"Interesting." says Kjersti at seeing three names on one room. It made sense, as there weren't enough rooms connected to the common area. Opening the door revealed what they had to do to fit everybody into one room.
There was a bunk bed, full size on the bottom and twin up top. Two bureaus were stacked on top of each other to get more drawers. The desk folded down from the wall on a hinge with chains to keep it in place. There was no room for a chair, so you needed to sit on the bed to use the desk.
"Looks like the dance party is in our room." adds Alejandra.
"You know, couple of posters and a well-charged shrink ray? This room'll feel huge."
"Yep, and I'm calling it now, no matter what the grown ups say - this is mandatory! Plus, if it sucks, I bet someone would be able to teleport us somewhere better."
"Grown up? Well, we're not exactly children... err... Betsy," Jason returns with a smile being made a little awkward for a moment there when he stumbles a bit at using the girl's shortened name.
"Although you are a bit -just a bit, mind you- tiny, so...," he quips then as his faltering smile widens a little, his tone one of friendly teasing.
Betsy rolls her eyes, hard, but her tone is light as she retorts, "Well if we just sit around every night then you'll grow out!" She gives his stomach a light swat as punctuation.
"Oh, I think that she's a perfect size." quips Kjersti, who is just a smidgen shorter. "And I'd think long and hard about how much you want to make size an issue." There's a grin on her face that is practically daring him to push his luck. "After all, I come in small, medium and bigger-than-you."
"Exactly. We're not short, our awesome is just concentrated."
"Oh no. The party is mandatory. I guess I have no choice but to attend." Allison said. In contrast to her words, though, there was a smile on her lips - she was just having fun with the thought of things as they were now. "I wonder... do you think we're supposed to bring anything to it? A few snacks, maybe some drinks?"
"I am outnumbered, I can see that much," Jason says with a soft chuckle and an exaggerated sigh as he puts his hands up in the air in mock surrender. "Not to mention outsized, it seems, if that is even a word."
"And for the record, I'm not going to be disagreeing with your being awesome any time soon," he adds to Kestrel before turning ever so slightly red. "Err... Given how you did at the test and all, I mean."
He pauses for just a second as he clears his throat.
"So... ahem... on the subject of the mandatory party and snacks and stuff?"
Betsy sucked in her lips in amusement, blinking hard as she quickly wrestled between letting him simmer in his adorkableness or turning up the heat to see how bright his blush could get.
He's on your team. Be nice...
"I'm guessing it'll be pretty straight-edge. Superpowers and 'refreshments' don't mix as well as you'd wish. So they'll probably provide 'wiser alternatives.'
"The real question is dress code. I didn't realize we were going straight into the fray, so I've been just bouncing around in my streets. But what do you figure, costume or civvies?" or skivvies? she almost added. No! Be nice!
"Honestly, I think I'd prefer casual clothes," Jason shares his opinion as his blush is all but gone now. "I... I don't really have a costume. And I don't feel particularly comfortable in suits and such." He looks at the others and mostly at Kestrel who actually mentioned it. "Do you have... umm... costumes?"
"It's nothing too flashy, just a re-cut one-piece impact suit. Your standard avoid-internal-bleeding costume. Also it has some actual, you know, throwing weapons. For special occasions."
"Definitely civvies," says Alejandra. "If this is a social event we should be comfortable. If they meant for us to wear costumes, they should say so."
Betsy nods, her face the picture of innocence, "Comfortable I've got. If they want us to dress up nice though, I'll have to rummage around in Kjersti's drawers."
"Oh, I can work with this."
Allison remained in her own clothes - which were fairly casual to begin with. She hadn't come up with something resembling a decent hero outfit yet. As for snacks, soda was always good for college parties. ...She hoped. This would help with making friends, right?
Betsy arches an eyebrow in surprise, a smile slowly spreading across her face "Okay, okay, bluff called. Do your worst, Kjerst."
"Wait - I think that came out wrong. I meant like if you have any realllly embarrassing clothes."
His current attire somewhat worse for wear following their recent tests, Jason excuses himself for a few minutes as he goes to his room to change. Despite it though, when he comes back out he is again wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, just different from his previous ones. It would seem they are more or less his go-to outfit when it comes to comfort. It is not like he has not brought other clothes, even less casual ones, but considering he is still feeling a little out of his depth -new place, new people, new everything- he may as well pick comfortable things to wear at least.
"So, maybe chips and stuff?" Looking at Allison's soda he certainly feels like it is a safe enough choice as well.
