What, me worry?
Outside Oddity High
Layla felt a bit embarrassed over bumping into Blake. But at least he seemed like a friendly face. "Right. I've met the quadruplets when I first moved here during the weekend and Jackie," Layla gulped as she expected Jackie to become Heidi at any moment. She wondered if Heidi was going to get into a fight, either with everyone, especially after her outburst the other day. Or perhaps even the teachers. Either way, she wasn't looking forward to it. But she didn't have the heart to tell others what happened. Not just because she wasn't the most forward person when it comes to that stuff. She didn't really want to embarrass Jackie before the inevitable that was bound to happen. "These people are something else. What's with that one girl?" she said, briefly looking at Mindy. "She seems a little too into Gill. And.... is she right? About the teachers?"Mindy shot an eye at Gill over what she saw as flirting with Vivian. More competition, she thought. But she addressed Jackie and Vivian over their inquiries over the teachers. "Yeah, because the teachers here don't really know what they're all gettin' into. Like they were all hired, except they weren't clued in over what we are." Mindy wrapped an arm around Gill, giving all the females (except Coralie) sharp looks. Then as Mr. Davis came back after a week since he got too scared of what happened, Mindy had to say something to him.
That first day of school, Mindy went into her outburst and started a fire in his classroom unintentionally. The scared look he had on his face racked her with guilt. He may not have a clue what's going on, but he seemed to be nice at the very least. And she didn't mean to terrify him. Mindy let go of Gill as she slinked over to the teacher. "Uh, hi, Mr Davis," she said in a hushed tone. A farcry from the assertiveness she expressed to the others before the teacher arrived. "I'm sorry about what happened with the fire and all. Didn't really have control of it. Plus I was mad because I had to leave New York because of..." she stopped herself as she really didn't want to go into the events that led her to Little Haven. "Never mind. But I'm sorry about the fire. Didn't mean to scare you and all."
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, outside Oddity High - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets who can juggle multiple conversations.
"'Tyla the deep witch', huh? Though... You said you're the only Merfolk you know, so this Tyla, she's something else?" Linton said to Gill, still very curious.
Meanwhile, Carolyn gave a shrug towards Vivian. "Well, hopefully people will learn that vampires are people too, and open their minds to it," Carolyn replied to Vivian, before pausing to think. "Though I guess first it will have to be revealed that vampires are actually real, which is probably gonna be a bit of a shock," the red dressed quadruplet admitted.
Marilyn let out a little sigh before addressing Val, to have the quadruplets' situation explained once again. "I'm Marilyn, that's my sister Carolyn, and our brothers Lindon and Linton. We don't have anything special going on; we're just quadruplets."
Finally one of the teachers showed up, and Mindy apologized to him for apparently starting a fire. Her wording of, 'didn't really have control of it' seemed to suggest that perhaps that it was some power of hers. Lindon looked at her for just a moment, wondering if fire was directly a power she had, or if it was a side effect of a different power. Then Lindon looked towards the arriving teacher. "So uh, can you open the door for us?" the blue dressed quadruplet asked simply, motioning his thumb over his shoulder towards the front door.
You are reading this.
For the Horde!
Jackie turned her attention to the new boy who introduced himself, and she raised her eyebrow at the name he had given her.
"I'm, uh... I'm Jackie," she introduced. "Loki? Like... the Norse trickster god?" she asked. He didn't look anything like Tom Hiddleston, a fact that Heidi disappointedly noted.
Meanwhile, Gill just smiled and nodded at Linton, his smile widening when Mindy put an arm around him.
"Yeah, she's a deep witch," he told the boy, as if that cleared up everything. "My mom and dad don't trust them, but Tyla's super nice. If a bit creepy..." His attention turned towards Mr. Davis and he waved. "Hi there! Is school about to start?" he asked, cheerfully.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Outside School
Coralie jumped a bit along with everyone else when Mrs Stevenson honked on the horn. After that, however, she also took special note of the parents' expression, and of the young girl mutely capitulating to the unspoken demand. Ooooh, that did give off a bad vibe. An unhealthy family dynamic if ever she saw one. Coralie looked back to the Stevenson car and narrowed her eyes, as with a grim expression she slid her goggles back over her head and into place.
