboard," Maria said loudly, resulting in a few giggles from other students- which was her goal to begin with, of course. Mr. McKenzie's only reaction was to say in his monotone voice, "Be careful, Ms. Santiago," and to leave the fetal pig on the desk, walking away. Maria made a face.

"Not looking forward to this. Don't pass out, okay? Everyone's attention will be on you. And not in a good way."

[ZombiexCreame†]

Fiona watched for a few moments as Maria carved her name into the table, but when her partner heard Fiona and realized that she was there, she accidentally cut herself with the scalpel. Fiona immediately felt at fault. "Oh no! I'm sorry; I didn't to surprise you! Are you okay? Do you need a band-aid or something? I, uh, don't have any, but I could ask the teacher.." She stopped her ramblings when Maria asked her name and calmed down slightly. It didn't seem like Maria minded the blood that much.

"Yeah, I'm Fiona. Nice to meet you, Maria. I'm really glad we got to be partners and all. We've never spoken before, so I think this is a great opportunity to socialize together! And don't worry, I won't surprise you again. I didn't realize you were busy." She motioned with her hand to Maria's name etched into the table. Maria went on to say that she enjoyed dissections, so Fiona immediately felt a bit comforted. Hopefully Maria would take control of the situation if Fiona failed to meet the standards... But she wouldn't fail. She couldn't allow herself! Even if it was the cutest puppy dog in the whole entire world, Fiona promised to slice it open and not make a stink about it.

"OH NO, A BABY PIG!" Fiona cried, tears immediately appearing along the brims of her eyes. "I can't do this! I can't! I love baby pigs! Oh no, it's like Babe or Charlotte's Web!" She covered her eyes with her hands and slightly peered at the teacher from behind her fingers. He was leaving this fetal pig at their desks. A fetal pig. It wasn't like Porky or Babe... It was just a fetal pig... No big deal. Fiona removed her hands from her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I.. I'm not going to pass out, but... I really like pigs. I can't do this; pigs are so cute." She turned away from Maria and bit her lip, contemplating on just leaving right then and there. But she couldn't leave her lab partner alone and defenseless! Maria would probably hate her, and Fiona had to leave a good lasting impression. Turning back around, she wiped her eyes and said in a forced voice, "Okay, let's do this..."

[Hollyquin†]

Poke. Poke.

"Ugh."

Maria poked at the tiny dead pig sitting on her table with the scalpel in her hand. The poor thing was weeping formaldehyde tears. It was almost enough for Maria to feel sick, but she refused to give into those baser instincts. She'd been through worse...no, she hadn't, really, but whatever. I'm not gonna throw up in front of the whole class...god, they'd talk about me for weeks. Not in a good way either. Seeing her new lab partner's violent reaction made her even more determined to keep her cool.

"Alright. Fiona. There's no way in hell I'm doing this on my own, so calm down, alright? It's not...like...Babe or whatever. It's a pig. It doesn't talk or anything, it's a dratted pig. Better than becoming bacon, right? Yeah. Here we go..."

Maria couldn't help but wince as she made the first incision, straight down the pig's middle.

Ew. Ew. Ew.

She vaguely heard Mr. McKenzie telling the students that their first goal was to locate the pig's heart. Maria looked over to her partner.

"You gonna help me with this or not?"

[ZombiexCreame†]

Fiona was staring down at the little pig, her fists clenched and her stomach churning. She didn't think she would puke right here and now, but she definitely felt sickened. Dissecting a frog was one thing, but a tiny baby pig? Piggies were so cute! Piggies oinked with their adorable little noses and wiggled their curly tails. Oh, she couldn't bare to watch! This was too cruel.

When Maria made some attempt to make Fiona feel better (or so she assumed), Fiona merely sighed and let her eyes fall to the floor. "Okay. Calm. I'm calm... But pigs are just so cute and friendly! I guess cutting up a pig for science is better than eating it for breakfast, but... Yes. Dissection for science." She nodded and braced herself for the initial slice.

The first incision caused Fiona to gag loudly and cover her eyes. Even though she had promised herself that she wouldn't gag, and she would stay calm, here she was... being a drama queen. "Oh, gross. Gross, gross, gross. Poor Porky!" She looked away from Maria and stared in wide-eyed horror at Mr. McKenzie. Was this man mad?! She would never be able to stomach finding poor Porky's heart!

Fiona looked back over at her partner and forced herself to nod. She would not leave her partner out in the cold. She would help and earn her half of the grade. "Y..Yeah.. The heart shouldn't be too hard to find.." she whispered meekly, picking up her own scalpel. She stared at the incision and took a breath. "It's in there somewhere... Maybe.. beyond all this pink fleshy stuff.. Ohhh... Do we have to cut some more?" she asked, looking over at Maria. She desperately hoped that she would be able to stomach finding Porky's heart.

[Hollyquin†]

[[OOC: For the record: I am so failing at portraying what dissecting a fetal pig is like. xD]]

Maria sighed.

Didn't exactly get lucky on the partner draw, did I? Whatever. I do my best work on my own, anyway. No relying on others, right?

But that doesn't mean I'm gonna like it.

"It's in there somewhere... Maybe.. beyond all this pink fleshy stuff.. Ohhh... Do we have to cut some more?"

