fandomhigh | BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

There was a crackle of energy before reality split and portal opened up into the Portalocity Lounge. A few seconds later a figure popped through the portal wearing what appeared to be an environmental suit attached to an air supply hose going back into the portal. He then pulled out a tablet device and took some readings before stripping off the environmental suit revealing the teenager known as Barry Ween.

"Okay, Jeremy. I'm here and the atmosphere is breathable. Send the rest of my shit through," Barry said into his comm headset. "No. Just push it into the portal and pull back the suit. Jesus Christ! How fucking hard is it to push it through numb-nuts? Just fucking push it!"

Three suitcases and a large crate appeared through the portal. "About fucking time. Okay, now press the button to close the portal. Which one? The big fucking button that has a label on it that says 'PRESS THIS FUCKING BUTTON AND NOTHING ELSE.' Are you fucking kidding me? No. No. No! Just fucking forget it! Don't touch anything I'll shut it down remotely."

A couple of taps on his pad and the portal disappeared with a "plip." "All right it's done. Don't touch any of my fucking stuff while I'm gone, Jeremy. You hear me? All right. I'll check in with you later."

Barry looked up at the glittery sign bearing the name 'Fandom High' and grunted before going back to his tablet and taking further readings; muttering to himself occasionally when he found something of interest.

[Woo! Newbie Shuttle!]

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Barry watched the boy puking and sighed. He reached into his pack and pulled something out of it.

"Breath mint?"

"Thank you," Anders said sheepishly. "And here I was hoping I managed to do that quietly."

"Don't worry about it. Portals can be a real fucking pain in the ass," Barry said genially. "You here for Fandom High?"

"Never heard of it," Anders admitted. "Is that what the rest of you are here for?"

Barry jabbed his thumb in direction of the banner. "Yeah, that's the place we're all heading too. Don't worry I don't think you're the first person who mysteriously showed up here with no explanation."

"Good. At least I can get lost in a crowd," Anders said lightly, then leaned back against his bench. "I'm Anders, by the way. From Ferelden."

"I'm Barry," he replied. "From... Well Earth. Do you know how you ended up here? Or was it an accident?"

"I knew I was going to go somewhere, but I didn't know it would be here," Anders answered. "It was a transit spell. All I could ask was not to be where I was."

He looked around the Lounge, chomping on his breath mint. "It worked that far, at least."

"Well, I guess so," Barry said offering up a package of Oreos. "Here. Have a cookie. Any reason why you wanted out of wherever you were?"

Anders took the cookie, looked at it as if he wasn't completely convinced it was edible. (Cookies at home were a bit ... lumpier.) "I jumped through a portal without knowing what was on the other end," he pointed out. "What do you think?"

He knew that wasn't what Barry was asking, but he wanted to gauge more about why he was asking before he gave a more honest response.

"You were either in a shitty situation or something bad was coming after you," Barry said taking a bite of his own Oreo. "You're just lucky that plant was the only thing that got damaged."

"I know it," Anders said firmly, then chomped into his cookie. He was licking crumbs off his fingers before he added, "It's the first one, by the way. I ran from the Circle of Magi."

Barry lifted an eyebrow at that statement.

"Sounds like a cult," Barry said cautiously. "And does that make you a magi?"

"People want to join cults," Anders said darkly. "And yes, I'm a mage. But don't worry -- I've no intention of doing anything here except living my life without letting the Templars manage my every move."

Barry frowned a little at that in sympathy. "Yeah, I can understand that. I've had my run-ins with my own government from time to time. Those fuckers never know when to back off, do they?"

"Never," Anders agreed. "It's absurd. I don't ask for much, you know. I'm not violent or a bad person or out to sign any contracts with demons. But it's ridiculous to shut a child up just because he or she is born with magic, and I'm not about to throw my life away on Templar whims."

... he was a bit wordy on this topic, yes.

"What are they after you for?"

"They want to get a hold of any technology I develop and use it as a weapon," Barry said with a frown. It was weird to talk openly about it after all these years. "I usually kept under their radar but once or twice I had to deal with them directly. They even kidnapped my best friend thinking he was me and I had to pull him out before he got into trouble."

He shook his head.

"I'm thinking this island will give me a break from that. Hoping for it anyway."

Among his other reasons for coming to Fandom.

"I hope it's a break for both of us," said Anders, eyebrows going up a fraction of an inch. "You ... make weapons, then? Like a swordsmith?"

"More complicated than that. I'm more of a scientist that dabbles in different areas," Barry explained. " And if the government found out what I could do they'd lock me up and try to make me build shit for them."

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

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