"I mean I'm pretty obtusely referencing Beholders and they're a monster from the seventies." Gav replied, refocusing his camera to its normal zoom levels. "You'll figure it out though. Glad to meet you though. Already appreciate that none of us are down for the drama over there. I'm here to become a journalist and get our stories in the papers, not uh..." He gestured vaguely again at the other gangs of students. "That."
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Main Foyer - Don't Look at the Split Ends
"Oh, you mean literal monsters. Sorry." Ortrun undid her makeshift, mask and carefully folded the thing back into her bag. "I...but journalism? I don't think I'm doing anything front page-y and my parents'll see!" After a pause she finally thought to reply—after the outburst, "I think I'd rather have my work on display than me."
As if Ortrun wasn't already hyper-aware of the split-ends that she counted this morningnote , that toothpaste stain that just wouldn't go away, and the people at home that she hadn't really told what she was doing...
"Sorry." She meant to slink away immediately upon hitting the floor, but...
I thought Ryan was busy with Sue! Ortrun kind of froze solid with Ryan focusing on her. He...was still just as big but she could almost pretend he was smaller from the wall. "It was the sprinklers?" She squeaked out the safest answer
Up on Melancholy hill.
"...Ah. So, hm, that would be the students we have for the year."
"Lively bunch, aren't they?" Merlin asked with a wry grin on his face, his hands glowing as they projected the vision of everything that was happening just in the other room...as if the noise wasn't enough to tip them off. "I expect this year to be..." He paused. "Exciting? Eventful?" The Spellcaster cast a side glance at the screen. "Loud?"
"Sounds about right for this generation." Arthur chuckled quietly and turned to his oldest friend. "How do I look?"
"Like a school principal."
"Fantastic. Well, off I go."
"Shall I make your entrance that much more exhilirating, my lord?"
"I won't need it, I feel. Hopefully the..." he cleared his throat. "Aura I exhume will be enough?"
"If you say so, my lord." He gestured to the door. "They're right through there. Be prepared to shape minds."
Arthur nodded, steeled his head and approached the door, a look of determination in his eyes as he grabbed the handle and swung it open. As he did, a massive cloud of purple and blue smoke billowed out, followed by triumphant trumpets and the roar of a majestic, golden lion that materialized out of thin air, somehow deafening the already loud trumpets.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I PRESENT TO YOU THE RIGHTFUL KING OF THE THRONE, THE KING OF ENGLAND AND YOUR HEADMASTER ON YOUR WAY TO BECOMING HEROES, LORD ARTHUR PENDRAGON!"
Arthur looked over his shoulder and gave Merlin a long suffering stare. Not reading the energy, Merlin grinned and gave him a double thumbs up, pleased with his efforts.
God...damn you, Merlin. He sighed and stepped through the blue smoke, trying to seem like it wasn't that big of a deal and to downplay the show that Merlin had just created.
And failed spectacularly.
"Ah...hello there, Students." he said with a smile, placing his hands behind his back and turned his attention to all of them, giving them quick nods of acknowledgement. "I am Headmaster Pendragon, and let me be the first to welcome you to your first year of Camelot Academy. I'm sure you have...several questions."
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Main Foyer-Steven
Steven watched the lead in with a certain amount of fascination and envy. Why couldn't he have had a cool and marketable magic ability like that? Of course it wasn't that he didn't enjoy his own ability, taking on the nature of legends even for a brief period was an indescribable feeling. "Are lunches provided or do we have to bring our own?" Steven called out, wincing at what he hoped wasn't too stupid of a question. He had never even been to a public school much less a fancy hero academy, so maybe his question could be brushed aside.
Main Foyer
With Steven finally getting the message through his thick skull, all that was let was the opening ceremony. Sue had to admit, though she didn't care for that much in any sort of circumstance, with the fancy smoke and trumpets and that Goddamn lion, it was hella impressive. She was actually somewhat surprised that China didn't have lions, because that was certainly the sort of thing one would expect to see prowling around a vast, dense jungle. But for better or worse, the only lions she knew were from the Lion King. She was still pissed about not being able to give that damned Scar a lesson, but to be fair, Simba had dibs.
Anyway, questions. Questions questions questions. Questions.
Wait, she got it.
