Shoni
Joyeuse Insurgency
Posts: 191
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Post by Shoni on Oct 28, 2015 10:05:05 GMT -5
The sound of splintering wood drew Flint’s attention to the middle of the room. A small wind drifted through the room as the sickly looking boy from earlier crashed into a chair. Standing up, Flint adjusted his sweater and looked to the stage. The man with bushy eyebrows had transformed into a much more intimidating presence. Perhaps it was his new clothes with the shifting patterns that made him more intimidating, or maybe it was because the bushy eyebrows had become thinned and well kept. Either way the man on stage was no longer smirking. His face radiated anger at the boy who dared touch him, yet Flint felt his unease disappear as the smirk faded into a snarl.
“I should probably go see if he is okay.” Flint muttered to himself as he walked toward the center of the room stopping next to the loud tan girl. “Do you think he is the bravest one here or the stupidest?” he asked her. “My name is Flint by the way.”
Dancing around the room, the wind carried a small sound into Flint’s ears. It was faint but he could here flip flops approaching the door. “I wonder if it’s another staff or a student.” He thought to himself. His back was turned to the door as it burst open and the sound of flip flops become louder. Something about the sound annoyed Flint. It seemed joyful and jittery. “It’s almost like….. Wait, no it can’t be.” The words had barely gone through his mind before Emily’s chipper voice filled the room. “I should have “accidentally” shot her when I had the chance. I hope she burned those pictures” He thought as he groaned. “Now I have to listen to that voice all year; maybe she brought more gummy worms though.”
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Oct 28, 2015 11:49:44 GMT -5
The view was good. Great, even. Rolling waves and the sun shining through the clouds, the line of the horizon nearly merging into a wall of blue. Gulls soared lazily and ships that must have been hundreds of feet long passed silenly. A breeze was rustling the trees, the grass making waves of its own, vines shuddering where they climbed rocks. He could probably spend hours watching that view. Hell, if they ever actually got to play basketball in the auditorium, he'd probably be too distracted by the view to play properly. He kind of wished he'd brought a basketball with him, now that he thought about it. Oh well. The view was serene and, despite the prank-war that looked like it was grinding to a halt (which was kind of a shame, he was enjoying watching it), he was pretty content.
So obviously, when another student was blasted across the room by a teacher, saying he was a bit shocked would have been a monumental understatement.
He clocked the teacher's dramatic, maybe a bit over-dramatic, change in clothes (and it shouldn't really have surprised him but still kind of did) as he made his way through the desks to the student who'd been thrown. If it'd been one of the other students, like the loud hispanic girl or maybe the bulky guy in leather on the bleachers, he wouldn't have been too concerned, they looked like they'd be able to take it, guy on the bleachers probably would have deserved it. The kid who'd been thrown, though, he looked like he'd crumble under a stiff breeze. Actually, in a way, that was exactly what had happened now that he thought about it. As he stumbled, Alistair swung his arm out and caught the smaller boy's arm, steadying him. He flashed a winning smile as the other kid brushed the debris from his clothes.
"Alistair," he greeted, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you."
As he'd expected, Garth's handshake wasn't nearly as firm as his own. He still looked a bit rattled and Alistair reached out to brush a bit of dust that Garth had missed from his shoulder (and he should probably be careful since, again, the kid looked like he might collapse at any sudden force). He nodded to the girl stood with them, and down to the two kids, probably third, maybe fourth graders.
He kept the smile on his face as he turned back to Garth and asked, "So, I've gotta ask, what on earth made you walk up to the scariest looking person in the room and act all buddy-buddy with him?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tallis would have laughed at Ethan's expression when he had the tray of cakes thrust at him if he hadn't been so stunned by the woman's appearance and energy she's like the cautionary story of why not to drink energy drinks, Jesus Christ. She was all bounding energy and enthusiasm and pretty impressive acrobatics, how the hell she kept all those cakes balanced on that tray was a magical mystery and he felt a bit dizzy trying to keep track of the colours as she moved. She was loud and saying something about favourite cupcakes and board meetings and he sort of wished he had headphones or ear plugs or something to drown her out because that was a level of chirpiness that could get really annoying, really really quickly.
This is gonna end in disaster she was now handing out the cupcakes apparently and he could see Claire purse her lips again as she was handed a sparkling cupcake, apparently torn between confusion and apprehension and holding the cake at arm's length. She'd muttered a "thanks" but somehow Tallis even cared if this hyperactive if she got a thank you or not since she was already moving down the line. Claire was looking at the cupcake warily and he couldn't say he blamed her she's probably put like coke or something in there, that's why she's so bouncy, she's high as a kite. He stopped himself from laughing when Ethan cringed at being called by his full first name, Tallis didn't completely know but he was pretty sure only his dad had ever used his full name, but as he accepted his cake, Tallis noted that one of the woman's earrings was missing. Ethan shot him a smirk behind the woman's back before shoving half of the treat into his mouth.
She was saying something about shape-shifters was that a pun? Unsavory? Did that count as a pun? There was an awkward moment, Tallis could see where it was going already oh look she's magicked up a cake for Mel, no one's seen that trick before and he shared Mel's unimpressed expression, she was probably already trying to think up a rhyme that'd really mess with Miss-I-Don't-Know-Anything-About-Contrasting-Colours and he couldn't say he'd want to stop her. Like Claire, she was treating the snack with caution though Mel was probably more concerned about, like, poison or something. She was turning it in her hand and yeah, it was a pretty cake, they all were in their own way even if Little-Miss-Loud had managed to get Mel's aesthetic completely wrong. Actually, swap Mel's and Claire's cakes. That was a match.
What decade are you living in, a Vista joke, right he didn't even try to make his smile look anything other than forced, he definitely wasn't going to show that he was impressed with her dexterity spinning the cake, but accepted it all the same. The woman nudged one of the silver cogs on the top of the cake and it set the chain reaction off, all the cogs moving and he felt the fake smile fall off his face because that was actually kind of cool. Ignoring her exit, he examined the way the cogs fit together and nudged a different one instead, some kind of wafer biscuit or something, they'd probably crumble if he used too much force but they were all linked in the right ways. Curiously, he pulled one cog off and moved another and there was still movement. Out of the corner of her eye, he saw Claire and Ethan smirking at him. Ignoring them, he took a bite out of the cake.
"This thing tastes like diabetes," he said around a mouthful, grimacing. He liked candy and chocolate, sure, maybe even more so than the next kid, but it was like the woman had taken every single ounce of her hyperactivity and weaponized it in her baking, sickly sweet and not remotely what he was expecting. What flavour had she said it was, lemon pudding or something, he didn't know until that exact moment that he hated lemon. Best to ignore the woman's advice because he sure as well wasn't eating it. He pulled the rest of the cogs from the cake and tossed the rest to Ethan.
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Post by AngelicTragedy on Oct 28, 2015 18:42:03 GMT -5
Ty hand to restrain himself as the sickly boy was thrown like a rag doll through the air and into a desk. Every instinct told him that he should either do something and if not to run because this teacher was far from someone that Ty wanted to trust his education to. Ty didn't move. The school girl and the thus far inactive boy had the pale boy under control and no one seemed to be willing to confront the now robe-clad teacher, even the other staff. Ty won't be the one to start the fight, but he felt that if it came to it he would be hardly any use. Ty's abilities had potential to be used in an offensive manner but he hadn't quite figured that out beyond tossing liquids.
The tension in the room was so thick it was nearly suffocating, that was until the rainbow clad woman pranced into the gym and began passing cupcakes out among the clique in the bleachers. Ty felt his chest loosen and breathe can more easily. The staff member who cried her name as 'Emily Schwartzwald' and began talking so rapid fire had taken a bit of the edge off the room. A bit, but not much. Ty was still worried about the man on stage and what he was here for. Was this what he could expect from all the teachers or what this guy a loose cannon? Either way, Ty thought that the next few days would be interesting.
* * * * * * *
As Emily danced into the assembled students the door silently slipped open once again allowing a tall figure of a drastic contrast to slip in mostly unnoticed. Whereas Emily was clad in riotous colors this man was dressed in much more subdued tones, even though the style of dress couldn't be compared. The man was thin, but strapping, and appeared to be poised for quick action. The man wore a robe, not unlike samurai garb, split at the spine between coal black on his left side and dimigray on the right. The right side of the rope was accented by winding designs that appeared to be lifelike snakes embroidered in thistle-colored thread at the hims of both sleeve and bottom. The man cast his dull gray gaze across the assembled students and staff, judging the threat that they each posed. Nimble fingers clenched into fists and crossed across his armored chest. From waist to neck the figure wore an elaborate breastplate that seemed to be shaped from a single piece of bronze. There were no flat surfaces on the armor, every inch of the piece was carved into an incredibly sculpted Medusa head. Hissing serpents rippled away from a beautiful woman's face just over the man's heart.
This is going to be much harder than I ever thought it would be. I don't see how watching over these children is going to help me finish my training. Lord Lorsha must have a reason for it I suppose.
The figure watched Emily weave through the bleachers handing out treats with a slight expression of exasperation and mild disgust. This would be the woman that he had to partner with in supervising the student body and there was no one more opposite of him on staff. A headache was already brewing at the front of his skull and signs were that this was going to be a daily occurrence. The man spotted a face he was advised to find and began across the floor, cutting among the desks, without making eye contact with the youths around him. A few sure strides brought the figure to stand before Thyra. The man placed his hands flat on his thighs and he bowed deeply before the woman his master had asked him to see.
"Lady Thyra, my master Valon Lorsha sends his regards. He is quite excited for what the two of you discussed and hopes that all can be put into place in time. It's my honor to finally meet someone that my master speaks so highly of. My name is Marius Solidad and I've come to formally accept my appointment among your staff."
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Post by Cendra on Nov 1, 2015 14:49:24 GMT -5
There was a moment of silence from those in the hallway as they were greeted with the sound of Emily's enthusiasm in the auditorium. They had all made it to the school just in time from the airport. Those delays were no joke.
Belwyn Truid didn't know why she was so surprised to hear the levels of Emily's excitement, but it caught her off guard every time. It had been a while since they'd last spoken. Maybe she could still get some of those pictures from her.
“I told you it wouldn't be so bad, Eira! The adults give you sweets here! This is going to be amazing!” The lilt from the young boy vibrated with excitement as he spoke to his sister. Belwyn looked down at the two with a light smile. Both children had dark red, curly hair, his short and her's long. Freckles dotted across each pale nose. He was definitely the most lively one in the bunch. Then again, she had only known them for a few hours. She would undoubtedly learn more as their shyness wore off.
“I thought you liked cold treats better.” Eira replied skeptically.
“Never refuse sugar. Unless it's poisoned...and then you still take it anyway, but discreetly dump it in the bushes.” Her brother countered, his finger pointing at her seriously.
“What ever you say, Aodhan.” The girl rolled her eyes, but a smile finally played on her lips as she held her brother's hand. Aodhan ruffled her hair.
“Hey! No! Not on the first day of school!” She swatted his hand away with a scowl and proceeded to pat down the new flyaways.
“Here.” Said one of the older girls as she offered Eira her grey poor-boy hat. She had been planning to hide her own snow white hair with it, but her eyebrows and eyelashes would still show anyway. “It'll go well with your cloths and it even brings out your eyes.”
Harue had gone to a regular public school most of her life until a fateful beating and bloody nose. Maybe looks weren't so important here? She twirled the dyed bright yellow and red tips of her hair in her fingers nervously. They were all powers here after all.
