ic New Shipments

[The Sailor]

Sakurako let Merlin ride her shoulder some more. "Actually... most of the time I relax in the library or I head out into the Atlantic past the continental shelf and sink until it's black around me and just... drift. It's how I clear my mind. Or I try to solve a problem in my head."

"After all that is what a genius like me does... try to stop the brain for a few minutes and just... be in the moment. No stimulation, no sound just... silence."

She turns her gaze to Raina. "Thing is, I've seen things that are better than any movie. I'm still hunting game... the very nature of the universe... I chase the unknown but sometimes I just like to be in the unknown. Not to know it, but to simply enjoy it's presence, you know? To enjoy it before it's mapped, charted, measured down to some fiddly detail. Then it isn't fun. Then it's just strip malls and highways, you know? At some point it's... Boring. To be honest, it gets tiring, running. Chasing the unknown before it's known... not to discover it, but to just see it as something new... then keep the secret." She says with a smile. Nothing dark or foreboding, but someone genuinely who loves what they do. "It's like when you're a little kid, let loose into the forest for the first time and you see something there... a pond, the trees are just right, the smell is welcoming. It's... magical. Like you discovered someplace that only you know. I don't have that luxury to share that when I find something... Now what gives me that feeling... well it's sad I can't share it easily, and it's so hard to catch that feeling. without going someplace others can't follow."

"It might seem weird... but it's better than watching some pop-culture produced fantasy for two hours."

She holds out her arm to Raina to let Merlin return. "I'm sorry, but my form of entertainment... might not be for most people."

"Also if Merlin's gonna help... he walks. Something tells me he's his own monkey and doesn't need no shoulder."

Edited September 20, 2015 by The Osprey

[Electra]

Merlin huffed and chattered an annoyed response to Sakurato's extended arm. He wasn't speaking English, certainly, but somehow it was clearly obvious that he was suggesting that if she wanted his help with her broken toy, she ought to be a little bit more accommodating of the short-legged. 

"He prefers being carried when we're going places outdoors," Raina supplied dryly. "He can defend himself against predators and feet, but it's just easier not to. I'm sure a genius like you can understand the need to conserve one's energy for the production of scientific excellence. Scuse me a second." 

She walked over to the other little knot of students, where Huang had wound up. "Hey, where'd the kid with the crossbow go?" 

[The Sailor]

Sakurako smiled, returning her arm. "Well... I could see the benefits... I'll keep my hovering speed to a brisk walk."

She produces a couple peanut M&Ms to Merlin. "I think this payment should suffice for your assistance then?" She said as she started to hover. "Okay, I got some work to do, I'm eating up everyone's time. We can meet up for lunch later to talk about stuff. Like... perhaps what's your favorite horror film or something." She said, waving her hand to the side as she starts to hover off.

"Shouldn't take long."

 

I am making my exit but people can do whatever in this thread. If people are interested in a couple days mind doing a lunch out in the city thread that becomes something... bigger?

 

Edited September 20, 2015 by The Osprey

[angrydurf]

"I look forward to it."  Huang replied as Riley took his leave, and turned his attention back to Raina and the girls, "Well Downtown has the millenium mall, champions, movie theaters and all that tourist trash stuff."  he noted with a shrug, "There's the old amusement park but that place is creepy."  he noted with a shrug as his upbringing left such blatantly saccharine environs clearly sinister in his mind, "But more generally it's a big city entertainments abound."  he said with a smile and small laugh.

He smirked at Sakurakos' explanation and exchange with Raina and remarked with an amused tone, "Now that is adorable, the undiscovered country and all that." his tone thick the the haughty ego of a practitioner of the mystic arts for those who 'limited' themselves to science.

[Electra]

"I know, right?" Raina rolled her eyes. "Apparently mere mortals like ourselves are too dumb to understand the joys of getting stoned as hell and thinking about science for a few hours. I didn't have the heart to tell her what Merlin does in his spare time, and he's at least as smart as she is. She'd probably get the vapors at the idea of a scientific genius playing computer games all day. Whatever." She waved a hand. "So, creepy amusement park, huh?" Raina grinned. "Sounds like it might be right up my alley. What do you think the odds are on sneaking in after closing sometime?" 

