Danni felt the goosebumps raise on his arms and a shiver run through him at Dee's teasing. "Nope! No library tonight! Only when t'e sun is out and t'e ghosties are asleep! I 'ave my own little 'auntling right 'ere, don't need no more!" Danni decided. He could read up on dragons when the library wasn't a horror movie waiting to happen. "Actually, I'd look pretty damn good as a ghost right now. All t'e ot'er ghosts would be jealous. Maybe t'ey wouldn't even kill me because t'ey know I'd look perfect for eternity and t'ey'd look bleh with t'eir sheet clothes and chainsaw makeout faces."

He was a little annoyed at the situation - he was planning to make Dee's favorite dinner, but he only had enough for four and he wasn't certain if these invitations had a return time or if it was Carnival fun into dinner into movie marathon. The cake was fine - Danni had a sweet tooth and he would shove that onto anyone in the vicinity so he bought a cake that they could eat for days. But dinner was special. He'd bought stuff from the street markets back home to make it as perfect as possible. He couldn't just go out and get more! New Orleans was thousands of miles away and the parents looked like they were getting hammered. Useless adults with their pretty, fancy drinks and incurable need to feel woozy.

Danni could feel the storm clouds brewing, his cheeks puffed out as he stewed in his own irritation, but the squeeze from April ground him and he squeezed back. The little gesture of affection had the cloud dissipating so when Mai shook their little group as she all but full tackled April, he made a sympathetic noise and used April and his hands to comfortingly pat the top of Mai's head. "Well, at least Princess got a good one from Aggie! Aggie told me I'm going ta kill everyone and everyt'ing I love someday." He offered cheerily. "W'at did she give you guys?"

Danni's attention was returned to the green haired girl, who was nothing but snark and bitchiness. "Insultin'? I wasn't! I was offerin' w'at's t'at phrase teachers alway… constructive criticism! Vintage isn't bad, but vintage isn't vintage unless it's on purpose." Danni explained, pouting that she thought he was Insulting anyone. "Not like t'reatenin' to stab people is any better." He muttered to himself, childishly.

And then, if that couldn't get any worse, the meanie freshie that made Dee cry showed up! And apparently knew stabby mcstabberson here. After all that, they finally got everyone back together, not crying, and now this freshie showed up to make a mess of it again, but this time with help. "So I should like… stay out of t'at, right?" He asked Princess and Beanie. He'd ask Mai but she'd want him to go charging in just for the chaos. But this was someone Dee was trying to make friends with, something he almost never did and even if the freshie was a meanie, Danni supposed he should be supportive or whatever.

"Oh shit, t'e jacket!" Danni jolted as he remembered where it was, and he let April's hand go as he shifted the egg out from under his arm. He carefully unwrapped the jacket from around the egg, and shook out the jacket. It was… a little more wrinkly than before but it was fine! A new jacket was a new jacket right?

Right?

With cartoonish movements, Danni snuck behind Dee and slowly slid the jacket into his hands. "Ignore me, ignore me, ignore me." He whispered to Dee before creeping back to April. He frowned at the egg, now entirely sure what to do with it, so he gently tucked it into his own jacket where his body heat could keep it warm.

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Sabine looked April over as the girl relayed her fortune from Agatha. If she were being honest with herself, Sabine was a bit jealous. That was the type of fortune she would have wanted. Prom Queen? Please, if anyone had that in the bag, it was Sabine. Still, it wasn't like April wasn't meant for great things. So then why did she seem to upset? On any other day and time and not surrounded by an onslaught of people, Sabine would delve deeper into this. As it stood, she didn't want April spilling her guts in front of anyone. And Sabine didn't want to use her powers. She respected April too much to do that.

Sabine took this moment of the sheer insanity of everyone talking and asking questions and just....bonding to step away a second. She took out her phone and snapped a picture of herself. It had been less than 5 hours since she posted on Fliterella and her followers were probably chomping at the bit for her post. She uploaded it and captioned it: School Life, These times will pass us by in an instant. Cherish these moments. #School #Blessed #TimeMarchesForward #LiveLaughLove.