“Umm... Thanks...” Eira accepted the hat hesitantly, but fixing it onto her head. They hadn't really talked much on the way there despite Miss Truid's prompting. Well, her brother had and occasionally the other light brown haired girl who would randomly break out in giggles or soft whispers. She seriously doubted that one's mental health. It seemed one of those random times was now as the older girl giggled in Eira's direction.
“Oh... No. I wasn't laughing at you, Red.” Jesse said louder when realizing how it could have been interpreted. “The hat looks great.” She rung her hands nervously and continued whispering subconsciously. “DJ, cut it out. I'm in the school now. That might not even be a thing here. Stop encouraging her, AJ!”
“So... if you girls are done... I would like my cupcake now!!” With the last part said in a hurry, Aodhan grabbed his sister's hand again and dashed into the auditorium. “Miss Emily! You didn't forget us did you!?”
Eira hid her face in her free hand. She wasn't necessarily embarrassed by her brother, she was used to him, she just didn't like new people in general. And there was allot of new people.
Belwyn now stood in the doorway with the other two girls smiling behind her hand. It was kind of nice to see kids who could actually be kids for once. If all went well she would only be treating a few bumps and bruises this year as the school nurse. She knew that that was very unlikely, but one could dream.
Harue didn't miss a beat, walking confidently into the room. She even relaxed slightly at the sight of another student with naturally white hair there. Her cheeks colored a bit. Maybe she wouldn't be so different here after all. Hair bobbed slightly as she plopped down in her seat next to the other two middle school girls.
“He was like that the whole way here.” She motioned her head to the twins still standing in front. “I'm, Harue.” She held out her hand to them as Jesse sat down nervously in the seat next to her.
“You'll be fine. We'll talk later.” Jesse mumbled irritatedly and proceeded to straighten her light blue top. Looking up, she glanced around the room as if noticing where she was for the first time. “Huh.” She shrugged as the nervousness seemed to disappear. “Did we introduce ourselves yet? I'm, Jesse.” Harue's hand was taken in a enthusiastic hand shake. Harue looked back at the two other girls with an uneasy smile.
“And she's pretty much been like that the whole way too.”
“Oh my gosh... I introduced myself the whole way here? I'm so sorry!” Jesse looked slightly mortified. “We'll just cut to the chase then. Mica, Dalisay and Harue right?” She finished with a sheepish wave.
“Yeah...?” Harue checked for any head injuries on the girl.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 2, 2015 0:28:55 GMT -5
“I'd say brave and stupid are the same thing, except I don't really care for what that says about somebody as brave as me,” Almudena pressed her thumb to to her lips in thought, her fingers cradling her chin. “What made me do it?” Garth glanced over to Almudena and Flint, “I guess you could say it's because I'm the bravest, stupidest guy in the room. Thanks guys.” He looked Ben in the eyes for a moment, before glancing towards the floor and blushing. “This is going to sound totally crazy, but I heard a voice. Somebody was whispering in my ear, and going on and on about that guy up there... so I figured it had to be him trying to get my attention,” Garth shook his head, “I took a gamble. If it had been him, I'd have impressed him and everybody else in the room. As is-” “I'm impressed!” Almudena clapped her hands loudly, “You're the first student I've seen who can fly!” “ Thanks, Almudena,” Garth grunted. Keeping his gaze narrowed, he glanced over his shoulder to the crowd on the bleachers. “I'm just trying to figure out who it is that whispered in my ear...” ---- “Ah, hello, Marius. Thyra Russell, Superintendent, as you well know. It's a pleasure to meet you,” Thyra warmly shook his hand, “It's good to have you here, and you're not a moment too soon.” She discretely nodded towards Garth's crater. “I assume that you're the Boy's Dean and Groundskeeper that Valon told me was inbound. He couldn't say enough about the distinction of your service in Drakengrad and how much morale you inspired in their military. Hopefully, now that you're here to help keep order, the destruction will slow down a bit.” “So far we've got a broken chair, damaged floor, and a shattered leg on a desk,” Thyra uncoiled a crescent of silver from around her wrist, and laid it across her palm. The inside of the arch lit up, projecting a display across her hand. The superintendent quickly tapped in a few bits of data, the holographic readout blinking with each touch. “The damage to the floor won't actually be an issue; Sly and an outside design consultant, Nick Tauric, I believe he was called, installed a smart nanoweave into both the gymnasium and the rooftop field. So the floor should restore itself before tomorrow morning. As for the chairs and desks, whenever one gets damaged, we've got a spare supply in the basement. Assuming we average one of each broken a day, we've got enough stockpiled to last us for the next three school years.” “I mean, honestly, the damages so far are actually substantially less than what we projected, and I'm not quite certain if that shows preparedness on our part, or if that's an indication of the impossibility of the task ahead of us, but either way, this is where the rubber meets the road.” OOC:Expect a huge Emily post soon!
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Post by SHADOWMASTER89 on Nov 2, 2015 14:34:17 GMT -5
Talia had gone back to actually reading her book for awhile now, her senses still keeping her apprised of the conversation and movement in the auditorium. Her senses were well aware of the acrobatic woman with a tray of cupcakes before she even entered. She found the woman’s high level of energy a bit off putting, but otherwise payed her little mind as she harassed the clique on the bleachers.
Her attention was drawn to the sound of a rather boisterous group of youths just before they entered the auditorium. She looked up from her book and eyed them as they came in, at the same time her senses washing over the group. The conversation was mostly meaningless to her, but several of them had interesting molecular vibrations.
The two young twins, both with curly red hair, were essentially opposites under the surface. Aodhan, she had heard the boy called by his twin sister, had a faster than normal heart rate and his molecular vibrations in general seemed almost hyperactive compared to a normal human. The other of the twins, the sister, had a very slow heart rate and her overall molecular vibrations seemed sluggish compared to a normal person. She guessed this had something to do with whatever their abilities were, but from her observations alone she could not guess what. However, she did notice that whenever the twins held hands their molecular vibrations seemed to balance out, almost as if they were somehow regulating each other.
She then moved on to observing the girl with white hair, maybe two years older than the twins she guessed and noticed something odd about the molecular vibrations of her circulatory system. It seemed to have a higher level of vibration than the rest of her body, which Talia found very strange. Harue, she had sensed her introduce herself as.
Yet another girl in the new group, around the same age as Harue, had very bizarre molecular brain vibrations. There seemed one constant pattern, but it seemed to shift or ping into completely different patterns at rapid pace when she was whispering and giggling to herself, each pattern completely unique from the others, but always returned to the main pattern. AJ and DJ she had heard when the girl whispered to herself, Jesse, she had heard the girl introduce herself as...but referred to herself as ‘we’. Talia had known someone with multiple personality disorder back in Johannesburg City in South Africa and while this was similar there was something very strange about how the personalities shifted with this girl.
Talia finally moved on to observing the older woman that was with the children, maybe in her early twenties. She could sense that there was something vaguely off with her molecular vibrations, but she couldn’t determine the meaning of it.
Just as she had finished her observations of the new group that walked in she could sense the acrobatic woman on the bleachers now heading in her direction. Wonder what she knows about me she thought with a slight groan.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 3, 2015 11:43:40 GMT -5
Alistair nodded as Garth explained his only slightly insane reasoning for approaching the now-somehow-more-evil-looking teacher, and smirked at the girl's comments, Garth called her Almudena and he made a mental note to remember the name. It probably wasn't exactly how Garth might have pictured himself flying, he figured. As Garth's eyes flickered to the four students on the bleachers, so did his. He'd already clocked the pranks that had happened so far; each one had occurred right after the lilac-haired girl had said something. He was pretty sure it was that girl anyway, he wasn't exactly an expert on other powers, but based on how the other girl (the one in blue with dark hair) and the two boys (one skinnier in a red and white jacket, the other broad and muscled and wearing a leather vest) were reacting and celebrating the pranks while the lilac-haired girl smirked... Well, putting two and two together, he was pretty sure he'd got it right.
While he might not have been an expert, he wasn't exactly stupid either. Even before all this supernatural randomness was suddenly a thing in his life, he read a lot of fantasy and science fiction and all of those stories had their little quirks in their characters, how they'd use their powers. Magic wands and spells and incantations, or some pseudo-scientific glitch in genetics and all that. From what he'd learned about other powers after his own skill had manifested, a lot of it was the same as the books. He liked to keep an open mind with stuff like that.
"It doesn't sound that crazy," Alistair offered, putting his hand on Garth's shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. "I mean, that guy-" he nodded to the twenty-something year old in the suit "-can make drinks fly, Almudena's crazy strong, scary teacher man can apparently throw people across the room with wind... Supernatural whispering skills aren't really that unlikely."
Even so, he cast his eyes around the room again. Whispering to another student would probably be right up the clique's alley but what would be the point if they couldn't be certain how anyone would react? If Garth had just ignored them, he got the impression they would have tried something else to get a rise out of him, especially since he'd vocally expressed that he thought the prank war was a bad idea. Nah, probably not them. There were a couple of others, the girl who was still reading had still not tried to interact with anyone, could it have been her? Maybe that was how she was trying to talk to people? Bit of a stretch, he reasoned. The guy with the white hair, he'd seen him giving one of the younger kids a piece of candy so unless he was secretly a jerk, probably not him.
Kind of a dick move, he thought to himself, giving Garth a quick once-over. He was looking less rattled but still a bit nervous now. He's probably the most vulnerable looking guy here, those four at least targeted people who looked on their level.
"I wouldn't worry about it," he continued casually. "If someone was trying to prank you, I'm pretty sure they weren't expecting that to happen. They've probably had their fill."
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SV
Friendliest Member of ALL TIME
The Friendliest Member Of ALL TIME
Posts: 2,250
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Post by SV on Nov 4, 2015 17:47:11 GMT -5
"Third grade," Mica said in similarly hushed tones. "What grade are you in?" "Third," the pig-tailed girl replied. Mica grinned. "Cool." The moment of their ostensibly blossoming friendship was punctuated by the gym doors slamming open to reveal the most energetic, cheerfully dressed lady Mica had ever seen in her life. She'd never really known an adult to cartwheel, let alone to pull off such acrobatics with trays of cupcakes on hand. " She's going to be our dean?" she said, as much out of shock and awe as to Dalisay. "Whoa." One day I will post more than 100 words. But today is not that day.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 6, 2015 18:04:55 GMT -5
“Thank you!” Dalisay beamed at Jesse.
“My name's not Dallas,” She huffed with a discrete glance towards Almudena, “It's-”
“You're Dallas, right?” Emily spiralled around the desks, her tray tucked under her arm like a receiver running with a football.
“Here! I thought you might like this! It's carob and caramel!” Emily bumped the tray with her hip, popping a cupcake into the air. She caught it with her free hand, and rolled it onto the girl's desk.
The cupcake was frosted in blue and green, piped so that each stripe looked like feathers. It was decorated to resemble a parrotlike face, with bright red eyes boggling in wildly different directions.
“OOH!” Dalisay shucked the wrapper off, and instantly chomped down on the treat with vindictive satisfaction. Emily smiled faintly, and gave a small fist pump in triumph.
“Got it in one! Now, for the next...” Emily stooped over Mica's desk, twirling the tray around her waist and catching it behind her back.
“You're Mica, I bet! Your hair is so adorable!” Emily beamed. Ducking lower, she flipped the tray end over end, catching it in front. One cupcake had come loose, and plopped onto Mica's desk, unharmed and right-side up. It was frosted in brown, with what appeared to be grey rocks strewn across its surface.
