dead languages speak over my grave

Kalinda Thorn | 36 your friendly neighborhood human anthropologist

[kalindathorn]

@reneemurdoch​

It wasn’t as if Kalinda was a complete grinch. No, she could appreciate the reason for Christmas. It was a bright spot in the dead of winter, an excuse to spend time with the ones you love, something that made you appreciate what you had. The core of Christmas was beautiful, but the way it was executed in America made Kalinda sick. The importance of having a picture-perfect yard, holiday cards, and perfectly wrapped gifts. It was all based on consumerism and Kalinda had just gotten tired of it.

However, she couldn’t escape the consumerism and expectations of Christmas when she was with family and so she was wandering through the mall, last minute, attempting the challenge of finding a gift for her mother; a woman that Kalinda felt she barely knew, despite having been taking care of her for the past few months and living alone with her for years when her father left. 

Kalinda stopped in front of a window display that was near the exit of the mall, staring at the fake felt snow and wishing she was in Sweden for Christmas again when she caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye. It was snowing. Hard. The parking lot was already covered in snow, now piling up so that it covered the shorter car tires. How long had it been snowing like this and she hadn’t realized?

A fuzzy sound came from above Kalinda and out of the mall loudspeakers came a tinny, nervous and wavering voice. “A-attention mall staff and customers. Due to the uh - sudden and severe snowstorm, we are locking down the mall to ensure your safety until um.” There was a pause in the announcement as if the voice was asking something off-mic. “Until further notice.” The voice broke off and Let it Snow started up again suddenly on the loudspeakers. Kalinda stood there, wide-eyed, first watching the security guard lock the exit she was beside and then taking in the white expanse of New Arkansas.

[kalindathorn]

@selkiesalin​

The slow tick of the clock hung over the door to Kalinda’s office kept her grounded as the head of her department spoke, his voice dull and dry. The more he spoke, the more her eyes fluttered to the clock, praying for her office hours to end soon. She was shocked he hadn’t noticed, but the man that was more wrapped up in telling Kalinda about his new book and how it was sure to be on the best sellers list. Blowhard. 

With some cajoling from Kalinda, the pair shifted to the office’s entryway. Kalinda held the door open for her superior, giving him a strained smile as he continued to droll on and on. Biting the inside of her cheek, she weighed her options. As she was new to the university and still attempting to get on Dr. Norwalk’s good side, she couldn’t be as blunt as she wanted to be with him. Kalinda could claim she had a student meeting to attend to, but without a student there she was sure to continue to be tormented by Dr. Norwalk’s new topic: his keto diet. Desperately, Kalinda looked out into the hallway while Dr. Norwalk still went on with his monotonous monologue, praying the university got hit by a tornado.

[dichenlachmandaily]

Animal Kingdom 4x02

[kalindathorn]

simonxmuhn‌:

Simon only grinned back. “Scare off some of the freshmen. Ignite the curiosity of others. Weed out the squeamish ones. I think it can have three uses,” He nodded. Not that Simon took joy in scaring off freshmen students, he liked the ones that were actually eager to learn. But when the rowdy ones dropped his class, the ones who were clearly only taking his class to fulfill a general requirement and had no interest paying attention to what he was saying or even opening the textbook once…Simon wouldn’t say he was disappointed.

But he would agree with Kalinda’s idea that leaving the area quickly, before someone asked how all that glass had broken, would be a good idea. “A meeting with a student or a faculty meeting?” Simon asked as his hands slid into his pockets once he matched Kalinda’s pace. “I am. There’s a few assessment forms I need to fill out for this semester still.”

“You can always borrow a skull if you need to spook a freshman of your own.” Kalinda pumped her eyebrows at Simon, happy to see him fall into step beside her. “For you, it would be extra scary. There’d be rumors. ‘Why does my linguistics teacher have a skull? Has he murdered someone?’” Simon could be intimidating. Not to Kalinda, simply because she was hard to intimidate, but the freshmen he could leave shaking in their boots if he wished.