Coralie quickly perked up at the addition of a new nickname. "Cora? I like that, d'you know, I do! I'll have to introduce myself that way more often." Spinning on one heel to face Vivian, she continued, "But yeah, Alex is a mixed-up soul sitting on his own body weight in angst. To be fair, it's been a rough month for him with all these shake-ups to his identity, but I'm pretty sure he'll come out the other end just fine. I'll check on him after school anyway just to be sure."
As a teacher finally arrived, Coralie eagerly trotted up to the front door. "Heya, Mr Davis! How's my favourite purveyor of World-33 history? Oh! Do y'know if English classes are on the schedule today? I've been...very much looking forward to a lesson with Ms Hughes." Thus Coralie spoke a sentence never uttered before in this universe, all while wringing her hands and grinning a little too broadly.
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, outside Oddity High - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets doing a little more small talk while waiting on the teacher.
Linton blinked and looked at Gill with a momentarily confused look. "Okay... And what are deep witches?" Linton asked, unsure why the wording of what he just said didn't already make it clear to Gill that this was an unfamiliar topic.
Meanwhile, Coralie's malicious intentions about the other teacher went unnoticed by the quadruplets, yet something about what she said before that did get their attention. Carolyn glanced over at Coralie, raising an eyebrow curiously. "After school, huh?" the red dressed quadruplet thought out loud, having realized that that presumably meant at Alex's home.
You are reading this.
Fwomph
Outside Oddity High
"Oh she's got fire hands. Just a regular girl in all regards but she can set her hands on fire, usually when she gets angry. Also might be dating Gill? I—"
And then the conversation was joined by the new vampire in the class.
"Oh hi, we're just kinda chatting. Was waiting for someone to let us in but hey that's a thing now. Just fair warning given you're new; classes here are probably going to be a bit weak, none of the teachers are themselves supernatural and also the school day ends right after lunch."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Oddity High Steps
"Really, that's alright, Mand—Mindy, sorry," said Mr. Davis, amicable as ever. "I'm bad with names. Anyway, I am completely over the fire. It taught me a valuable lesson about you guys and you only burnt one thing." He chuckled lightly.
He then turned to the at least three people asking him if the school day was going to start soon and/or if he could open the door. "Yep," he said, "school should be starting in—" —he checked his watch— "—zero minutes, apparently! S'cuse me," he said to Jackie and Loki, the two students currently near the door, as he went to unlock it. "And—" He turned to Coralie. "...I am so sorry, I don't remember your name. But yeah, you will be having Ms. Hughes today. No idea why you'd look forward to that..." With that, the door was unlocked, and the students were free to enter. He then seemed to realize something. "Oh, uh, new students!" He raised his voice to get the attention of anyone not focusing on him. "Your schedules are all the same. Morgan, Hughes, Perlman, me, lunch. Classrooms are on the third floor. Hope you all have a good first day!" And with that, he went into the building, and the students were free to follow behind. (Of course, they were also free to finish up whatever conversations they were having first, if they so desired.)
Meanwhile, Val extended a gloved hand to Marilyn to shake. "...nice to meet you, Marilyn...none of you have any anomalies? that's weird...so that's...if there's four of you that makes five total...Blake's parents notwithstanding..." they said. "...oh, I think the doors are open now...see you in Morgan's room..."
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
What, me worry?
Onto Oddity High
Mindy felt a little bit of relief after her apology to Mr. Davis. She did give him a bit of a look after the teacher got her name wrong, but she brushed it off. She even gave Coralie a knowing look up mention of Ms. Hughes, considering the plan they had for her. "Yeah, Ms. Hughes, kinda look forward to it too. Think it'll be fun," Mindy said before giving a devilish smile. After giving a bit of an amused cackle, she turned around to Gill. "Come on, Gill, time to go to school", she grasped his hand and led him to inside the building. Even shooting Jackie another look before the two headed inside.Layla, however, seemed a bit less-than-enthused upon hearing about the teachers. And throughout all this, Layla tried her best not to think about what would happen when Jackie eventually turns into Heidi. She was curious how the Heidi personality would handle Mindy. She had this image in her head of the two of them being bulls locking up their horns. "So I guess, she was right... Will we at least learn the normal stuff school teaches us?" Layla sighed. Still, Layla felt a bit relieved hearing school ends after lunch. "It ends after lunch? Interesting, but that's fine with me. I prefer to eat at home. I'm Layla. I just moved her during the weekend. So has Jackie and the quadruplets."
