ic Assemble!

[Gizmo]

Wednesday, September 5th 2018

 

A crisp breeze blew through the campus of Claremont Academy as though the weather was acknowledging that for the teenagers preparing for the first day of the new school year summer was now officially over. For all that the students leaving the dormitories one by one or in small groups and heading toward the auditorium included some truly remarkable individuals there were still seemingly universal experiences that they could not escape. A girl with a toaster pastry between her teeth attempting to tie the laces of her sneakers while catching up to her levitating friend while a boy with light blue antennae struggled under the encumbrance of a knapsack stuffed to its absolute capacity.

 

The students had already received their course schedules but rather than heading straight to class they'd been called to a school-wide assembly. There'd been a few rumours circulating among the upperclassmen about the events of the previous year and changes the faculty had put in place but nothing concrete; Headmistress Summers was living up to her reputation as inscrutable. Newer students had more pressing concerns anyway: who were they going to sit beside?!

[alderwitch]

Janus wasn't overly concerned with either the potential contents of the meeting or who they might find themselves sharing a bench with. Shortening their stride to keep an easy pace with Veronica, Janus offered conversationally, switching to French and murmured, "If someone catches your eye, I shan't mind if you abandon me."

 

Straightening back up, Janus took the point to weave through the crowd and find a spot on the bleacher to drop onto. After all, someone had to sit down first from the newer kids and as Janus wasn't bothered by potentially sitting alone. The gems on the shoulders and cuffs of their jacket caught the light and their white-to-rose hair was pulled back from an aristocratic set of features but otherwise loose down their back. Dropping with loose limbed grace to a seat in the auditorium, they leaned back a bit to better people watch as other people found their places on the bleachers. Unslinging their leather satchel from one shoulder, Janus dropped that to sit between their booted feet. 

[Thevshi]

Veronica

 

Veronica stifled a slight yawn as she followed after Janus.  Yesterday had been a long day of moving into the dorm and making rounds meeting a number of their new classmates.  The latter had led to a late night of finishing unpacking and getting their room set up.  The teenage Danger was dressed similarly to as she had been the day before, the same well-worn hiking boots, a dark green T-Shirt, a brown shirt with its sleeves rolled up and khaki cargo shorts. 

 

When Janus commented to her in French about understanding if Veronica wanting to go off and sit with some boy, Veronica gave her cousin a sly smile before replying in French.  <"And just abandon my family because of a handsome face?">  Her tone was light hearted as she feigned shock at the suggestion.  <"There is no particular rush, there is the entire school year ahead.">

 

Staying with her cousin, Veronica made her way through the crowd and took a seat next to Janus on the bleachers, setting her rugged day-pack down near her feet.  As she waited for the assembly to begin, Veronica began casually scanning the crowd of other students, not looking for anyone in particular, as she absentmindedly fidgeted with one of the small silver charms hanging from her necklace. 

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

Pan had found a spot up near the front. He didn't know what would happen at an assembly like this, so he didn't want to miss anything. His backpack had all of the books stuffed into them, even those that weren't needed for today according to his schedule, but he wasn't quite sure how it would go, and better to have everything ready. He was wearing a dark green shirt and a pair of jeans, with a blue and yellow Claremont Academy jersey worn over it Before coming to the Academy, Pan had thought that he would stand out in the crowds. He had been wrong, as he looked around and saw people that were quite obviously not the baseline around here. No butterfly people, but so many other powers and appearances. He loved every second.

[Tiffany Korta]

White Lioness
Àjàṣorò had never gone to an actual school before, well never attended one thought she'd had visited a few in an official capacity. She'd had several tutors but that really wasn't the same, especially as they all knew and treated her by her status.

So she'd never been to assembly and was excited to see what it entailed, it might be boring for some but for her even the boring was something interesting for her. And she'd gotten used to sitting and listening for people talking for hours on end.

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne did not show up to the assembly.

She was... busy.

 

Zenith was not, however.

 

It was not as if they were disparate people...

They were the same person, there was just differences.  Or perhaps less walls in one, then there were in others.  Iridescent and imperious, Zenith walked barefoot into the place, wearing her uniform, or what had been her uniform.  The colors roughly there, though it was something resembling a sundress now, that ended above the knee, and allowed for a level of movement one would expect of a trained dancer such as Corinne, the colors somehow bleeding down her legs like she had on leggings or something.  Really did it matter?  Or, it happened because it was matter.  Over it was a studded leather jacket, and a riotous crown of variegated hair that shifted even as someone looked at her, while also ignoring most rules one had about physics.

