fandomhigh | BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

Entry tags:

!event: newbie shuttle

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

The glittery welcome banner had been hauled out from storage, by now looking decidedly worse for wear, which made it a good match for now fairly battered Jedi robes Theron was wearing as he sat under it, trying to meditate.

Master Till'in hadn't quite kicked him out of the enclave with nothing but the (donated) clothes on his back, but the whole detachment and lack of worldly possessions gig meant they hadn't had much to spare either. Especially for random strays without connections to the Order like they were still selling Theron as, and among the practical skills Master Zho had taught him was enough financial sense not to waste his limited creds on replacing perfectly serviceable clothing just because he wasn't actually entitled to it.

At least no one where he was headed was going to recognise them for what they were.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Meditation optional.

Reconsider your life choices upon actually seeing the shuttle.

Toiling in the packing mines, so SP is the Order of the day from me.

Hey, at least the bus driver was reasonably normal this time? Presuming you were from Earth. And didn't mind a bus driver wearing a three piece suit.

"All aboard, as it were," Jenkins said as he levered the door open. "Anyone going to Fandom, this is your last chance to change your mind."

Well, to change it without ever getting to the island, anyway.

Yeah, Norman wasn't terribly big on meditation. That didn't mean he wasn't going to kind of just sit quietly off to the side once he arrived in the lounge, granted. And maybe, maybe he was going to kind of side-eye the guy in the robes doing the meditating under the big sparkly banner.

Well, Grandma had said that he wasn't going to be the only odd kid out, he supposed.

Norman kind of blinked as he hefted his battered backpack onto his shoulder and looked up at the bus driver.

"Wait, is there some reason I should change my mind?"

It would have been good to know that before being this close to stepping onto the bus, of course.

Edited 2017-12-29 21:10 (UTC)

"Certainly," Jenkins said. "There may be all sorts of reasons why one might change one's mind. Perhaps you are loathe to leave your family, or are wary of potential adventure. I don't know your life, young man, I am merely here at the moment to provide transport."

If Theron had actually been meditating, it would have been easy for him to ignore the other kid, but the proper state of mind had been elusive ever since Master Zho had left him and Till'in had dropped that little bombshell, so he opened his eyes.

And just kind of stared at the guy.

Yeah, he hadn't quite got the hang of interacting with people his own age yet.

Well, at least he was in good company, there. Norman offered Theron a crooked little smile and lifted a hand to wave hello.

"Fandom High, right?"

He hoped? Otherwise he'd just be the random weirdo staring at some stranger at the airport.

Norman kind of hesitated at the mention of adventure, but sighed and shrugged it off when he figured the bus driver was probably just talking about the whole adventure of going to a new school... thing.

"Okay, that makes sense," he decided. "Then... I guess transport is what I need, adventure or not."

"Happy to be of service," Jenkins said, sounding more faintly bored than actually happy. "Do you require further reassurance? You seem to have been recently alarmed." He gestured towards his hair. "Or is this simply the latest hip young fashion?"

"What?" Norman blinked, and then reached up self-consciously to run his hands through his hair. "Oh, no. No, I'm fine. It just sort of does that, that's all."

It just kind of jumped back up into place again once his hand was back by his side. His hair was a traitor.

Edited (I am the TYPO MASTER) 2017-12-29 22:04 (UTC)

"Interesting. I have a friend whose hair does something similar, though in a rather less . . . uniform manner."

Also, Jacob Stone used a lot of hair gel.

"Well, I'm certain you'll fit in just fine at Fandom, either way."

With the giant shark people and tiny rock people and other assorted oddities.

"Yeah," Norman replied, smiling lopsidedly and deposting his butt in one of the seats. "That's kind of the idea."

He really had no clue what he was in for. The picnic was going to be super interesting.

"Stood out a bit too much at home, did you?"

Jenkins was pretty sure that was a common theme among Fandom students.

"It's hard not to stand out with hair like this, right?"

Yeah, like that was the only reason. Still, Norman settled back in his seat and allowed himself another smile. Hey, this whole 'fresh start' thing could work out for him, right? What wasn't to like about that?

Molly was doing her best to look inconspicuous. It was a bit difficult when you were in a yellow dress that was 100 years out of style, wearing pitch black sunglasses, and were staring at every piece of modern technology while scribbling notes on her little paper reporter's pad.

So really, she wasn't doing anywhere near her best to be inconspicuous. But in her heart, she was trying, honest.

"If your fellows back home don't also have similar hair, certainly," Jenkins said. "If they did, though, those of us whose hair lies flat would find ourselves the odd-persons out."

"Nah," Norman laughed with a small shake of his head. "Most people back home have hair that behaves itself. You'd probably fit in just fine there."

It was weirdly refreshing to be talking about his hair as the thing that set him apart, too.

Edited 2017-12-29 22:28 (UTC)

Well, Jenkins hadn't looked closely enough to see the boy's eyes, and he hadn't started obviously interacting with the dead, so.

"Mmm," hummed Jenkins. "Based purely on hair, you're likely right."

He hadn't bothered to fit in in any other way since people wore platemail.

While there were dead people wandering around pretty much wherever he went, at least while he was in the city, there weren't any ghosts currently catching a ride on the bus.

And getting in his face to stare at his eyes would just be weird.

"Well, then based purely on hair, I suppose now I have some idea of what I'm getting myself into."

No. Not really.

"You... look a little lost," Norman offered, after looking at the girl for a few moments, trying not to be too obvious about it. "First time going to boarding school?"

In really, really old hand-me-downs?

As if it wasn't Norman's first time, too? But, look, he was trying to start this whole 'new school' thing off on the right foot.

"A remarkably optimistic outlook," Jenkins said. Because . . . yeah, kid. You had no idea. "How refreshing."

"Hmmm?" Molly said, turning to look at the boy who greeted her. A smile spread across her face. Conversation was a bit difficult with most of the people she tended to spend time with back in Malifaux, especially ever since she'd lost track of Philip.

"Oh! Yes, boarding school. First time ever, it's going to be great, isn't it?"

"That's kind of what I'm hoping," Norman replied, his own smile going a little more relaxed. "I've never really done anything like this before. I mean, I went to school back home, of course, but just back home."

He paused, and then added, for further clarification, "I don't travel much."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 4

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

Wait for the Shuttle

Trip to Fandom

OOC

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Wait for the Shuttle

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Wait for the Shuttle

Re: Wait for the Shuttle

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Wait for the Shuttle

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Wait for the Shuttle

Re: Trip to Fandom

Re: Wait for the Shuttle

Re: Wait for the Shuttle