[Heritage]

Casey looked between Huang and Riley, her face stiff with self-control as a white-hot ball of fury seethed in her belly; how dare these two Goth wanabees or whatever they were make fun of her friend? But her mom had always told her that if you got mad, it was best to take a deep breath and count to ten before you said anything. So she dutifully took in a lungful of air, and then started counting under her breath.

"One, two, three, four..." Suddenly her head snapped up, and she spoke with uncharacteristic venom and snark. "Boy, I hope all spellcasters aren't as big of jerks as you two; folks might get the wrong idea." She jabbed a finger after the departing tech genius. "Saku might be a little weird sometimes, but at least she's nice to people she barely knows! And what makes magic so much better than science, anyways? Have you guys cured cancer yet?"

Yep, Mom would be reaaaaal proud of her right now!

[Thunder King]

Hannah walked away. She was hovering in the background, watching the conversation, not saying anything. Watching everything just dissolve into hostility made her decide that maybe it wasn't a good idea to stick around. She wasn't a scientist, she didn't know magic, she didn't even know any of these people. She didn't have a side in the conflict. She just didn't want to be part of it. 

So, quiet as a mouse, she stepped away from the group and put her headphones back on. Looks like some things didn't change about school. 

Edited September 21, 2015 by Thunder King

[angrydurf]

Huang`s wry chuckle halted at the rather vitriolic response to his jest.  He turned from Raina to raise a brow at Casey his nature making backing down from the conflict all but impossible.  "Well to start with, your little friends awkwardness aside, she did in effect say that the rest of us couldn't possibly understand the trials of being wealthy and brilliant and unable to enjoy the simple entertainments of simpler people, Hardly friendly,"  he countered archly his posture straightening and his voice taking on a more resonant tone as he got started.

"Secondly,"  he intoned broadly, "Neither of us said science was inferior to the mystic arts merely that the assumption that her endeavors were pushing boundaries was rather short sighted considering the real breadth of the cosmos."  he added with a shrug.

"Thirdly, science hasn't so hardly a valid counterpoint, and there are arts though complex and non scaleable that can eliminate such threats for individuals with sufficient effort and energies expended."  he explained with a shrug.  "Frankly however I tire of the assumption that brilliance manifests alone in scientific endeavor, to say the artist, writer, entertainer, or poet is but an imbecile next to the efforts of the engineer or chemist is insulting at best and a dire prediction of your race's future at worse."  The haughty Dhampir had had quite enough of the demeaning of that which was not evidence based and rigorous of his extended family dinners to ignore another round of it and its defense here and now when his mother couldn't scold him for calling it out.

Of course as he worked himself into high dudgeon Huang as well outed himself as not in fact human but that was neither here nor there.

[Electra]

Raina had looked surprised at Casey's outburst, her expression turning to agreement and then amusement as Huang proceeded to expound upon the magic versus science debate. "That was a hell of a speech," she told him, tongue in her cheek. "You practice that one for the debate team? I think you'd be a shoo-in." Still wearing the amused expression, she turned to the fuming Casey. "But he's got a point. If total condescension and just absolutely dismissing everything that somebody else likes is what counts as nice around here, well, I guess I owe my great-aunt Amelia an apology for not believing her stories about city folk. But on the other hand, I'll probably wind up the nicest person here, so hey!" 

She looked back to Huang. "Now, amusement park?" she prompted. 

[Heritage]

Huang's torrent of speech threw Casey a bit; she understood all the words, but something about their particular arrangement made it a bit hard to follow. Wait, did he say 'your race'? That might explain the pointy teeth.

Had her friend been condescending? The sad fact was sometimes when Endeavor got going, the blonde jock kind of zoned out, so maybe she'd missed something. Saku did get a little Sheldon Cooper sometimes.

"I wasn't saying science was better than magic; you were saying magic was better than science! And I think art and poetry and all that other stuff is great! I-"

Obviously she was too angry to think straight, and looking at Raina's smug amused face just made her want to drive her fist through a wall; best to leave, take a cold shower and let it go. Finally she held up her hands, then let them drop.