Maria sighed. "I'll do it. No big deal. Just pay attention."

She took the scalpel back to the pig, cutting down the skin on its arms and legs and pinning it down to reveal its innards. Just like a frog dissection, right? No big deal. It's the same thing. Almost less gross, if anything. The frog was slimier. It was still admittedly really gross. But Maria was going to deal. Looking at its organs, they seemed to be...somewhat similar to the human anatomy, as well as she knew it. She found the heart pretty quickly, as it was situated where the human heart would be- between the lungs.

"There we go. No problem. Alright, that's the heart, so- wait, did you call it Porky before?"

Maria raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, naming the dead pig isn't going to make you any less squeamish. Just...it's a dead pig, okay? It's not Porky. It's a dead pig."

And then Mr. McKenzie's voice came over the classroom:

"Now that you've located the heart, I'd like you to use the diagrams I'm about to hand out to determine what gender your pig is..."

"I don't think that's any of our business, Mr. McKenzie," Maria quipped, causing a few giggles in the classroom. Mr. McKenzie ignored her completely as he handed her a diagram.

This is so wrong somehow.

[ZombiexCreame†]

((Lol, it's okay, I know absolutely nothing about dissections!))

Fiona nodded at Maria but couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed in herself. Even her partner seemed disappointment! Or perhaps Fiona was just reading too deeply into the sigh that Maria just gave off. Instead of being too hard on herself and wishing that she could stop being so useless, she focused all of her attention on Maria as she searched for the heart. It was quite grotesque and gag-inducing, but Fiona bit back the urge to cover her eyes and squeal like a little girl. Or... squeal like a pig.

Once the heart was located, Fiona let out her breath and wiped at the sheen of sweat that had sprung up on her forehead. "Oh, you found it? Excellent! Are we done yet?" she asked, peering expectantly at her lab partner. Unfortunately, it seemed that the fun was just beginning...

Fiona looked over at Maria when she insisted that it was not Porky, just a random dead pig. "Okay, you're right. Not Porky. Just a dead pig, just a dead pig... A baby dead pig. Oh, this is so sad... Where did the school get a dead pig from?!" she inquired, running a hand down her hair nervously. Alright, now time to find out the gender of the pig...

Fiona peered at the diagram. "Ah.. uh.. This is weird. I can't do it. It's just inappropriate! Let's revolt, Maria. We can save the rest of the baby pigs that the school has locked up somewhere!" she urged, but she was only half-joking. She knew she would have to finish this lab to get a decent grade... She couldn't flunk out of Advanced Biology again. She wouldn't allow herself. "I can do this one, if you'd like.." Fiona muttered.

[Hollyquin†]

[[OOC: I think I'm gonna wrap this up- running short on pregame time. *sweatdrop*]]

"Ah.. uh.. This is weird. I can't do it. It's just inappropriate! Let's revolt, Maria. We can save the rest of the baby pigs that the school has locked up somewhere!"

Maria couldn't help but laugh. Hell, that wasn't a half bad idea. Sounded like fun. Sure as heck would put her name down in the Bayview record books, which was all she really wanted to begin with. She actually contemplated telling Fiona she was up for it for a moment, except that a) that would involve touching hundreds of dead baby pigs and b) that would involve spending even more time with this squeak-toy version of a girl. Maria shook her head and sighed, taking a look at the diagram.

"Uh, okay, so we've gotta look...here," Maria said, pointing. She looked vaguely uncomfortable. "I'll...I'll take a look..."

She looked down at the fetal pig, then back at the diagram, then back at the pig again.

"Oh...it's a boy. See, um, this is...uh...yeah. Thingie," she mumbled, now very obviously uncomfortable. Even when it was pigs she was talking about, Maria could not talk about genitalia without blushing.

"Now it's time to figure out how old your pig is," she heard the voice of Mr. McKenzie say. "Measure the pig from snout to tail..."

Now this is just depressing.

[ZombiexCreame†]

Fiona wasn't surprised that Maria was less than enthusiastic about her revolt plan. She wasn't entirely serious, but it could have been kind of fun. Except, just like Maria, Fiona came to the grim conclusion that she would have to touch lots of fetal baby piggies. She would have to handle hundreds of Porkys and Babes!

Fiona turned her attention back to the current task of finding the gender of the baby pig. It wouldn't be that hard. I mean, animal genitalia wasn't that different than human genitalia, right? And Fiona had some sex-ed knowledge, soo... This couldn't be too difficult! But before she could examine the diagram and search for the gender of poor Porky, Maria had already completed the feat. Damn! Maria was rendering Fiona useless, but... with all things considered, she really was useless when it came to this level of biology. But this wasn't the first time that she regretted taking this class. "Oh gosh, that's Porky's weenie? Eewww!" The immaturity was astounding in Fiona.

And now it was time to figure out how old the pig was... That wouldn't be too hard. It couldn't be very old at all! It was so small. It couldn't have lived a long life... Fiona wondered about what the pig had accomplished, if anything at all... Or was it an unborn piggy? She seriously wasn't sure. With a morose sigh, she picked up the measuring tape and started to measure it. "It's... Ah..." Tears were blurring her vision. "Six inches? I dunno.."

((Fiona Sparki continued in Decisions, Decisions))