Kalinda cocked an eyebrow at Simon’s question. “I barely remembered the meeting itself. Who knows who it's with? It’ll be a happy surprise when I get there.” Being as scatterbrained as Kalinda was in her profession wasn’t exactly positive, but she still usually managed to get through the school year without losing papers. It was her superiors and co-workers that normally got the short end of that stick. “Me too! Maybe you can stop by my office and we can do them together after my meeting.” Simon rarely ventured into her office unless he needed to though, she had noticed. “Or I can stop by yours.”

[kalindathorn]

selkiesalin‌:

it was interesting, hearing someone speak with such an excitement over the idea of death. while there was a rational part of her brain that told her that being interested in death wasn’t the same as being interested in murdering which leads to death, she couldn’t help but to enjoy the notion that there was someone in this town who wouldn’t shy away from a dead body. surely there had to be others as well, but kalinda was the first one that salin had had such a conversation with. it was– encouraging. a band of villains might not have a problem with death, but having an interest in it was something entirely different. 

it was kindred, in a strange, totally unkindred way. it wasn’t something she should even consider to be in the same neighborhood as kindred, but there was something in the way her eyes seemed to light up as she spoke of executions that made salin feel as if she could relate to her. though, if kalinda were to know that salin had vials of blood from her victims in her house, and they weren’t just vials she’d picked up at the local antique shop, she probably wouldn’t be pleased to know that salin felt as if she could relate. haha, unless… 👀

then again, she was telling her about her interest in bones, and couldn’t that be considered kind of the same? no, she presumably wasn’t the cause of the death of any of the people whose bones she might have, but keeping around parts of the body– well, it was in the same vein. 

salin tilted her head at the question, never having been asked so quickly to– hang around and see someone’s office bones– nor bones of any type, of course, but the confusion at the suddenness of the invitation showed on her face. “how many skulls and bones we talking? because i could be persuaded if the number is high enough.”

“How many? Oh...” Kalinda silently went through the Rolodex of remains in her office in her mind, counting on her fingers for a minute before she ran out of space and shrugged. “More than ten. Is that enough?” There were more at her home, though the majority of those were animal skeletons or skulls. Her mother hated her collection and so the majority of the human bones she had were forced to be kept at work. Just as well, since Kalinda spent so much time at the school rather than home.

Kalinda opened her tote bag and before depositing Henry inside, she rifled through. “I must have...oh dear.” She pulled out a full sheet of paper with a sheepish grin. “I don’t have a business card, but here’s the front page of one of my syllabi. I think this is from,” Kalinda squinted at the paper, her reading glasses still tucked away in her bag. “Oh! My ancient civilizations class. It has my number, email, and office number on it. Just come by any time during office hours. I’ll even kick out a student for you,” she said with a laugh.

[bamfmax-rojas]

@kalindathorn

He was failing nearly every single one of his classes. This wasn’t new. What was new were the threats of his father, as the words haunted him. Apparently if he wasn’t to get his grades up, he was going to be pulled from school and forced to work a stupid job like car vehicle maintenance. He was going to go to a trade school and stop wasting Judas Rojas’ money and he was going to learn to work if he couldn’t get his shit together. 

Typically these were empty threats, but given his last run in with the cops, aka TIA KING, he couldn’t quite shake the seriousness behind it all. 

So there he was, after hours, just before Thanksgiving break with puppy dogs eyes, and a sheepish grin on his face. 

“So I was thinking…” he placed a hand on the desk to steady himself as he leaned towards the lady a little too casually. “I can’t get enough of this ever expanding knowledge. Seriously, the thrills of bones just get me so hype. And I know I understand the material, which is why I am missing a couple of assignments, but I was wondering if there was extra credit that I could maybe replace those assignments with. Or you know, if there was a coffee run you needed, a foot rub, maybe a hundred bucks…” 

He laughed very loudly at this joke, but the desperate look on his face spoke for the seriousness he felt. 