After checking to ensure the right filter was added she made her way back to the others, just in time for the freshman from hell to make his triumphant return. Sabine eye rolled so hard she was afraid she strained a muscle. "Just ignore the situation Danny. He isn't worth the time and effort, much less the air he is breathing." And it was in that moment that Danny decided to ignore that very piece of advice and scoot over, untangling the jacket he had surrounding his precious egg, and handing it off to Dorian. Sabine shook her head, but couldn't help smiling. Danny was a piece of work.

And Danny's "constructive criticism" was on point. "If you walk out looking like a fashion don't, you shouldn't be mad when people point it out. He merely offered advice. Advice I would strongly take." Before Sabine could continue offering her strongly desired opinion, Mai sped out of the tent acting....very much not like herself. Sabine sped over to Mai, checking to see if she was hurt or worse. "What happened? What did she tell you?" This was two of her friends who came out worse for wear after a fortune from Agatha. If she counted herself (and let's be honest, Sabine's #1 friend was Sabine) then Agatha was making people feel worse. She had half a mind to storm back in and tell the old woman off, but for all she knew, Agatha would put a hex on her. Considering she was slowly being surrounded by a slew of annoying people, she was probably already cursed.

It might be Mary Sue's increasingly fallin gopinion of Ardere, but it was har dnot to see anything she said to Teddy as some kind of paperthin attempt to flirt with the first boy she met. She didn't know why she was suddenly this judgemental of anoyhter person, but it was absolutely at the forefront of her mind to pick at all the tiny things about her new roommate that she didn't like. This is something that made her feel terrible, as if her internal critic was just looking for somebody else to latch onto soince she was resolved to not attack herself too much. It was unplesant, and she wanted to be better than that.

Following after Teddy, Mary Sue watched the space around them, trying to learn what she could. Surely it'd be somehting she'd pick up on later, the layout of this place, and all the particularities about where things were and where people hung out, but right now she was still in awe. compared to her homelife, this was all just... so different. She loved it, and wanted to soak herself in it, but already there were things to do and people to meet, downtime might not be something she had in spades. Taking a moment to look over at Ardere, Mary Sue started, "Well actually, plenty of other countries get visited by aliens. There was a major attack on Cardiff just twenty or so years ago." She ws saying it to try to be helpful, but she realized it may just seem like she was correcting her for the sake of correcting her, and turned sheepish shortly after.

---

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Vicky nearly hissed as Andy waved at her. So much for being stealthy. As she was not called out loud though, she just waved back and Homered into the crowd. As she was walking, her phone buzzed and she pulled it out to have a look. She did not particularly like social networks, but in her effort to gather intelligence, she was following most everyone who was attending the school.

One look at the feed, and she had to mimic a gag at seeing Sabine Fucking Bassard's generic words of 'wisdom' accompanied by a hashtag diarrhea. Who knew that an AI inhabiting a robot body could be made to want to vomit. Yet the Devil Herself managed. Can her sheep really not exist without seeing her mug every few hours? Or is it only she believing it so?

Mercifully her attention was shifted by a voice calling out her name, and she spotted Diana walking in the same direction, along with one of the new faces. "Oh, hi. Ups and downs, I have to say. Yourself? Heading for the spaceship?" she asked, not going to look a gifted opportunity to practice her social skills in the mouth.

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Andy was a bit overwhelmed. Zari had defended her, but one of the girls, Beanie, according to one of the guys, kept being rude about Andy's clothing like Andy had much control over it.

"Honestly, I don't care what any of you think about my clothing. My jacket was given to me by someone very dear to me. And the rest is stuff I got when I could." She heard her mom laugh but ignored it. Andy had no desire to get into it all with them.

"I'd like to come to the movie. I love movies. I don't want to be picked on. I'm wearing what I have. I was never into fashion. These clothes are just comfortable." Andy said, irritation heavy in her voice. She had put up with quite a bit. Ignoring all the comments about the fight with Leah. They could ask Leah or her again if they really wanted to know.

"I'm going to go see this Agatha everyone has been talking about." Andy entered the tent.