Her eyes narrowed as she took everything in, and then with a snap, formed a better chair, before perching on it near the back, owing a little bit of consideration due to her height, and hair, and she crossed her legs in a practiced fashion and waited.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hi," came a voice off to Pan's left. The girl on the far end of the row, the long-haired one with the accent, was smiling shyly at him. He'd gotten the stink-eye from the girl sitting between them; the one with pink-tipped hair who he knew was the first girl's sister - the speaker was Judy, the grouchy-looking one was Ashley. "Nice to meet you. You're new too, right?" she asked, brushing the hair out of her face. (She pronounced right like "raht.")Pan wasn't much of a fashion critic when it came to the style of Earth-Prime, but he could tell the two of them were in matching outfits - bulky grey hoodies over loose-fitting jeans that didn't flatter either of them. "Ah'm Judy"

[KnightDisciple]

Micah had settled down from some of his initial nerves about being in Claremont, but it was still a very different place than where he'd ever been before. He didn't mind the idea of an assembly, but the crowd was...a lot. It wasn't the largest he'd been in, not by a long shot, but the sense of humming power in the room was...it was pretty intense. He wasn't necessarily picking it up with his powers, just with his basic sense of the room. He blinked and shook his head, adjusting the bookbag that held the day's books, a few notebooks, and plenty of writing tools.

 

Scanning the crowd, he saw his rather high-energy roommate all but bouncing up and down at the front of the room, next to a pair of girls, one of whom all but screamed "STAY AWAY" without saying anything. So instead he tried to find a place near the back...albeit giving the glowing, multi-colored girl plenty of room by going for the other side of the back quarter or so of seats. Maybe he could just slip in and out of here? Not like he had 5 tons of luggage this time...

[angrydurf]

Kameron made his way down the aisle looking over the crowd as he slowly picked his way along the rows of risers.  He'd glance every so often to where his sister made her way to a seat careful not to sit too close while not obviously sitting too close and most likely overthinking the entire situation given the likelihood she'd already revealed herself to at least half her floor by now.  After what was undoubtedly a suspiciously long pause he stepped quickly toward the Dangers and tucked his messenger bag against his lap as he sank into a nearby seat.

 

He was pulling a small notebook and pen from his bag as he looked to his right with an easy smile, "Not having your PA attend on your behalf?"  he teased lightly with a small laugh.

[Fox]

Elizabeth had found a powerful tug-of-war between watching the other students and watching whatever presentation they'd been called together to witness - she'd also, unexpectedly, found herself a little cold-footed at the number of people drifting into the auditorium. She wasn't afraid of people, surely, but so many packed into one place was....well, it was different.

 

She held for a moment, then, tugging at the hem of her white blouse - worn over simple pale jeans and a pair of grey sneakers; most of her stuff would be coming this weekend, more compromise from taking the taxi to school day one - before deciding that if she could see as many people as possible, she could watch them and feel more comfortable and watch the presentation. Plus, no way to get used to people like being surrounded by people, right?

 

She carefully maneuvered herself, if not to the back, at least toward the back, finding the middle of a row to drop into. And, finding herself waiting - her least favorite thing - she dug a pack of playing cards out and began to quietly shuffle them between her hands as she looked around the room.

[Cubismo]

Ms Thursday

 

Astrid waltzed into the auditorium having flicked the entry doors wide open with just one push of her right index finger. She didn't actually intend on making a dramatic entrance. Not consciously anyway. So just wanted to see whether she had enough control over her strength that when she pushed the door it wouldn't slam open or unhinge. The good news was that the door wasn't broken. The bad news was that it totally did slam open to the side and did so rather loudly. 

 

The demigoddess decided that best course of action was to simply waltz right through the door and put on the silent bad girl mystique. She was certainly dressed for it, wearing her favorite black leather jacket, torn blue jeans and a bit of eye-shadow. If anyone asked what happened she'd tell the truth and apologize, but if they didn't she figured she'd look like a mysterious badass instead of a total ræv. 