"You know what, forget it, just forget it. It's pointless to argue about this stuff anyway. Good luck in school."

Shouldering up her bag, Casey took to the air and arced her way back towards her dorm, hoping those ten pints of ice cream were still there.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Heritage

[Tiffany Korta]

Cathy had pitched in as the conversation drifted to more esoteric matters, when you lived in and isolated location you tended to relly a little bit of both at times. The argument didn’t bother her that much anyway, she’d heard much more passionate arguments down the pub. They did normally tended to end a little more amicably, though alcohol was involved so it was sometime a friendly punch up.

“Um well I guess that it for the official welcome then! Should we go find our dorm rooms now? I’m interested to see who my roommate is.”

[Almilee]

Jimmy's arrival to school was a rather unremarkable event for anyone else. But, for his family, it was incredibly traumatic, as was made clear by the fact his mother decided that if she hugged him hard enough, he would decide to return home instead. It wasn't quite clear to the young man exactly why she would think that. As far as he could tell, being unable to breathe would only make him want to stop there. It took forever to untangle himself and get his parents to be done with the tearful goodbyes, but finally he grabbed his suitcases and headed into the school. 

***

Hearing a semi-quiet argument in the distance, Jimmy's attention was drawn to the small group when he finally reached the school. He was huffing and wheezing - maybe he should have asked his family to help move his stuff. But noooo, he had to be independent. He could have slapped himself. Hearing someone talking about official welcomes and finding dorm rooms, though, returned his breathing to normal. 

The small African-American kid approached the group, dragging a pair of suitcases behind him. With him came the slightest hint of a heat increase, and every now and then something in the air around him would shimmer, almost like a mirage. Jimmy was dressed simply, wearing an unzipped grey hoodie over a red t-shirt, with cargo pants and sneakers. Most of it looked new, but definitely not expensive.

He let one of his suitcases go, raising a hand in greeting and trying to recall how one introduced themselves to someone they'd never met. People on TV were usually really awkward about it, as far as he could recall. Not helpful. "Hi! Uh, I'm new to the school, I'm a Junior, and you said something about an official welcome, and, dorm rooms?" He spoke quickly, just barely keeping from stumbling over his words. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by Almilee

[Electra]

Raina gave the new kid a quick, assessing look, then favored him with an equally quick crooked grin. "Hey Jimmy, you're late," she pointed out. "We're just heading over to the dorms to have a look at the roommate assignments. You gonna survive the trip over?" She gave his suitcases a look, her own single suitcase still floating like an obedient balloon behind her. "Go ahead and toss yours on top of mine if you want, it doesn't make any difference. I'm Raina, this is Huang and that's Cathy," she added, with a gesture at each as she named them. "So what's your super-special power?" 

[angrydurf]

Huang glanced at the straggler and nodded an easy greeting, "Hey there, Huang."  he introduced somewhat redundantly given Raina already had but certain forms were built in pretty deep for the young Dhampir.  "You didn't miss much don't worry."  he added with a grin that flashed just a hint of hidden fang, "And the orientation stuff shouldn't have started."  he mused with a shrug.  He began to stride off toward the dorms and roommate assignments with an easy gait, "You local or just getting in from out of town Jimmy?"  he asked casually and gestured tot he tables set up to welcome new students, "Think its right over there."

[Almilee]

Jimmy blinked at Raina and her floating suitcase. It's funny - he hadn't actually noticed it was floating until she drew attention to it. The prospect of tossing his stuff on top and letting her handle the hard work was definitely a good one. On the other hand, he didn't really want to seem like the weak one who needed help right from the start. Jimmy coughed and shook his head. "Nice to meet you, but, I'll handle it. I need the exercise anyway!" The declaration was accompanied by a cheerful grin, which disappeared as soon as she asked about his powers.

It took a second of thinking to figure out how to answer. What was he supposed to say? He wasn't 100% clear if there was some short and succinct way of explaining his powers, so he went the long route. "Oh, I turn into a blue giant who can fly and shoot energy out of his hands." It was a solid enough description, he figured. To really get more specific he'd have to actually show them, which he wasn't planning on doing until he had to. "And you...make things fly?" Half of him thought that was kind of a lame power. The other half of him realized that it was at least a useful power, which was more than he could say.