[kalindathorn]

It wasn’t Max’s voice that caught Kalinda’s attention. She was off in her own little world, flipping through medical bills and discharge papers from her mother’s most recent trip to the hospital, tired eyes reading and rereading the same paragraphs, unable to truly focus. His arm was what brought her out of her trance, turning her surprised eyes up to see Max in her office. Reflexively, she smiled, as she always did when she saw Max. His grades were horrible which wouldn’t normally earn you favor with a professor, but as she often told students, grades said nothing about who you truly are. She had gotten flashes of who Max truly was and what she saw, she liked.

“Oh, Max. Don’t even joke about offering me a foot rub. Unless it’s in the form of a coupon for a foot rub from a professional.” Kalinda paused. “I think that still counts as bribery, though.” Max was right, though. He did understand the material. She knew he did or else he wouldn’t be piping up so much in class. Kalinda hummed to herself in thought before standing up from her desk, opening up a recent cabinet and pulling out a few papers.

“I have a couple of options for you. As you may have seen, I’m performing a voluntary study on EO individuals. I...haven’t gotten many volunteers. It’s harder breaking into the culture as an ordinary than I originally thought.” They spoke the same language, after all, she didn’t imagine it would be harder than attempting to integrate herself into a village in an entirely different country. She underestimated the challenge. “If you could sign a few people up for various interview times, that would be a boon. Since this is potentially challenging and in the worst-case scenario, dangerous, we could say each volunteer is the equivalent of one of our weekly tests, which you know are a significant amount of your grade. Your other option is an essay.”

[kalindathorn]

francis-wan‌:

After repeating her name back to her, he took her hand and shook. The firmness of her grip was impressionable, her vote of confidence in herself despite the slippery start made for a better atmosphere. Upon release, he began to rack the mind for college professors. One came to mind, one not worth mentioning in his opinion. “Now I do.” he said with a smile. “Let me guess, science teacher? No, with a handshake like that perhaps civics? Or are you a dance teacher?” 

He took a sigh before he continued. The background package given to him, was often hard to repeat back to anyone outside of the compound. Not that it was hard to memorize or easy to expand upon, it was just a lie. They go so far as to teach you to not lie to them, and then expect you to lie for them.  With his lips pressed to a thin line, he nodded. “Not originally, at least. It’s a hard relocation that I’m adjusting to. Or rather, struggling in adjustments…” The drawl was polished off with a silent scoff, though he felt guilty for not feeling more grateful for his new situation. “Perhaps I should have found a condo out here instead?” He laughed at his joke, a set of eyes up at the stars as he did so.

“Pseudoscience?” It was almost a word entirely unheard of, as SELKIE education wouldn’t waste such valuable time on a notion. A set of eyebrows met her face, “Interesting, you can know my personality based off a date of birth.” How presumptuous, he thought to himself, though he took the bait, “I was born on March 24th,” It was an innate lie, as a date of birth of his was lost so far long ago. It was something, given to him, along with the rest of his identity. “What does that say about me?” A deep and heavy set of eyes implored the truth, perhaps she could tell him something he didn’t know.

Kalinda let out a loud laugh when Francis suggested she danced, throwing her head back to the sky at the pure idea of it. There wasn’t an ounce of coordination in her body. She still had nightmares about being a lanky thirteen year old at her middle school dance, both hoping and dreading someone asking her to dance with them. “I’d be promptly fired if I was a dance teacher. You were closest with your first guess, though it’s considered a soft science. I’m an anthropology professor.”

“Don’t think you could find a good condo out here, but there is a lovely house of a former drug lord I could point out for you,” she teased. “You could get a tent and just camp out here. Have you ever been camping? Are you a fan?” 

“You’re an Aries, but I think that’s close to Pisces too. You’d be a cusp. Two people at once, in a way.” Kalinda’s nose screwed up a little, self-conscious about the information she doled out. She liked astrology more than she’d admit to her students or superiors and perhaps knew too much about it. “What do you think? Does that fee” She met his heavy gaze as if his star sign was vital information. As best she could with her own curious and questioning eyes, she’d tell him. “Pisces people are considered creative, dreamers. Aries tend to be confident and motivated, usually leaders. I don’t think Pisces is in the sky right now, but I bet you five bucks I could find Aries.” Kalinda’s measured expression turned into a challenging and teasing grin.