“It's the cupcake's chocolate, except the rocks!” The baker twirled away. A moment later, she leaned back in, whispering in Mica's ear, “Okay, okay, the rocks are chocolate too!”
It was then that the twins caught her attention. Emily twirled about, using her foot to sweep the nearest empty desk between her and the twins. She plucked two cupcakes from the midst of the others, rolling the tray up her shoulder and balancing it on top of her head.
“Hello, Aodhan and-” Emily tilted her head, the tray pitching with the motion, “You're Eira!”
She dipped in the other direction, swaying the tray back to sitting level. The baker held up a cupcake in each hand, each with frosting swirled in a orange and blue tie-dye spiral.
“I wasn't sure which one of you would want which one, so I improvised! One's orange-cinnamon, and the other is orange-vanilla, like a creamsicle!” She deftly twisted both cupcakes, setting them spinning on edge as if they were tops. The sweets danced across the tabletop, colliding and bouncing off of eachother, but remaining firmly on the desk. Emily flourished with her hand, and then bounced her way over to the next student, still balancing the tray on top of her head like a confectionary Carmen Miranda.
“Harue!” Emily took the bewildered girl's hand and shook it enthusiasitically. “Actually, I've got two things for you!”
She brought her leg up, dipped her head, and dropped the tray, catching it on her knee.
“First, I've got this for you-” Emily took hold of the hem of her apron, and gave it a jerk. A wallet spurted out of its pouch, spinning end over end. The chef plucked it out of the air by its zipper, holding it steady as the wallet fell past her fingertips, unzipping it. Emily swung the wallet in an arc, the chubby beaded cardinal that bedecked it turning into a crimson blur. What appeared to be an asthma inhaler tumbled out, into Emily's waiting grasp. She twisted her wrist, the wallet zipping itself and dropping into her apron-pouch in a single motion.
“Here!” Emily shoved it into Harue's palm. The inhaler was surprisingly heavy, almost falling before the girl had a chance to close her fingers.
“But I don't have-”
“It's not for asthma, though we did make it from an inhaler,” Emily grinned ear to ear and gave a cheerful thumbs up, “Natalie and I worked it out! It's a fire extinguisher!”
“It's not much of one, but it should be enough to handle any little spills that happen. And if that's not enough, we've got Flint and Kilik and Eira and Mister Silumas... Tho' I'm pretty sure Mister Silumas solves most problems by adding more blood and fire, so maybe try to find the other guys before asking him?” The baker put a finger to her lips in thought.
“Oh! And more importantly, I've got a cupcake for you!” Emily leaned forwards, and a cupcake that had somehow been balancing on top of her head fell into her hand. She proudly offered it to Harue, the rich brown of the chocolate cake contrasted by a perfectly white snowflake of whipped cream frosting across its top.
“It's dark chocolate, except for the filling. That's cherry-jalapeno preserves! Sweet on the outside, fiery heart-” Emily winked, before bounding away, “It's a surprisingly great combination!”
“Jesse! I can't wait to meet all of yous!”
The younger girl pursed her lips in thought, before realizing what Emily had meant.
“Oh, you mean-!”
The two put their hands over their mouths, and squealed in unison.
“I'm/You're going to be your/my dean!” They shouted at eachother.
“I made a cupcakes for you!” Emily reached into the tray, and began flicking miniature cupcakes into the air. They landed, one after another, until they formed a two-by-two square. The final one landed at the center, forming a pyramid of multicolored treats. The chef flicked her wrist, and a cherry instantly appeared, crowning the confection.
“There's a chocolate one, and a vanilla one, and strawberry one, and a coconut-chocolate one, and a mango one! That way, you can share one of each with yourselves!”
Emily frowned in thought.
“You should be able to have the ones you gave to your other yourselves here, as long as the other Emilies are just as clever as I am. And if they aren't, be sure to tell all the other Emilies to get their acts together!”
“It's tough being the best Emily, but somebody has to do it,” Emily put her arms akimbo and thrust her chest out proudly.
“Speaking of which, I've got many other days to brighten! I'll see you around! Emily, awaaay!” She grabbed the tray by its edge, and pivoted at her hip, hurling it across the room. It helicoptered over the heads of the seated students, whooshing disconcertingly loudly as it missed clipping them by scant inches. It hit the wall with a bang, bouncing off of the concrete. Emily hurdled over two of the desks in a single leap, hitting the floor in a roll.
She caught herself feetfirst, reversing her facing as she popped up and thrust her arm skywards. The tray smacked into the palm of her hand, having ricocheted to exactly where she stood.
“So... Ty?” Emily lowered the tray, beaming. She offered her free hand for an introductory shake. Her short, curvy, vibrant figure stood as a stark contrast to Ty's lanky, angular build an monochrome garb.
“You control vectors, right?” Nodding towards the tray, Emily continued, “I'm not a Power, but I've got a good eye for angles and trajectories, and it's helped me take care of myself for years. If you ever want help practicing your power, just let me know!”
Emily suddenly gasped, glancing over her shoulder. Thyra was watching her, arms crossed disapprovingly over her chest.
“Ah, of course, wearing proper protective eyewear and only in faculty approved locations, practicing with strictly nonlethal objects. And you'll need to get a signed liability waiver from your legal guardians in case of ensuing injury, maiming, death, or Acts of God,” Emily ticked off the items on her fingers. She glanced back towards the Superintendent, who gave her a hesitant nod.
“And I've got a cupcake for you!” Emily twirled one out of the tray and onto his desk, this one wobbling more noticably than the others had. As it came to rest, it became evident that this cake stood diagonally instead of straight-upwards, like somebody had stretched it to the side. Across the top was a grid of lines, warped in a subtle way that made the dome-shaped cake look flat across.
“It was tricky to do it, but I managed to make a cupcake that looked like your power was used on it! I couldn't think of a good flavor to go with it, so it's-” Emily shrugged, “It's a carrot cake. Everybody likes carrot cake!”
“And this is Talia!” Emily headed back towards one of the desks she'd hurdled, plucking out another treat. This one with topped with an unusually sparkly pink frosting, with a singular jagged black line piped around its outer edge.
“That line graphs the vibrations from me saying hello!” She noted proudly, and offered it to the younger woman, “At first I tried making a cupcake that vibrated, but-”
Emily's eyes went distant, and she shuddered.
“The less said about that, the better. There are some matters in which humanity was not meant to meddle.”
Under her breath, she murmured.
“Hopefully, it's not still on the loose...”
She shook her head, seemingly flinging away the memories like a dog shedding water.
“Instead, I worked pop-rocks into the frosting for this one. It's strawberry flavored! Enjoy!”
“Also, I'll be your dean. So if you ever need to talk to anybody about things, just let me know,” Emily's manic energy faded, subsumed by her sympathetic tone. She put a hand on Taylor's shoulder, “I'll understand.”
Giving a single nod of acknowledgment, she turned away from the girl, and was on her way.
“Andre!” Emily flopped into the desk next to Deandre, “Awww... I was hoping that our really tall student was going to be the one named Andre, but this is okay too. We can still quote The Princess Bride together, right?”
“I don't actually know much of anything at all about you,” Emily noted blithely, “The file we had on you had all sorts of bits and pieces rearranged and missing.”
“I didn't know what to do for you, so I just did this-” Emily produced a chocolate frosted cupcake, with a vanilla looking cake portion. “It's got a custard filling, like a Boston Cream Pie.”
She offered it to him, and then glanced around rapidly, as if paranoid.
“Now, don't tell anybody about this, because I'm guessing this is top secret...” Her tone got deadly serious, “I know what the 'redacted' information in you file was, and why the faculty purged it. I'm not going to make any trouble for you, I promise. Just be honest with me...”
“They redacted your favorite kind of cupcake, didn't they?” ----- Dalisay nodded towards Mica, her mouth still too full of cupcake to actually verbally respond.
She paused, and sipped chocolate milk, washing the cake down.
"I don't know if I should feel good or bad about this," The young girl pondered, "I think she's actually going to like the Scamps."
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Post by Beelzebibble on Nov 6, 2015 21:39:13 GMT -5
Crappy ol' post. Had to convince myself I could bang something out and not overthink Deandre too much. EMILY SHWORTSWALD - CHEF/GIRLS DEAN - CUPCAKES - V/ENERG SHWARTZWALD? ACROBATIC - BALANCE? JUGGLING? THROWING? - "Redacted?" Deandre frowned, then realized he shouldn't be. Miss Shwartzwald obviously didn't think she was telling him anything new. He shifted in his seat and tried to make a smile that could match hers. When that didn't seem to be working, he took a bite of the cupcake which helped, of course. He remembered when a Boston cream doughnut and an Aerosmith best-of had been the only things getting him through a bitter winter morning commute when the parkway had stretched on single-lane for what felt like thirty miles and the snowflakes had been coming down so thick that the taillights ahead had been the only thing pointing him forward, and no that wasn't his but he did have it written down already. He wiped a bit of frosting off his lips from the first bite and grinned at her. "Thank you so much, ma'am, it's delicious," came his Georgian drawl. "As far as me, there's not very much to tell, I guess. But we'll all get to know each other over the year, I'm sure." What was redacted in his file? He didn't think she was joking about that - Miss Shwartzwald had obviously gone to a lot of trouble researching the students beforehand. Was it the description of his power? But why wouldn't the faculty know everyone's powers? Well, all right, Miss Shwartzwald was staff, not faculty. But how did that make a difference? Deandre glanced at the other adults congregating on the stage - the woman whom he recognized as Miss Russell from the acceptance packet. Was he wrong to assume that everyone up there knew his power? If CANDIDATE NUMBER ONE didn't already know his power, what could happen when he found out? Would Deandre be sent packing that afternoon? No. That was stupid. He wasn't going to worry about that. He contented himself by quickly adding a line underneath Miss Shwartzwald's entry. EMILY SHWORTSWALD - CHEF/GIRLS DEAN - CUPCAKES - V/ENERG SHWARTZWALD? ACROBATIC - BALANCE? JUGGLING? THROWING? - INFO REDACTED FM/MY FILE? FIGURE OUT. And then, on further thought: EMILY SHWORTSWALD - CHEF/GIRLS DEAN - CUPCAKES - V/ENERG SHWARTZWALD? ACROBATIC - BALANCE? JUGGLING? THROWING? - INFO REDACTED FM/MY FILE? FIGURE OUT. CUPCAKE V/GOOD
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Post by SHADOWMASTER89 on Nov 12, 2015 1:21:00 GMT -5
Once again, Talia was slightly put off by the woman’s energy level, but she became slightly impressed when the dark, jagged line around the edges of the cupcake hinted at her power. So they actually do know something about me she thought with an inward sigh of relief. As for the jagged line around the cupcake being the graph of the woman saying hello she couldn’t be sure given that her senses didn’t produce graphs for her, but still, it was a nice touch.
She also found the line hinting at the creation of a vibrating and possibly living, mutant cupcake slightly amusing and gave a slight smile. While her energy level was a bit much, the woman seemed pleasant none the less and so she was pleased to know that she would be the dean for the female dorms.
As the woman bounded off again Talia picked up her cupcake and peeled off the paper as she eyed it and washed her senses over it. Pink wasn’t exactly a color she liked, but she loved strawberry and pop-rocks had been a personal favorite of hers when she was a kid. She shut her eyes as she took a bite, savoring the flavor and the sensation of the pop-rocks popping in her mouth.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 15, 2015 1:08:01 GMT -5
“Crazy strong?” Almudena scoffed, “Amigo, un halago desabrido es peor que un insulto.”
