Settling In (IC)

[KnightDisciple]

It was a bright, clear afternoon as Corbin Hughes was, once again, sketching. He was doing that a lot lately, finding that it helped him better cope with his new situation, and helped keep his skills sharp. Whether he was drawing Freedom City skylines, his fellow students, or (as he was today), some part of the Claremont Academy grounds.

Today, he was perched in a tree, resting on one of the thicker branches with his back against the trunk; he was facing the two dormitory buildings, with their oddly different styles of architecture. He was perhaps halfway through his work at the moment, just slowly tracing the lines of the buildings, glancing up every so often to make sure he had a good reference.

All in all, it wasn't too bad of an afternoon.

[Electra]

Up in a tree, there wasn't a lot of company, so it was a little surprising when something leapt down beside him, lightly bumping his thigh. Examination revealed a gangly orange cat that looked about half-grown, in that awkward stage between kittenhood and cathood. He, and it was definitely a he, had a glossy coat that spoke of good care and feeding, and a blue collar with a round copper tag. Perching on the branch next to Corbin, the cat regarded him from calm yellow eyes, then purred and licked one front paw with an excess of nonchalance.

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin smiled at the cat's casual attitude to a human in the tree.

"Well hello there, little mister. I see you enjoy getting away from it all as well."

He reached over to pet the cat, running his hand down its back for a bit, before reaching to lightly scratch under its chin. After a couple of scratches, he gently reached for the tag.

"I'm not kicking you out, but I figure I might as well know your name, and who I'll need to find if you decide to hang out with me for a while. I can't stay up here forever, after all. Be glad you cats don't have homework."

After a bit more time giving the cat some attention, Corbin quietly returned to his drawing, making sure not to accidentally jostle the cat as he did so.

[Electra]

Oddly enough, just sitting in the quiet tree and petting the purring cat was very soothing, easing some of the nerves that came with transitioning to a new school and a whole new way of life. The cat didn't protest having his collar examined, so it was easy to read the embossed "OLIVER", as well as the local Freedom City phone number. He seemed perfectly content to sit next to Corbin and watch the world pass by beneath them for awhile, occasionally looking up as though actually interested in what Corbin was drawing.

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin chuckled at the name.

"Your owner has a nice sense of humor."

He then continued drawing, occasionally tilting his pad a bit to give the cat a better look.

"You know, this place isn't so bad. I mean, it's different, but I kind of like it. I just wish I could get to know a few more people. Coming in with the school year underway, even if only by a couple of weeks, really makes you feel out of place. Still, the few people I've managed to chat with outside of class seem decent enough. I'm sure not everyone here is a shining example of how to be a teenager, but them's the breaks, huh Oliver?"

He glances at the cat, a smirk on his face, and chuckled a bit more as he spoke.

"I guess so long as you're fed, petted, and occasionally brushed, you don't give a flip, do you?"

[Electra]

Oliver rose and stretched, almost like he was shrugging, and gave Corbin a lazy look. He was about to settle back in when his entire demeanor suddenly changed, ears pricking forward and eyes going alert as he watched students exit the classroom building below. They looked like older students, juniors or seniors, and only a couple people Corbin even recognized. The group separated, some of them going towards the cafeteria or the dorms, others coming this way. With no more warning than a shiver of his tail, the cat suddenly dove off the branch, fearlessly plummeting towards the ground!

Well before he could hit the ground, Oliver was scooped out of the air by one of the students, a tall, auburn-haired girl whose reflexes were obviously quite a bit better than the average human's. "You nutcase," she told the cat affectionately, "one day I'm not going to be paying attention and you'll be sorry. The cat purred, seemingly unworried by that possibility as he climbed up to perch on her shoulder. With the cat settled, she looked up to see where he'd come from and caught sight of the student in the trees.

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin eyed the assortment of peers exiting the building.

"Hm. I guess that's the history class."

Having scored high in previous years, Corbin was in an advanced history class, reserved for those at the school looking for a career in the field. It also meant that next year (his senior year), he'd have even more free time, as he'd be able to forgo any history classes at all. It did make his schedule a bit odd, though.

When Oliver hopped down, he started to react...Then saw the girl catch the wily cat. He breathed a sigh of relief before packing away his materials into his worn backpack. He'd finished the sketch anyways. After that moment's work, the young man shouldered the bag, and simply pushed himself off of the branch. For a brief moment, he was falling through the air, but a light blue glow surrounded him, causing him to instead float gently to the ground. Once his feet touched soil, the glow faded.

A smile on his face, he stepped forward, offering the girl his hand to shake.

"Hello. Oliver here kept me company for a bit up in that tree. I take it you're his human, as it were? My name's Corbin. Corbin Hughes. I'm actually new, if you're wondering why you don't recognize me."

[Electra]

"Hi," the girl said with a smile, shaking his hand in a firm grip. "I'm Erin White. I'm a senior here this year." She didn't seem to be too startled by his floating demonstration, but then, anyone who'd spent much time here probably got used to seeing superpowers in action. "Oliver likes to sniff out new people, I think he feels it helps him keep his paw on the pulse of the school. Where are you from, and what year are you?" she asked.

[KnightDisciple]

"Hi," the girl said with a smile, shaking his hand in a firm grip. "I'm Erin White. I'm a senior here this year." She didn't seem to be too startled by his floating demonstration, but then, anyone who'd spent much time here probably got used to seeing superpowers in action. "Oliver likes to sniff out new people, I think he feels it helps him keep his paw on the pulse of the school. Where are you from, and what year are you?" she asked.

Corbin nods.

"Nice to meet you Erin. As for Oliver, like I said, I don't mind. Glad somebody's keeping an eye on things."