"So, like I know you're a king and all, but does that mean you actually rule the country, cause I thought you needed votes to rule a country 'cept apparently you're not ruling it and something called a Torie is and no-one seems to like them that much cause they're tryin' to drive the country off a cliff which seems kinda impossible cause how the hell can you drive a country off anything but then again I know fuck all about driving cause I just learned what the fuck a car is last week but I guess what I'm really asking is why aren't you galloping and slamming coconuts together like on the screen thingie? Isn't that what you do? Oh, and what's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? Don't think you ever answered that one."
AKA Nixer
Main Foyer – Lucy Livingston
...So this was their principal.
A grand, slightly too loud opening. The legendary King of England. Standing before them in a... well honestly a quite awkward fashion, at least in comparison to the bombastic entrance. Lucy got the impression he wasn't really the type for them. He looked... ordinary. Well, for a legendary hero. Simply in the way he carried himself. Powerful, yet also strangely humble.
Lucy immediately found herself liking him.
And the first questions they ask are lunch arrangements and... whatever the hell Sue wanted to know. Something about a swallow? Is she still hungry? I probably shouldn't ask anything... I don't want to overwhelm him with... I don't know, whatever else the others are gonna ask. Wait, were they watching the entire... ohhh crap.
Throughout this entire thought process Lucy steadily began slipping back beneath the folds of her hoodie, seeming to want to just disappear into the crowd now that Arthur had presented himself. Even despite her internal decision to remain silent, she could already detect several possible questions welling up within her.
But, as was usual for her by now, she didn't assume it was worth their time.
bork
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Main Foyer - Grand Opening
Ortrun sucked in a breath and pushed through the crowd. Left. Right. Left. Right. If she stayed focused on moving her feet, she wouldn't have to think about putting herself before such a man—pair of men.
She was going to participate more in things get her name out there and... I have no idea what I'm doing. How did those things work? Was she supposed to shout out her name? Go on stage and shake hands? Dinner party? Challenge him to Uno?
And while thinking of the right way to approach a meeting, she kind of forgot to 'smile and wave'. So, for now, Ortrun stood in the front row staring. Staring past Arthur and Merlin no less trying to figure out what to say to Arthur and Merlin to prove she deserved to be here and would have value in the future. And wishing she had a book on these things. Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
An Ordinary Oddball
Inusuke
Inusuke walked up to Arthur, stared curiously for a long moment with his head tilted at a confused angle, and made a bamboozled noise deep in his throat.
He was taller than Arthur by about three inches, give or take a bit.
Was the fellow really supposed to be this short!?
...
Whap. Whap. Whap.
Before Arthur could say much of anything, Inusuke had brought up his huge paw of a hand and patted Arthur on the head thrice.
{THIS ONE NAME INUSUKE THINK YOU SHOULD TALL} he signed. {NOW CAN GIVE PAT YOU SHORTER}
Edited by JumpingFruit on Nov 27th 2019 at 7:17:11 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Cadoc-Main Foyer
Cadoc was already on the ground when the noises went off. At first, it was kind of cool, the noises and all and Arthur clearly had a nice tailor...and then it occurred to him that if Arthur was here, then Merlin likely was also nosing about, and that might be bad.
Cadoc had met a few of Mr. Algood's contacts when the old man had been looking for a way to get some magical power, all of them had been super creepy. One of them, a Mr. Keir Diarmad, had advised them to be careful. "These powerful things you boyos are looking for attract a certain kind of attention. Some of it is fellows like me. Others are much worse. A bit of advice for free-for the love of any god you like, keep these things out of the big cities if you can help it. They give off a scent, and the bigger the town the meaner the dogs that hunt there." And from what little Cadoc had heard, Merlin was one of the biggest.
He slipped to the back of the group, using the Stone to dim his outline. Not invisibility. Just ensuring that most eyes would slip right over him. Maybe coming here had been a mistake.
Edited by Booky on Nov 21st 2019 at 5:04:14 AM
Main Foyer, Sabrina
At the sight of King Arthur, Sabrina curtsied out of respect. The magical display didn't seem to phase her too greatly, though she clapped softly for the performance all the same. She knew she'd meet him if she went to this school, but still... seeing the legend himself in the flesh was something else entirely.