“Yeah, I mean, if I hear a voice ask me about the beehive outside the boy's dorm, I don't think my first reaction this time is going to be walking over and slapping it,” Garth chuckled, “I think I've kinda had my fill, too.”
“I don't think I'm good yet. Nobody's gotten banished to their room, suspended, or expelled, so we're really underperforming by my standards,” Almudena shrugged, “Por supuesto, getting slam-dunked by a teacher might actually outdo any of those, sooo...”
Garth turned to the newcomer, a shorter boy with even paler skin and hair than his own, but with a significantly more athletic build. His eyes widened.
“Does the really loud lady... uh, happen to know you, by any chance? She's-”
“Flint!” Emily tackle-hugged the criomancer from behind, somehow bowling him into a backflip. They somersaulted over the bewildered Garth, landing on the hard wood floor with a loud thunk.
“Ah, she's coming this way,” Garth finished.
“It's been so long since I've seen you! I'm so happy you chose to come to school here! And Belwyn's here too! Do you think Didn't will show up next?” Emily paused, and sat up. She put a hand up, the tray landing on her palm with a clank.
“I made your cupcake extra special for you! It's got icecream in the center!” Emily cast her gaze skyward. High above them, a loose cupcake plummeted. She tumbled out of the way, letting it fall onto the Flint's chest, miraculously unmarred.
It was frosted in white, an azure design airbrushed across it. Cerulean rock candy was arrayed in a circle across the top, looking like miniature glaciers.
“It's blue raspberry! And the filling is black raspberry icecream!” Emily wrinkled her nose in thought, “Wait, why is it that there's black and blue raspberries, anyways? Does somebody beat up the raspberries before they put them into food?”
“Could you imagine having that job?” Emily straightened her shoulders and jutted out her chin, and spoke in the deepest drawl she could manage, “Yup, mah name's Hank. Ah work with raspberries. No, Ah don't pick 'em, Ah punch 'em. Yeah, that's right, Ah'm tha guy who pummels 'em before they end up on yer table.”
“And suddenly, I've found my calling in life,” Almudena mused.
“But anyways!” Emily did a roundoff over Flint. The motion completed upended her tray, but Emily twisted, using centrifugal force to pin the cakes in place. The moment she'd landed, Almudena was at her side, hand out expectantly.
“Cupcake for me?”
“Nope!” Emily retorted. The younger girl furrowed her brow.
“Seriously?”
“Scout's honor!” The chef put her hand over her heart, “But that'd be unfair-”
“No jodas.”
“So I brought you two half cupcakes!” Emily produced a two-toned confection. The inside was a rich tan, while the outside was an almost translucent ring of white.
“I couldn't make the outer cupcake transparent like your powers, but I tried! It's angelfood cake with a toasted coconut frosting, and the middle is vanilla with a dulce de leche filling.”
“That's perfect!” Almudena snatched it out of Emily's grasp, and chomped into it. As soon as the treat hit her tongue, she let out a blissful sigh.
“Wait-” She spoke with her mouth still half-full, spraying crumbs, “Last night I talked with my friends back home, and I told them I was missing the desserts from bakery at the corner... Were you eavesdropping?”
“Don't be silly, Alma!” Emily stepped past her, to Garth and Ben, “I'm the dean! Technically, nothing I do counts as eavesdropping!”
Almudena paused in thought, chewing slowly. She raised a finger as if to object, then shrugged, and took another huge bite.
“Garth! How was your summer job?”
The youth nervously glanced over to Ben, and then back to Almudena, before he answered.
“Ah, it was...” Garth licked his lips, “You know, temp jobs. It really kicked my butt.”
“Next time you see Nopnop, tell him I said hi!”
“He'll be thrilled. For once I'm forwarding something besides death threats to him,” Garth sighed, rolling his eyes, “I've had Natalie call me four times now, each time because she'd come up with some creative way to tell Nopcsa she was going to brutalize and-slash-or murder him and wanted me to pass the word along. If it was anybody else, I'd wonder what he'd done to earn her ire, but you know...”
“Natalie,” Emily concluded.
“Nopcsa,” Garth agreed.
“Cupcake!” Emily retorted, flinging a cupcake at the boy's face.
“Cripes!” Garth swiped his hand through the air, a contrail of iridescent flames roiling in his wake. The burst deflected the cupcake, sending it tumbling away. Emily caught it on the rebound. She offered it to him, less violently than the first time.
The slightly singed frosting was decorated with a tie-dye pattern, each color of the rainbow represented. From the look of the cupcake, it was composed of seven different layers, each a different hue.
“Your powers are so colorful that I just had to try to encapsulate it in a cupcake!” Emily's expression went serious for a moment, “Not literally, because it would explode, but I did a flavor for each color of fire you use!"
"Red is dragonfruit, orange is mango and not orange because that’d be cliche, yellow is pineapple, green is carambola, blue is acai, purple is passionfruit, and the violet is concord grape!"
"Uh, thank you, Emily," Garth tilted his head, attempting to comprehend exactly how he was supposed to approach eating it.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Emily flicked her wrist, and a multicolored candle appeared directly in the middle of Garth's cupcake. She started to reach for a lighter, and then reconsidered.
"Could you?"
Garth nodded, and snapped his fingers. A green spark shot to the wick, and set it alight. The flame crackled softly, scintillating and shifting through a spectrum of hues.
"Enjoy!" She whirled twords Ben, quickdrawing another cupcake. In one smooth motion, she had put the cupcake in his left hand and started shaking his right.
"Hello Ben! As you already know, I'm Emily. If you were a girl, I'd be our dean, but you're not, so I'll just be the chef!" Emily vigorously shook his whole arm, with no real rhythm to the motion.
"I made you a peanut butter cupcake! I wanted to use chocolate, but then I realized that would probably kill you so I had to go with just peanut butter-" Emily noticed his expression, a cross between gamely amused and incredibly baffled.
"Ah, I might have misread your file... You don't actually shapeshift into a dog, do you?" Emily finally broke the handshake, "Uh, well, enjoy the cupcake!"
Emily sprinted away, hurdling up onto the stage. She landed next to Silumas, and approached him with a cupcake.
"Oh, dear Lord... I think we just got the Girl's Dean killed," Garth mulled, watching as she shoved a cupcake into the elementalist's hands. ------ “Hello Mister Silumas! I’m so glad I’m getting to work with you!” Emily beamed, carefully avoiding touching the chair that Garth had been sitting in before the mage blasted him across the gym.
The cupcake she’d offered him was frosted black, with a rich brown cake underneath. The top was decorated with a ring of skulls, painstakingly carved out of large marshmallows. Each one had a mysterious hole piercing through the top of their cranium.
“It’s devil’s food cake, of course. The frosting incorporates a strong rum note, which I think will go well with the chocolate, and the-“ Emily gestured for the elementalist to hold out the cupcake. She produced a match, striking it against the zipper of her wallet, and touched it to the frosting.
Tongues of blue fire erupted across its surface, dancing ephemerally. As the flames touched the skulls, each one went up in moments. The blaze drew air through the chimney carved into them, producing a noise like the blackened, smoldering skulls were screaming.
“You can put out the flame, or eat it as is. It’s a sophisticated cupcake, but from what I hear, you’re a sophisticated teacher, so it should work out okay!” Emily gave one last polite bow, and turned away from him.
“THAT’S IT FOR CUPCAKES! ANY FACULTY AND STUDENTS WHO HAVE YET TO RECEIVE THEIRS WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE POWER DEMONSTRATIONS! IF ANYBODY COMPLAINS, I’D SAY TOUGH COOKIES, BUT THE COOKIES I MAKE ARE ALWAYS SOFT AND DELICIOUS!”
With her voice echoing, Emily hopped off the stage, and ambled over to Thyra. The superintendent had an eyebrow raised quite high on her substantial forehead.
“I know, I know…” Emily set her tray on the refreshments table, “I went out of order. But would you tell Silumas that he had to wait for his cupcake?”
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Post by Silumas on Nov 15, 2015 21:06:06 GMT -5
The Elementalist observed the annoyingly energetic woman prance about the auditorium giving away her baked goods. Silumas' eyes narrowed in irritation as she pronounced this small confection this, and that tiny cake that. His patience had about worn out waiting for Thyra to continue with the proceedings when Emily bounded up to him.
Then, most surprisingly, she treated him with what appeared to be a great amount of respect. It was a surprise in as much the only person to give him any respect at all was Zebedee, and that was because Zebedee had seen what Silumas was truly capable of, all those years ago. Thyra was respectful, on the surface at least, but Silumas felt as much fear, disdain, and at times disgust from the woman. Yet, here Emily was kind, but most importantly, respectful.
She held out a cupcake for him to take, and with a curious frown, he accepted it. During her description of his gift he watched her more than treat. Even with the sapphire flames dancing across the icing he watched Emily, with deep intrigue. She obviously knew who he was, what he had done, if not entirely certain what he was capable of doing. Still, she dared to be kind to him. She had no remarkable Powers that Silumas could find immediately, no magic or superpower that made her beyond human. Her acrobatics aside, she seemed like a perfectly normal human being. Still, Emily stood near the god-like being that Silumas was as an equal.
"...from what I hear, you're a sophisticated teacher..." she said at one point, snapping him out of his curious dive into Emily's motives, her potential. Again, kindness. She could have called him a bully, an aggressor, an evil man somehow graced with the position of teaching the older children, and she would have been mostly right. Instead, she called him sophisticated. She seemed unafraid, undaunted by his presence the way most others were, so she had not spoken out of a survival instinct. There was simply one conclusion that Silumas could come to: respect.
Emily respected Silumas, for the being that he was: powerful beyond recognition, yet still here to teach. Here to help these children make something of themselves. Silumas, like Emily, volunteered for this position, and thus they were comrades.
They were comrades.
This is new...
Silumas was always top of the food chain, king of the castle, top dog. Never was he a comrade. He was part of a team now, which was entirely strange. He had worked with fellow Magi before, temporarily of course, but it was always a tense partnership that just as often ended in bloodshed. This, this was different. Several powerful individuals were devoted to running this school, to teaching these children. They were a team devoted to the same goal. Silumas was on that team. He was a part of that team.
The cupcake. Silumas returned his attention to the now, to the sweet in his palm. An incredibly complex usage of Water helped him quickly separate the cupcake into six equal parts in his hand and he watched the flames for a few moments. The ephemeral flames were interesting to watch, though mundane. How she had caused her confection to do this was a mystery to Silumas, and that was part of what made it interesting, but more so that she had tried to make it fit her knowledge of him. She had attempted to personalize the cupcake for Silumas. The screaming skulls were an interesting choice, and it actually evoked an audible, but quiet guffaw from him for a moment. With a quick flick with a finger, and a bit of Air, a piece of the cupcake flew from his palm to his mouth.
The taste was savory and sweet. Unfortunately for Silumas, he did not really have any past experiences with which to compare this one. Tastes were never something he had focused on, it had always just been about nutrition. But this, this was something completely different. Its nutritional value was abysmal, but by the Planes it was delicious. Sweetness set off just right against the punch of the rum flavored icing. The marshmallow skulls, burnt as they were, added a savory tang to the rainbow of flavors. Piece after piece Silumas finished it.
When he had finished, he smiled, a genuine smile which was rare, and stood. Slowly he walked from the stage to the gathering of the rest of the faculty. It was hard to tell if he was truly walking or floating, his graceful movements and bulky robes either disguising his movement or his powers helping him to levitate.