The short man nodded at Huang, frowning a little at the possibility of seeing a fang - but maybe it was a trick of his mind. "Nice to meet you too. I'm new, from New York. Or, well, originally. I've been all over. And you?" He followed along politely towards the dorm, dragging his suitcases behind him, but seemingly distracted enough by the conversation to not notice the effort.

[Tiffany Korta]

“Well I’m from a wee bit further than everyone else, as I’m sure you can tell by my accent. I’m from a small Scottish island that, almost, no one has heard off.” her accent did seem to agree with her statement.

As they seemed to be moving to the dorms she’d tried to shoulder her extra large bag to her shoulder, she wasn’t as strong as she was sure some of them were here.

“I think we scared off our official guides with a slight disagreement. But luckily I've got pretty good idea of where we've got to go.” she didn’t suggest any blame about the reason they’d lost the seniors.

[Electra]

"You know how seniors are, they obviously had better things to do," Raina said blithely, heading for the dorm with her suitcase still bobbing along behind her. "Though that one did run off with my monkey. She better at least feed him before she gives him back, it's only fair. How do you think they did the roommate assigments?" she wondered aloud. "Like random chance, or some crazy psychological assessment? I just don't want to end up with somebody really lame for a roommate, like somebody who's gonna be all narcing to the RAs if anybody has any fun. Can you imagine having to be in by curfew every night, even on weekends? And never have any boys in your room? Their rules here are straight out of the fifties." Raina bounced a little as she walked, all barely contained nervous energy and bravado. 

[GooseInduced]

Flynn wouldn't own to being lost. Why would he be lost? It wasn't like he hadn't given the campus map a cursory glance on his way out the door. He just... didn't pay very close attention to the directory. He had no idea where to go to find out about his room assignment. They didn't exactly have an internet connection at home and it never came in the mail. He wasn't surprised. He swore the mailman would dump the stuff a week at a time so he wouldn't have to come by. It wasn't their house that was trouble, it was the neighborhood. That was the Fens though, not the most welcoming of places.

 

It made the campus feel so much more.... awkward than it probably should have been. It was nice, WAY nicer than the public school he attended before. He didn't see a lick of graffiti or cops skulking and looking for someone with a knife. It was... nice. Really nice.

But he didn't have time to muse about the immaculate campus. He had other things to worry about. Hopefully he could find someone willing to point him in the right direction... without looking like an idiot. He only wished the campus was a little smaller. It wasn't that his backpack was heavy, it was the trunk. Sure it had wheels, but the thing was big and heavy and sturdy and had a lock.... It didn't seem very likely to keep his suit safe but it was all he had. 

 

As Flynn approached a talkative group of kids he suddenly felt like he wouldn't fit in here. He was just a kid from the Fens. Everything he owns fit into a backpack and a trunk, and most of the trunk was the Gryphon suit.... Some of them were dressed really well and he was just in a hoodie and some jeans, baggy ones as that. Still, he steeled himself, head held high and his bright eyes sharp and ready.... just in case. Though really all he could use to defend himself was words, His dang suit was locked in the trunk. "Where can I find out about housing?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Suddenly, there was a faint poof of outrushing air - and the young heroes realized they weren't alone!

Standing there on the quad about halfway between Raina's group and the new arrival stood a college-age guy in a bright-red costume, antenna sticking up over his head and big orange goggles giving him the vague appearance of an ant. "Hey, everybody!" he announced with a cheerful wave. "I'm Whoop-Ant, and I'm your tour guide! Welcome to Claremont, you guys!" He beamed expansively, then went on, "Whoop-Ant, the...eh, anyway, I mostly do dimensional adventures these days. And I go to college." He waved his hand and grinned. "But right now, I'm here to answer your questions and show you to your rooms. I bet you guys haven't even done the room-mate lotto yet." 