"Embarrassment is in they eyes of the beholder," she says. She'll lead her into the room and as the door closes, people hear "Strip and close your eyes."
When she opens them (or peeks), she's in a Little Black Dress. "And I've got great shoes for it. Four inch stilettoes."
Kjersti has a fun flirty dress herself.
When they get a chance to dress, Alejandra and Derek are both in suits.
"Gah! Cold hands!
"Hey, wait, are Derek and Alejandra actually seeing this right now, or do they just have a vague sense of what's going on? 'Cause tell Derek I'll know if he was peeking.
"Okay, okay. Not bad."
Betsy emerges from Triad's room in her borrowed blacks and a mischievous smile, doing a little bare-footed twirl for any onlookers.
"Okay, gotta say, I was definitely expecting something with more of a tragically ironic vibe, but this? I can rock this."
"Just need to find some big stompy boots and a bright yellow raincoat and I'm all set..."
Magic is not a toy, magic is not a toy, magic is not a toy...
But it was very tempting to summon things up for people. Still, her teachers had been clear - don't overdo it. Otherwise there's no end to what they might ask and you literally can't do everything for everyone. Better to not open that can of worms at all.
Kjersti just smirks.
Jason's eyes move from the chips in his hands to Betsy, then Kjersti, then Alejandra and Derek and then back to Betsy. He even glances at Allison and her attire.
"And now I just feel underdressed," he finally says with a somewhat exaggerated sigh. "Underdressed but at least comfortable as well I guess," he adds then as he seemingly brightens again.
With the crew dressed an ready, it was only a short walk across campus to the auditorium.
The night was a cool one, the pleasant weather tonight a welcome respite from the waning days of summer heat. Overhead you can see a few flyers (a young Asian student with metallic feather wings and a young man with a literal cape on top of normal clothing). Its just a reminder that on campus, power usage wasn't strictly disallowed. And for the next four years you'd have the freedom to train, experiment, and just play with the possibilities your abilities allowed you.
You can hear the pop music playing from someone's Pandora radio inside. From the outside, you're not quite sure what to expect. But waiting outside would just prolong the nervous energy and trepidation.
"Six normals!" a large jockish guy shouts as you all cross the threshold into the auditorium. The girl he shouts at nods as she makes six tally marks on a large board hanging on the wall of the far side of the large room. In big blue letters are the categories "Normal" and "Costume."
The social event itself seems to be a party funded by the school. There are decorations lining the walls in school colors as well as ultrathin hologram projectors displaying prominent graduates and their exploits on a loop on the walls. There are several tables of refreshments, all amounts of sugar and carbohydrates that any super needs to keep their bodies moving and happy. And there appears to be a rave-like side on the far side, a wall of darkness where the thudding of a bass beat can be heard and random flashes of color as well.
The jockish guy smiles as he moves to shake your hands. He has a large, friendly smile on his face and his wavy, sand-colored hair is tied back into a man-bun.
"A bit of a Claremont Tradition. The Senior class has a betting pool on how many freshmen arrive in costume. Though, we aren't anywhere close to beating the record."
Glancing back at the tally board there were three distinct tallies under "Costume."
"You can call me Chase. I'm part the senior class, and chaperone to this little shindig. My advice..." And he leans in as if he hasn't told everyone this as they've entered, "Get to know your classmates. You'll know these people for your time here. Whether its alliances in battle royales or getting you notes on yesterday's Chemistry lecture, its good to be friendly."
And you do see your fellow classmates in varying stages of social comfort.
"So what was the record?" ask Derek. And so you have sidebets for really bad costumes?"
Chase is sporting a mossy green cotton hoodie and darker chinos that are rolled up a bit. He has dark leather sandals on that that show he's not too serious here. The upperclassmen he yelled at is of African descent with bushy afro hair. She has a denim jacket, sleeves rolled up that seems to have been lightly splattered with paint. She's completed the outfit with leggings that lead down to a nice pair of white sneakers.
"I think it was seven, but we don't count that one since the seniors that year had a technopath who hacked the freshmen invite. Made it say 'If you do not arrive in costume one will be provided for you'. But we don't judge on costumes. Not everyone has money or connections, and this tradition is meant to be fun, not mean."
He stops as his eyes track his classmate in the air moving towards you all.
"Queen Paris descends" he jokes as the other senior lands. She gives him a solid thump on the shoulder in retribution.