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@Ever Faithful@Natsu@Ogobrogo@Nallore@Forsythe@BlueSky44: As the small group of Teddy, Ardere, and Mary Sue as discussing aliens and the cities they tend to raze, Teddy and Ardere would likely notice something about Mary Sue, if they hadn't already. She had a rather thick accent - somewhat sing-song like, the vowels extended, and some of them clipped or slurred. It had a distinctly European slant to it, and if they were paying attention to her weirdly mentioning an alien attack from 20 years ago, instead of one from like last week or whatever, they'd put it together. This girl was Welsh!

The six of you would all end up intercepting each other in front of the Kree spaceship, an accuser class warship. The ship was on the far end of the field, behind the makeshift stage that would be hosting the concert later. Well, it was half of a Kree spaceship, anyways. A long rectangular object, it looked like it was made out of twisting tire treads. It clearly had taken on a great deal of damage, given that it was ripped in half. Exposed bits of metal and whatnot were sticking out, allowing everyone a great view into what must've been the central command zone.

There was no line or anything to go up inside, people were just sorta hopping up into the ship, some of them going down the corridors. A few kids in matching t-shirts that looked like Star Trek uniforms - none of them red, thankfully - were chattering away at anyone who approached. And then of course, there was a member of faculty present, curiously looking at the partially restored systems - the famous synthezoid himself, the Vision.

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Zarina Raynordattir hadn't answered April's questions about social media handles, but her memory was being jogged enough. April's parents had told her stories about her old days with the Secret Warriors, well, the stuff that wasn't deeply deeply classified at least. And April's mom had mentioned that there had been an Asgardian on the team named Raynor - and that he was the biggest dick she had ever met in her life. And that she was pretty certain he and his wife, a techie, were going to be the first in the group to get divorced.

But April kept that all to herself. Especially since apparently Zarina was into stabbing people.

A bead of sweat worked its way down April's forehead out of shame as Andy accused them of picking on her - and before any of them could really protest or argue to the contrary, she had gone inside the tent to see Agatha. And Chi Mai had come on out. The thoughts of how hurt the new kid seemed to be about their playful and friendly fashion advice suggestions went completely out of April's mind as she was slammed into from behind, staggering forward and narrowly keeping her balance, thanks to Danni keeping a grip on her.

"Babe, what happened?? What did she tell you? Whatever it is, it's going to be okay - these prophecies can be all twisty with their words, I bet that half of what she's saying is cryptic and just to, like, try to make us be better people because she knows what'll get inside our heads and all because she's a witch and that's what witches do! They like to trick people to be better people. Or just to be mean. Maybe all of these readings are her idea of like a sick joke or something, to make the morale of the school DROP so that way her new school will beat us at the Contest of Champions!! It's all a conspiracy and we're just letting her do it!"

April didn't even really understand herself how she had gotten to that conclusion - sometimes, her mouth just kept going on without her. But it was important to her, the idea that Agatha could be wrong. Sure, on paper her fortune seemed great - even Danni said so - but... April didn't want it. She'd rather have been told by Agatha that she was going to, like, wake up with zits the day of Prom.

April's phone had buzzed with a push notification - she had turned on alerts for a certain blonde girl's account... But thankfully for April, she didn't check her phone - her hands were full with Danni and Mai. Her shame would be private - for now. Sabine was back now as well, checking in on Mai and also advising to Danni that he should stay out of whatever was going on with Dorian and that terribly mean little freshman. "He's an uptight little drama queen," April agreed with Sabine, referring to that terrible freshman.

But even though they had advised Danni to stay out of it, Danni then got involved... somewhat. By whispering. As he not so stealthily snuck on over there, handed Dorian the jacket, and then rushed back over to them. April smiled slightly. She had missed Danni so much over the summer - Danni and Dorian both. "...D'you think Dee is gonna invite him to movie night too? We're running out fo space..." April asked, looking at Danni. Was this the person Dorian had meant, with his cosmic love... this little thing? He looked so angry and tiny, as if he would explode and simultaneously get blown over by a leaf.