For each in the group Silumas gave the slightest of inclinations of his chin, a bare nod and recognition of their place on the team of teachers and administrators. His silent introduction continued for a couple of moments before he finally came eye to eye with Emily, his nod noticeably deeper.
"Your gift was quite delicious, Mistress Emily, and I thank you for it. I will," Silumas smiled ever so slightly but it warmed his face tremendously, "repay it at the first opportunity. And 'tough cookies' is an interesting phrase, I would very much like an explanation of where it comes from some time."
The warmth and smile vanished as quickly as it came as he turned to Thyra, "Head Mistress, might I suggest we move things along?"
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Shoni
Joyeuse Insurgency
Posts: 191
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Post by Shoni on Nov 15, 2015 23:40:02 GMT -5
The room seemed to spin as the air was forced from Flint’s lungs. Time seemed to slow as everything flipped upside down; razor sharp ice began to form on his fingertips, ready to skewer whatever abnormality had caused this unexpected occurrence. Reflexes sent his arm flashing through the air in a blur, straight toward any vital point it could find. This motion sent his body into rotation. As he rotated Emily’s familiar face entered his field of vision. As he recognized her, Flint stopped his hand and retracted it back to his side; three tiny holes could barely be seen in her t-shirt between the sixth and seventh ribs. Her smile was still irking and beautiful and her eyes were still annoying and full of joy. He wasn’t sure if she hadn’t noticed that he almost punctured one of her lunges or if she just didn’t care. Either way she seemed unphased. The ceiling seemed to be getting further and further away as Flint braced himself for the uncomfortable landing to come. Exhaling before impact, Flint let out a small grunt as his body slammed into the floor. The sound of flesh impacting floorboards rung in his ears as Emily peered down at him rambling on about some cupcake that had just landed on his chest. “I am going to shoot this woman.” He groaned.
Emily saw another student and ran off to distribute the remainder of her cupcakes. Flint remained on his back and tilted his head backward as he watched her joyfully tumble around the gymnasium. He had never met anyone who annoyed him as much as she did. Raising his hand above his head, Flint made a fist and extended his thumb and index finger. Lazily lowering his arm behind him Flint began to follow Emily with his finger. With his other hand he grabbed the cupcake and took the first small bite. Raspberry flavors gently caressed his tongue; the ice cream had begun to melt into the outer layer of cupcake causing the confectionery treat to be soft and fluffy on the outside, and heavy and moist on the inside. Small pieces of rock candy crunched between his teeth breaking up the uniform consistency of the cupcake. Pulling his free arm back to his side, Flint took another bite. “Maybe she doesn’t have to die today.” He thought as he continued to watch her parade through the students.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 16, 2015 1:55:04 GMT -5
"Oh, thank you!" Emily lowered her head and blushed at the complement, "And no, um, it's just Miss Emily, for now."
She raised her hand, and wiggled her bare ring finger.
"Don't worry about repaying me! We're all a team, here- This is just what we do," Emily beamed.
A moment later, she furrowed her brow.
"Honestly, I have no idea where 'tough cookies' comes from," The chef cupped a hand over her mouth, and concluded in a conspiratorial stage whisper, "That must mean it's the other bakers that make them! Right, Thyra?" Emily elbowed the superintendent lightly in the ribs, trying to get her attention.
"Ha. Ha. Yes, Emily," Thyra deadpanned, lowering her sunglasses. She turned to face Silumas.
"We'll be moving things along shortly, once everybody finishes their snacks," Thyra nodded politely, and walked past him, starting to ascend the stairs of the stage.
"You have to understand, Mr. Silumas, that properly maintaining the attention of children is a very delicate balance. If we didn't feed them before this, they'd be hungry. If we try to start too soon, they'll still be busy eating. And if we take too long, and let them settle, they'll be napping off a sugar crash before we're ready. When it comes to dealing with adolescents, it takes properly orchestrating everything so that they're optimally situated to learn. More than anything, that is our burden. Learning is their choice, whereas our duty is simply removing as many obstructions as we can, and allowing them to flourish."
As Thyra reached the stage, she turned her head away from the others, and allowed herself a slight grimace. Projecting confidence and dignity was the best possible thing she could do for the school, but at this point in her life, she scarcely felt adequate for her burden. Here she was, barely six years older than some of her students, and yet everybody was expecting her to rise to the occasion and lead what was quite possibly the most daunting educational program imaginable.
She smoothed her skirt and took the seat nearest the podium, exhaling deeply.
"God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called," She murmured faintly to herself.
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Post by Cendra on Nov 16, 2015 12:03:55 GMT -5
Jesse beamed back at Dalisay. She seemed to be a sweet girl from what she'd gleaned from the others. Maybe a little trouble prone, but sweet.
“You're Dallas, right?” Emily's voice rang out across the classroom. Jesse reflexively put her hands up over her head as if to catch something, but they only met air. She brought her hands back down for inspection then shrugged it off with a “Huh,”. She wasn't extremely surprised. It happened from time to time. Her smile began to grow again as Miss Emily jumped from person to person handing out her personalized confections.
Eira peeked out from behind her hand at the screeching sound as the empty desk came to rest between them and this Emily woman. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped at the sight of balancing treats on the brunette's head. Maybe her brother was right. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here. Still, she held his hand a little tighter at being directly addressed.
The odd vibe left in the room from some previous event was noted, but as far as Aodhan was concerned this was one of the best days ever. Meeting new people, learning new things, sweets they didn't have to nick, and they weren't those store made things either. These were gourmet quality and presentation!
The twins caught their cupcakes as they bounced off each other, responding with a simultaneous “Thanks!”. With a glace at each other, it was decided to trade their prizes. Steam rose from the orange cinnamon cake as Aodhan handed it over to his sister and small ice crystals formed in the frosting on top of the orange vanilla as Eira handed her's to him. Taking their seats, they both leaned back, contently nibbling as the scene continued to unfold.
A nervous smile made it's way to Harue's face as her whole body seemed to move with the enthusiasm of the handshake. What was she getting herself into? Maybe it wasn't too late for her to transfer to that public school in the United States? At least there she would know half of what was going on. After Miss Emily's show of acrobatics, Harue found herself inspecting a surprisingly weighty inhaler that had been shoved into her palm quite suddenly.
“But I don't have-” She started, but was cut off by the woman.
“It's not for asthma, though we did make it from an inhaler,” Emily grinned ear to ear and gave a cheerful thumbs up, “Natalie and I worked it out! It's a fire extinguisher!”
“Oh...” Harue smiled, but rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.
“It's not much of one, but it should be enough to handle any little spills that happen. And if that's not enough, we've got Flint and Kilik and Eira and Mister Silumas... Tho' I'm pretty sure Mister Silumas solves most problems by adding more blood and fire, so maybe try to find the other guys before asking him?” The baker put a finger to her lips in thought.
“Sure?” Harue's reply was uncertain. Was Mister Silumas someone else who worked there? He didn't exactly sound like someone you wanted to have in a school. But then again, that was the whole point of this school wasn't it?
“Oh! And more importantly, I've got a cupcake for you!” Emily leaned forwards, and a cupcake that had somehow been balancing on top of her head fell into her hand. She proudly offered it to Harue, the rich brown of the chocolate cake contrasted by a perfectly white snowflake of whipped cream frosting across its top.
“It's dark chocolate, except for the filling. That's cherry-jalapeno preserves! Sweet on the outside, fiery heart-” Emily winked, before bounding away, “It's a surprisingly great combination!”
Harue was touch by the metaphor in the cupcake and picked it up gently as to not smear the frosting.
“Arigato gazaimasu.” She said with a light smile before Emily jumped on to Jesse.
“Jesse! I can't wait to meet all of yous!”
The younger girl pursed her lips in thought, before realizing which Emily this probably was.
“Oh, you mean-!”
The two put their hands over their mouths, and squealed in unison.
“I'm/You're going to be your/my dean!” They shouted at each other. Oh this was going to be so much fun! The late night talks, the sneaking into the kitchen for late night baking. It was going to be a good year.
“I made a cupcakes for you!” Emily reached into the tray, and began flicking miniature cupcakes into the air. Jesse was enthralled with how they landed, one after another, until they formed a two-by-two square. The final one landed at the center, forming a pyramid of multicolored treats. The chef flicked her wrist, and a cherry instantly appeared, crowning the confection. Jesse applaud for the woman.
“There's a chocolate one, and a vanilla one, and strawberry one, and a coconut-chocolate one, and a mango one! That way, you can share one of each with yourselves!”
Emily frowned in thought.
“You should be able to have the ones you gave to your other yourselves here, as long as the other Emilies are just as clever as I am. And if they aren't, be sure to tell all the other Emilies to get their acts together!”
Jesse nodded emphatically.
“It's tough being the best Emily, but somebody has to do it,” Emily put her arms akimbo and thrust her chest out proudly.
“Speaking of which, I've got many other days to brighten! I'll see you around! Emily, awaaay!” She grabbed the tray by its edge, and pivoted at her hip, hurling it across the room.
Jesse was all but bouncing in her seat with excitement. An Emily that baked was a good Emily! At least usually... If nothing else, movie nights and holidays were amazing.
~*~
Belwyn gave up keeping track of Emily's movements once she left the middle school group and instead took to studying the room more as a whole.
Powers aside, things appeared normal. Or as normal as she knew anyway, which come to think of it wasn't that average. The skid marks and broken paneling of the floor did raise some questions. Clearly she and her charges had just missed something judging from the small group that was forming around one of the paler boys. She was sure she would find out what happened sooner or later. This was a school after all. There were very few things that stayed unknown there.
Next her eyes caught sight of Thyra who was, in fact, keeping track of Emily. How, however, was a mystery to her. Belwyn absently ran her hands over her white sundress, smoothing down the colorfully embroidered flowers. This was her first official job and I meant allot to her to have something consistent in her life like this. She certainly didn't want to mess this up. Thyra glanced her way and Belwyn gave her a friendly wave.
Other teachers and staff were slowly filing in to take their seats on the stage, so Belwyn figured she ought to do the same. To her credit, she made it half way there before having to sidestep to avoid being crushed by Emily and a very upset Flint. Thankfully there had been the warning of “Flint!” before the tumbling duo fell from the air.
“It's been so long since I've seen you! I'm so happy you chose to come to school here! And Belwyn's here too! Do you think Didn't will show up next?” Emily said before suddenly sitting up. Belwyn gave a sheepish wave in greeting and backed up a few more steps. The brunette went on explaining the special cupcake she had made for the white haired boy who was becoming increasingly more irritated as it went on. Especially the part about the the berry's coloration. But true to herself, like a flash Emily was off again. Belwyn saw Flint aim his finger at her and rolled her eyes. After a bite of his cupcake she saw his resolve lessen.
“Maybe she doesn’t have to die today.” He muttered. Belwyn extended her hand to help him up.
“Lets not start with that again.” There was amusement in her voice, but a serious note lingered in the background.
“THAT’S IT FOR CUPCAKES! ANY FACULTY AND STUDENTS WHO HAVE YET TO RECEIVE THEIRS WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE POWER DEMONSTRATIONS! IF ANYBODY COMPLAINS, I’D SAY TOUGH COOKIES, BUT THE COOKIES I MAKE ARE ALWAYS SOFT AND DELICIOUS!” Belwyn winced and plugged one ear with her palm.