"I think this might be everyone." she says, checking her phone. "We're missing a few as expected, but I don't think you'll be winning the pot, Chase."
He scowls in disappointment.
"And Atoms threw in Ferarri to spice up the pot too. Just one more person! Damn."
Triad you notice Paris giving all three of your bodies the size up.
"Separated at birth? Reincarnation went wrong?" she ventures. It's not so much an interrogation but more of a playful conversation.
Kestrel stays the hell away from the magnokinetic. It would be all too easy for him to hold a grudge, and she'd never met one who wasn't deeply full of himself anyways.
As she walks around she can't help but make a mental note of the different attendees, trivially matching any of them that don't substantially change shape with any earlier costumed appearance.
As she wanders she's keeping an eye out for the pyrokinetic who'd, well, burned out during the final challenge. She's guessing she'll find her replenishing at the snack table, but she takes the long way towards it.
Most important to her, is hearing what everyone else has to say, especially about her and her new dormies. So as she walks towards something sugar-blasted, she lets her mind empty to drink it all in.
Even she can't actually process dozens of conversations all at once, so for now, unless she hears something obviously relevant to her, she just works on memorizing the sounds of the words, the shape of people's stances, she'll go back to these memories and turn the sounds and sights into conversations later.
"No capes." Allison whispered as she saw one of the more amusingly-dressed people. She was rather pleased at how few Freshmen were dressing up, actually - it took time to get a costume you'd be comfortable with other people seeing you in. And photos taken now would never disappear. Managing your image was important!
With that, she began to wander around and search for anyone who might be genuinely interesting to approach - gesturing for her new friends to come along if they wanted.
They turn as one to Paris, doing the speaking-as-one trick, "We don't know. The doctors say that there aren't any implants or alien parasites, but how do you know they haven't been implanted to cover for me?"
"So," Jason says to Chase and Paris as he shows them the bag of chips and Allison's soda, "where should I put these? I'm assuming right next to the veritable cornucopia of high energy foostuffs and beverages should be fine?"
Looking around he cannot help but feel just a little bewildered. With the exception of Triad, Kestrel and Allison -does that one have a codename, he wonders briefly- he knows literally nobody else in this -how did Chase call it?- shindig. Taking a deep breath he joins his group's... or is it team... friends maybe... resident mage. "One of those in costume, at least the one I can see," he says, making small talk like a pro, "is basically just wearing tights. Full body tights. Is that what we're supposed to be wearing when... I don't know... superhero-ing? I'm sure there are alternatives...?"
Kestral, you pick bits and pieces as you make your way through the crowd. It seems that most people have found at least one other person to talk to. You do catch snippets of people commenting on "that group of three people is even allowed" and "that one girl, did she get dumped as a sidekick" and "magic. so unfair." But nothing overly nasty. And you do catch sight of the pyrokinetic at the sweets, her plate loaded up with what appears to be sugar cookies with rocky candy chunks sprinkled on top.
Allison, you take a cursory glance over the crowd. You see the big guy with forearm's the size of some torsos sitting down at a table, checking his phone with surprising accuracy as his large thumbs move across the screen. There's also that cat girl from before, you can in some of the flashes of the dark section where the concert is currently going on. She seems adorned with a dozen glow rings and is having a good time. Finally, there's a face you don't recognize. A girl in what looks like metal armor and clothing straight out of a fantasy novel seems confused as she examines the water fountain on far end of the room, pressing the button, letting it go, over and over, watching the water pour out.
Triad, you don't think there's any ulterior motive, or any option of the three she's looking for in particular. If anything, she just grabbed three buzzwords she's read from the latest gossip magazine over other "hivemind" heroes and their sort.
At your joke, Paris smiles warmly.
"Well, then half the conspiracy theorists in this town will finally cry justified, though I wouldn't put it past the government to have some...contingencies available. But politics can wait for another night, you're here to have fun! Go mingle with your classmates, you'll be with them for the foreseeable future. And its nice to know the name of the person you punch in practicals."
Chase smiles at Jason, and wraps his arm around the athletic godling, and points to the snack table.
"Props on you for bringing contributions, I can already tell you're gonna do alright here. Snacks can go on the side table over there."
He releases from the bro-side-hug before you go off with (at least) Allison.
Kestrel walks over to the pyrokinetic, still keeping an ear out for anything else that needs answering .
"So settle a bet. How many times has someone used a 'is it hot in here, or is it just you' line so far tonight?" She grins broadly and sticks out a hand, "Betsy."
