New Squirrel on Campus (Open)

[MysticSquirrel]

Well this was a fine, strange mess. He'd hardly been at Claremont for a few hours and already spirits of nature were looking to meet him alone in some secluded woodland area! Caught in the middle between his own curiosity surrounding this bizarre Dryad business and Riley's heated outburst, Lee was precariously placed in a perilous predicament. At least Cathy shed some light on the matter, but even still, Lee was leery to poke the obviously agitated fella with an axe about the nature of his association with... well, with nature, it seemed, even if every instinct told him to do otherwise. Perhaps later, once things simmered down.

 

"Thanks, Kyle! I'll totally check it out later," Lee finally finagled out, fishing the card out from between Kyle's fingers as politely, delicately and -- above all -- as quickly as he could muster, stuffing the coordinates alongside his half-crumpled brochure already crowding his pocket. Guess it looked like he'd be making plans for a clandestine midnight rendezvous sooner than he'd expected!

 

"So, uh... yeah! How 'bout that tour? Maybe hit the cafeteria along the way?" continued the squirrely young boy, desperate to move the conversation along as his eyes drifted between the assembled trio. "We're totes down for some extra company, Kyle."

[DevilsAdvocate]

Kyle grinned. "Cool! I'm off for the rest of the day, so I'd love to tag along! Actually, I'm sure there's plenty of places I haven't seen yet, either. Like, I'd never been in this building, I don't think. Underclass dorm. I started this year as a junior, so I think we skipped it when I got the Grand Tour. That day was kind of a blur."

 

The afternoon started out pretty well, with the grind of his usual routine being over; and it was just getting better, getting to hand out with fellow school kids and do something normal. Well, as normal as things get at Claremont, anyway... assuming he didn't accidentally provoke anyone else.

 

Kyle stepped aside for Cathy to lead the way. "Oh, and I second that vote on the cafeteria!" 

[Avenger Assembled]

Riley was amenable to the cafeteria too, and let himself fall behind the taller people on the way there with a thoughtful look on his face. Once there, he showed an appetite that belied his wiry frame - piling his plate with the chicken curry and assorted Indian food that was on the cafeteria's internationally-minded menu that day. Riley, Cathy knew, loved exotic food; or at least food that was hard to come by in the continental United States. He took a seat close to the wall, his back nearly against one of the beams that held up the building's roof, and shot the room a sharp, intense look before he dug into his food. "They got a good plate here, man. First time I ever had this Indian stuff was from right here, and it's pretty good. So where you from?" he suddenly asked Kyle. "All I hear is somma the girls bitching about you - say you worship Satan just like Sanderson." 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Kyle tagged along with the group to the cafeteria where he grabbed three slices of pizza, fries, and a coke. Before he sat down with his new friends, he visited the Mexican food section and picked up some slices of jalapeno and hot sauce.

 

Kyle had a mouthful of pizza when Riley asked about 'Satan.' He paused chewing for a moment as he pondered a response. After swallowing, he said, "well, the first question's pretty easy: I'm from Georgia. Atlanta. Born and raised." His southern drawl left little doubt of that. As he talked, he separated a slice of pizza and began adding peppers to it.

 

"I don't worship Satan, though. I seriously doubt Raina does, either. She really doesn't strike me as the type." He topped off the separated slice of pizza with hot sauce. "But... I'd have to admit it's a fair assumption when it comes to me. I told y'all my thing is talking to spirits. That's true, but that's only half the story." Kyle looked around the table guiltily. "One of those spirits trained me in magic, and now I'm kind of stuck with him."

 

Kyle sighed and closed his eyes briefly in resignation. "Come on out, Xead. It's okay." A small, red-skinned creature the size of a cat materialized on Kyle's shoulder! It had a large nose and sharp teeth like a goblin, but its scorpion's tail and bat's wings gave away its true nature: it was a tiny demon. "Guys, this is Xeadach."

 

"At your service," the imp said with a mocking bow.

 

"You are better at explaining this stuff than I am, Xead, so fill them in, if you would."

 

"It is true! Guilty as charged. I trained the boy in the Dark Arts. Oh, but what was I to do?!" he said, putting the back of his hand to his brow as if he felt faint. "The poor boy was suffering so! The victim of every random spirit that might happen by!"

 

"But," Kyle added apologetically, "he can be a little melodramatic."

 

"The magic Kyle has mastered isn't for the faint of heart. It is about bending demons and spirits of darkness to your will!" He said, maybe a little too gleefully. "Not bowing and scraping to some brutish devil or demon trying to set themselves up as a god!

 

"And, in my humble opinion, Kyle is a natural. His Gift makes him a warlock of unparallelled power!"

 

"Turn it down a notch, Xead."

 

"As my master commands, I happily obey." The imp sat down on Kyle's shoulder, a toothy grin on his face.