But then she saw the way Sue and Inusuke were treating him so dreadfully informally. Sue was listing off all sorts of questions that sounded like nonsequitors, to be frank, while Inusuke was patting the King's head like he was a young lad that had done something nice for his parents. She sorely hoped that this wouldn't taint the King's perception of his students.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lord Arthur. It's quite an honor to meet you in the flesh. I do have one question – what are our accommodations like? Will we all be sleeping in the same wing of the school, or…?”
Edited by HilarityEnsues on Nov 21st 2019 at 12:01:09 PM
"Oh my god get freakin' owned." Gav said under his breath as he eagerly started snapping pictures of Inusuke patting the principal. He wasn't going to act like such an impressive entrance hadn't spooked him for a second there, but he'd been maced and flashbanged at protests and rallies before, this was nothing. His instincts carried him through to start snapping pictures, just excellent stuff really. Seeing Titania do a little curtsy Gav did a little slide behind and slightly beneath her to get a shot of her contrasted with Principal Arthur, like that one meme picture of the two dudes walking towards one another.
Up on Melancholy hill.
...Ah. Yes. Was going to be one of those years, he thought to himself. He looked between them all not out of annoyance but rather of...well, amusement. They were certainly lively, and he was prepared to answer the questions when one of the taller ones stepped forward and pat him on the head.
THAT made him stop in his tracks.
But he still gave a little chuckle and pulled the hand away with a smile and a nod. Not out of annoyance but of...well, again, amusement and good natured ribbing. He was just happy that Merlin wasn't here to add to the situation.
As far as he knew.
His attention turned to Steven and he gave a nod. "Lunch is provided for all the students, so don't worry about spending your money on little things like that." He chuckled.
The monkey girl popped up with a question and after a moment, after deciphering what she was trying to ask, he laughed. "I'm afraid that was just a joke from one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, nothing more. In my day we rode on actual horses, so there was no need for the coconuts." A pause. "Oh, and it depends on how hard you throw them."
The others were blissfully silent as he turned to the others and saw one of the girls curtsying and actually asking a question about the living conditions that wasn't lunch related.
"The school is quite large so there's plenty of room for all of you." He gestured with his right hand. "To the right is the boy's dorms." And a gesture to the left. "To the left are the girls dorms. Dorm mates will be labeled on the doors themselves so if you lot would like to go and set up your rooms, you're free to do so. Classes are tomorrow at eight AM, and dinner is served at five PM tonight. If you need anything else, I'll be in my office-" A gesture behind him to the doors he just stepped out of. "-Open all hours of the day, no matter how late. I'll allow you all to get situated."
A smile and a nod of his head. "I welcome you all to Camelot Academy and I hope your stay here is legendary."
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
AKA Nixer
Main Foyer – Lucy Livingston
Okay. Most stuff here is provisional. That's good to know. One less thing to worry about...
Something about how Arthur presented himself seemed to relax her, and she mentally filed him under ‘trustworthy unless proven otherwise’ as a result. She even managed to smile warmly back at him—even though her face was partially obscured beneath her hood.
Now to address the difficult part. A roommate.
Lucy let her smile linger a few moments more before letting it fall, taking in a deep breath and biting her lip as she glanced between the others in indecision. After deliberation, she hesitantly began to approach Jenna—seeing as how she was the first person she had spoken to upon arriving here.
Às i̶f͘ ̵s͠he̵'͟d̸ ͟wa̢n͘t͠ t̨o sp̕e͢n̕d ͟tim̕e ͡w͞i̕t͏h you.
“Hey, um... J-Jenna...?” she began, stopping a few paces away from the humanoid colony of bugs before clasping her hands together rather awkwardly in front of her. “Since um... well, you're the first one I've talked to here, so... do you wanna be roommates? I-I don't mind if you had somebody else in mind...”
Something tells me these won't be ordinary dorms. Oh... crap, what if there's not enough room for my... ah, it doesn't matter, she mentally sighed, glancing for a brief moment at her bag before relenting. I'll just improvise something.
bork
Ryan Brady
Oh, good! Ryan was worried that his limited funds and lack of knowledge about English food would be a problem here. But nope, it looks like the food would not be a problem in terms of monetary stuff. But with everyone else having said their piece to the King, Ryan decided he could ask his question. He'd been wanting to, being that his sport was a pretty important part of who he was.
