Prompt: Can we have a prompt of Brennan and Constance having civilized conversation?
A.N.- Listen I...couldn't think of a topic, so here have this mess
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Dinner with the Constance family was a landmine.
While keeping my mouth shut would be the best option, I was Brennan Kipling, and that meant I was doomed to say stupid things and piss off at least one member of the family at some point. Usually that member was either Adam or Constance.
But tonight I'd managed to shovel food into my mouth every time I got the urge to pick a fight. It was certainly an improvement.
"-just think smoke breaks shouldn't be allowed, is all," Adam was saying.
"Well, not if nonsmokers don't get to take 15 minutes or so too," Caroline was saying.
"Smoking is a choice that leads to an addiction. It doesn't grant you a free pass to satisfy that addiction on paid time," Adam said.
"And I'm not arguing with that. I'm just saying, companies with a longer or monotonous working day should look into short breaks for workers where they can do whatever they want. Smoke, have some coffee, talk, whatever," Caroline said.
"School days should have that too. I'd give anything to get the hell away from Sudlow for 15 minutes of coffee," I said, and winced when Leon stomped on my foot under the table. I scooped food into my mouth, but it was too late.
"I think your classes are a good amount of time. Enough to learn thoroughly, but not get overwhelmed," Abby said. "Although schools that have schedules on a rotation give the advantage of breaking up the pattern a bit."
"I think it's fine," Leon said.
"Come on, you've definitely wanted to leave in the middle of a lecture before. Don't lie," I said.
Leon's hand went into his pocket to play with his dice. "Well...Mrs. Kennedy can get a little...flat."
"Oh, she's still there?" Caroline said. "God, I think she was teaching when dad was a student there. Is that lady ever going to retire?"
"If you saw her paycheck, you'd understand why she hasn't," Constance said.
"She can be a little outdated," Leon admitted. "She yelled at Christina for reading an apparently inappropriate book."
"Not her business," Constance said.
"Hell yea, teachers don't get to tell students what they can and can't read for fun," I said.
"We don't ban books at the Academy. I've never believed in that practice," Constance said.
I never once in my entire life thought I'd agree with Constance on any possible subject, but surprises just kept on a coming at my time here. "Banning books is ridiculous."
"We've had parents call to complain about some of the English literature taught. They don't appreciate the racist tones. The teachers do not encourage those tones, but simply analyze on them in the context of the time period. It's important to acknowledge such attitudes so we don't repeat them," Constance said.
"Holy...yea, dude, exactly!" I said, and slapped a hand over my mouth. "Oh, shit, I just called the Headmaster 'dude'. My bad. Got a little excited. Anyways, book banning is a stupid, cowardice practice and people who can't handle books have small minds."