 

"So, that's the gist of my darkest secret, there. Long story short: I've done some things I really shouldn't have. I was only a little kid at the time, but what's done is done. Some folks are afraid of me... and I can't say they don't have good reason to be, but I do try to do what is right and to make up for my mistakes."

 

"Mistakes," Xeadach scoffed. "As if I wasn't the best thing that's ever happened to him." Kyle rolled his eyes. "And what is that? Is that what I think it is?" the imp asked, indicating the pepper and hot sauce covered slice of pizza. "My favorite! Aww, you shouldn't have!"

 

Ignoring Xeadach, Kyle picked up the slice of pizza. "So, that's me: spirit-talking, demon-magic-slinging dude. What about y'all?" He took a big bite of the pizza and grunted a little, his face turning red and eyes watering. Xeadach giggled.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2016 by DevilsAdvocate

[Avenger Assembled]

Behind Kyle came a gasp - and a flare of magical energy. When he turned around, an unfamiliar figure was standing there, a humanoid eagle with spread wings, mighty claws, and a white dress shirt and slacks on? "What do you think you're doing, freak?" the eagle demanded, a disapproving scowl on its face. "Right in front of the first-years, too!" The eagle pointed towards a table of freshmen, a couple of whom were watching with rank fascination, but others who seemed to be trying to eat their lunches and gossip to each other at the same time. They didn't seem terribly scandalized by the appearance of an imp. 

 

"Don't think yer his boss, Jay," said Riley, glaring up at Jay with real animosity, his voice a low, venomous growl. "Why don't you run back to yer little nowhere island and leave the rest of us alone?" 

 

"You don't scare me, psycho," Jayaman spat at Riley, his wings and eagle-head receding, revealing a thick-eyebrowed young Asian man with a scowl still present on what should have been a handsome face. "One day you're going to cross the line, Woodsman," he seemed to put a special bite on the last syllable, making direct eye contact with Riley. "And not you or your little demon-summoning goon squad is going to stop the real heroes from bringing you down." 

[Tiffany Korta]

There was a sudden dramatic drop in temperature with the sharpness of a frosty morning as Cathy stood up glaring at Jayaman.

 

“Why do you keep bothering Riley like this? I know you’ve been warned about this before.” As much as the Plastic's bothered them they at least kept things down to simple snide comments

 

“Don’t raise to the bait Riley.” She put a gentle supporting hand on his shoulder “I’m sure he’ll be leaving soon.” She looked dagger up at the boy, ice dagger but daggers more the less.

If he didn’t leave soon she was sure a teacher would come over to sort things out.

[DevilsAdvocate]

Kyle turned to Jay and cocked his head to the side. "You don't like demon magic. Neither do I, really. No one with a lick o' sense does." He glanced at his little imp. "Go on, now," and the imp vanished with a nod.

 

"But it's Riley, here, you seem to really have a beef with," he said, indicating Riley with the tip of his slice of pizza. "Now, I haven't known Riley long. Just met him, and I can already tell he ain't exactly 'Mr. Friendly.'  You've got something against him that's bigger than just his... abrasiveness, though. What gives?" he asked as he took another bite of his pizza.

 

Spoiler

Kyle is trying to get Jay to calm down and ultimately befriend him. (Friendship is magic!) I am really only hoping to shift his attitude to 'indifferent' here using Diplomacy. He rolls a 25. Good enough to turn him friendly. But, I understand if by GM fiat he's the 'designated douchebag' or something and it doesn't work at all.

 

[Avenger Assembled]

"He doesn't belong here," said Jayaman, staring down at Kyle. Jayaman seemed to have forgotten about his problem with Kyle for the moment, and instead seemed more interested in persuading him of his point of view. "He doesn't even have any powers, he's just a psycho with a crossbow. Everyone knows Bowman just sent him here so he wouldn't wind up in jail," he added, glaring at Riley. Looking back at Kyle, he said, "Look, I overreacted before - the magic you do doesn't make you a bad person. Just because I channel the powers of a god doesn't mean I am one. If you want to talk to people who aren't a bunch of future supervillains or their girlfriends," he added with a glare Cathy's way, "I'll be over there."  

 

Jayaman's departure left Riley fuming and unsettled for a long, uncomfortable moment before he finally grunted, "Hm. Bad intro, Kyle and Lee. Sorry 'bout that. Not everyone here's like me. Or like Garuda," he added, cocking his head at the table where Jayaman had joined a group of other boys. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Cathy had been at this school long enough to know how these things tended to work, though somehow things always seemed to be one of heightened emotions. Maybe it had something to do with all the superpowered individuals float around.

 

“Don’t listen to him Riley you know he’s just trying to get you riled. And in the end he’s really not worth the time and effort.” she gently touched her friend reassuringly on the shoulder, as she claimed the temperature returned to something resembling normal.

“Have you ever seen the movie Mean Girls? You should it taught me everything I needed to know about US schools. Well Claremont’s operates a lot like that, but everything been turned up to eleven.”