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Percy Novikov of course suffered from a severe case of resting bitch face - although he himself would not describe it as suffering. He considered it to be an asset. The more idiots who didn't go up to talk to him out of fear and intimidation, the better. He knew that was somewhat of a supervillain attitude, but he didn't care - all the great Greek heroes had a dark side anyways. He sized up the first person to approach him, introducing herself as Madalyne. "Percy Novikov," he replied curtly.

He then had the wind knocked out of him as a human cannonball attached itself to him - none other than his favorite princess, Zari. "Princess," Percy greeted, a small smile on his lips. He awkwardly patted Zari's back twice, his own little way of returning the hug. He wasn't really a huggie person. But he was somewhat used to Zari being like this - he had seen her over the summers on and off growing up, as their parents were rather close. Percy's mother had almost ended the universe to keep Zari's mother safe. And that was not an exaggeration. "I didn't realize you lived in this universe. Or that you kept such bad company," he said pointedly, his eyes flickering over towards his least favorite gang of assholes, just a few steps away.

The floating droid looked much the same as when Percy had seen him last. To Percy, the ones and zeroes were an intelligible language. His binary was a bit rusty, but his brain slowly pierced it together, like exercising an old muscle. He cocked his head slightly at the robotic eyeball. "There's nothing normal when it comes to Zari," he told the eyeball bluntly.

He caught sight of one of the assholes - the one who had violated his bodily autonomy - mouthing something at him. Despite Dorian's I'm sorry being quite plain, Percy didn't perceive that at all. His brain fumbled on the uptake for one reason or another (such as a crit fail on a d20...), perhaps due to Percy's own bias against Dorian, he interpreted it as fucking dick. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared with anger.

"If I had a glove, I would throw it..." Percy muttered darkly, referring to a somewhat antiquated tradition of throwing off a glove to mark the beginning of a duel. But to make matters worse (or better?), the asshole in chief was coming this way. And talking to Zari, as if Percy wasn't there and couldn't speak for himself. And then... was that his jacket? Had they broken into his room and stolen it?!?! Wait, no, it was void of burns... that one, albeit wrinkled, looked almost new. Had this entire thing been a fit over Percy owning the same jacket as them? Was that all this came down to, someone so insecure to have their fits directly compared?!

"Can I fucking help you, Развалюха?!" Percy bit, looking at Dorian darkly.

Развалюха of course was a Russian curse - one that Percy had picked up from his mother. It meant car that’s falling apart as it goes.

In other words, Percy's opinion of Dorian Gray.

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There was a slight smile on Dorian's face as he overheard Danni protesting his idea for a spooky library session in the middle of the night. He could sense the chills and goosebumps already forming on his best friend. As much as he loved Danni, he wasn't exempt from Dorian's love of pranks. His smile wavered momentarily as he overheard the discussions between Danni, Sabine, Andy, and Zari. They didn't know Danni yet, they didn't know he wasn't trying to insult her, merely trying to offer some advice in a field Danni knew a lot about. After all, his uncle (Dorian's father) was a model in an alternate reality and that alone came with a plethora of perks when it came to clothing and fashion advice. A large part of him hoped that the new girl could see it that way, de-escalate the situation with her attack dog and call everything down, after all he had his own hands full with Percy right now.

When Andy finally spoke, Dorian's heart broke a little. She seemed willing and wanting to join in on his birthday shenanigans, but irritation clearly littered her voice as she spoke and stated that she wouldn't be changing out of her clothes for them. It wasn't a big deal. None of this should've been a big deal. Yet everything seemed to be going out of proportion and suddenly she was gone. If he was being honest, he knew the group was getting too large. There were too many people and personalities clashing and he'd just wished he could stay with his core friends until the time came for the movie. But clearly that wasn't possible when everyone was at the same Carnival.

Nervousness bubbled up inside of him, listening to how easily Percy and Zari seemed to talk to one another, though his short tone was still very present when speaking to Mads. He didn't catch the last name, focusing too hard on not fucking up until he'd heard him mention another universe. He decided it was probably some inside joke or something. After all, with how today was going, AA may as well have been a different universe from the lively streets of New Orleans. At this very moment, he missed it. Everyone there was like family, you knew every person on your block and when you wanted to cook it could really become a family affair. What he'd kill to just be sitting in Cafe du Monde enjoying a nice beignets and hot chocolate, free from all this drama.