 

Walking down the aisle Astrid looked around for someone she knew. It was her first year at Claremont so she didn't really know anyone at the school beside her roomie, but Astrid didn't see Nicole anywhere. With a shrug Astrid figured she'd just scan the room and sit near someone that looked mildly interesting. She quickly realized that she had set herself up for failure because EVERYONE here looked interesting. It was a superhero school after all. Eventually she settled on sitting near the back. There was one bored looking girl there playing cards and Astrid figured she found had found a kindred spirit. Waiting for assemblies always tended to bore her rather quickly, especially when she had no one to talk.  

 

Astrid turned to head to face her and loudly signed. "Waiting for an assembly to start sure is exciting, ja?" She asked, the sarcasm obvious.

[alderwitch]

Janus grinned at Veronica, opening their mouth to respond when the sudden bang of the door had Janus' head snapping to one side. Janus wasn't SO combat oriented that they actually put a hand on their dagger but keen eyes like Kam's would likely notice the tell tale jerk of one long-fingered hand before arresting the motion. Janus frowned briefly before they forced their expression to smooth to a friendly one for the Dakanan prince. Especially as the swordsman rather hoped the other young man would prove a friend with time and effort. 

 

"Would that we could convince her to do such. Alas, no. Prudence is here to be Aunt Rachel's eyes and ears; to squelch anything that our fine matriarch doesn't want in the gossip papers and warn her of what she can't." Janus provided, their drawl lazy and amused. Thankfully, Janus had a similar attendant from their doting Mama back in Fortuna. They were used to such things being part and parcel of a Danger's existence. That smile warmed with familial affection for Veronica as Janus tipped her head towards their cousin and added, "Hardly abandoned. The student body might be a rather dramatic lot - myself included - but I don't imagine we'll be attacked outright. Not on the first day."

[Thevshi]

Veronica

 

Veronica started slightly at the bang of the door to the auditorium as well, but she did not start to reach for a weapon as Janus had (for though she had a survival knife back in her dorm room, she was not carrying it around with her), instead, her left hand had gone up to where her bronze medallion was underneath her T-shirt.  But she then relaxed as it was clear that it was nothing but someone being overzealous with the door.

 

As she relaxed, she focused her attention to Kam, giving him a friendly smile in greeting, chuckling slightly at his joke about Prudence attending the assembly in place of herself and Janus.  "We might just have to try a bit harder next time."  She added to Janus’ response.

 

She then shrugged slightly as Janus added to their previous conversation.  "Well, perhaps not, but still, would not want to leave you all adrift out here on your own for the first day."  She stated with a playful smile before she turned back toward the front of the auditorium to await the start of the assembly, glancing around them from time to time at other arriving students.

[RocketLord]

"Oh, hello Judy. And yes, it is my first day." Pan flashed the long-haired girl a bright smile, while leaning slight over to look past the angry-looking girl. Still, he thought it would be at least an attempt at being polite to address the other girl as well, so he turned slightly to smile at her too, before returning his attention to Judy. There was something fascinating about her accent. "I'm Pan, happy to meet you." There was something interesting about Judy's accent. He hadn't heard others quite like it in his time here. Perhaps Judy's color-coordinated sister had a similiar one.

[olopi]

Monica wandered in through the open door only shortly after it had been slammed open so unceremoniously, having waited outside just long enough for everybody’s attention to hopefully have turned away from the door and towards the girl that had opened it. She pulled her black hoodie’s hood down further so it covered a fair chunk of her face, and then stepped into the auditorium.

 

She’d have to figure out where she’d sit, because this was a school assembly and those never went by without tons of heckling, so sitting near somebody that was either pleasant or wouldn’t bother her was preferable. Her roommate seemed to have gotten surrounded already, and the sisters, who at least wouldn’t bother Monica, seemed busy on their own too, so … the last row it was. There was a good chance everybody back there would fall asleep halfway through anyways.

 

Once she actually raised her head slightly to look at it, she saw what probably was the one person on campus that could out-glow her. And a bunch of people that, much like Monica, didn’t seem to want to be here. She gave Àjà a quick nod as she walked up the stairs, and took a seat next to a guy who may have been native American?

 

“So, we both agree that we’re here because we have to and just want to get over with this, right?”

[Thunder King]

Adam always felt self-conscious when he was in public. While the assembly was a motley group of odd people, he felt the oddest. He was wearing his lightest hoodie, keeping the hood down despite every instinct telling him to cover his head. Still, despite his efforts to remain inconspicuous, he was nevertheless taller than most, and even the hoodie couldn't conceal his musculature. And, even though the rest of his body was a hideous map of scar tissue, his face was reasonable looking, handsome even.

