Valerie - Class 1/2

Well. That was... unnerving. Gremory was clearly under surveillance by his family. Which was concerning enough on its own, but it meant that by proximity, the whole class was being surveilled by one of the most powerful families in town.

She got to work reattaching her jaw. Unhinging it was easy, but putting it back was always a bit annoying. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times to test it before nodding and slithering over to check on Justin. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't alone, but it didn't seem like she was interrupting. Probably.

"It'ssss okay Jussssstin. I know what it'ssssss like growing up assssss a human in thissss town. It kind of ssssucks. But the bessssst way to get back at assssholes like that isssss to prove them wrong. Ssssso let'ssssss leave missssster ssssilver ssspoon in the dussst."

Valerie flashed Justin a predator's smile, before turning toward the rest of Justin's entourage.

"I don't think we've met yet. I'm Valerie Vale."

Homeroom

---

Well, Micah's attention was taken by Soheila. Understandable. And as usual, Nestan acted more slowly than the lady did. And she really couldn't top or add to what Alex said to Gremory. Alex was very right though. And that's not a reaction one gets from a parent calling. We must find out how his dear 'Aunt Polly' is observing him so closely.
Leaving the food for the supercat, and suppressing a coo at the sight of it eating, and stealthily sliding a ruler back up her sleeve, Nestan trotted up to Gremory making sure not to approach from his blind side.
"Hi," she started a bit unused to actually doing this outside her circle. "If I may, I'm just some strange sister off the street right now, but this is a boarding school. You have some space to do your family proud in a way that works here." Yes, that statement was virtually a stretchy justification that he could give to his watchers for anything he did. He clearly was being watched yes, but she'd never find out to what extent unless they could work out some rapport. And no rapport had a chance unless the boy could be somewhat comfortable.
Similarly, she knew Gremory was in something, but he also did not seem like the type to just talk about it in public, in a room full of clearly hostile strangers, and on the first day. Baby steps. "If you're picking up food to feed a pet—sorry I couldn't help but overhear—could you take me along? If you really grew up in this town, I'd appreciate the grand tour by someone who knows the best spots."

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

Class 1/2-Gremory

The young shifter leaned back in his chair, looking up balefully at Nestan. He started to speak, then paused before pulling out his cell phone. As he typed, he spoke.

"You can all go to hell. I'm the best one here and I had to work for it, dammit. We worked and cut deals and yes"-this was directed at Hux-"this town as Strangness Heights has only been here for fifteen years. But there have been residents here for far longer. So yes, it is impressive. For all of that time, no, humans haven't been that noteworthy-quite the opposite. Nothing I've seen has changed that impression so far, Justin. Maybe you'll be different." His eyes flickered into the dead black of a shark before becoming gray again.

He then held up his phone screen. YOU'RE ALL SAFE. SHE'S READING ME. ONE OF HER GIFTS-CAN SENSE EMOTIONS. VERY PRECISE AND STRONG IF YOU'RE FAMILY. THEY DON'T REALLY DO TECH SO YOU'RE SAFE, HUMAN. LUCKY BASTARD. FOUGHT ME GETTING THE PHONE. I GOT ANGRY BOTH BECAUSE SHE EXPECTED ME TO AND BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE YOU. IN CASE SHE WAS SCANNING ME. SOMETIMES IS AND SOMETIMES NOT-CAN'T KNOW WHEN YET. IF POLLY HAD COME HERE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY BAD. FOR EVERYONE. BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T CARE IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILY UNLESS YOU'RE INTERESTING. YOU'RE ALL INTERESTING. AND SHE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE. SOFT INTELLIGENCE. HUMINT AND BIG FAMILY.

NESAN:IT'S NOT A PET I'LL BE FEEDING. NOT PLEASANT. YOU LIKELY DON'T WANT TO KNOW. BUT I CAN SHOW YOU AROUND. NO REASON NOT TO.

Edited by Booky on Jun 10th 2020 at 10:01:01 AM

The Door opened and in stepped a new student, he looked about, muttering to himself about how apt the name of the Academy was.

Seth Vokolov was here, he looked for a place to sit.

