[LJ Idol 20: Week 2] Share the load

They’re calling the class “Health and Nutrition for Performance” this year.

Last year it had been “Practical Applications of Botany” and the year before, which had been Lana’s first, she can’t remember what they called it. The name was unimportant – whatever made a convincing enough “scientific” name for a time-block the first quarter of the academic year that was devoted to making sure the Institute’s gardens and orchards had their harvests brought in and stored before the killing frosts came.

The food is always the important part. Except this year, things are a little different, because someone, somehow, for some reason had arranged for government trucks to drop off a quantity of frozen chicken legs measured in tons. Enough chicken to fill all of the Institute’s freezers without leaving room for anything else.

So, they need cold storage. Cold storage to thaw the chicken, one freezer load at a time, to process into cutlets and stews and broths. The stews and broths will be canned and shelf-stable, less finicky to store and not subject to the risk of use-or-lose if there is an extended blackout instead of just the rolling brownouts that plagued the Institute last year. Cold storage is needed, too, for everything that isn’t chicken that needs to be processed.

Which is why the ice rinks have been repurposed – one as a meat locker, the other as chilled storage for the apples and plums from the Institute’s orchard that need further processing. The top-level hockey team, the same one that last year joked they could take over the swimming pool during the February deep freeze, is complaining non-stop. The top-ranked swimmers, who remember the freeze all too well, gleefully mock the hockey team.

Their cheer is short-lived when they are told that the pool can’t be filled and properly heated, either, until the chicken and the harvest that remains in orchard and garden has all been safely processed. The gymnasium that includes the swimming pools is powered down and padlocked, the small trickle of electrical power it draws in even this condition as much of a sacrifice of resources that can be made for the ability to use the facility again once the crisis has passed.

And, in fairness and solidarity, this means basic dryland training and outdoor work detail for everyone at the Institute, regardless of their sport or year or skill level. Probably for the entire first quarter.

The new boy she’d stopped to help with his scattered possessions on Wednesday had insisted on taking Lana for a hot chocolate that Saturday during their free block, and at first she had thought that Leon was going to be Luka all over again. Anyone who actually knows anything about Lana and Luka, who has seen them together over the years of summer skills camps, knows that they are as close as twin sister and brother, and that they are definitely not a couple. And those who think they are…? Well, it’s probably for the best that such people continue to think that! It’s…safer, that way.

When they’ve taken the drinks in the little Styrofoam cups and walked away towards more privacy, she asks Leon, just to see if that’s what she’s getting into here. “So…does it help you? To be seen with a girl?”

Leon just looks at her for a moment, eyes wide with confusion. “Girls…aren’t interchangeable,” he manages to say. Then, “People aren’t interchangeable.” Then, before Lana can figure out what to say, “I asked you because you did me one hell of a favor and I know I just got here and I’m probably too young for you but I think I kind of…like you? Even if we don’t really know each other yet?”

Oh. He wasn’t looking for a cover story. He…likes her.

She smiles at him, bright and real, and suggests they walk over to the sign-ups for work detail. They’ll pick apples together on the first morning shift for the next week.

The apples give them both things to talk about, to get to know each other better. Leon starts it off by saying that he didn’t think that “Health and Nutrition for Performance” was going to be about harvesting and storing food.

Lana tells him that this has happened ever since her first year, with a slightly different name for every first quarter class on something that could be listed as part of the biology department but is really set up to make sure the students stay fed throughout the year. And that her parents moved south about a year ago, expecting conditions to be better, only to face market shortages and a large group of local students rioting over their lacking provisions. She had heard rumors, but her parents had not confirmed them until she went home between the end of her second Institute year and the beginning of a summer skill camp. It was not, after all, the sort of thing to write in a letter that could be intercepted, to say in a telephone call that could be overheard.

Leon tells Lana that his parents were glad to invest in the plane ticket to send him for a test competition if it meant he might earn an Institute spot and no longer add to their expense ledger. And then he talks about that competition, and about how picking apples here reminds him of the boy named Max that he had met there, about how Max was just as talented but his family needed him picking apples in their orchard or at least keeping his little siblings out of the way of the dangerous machinery. An Institute placement wasn’t an option for Max, but he had hopes that a coaching certificate could give him the knowledge to do more than just keep his little siblings and their friends out of the way of dangerous machines. He wanted to teach them to do something instead.

Lana tells Leon that her parents are both skill coaches, who work with skaters and gymnasts and dancers, and that is what she wants to do someday, too, after she’s had some time in the field performing.

Leon says he wants that, too, both the performance and the settling down later to coach, and he hopes that they can help each other get there.

She takes his hand. “Together,” she says.

“Together,” he agrees.

She really likes the sound of that.

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A fun chapter in the Institute! I'd pick apples any day rather than process chicken! Yikes!

The chicken has to be dealt with, given its source. It would not do to be caught letting it go to waste, even though it's literally a year's worth of chicken all at once assuming that it is served in some form multiple times a week but not daily. It's definitely complicated matters as far as the rest of the food-storage planning is concerned, especially because they also have to be careful not to run out of canning supplies...those calculations won't be made by the students but they are certainly calculations that are taking place!

Awww. Sweet! Processing meat. Yuck.

The good news is that the hockey players are mad that their rink essentially got turned into a meat locker, and the swimmers are mad that the pool is locked down until this whole thing is handled, so they are very much motivated to do a lot of the processing.