Over by the snack table, there's a wave of water carrying a student inside. She's wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt. Though the water flows over the table, nothing appears particularly affected by it. She picks up a slice of pizza.
Against the wall, a red-haired student leans, sketching the crazy crowd. Though he's very into his art, when people do meet his eyes, he smiles as if he's okay with being interrupted.
Kjersti heads over to the girl at the water fountain. "I'm getting the feeling that you aren't from around here. If you've got questions, I'll do my best to help out."
Alejandra and Derek head over towards the dance floor. While they weren't as agile as a cat, they did enjoy dancing.
Allison spent a few moments muttering over a rock near the dance area - and when she was done, it abruptly started to shine varied colors towards the ceiling to add to the effect of the room. Satisfied, she poured herself a drink and took a quick gulp from it as Jason asked her a question. "That's optional, I think. There's something to be said for wearing something obviously recognizable by the general populace - normal citizens are more likely to listen if someone who looks like a hero is trying to evacuate them, you know? And it can help you build a brand if you want to be famous. It's true that some people prefer to be normal, though. I, for one, have no plan to wear tights."
Kestrel 'happened' to walk by, commenting without pausing, "You should definitely wear the tights, Jason."
Kestral, the snippet about rumors you heard was in a crowd of people, and you track it to a fresh-faced girl who appears to be one of those who decided to arrive in costume. She has a large techno-contraption rod on her waist and seems to be talking a mile-a-minute to a guy who seems to try to be slowly edging away, not that she notices. She catches your eye as she spots you spotting her, and gives you a cheerful wave of greeting, before returning to her non-stop conversation.
At the Snack table, the pyrokinetic stops mid-mouthful, her cheeks doing a great rendition of a greedy squirrel. For the first time having a face to face with her, you can get a full picture of her without all the fire covering it up. Her light blonde hair had been dyed a bright red color and was already partially grown out. It was chopped off about halfway down her head, just enough to pull back and still get some tossle when she moved her head. Her outfit of choice tonight was a loose fitting school hoodie and black leggings. She tries to respond, before holding her hand in front of her mouth and finishing what she was working on.
"You'd be surprised," she finally says, wiping crumbs from her smile, "Most people only saw me fully lit or face-down in the turf."
She pulls her clean hand, the one not reserved for grabbing sugary, salty snack, from the overly long sleeve and offers it to your for a handshake.
"I'm Addy. What's your name?"
And part of Triad goes off to dance with themselves, Kjersti splits off to offer aid to the puzzled young woman by the drinking fountain. She gives it a few more test pushes before responding to you.
"This is a water fountain, yes? You press this device and it signals the water spirits within that you wish to partake in drink?" Fascinating...
Allison, you notice that there's a subtle, but dampened increase in partying as your disco rock makes its way over to the dance floor. Then you see someone trying to jump and grab it, missing, and falling onto the crowd like a moshpit.
Derek and Alejandra approach the catgirl, seeing if she's interested in dancing with either or both of them. If not, they are content to find other people.
Kjersti shrugs, "It is a water fountain, but instead of spirits it connects to pipes in the walls. There's a whole system of huge pipes buried under the city to supply people with water. It is impressive in a different sort of way." She holds out her hand, "I am Kjersti. I'm also two other people on the dance floor, Derek and Alejandra." She points herself out, and the others wave in this direction without turning.
"Wait do you have fire powers or something? I just assumed you got hit on a lot," Kestrel teases, tongue poking slightly past her teeth. "Kestrel. Or Betsy, whichever." She eyes Addy's roots for a moment. Average of 6-8 weeks per inch of growth. Average of 2-3 months to get discouraged by maintenance for first time hair dyers... No costume yet, so probably hair dye serves as uniform...
"Lemme guess, you've been doing this... almost 9 months?"
Derek and Alejandra move into the dark section, and immediately the once dull thud of the bass shakes their bodies to the core. For her part, the cat girl is having a great time, covered in dozens of glow rings and dancing to the club beat. She spots you two and waves, a smile on her face. She motions to the glow rings wrapped around her body, and points over to the front of the crowd if you're interested.
As Kjersti introduces herself, the armored girl nods and takes your hand.
"You may call me Elflight. Forgive me, I am not familiar with Earth's customs or expressions. You mean the two over there are your good friends, yes?"
At the word "elf" you do notice that the girl you're talking to does have pointed ears straight out of the lord of the rings.
Back over with Kestral, the conversation seems to be going well.