[kalindathorn]

isabela-dayal‌:

She took a couple of seconds to examine Henry before carefully moving to return him to his rightful owner. She continued with her careful composure. The artifact was interesting to say the least, but the person, with the artifact was interesting too. “I’m sorry, I went straight for the skull.” A giggle fell from her lips. “It’s very nice to meet you Kalinda.” 

She took a moment to survey the shops, that were obviously far out of her eyesight, and nodded to the question. “I try to stay in touch with most of the shop keepers. I’m a big supporter of the small mutant owned businesses around here. It’s kind of my job as the mayor’s wife. I’m Isabela Dayal, by the way.”

A sparkly smile shined through her teeth, “I suppose I should get out of your hair, then. Unless you’d like to join me for a cup of coffee. I’d offer to buy our friend Henry a latte, but he seems to be more of a cappuccino fellow, doesn’t he?” 

Kalinda’s entire body perked up, eyes widening cartoonishly and an almost wolfish-smile crossed her face. Oh, she had heard plenty about Isabela from Suni’s gushing but had yet to be in her presence. This was not how Kalinda was expecting to meet her friend's wife. “I can’t help but admire a woman who goes straight for the skull. Especially since I’ve already heard so many flattering things about you. Suni and I used to be...” There was a pause as Kalinda hmm’ed and hah’ed to find a way to describe what Suni and she were to each other, “...protest buddies is probably the most accurate. I admit I was shocked when I heard she had become the mayor of my hometown. How have you been settling into the city?”

Warmth flooded to Kalinda’s cheeks and fluttering started in her stomach, as is what usually happened when she was faced with the potential of a new friend. Along with her inner voice insisting she didn’t fuck it up. “I would love to get coffee with you, Isabela. I’d like to hear more about you from you.” Kalinda hefted her bag onto her shoulder, getting the rest of her things together. In the commotion, her keys had dropped along with a few other miscellaneous items in her bag, but they were all deposited right back where they belong. Inclining her head down the street, she cocked an eyebrow. “Shall we?” she asked with a smile.

[kalindathorn]

blind-man-mordecai‌:

Mordecai hummed softly as he took his cane back, always loving to hear peoples passions. He always felt it really spoke a lot of someone with how excited they spoke about the thing they loved. “No worries! If you are looking for specimens I know a few collectors who would be willing to shed some of their weight if you ever have the space.” He replied with a kind smile. The man looked down at the cane, cocking his head a little. “Ah…I dont think they do.” He replied with a sheepish chuckle. “Oh! I am just wandering. I only recently moved so I am trying to get a feel for the area.”

Kalinda perked up at the possibility of getting more educational specimens, or ones just for her private collection. “I would like that very much, Mr. Killian.” Her eagerness bled out freely in her tone. “I’ll have to give you my contact information so I can meet them.”

“If you’re taking naming suggestions, I like Silver. Simple and to the point. Or if you wanted to be really obvious, Spot would work.” Kalinda grinned, happy to have someone listen to her rambling. “I know not everyone likes to name every inanimate object they come across like I do, though.” Her eyebrow raised as she learned he was new to town. “I could give you a tour! Potentially. New Arkansas is my hometown, but I have to admit, it’s changed a lot more than I anticipated ever since I came back a few months ago. How are you liking it so far?”

[kalindathorn]

francis-wan‌:

He allowed for enough room for her, scooting to the far right side of the hood of the car. The awkward skirt shifting caused an awkward grimace on his face. A set of puzzled eyebrows spoke for the questions in his head: Should he help? Should he leave her alone? Was it already awkward sharing such little space for seating? He hadn’t a clue on the mannerisms that were expected of him. Instead, he settled for a quiet chuckle.