For the Horde!
The door finally came open and Jackie, relieved, took one more glance at her mom's car before stepping into the building. She tried not to make eye contact with Mindy, who was seriously scaring the hell out of her.
Gill, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow at Linton.
"Oh, I keep forgetting humans don't know about them. Deep witches are spirit beings from the depths of the sea, almost a sort of living ghost. They look like giant jellyfish with the forms of mermaids. Their magic pulls at the soul and shapes the body, but every boon they cast comes with a curse; they can't make something from nothing. I was one of the lucky ones, I just lost my color vision," Gill explained. "There have been stories of mermen and mermaids who made deals with deep witches and lost the capability to love, lost precious memories, or lost far worse," he sighed. "But it's never a surprise, a deep witch will never pull an unannounced price. Tyla the deep witch offered me a new life in exchange for simple colors and I accepted. And this so far has been the best month of my life. And I want nothing more than to stay here on land and know what it really means to be human."
Gill was brought back to the outside world by Mindy grasping his hand and leading him indoors. He wasn't entirely sure he liked the cackle Mindy let out, but he went along with her regardless. He liked the feel of his hand in hers. Firm and confident but soft and caring at the same time. He walked with her into the building.
Now that Jackie had finally entered school, Mrs. Stevenson grumbled, putting away her phone, and moving to drive away.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, Oddity High - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets interested in how this will go.
"Thank you sir," Lindon said politely to Mr. Davis once the door was unlocked.
Meanwhile, Marilyn accepted Val's handshake, and gave them a nod. "Well, our parents keep saying we're psychic, but that doesn't make any sense to us. We can't like, read thoughts or move stuff with our minds or anything like that," the yellow dressed quadruplet explained.
Linton looked a little creeped out as he listened to Gill's explanation. "A ghostly, mermaid-shaped jellyfish that can change your body and soul... Sounds scary to me," the green dressed quadruplet commented. "But, it's good that it worked out so well for you, then," Linton then added.
"Well, time for school," Carolyn, Linton, and Marilyn said simultaneously, then all moved towards the door. Lindon had opened the door and held it open for his siblings without looking back at them. Once they were through, the four walked together up to the third floor, to look for Morgan's classroom.
You are reading this.
Outside School -> Inside School
Vivian quirked an eyebrow as Mindy and Blake painted a less than flattering picture of Oddity High.
"So… the teachers are not supernatural or unusual in any way themselves? Alright, but they're not even aware that such things exist? That's… well, baffling, to be honest."
She sighs, evidently disappointed by this.
"Well, whatever. Probably still better than going to a normal school."
She pondered Carolyn's words, wondering just how that reveal might go.
"It's probably a question of when, not if, the world learns of our existence. Guess I'll just have to be ready for it."
She gives Coralie a smile.
"Good to hear. We're all dealing with our own issues here, so I don't want him to think he has to go it alone."
Then the door opens, and Mr. Davis comes out.
"Oh, well it looks like school's in session. Seeya in class."
She then heads for Morgan's classroom.
Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jun 10th 2023 at 9:47:53 AM
Outside School
"Yeah, I'll be paying a vi..." Just then, Coralie caught onto Carolyn's tone and expression and was annoyed by the implication. "No, not for that kind of thing! Get your mind out the gutter! Honestly..." But there was no more time for conversation course correction, as the assembled students began to flood through the doorway, and Gill was churning out a great deal of sea witch lore, which Coralie scrambled to get jotted into her notebook. As soon as she could, she'd have to get back to World-9 and see if there were any Deep Witches there too.
Coralie was quite pleased to see that she and Mindy were still on the same page. With a devilish grin, she sidled up to whisper in her ear just as Mindy took Gill's hand. I think we should wait five or ten minutes into the lesson, just so the new kids can appreciate what a jerk she is. We'll let Hughes fling out half a dozen infractions, and then it's showtime." With a wink and a pat on the shoulder, Coralie left Mindy to head in with Gill.