[Almilee]

"Oh, cool, Scotland. I've never been there, how is it?" Jimmy tilted his head questioningly at Cathy, but then was immediately distracted when Raina went off on her rant about how they did roommate assignments. Well, maybe not a rant. Tangent, at least. Followed by four other tangents. "I'm sure they did it based on a personality analysis, and individual needs. Or at least, I hope." Jimmy didn't want to be stuck in a room with someone who'd complain endlessly about being irradiated. That would just suck the fun right out of his time here.

"Those rules sound pretty silly, yeah. But, you know, they can't actually really stop you from doing what you want. I mean, they can kick you out, or otherwise provide carrot or stick, but, ultimately, you can still decide to do the thing. You just might not like the consequences."  The philosophy on rules and regulations dumped out quickly from his mouth, which was frozen into a smile.

Then, he heard someone talking to them, and he turned. Just in time to catch the dude who suddenly appeared! Jimmy sounded the name out quickly, 'Whoop-ant'. Well, it was a weird name, but hey, he graduated, so he couldn't be too bad. "Hi! I'm Jimmy. No, we haven't, not yet, we were just heading over."

[Tiffany Korta]

Cathy hadn’t considered that the rooms would be assigned randomly she’d had thought that they’d consider her “condition” before assigning her a roommate. Would any roommate want to share with someone who could after a rough night cover the room with a layer of frost?

She timidly raised her hand to attract Whoop-Ant’s attention before asking if her fears would be realised.

“Are the assignments done completely randomly? Are we allowed to swap assignments if it could cause trouble to the others roommate?”

[Thunder King]

Hannah had more or less aimlessly wandered away from where the students were, and had accidentally arrived where they were now. Upon hearing about the roommate discussion, she realized it might be a good idea to get back involved. The students that remained were all in her class, and the argument must have gotten settled. So, quietly, wordlessly, she walked back up.

"Um, Hannah Cooper, new student." She said, loudly enough for Whoop-Ant to hear, if barely.

[Electra]

"Roommate lotto, huh?" Raina mused. "That oughta come up with some screwed up pairings. How many tickets do we get to buy?" she quipped, then looked over to the new student. His trunk was even bigger than the suitcases Jimmy was hauling along, and he was looking harassed. "You're just in time, we're about to figure out where we're gonna live for the year. "I'm Raina, there's Huang, Cathy, Hannah, and Jimmy," she added, pointing to each in turn. "So are you hauling bodies around in that thing or what? You look like you're ready for your first year at Hogwarts." She smiled just enough to take the harsh edge off the teasing. 

[angrydurf]

"Oh yea so you're at least at home with the big city thing you'll get the lay of hte land pretty quick."  Huang suggested cordially leaving alone the argument that may or may not have driven off the semi official guides they'd stumbled upon.  As they were approached by the trunk wielding behoodied boy he turned to reply about their own search when fortuitous whoomping revealed the answers they sought.

He stared right at Whoomp Ant and shook his head, "What?"  he asked flabbergasted, "They don't even randomly assign people to prison cells."  he remarked incredulously before looking to Raina, "We should be so lucky they at least had a talking hat to arrange roomies."  he grumbled.

[Avenger Assembled]

Whoop-Ant turned out to have been somewhat exaggerating about the "roommate lotto" - the common room on the first floor of the Carter dormitory turned out to have a long list posted on the wall of student names, ID numbers, and the name and ID number they'd all been matched with - along with the room they'd be sharing. The room was crowded with students getting to know each other; Riley was visible in one side of the room, awkwardly shaking hands with a young Asian man who was eying the former's crossbow with some heavy layers of suspicions. Whoop-Ant got his hands on a picture ID list and helped the new students get to know each other, pairing off roomates or telling people where their missing roomie was. 

"Huang Feretti?" Whoop-Ant asked the young dhampir, talking to him a little privately away from the others. "You have a medical exemption, so it looks like they gave you a solo room." After he spoke, Whoop-Ant waved his hand to the others and said, "Hey, guys, after you meet your roomie and take your stuff upstairs, meet me down here in twenty so we can go exploring! There's a lot to see in this place!" The room certainly was a sea of students of all shapes and sizes; boys, girls, and even a few young people who didn't look identifiable either way; some with obvious powers, some as human as anyone else. 

Edited October 3, 2015 by Avenger Assembled