fandomhigh | BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

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!event: newbie shuttle

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

The Khan family was not known for doing the minimum for anything. Which is why the entire family drove down in multiple cars the entire way from Jersey City to BWI. Three hours in the car of her mom and dad asking if she had everything. Asking if she needed anything. There's a Target on the way in case she needed or forgot something. Meanwhile Aamir kept texting her complaints about Abbu's driving skills and asking if Kamala needed anything.

"I'm fine," was the common answer to everything. Again, again and again. Then there was hugs and fussing over everything when they got to the airport and reminders and more fuss. To which everything Kamala laughed and said "I'm fine."

And then they got in their car and left.

And Kamala was standing in the Portalocity Lounge taking it all in while holding her stuffed sloth and a pile of luggage next to her.

Deep breath. "I'm fine."

...

"Why is there so much glitter?"

[OCD Incoming]

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"What is..." Gale asked, turning a little as thought maybe there was something behind him. There was not. Well, other than the strange seats available to them. "Oh! You mean my companion! You have a keen eye. That would be Tara. She's a bit tired from our journey here from Waterdeep to Merry-Land."

Which was as foreign to him as Earl-Lay Ack-Seize.

Waterdeep? "OOooooooh," Kamala said remembering one nugget from her briefing from Fury. "Right, You're way way not from here. Is Tara friendly?"

"Well, I can hardly speak for her on such matters, but she has been a dear friend of mine since I was but a child." Then, after a moment. "So long as her boundaries are respected, I think she is far more the social creature than I."

Yeeeeah. Gale, buddy. Still a cat.

"Well you don't seem to be too anti-social," Kamala said, carefully reaching out to give Tara a pat.

Look, strange looking felines wasn't new to Kamala. At least this one didn't try to swallow you and pull you into a pocket dimension in their stomachs.

"It doesn't have tentacles, does it?"

Didn't hurt to check.

Tara cracked an eye open at the pat before shooting Gale a look and tucking her head under a wing again with a muttered, "Really, Mr. Dekarios."

"Apologies," he replied with a little wince. "Ah, where are my manners. I am Gale of Waterdeep. Archmage and instructor at this Fandom University."

"Oh you're a professor," Kamala replied and things began to click. "I'm Kamala Khan. Incoming freshman. Archmage, huh? Do you know Dr. Strange? Probably not if you're from another reality."

"Dr. Strange?" Gale chuckled at that. "That's a bit on the nose for a wizard, don't you think?"

That's right, Stephen. Be judged for your god-given name working too well for the whole cape stuff.

"A pleasure to meet you, Kamala! Now what might you mean by another reality?"

"Oh this whole island is apparently a nexus of realities, time and space," Kamala explained the one thing she gleaned from Fury's briefing.

Well, technically her friends read and told her but same thing, really.

"And Dr. Strange is an Avenger in our world and I'm pretty sure that's his real name."

"Fascinating!" Oh no, Gale. Gale, buddy. Don't go full on wizard about this. Use what little wisdom you have here. "A nexus, you say? What I wouldn't give to be able to study just how it works."

NO. BAD.

"I'm sure no one would stop you from doing that," Kamala said helpfully. "After all it is a university. They probably have funding for that kind of research."

Because that's what normal learning institutions do, right?

"I look forward to it greatly!" Oh no, please don't let him. Someone stop him from this idiotic idea. "Perhaps if I speak with the head of the school."

Oh yeah, Zoe would be super interested in that. Sure.

Sorry, Gale. Kamala had no idea what they were getting into. Maybe your teaching buddy will rein you in.

"I'm sure the president of the university would welcome it," Kamala replied. "My brother is a grad student and he tells me that they are always looking for outside funding. I bet you could get a ton of it."

Kamala had no idea what she was talking about.

It was adorable that you thought so, Kamala. It was adorable.

"Ah, that remains a familiar part of academia even across this multiverse," Gale said with a chuckle.

"So being an archmage and all, you do magic, right?" Kamala asked. "So is it real magic or just technology so advanced it seems like magic?"

"I do indeed," Gale replied, nodding along with that as he considered the question. "That is not exactly easy to answer as I am unfamiliar with the norms here. But, for my experience in such matters, all technological advances have been powered by arcane forces in order to harness the electricity or fire that runs them. The weave, magic, is a fundamental part of reality and has been proven to be such in cases such as the Spell Plague or the fall of Netheril some years ago--"

He'd keep going, Kamala. Oh god, he'd just keep going.

It's okay because somewhere in the middle of all that, Kamala had started to daydream about Dr. Strange and what would happen if he met Carol and they had to stop a spell plague.

Kamala was already starting the fanfic in her head as she pretended to listen to Gale.

She was just nodding and saying things like "That's so interesting!" at appropriate points.

You know, that was all a man could ask for when he went on a special interest ramble that no one in their right mind would care about.

"--as you can see, it is a much more complicated answer than the question might lead you to believe!"

Hopefully that fanfic didn't involve their only being one bed.

No but it did involve a meet-cute in a coffee shop.

There was a pause as Kamala realized that Gale had finished talking. "Uh. That's very interesting! You clearly know everything about what you just said."

Yep. Totally paying attention.

"I do consider myself an expert on the matter," Gale said proudly. Just completely oblivious that he'd been ignored there.

"Just out of curiosity... do you have any magic that might find someone who could be stranded and closed off in another reality?" Kamala asked being incredibly hopeful and probably have her hopes dashed immediately. "Asking for a friend."

"I could look into such magics," Gale promised. Probably causing a lot of concern for anyone who could Have A Bad Feeling About That.

There was a sudden intake of breath and a tiny squeal of joy. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She said just managing not to do a dance of elation/joy. "I'll totally follow up with you on that!"

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BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge, Saturday Morning

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