“My name,” he took a deep sigh before he decided on how truthfully to answer. The set of numbers, however, would always, despite how hard he tried to erase them from his mind, identify him. “Is Francis Wan, and it’s a pleasure to meet you on this fine starry night…? ”  He waited for her name, the cheeriness in his voice misplaced the gloomier pessimistic tone that once was. He scanned the sky once more, and noted just how awkward, he, himself, felt speaking to a stranger so willingly.

“Why am I out here?,” Yes, he’d made it a habit to repeat her questions, and in a slow manner at that. It helped him construct his narrative that didn’t, at all, seem to be his. He was a stranger to these whims. Autonomy felt like a betrayal to who he was entirely. “I couldn’t sleep. I suppose, and the city can be suffocatingly loud. I prefer suffocatingly quiet, apparently.” 

His eyes followed her pointing, though he hadn’t any real clue as to what she was speaking about. Astrology was never something important for him to pay attention to. Though he assumed the cluster of stars above were what she was suggesting. “I suppose I see it now?” Another chuckle followed as he shook his head at her. “I’m sorry, and I don’t mean to sound ignorant, but what do you mean by Aquarius?”

“Kalinda Thorn,” she introduced herself, shifting slightly to hold out her hand for a shake, a force of habit. Her father had always encouraged her to put manners first, before anything and a strong handshake was high up on his list of values. Kalinda had long since discarded any of her father’s lessons, but that was one that stuck. “I just started teaching at New Arkansas University, if you know anyone there?” Her theorizing mind wondered if he was a professor that she just hadn’t met yet. Kalinda thought he potentially had the demeanor if that meant anything.

With careful eyes and ears, she observed Francis, enjoying the careful way he spoke. In her experience, that meant he was someone that thought before speaking. “You’re from the city then? Makes sense, why you like the quiet. I like the wide-open space. My place is so...well, suffocating is the perfect word for it like you said. I could never live right in the city, though. I’m used to sleeping out in the middle of nowhere."

“Your star sign?” Kalinda adjusted so her body was facing towards Francis, leaning primarily on her hip and hand where it was set on the hood of the car. “Astrology. Takes when you were born and assigns you a personality for it. Complete pseudoscience but,” Kalinda shrugged. “I think it’s more fun to match up your birthdate to the constellation it matches. When’s your birthday?”

[kalindathorn]

selkiesalin‌:

salin couldn’t help the quiet laughter that slipped from her lips over the absurdity of such an idea. absurd to other people, of course. she could easily see herself finding enjoyment in looking at the corpse of another– then again, she’d seen at least a few rather fresh ones in her time. “I haven’t heard of him, but it sounds like it was a long time ago. People back in those days weren’t so scared of the idea of seeing death, it seems. The idea sounds right up there with watching public executions.” she shrugged in return. people got away with much stranger things in the past, and she could easily see the appeal in watching something like– a guillotine. she wasn’t against the idea of watching it, anyway. 

she raised her eyebrow in clear amusement at the woman’s view on death, and after death. she was unlike most people she’d met in her time outside of selkie. nobody wanted to think about death, let alone talk about it. then again, this person wasn’t aware of what kind of person she was having a conversation with. sure, it was to meet someone who would talk so freely about it, but she had her reasons to believe that it wasn’t for the same interests. salin made a face of contemplation at the question she was asked for a moment. “Burn me? Cut me up? Ship one arm to one country, and the other to a different one? Put me in a museum? I guess what happens to me after I die is everyone else’s business. Not mine. I don’t want a boring burial in the ground though. Something exciting.”

“Exactly, Salin!” The excitement in her voice was reaching its zenith, Kalinda’s eagerness on the topic and her conversational companion easily visible. “Death was more common, part of the culture. Just a fact of life. I believe when McCurdy made his rounds was the same era when postmortem photography was flourishing as well. Though that was more to help families grieve than for entertainment. I can’t blame them for going to the executions. What else did they really have to do? I’m sure the sense of justice was strong with certain executions too.” Kalinda shrugged. “We would have done the same thing if we were born a hundred years earlier.”