"Excuse me, Mr. King Arthur Sir, does this Academy have uh...Football?" Ryan had no idea what he'd need to specify in his exact words. He just felt so excited to have things line up like this.
So there was a dorm here too, and he'd need to find a dorm mate. Well, that would be no problem, so he thought. He just needed to find someone who didn't exactly mind Ryan getting in his fitness stuff and having the occasional party.
Main Foyer, Sabrina
After King Arthur gave the students a briefing, people began pairing themselves off. Hm... well, there was one person who was on her mind.
"Hey Ortrun, would you like to be my roommate? I assure you, I'm quite tidy."
It was only natural, as she hadn't spoken with the other girls very much yet.
Main Foyer, Sue
A 'movie'? Was that some sort of slang? And why was he talking about it like it wasn't even real? Sue crouched down and scratched her head, doing her best to sort out this conundrum. Thankfully the headmaster soon gave them something else to mull over. She assumed a dorm was some sort of living space, but while she was sure some of the others would get a kick out of it, she didn't pay it too much heed. After all, she couldn't stay in some stuffy old dorm. She needed to be in the great outdoors, laying atop a thick branch or bed of leaves under the stars. Anything else was suffocation. Hopefully it wouldn't be that hard to find a place. She was sure there'd be a tree or something somewhere. She'd just have to look.
With that, she bid him adue ("See ya later, Steven!) before leaping back over to Lucy and the others. "'Kay, I'm back! Sorry 'bout just takin' off like that, but hey, ya do what you gotta do, ya know?"
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Main Foyer - Rommate-a-Rama
Ortrun looked over her shoulders, head going back and forth immediately before it occurred to her to turn around. Then again to face Sabrina once more. She curled her fingers pointing to herself. Right. Humans have language.
"But I never called you dirty! Sorry, I didn't mean to!" Ortrun rapped on her own head, wracking her brain for whatever she might have said before she caught up to the present and the question.
"I...er." What could she say? "Yes?" Truth be told, she was fully prepared to just sleep under a tarp in Bessy's cockpit.
And now well, she could be a good roommate. Right? Wait! Where were the dorms? She'd been staring down Arthur, making sure she got his right or hers before covering her eyes because she probably passed the stare time limit. Now...uh... Okay, I wrote all of this down. It wasn't an exaggeration.
Ortrun had written everything the headmaster had said down and recorded it. She was prepared to listen to the tape later to check her notes, as soon as she found a desk.
Edited by CenturyEye on Nov 29th 2019 at 12:19:34 PM
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Cadoc-Main Foyer
As Mr. Pendragon left the room, Cadoc seemed to relax. That was close. I'll need to have a butchers' in case he goes around regularly. I wonder if any of these other folks are running on magic like me? If so, are they as worried as I am? Might be good to find out.
When the idea of dorms came up, he grinned. A roof over my head sounds good. Just need to check out the exits and if there are any small items that can vanish. Arthur seems pretty posh. I'm sure he's got a few valuables that can walk away if I need to disappear. Now, which of these lucky blokes are going to be my buddy/alibi?
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Main Foyer - Roommate-a-Rama
"I will go set up a space," Ortrun muttered under her breath and quickly—after skimming her notes one more time again—headed towards the dorms to claim a perfect one. And set-up before too much company arrived.
Not the first door nor the last. Too easy. On a side to have the sunrise or the sunset? And the best, quickest responding HVAC. Sample the carpets for signs of bugs. Test the walls for an appropriate number of studs in the right places. No trees high enough that someone could reach her window. And so much more. In 15 seconds or so, before the floodgates opened.
She checked the rooms quick and dirty. But that was only the beginning.
...
The school had its own lab but public spaces had eyes. I'd have to soundproof this place. And more sprinklers. Maybe a smoke filter. Eventually, she'd assemble them from stuff in the janitor's closet. Or unused rooms. Not like she could buy more tools.
Given the time limit, she had gone with a 'good enough' choice of room just off the middle. But the others could do. Or she would be accommodating. She didn't really have great scientific rationale to object if Sabrina chose another.