This was enough to stop Coralie dead in her tracks, her head being the only thing that moved as she watched the twins head inside. "...oookayyy...I'm thinking those four aren't entirely ordinary." With that thought logged, she headed inside, suddenly remembered her things, ran back out to grab her back and lab coat, and then trotted back inside to catch up with the others.
Fwomph
Outside But Then Soon Inside Oddity High
"Yeah I think so. I mean, one of our teachers wanted a book report which I did do before coming here. Also right, name's Blake, nice to meetcha."
The token mundane of the group did a little step-to move as the doors opened and students started filing in.
"Oh right! We do have a supernatural class but it's during lunch and it's kinda just a show and tell of people's powers while we eat."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
That there is a seal.
Ah. So the vampire could provide answers... but did he want answers? What would he do if faced with concrete proof that he wasn't the person that he knew, down in his bones, that he was? Loki didn't really want to think about that.
"That's right!" he said with absolutely impeccable false confidence.
All thoughts of his true identity vanished from his mind, however, when he noticed Coralie and Mindy's behavior. Those two were clearly planning to do something to Ms. Hughes... and Loki could not wait to watch. He could interfere himself, but he didn't think it would be necessary; he was curious to see what those two had in store for the unpleasant teacher.
He skipped — actually skipped — into the school building. This was going to be fun.
Edited by aPod-ofSeals on Jun 13th 2023 at 3:10:15 AM
Data is imaginary. This burrito is real.
Oddity High Steps
And with that, the steps in front of Oddity High grew quiet as every student filed into Mr. Morgan's room.
Mr. Morgan's class that day was completely unremarkable. It was just geometry, and it wasn't even that hard. No reason to dwell on it.
The next period, on the other hand...
Ms. Hughes' Room
As the students filed in and the "bell" rang, Ms. Hughes sat at her desk, looking at role lists and having a generally sour disposition, as usual.
Once everyone was seated, she began barking out last names, listening for the "Here!"s, as usual. "Doe!note Gardner! Loffeson!note Mercedes! Null! Palencia!...Hmm, absent. Thank God. Polyhymnia! Pol—" She looked up from her list and over to the Lynns. "Why are there four of you? How am I supposed to differentiate between you during role?" she said angrily, over a disproportionately minor issue as usual.
Edited by TheFullestCircle on Jun 15th 2023 at 12:39:27 PM
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, Oddity High, Ms. Hughes' class - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets who are quadruplets.
The quadruplets were sat together, and looked quite confused at Ms. Hughes' aggression towards them. "There's four of us because we're quadruplets... We were born this way," Marilyn answered, so confused it was almost like a question. "We use our outfit colors to differentiate. I'm Marilyn, that's Carolyn, that's Lindon, and that's Linton," the yellow dressed quadruplet continued, pointing to the three siblings in turn.
Carolyn meanwhile gave a worried glance around at the other students, as if to silently ask if this was normal behavior for the teacher.
You are reading this.
For the Horde!
Gill sat down in his usual spot right up front. When Ms. Hughes again called him as Doe, he furrowed his brow.
"I told you, that's not my—" he started to say, when she just continued calling role. Jackie, who had sat on one side of Gill at Heidi's urging, leaned over towards him in confusion.
"Then what IS your last name?" Jackie asked quietly.
"I don't have one," Gill explained in a whisper. "I told her that but she doesn't listen to me." Jackie blinked a few times in confusion, then nodded and sat quietly, waiting to be called on for role.
>>"What a bitch,"<< Heidi muttered in Jackie's head. >>"Picking on a cutie like him like that. Someone should teach her some manners. Soon as I get out of here..."<< Jackie looked worried for a moment.
>>"You— y-you can't do that!"<< Jackie mentally replied, in a tizzy.
Edited by AllHailThrall on Jun 14th 2023 at 10:13:07 AM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Ms. Hughes' Class
Ms. Hughes noticed Gill and Jackie whispering, and predictably was not happy about it. "No talking during role. Infractions for both of you." She marked down their infractions on the ever-present infraction sheet. "Tsk, tsk, Jackie, an infraction on your first day. I would suggest moving if you don't want more of those. Gill's a bit of a troublemaker."