Soheila – Homeroom

The daeva couldn't exactly ignore Gremory's showcase. She leaned away from Justin and back to him, not moving her eyes despite her aura skirting vaguely in his direction. She didn't nod or mumble. Her mouth split into a grin, however, and she gesticulated vaguely to him.

“Believe what you will, then! Time will tell as always,” she responded only to his spoken words, even as she rolled up her sleeve and casually began carving deep scratches into her skin with her nails. It was quicker than a pen and paper. “And another latecomer. Hello there,” she motioned to Seth with her off hand.

She was all but turning her body away once she'd finally finished with her arm. She showed it to Gremory; a message clearly visible in the marks she'd carved. No blood dripped out from them.

You brought her here.

With a wipe of her hand over it the message vanished completely, and she covered her arm with her sleeve again. With the gait of a cautious deer she reclaimed her seat and again sat cross-legged. She had little more to say on the matter.

There still wasn't enough information, after all.

Between her lack of both breath and blinking, her complete stillness as she sat dormant was almost a reflection of death. Though she was still ripe with activity. Her aura flitted about and tidied things subtly. That and patching the damage she'd done to herself beneath the surface.

Edited by Enirboreh on Jun 10th 2020 at 6:17:34 PM

bork

Homeroom

Plink!

A drop of water fell from the ceiling. Two more followed, then five more; then, with a loud splash, a large blob of water with a blue stone floating inside it landed in a seat near Valerie. It rippled and swayed for a moment, then rose up and assumed the shape of an attractive, very short young woman. She grinned around at her classmates. "Sorry I'm late, everyone! I got distracted by the koi pond. Did you know some of the koi in there are over a hundred years old? You wouldn't believe the stories they've got to -" She stopped, then smiled. "Well, I can talk about that later. My name is Klorae," she said.

Homeroom

---

Nestan returned Gremory's gaze with an even stare. Whatever his intentions and whoever was his target audience... she knew the attitude, the one that said 'humans haven't been that noteworthy-quite the opposite'. Up close. Now she was staring this boy in the face. If I had gotten the chance to meet such people before back home... Well, HUMINT lent itself to counterintelligence. She could trace their levers of power back. It'd be like Death Note! Though, in this town, they'd only be one family of many like that. And that was fine. She had found this family right now. And their boy had consented to be alone with her.
"Yes, I could," Nestan answered the go to hell comment, and his aloud message in general. It'd be strange if she never responded to his words after all. "Nowadays easier than ever. I try to avoid it. And it is the first day. There's time yet to make an impression. And don't forget you told Justin you weren't being fair before and that, noblesse oblige, you would not let it happen again." She tipped her hat at Gremory, leaving him with the face-saving excuse but not staying to hover over him.
"I shall be around," she said patiently, turning only briefly to say the words before finding her own desk. Nestan had been reaching out like this all along after all. She didn't have to cover much.

Edited by CenturyEye on Jun 10th 2020 at 12:08:06 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

Hux

"Yeah, being born in the first place is hard work, dude," was Hux's sarcastic reply from across the room. "King of the Boonies, everyone..." However, he did take out his own phone in short order and started typing on it, eventually flashing his own message across to Gremory.

Hate being watched if that's what you're implying. I frankly think you're skeevy but I'm willing to help anyhow. Don't know what you're going for but it sounds like the very thing we're trying to prevent, so I'm hopping in whether you like it or not. I'm very good with knives and I have an obedient cat minion. I have resources in both my parents too, they're retired heroes—Cain and Marah. If you want this to be on the down-low, that's okay with me too. Just as long as we keep pretending to hate each other to divert suspicion. We don't even have to pretend that hard.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 10th 2020 at 12:09:51 PM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Classroom 1/2

Ah-ha, a mission! Rajani wasn't sure how they were going to go about diffusing the tension in the class, but nevertheless they saluted Hali with one hand while the other continued to clasp her icy ring... and by the time they brought their hand back down, the argument seemed to have simmered all by itself, as quickly as it'd started. Well, that had been easy to accomplish. Raj hadn't even done anything!

