Accidental Bumps - RP with literary_james

[rarely_serious]

"And does anybody know what the repetition of the mention of the jingling bells mean?" James asked, bookmarking a page in his anthology with his finger. Standing up from his seat on his desk, he began walking up and down the aisles. "Anyone?" he asked again, making his way back to his desk. "Nothing? ... Bueller?" When no one even so much as chuckled at his attempted joke, he realized that most of the students had probably never even heard of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Which suddenly terrified him. "I - The repetition of the bells. The bells symbolize funeral bells, which they did as the coffin and the throngs of people paraded through the streets back in Poe's time. You know the funeral march tune?" He hummed it as he pretended to step in somber cadence. "That's what that's all about. March through the streets with the coffin. It's morbid. So, as Montresor is leading Fortunato through the catacombs, the bells on his jester hat keep jingling, as though he's walking his funeral march. Can anyone tell me why?"

"Because he's going to be buried in the wall?" a student finally answers. James claps his hands together and points to her in approval.

"Yes! Yes, because Fortunato is walking to his death, his final resting place. Well done, Jamie." He looked down at the anthology still in his hands. "If you turn to page -" The bell's scream cut him off. Shutting his book again, he placed it on the desk behind him and waved a hand at his students as they began filing out of the classroom. "Have a good weekend, everyone. See you Monday. Don't forget - Quiz on the stories we've read from Poe!"

Once the room was empty, he let out an exhausted sigh, grabbed his things, and exited the room. Glancing down at his watch, he realized it was his lunch break, and as he was consumed in his thoughts of eating (which often happened by this time of the day), he bumped into someone in the hallway. Trying to steady himself, he extended a hand to try and stabilize the other person.

"Oh, Jesu-- Geeeeez!" James was always trying to catch himself and his language; he'd gotten reprimanded often by the Nuns for his foul mouth. At seeing it was Bryce, he smiled a bit. "Bryce! You okay? Anything broken?"