.

He kept to himself and stood at the back, not trusting anything to be sturdy enough for him to sit down.

 

He was sure he wasn't the only nervous person here. He'd read up on teenagers, a lot, actually, studying books on psychology and biology. He was finding that his theoretical studies showed only that his practical understanding was limited. That was okay, though, his nerves were the product of his sheltered upbringing. The doctors had told him that teenagers were often nervous and that he wasn't anymore maladjusted than any other teen. At least not by a noticeable margin.

Edited September 12, 2018 by Thunder King

[SpicyWaffle]

Black Rabbit

 

If there was even a shred of dismay on Tom's face, it was well-hidden. On the outside, he was as indifferent and sporting an authentic apathy about this whole get-together of an assembly to start the school year off proper. This was a feat of epic proportions on his part, because it was a complete lie. He'd seen his fair share of 'assemblies' in his time back in New Freedom; of men and women lining up in single file, where orders would be barked at them, they'd be torn down socially by their superiors, or the more popular option since President Harper's rise to power, offering public displays of discipline.

 

And so here he sat at the back of the pack in an attempt to lay low, his guts dancing violently behind his peerless facade of indifference. He might have resigned himself to loneliness at the top, had a young lady not taken up residence beside him. Maybe it was a weird twist of fate, but what she said matched how Tom felt exactly.

 

"Agreed," he honestly conceded with cool aloofness, relying on his stock repertoire of teen slang he'd picked up from the various teen romantic-dramadies he'd been binge watching back in AEGIS to cultivate his image. "I'm Tom. Cool to meet someone new," he said, giving Monica an honest, casual smile, or at least the best he could muster in his faux-but-quickly-mastering facade as a typical American teenager.

[Avenger Assembled]

"This is mah sister Ashley." Ashley nodded her head in Pan's general direction - seeming far more focused in shooting a quick scowl in the direction of the people making the sudden loud noises on their way into the building. "Pan's a pretty name," she commented with a smile. "Where are you from?" Sitting this close to Ashley, who shifted unhappily inside her hoodie, Pan had the distinct impression that the question had made her twitch almost as much as the brief ruckus by the door. 

[Fox]

Elizabeth's eyes scanned across until they met Astrid's, blinking for a moment in surprise. "Hmm...? Oh!"

 

She glanced down at the cards, then back up, popping one card up mid-shuffle so that it arced briefly into view before falling back down into the pile. "Yes, kind of!" she admitted, either ignoring or rolling with the sarcasm. "It's...probably strange, but kind of fun to watch everyone. I'm just really not very good at keeping my hands still when I'm nervous, so I try to carry something to keep them busy. Let me know if it bothers you, and I'll stop."

 

She wasn't even watching the cards anymore, but then, maybe she didn't need to; the shuffling deftly switched to one hand so that she could hold the other out in greeting. "I don't think we've met! Elizabeth Grey, one of the new students. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

[Jack]

Jack stretched and yawned as he opened his eyes. He could hear the incessant chirps as his phone made noise, hoping to attract his attention. He stretched and stood, wiping dirt from his shorts. He had fallen asleep under one of the trees outside, something that was not unusual for him. He had been assigned a room like everyone else...but Jack didn't feel comfortable inside. The animal within him didn't like feeling caged, and a room often felt like a cage to him. He enjoyed feeling the grass beneath his feet and the cool breeze upon his skin.

 

After his morning stretch Jack finally decided to give attention to his phone. It was an alarm that he had set for class. Jack had a tendency to over sleep if given the choice...and the school did not take kindly to his desire to sleep the day away. He clicked the necessary buttons to make the phone shut up. Unlike most of his classmates Jack did not have a smart phone. It was a rather plain phone his parents had given to him. They had tried to give him a smart phone...but Jack had asked not to have a phone at all, which they respectfully denied, and so he compromised a little. Jack had no interest in technology, preferring nature and being outside. Too many people had their faces in their phone and not enjoying the beauty of nature. A phone had it's uses, as his parents had pointed out, it gave them peace of mind knowing he could call them and they him. 

 

He plugged in the external battery they had given him as well, after the phone had died several times due to Jack not wanting to go inside and charge it..., and shoved the phone into his pocket. He collected his belongings and headed for class, or more correctly to the assembly he had been instructed to go to. Jack had had to go back to Russia with his parents for most of last school year, so in a way it felt like this was his first day at clairemont even if it wasn't. He hoped this school year would be fun and he was looking forward to meeting others like himself and making friends.