"If everyone stopped being buried, I may be out of a job,” she joked. “I was an archaeologist, for awhile. Digging up long decomposed bodies was my thing. Along with artifacts, but the bones were my favorite finds, of course.” Kalinda stated it as if it should be obvious. “That’s exactly how I see it. After I’m gone,” Kalinda waved her hand around her head, her eyes turning upward. “I’m gone. It doesn’t matter what happens to the flesh prison I lived in.”

“Would you ah - “ Kalinda stumbled over her words, never having been in this particular position before, where she wanted to show off the things she cared about and the person she wanted to show them too could potentially be receptive. “I’m a professor at the university and I have plenty more skulls and bones there in my office if you ever wanted to see them sometime.” 

[kalindathorn]

simonxmuhn‌:

Whatever it was that Kalinda had in her bag…that sound of shattered glass couldn’t have been good. Rather than crowd Kalinda, or whatever the object was, he stood back to allow for her to investigate on her own. Knowing Kalinda, the skull she procured from the bag certainly shouldn’t have surprised him; he’d walked past her office enough times to be at least somewhat familiar with the sort of artifacts that she kept.

Which was in part of the reason why Simon visited Kalinda’s classroom more often than he visited her office; he wasn’t too keen to find out who may still be attached to those finger bones.

“Oh, I don’t know about being a good luck charm,” Simon waved a hand. But as someone who loved history…just strayed away from most of the artifacts that came with history, he was glad to see that the skull hadn’t broken. “Is that going into your office too to scare off your freshman?” He then questioned with a raise of his brow. 

He happily directed his attention away from the skull that Kalinda held toward the glass that was shattered on the ground. A better person, perhaps, would have swept it up, or at least alerted someone that it needed to be cleaned up, but Simon didn’t have the intention of doing either. “I…think it’ll be okay to stay here,” He said. “It’s outside. Everyone already has their shoes on – at least they should. Besides, it’d be dangerous to pick it up with our hands. Probably best to leave it.”

Kalinda wrapped Henry in the thick blanket that was once his perch and slipped him into her large tote bag, being sure to hold the bag carefully. It was better than just hauling him out in the open. When she locked gaze with Simon she gave him a wry smile. “Scare them? No! It should ignite their curiosity!” Her smile was beaming and her teasing lightly touched her tone. “And potentially weed out the squeamish ones,” she eventually tacked on. “Most things have multiple uses!”

Simon made a rational argument to leave the glass and so she was inclined to agree. Kalinda tilted her head away from the scene, giving Simon a questioning look. “We should probably vacate the area then, in case someone with opposing moral values comes by.” Kalinda began walking, somewhat hurried and lightly ushering Simon along too. “Come on. I think I have a meeting later anyways. Are you heading to the university?” she asked, looking back at her colleague.

[kalindathorn]

selkiesalin‌:

salin eyed the woman, as she hadn’t been completely unaware that you could purchase things like this in stores. her stare was of interest, though she wasn’t concerned with getting anything ethically, let alone the bones of a dead person. she let out another amused giggle at the idea. “A backstory? People keep skulls’ backstories written down somewhere?” she pondered the thought. maybe people were just as strange as she was, if they were going around keeping the backstory of something that had been dead for who even knows how long. “I imagine that’s something easy to fabricate to push a sale.” for instance, a store could lie and say it was the skull of a king, and nobody would be able to say otherwise. 

the idea that death was relaxing seemed funny to her, and surely this showed in her expression, which was an amused smirk that crawled across her lips. “I doubt everyone that comes in contact with death would agree.” her gaze trailed down to the woman’s hand. handshaking was something that salin was having to become used to, but she was starting to expect it upon first meeting now. people were weird like that. she took kalinda’s hand in hers, shaking it gently. “Salin.” she tilted her head. “Nice to meet you, and the skull.”