But Dorian wasn't in New Orleans, he wasn't enjoying a hot fresh pastry with warm chocolate drink; he was getting stared down by what was meant to be his future love while simultaneously being cursed at in two languages. He didn't need to know Russian to understand the tone of the word. Somehow Percy made Dorian feel small, the way he spoke clearly talked down on him in a way that irked Dorian. "I was just trying to…what I'm meaning to say is…" He kept fumbling over his words, hands twisting and folding over the fabric in his hands placed by Danni. Each attempt making him more and more frustrated both with himself and the situation, until finally he snapped. "You know what? No. Fuck you Percy. I was trying to apologize for earlier and you come off with this attitude? Here take your fucking jacket back its brand new and tailor made for you asshole."

Dorian threw the jacket into Percy's face, not caring anymore if it fell down or got ruined in the process. This was all too much to handle right now and he just wanted out of this situation. He turned his back on the little Novikov, making his way past Mads and back towards his original group plus Mai. His eyes stung as they threatened to wet, he hated confrontations like this. But Dorian tried to push past it and focus on Mais issues instead of his own. "I'm sorry you got a bad read Mai…I never should've pushed you to go see her.

…

I shouldn't have pushed any of you to do the readings. I just thought maybe they'd be fun but apparently I'm the only one having it." he gave the group a crooked smile before pulling them all in for a group hug.

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The conversation was starting to slip away from Leah. One minute she was paying attention to Mai tackling April, the next, she was trying to think about- Literally whatever else Zarina, Andy and Sabine were saying that she missed because she was paying attention to Mai tackling April. "Uh- Hey. Maybe don't give out unsolicited advice? Y'know- Bugs people sometimes." She tried to interject, but everyone was mostly talking to each other and Leah didn't feel like she was in the group by now. She was mostly orbiting around them. And then after that, she turned around and heard the tail end of something the tiny charred freshie said in... Italian? Barking at Dorian like a drill sergeant. Leah and Dorian didn't talk much but he was at least pretty chill to her. "Hey- Don't do-" She was trying to diffuse the situation, but Dorian bit back. She hadn't ever seen him act like that, clearly the guy was bugging him.

This was starting to make Leah feel... Skittish. This was a big group forming, and bigger groups had a way of making Leah not want to be in them. She would've said something else after "Percy" had his fancy new jacket shoved in his face, but Dorian was tearing up. Leah's heart started to beat a little quicker, seeing that things were obviously getting tenser. She didn't understand what it was about all of this that made her uncomfortable. Maybe it was the crowd or the fact that she hadn't put her own reading out of her mind yet, but Leah really wasn't a fan of standing here right now. But, she also didn't want to just say that she was uncomfortable. That would've made this even worse, she thought.

"Did-" Oh. He was trying to hug everyone now. Leah wasn't a hugger. Nope.

Before she could get wrapped up in the arms of that many different people, Leah took a long step backwards, pulled out her phone, and turned on her heel. "I got stuff to do, No she didn't. "I'll- Bye." And then she strode off in what could've seemed like a hurry. She happened to be walking in the same direction that Victoria had went- Towards the Kree ship. She typed something on her phone as she walked. April's phone would ding with a message. Just a single sentence from Leah.



Way too many people. Leah walked with her face pointed at her phone for several minutes, until accidentally shoulder checking some green-haired girl from behind. Zarina. "Shit, sorry." She said, not realizing how far she walked just yet.

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"Cardiff...20 years ago..." Ardere repeated, staring at Mary Sue blankly as her mind searched through her memories on coming across the headline. It was definitely before her time and a question her father may know."I can't recall I heard the event.

Yet, her thoughts quickly drifted to the strange accent of her roommate as the redhead looked over the strange symbols, levers, and buttons of the spaceship. It didn't sound French or Canadian but was definitely from the Commonwealth. Ardere didn't encounter any South Africans yet and the voice was too soft to be Australian or even New Zealander.

"Are...you from the United Kingdom?" She asked, trying not too stare too impolitely at Vision, the ship curator.