Humming contentedly to themself, the student's attention was drawn next to the water that splashed down into the room. They drifted over to the desk where the liquid formed itself into a young woman, one who Raj greeted with their usual excitement. "Hi Klorae! I'm Raj. And that girl over there is Hali." They pointed with their free hand to the blue-haired girl whom Raj had just been speaking to. "She can do stuff with water, like you! She made this." And then they held up the ring of ice, beads of melted water starting to slide down its chilly structure.

they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob

Alexander

"Hux, if his aunt was just trying to correct his behavior, he'd be angry at her, not frightened at the thought of her coming to school." Alex countered. "Also, she's clearly monitoring him in some capacity, which is a clear violation of his privacy. That's a form of abuse in and of itself, regardless of her intentions."

As he read the message off Gremory's phone, he pursed his lips, before his face formed into a scowl.

"Yeah, I'd have to check the exact laws, but I'm pretty sure that her monitoring your emotions like that would qualify as harassment, Gremory." Alex paused, narrowing his eyes. "Especially since it's obviously more than just emotion sensing, given you felt the need to type this message out rather than just saying it out loud. And earlier, from your half of the conversation it seemed like Polly knew why you were getting angry. She could understand not just your emotional state, but the context behind it."

Alex took a breath, forcing himself to put on a neutral look. "I don't know what you think she'll do, but I can assure you that Polly is not a threat to this school. Maybe she could be a threat some of us individually, dependent on what her 'gifts' are, but even your family can't just walk in here and do as they please. They aren't above the law, Gremory. Remember that."

He gestured towards the rest of their classmates. "And remember that there are people here who might be willing to help you, but if you want them to be nice to you, it helps to be nice to them. Do unto others, and so forth. Again, I can't force you, but I'm just letting you know, since we're expected to at least work together, even if we don't like each other."

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

"Wow, that's gorgeous!" Klorae reached out and touched the necklace gently, ice spreading over her fingertips. "I can't do much with ice myself. It's all... hard and unyielding. No fun." A ripple coursed down her body, then back up. "One correction, though: I don't do stuff with water, I am water!" She smiled cheerily at Raj and Hali. "What else can you do?" she asked the blue-haired girl.

Fala — Class 1/2

Once Fala realized what was going on in Gremory's home life (and out-of-home life, it looked like), she took out her notebook, tore out a piece of paper, and hastily scrawled a message. When she was done she passed it over to him and sat back down.

BEING LISTENED IN ON ALL THE TIME SOUNDS PRETTY CRAPPY. IF U NEED SOMEONE TO WRITE TO ABOUT IT, I'M HERE.

Edited by Akkun_K on Jun 10th 2020 at 4:48:37 AM

If I die, tell Hex Haywire I loved him.

Micah

New people joining.

Wonderful.

He assumed.

Strange Water elemental. Pale young man who walked in and sat down to be amongst himself.

He could understand.

Eyes flickering to each of them as his sensors scanned them and took notable information down, he turned his attention to one of the new ones, making a very swift note of the screens that the one designated as Gremory showed to them (And made another important note about that one as well) and turned his attention to the particular water blob that had formed.

"Greetings new creature. My designation is Micah and I hope you and I can become fast friends." He said, stilted, robotic, monotone. His lips then curled into a smile, or what he thought was a smile.

Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?

Classroom 1/2 Gremory

He sighed and decided to take a chance. They are trying to help, asshole. "Firstly, I didn't bring her here. I can't really stop her, and she wouldn't appreciate it if I asked her to not scan me. But you're all right." Grem folded his arms. "And by noteworthy, I mean that most of the humans I've met are weaker, slower, and just didn't have the advantages of my family. And hated us for it." He shrugged then rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's what I've seen."

Gremory shrugged. "I was trying to keep up a constant emotion for her while writing, but that's kind of confusing. Trying to get out from under her influence is hard, especially if you don't know if you want to get out. If it gets you everything you want. If it's everywhere."

Shaking his head to clear it, Gremory then nodded warmly to Seth, Fala, and Klorae. "Hello, all. Welcome to Strangeness High. I can promise you it will at least be entertaining." He flipped off Hux with a half-irritated look, his expression making it clear that it was meant at least somewhat in jest.