“Oh yeah. The backstories get crazy. I doubt most of them are real, but. You ever heard of Elmer McCurdy? His life story and his death story was insane and all real. Bank robber that died at thirty-one, then his body was basically shipped around the US for people to gawk at until they reburied him.” Kalinda shrugged. “I like to hold out hope that the stories are real. They certainly give Henry some type of personality.” Mostly, she tried to keep a respectful distance from her skulls. She didn’t name the already unnamed ones and she didn’t attempt to impose a backstory on them, but if it was already there, she was just gullible enough to want to believe it.

“I hope I’m a skull in someone’s room one day. Or something in someone’s room. I’ve always wanted to donate my body to science, get something useful out of it. Maybe someone will smuggle out one of my teeth and keep it for themselves,” she said with a giggle, Salin’s own smile encouraging her own. Not many people would smile and laugh with her about death and it gave Kalinda a warm feeling in her gut that she found someone that would. Her hand in Kalinda’s was gentle but unsure and so she dropped it quickly. “What do you want to be done with your body? When you die?” There was a beat and Kalinda’s eyes widened. “Of course, you don’t have to answer that if it’s too personal. Or too morbid. That’s...not usually a first date question. Sorry.”

[kalindathorn]

blind-man-mordecai‌:

Mordecai blinked but chuckled politely, not sure if the woman had realized he was blind yet…but her quick explanation proved otherwise. “Ah! I see! Are you a collector of specimens?” He asked curiously, cocking his head a little. Mordecai offered a hand to shake. “Mordecai Killian. A pleasure to meet you Ms. Thorn.” He greeted warmly. 

The man was about to get down on his knees to look for his cane when the woman asked if he liked dogs. “I am a lover of all furry things, if I am to be honest.” He replied, feeling his shoulders sag a little with relief knowing someone had his cane. “I had told the artist to just make the curve of the cane more…interesting. I was lucky they added such texture and life to the beast. I believe they had made a joke about the cane being a loyal friend, so that was why they picked a dog.” He held out his hand, not wanting to embarrass both of them by blindly grasping for it. 

“I’m an anthropology professor. I have learning skulls that I share around the class, but I have my own collection at home, yes. Animals and human, mostly animal. I collect butterflies too, but I think I like my skull collection a little more. There’s something beautiful about things long dead and it’s kind of comforting too. I love and take care of things that have since passed, so maybe someone will do the same to me.” Kalinda shook her head. “Sorry, I’m ranting about death again,” she said with a high and awkward laugh. “Call me Kalinda, please.” 

The cane was safely deposited in Mordecai’s hand and she missed the feeling of the hounds head in her hands. “If he’s such a loyal friend, does he have a name?” Kalinda glanced around, seeing the people stepping around them. “Where are you headed today, Mr. Killian?”

[kalindathorn]

simonxmuhn‌:

Simon liked going out for brisk walks alone, and often became lost in his thoughts in the process of it. He’d originally intended to step outside for a cigarette or two, yet found himself bored simply standing outside of the building. So he’d decided to take a lap or two around, with his cigarette between his fingers and his mind a million miles away.

The only thing to pull him out of his thoughts was a woman shouting in front of him. It took Simon a moment longer for him to realize it was Kalinda, the professor who enjoyed sitting in on his classes on occasion. And whoever…or whatever·Henry was, Simon hadn’t prepared himself to catch anything. So he watched as the bundle of…something·tumbled out of Kalinda’s arms and toward the ground.

“…Maybe it’s not broken?”

The joy Kalinda had at seeing Simon was tempered by the shattering sound of the glass case Henry was nestled in. “Please, don’t be broken,” she said mostly to herself as she sifted through the broken glass and cloth to find Henry, still perfect other than the cracks in his skull he already had. Kalinda let out a huff of relief and turned her head up towards Simon, beaming at him. 

A combination of seeing a familiar face and Henry being alright made her happiness too much to contain. “You’re my good luck charm, Simon! Just like in class. My students always tend to perk up when you’re sitting in.” Kalinda sat in on Simon’s class far more than he did hers, but she always enjoyed his presence. “He’s not broken. Though the case is absolutely done for.” Kalinda grimaced at the sight of all the broken glass on the ground. People on the sidewalk were pointedly walking around it, giving Kalinda dirty looks. “Do we just...leave it?”

