fandomhigh | BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge- Saturday morning

Entry tags:

!event: newbie shuttle

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge- Saturday morning

A few days ago Gwen saw New York destroyed and drowned and her friend/roommate/surrogate brother type was presumed dead for a while- got a really amazing obituary for his alter-ego and everything. Today she was waiting for a portal that was going to take her to a school in Maryland. She was actually looking forward to school, just to get back to doing normal things again, but the timing was weird.

She seemed to be the first one here, and the banner meant she was probably in the right seat, so.

Gwen would be the sullen-looking girl sitting under the glittery Fandom High banner and showing too much midriff. And occasionally brushing at the top of her head with her hand because she was convinced the glitter was probably raining down on her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Nah," Reno replied, raising an eyebrow at the girl. "I just like sitting at the wheel when the real bus driver isn't looking."

Gods, he'd be almost flattered to still be mistaken for a student, if he cared all that much about how old he looked.

"You a student?"

For reals? Not, like, a bus driver or anything?

See, considering what Evie had heard about this place, that was a distinct possibility. This guy looked like he could be the kind of person who needed a day pass to leave the island anyway.

"Nah," Evie returned, Southern drawl even thicker than usual. "I just like hitchhiking on weird buses. Makes it easier to travel with all my luggage."

"See, then you're the perfect kind of crazy for our little island," Reno snorted, clearly amused. "We get all types on Fandom, yo."

"Yeah, don't worry, the doctors gave me the spiel already," Evie muttered sourly, reflexively checking around to see if anyone had heard.

Look, she and her mother had told everyone that she'd spent the summer at special school for deportment. After all, it was never too early to start prepping for those competitive sororities in the South. So talking openly about it now was very unsettling.

"I can hardly wait, I'm sure."

"You sound super certain of that," Reno noted, raising an eyebrow. "Doctors?"

Well, there was a terrifying prospect.

"Like what, Doctor Lecter?"

He was the only one Reno could think of, offhand.

Navaan didn't count.

NAVAAN WAS TOTALLY A DOCTOR, GAWD. AND SHE WOULD DIAGNOSE YOU WITH SYPHILIS TO PROVE IT.

"Is he one of the doctors on the island?" Evie asked, shrugging. "The one in charge of the new arrivals or something? I don't know, I haven't gotten any of the paperwork. I figured that'll all be covered in orientation or whatever."

"He is... a doctor, who lives on the island," Reno noted. "Because islands have those. But, uh, I don't think we've got anything especially doctor-specific at the school."

See, now you were getting a bit of a side-eye, Evie.

"Where is it you think you're goin'?"

"To Fandom High," Evie said, pointing to the glittery monstrosity that was their welcome sign. "...Are you sure you're the bus driver?"

It was like a side-eye-off!

"And one of the teachers," Reno replied, looking at the sign... and shuddering. A little. Gods, he'd never get used to the glitter. "I only drive the shuttle when I can beat the Dean to the keys."

Or whoever else was driving. He kind of liked breaking in the rookies.

"You're a teacher." Evie tried to find a smile, but the one she was wearing didn't seem to fit right. "And what do you teach?"

Oh yeah. Her mom was getting such a text. Boy am I glad this is preparing me for the future!

"Some kind of...automotive and shop class?" she hazarded.

On the one hand, a shop class was a lot of trust to be giving to students who had the kind of problems that meant they couldn't hack it in a real school. On the other, maybe it was some kind of outreach program, so they could graduate and find nice blue-collar jobs or something?

Reno made a snorting sound at that.

"This semester? Nah. I'm taking students on a field trip run to a mostly demolished city to get them to do public service for the poor, sick, homeless, and starving there."

"Like, New Orleans?" Evie asked, before remembering this was Maryland, not Louisiana. New Orleans was too far away even from Sterling for a class to get to easily. "Does Maryland get bad hurricanes, too? Or was it something else?" She's been pretty out of the loop for most of the summer. If something had happened to some town in Maryland, she'd missed it.

Great. She was going to school within shuttle distance of some kind of FEMA disaster zone.

"Little farther out than Maryland," Reno replied, clearly amused. "We've got pretty reliable transportation to pretty much anywhere, yo."

Like, you know, other realities. That sort of thing.

"Don't ask me why the hell we pick you guys up by bus. Probably to keep from freaking out like half the student body."

What did he mean by reliable transportation? Armed guards? Some kind of prison transport thing? Complete with padded walls and plastic cuffs in case anyone got too unruly?

Yeah, that would probably freak people out. Good call, Mr. Whatsyername.

"Tradition," Evie suggested. "School buses are pretty ubiquitous." Yeah, she'd spent a lot of her time this summer prepping for the SATs. Entertainment options had been slim. "Keep people from thinking about the kind of place we're going to if it's covered in the trappings of a normal school?"

"Something like that," Reno replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "You'll get what I mean before long, anyway."

People tended to figure it out pretty quick.

"Just one more thing I can look forward to during 'my Fandom adventure'," Evie said, quoting a line from the brochure they'd gotten from the CLC.

She started climbing up the stairs to the bus, then looked back at Reno.

"Is someone going to be getting my bags?"

The small hill of matched luggage off in a corner was hers.

Reno looked at the bags, and then looked at the girl. And then back at the bags again.

"Nope."

He could help. But he wasn't a moving service here, and it wasn't like she'd asked nicely or anything.

Sorry, princess.

Excuse you, it was Empress

Honestly, Evie was just glad she got to keep her belongings. And maybe she could convince one of the guys to help her. Or she could just suck it up, remind herself she was a modern woman, and do it all herself.

Either way, her bags were being loaded onto the bus. And so was she.

Sigh.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge- Saturday morning

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom

Re: The Trip to Fandom