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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"I see you like portals about as well as I do."

Kaylin couldn't help but glance back at her own potted plant.

"Definitely not how I'll take my next journey," Anders agreed wryly. "Hi, I'm Anders. Are you coming from Thedas too?"

"No, Elantra," Kaylin said. "I never heard of Thedas."

She looked at his robes and had a terrible thought. "You're not a mage, are you?"

Anders had hoped he'd escaped that tone of voice.

"You shouldn't assume things just because a man likes wearing skirts," he said. "Are you going to start screaming for the Templars if I say yes?"

"I don't know who the Templars are and even if I did I'm not the sort to run screaming for anyone." She really wasn't.

"But magic hurts and most mages are power mad idiots - " She cut herself off and looked around nervously. "Not that you heard me say that."

And belatedly, just in case. "Um. Sorry?"

Anders looked half-offended and half-surprised. "Did you really just call me a power-mad idiot and then promptly apologize?" he asked. "Not that I haven't heard both before, just usually not quite so close together."

At least she had the grace to blush?"

"I'm not exactly known for my tact," she said sheepishly.

"No. No, I would guess not," Anders answered. "Look, I promise, I don't want any power beyond the right to live my life the way I see fit. I just don't happen to think I should have given up that freedom the day I showed talent for magic. I can't help what other mages you've known have been like, but we are rather badly slandered as a class."

"That sounds fair enough," Kaylin agreed.

"If they did that where I lived, I'd -" she broke off, not sure how much she was supposed to say here. Few back home knew of her healing abilities.

"The mages there don't like me at all. But they're still better than the Arcanists."

"We don't have arcanists where I'm from," Anders noted. "Arcane magic, but I don't think that's what you mean if they're different from mages."

"And if they did that where you lived, you'd what?"

"Most of the mages back home would like to kill me," she said with a shrug. "You can see where it doesn't make me very happy about them. In your place they'd at least lock me up forever. But in Elantra lots of people can do little bits of magic, so half the world wouldn't have their freedom."

"And if they did that, there'd be no one left to plough the fields or make the bread," Anders noted. "Most inefficient. Where I'm from you're either a mage or you aren't. There's no 'little bit of magic' about it."

"Huh... I guess that means they have even more rules and that most of them think they're better than everyone else," Kaylin said musingly.

Did I mention that tact was not one of her strong suits?

Anders looked at her as if she were completely insane. "What have I said that would imply I thought I was better than anyone?" he asked. "Mages are people. Some good, some bad. That's it."

Kaylin looked surprised. "I'm not talking about you."

Anders was a real person. Mages were... out there somewhere, not exactly real unless she had to deal with one. Hey, she never claimed to make sense to anyone else.

"And anyway, I said 'most'."

"You did," Anders admitted. "So if I said 'most women only care about shoes and babies,' you wouldn't be insulted?"

His tone was more amused than anything else; he wasn't sure how to read Kaylin, so he'd decided to just go along for the ride.

"Why would I be?" Kaylin said, honestly looking confused.

Half the time she barely even acknowledged that she was a woman. She was a Hawk - or would be as soon as she was old enough - nothing else even came close to mattering.

"On behalf of other women, if nothing else," Anders said, also confused. "You wouldn't be bothered at all?"

"I don't really know many women who aren't Hawks," Kaylin admitted. "Marrin, but her whole life is about kids, I don't know about shoes. And the midwives of course, lots of kids, but we don't exactly talk about shoes. Caitlin..." She shrugged, "No kids and I can't say I ever really noticed her shoes, but maybe."

She shrugged again. "You could be right for all I know. Does it matter?"

Yes, life was pretty black and white for Kaylin. Hawks mattered, not much else even registered much.

"It's not something I believe, it's something idiots say," Anders told her. "Just like the idea mages think they're better than anyone else."

He sighed. "But never mind, I don't think we're getting anywhere. What's a hawk?"

People always seemed to confuse Kaylin.

"A Hawk is a member of one of the Halls of Law. We investigate crimes. The Swords keep the peace," something Kaylin certainly didn't have the tact for, "and the Wolves track down those foolish enough to run."

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

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