[kalindathorn]

florenceseung‌:

Ren directed her attention at the other woman specifically. She raised a brow – how could she have not heard the news? Ren herself had seen the aftermath, the swarm of police and journalists around the scene when she’d stopped there that morning with the hopes of getting a decent breakfast, and then seen more information in the local news.

“Have you not looked online at all?” She asked. But, looking at the stack of papers in the woman’s booth…it did seem as though she had problems other than looking at her phone. “Dunno. Some guy blamed EO’s for it, but I don’t know if there’s any actual proof,” Ren shrugged. “If the cops knew, I don’t think they’d still be looking for the guy. Because if they did, I’m sure Bishops would be open right now and I’d be there eating breakfast instead of stuck in this booth.”

Hearing that Bishop’s was a staple only caused more frustration over the fact that she hadn’t had a chance to go to such an important local place yet. She should’ve gone last week instead of sleeping in past her fourth alarm and running late for work (again). Instead, she was stuck with a crappy breakfast pizza. Which she’d already ordered. Ren grimaced at the woman’s description of the pizza. “Well…bacon and tomato sauce isn’t bad,” She shrugged. But eggs…that was where the line was certainly grey. “I should send it back, but…at least I can say I’ve tried it.”

Each piece of information hit Kalinda like a wave, pushing her further and further back into her seat, her expression shocked and a little disbelieving. Kalinda’s nostrils flared and she leaned back in her seat, arms crossed. “Of course they’re blaming EO’s. Jumping to conclusions with no logical evidence. We certainly are reactionary and quick to find a scapegoat, aren’t we?” This was exactly the kind of thing that Kalinda was attempting to fight against. Ignorance and fear. 

“I haven’t had the time to even check my emails this morning. I have a boatload of papers students expect to be graded.” Kalinda blew out an exasperated breath of air, giving the stack of papers a defeated glance. “I think I’m just going to get them pizza instead.” Frankly, she was already dreading the slog of corrections and now with the news of Bishop’s, she didn’t have it in her. “I just still don’t understand who would do such a thing to Bishops. They had to have known there would be a backlash in the community. Unless they wanted that reaction.” Kalinda actively had to stop her Conspiracy Brain from spiraling after that thought. She shook her head, effectively shaking that train of thought and instead shifted her gaze to the woman near her.

Images of what happened last time she had the breakfast pizza invaded her thoughts and she shivered. “Here.” Kalinda stood up from her booth, taking a seat across from the stranger. She began to dig in her purse, taking out a random collection of odds and ends. A small figurine of a bear, a bee necklace, a cherry lollipop that was unopened, but still looked like it had seen better days, mace, until she finally found what she was looking for. A breakfast bar. “I don’t think anyone would call it a nutritious breakfast, but it has to be better than the abomination here,” she said, handing the bar over.

[kalindathorn]

blind-man-mordecai‌:

Mordecai blinked a little, the box suddenly gone from his hands. “I….apologize I thought it was a child.” He admitted, chuckling softly as he moved to straighten his tie. It was only then he realized he didnt have his cane. Brow furrowed, he glanced around as if he could see where his cane went to put on his ‘helpless blind man’ mask back on. “Are you ok?” He asked, glancing over in her direction with a concerned furrow in his brow.

“No, no. Not a kiddo. Henry is old enough to be my great, great grandfather, but that doesn’t stop our love affair,” she teased, laughing shamelessly at her own bad joke before realizing the man probably had no idea what she was talking about. She cut herself off sheepishly. “He’s a skull. Just picked him up! If he had broken after being in my care for less than ten minutes, well. I’d be a disgrace to my profession. I’m Kalinda Thorn, by the way.”

Kalinda caught the black cane on the pale pavement. It was beautifully simple, she thought. Kalinda ran her thumb over the metalwork on the dog's head, appreciating the texture on the pads of her fingers before handing it over to its rightful owner with a soft, “Here, this must be yours. You a big dog person? I can’t quite decide between dogs or cats myself.”