His smile fades a bit at the "where are you from" question.

"Well. Originally, I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. My parents and I moved here a couple months ago; they got jobs in the city here, and couldn't really commute. The house is up in North Bay, but they're in and out at such odd hours, they decided it'd be better if I was here. Alongside a couple other factors.

Anyways, I'm a junior. I'm in the advanced history course, since that's what I'm looking to major in in college. Still kind of finding my pace around here, if you know what I mean."

[Electra]

"Yeah, it takes awhile," Erin agreed with a nod, absently scratching Oliver's head. "It's weird coming to a place where everyone is different in different ways. But you'll probably get used to it pretty fast. And if you're doing well with your schoolwork, that's a leg up right there. Gives you more time to concentrate on other stuff. You a Cards fan?" she asked with some interest. "I was hoping to see them last time they came up to play, but getting the time is kind of tough. Plus last time we went to a game, a supervillain attacked." She shrugged. "There's always TV."

[KnightDisciple]

"Yeah, Claremont's not exactly my old high school. Doesn't help I'm meeting everyone fresh and new. I mean, new friends are good, but you get the idea.

Schoolwork's schoolwork, I suppose.

Cardinals? A bit. I'm not as into sports as some people think, but I definitely cheer them on. And I can understand time crunch; balancing school, or a job, with the whole hero thing seems tough. I've not really done much of any hero stuff yet myself. Really, I prefer catching them on TV anyways. Food's cheaper at home, and I like being able to hear and see the game, you know? Even the prime box seats get a little loud. But with TV, you can mute or whatever. I guess I just like the greater control."

Here he shrugs, adjusting his backpack as he does so.

[Electra]

"Yeah, I guess." Erin looked a little disappointed at his lack of baseball enthusiasm, but she shrugged it off easily enough. "Anyway, it is a lot like a really small high school here, except that the extracurriculars are kind of weird. But it does take awhile to meet people, I guess. This is just my second year here, so I don't really know how it usually is for new students who come in. I've made some pretty good friends here, though. Do you go out and patrol already, or is that something you're gonna learn while you're here?"

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin shook his head.

"No patrols yet. I've ended up taking care of a couple incidents off-campus when I was nearby, but I'm saving patrols for after I've worked more with my powers."

He holds up his right hand, the ring on his middle finger sitting there rather prominently. The blue gem in the center of the seemingly humble piece of jewelry glowed with an odd inner light.

"I've only had this for a few months, and I haven't managed to decode either the writing on it, or on the cave walls where it was found. Worse, the cave collapsed, so all I have is the video I got. So I know what it does right now, but not what it might be able to do. So no patrols for a bit yet."

[Electra]

"Makes sense," Erin said with a nod. "There's enough to get used to at this school already. There's lots of time." She looked curiously at the ring while he spoke, wondering what he meant. She hadn't met anyone who had object based powers before, so it took a little while to make the connection. "Oh, so your powers come from the ring?" she asked. "Like it's magic or something, and you found it in a cave?"

[KnightDisciple]

He shrugs helplessly.

"I think it uses magic or a similar principle. It's old, because I found it in a sealed chamber at Masada. With ancient Hebrew writing. But the writing on the wall seems like it's in nonsense phrases, and the ring only has a couple of words on it. So for all I know, it could be alien supertech left there. Or magic. Or something that taps into some sort of exotic energy via crystal properties. I have vague theories based on the context of the find, but I don't want to let them color my translation efforts. If I can determine its origin, it'll give incredible insight to the area. I think I can even determine what time period it's from."

As he talks about history and translations and so forth, he gets more and more animated. Clearly this is a subject he is passionate about.

[Electra]

Erin listened attentively as Corbin spoke, though most of it wasn't anywhere near her field of expertise. She was used to that, since her expertise mostly involved hitting things. Oliver seemed quite interested too, focusing on Corbin with his big yellow eyes and tilting his ears forward to listen. Erin never knew how much he was actually absorbing, but she got the unsettling feeling that the cat understood more of the conversation than she did. "Maybe you could talk to some of the teachers here about it," she suggested. "Or maybe like Phantom or somebody. They know a lot about magic and old languages and stuff."

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin looks thoughtful, then slowly nods.

"I'll run it by them. Is there anyone that's good with codes and ciphers? I think I pretty much have the right literal translation. But like I said, it's all nonsense. I need a key word or something."

He shrugs, then speaks with a lop-sided grin.

"In the meantime, I'll just keep practicing, studying, and drawing. With the occasional crime-fighting thrown in, eh?"

[Electra]

"I don't know," Erin admitted. "None of that is really my area of expertise. I only even know about Phantom because I babysit her kid. But I think probably if you ask around, someone will point you in the right direction. Anyway," she said with a shrug, "lots of people don't know very much about the origin of their powers and they still do fine. It's probably not a big deal for now while you're still learning how to use it and all."

[KnightDisciple]

"It's mostly just curiosity, with a bit of "wanting to have a better idea of the ring's limits" thrown in."

Thinking for a moment, Corbin started heading towards the cafeteria.

"I'm hungry, and they should have food out now. I'm getting a bit. You're welcome to come, but otherwise, I'll see you later."

Corbin's long strides ate up the ground as he power-walked towards the Claremont cafeteria.

[Electra]

"I've got to take Oliver home and... um, bye." Erin trailed off as Corbin walked purposefully away, then shrugged her shoulders. "He must be really hungry," she told Oliver, turning in the direction of the dorms. "He seemed okay, though. I guess you must have liked him. Anyway, like I was saying, I have a huge pile of history homework to do, and training this evening, so it's granola bars for me for lunch. Yeah, I know," she chuckled when Oliver sneezed disapproval. "I'll make it up later."