Crow Comes Home To Roost (IC) (Open)

[Electra]

"Not really a team," Erin told the newcomers, leading the way past the bank of vending machines and joining the food line, "but there's training in unarmed combat, and you can always spar with other students. Claremont doesn't have any real sports teams, but there are some intramural leagues for things like softball, basketball, and ultimate frisbee. 'S long as you can control your powers well enough that nobody's going to get hurt if you play, you can try out for any of them."

[Quinn]

Morgan looked slightly abashed as she mentioned powers, and he quickly turned his head away from her, speaking quietly.

"Right. Powers. Control. Got it."

Then he seemed to catch Marcus's comment, and he visibly brightened, winking at his fellow student and falling into a strange stance, throwing a couple of punches in the air and laughing.

"Have I boxed before? Buddy, you're talking to a four-time rookie champion here! Dornálíocht, Coraíocht, Speachóireacht, old-school fighting. It's the sweet science, man, best exercise in the world. And the bad guys never see it coming, they're all used to fancy martial arts or something. With good old-fashioned Irish boxing, it's wade in, pow pow pow, a good crack to the shins and the back of the neck, and they is down!"

He grinned wide, motioning at Marcus and Corbin as he gave them a friendly and appraising look.

"Heh, guys, with those builds you'd be hell on wheels in a ring. Ever thought of taking up the sweet science?"

[GranspearZX]

"Rookie champion, huh? ...hm." Marcus wasn't entirely sure what that meant. He wasn't about to question it; he really hadn't a clue what those Irish words meant, so he defaulted to his smile-and-nod social defense.

"Me? Did a little wrestling my freshman year at FDR, but nothing since then. Thought about it, but... it might end up badly for somebody." Marcus smiled. He wasn't trying to be arrogant or anything, but the honest fact was that he could already see himself switching forms in the middle of a fight. Hell, he'd done it once before already, shifting in a frenzied rage. The details were still a little bit fuzzy, and what he remembered, he was embarrassed to talk about. God only knew what would happen if he really let loose on someone. He hadn't even fully tapped into what the Beast Rune could do--or for that matter, what it could do to him.

"I just know enough to defend myself. That's good enough for me most days."

[Aoiroo]

Marcus was not at his dorm. She knew that almost as soon as she had made it to the door. She knocked to be polite but looked down at the notebook in her hand and let out a sigh. Closing her eyes she took a few seconds before focusing in on the familiar if not somewhat faded energy of the beast rune and began to follow the trail.

Honestly she might of gotten sidetracked from following the trail but it seemed to get more interesting as she followed it over to the upperclassmen dorms. First there was a rather faint and soothing energy she could not identify and the distinctly blue energy that she could. The additional trails made it easier to find her way to one of the few places on campus she avoided conciously. No other place in the school had the sheer amount of stainless steel, though she took a few breaths she started into the place as she moved almost as far away from the serving lines and through the table following the trail until she could see the two heads of the two magic users poking out of the crowd. They were accompanied by an athletic looking girl with reddish-brown hair, and a boy with a rather parculiar coat.

She approached mostly unnoticed by the group, though her outfit did turn a few other heads in the cafeteria.

"Hello Marcus,"

She smiled quietly as she held out the notebook,

"I found this in the library, it is yours yes?"

Looking from him to the rest of the table she kept her smile bright,

"Hello again Corbin, and hello new people. I am Etain."

[GranspearZX]

Marcus turned to face Etain, blinking at the offered notebook. It was his, alright; there were varying scribbles and sketches all over the front cover, with "M. Irons" in graffiti-style lettering right across the bottom. "Oh! I knew I felt kinda light... Thanks, Etain." He smiled as he reclaimed the lost notebook, tucking it underneath his right arm. For a minute he wondered how she'd managed to find him afterward, and so quickly at that... but then he realized how silly a question that was.

"Say, we're about to grab something to eat... you're welcome to join us if you want."

[Aoiroo]

She looked up at the serving line and shook her head,

"I would rather not. But I do not have to be any place, I could find a table."

The two boys she knew would take up the space of two people a piece. Plus herself and the two new people it would be nessicary to find a fully empty table just so they would all fit.

[KnightDisciple]

He grinned wide, motioning at Marcus and Corbin as he gave them a friendly and appraising look.

"Heh, guys, with those builds you'd be hell on wheels in a ring. Ever thought of taking up the sweet science?"

"Would be hard, even without my ring. Probably only a few people here could get a fair chance at taking me down. Besides, I'd rather wait until I've finished growing before I get too heavily into a combat style."

He smirked at the thought of getting even taller. Would be nice, in some ways...

"Besides, I'd rather take the time to be reading, researching, drawing, sculpting, or going out with my girlfriend. "

He lapsed into silence until Etain made herself known. He gave the slightly odd girl a polite incline of his head.

"Etain."

He stood back as the others discussed the merits of where to sit, trying to instead scan the food line. Always good to know what you were going to pick ahead of time...

[Quinn]

Crow looked intrigued as the line moved up, and he took a glance at the menu before turning back to face Corbin and the others.