After that was dealt with, she responded to the Lynns. "Alright. I will refer to you as Polyhymnia-Red, Polyhymnia-Blue, Polyhymnia-Green, and Polyhymnia-Yellow." She scribbled on the role sheet, and then continued listing names until everyone had been called.
"Good. Now." She put away the role sheet and pulled out a book. "We will now move on to the lesson. Students, pull out your textbooks. If you're new and do not have one, share with a neighbor." (The students had been given textbooks in class on Friday. Hopefully everyone brought theirs...) "Please open to page 162." Page 162 was about denotation vs. connotation (the literal meaning of the word vs. whether or not it was a positive or negative word). It listed various examples of words with the same denotation but different connotations, and blah blah blah blah...It was all very simple stuff. Definitely nothing that would take a whole day to learn.
"This is what we will be learning today," said Ms. Hughes. "You will have 30 minutes to read," (the passage could be read in, like, 5, tops) "and then you will be given your worksheets, which will be due at the end of class. If you have any questions, or need to use the restroom, raise your hand." She sat back and let the students read.
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, Oddity High, Ms. Hughes' class - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets who just need a quick look at the material.
As usual, none of the quadruplets looked at each other; while Marilyn kept looking towards Miss Hughes, the other three made quick glances at the other students around them. After a brief assessment, Marilyn passed her school bag back to Linton, who opened it and started looking through it for their English notes.
Carolyn leaned over to Mindy. "Hey, mind if I read it from your textbook?" the red dressed quadruplet quietly muttered.
Lindon leaned over to Blake. "Hey, mind if I read it from your textbook?" the blue dressed quadruplet quietly muttered.
Marilyn then leaned over to Val. "Hey, mind if I read it from your textbook?" the yellow dressed quadruplet quietly muttered.
All three of those quadruplets said it at the same time, though who's to say if anyone would notice since they were speaking quietly.
You are reading this.
What, me worry?
Inside Oddity High with Ms. Hughes, the sunshine of students' days
Mindy looked around the room, and already Ms. Hughes was not wasting time giving out infractions. So much for no more infractions... Gill getting another one as well as Jackie. As much as she didn't trust Jackie right now, even Mindy thought that was messed up. Right then, Carolyn asked about reading her textbook. Mindy opened the book to the right page and slightly passed it over to Carolyn. She wasn't even bothering to read it herself. Don't worry, things are gonna change here in a bit, Mindy whispered. She looked over to Coralie, expecting to give her a cue to start their plan any minute now.Layla, however, looked lost. While her senses were heightened to that of a normal human and does have a bit of sight to make out people, places, and things, it still wouldn't work for her when it comes to reading. She was incredibly lost when it came to that. Seeing how strict the teacher was, Layla was nervous asking Hughes the question. But she managed to will herself to it. Uh, excuse me, Layla said while raising her arm. I can't really read. Do you have any copies in Braille or maybe even large text? Considering what she heard about this school, she doubted these resources would be available to her, but she figured she might as well ask.
Edited by MatthewLMayfield on Jun 15th 2023 at 8:02:14 AM
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, Oddity High, Ms. Hughes' class - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets who already have great grades.
"Thanks," Carolyn said to Mindy simply.
"Oh, nevermind," Lindon quietly said to Blake, then sat back up straight again.
"Oh, nevermind," Marilyn quietly said to Val, then sat back up straight again, at the exact same time Lindon had.
The blue and yellow dressed quadruplets then both closed their eyes as concentration was put on the red and green quadruplets doing their respective skim reading of both the textbook and their own notes for comparison.
After a few moments, Carolyn and Linton both sat up straight, and Lindon and Marilyn opened their eyes again. All four looked towards the teacher, and simultaneously raised their hands. Rather than speak together though, Marilyn spoke for them.
"Excuse me, may we have the worksheets early? We already know this stuff," the yellow dressed quadruplet asked in a polite tone; or at least a tone that was meant to be polite.
You are reading this.