“I think that's my cue. We'll talk later.” She gave Flint a friendly pat on the back and hurried off to her peers.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 17, 2015 11:35:02 GMT -5
"No era mi intención ofenderte," Alistair replied, though he was pretty sure he was getting the pronunciation way off. Whether Almudena heard him or not became less of a concern because, at that moment, the extremely... vibrant woman took the opportunity to flip not only herself, but the quiet kid too over their heads. The kid looked... actually, the kid looked completely unperturbed. Hell, he looked more put-out than shell-shocked. However, he didn't have much time to think about that because she was heading their way now.
He can't honestly say he was surprised by Almudena back-chatting to a faculty member, nor by Emily's unabashed declaration of eavesdropping, if he's being honest. Even though he'd seen her undeniably impressive feats of acrobatics with the crew on the bleachers (and laughed at their reactions, the girls had looked like they were holding bombs for God's sake), having her move in their space was a bit different. More than once, he thought one of the cupcakes was definitely about to fly off the tray and hit some unsuspecting student in the face. Not that that would be a bad thing, really, since there was still some tension in the room that Emily hadn't quite managed to shatter.
Garth and Emily were talking now, all-too-familiar and casual for them not to know each other. There was a brief flicker from Garth, just a quick glance that told Alistair that the other guy didn't really want to talk about it. Or, at least, not in front of people he barely knew. He caught names, Natalie and... Nopnop? And he hoped they were just joking about the death threats though, with how bizarre Emily was, he couldn't completely be sure they weren't. There was a flash when Emily threw the cupcake and Alistair just about had time to register a blur of colours, a rainbow of flames that batted the confectionery away. He was kind of surprised, when Emily handed it over like a normal person, that it hadn't been completely squashed when she caught it again.
That's... pretty, he thought to himself as Garth lit the candle and the flame flickered across the spectrum. Rainbow flames. Huh. If he'd had to guess Garth's powers before, he probably wouldn't have said the power of razzle-dazzle but now that he was thinking about it, it made some sense. It was bright and flashy, not the sort of thing that could be ignored, and hadn't Garth said something about not knowing whether someone was a Power when causing trouble? It was like a big warning label, "I Have Powers, Consider That When Attacking Me", and he definitely wasn't psycho-analyzing some guy he'd just met. No sir. Still, he didn't really expect that he'd come across a pretty power when he got out of bed that morning.
And now it was his turn. Emily had already managed to grab his hand before she'd even opened his mouth and the handshake would have made his whole body shake along with it if he hadn't started compensating against it. Not that he minded, he liked enthusiastic people. They tended to try harder and he liked it when he saw passion driving people, instead of the usual daily grind kind of drive. She was saying something about a chocolate cupcake and must have noticed his nonplussed expression because if there was a link between chocolate and his death, he couldn't make it. It wasn't until she mentioned dogs that it clicked in his head, and okay, he'd never considered that before. He actually couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten something while in beast mode. Maybe never?
The cupcake was delicious. The texture was soft and fluffy, not over- or under-cooked, and there was a saltiness that the peanut butter added to the otherwise sweet taste. It wasn't something he would have chosen, peanut butter was always hit or miss with him, but there was no denying that this particular combination of flavours was a winner. He took another bite as he watched Emily approach the intimidating teacher on the stage, nodding at Garth's comment in agreement.
I should know their names by now... Sil- something? Alistair thought to himself as the teacher descended from the stage and approached the other members of faculty. He hadn't thrown Emily across the room like he had with Garth and Alistair was pretty sure he'd seen something resembling a smile on the now-bald man's face. And sure, the smile looked genuine enough but it didn't make the guy look any less threatening.
"Check it out, she's not dead," he offered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kilik swiped across his phone screen as he said, "It doesn't look like the internet knows where that expression came from. If I had to guess, it probably started with someone who wasn't great a baking. I'm pretty sure the human race wasn't born with some inherited knowledge of what the phrase 'tough cookies' means."
He slipped his phone back into his pockets and watched Thyra ascend the stage. Something about what she was saying wasn't quite clicking for him. It was almost clinical, a bit like she'd read the theory and was reciting it from, like, How To Teach 101. Maybe a self-help book. It wasn't quite professional, even though Thyra was exuding that easily enough, he was reminded of a person trying to explain something simple to a child. Was that it? Silumas clearly didn't have the same grasp of understanding the world that the average person had. He turned his gaze to the other teacher.
Silumas didn't make him nervous, exactly. Wary would be a better word. He might have missed whatever had happened between the teacher and Garth but there were still eyes among the students that were flickering back to him. It might have just been his appearance for the kids, robes weren't exactly the wisest fashion choice Kilik had ever seen, but standing this close told him pretty much everything he needed to know. Silumas was strong. It was the sort of strength that kept Kilik on his toes. When people were that strong, accidents tended to happen.
Putting it from his mind for now, he followed Thyra up the stage, clapping her shoulder as he passed before taking a seat.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 18, 2015 18:44:45 GMT -5
"Next time, I'll be sure to placate him with cupcakes before I try to storm the stage," Garth murmured, shaking his head incredulously.
"If I chuck you across the room, will you give me cupcakes too?" Almudena offered. She took a bite out of the center of the one Emily had given her, and visibly shuddered in pleasure, "Say what you will, but the woman can cook."
CLOP CLOP CLOP
The sound of boots echoed from the hallway.
Garth sighed loudly, and rolled his eyes to indicate Silumas to Ben and Alma.
"Welp, here comes another one."
The doors swung open, and a wiry adolescent girl sauntered through. She wore a hand sewn gingham dress past her knees in blue and white, with heeled cowboy boots that covered the rest of her legs. Her hair swung in two long pigtails, the colors of fresh cornsilk. Despite her thin frame, it was evident she had formidable muscles, presumably honed through years of rigorous farmwork.
"Si, furball. Looks like a real dangerous type, there," Almudena elbowed Garth in the ribs, taking care to do so lightly.
The new girl clomped over to the snack table, and noted with dismay that all the donuts and cups for drinks were already gone.
With a resigned shrug, she scooped up the half full gallon jug of cider, and took it with her as she headed to her seat.
"Achis!" Almudena's jaw dropped.
"Come again?"
"'I don't believe it'," Almudena sighed, "I should have thought of that first!"
"Naturally." ------ The farmgirl galloped over to where Dalisay and Mica were seated, and flopped into a seat on the other side of the Filippina.
"Howdy!" The lass clearly had no indoor voice, but it seemed fully possible that she had been raised in a barn. She sat up and offered a hand in greeting, the jug sloshing in her other, "Ah'm Emma Ray Jo McCrowley, but y'all kin jes' call me Emma Ray Jo!"
"Dalis-" Dalisay looked pensively towards Almudena, who was currently inhaling the last of her treat from Emily, "Just Dallas. Salazar."
"Charmed," Emma Ray beamed, freckles across her nose wrinkling. She took the girl's diminutive hand in her own calloused mitt, and shook carefully.
She glanced over at where Emily stood.
"Aw, shucks. Ah got here too late for vittles, Ah reckon..."
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Post by AngelicTragedy on Nov 19, 2015 22:36:18 GMT -5
Ty still sat motionless several minutes after his encounter with Emily. The sentiment was greatly appreciated, the offer for help learning to use his powers better was much to kind, but the sheer shock left him slack-jawed and speechless. The cupcake Emily had toppled onto his desk made his eyes hurt but it seemed to be pretty true to form for this powers as he understood them. Ty didn't fully grasp the depth of his abilities or to what extent he could use them but Emily's ability to translate them into a confectionery form was beyond impressive. Ty awkwardly ripped the wrapping from his cake and sat it aside before taking a bite.
"Here goes..."
The almost too sweet cream cheese icing hit his tongue first like a sugary missile before the multiple layers of moist, mildly spiced cake cut in a memory of ones grandmother, welcoming and warm. Ty's mind shut down for a moment and allowed the flavors to play in his mouth for a long moment before swallowing and taking another bite. After a few moments the sweet treat was gone and Ty was left wanting more. The thought struck him that if he requested a private session for help with his powers and potentially petition for another cupcake.
This could work.
~*~*~*~*~
Marius regarded the other staff around him with stern eyes. Valon hadn't mentioned the other staff members would be such a mixed bag, let alone one that contained such a colorful personality to contend with. Marius had it in his head that the staffers at this school would be by the book and strict, but it seemed that was a bit off target to expect. The robed man known as Silumas radiated rage and death like a beacon of hate, but seemed to have a soft spot of some description. The other man Marius hand not heard the name of, nor could he get a proper impression of. Thyra was spoken of well by his master and as such had already earned Marius' respect and trust. Emily had gotten under his skin in a way she should not have. it appeared that she thrived on being in the crowd, the social interaction of large groups that made Marius want to run away. She was far more upbeat than Marius cared for and seemed to Marius to be everything that he wasn't.
This one shall be my greatest challenge here. The students won't test me as much as Emily will. Aou'n, give me strength.
Marius slipped out of the gathering and began up towards the stage with smooth, measured strides. He glided up the steps and slipped up to the massive window to gather his thoughts. The view of the sea reminded him of home in Drakengrad. The sothern coast of Drakengrad was not unlike this area, just much hotter. The sapphire sea reflected sunlight like diamond shafts into the afternoon sky. A bit of tension left Marius' shoulders as he took in the wonderful view before him. The beach below was barely a sliver of sand against the cliff above that glowed nearly as brightly as the sun itself. In the stark reflection below Marius caught sight of a white, featureless figure on the sand. He caught the impression of white clothing and possibly a mane of jet hair. A shocked expression flashed across Marius' face and disappeared just as quickly. There was something familiar about this figure and, just as like a fever dream, it disappeared. Marius took a shaky breath to steady his nerves and moved back towards Thyra.
"My lady, I would like to get this event moving. It would seem that one of my duties calls as soon as this meeting concludes."
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 20, 2015 15:19:41 GMT -5
Thyra nodded, and rose from her seat. She approached the podium, the chatter amongst the students immediately falling to a pensive hush.
“Good morning, and welcome, students and staff of the Terminer Academy for Exceptional Youth. I’m so glad that all of you could make it today, and I eagerly look forward to working with each of you in the coming year. I am Thyra Russell, Superintendent and acting Principal of the school until further notice.”
“We, ah, do have a Principal currently on the payroll, but they are currently in deep space in order to deflect an incoming earthbound comet the size of Kentucky. So for the foreseeable future, I’ll be serving both roles.”
She inhaled deeply, and took a sip from the lukewarm glass of water at the side of her podium.
“Obviously, you all know the reason why you are here. However, for clarity’s sake, allow me to elucidate. The purpose of this school is to help you to live up to your fullest potential, which means educating you both in standard scholastic matters, but also coaching you in how to properly use your Powers, and also how fit into society without ending up on the news in Winstone.”
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is ‘Charles Xavier’s Academy for Raising a Bunch of Gifted Youngsters as a Powered Paramilitary Strikeforce.’,” Thyra raised her chin, and deliberately removed her sunglasses. Her gaze flicked from student to student as she continued speaking, “You all have been blessed with amazing talents, gifts beyond imagining. However, society has cultivated unhealthy expectations of us. They see us as terrorists, mercenaries, assassins, thieves, a culture of bloodthirsty thugs who approach every problem by violently leveraging our innate talents.”
“By and large,” Thyra turned her eyes towards the floor, “They’re right.”
Dark murmurs spread throughout the room.
“Enough,” Thyra squared her shoulders, and raised her voice, “I’ve been there, in the thick of it, ever since my powers manifested at twelve years old. I grew up in this. Me… my family, and my entire neighborhood were caught in the crossfire between two warring factions of Powers, and I was the only-“
Her voice broke. Blinking the tears out of her eyes, she resumed.