 

He entered the assembly, ducking unconsciously to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe and looked around for a seat. He knew he likely stood out, wearing sandals, basketball shorts and a sleeveless hoodie, unzipped at the moment, exposing a glimpse of bare skin beneath it. He didn't recognize anyone and just sat down, finding a seat near the back, over hearing the nearby student's name to be Elizabeth Grey. He filed that name away, as he liked the name. She was fiddling with cards, which was also interesting. The girl she was talking to caught Jack's eye as well, dressed in mostly black leather. For a moment he debated introducing himself...but decided it would be rude to do so uninvited.

[Electra]

The doors to the hall opened automatically as Danica whirred through the door on her brightly decorated Segway, as accessibility-friendly as most of the campus was to many kinds of locomotion. She carefully parked the scooter by the door and disembarked, then began walking to a seat. And kept walking. And kept walking, very, very slowly. She didn't seem to be doing it on purpose for attention, but neither did she seem bothered by it. All the same, she did choose not to go far, settling into a seat in the back row near Tom and Monica. "Hi!" she chirped to her fellow students. "I'm Danica! Are you guys new this year?" 

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

Ashley and Judy, then. Pan smiled back at Ashley's nod, though she seemed far more interested in the people entering the building. Looking over his shoulder for a moment, Pan recognized Elizabeth near the young woman that had made the noise. He made a short wave to Danica as she entered. With the speed she moved, it was really no wonder she used that wonderful machine to get around. Turning back to Judy, still leaning slightly over to look past Ashley, he continued to smile at her. "Why, thank you. I do believe it is quite unusual around here, right?" He did love to talk about his adventures, but knowing little of how much time he had before the assembly would begin, Pan decided to be a bit quick about it. "I'm from another world entirely. I'm not quite sure where it is, and I have heard some theories about it being a, to you, alien planet, another dimension or reality entirely, but we just called it Neverworld." He cringed a bit at saying the name out loud, after all, who knew when he could return? "I don't know quite how I ended up here, but so far, I'm stuck, so I can just as well make the most of it. How about you two? You don't strike me as locals." He was genuinely interested. There was something he couldn't quite place that he found really interesting about their accents.

[Cubismo]

Ms Thursday

 

Astrid stuck it out her hand and gave Elizabeth a mighty handshake. She was very conscious of ensuring that it wasn't to strong of a handshake. Accidentally slamming a door was one thing but crushing someone's hand would probably get her kicked out of school on the first day. That, and probably charged by the cops. "it's a pleasure to meet you too, Elizabeth. The name's Astrid Torsten. You can call me Thursday if you want." 

 

She let go of Elizabeth's hand and put both of them behind her head. "You didn't bother me by the way. I get antsy too and totally get why you'd want to do something while we wait for this assemble to finally start." It was true, Astrid didn't do waiting all that well and was already starting to feel uncomfortable in her seat. She started to drum her fingers to the beat of one of her favorite songs to help keep her brain occupied.

 

"Anyways, do you play cards? You can sure shuffle them pretty well."

 

[Avenger Assembled]

"We're, um, from another dimension too," said Judy, glancing briefly at her sister who still hadn't done more than grunt Pan's way since the latter had sat down. "Not a nice one like yours, though," she added in a whisper. "At least it sounds nice," she went on. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked frankly. "Ah'm sorry if that's a rude question, but Ah never met anyone from another dimension before and it looks like we got a couple of minutes yet." 

 

[Fox]

"Not as much as you'd think," Elizabeth admitted, flexing her hand before returning it to the shuffle. She'd felt more fragile than she'd looked - energy overcoming frailty, maybe. "Once in a while, with my dad or brothers, when they'd let me - or mom, who's got a poker face that always shamed the whole table. I learned mostly for card tricks, that's the part I love." She cocked her head at the shuffle and frowned, piling them back into a single deck in one smooth motion. "Plus," she said, turning her head up to look at Astrid with an impossibly hurt, vulnerable innocence, "when people find out you know card tricks they won't trust you anymore."

 

She was pulling cards off the top of the deck now, face-up; four queens and a two. That was supposed to be four queens and an ace, which was annoying; she tried to not let it show. "I never figured out why they didn't want me dealing."