"Ring? You're not getting messages from some giant flaming eye or being tailed by dudes in black robes, are you? That's pretty much the only ring of power I'm familiar with."

Well, and a few others that the Tuatha'd sell their own grandmothers for, but I don't reckon they need to know that.

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin smirks and holds up his ring hand. Blue ethereal flame dances out of it, spilling over his hand for a few moments before just disappearing.

"Well, it won't turn me invisible, but I bet I could poke out Sauron's eye, and any Nazgul would have a rough time of it with me. This sucker is way more than a one-trick pony. Flashier, too."

His hand goes back down to help hold his tray.

"Of course, it's been...well, let's just say I'm more than I was, even without the ring. With it, I may not be able to win against Erin in arm-wrestling, but I can at least hold my own."

[Quinn]

Crow looked at him, then at the others, an odd look on his face as he picked up his tray.

"Hmm. More than you were, huh? I guess...I could say I know the feeling. Shiny ring, though."

His expression changed to one akin to wild glee as he filled his tray, and as they reached the end of the line it became readily apparent that Morgan's appetite was somewhat...considerable. Very considerable, actually.

"This ought to tide me over until dinner. Given the amount of calories we all probably burn on a daily basis, you gotta keep well-stocked, yeh?"

[GranspearZX]

Marcus looked between Erin and Corbin. He couldn't beat her in arm-wrestling? She didn't really look it... but then, he didn't look like he could pick up a car, either. Looks could certainly be deceiving.

He was modest in that he didn't really pick up much to eat--at least, not in comparison to Morgan; Marcus still had considerably more than most average people might be able to eat. He often joked that he was eating for two. That wasn't entirely untrue.

"My... abilities aren't quite as flashy as all that. Although I could probably make something that looks like it." He'd of course, need a lot of materials and a couple of months--years, probably. The first item he'd ever made took nearly a week, although he admittedly was correcting mistakes most of that time. That's what was in the notebook Etain had returned to him--design notes.

[Electra]

Erin didn't participate much in the conversation, being busy filling her tray with food, but she did smile a little bit at the arm-wrestling comment. "It doesn't so much matter who can beat who at arm-wrestling or boxing," she pointed out, "it's what you do in the training room or in the field that counts. And it's not whether you have flashy powers, it's whether you save the day." She carried her tray over to an empty table near the window, setting it down and starting in on the pile of fresh fruit she'd picked up.

[Aoiroo]

When the four of them came out of the line, it was not terribly hard to find the table Etain had choosen. One because the girl herself with her unique taste in clothing stood out in the cafeteria, two because it was the only table in the cafeteria which instead of being shiny and white was covered with a flowery yellow tablecloth with a matching vase in the center with three large sunflowers poking out. Etain herself had a brown bag lunch which she was removing a sandwich out of.

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin had not been idle as he spoke; his tray was, staggeringly, filled the highest of all. More than half of it was some sort of protein source (read: meat), with the rest being a decent mixture of "staple food types".

"Food's better here than at my last school."

He trudged over with the others, nodding rather solemnly as Erin spoke.

"You're right, Erin. I was simply trying to give Morgan a baseline."

He didn't realize the new student had no clue Erin could tie them all into a pretzel without a sweat.

"Though, I don't mind having a bit of style as I save the day,if I do say so myself."

[Quinn]

Morgan shrugged as he took a seat, looking with approval at the tablecloth and flowers.

"When I'm fightin', I tend to throw two things into the mix. Power, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide. If nailin' some jerk with an inferiority complex and death ray over the head from behind with a blunt object'll be more likely to work than charging in headfirst, better to cheat and save the day, yeh?"

Upon finishing that rather surprising speech, he tucked in, surfacing for air briefly a few seconds later and adding an extra thought before digging in again.

"Agree with Corbin, though, nothin' like makin' the bad guys look like monkeys. The looks on their faces can be absolutely priceless."

[GranspearZX]

Marcus just stared at Morgan for a minute. Had he ever been in a real confrontation before? He wasn't sure what to say, though the Beast Rune was having a profound effect on his opinion. He merely grunted at Morgan's speech, absently chewing on a carrot. "I'm usually more worried about practical stuff. Like, say, keeping spirits from possessing little kids. Can't say I've ever been concerned with the looks on their faces."

He had, of course, noticed Etain's tablecloth; until then, he'd forgotten why she never came to the cafeteria. He blinked at the sunflowers for a second, then realized where it all probably came from.

[Aoiroo]

Etain had taken a bite and chewed quietly while they talked as she examined the overall atmosphere. The other girl seemed relaxed, but at the same time ready to spring if something were to go wrong. The boy talking about fighting seemed to know a bit about it, that and the coat made him rather an interest. Marcus seemed to fill the role of the more naturally gentle person she made him out to be dispite the nature of his magic.

"Fighting here has been rather strange for me, the annoying ones are always so surprised whenever I hurt them. This bigger guy who was fond of cursing, he was almost instantly angered when I ran him through with a polearm after he sent out a challenge to fight him and held several people hostage to do so."