“I was the only survivor. I had virtually no guidance, and I only ended up where I am today because I stumbled into a group of Powers who were trying their best to make the world a better place. Lord only knows where I’d be without their guidance. Hundreds, thousands of other Powers will never be so fortunate.”
“The culture amongst us Powers is infantile, brutish, and violent. When the non-powered public decries us as a bunch of morally bankrupt murderers, our response has been, ‘Okay, sure, how much are you willing to pay me to kill somebody?’ By the time I was sixteen, I had met over fifty serial killers. Every single close friend I had through my adolescence was a felon. We assume because we’ve got skills that make us adept at fighting, that should be our first resort in all things.”
“I founded this school so that you all have a chance to rise above that. My hope… my prayer, is to show not only you, but also the rest of the world, that there is a better way. We don’t have to live in ignorance and violence, we can be something so much more than we’ve been aspiring to, than what humanity expects of us. This is your chance to change everything.”
Thyra carefully made eye contact with each student, her gaze open and warm.
“Please don’t waste it.”
The superintendent exhaled deeply.
“Anyways, we will now be proceeding with the introductions, in alphabetical order, by last name. If you’d all be so courteous, when your turn comes, please step to the front, state your name, tell us something about yourself, and provide a demonstration of your powers.”
“After that, there’s signup sheets for one-on-one talks with the faculty members, by the edge of the stage. These’ll be a mandatory part of your registration, so please don’t forget.”
“First up will be Evelyn Bertram. Thank you,” Thyra stepped away from the podium, and returned to her seat.
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Post by SHADOWMASTER89 on Nov 23, 2015 17:28:29 GMT -5
Power demonstrations? Seriously? Talia thought to herself upon the end of Thyra’s speech. She hadn’t been sure exactly what to make of the speech as a whole, but Thyra’s delve into her own broken past had touched Talia quite deeply. While she had been uncertain if Thyra was trustworthy before, this made her feel as if they had something in common. Then the whole idea of power demonstrations had come up and it took Talia completely by surprise.
She had just been reassured by Emily’s cupcake and comments just minutes ago that the staff at this school knew what she was capable of and now suddenly they wanted power demonstrations? She sank into her seat, her face disappearing behind her book as she sighed heavily. As her mind continued to mull over the idea, she wondered how extensive a demonstration they were looking for and whether they were aware of how much time she had spent trying to keep her powers reigned in.
Some ideas began to come to her and she sat back up, more focused now and flipped through the pages of her book before coming to a certain page and tracing her finger along several lines. If they want a demonstration I don’t intend to disappoint, but I have to make sure I keep my powers reigned back from my control limits she thought to herself. The safety of everyone in the building was her primary concern and while she was willing to shock and awe she was not willing to push things too far and risk a dangerous situation.
That clique on the bleachers surely won’t think I’m all smoke and mirrors after this, not that she really cared.
If she was going to do this right then there were two items she would need and who better to ensure she had them than the woman who had asked for the demonstration. She peered over the top of her book and narrowed her eyes at Thyra, concentrating on the sound waves bouncing around the room. She bent them to her will and directed them to Thyra, focusing them into a generic sounding whisper in the superintendent's ears.
“If you want a proper demonstration of my powers…” the whisper began, “...then I need two things. An empty drinking glass and one of those small, red bricks. You can just leave them on the edge of the stage for me if you don’t mind.”
With that the whisper faded and Talia’s face slid back behind her book, though she knew that if the woman knew anything about her student’s abilities she would be able to guess who had just whispered to her.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 24, 2015 17:28:47 GMT -5
"First up will be Claire Bertram. Thank you."
Claire snapped her pocket mirror shut, discretely slipping it into her clutch as she stood up. She was holding her posture and stepping more like she was floating down the bleachers, a trick Tallis didn't really understand but it was kind of impressive in itself. They'd already been talking about what they were planning when they got the announcement that they'd be showcasing their powers, Tallis wasn't really sure how he was supposed to demonstrate his, but Claire and Mel had been stumped too. It wasn't like they fit into neat little categories like Ethan did not that it's a bad thing, really, means we don't have to come up with anything. Technically, Mel had already shown her skills off, but he didn't think messing with the other students counted.
It was like she was on a catwalk, he noticed. Every step was confident and it made her outfit flow around her, all drapey and it should have looked shapeless, it probably would have on anyone else, but it wrapped around her figure every time she moved girl has got it on point. If he hadn't met her, gotten to know her a bit better, he would have guessed she'd come to the wrong school, should have been learning Modelling and Catwalk Technique, not How To Not Accidentally Blow Someone Up With Your Powers 101. She got to centre stage of course she did, centre stage means all eyes on her and turned back to the rest of the auditorium.
"I'm Claire Bertram, Claire for short, and I'm from Kissimmee," she said clearly, one hand on her hip and damn if that's not a sassy pose. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, eyes drifting around the boys of the room briefly before she looked back to the bleachers. Tallis shot her a grin and a thumbs up. "I like fashion, I designed everything I'm wearing today." She gave a twirl, her outfit moving with her and next to him Ethan wolf-whistled and punched his arm.
"My power is light manipulation," Claire continued and he knew for a fact that she'd rehearsed this part, she'd probably deny it until her last breath but he walked in on her practising in front of a mirror, one of the very few times he'd seen her without any make-up on and he brought it up at every given opportunity. Her rehearsal was probably for the best, too, since the bits she hadn't rehearsed were coming across as stilted, which should have surprised him but it kind-of didn't. None of them were really experienced in public speaking. Claire was confident in every aspect of what she did and seeing her falter like this was just so out of character. They were better at hiding, never drawing attention to themselves and sticking to the shadows instead of standing out, loud and proud. Claire was the one of them who wanted the limelight, he knew that much from how she'd describe all the old glamour movies she used to watch. Her face would light up and there was just so much passion there, but it seemed like now that she had the attention, she was faltering under it.
Come on girl, you got this he met her eye and nodded, putting on a smile that felt too big and it seemed to work. Claire was smiling back at him. She took a breath, like she was resetting herself, and looked back around the room.
"I focus my power through this mirror," she continued, pulling the mirror out of her clutch again and Tallis would have held that one a bit closer to his chest, personally. He didn't have any obvious handicaps to his skills, not like Claire's mirror or how Ethan struggled with turning his strength on and off unless he's doing it on purpose so it wasn't as much as a concern for him, but Claire was pretty much admitting that taking the mirror away was the same as taking her powers away. "I can't do anything spectacular yet, but..."
She opened the mirror and closed her eyes for a second. The entire room dimmed, light still filtering in through the windows but it was like it was being blocked slightly, like someone had cast a thin sheet over the room. The surface of the mirror was glowing faintly, just bright enough to cast light over Claire's face and it reflected in her eyes, making them twinkle and sparkle. She smiled, wide and open, and raised her hand above her head. No wonder she dimmed the lights first, this is incredible the room was suddenly alive with lights, more than lights, shapes and colours that were shifting and cycling and dissipating only to form again not even seconds later. He saw a flash of purple immediately replaced by a wash of pale blue, like paint strokes in the air around them that only existed for moments at a time. It was a kaleidoscope on a massive scale, Tallis had seen Claire use her powers before a couple of times but it was never like this. He'd seen her using them like a torch or to get the perfect lighting for a selfie, never a show of colour that was... spectacular.
There were shapes in those colours, half-formed things that were fading just as quickly and he saw a ball gown with ribbons and roses, he caught the wings of a bird soaring past and he was turning his head with every new movement, trying to keep up with what was happening. A rabbit sprinted past him and then there was a horse galloping, no, not a horse, a pegasus that flew past a palace. Everything was so bright, so vivid, but they had a ghost-like quality made of light, not mass that gave the whole scene a sort-of ethereal feel. The shapes were constantly moving and none of them fully realised, fading faster now and Tallis saw sweat threaten to emerge on Claire's forehead. She'd pushed herself too hard and he could see her trying to reign it back in, the images changing back into shapes, and then colours that swirled and spiralled around the room like magic.
As the last of the colours finally faded away, the dimness that had been cast over the room lifted again. Tallis blinked against the sudden sunlight streaming in through the window, letting his vision settle before looking back at Claire. She was still smiling and Tallis felt a surge in his chest, a warm feeling that he couldn't put a name to but he'd analyse that later. On the stage, Claire bowed and made her way back to the bleachers. He high-fived her as she passed him.
"That was fucking awesome," Ethan said enthusiastically, grinning like an idiot.
"It was," Mel agreed, her smile warm and sincere and not a smirk for once.
Tallis agreed. It was fucking awesome.
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Post by Silumas on Nov 25, 2015 11:19:10 GMT -5
Silumas was a calloused soul. Few things stirred the pieces of him other's would call their soul, or their heart. He had seen empires larger than Rome fall, he knew the inner workings of the cosmic spheres, and seen sights both blessed and cursed far beyond the small blue world of Earth. Yet, the Dark One saw those colors, that illusion of photons and a small, almost imperceptible smile brightened his face beneath his cowl. This girl has real promise.
HIs true motivations for being at this school to teach the young Powers of Earth remained a mystery. Zebedee and Thyra had negotiated his place at the school (his original intentions were to take over the entirety of it, creating a more militaristic encampment than place of learning) and so it was his job to take the most volatile of the children and help them understand their place in the world. How someone who intended to subjugate this plane of existence a dozen years ago would do that was still something that likely troubled the school administration. But, as Emily had put it, who was going to tell him no?
As Eve finished her demonstration, Silumas folded his arms across his chest and entered a kind of meditation where he thought about probabilities and outcomes given specific choices. He could single the girl out now by announcing his thoughts on her potential. That would likely backfire on him. It was fairly obvious she had been practicing that demonstration for weeks, and while she enjoyed the limelight, turning her classmates into rivals this early would cause her to falter, not excel. He could also say nothing. That would most likely not produce any results for him whatsoever. She would continue as she was and maybe it would work to his advantage, maybe it would not. No, he had had to make her aware he was watching, he was expecting something great from her, but he needed to do so privately.
The Elementalist's hands formed a steeple in front of him, the gesture obvious and unnecessary, but he wanted her to know if she was watching what he was about to do. A scroll would slowly appear at her seat on the bleachers. It was not that it was whole and ever so snail-like appeared, it was if it could be seen to be created atom by atom in the span of a half-minute. It was almost like someone had burned the scroll at her seat and then put the reaction in reverse. The small sparks that popped off the rounded edges were not hot, but vanished as quickly as they appeared until finally it was whole.
The final product was something one might expect to see out of the movies. It was wider than a standard piece of paper, perhaps a foot wide and a couple long. It was sealed at the edge with a white wax and the emblem in it made it quite apparent who had caused the thing to appear. In the emblem were six colors in six symbols, arranged in a pentagram with five around the outside, one in the middle. On the top was a black skull, sitting like a head upon the white medieval shield in the middle. The right was an obvious flame etched in red, opposite a mountain the color of dark mud. The bottom of the image contained a kind of vortex the color of sand or a light maple syrup, next to a several azure lines in the form of waves.
The parchment itself felt old, very, very, VERY old. It was rough to the touch, a easily felt texture preventing a smooth surface, as might be expected of an original writing of the ancient Greek philosophers. Somehow, this thing seemed even older. It had the feel not of paper, but of a thin cloth. Breaking the seal had an audible snap to it, as if it had been there for a significantly long time and soaked into the cloth/paper concoction.