I had to read this a second time because the first time I was too tired to take it all in. I like it. I like the idea of the institute using student labor to keep them fed. Yay for processing chickens and picking apples. I hate the smell of wet feathers when the birds go in a hot water bath to help remove the feathers though. I usually can't stomach that smell.

“I asked you because you did me one hell of a favor and I know I just got here and I’m probably too young for you but I think I kind of…like you? Even if we don’t really know each other yet?”

Smooth, Leon. Smooth. But hey, it seems to have worked! haha

At this point, on the surface, it might not have seemed like they're that well suited to each other. But they really, really are, and that just gets clearer over the years.

I really liked how “vampire load” was woven into the background of this. The Institute is conserving every last bit of power while the students are also learning to share the much bigger load of keeping everyone fed. And Leon’s “People aren’t interchangeable” immediately made me like him; that sweet little “Together” at the end was a lovely payoff.

Yes. The problem, both on campus and in their wider world, is with poorly distributed resources. (Rolling brownouts! And also somehow literal tons of chicken leg quarters!)

Leon's an incredibly straightforward and sensible guy, which Lana isn't used to but really likes and admires about him. :)

This has me curious about the sort of world they live in where there are food shortages and an emphasis on sport and training -- as though there are circuses but not enough bread.

But also the idea of receiving perishables in quantities that large was completely overwhelming. I struggled enough just dealing with our bumper crop of peaches... I can't even imagine.

It is a curious world! I'm learning as I continue weaving it. I went back and forth a couple of times as to whether Lana or Leon should narrate this one, and decided on Lana because she is at least the second generation (possibly the third) to have trained in this sort of environment, so the things that stand out to her as normal vs. unusual are a little bit different than they would be for Leon (who is the first in his family to do something like this, and who at this point is in his third week at the Institute, not his third year).

And yes, the chicken situation is ridiculous but someone, somewhere, far removed from their specific realities, thought that this was a good idea!

That moment when she realises he likes her for her, and not because of what she can provide for him.... man, that one hits.

Sweet story.

It's a little more nuanced than that...this is related to some things she is specifically not saying in her letter to Luka. She loves him deeply and forever in a way that is not romantic whatsoever (and he feels the same way about her). But they have their reasons to let people think that they're either dating or at least doing the "well if we're thirty and single we'll just marry each other!" thing.

She has also sometimes made herself into a cover story for guys she's friends with who are actually interested in each other, not in her. (This is NOT a good place to not be straight.) Her first impression of Leon is that he's probably going to be another one of those friends and she's kind of startled that he's straight and actually interested in her!

Oh, I got that. Been around the LeGitGbiTIQuA community too long to not understand a good beard. :)

But also, when you spend so much time not being seen (and liked) for who you are, it's a surprise when someone does.

I really enjoy that there's still so much unknown here - and that I still have such a sense of possibility as well. Lana and Leon are so well-written; I can feel their connection, and wonder how much more lies under the surface in this world for them! Very well-written; I look forward to more of this story! <3

My first idea for this prompt would've been getting way ahead of myself with this story. I'm glad it's working for you as it is. :)

Probably for the entire first quarter.
That's a long time to be sidelined from actual practice. You can lose so much in that time--strength as well as skill.

I like the hints of the Cold War Soviet-like dystopia in this.

Oh it IS a long time to be shut down. But insufficient food will shut everyone down worse, in the long run. So will government complaints, probably. So will riots, should they spread here.

(So would the students coming to blows among themselves because some were allowed real practice and others not. Unacceptable risk of injuries!)

Loving the setting! Hoping for more! Well done.

I'm enjoying writing in this setting so I'm sure there will be more of them. :)

This was very sweet.

Thank you!

Ooh, we get another glimpse into this world. I like how the topic is in the background here, but obviously important.

My first thought with the topic was also this world but much later in the timeline and I didn't want quite THAT much of a time skip this soon. I had to poke at things a little bit but it did fall into place. Glad you liked it! :)

Oh man, what trouble for the Institute! This at first felt like a fun little sideline to your story, but then the way you wrapped it back to their first meeting, I thought was very sweet. ♥

Yes, there's a certain amount of struggle going on as it is, and then more struggles because some people tried to help and went about it in...not exactly the most helpful way!

This was cute! I wonder how long it will take to process all the chicken.

It takes a while. Probably most of September, and then they have to do all the regular processing through October of the stuff they expected from the orchards and gardens. They would normally be devoting that one class period to it instead of canceling some of the normal athletic training to deal with this, but it's better than a lot of alternatives would be.

I do enjoyed this. And then the end was so sweet and positive.

Love! ❤

I enjoyed how you wrote this statement from Leon.
“I asked you because you did me one hell of a favor and I know I just got here and I’m probably too young for you but I think I kind of…like you? Even if we don’t really know each other yet?”
All in a rush, just like he undoubtedly said it. (smile)

Dan

Yes, exactly. :)

the high school I attended stored sheetrock in the girl's gym shower room, so the female showers did not have water the entire time I was there. this world does not strike me as unlikely...

At my undergrad college, the issue was asbestos containment and removal following a fire that rendered a major laundry area unusable.

It's always something...

Serialized entries are fun! And this story is moving along nicely!

I'm working from what the prompts give me. :)

I like this setting so there will probably be more.

this started out as a dystopian vegan nightmare. i think it was still a dystopia but it was cute that it turned into something a bit more friendly at the end.

Their world might fall apart around them, but there will be people who find each other and stick together and keep it moving.

What a difficult world to live in. I enjoyed this little journey there.

Ooh, fun! I like how much you pack into this little story and how it could naturally progress into more but can also stand on its own.

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