Classroom
Class got underway and, yep, Ms Hughes was on fine form as usual. Petty infractions, trumped-up worksheets, total lack of care for names and flagrant hatred of children. Well, fortunately for the freshly educated newcomers, one of those was about to change.
Coralie heaved up her heavy bag and laid it on her desk with a thump. She turned the opening to herself and unzipped it, ostensibly to get out her textbook. But as she opened it up, discreetly hiding its contents, she locked eyes with Mindy and gave a quick two-finger salute. Showtime.
As Mindy prepared to distract Hughes and have her turn her back to everyone else, Coralie gripped the hidden handle of her Transmogrifier Gun. She pushed a button on the side, and the contraption quietly hummed to life. As soon as the home screen was active, she began rapidly tapping on the keyboard and programming in:
Age: 14 years
Duration: 54 minutes
The minimum age of a high schooler, for the time remaining until the next period. Now, all she needed was the primary target...
Edited by LizardOfAus on Jun 16th 2023 at 7:29:19 PM
Ms. Hughes' Class
"...You don't know how to read," Ms. Hughes said, in a "do you honestly expect me to believe that" tone of voice. "There is absolutely no way that's true. Infr—" She was walking over to the infraction sheet when she suddenly stopped, apparently thinking about the reast of what Layla had said. "...You mean you're visually impaired." She sat back down. "In that case, have another student read the passage to you aloud," she said. "Quietly," she added, as more of a warning than anything else.
Val, meanwhile, was fine with Marilyn sharing their textbook. "...yeah, sure, here you g—" they said, starting to bring their textbook closer to Marilyn so she could read too, and then she...took it back? "...but...you still need to read it, don't you?...why'd you..." They trailed off, confused. They were even more confused when Marilyn raised her hand and acted like she knew already. "...wh...but you...you didn't..."
Although that was slightly hard to hear over Ms. Hughes' response to her. "Well, Polyhymnia-Yellow, how could you know that you know it already when you haven't been reading it? Don't lie to me. Infraction." This time, she wouldn't stop herself from marking an infraction on her sheet. She then turned to Lindon, whose hand was also raised. "Polyhymnia-Blue?"
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
What, me worry?
Inside Oddity High, where the sunshine is about to get brighter
Layla felt her heart sink as Ms. Hughes seemed like she was about to give her an infraction just for making an innocent request. All she did was just ask for one thing to make things easier for her. Her first day at Oddity High and she was already in trouble. And all because she needed assistance. But then, Hughes settled herself down and just told her to find someone read the passage to her. She felt relieved but still a lot more on edge now. She still didn't want to make one wrong move. She didn't want to get that infraction. "All right," she said meekly to the teacher. She looked around and set her eyes on Blake. He seemed like the most stable one among the group. "Uh, Blake," she whispered. "I can't really read right. Can you read this out loud to me? Sorry if I'm a bother." And just as she waited to hear his response, her train of thought derailed as Mindy started yelling.Mindy had just heard Ms. Hughes scolding one of the quadruplets. The temptation to set her ablaze was rising. Just then Coralie gave her the okay to set the plan in motion. She whipped her head to the teacher. Again with the infractions?! she yelled. I thought we were done with those! I shoulda known! She marched up to the teacher and snatched away the infraction sheet before jumping on top of the teacher's desk. She leaped back down into the corner, away from Coralie. And with a look of death in her eyes, Mindy said Infraction this! And with a flick of her wrist, she set the paper ablaze. While she was just doing all this as part of the plan with Coralie, her actual anger towards Hughes fueled her words as she yelled at the teacher. Mindy managed to keep control of her emotions here, but the way she said her words, it was hard to tell whether or not she was having another flaming-hot outburst.
Oddity High Steps
Val replied to Marilyn, "...yeah, I'm not really...good at explaining it...sorry..."
"...what's your name, by the way...and what's your...you know...sorry if you said it earlier, I zoned out..."
Then Loki gave a response to Val's awkward stuttering that was about as awkward. Val decided to let the subject drop. Loki had already moved on to trying to pick the door lock anyway. Speaking of which...
As if on cue, but having missed the cue by several minutes, Mr. Davis walked around the side of the building. "Hey guys!"
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.