And if the others stayed busy a moment longer she could get busy... Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Where am I? What's going on?
Jenna - Main Foyer
At Lucy's offer, Jenna appeared to mull it over for a second before nodding. Or at least attempting to nod. It was more of an awkward, jerky motion.
"Dat sounds boss, ta'. Better to have you as me roomie than any of de'se other beauts. Speakin' o' which..."
Jenna scurried hastily away from the approaching Sue, making sure to stay in one piece this time, before continuing to "speak" with Lucy, the distance doing nothing to muddle her telepathy.
"Fair warnin' tho', luv. I dun' really sleep as such. I jus' kinda… konk out."
AKA Nixer
Main Foyer – Lucy Livingston
Lucy seemed to smile at that for some reason, perhaps as if she knew something Jenna didn't.
“That's okay. I don't really sleep much anyway. As long as you don't mind being around me... I know I'm a little weird sometimes...”
90% of the time.
“...you know, you don't have to be scared of her anymore now, right?” she noted, glancing at Sue before refocusing on Jenna once more. “She didn't mean it, and... well, I'm sure she'll try not to do that again. Still, I'm... I wouldn't be the type to let anything happen to you while I'm around, so... really, let me worry about her for you, okay?”
That said... we should probably sort our rooms now... crap, what time even is it...?
“We should probably find our dorm, anyways...” she ventured, voicing her thoughts somewhat hesitantly as she shuffled in place vaguely towards the direction where the dorms had been pointed out to be. “Don't know the schedule yet though– well... the time right now, I mean...”
bork
An Ordinary Oddball
Inusuke was suddenly in front of Ryan with no more than a gust of wind marking his quick passage. His shaking hands (due to excitement, no doubt), quickly signed {RYAN-SAN ROOM WITH THIS ONE}?
Behind the seal, he smiled brightly, unfortunately having to bare his sharp-looking canines.
Edited by JumpingFruit on Dec 9th 2019 at 5:08:03 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Breath of the Sun
Marcel - Main Foyer
Marcel remained quiet as Arthur spoke. He wasn't impressed by the entrance, and less so by the man himself. Perhaps it was his French blood being innately repulsed by English royalty. Regardless, he ignored the others questions, save for those about the dormitories.
As expected, they would have roommates. Naturally, Marcel began to scan the crowd for candidates. The photographer was out. The man with the cane as well; though Cadoc seemed a gentleman on the outside, Marcel could tell there was something shady about him. Something secretive. It rubbed him the wrong way.
There was another tall boy who couldn't speak - apparently he couldn't remove the gag in his mouth. Religious reasons? - but before Marcel could decide, the taller boy had already asked Mr. Bomb to room together.
That left few others of note. Except for...
"Steven, was it?" Marcel asked, striding up to the boy. "Would you care to be roommates? You seem like an easy person to live with. I'm Marcel Dumont, by the by. In case you hadn't heard my introduction."
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Ryan
Ryan turned around to look at the dog guy, and he guessed the question of football could be answered by a quick look at the school's sports outlines or whatever. And considering that the options were a creepy protag from a found footage flick, a skeevy dude, and not much else, Ryan was surprised someone as honestly kind of endearing as dog guy got by without a roommate.
"Sure man, just hope you don't mind some noise." He then put an arm around Inusuke's shoulders, leading the way toward the dorms, "And hey, I might even be able to teach you about the highs, lows and triumphs of high school American Football. Nothing quite like it."
Yeah, I think I can like it around here.
Ryan Brady - Main Area
Well, that's good. Nobody's fightin', and I think they all made up...more like making out pretty soon going by how Sue and Steven must be going.
He then noticed Ortrun seemed to have retreated up the wall, "...What'cha doin' up there?" The American jock lightly tilted his head, but shrugged...
...and now it seemed that Jenna had rejoined the group. With Sue mostly absent. So he figured there might be some correlation between those factors. Walking over to talk to Jenna, he suppressed an instinctual feeling of weirdness at how her body made of bugs was.
Ryan decided to go ahead, "I'm glad you're alright, by the way. Must've been real bad having somebody like, doing that. If anyone uh picks on you or messes with your, yeah, body mass...just let me know. I'm not a fan of bullying."