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin cut off a slice of chicken Parmesan and chewed thoughtfully for a few moments, considering Morgan's words, and Marcus's response. He swallowed, dabbed his mouth with a napkin, and spoke.

"It ain't about smashing villain faces, or getting a thrill of satisfaction from doing so. It's about helping people. If I have to let a criminal get away, just to save an innocent life, I'll do so in a heart beat. We, all of us, have power and skill. Way I see it, that power means we ought to help people.

Don't get me wrong, I like bashing bad guys. But it's all about priorities, in the end."

He shrugs and goes back to eating.

[Quinn]

Crow's head surfaced from his mound of food as Marcus mentioned spirits and kids, and his face looked positively murderous momentarily before it assumed a rather neutral mean. His voice was monotone as he replied, an odd popping sound coming from his knuckles.

"Kids are off-limits. End of story. You ever find something like that, give me a shout; I'd be glad to help catch whatever SOB tried it."

For a moment, he seemed slightly off-kilter, but then recovered and looked at Corbin with a bit of a contrite face.

"Rule number two; help those who can't help themselves...you're right, man. Heh. Sometimes you get wrapped up in focusing on the battle that you can't see what you really should be looking at. Thanks...for the reminder. Frankly, Corbin, I can think of several individuals with a great deal of power that could stand to hear that kind of thinking. Not that they'd listen though, prideful idiots..."

He looked upwards at the ceiling, almost as if he was looking through it, and made a face. At Etain's comment, he looked, blinked, then it seemed to dawn on him, and he spoke in a voice that was equal parts amused, surprised, and impressed.

"Wait. You were the one who gacked Knievel from behind on live TV?! I saw that when he hijacked the signal, you really ticked him off something fierce. Nicely done...Etain, was it? I'd take my hat off to you, if I had a hat."

He winked at her, clearly amused and impressed by the young lady, and made a motion as if doffing an imaginary hat before tucking in again.

[Aoiroo]

"It is good to protect than fight, though I am not so good at the first."

Really it was hard when nothing she made was real, even if she cloaked any innocents from sight that had it's own dangers. Looking at the young man she smiled,

"Is that what he is called? Such a strange brutish man, I did not think it would be worth while to try and remember his name. Speaking of which, neither you nor the girl have given a name."

[Electra]

Erin raised an eyebrow, both at being referred to as though she couldn't respond and at Etain's overall odd way of speaking. Rather than make an issue of it, though, she just said, "I'm Erin. My codename is Wander, I'm on Young Freedom." It was more interesting to learn what the new kids were going to bring to the table than to talk about herself. She already knew Corbin was solid, but the jury was still out on the others. Well, she'd said it herself, nothing really mattered except what you did when the chips were down.

[Aoiroo]

She ignored the expression and met Erin by holding out her hand over the table to her,

"It is nice to meet you Erin. Correct me if I am mistaken, that is the school heroes yes? I do not know very much about heroe teams, I have not lived here for very long."

Here was about the broadest term there could be to where she was living, especially since she still couldn't give out any specifics about her origins. She doubted that her being from another realm would raise any eyebrows at Claremont, but she didn't want to bring it up unnessicarily.

[Electra]

Erin, who had both hands occupied peeling an orange, didn't feel particularly moved to stop long enough to shake hands, but she gave Etain a thin smile and a nod instead. "Yes, Young Freedom's based out of Claremont. It's us and Next Gen mostly, but they haven't been doing too much lately." She looked over to Marcus. "So what's your specialty?" she asked with polite curiosity. He seemed more levelheaded than the other two new ones, for all he didn't really talk a lot.

[Quinn]

Crowe's head arose from the mound of food again, and he looked at Etain, speaking somewhat reluctantly.

"Well, since she's given a codename...name's Morgan, Morgan Crowe. Guess my codename's...well, Crow. Yeah, sounded better when I picked it. Don't bother racking your brains, I haven't really done much to merit it yet."

Morgan shrugged, looking at Erin with a similar look to Etain's earlier statement, surprised and impressed.

"Young Freedom? Damn, I'd only heard a few things about them from my dad. And you're one of them...yeesh. My feelings of inadequacy grow ever larger."

His voice on the last line was deadpan, but he soon grinned widely to show the joke before diving back into the (now greatly reduced) pile of food.

[GranspearZX]

"TV? ...huh. That must've been when I was in Pennsylvania..." He really didn't want to say any more than that; Etain had tried to get it out of him once, but he still didn't really want to talk about it. It was bad enough that he was being forced to see the school's counselors after the close call and the subsequent fallout from it... He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, reaching around to scratch at his right shoulder.

"Mm?" He looked up as Erin spoke, swallowing the celery he'd been chewing on. "My codename's 'Arcturus'... Arc works just fine though. Most of my ability is magical, I guess you could say. Spells, charms, the whole nine. There's also the whole transformation thing, but that's complicated." He smiled; complicated was quite the understatement. As long as no one asked for a demonstration, he was fine.