Edited by Booky on Jun 10th 2020 at 2:12:45 AM

Justin Henderson

Ah, a...a ghost girl. Well, this class was just straining his ability as a man of science to say anything for sure. "Good...morning to you, uh, Emlia, thanks. I'm Justin Henderson..."

"I uh...yeah, I can't see us having met before. I think I'd remember you. Thanks for uh, standing up for me there..." He nervously reacted to her smile, and tugged at his shirt line.

Justin scoffed at Gremory's little statement and insults at his humanity. Classic bully, trying to turn it around and make it so it was all the fault of the humans for "hating" him for being so much better than them. Really reminded him of the projection a few other self proclaimed "superior specimens" made when people went against them.

"He really is proud, isn't he?" Justin commented as he started to relax into his seat, "Of being the big fish in a tiny pond."

Edited by NickTheSwing on Jun 10th 2020 at 9:03:26 AM

Alexander

He seemed unsatisfied by Gremory's answer, but he let the matter drop. It seemed Gremory was at least trying to be better, even if Justin didn't believe it yet. All in due time, he supposed.

"For reference, Gremory, they probably hated your family because your family hated them. There is nothing your family could do that a human couldn't replicate with technology, after all. That's why this whole human-nonhuman rivalry thing is stupid. Because, fundamentally, we're the same in every way that matters. I hope you'll keep that in mind."

Taking another breath, Alex turned to head back to his desk, only pausing to nod in greeting at the newcomers. One of who appeared to be a normal human, the other being a water elemental of some sort. "Alexander Nichols. Charmed." He announced, before plopping down at his desk.

Taking another sip of his coffee, he casually tapped the side of his chair. There was a small spark of light, and the chair suddenly shifted, it's seat and back becoming wider and softer. He had to hollow out the legs to get the cushioning he wanted, but that wasn't a problem - it was simple to break them down into pure carbon and twist the atoms into a mesh with many times more tensile strength.

When he was done, Alex was sitting in a bigger, more plush chair. He sighed in bliss as he leaned back into it. Almost as an afterthought, he poked his desk, and it also shifted, becoming thinner and wider, curving around his chair and melding into the chair's frame, surrounding him completely. The top became a smooth, nonstick surface, completely clean and free of any marks or bumps.

"Perfection." Alex smiled, closing his eyes as he continued to enjoy his coffee.

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Hux

Hux just kept smiling even though Gremory flipped him off, running a hand through his own hair casually. "About that, French peasants back in the 18th century were poor, uneducated, and didn't have the advantages of the nobles, and look how they all ended up. Headless!"

"I'm actually with Alex on this one, though," he continued earnestly as he pet Mr. Tibbs. The cat yawned, still with too many teeth. "If you lord over everyone, people aren't going to like you, powered or not. I mean, you probably have an advantage over my family in the money and prestige department, and you flaunting that way seriously ticked me off back there."

"I realize that your family has probably drilled that attitude into you one way or another so I think I wasn't being entirely fair, and I apologize for my threat earlier," Hux admitted. "I wonder where the teachers are..."

Hux slung his backpack over the back of his chair and put Mr. Tibbs on the desk, watching Alex adjust his seat with great interest.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 10th 2020 at 3:05:25 AM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Valerie - Class 1/2

Justin seemed a bit nervous around her. Valerie was initially at a loss as to why before remembering the show she'd just put. She barely resisted facepalming. So much for her first impression.

"Umm... there'ssss no need to be nervoussss… really. I wasssss jussst bluffing back there, you know. I wouldn't actually have hurt him. Or eaten him. I'm not a monssssster."

Urge to facepalm gradually rising. "I wasssss human up until lasssst year, so hisssss dissssmissssive commentsssss pisssssed me off too. Had to deal with plenty of hissss type. So I might've gone a bit overboard."

Strange Academy, Homeroom

In the midst of the class cajoling and cavorting and careening into uncharted territories, a faint buzz of static could be heard in the back of everyone's minds. Barely present and hardly noticeable. Like background noise. But it was there nonetheless.