"Doing what? Hero training? No, its been pretty recent actually.." Addy brushes her back out of her face. "But if you mean the dye job, then I'm a bit overdue. Let's just say may enrollment was rushed, and I haven't had the time to go to a salon yet."
She stops, a bit self-conscious over her hair.
"Salon? Okay, even assuming there's not some sort of chromatipath here at the school, no way do you have to waste a bunch of money to touch up your roots - it's just not that hard to do. In fact, give me the chemistry lab, 45 seconds, and a lookout and we'd have the supplies too." She gives a framing gesture at her own hair, "No salon needed."
They smile and move with the catgirl out to the front. They slip into her style, or at least as close as people without feline anatomy can get.
Kjersti smiles, "Oh, this is something unusual even on Earth. We are connected. We each can see through each other's eyes, we know each other's thoughts as if they were our own. It's difficult to describe."
Wait - Derek was peeking?!
Trying his best to ignore Kestrel's remark -though if the sudden redness of his ears is any indication, his best is probably not enough- Jason tries to focus on his talk with Allison.
"Oh? So, do you have a costume in mind or is the no tights thing the only part of it you've decided on?"
The man sighs and smiles. "I understand what you mean though. It's too bad I can't just, I don't know, just wear what's comfortable and maybe a mask or something. Like around the eyes? Though I guess that would do next to nothing to conceal one's identity, right?"
Wait - Derek was peeking?!
"Oh, I'm probably gonna have like a dozen outfits by the time I'm done." Allison answered thoughtfully. "Something easy to tug on for emergencies, something good for cold climates, something formal for any events or ceremonies... I think branding yourself is important, but planning for different situations is good, too. I mean, what if you meet someone who can perfectly negate all of your powers in the arctic? Having some mundane backup plans is never a bad idea, even if they won't all fit in a utility belt..."
At your invitation, Addy flashes you a mischievous smile, crumbs of the rainbow whipped cream still flecked on her front teeth. Seems she's the kind of person to eat the topping first.
"That would be great, actually. Think there's anyone in the labs this time at night?"
She cranes her neck to look over the crowd of freshmen.
"I can get a couple roommates for back up if we need it."
The two-thirds of Triad pu ton their best moves, bumping and grinding and trying to match the feline dexterity of the glow ring cat girl. But there's a litheness they can't match as there are times where it doesn't seem like the catgirl has any weight to her, nimbly hopping, swinging, and even mixing some flips.
Elflight nods, a frown on her face saying she doesn't quite understand but is starting to grasp the concepts.
"Much like the World Tree of my homeworld. In sync with the land, almost a part of it but separate in two bodies. "
There's a loud "AWWW" as the umbral curtain containing the mini rave falls away, It seems to flow on the floor and rushes up to Chase, actual climbing up his legs up his shirt, and disappearing.
"Calm down folks!" he calls into a mic, his voice echoing around the walls of the room. Its tone is still light-hearted and playful, and eventually, all the freshman soften till only a few whispers could be heard as he was speaking.
"Welcome freshman!" Chase says, starting the speech in earnest. "Before we continue this awesome jam, I'd like to give you guys a few words of wisdom. That and its part of the chaperone gig tongiht."
There's a few chuckles, some quiet stares, and others who have completely ignored him. You know, like a normal impromptu assembly of sorts.
"These are going to be the best years of your lives, so a just a bit of advice to make sure you can properly enjoy them! Numer 1: Got class! Some professors won't require you to go, but if you really want a chance to make it to senior year, wake yoursefl out of your hangover and haul your ass to class."
"Nummber 2: Break the rules!."
There's a large cheer at this.
"You'll take risks and you're going to win as much as you lose. Get used to working around the guidelines given and do what you need to in order to stay ahead."
"Finally, and most importantly, Number 3: You will change. You as a person will change, you will change your surroundings, you will change your families, and you will change each other. Good changes will push you forward, bad changes will hold you back. You don't live in a vacuum at Claremont, and you're going to have to roll with the punches or get pummelled into the dirt. Paris, did I forget anything?"
Everyone's heads swivel to the young black woman sitting on one of the ceiling beams. She takes a moment to think before yelling out," Don't be a$@&#+#s. We want heroes here, not halfwits."
And with that Chase unleashes the black blob that expands to cover the speakers once again blasting rave music.
Kestrel gives a delighted grin, "Robots, laser grids, custodial staff, could me anything - Only one way to find out."
"And feel free to bring whoever you want, but no one walks out of there with their natural hair color, get me?"