At first the parchment would be a bit difficult to unroll, feeling again as if it had been rolled like that for some time and had grown used to it. The edges were surprisingly clean, and with a careful inspection, it could be found to be a perfectly straight line, even down the arrangement of molecules. The writing on parchment was obviously very practiced but still hand written, as small smudges or slight irregularities in the font revealed imperfections. It was unclear what the bigger surprise was upon reading the script: what it said, or that the voice of the Elementalist could be heard by the reader in their mind.
"Well done," the gravelly baritone of Silumas spoke from the script.
"That was impressive indeed for someone of your age and obvious lack of training. With my help, you will be able to do things soon that even you never thought possible with that mirror, and with the very existence around you. I have high expectations of you, Evelyn. Do not disappoint me," that last lined held a certain malevolence to it as it was spoken into the reader's mind. The obvious connotation being of great and unpleasant consequence.
There was no formal 'Thank you' or 'Sincerely' at the end, instead it was simply signed "Master Silumas." That signature, thankfully, was not spoken aloud.Should Eve decided to look in the Dark One's way, she would not find him staring or leering, instead respectfully watching the demonstration of the next student or faculty. In fact, the teacher gave no indication to her whatsoever that he had sent that her way. The congratulatory threat, or promise of expectation as Silumas would put it, simply hung in the air.
The girl has promise indeed.
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Post by AngelicTragedy on Nov 26, 2015 11:34:09 GMT -5
Ty gazed in awe at the chromatic cascade that played around the gym that Eve created. He'd seen some amazing light shows in his lifetime, even as far as seeing the auroras over Alaska once, but this was by far more impressive. The shapes and figures danced around the desks, an owl flashed over Ty's head and faded before he could get a proper look at it. A sudden thought struck Ty like a ton of bricks and the display around him lost its magic. He'd not thought of preparing a presentation of his abilities, frankly he didn't even know what to do to show off his powers. How does one show off something that they truly don't have full control over. Ty sank slightly in his chair as Eve wrapped up her presentation and began back towards her seat.
Maybe the next person up will give me time to think of something to present. The last thing I need is to make a fool of myself in front of the whole student body Ty frantically thought as he watched Thyra rise from her seat and take the stage again.
"Next up will Be Titus Bolton. Thank you." Thyra's clear voice cut Ty worse that any blade could as she gave me a look with not unkind eyes.
Ty pushed his chair back slowly and rose to his feet, knocking the seat backwards with an awkwardly placed foot. He flushed and picked the chair back up with tight movements. He couldn't remember a time where he had been this nervous and flustered in his life. He'd befriended a nearly five hundred pound tiger, why was this so damn hard. Ty forced himself to move on legs that still felt far to long for his body. It had been a full year since his accident and he still hadn't gotten use to his new frame. Ty felt like he was a newly born foal walking for the first time, stiff jointed and shaky. Everyone in the crowd must be watching him and the thought was nearly to much to take as he had to mentally stop himself from taking a left at the end of the row of desks instead of a right and simply walk thought the doors and never come back. He took a deep, harsh breath and began up the steps only to trip over himself and face plant right at center stage.
I may as well just quit school now and make things easier on myself, Ty fought back to his feet and turned towards the auditorium with scarlet cheeks and ears. Shame in himself and his body nearly crushed him in the moment as he faced his peers, feeling the eyes of the teaching staff behind him brought on a nausea so fierce that he thought he might choke on his own bile.
"My name is Titus Maxwell Bolton, but you can call me Ty. It's a pleasure to meet you all," Ty managed a slight bow to the crowd. Unconsciously, he plucked the rose he'd picked earlier in the morning and began snatching petals off of the bud. Seconds that felt like hours passed as he stripped the flower of its delicate yellow petals before he could speak again. "I'm fourteen years old and I'm from Eureka Springs, Arkansas in the US where I help my family at our big cat rescue there," Ty began ripping the petals into shards of what they once were, in the process staining his fingers yellow. "My power is vector manipulation, though I'm afraid that I..."
The thought flashed deep in Ty's core like lightning. The answer to his issue was in his stained fingers and it came about because he was so flustered. A weary smile grew across Ty's face as he brought his hands to his lips, whispered a brief thanks, and then cast the destroyed flower high over his head. In that moment the stiff movement and awkwardness vanished from him, instead Ty seemed graceful as if he was built for this and his body was truly his own. The shower of petals began to fall around him as he pulled his arms in against his chest. The paths of movement seemed to come to glowing life before his eyes. Each tiny twitch, each possible path for each flake became clear as Ty's focus tightened on them, his mind exacted total control over them. The petals began to swirl around him in an ever increasing speed and then began to rise and fall creating a whirling shield of yellow plant matter. No piece touched the ground or him, none of the petals could escape Ty's absolute control. Sweat beaded on his forehead at the total focus the presentation took, but Ty pressed on.
I've got to keep up for a moment longer. Remember what mother said, big finish.
Ty put his right hand out before him palm up. The petals flowed down into the space above his flesh and swirled into a loose ball of writhing yellow. A graceful snap of his wrist brought the ball to the center of the gym before exploding with a light snap, showering the rows of desks in fragments of honey colored flakes. Each bit was spaced out evenly across the floor, no clumps or gaps were to be seen. If Ty had more material it could be reasoned that the auditorium would be carpeted with golden snow. Ty visibly shook on the stage and bowed once again, this time to both the students and the staff.
Ty stumbled back to his desk and dusted off his seat before collapsing into it. He let his head sag backwards before reaching into his bag for a cloth to wipe off his brow. He was totally wiped of energy. The only other time he'd ever felt this totally drained was when he'd had his accident. Ty knew he pushed himself completely to far but something felt right about the whole display. There was a voice far in the back of his mind that approved of his efforts and he felt the need to push himself again. He felt a hunger to grow stronger, a need to improve that told him that anything was possible. This was the first time that Ty had ever felt good about his power and wasn't utterly afraid that he was going to end up aging into nothingness. Ty felt human again.
Hopefully I didn't make to much of a fool of myself
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 26, 2015 12:51:03 GMT -5
Upon hearing the whisper, Thyra looked up. Talia was the only student it could have reasonably came from, unless Mel (Or Silumas!) had taken to playing pranks on her. She looked to the blonde, but the young girl had already buried her face in a book. Thyra hardly could fault her; after she'd lost her parents, she'd spent the next four years using sunglasses to hide her emotions whenever they had overtaken her. By the time she'd gotten a better handle on her self, the sunglasses had become so synonymous with her that she just decided to roll with it.
Eventually, for the girl's own good, they'd need to coax Talia out of her shell, but that could wait. They had months and months to work with her, and forcing somebody to cope before they were ready was even worse than not helping them at all.
Thyra leaned over and whispered something to Emily, who nodded enthusiastically. A moment later, she'd cartwheeled off the stage and gone flying out the side exit. -------- Almudena had slumped back into her seat when the superwhatever had been talking, one arm on the back of her chair, the other on her desk. She didn't really get what Miss Russell was going on about, but then again, at her school, they never really had heard much about the Archipelago. Summoners were bad, something weird happened at el Ansonia a while back, and there were Powers here.
The woman was going on and on about responsible use of the Powers, but it was going in one ear and right out the other. Almudena's power made her good at punching things. No, no, no, El Mejor at punching things. If she'd been given such a talent from God, then it was a waste not to put it to use. Just because some of the Powers gave them all a bad name wasn't a reason to buckle down and play nice; no, if that was the case, it behooved the good Powers to beat some sense into the bad ones! She cracked her neck, and then her knuckles, one by one, idly ignoring the last of the speech.
It was then that one of the prissy girls took the stage. Almudena raised an eyebrow as she explained her powers. It didn't seem all that- The room exploded into a fantasy landscape of ethereal colors, like a somebody had scooped up a dream and dumped it into the auditorium. Alma sat up in her seat, craning her neck to pick out all the details. Every sign the other girl had given pegged her as being shallow, but damn if she couldn't put on a show. Off to her side, she saw the girl with pigtails, Dalisay, reaching out to touch a spiraling cloud of rainbow-winged faeries. Almudena herself tilted her head to let a flying narwhal breach past her.
As the colors faded, Almudena had a huge grin on her face. She tried to meet Evie's gaze as she stepped down from the stage, conveying her approval with the warmest nod she could manage.
It was then that el Mariapalito stepped up to the stage. Alma really hadn't heard much from him, besides his griping about bullies, but that was to be expected. Stick bugs like him didn't go jumping into things aggressively- They hung back, and let life fly by them, blending into the scenery. A grasshopper like her couldn't really wrap their head around why somebody would live like that, but she wouldn't begrudge him his nature.
As he began swirling the petals, Almudena found herself leaning forward in her seat. The showmanship was something she'd expected from the fashionista, but this one was a surprise. The movements that the boy was making- Her practiced eye noted that these felt natural, instinctual for him. As the shredded rose exploded through the room, Almudena gamely swiped her hand in front of her face, catching the flecks that would have blown into her hair. In the aftermath, a brief silence fell over the room.
Almudena began clapping, not just with her hands, but with the projection of her powers. The noise echoed through the room, normal claps accompanied by what sounded like smashing two bricks together. Soon, Garth had joined her, and then several more of the students. Applause swept through the room, just as the rose petals had.
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Post by Cendra on Nov 28, 2015 15:36:26 GMT -5
Eira and (though he'd never admit it) Aodhan teared up a bit at Miss Thyra's speech. They were the only family they had and losing each other would literally be the end of the line for both of them. Live for each other, die with each other. That's how they lived. They didn't know any other way.
Harue looked away from the twins and to her desk, wiggling in her seat uncomfortably. She knew allot of powers had stories of loss and sadness. It made her feel out of place. She had a good home, a good family, good friends, if it hadn't been for the incident in her last school, she would still be there now. It wasn't that she wished she had a story like them, no she would never wish that, but not having the shared experience made her feel like an poser here. Glancing to her other side she saw Jesse who seemed to have zoned out again. Her mouth moved with the words Thyra spoke like she'd heard this speech a hundred times and knew it by heart. The sight of her and the Spanish girl down the way not taking it so seriously made her feel a little better.
The comfort was short lived, however, ending at the mention of demonstrations. She looked down at her hands and then over to the little fire extinguisher. Well, if she was going to do this, she was going to need something sharp... Suddenly the light dimmed, animals with other beautiful shapes began to form and vanish. She had been so focused on what she was going to do, Harue realized she'd missed the introduction of the blonde on stage. She sure didn't miss her powers though! They were amazing!
Next up was someone named Titus. At first she thought he might be one of the teachers because of how much older he looked, but the thought was soon dispelled. He looked just as nervous as she felt as he took the stage. She listened and watched with what she hoped was a reassuring smile on her face. Vector manipulation was something she wasn't really familiar with, but it sure sounded cool. The older boy's features seemed to shift and just like that, tattered petals swirled through the room. It appeared very natural for him as he moved. Something else Harue felt she lacked with her own powers. She sank down lower into her seat. Well, the sooner they called her up, the sooner she could get this day over with.
Petal pieces few into Eira's face making her giggle, a grin spread across her face. She looked over at her brother just in time to see a stray petal fly into his open mouth triggering a coughing fit. She harder as she pounded on his back. Aodhan coughed and hacked. He had been so enthralled with the the two powers that he hadn't realized he'd left his mouth agape. Finally he hacked up the little culprit catching his breath.
“Not funny.” He glared half jokingly at his sister who waved it off.
“So for ours, should we do one of our stories?” She chattered excitedly.
“Definitely! What one you think we should do?” Aodhan leaned in so they could whisper out the details.
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