Suddenly it exploded into a deafening wave before disappearing completely. It was gone. Almost like it was never there.

But what was there was a very loud bark from behind the teacher's desk. Along with a strange ringing in their heads. Almost as loud as the bark, but surprisingly friendly.

"OH! ME SORRY! ME JUST WOKE UP! ME NOT MEAN TO STARTLE YOU!"

A small golden retriever leaped from behind the teacher's desk, sitting straight on top of it. Its long bushy tail was wagging profusely, as was its big sloppy toungue. It looked at the students with beady eyes, its gaze going back and forth as though it couldn't settle on any one thing to stare at. But underneath the surface, there was a glimmer of intelligence.

"ME GOLDIE! ME HOMEROOM TEACHER! AM VERY PLEASED TO MEET YOU!" The voice kept ringing. At first it was hard to tell where it was coming from, but the more they listened, the easier it was to pin down the source.

And said source was the slobbering mutt claiming to be their teacher.

"NOW, BEFORE WE START, ME WANT TO SAY VERY BRIEF THING ABOUT SCHOOL. THIS PLACE SPECIAL. MAY NOT SEEM IT, BUT IS. MOST PEOPLE TAKE SCHOOL FOR GRANTED. TAKE TOWN FOR GRANTED. BECAUSE THEY GROW UP HERE. BUT WORLD IS NOT TOWN. WORLD VERY SCARY PLACE. WORLD NOT EASILY ACCEPTING OF PEOPLE LKE YOU. LIKE ME. MUCH OF WORLD AFRAID. BUT HERE, WE NOT HAVE TO BE AFRAID! WE BE WHAT WE WANT TO BE! AND THAT BE VERY AMAZING THING."

The dog stratched behind its ear, getting rid of a few fleas before turning its attention back to the class. "BUT THIS TOWN CAN BE SCARY AS WELL. AS SPECIAL AS TOWN IS, CAN ALSO BE DANGEROUS. POLICE CANNOT ALWAYS HANDLE IT. SO SOMETIMES, WE MUST HANDLE FOR THEM. AND THAT IS WHY WE HERE. TO LEARN TO PROTECT VERY SPECIAL THING. AND TO BE ALL YOU CAN BE. AND BOTH THESE ALSO VERY SPECIAL."

It quickly shook its fur, getting out a bit of dirt as it laid down on its stomach.

"NOW! SINCE THIS BE FIRST DAY, WE START FROM TOP! EVERYONE PLEASE INTRODUCE THEMSELVES! NAME, TALENTS, WHY YOU HERE. GIVE AS MUCH OR LITTLE AS YOU COMFORTABLE GIVING. ONCE YOU DONE, YOU CAN TALK WITH OTHER STUDENTS AGAIN. BUT PLEASE BE RESPETACBLE OF OTHER STUDENTS STILL INTRODUCING THEMSELVES. NOW, WHO GO FIRST?"

Edited by kkhohoho on Jun 11th 2020 at 12:06:22 PM

Rather than stand, the water elemental allowed her form to lose cohesiveness, dripping as a puddle onto the floor, then reforming standing beside her desk. "I'm Klorae!" she said brightly. "I'm a water elemental from a place with no name, and I'm here because I love Strangeness Heights and I want to be a part of keeping it safe. This is the most interesting place I've ever been."

Soheila – Homeroom

Soheila didn't visibly react to the sensation, as she was already sitting dormant. Her smile stayed the same up until the point the presumably psychic incursion swelled and fell silent. Her aura dusted off her desk for the nth time as she steepled her fingers and leant forward a fraction. Only for her to freeze in place again once the dog jumped up into view.

She remained that way until it'd finished ‘speaking’, then planted a smile on her face and began mimicking breathing as rhythmically as clockwork. She placed her hand upon her chest in self-reference, waiting only for a space in which to speak before letting her voice carry through.

“I am the young and learning Soheila; a wanderer from a fair ways away. I'm also called Sima if three syllable names are difficult for you. My domain is that of doorways and arches; any entrance or portal to a space is able to be claimed. To that end I'm your humble god who is not a god, with a ready ear and a joyful tongue. Never fear me.”

She removed her hand from her chest once she'd finished, and again steepled her long fingers loosely atop her desk. Her stature and proportions made it seem like she stretched on forever. She was practically hunched forward to fit into her seat. She didn't seem to mind or notice.

Most interestingly, however, was that in mention of her name(s) her voice bolstered itself tenfold. Like a rumbling undertone; a quality that suggested a form of glory. But it faded thereafter, and from that point onwards it sounded like her voice was being somehow pinched into quietness.

Edited by Enirboreh on Jun 10th 2020 at 12:13:40 PM

bork

Hux

"I'm Huxshathra Ahriman-Adamson, but as I've mentioned before, you can call me Hux! Justin already made a Star Wars joke, but I'm not really feeling the Dark Side at the moment," Hux said cheerfully.

"I'm just a little bit strong and good with knives, and this is Mr. Tibbs, my cat. He's a good cat," he laughed as he continued petting Mr. Tibbs, who seemed to melt into his arms while looking at Goldie hungrily. "My parents are Cain and Marah, they fought in the Savior War a few years back."

"It's nice to meet you all," Hux finished as he looked around the room. "I hope we'll all have a good year, starting from now!"

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 10th 2020 at 4:46:37 AM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Alexander Nichols

Setting his coffee down, eye twitching slightly at the patent absurdity of their teacher being a psychic golden retriever, Alex didn't bother to stand up as he announced himself. "Alexander Nichols. As you may have guessed, I have the power to change things."

He tapped his desk for emphasis. The name 'Alexander Nichols' etched itself into the desk at his silent mental command. "More specifically, I can freely transmute matter and energy with physical contact. However, my power does not work on living things. If you're ever in need of rare materials for one reason or another, I'm the man to see."

Alex smiled bemusedly. "And before you ask, yes, I can turn lead into gold, but no, I'm not going to do it for you without very good reason. No need to crash the economy."

His piece said, Alex leaned back and focused on the others. Soheila in particular interested him, mostly because he couldn't immediately place what she was. The 'god who is not a god' bit narrowed it down, however. As did the mention of 'domain' and the way her name echoed with importance.

Soheila was clearly one of those metahumans who were worshiped as 'deities'. Except she must not have had any actual followers; that would explain why she was here. Likely her powers grew with worship. There were beings like that, his father had told him, and theorized that they held a connection to the Collective Unconscious. Whether they had simply tapped into it or created it was a point of contention.

Regardless, Alex made a note to be wary of her. Or perhaps 'it'. The way she occasionally forgot to breathe seemed to suggest her body was for show, more than anything else.

Fortunately, none of the others seemed to pose quite the potential threat that Soheila did. Many were downright nice, which would hopefully make Gremory less of an asshole by proxy.

Alex smiled behind his coffee mug at the thought.

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Justin Henderson

Justin's anger at Gremory and unease at the academy was momentarily forgotten when what had to be the cutest dog ever got up from its position and...started...talking. His head tilted to the side, and then tried to find something to say. Some sort of response to the fact the home room teacher was an adorable pooch. But nothing he said could get there.

Well, it seemed everyone was going up there to introduce themselves.

Once Alexander finished his introduction, Justin proceeded up to the front. He looked around and nodded, "Alright, my name's Justin Henderson, I'm the son of David Henderson, who uh, works here as a Technician. And technically, that's what I'm hoping to do, too. I'm...well, I'm a regular human guy mostly. I do have one gift though, that I can control and manipulate machines. So I guess that makes me your tech guy. Nice to meet...most of you..."

He turned and looked at the teacher and asked on his way back to his seat, "What's the policy on tummy rubs and head petting, teach?"

Strang Academy, Homeroom

"GOLDIE LOVES TUMMY RUBS AND PETS! BUT NOT DURING CLASS. GOLDIE NEEDS TO TEACH. BUT AFTER CLASS IS OKAY!" It sat up again, wagging its tail so fast it was in danger of knocking over a paperweight.