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Madalyne gave Percy a friendly smile, she didn't really know what had happened really with Percy, Danni and Dorian but she could feel the tension as she heard April speaking about witches which hurt her a little bit not every single witch in the world were evil like that. "You know, not all witches are actually like that since you know I am one right?" Madalyne said, Danni and Dorian were giving the poor Andy girl some advice that she clearly didn't want. "Just wear whatever you like that makes you feel comfortable." Madalyne said as Andy entered Agatha's tent.

Madalyne flinched slightly when Dorian pretty much tossed the jacket towards Percy, she really didn't know what happened as she gave Dorian a slight hug. The group was getting a little bit to much for her as well to, as she looked between Dorian and Percy before speaking up. "Uh if you two have some kind of beef with each other maybe take it to the gym or something and fight it out there, or save it for the Contest of Champions?" Madalyne suggested awkwardly, as she thought about just leaving as she noticed Leah had disappeared now to.

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Diana looked at Zelda and smiled seeing that her roommate had come to join her it was certainly a good chance to get to know her a little bit more privately. "So do you make your own costumes and stuff Zelda?" Diana asked Zelda as her attention turned over towards Vicky and waved at her as she spoke. "I'm doing well, just showing Zelda the Kree ship that they have here and meeting Teddy as well to apparently he's showing some other newbies around to." Diana answered her as they made it over to the Kree warship, well at least half of one anyway seeing how huge it was.

Diana's attention went to see Teddy as well as a redhead, Mary-Sue she recongized but didn't know her all that well really through their parents who were on the same SHIELD team together. "Hey again Teddy. And nice to meet you, i'm Diana Teddy's friend." Diana said as she looked at Adere and smiled as she introduced herself. "How have you been Mary-Sue right?" Diana asked as her attention went towards the one person she recognized pretty quickly she had grown up with pretty much all of the West Coast Avenger's and their kids to. "Hey Vision whats up?" Diana asked as she noticed him staring at the ships wiring by the looks of it.

“Mm, you said Vermont…?” Teddy asked Ardere as filler while his brain wracked itself trying to put together what little bit of US geography it had stored. Vermont was uhhh…oh no, it was one of those itty-bitty ones in the corner wasn’t it? “I dunno if it’d survive that trip, if we’re being honest.” he nodded to himself, having absolutely no frame of reference for just how long a trip that actually would be.

When the girls started chatting about alien attacks, Teddy just smiled to himself. This was nice. It was working. The small talk was actually working. Look at him! One bona fide social butterfly in the making. He glanced at the roommates, wholly oblivious to whatever sort of tension that might be brewing between the two. In his book, this was a win. It was taking everything in him not to just burst out into a little victory shimmy.

…he’d do it later.

As the trio arrived at the ship, Teddy noticed Ardere approaching the ship proper, but Teddy stayed back, noticing Diana and two other girls arriving about the same time. “Oh, great timing.” he muttered to himself, raising one paw in the air and giving his roommate’s sister a wave as she approached. He raised an eyebrow towards her when he realized that she hadn’t brought Percy but instead Victoria van Dyne and… uhm… someone else.

As Diana greeted his add-ons, he greeted hers. “Oh hi there.” he said as he offered the pair a friendly smile and nod before addressing the junior directly. “You’re Victoria, yeah? I think I’ve seen you around, but I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Teddy. It’s nice to meetcha.” he couldn’t help but notice that APPARENTLY Diana already knew Mary Sue based on her greeting. Which…huh. Okay. That was unexpected. Well, he was glad the girl would have at least someone familiar around. Err… other than her Dad.

Teddy then turned towards the unfamiliar face. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I recognize you…?” he said, posing a question in his apology. She looked just familiar enough that it was odd. She reminded him of…someone, but he couldn’t place it to save his life. The big man crossed his arms, tilting his head as he tried to place the face to a name unsuccessfully.

---

With her face buried into April’s back and her arms wrapped around the girl’s waist, one solitary, PROUD, middle finger stood erect in the direction of Leah. Yeah, it was an ‘entrance’ all right. Who could rightly blame her after her little encounter with the witch? She needed to be coddled, not called out, dammit. And as if the universe had heard her plea, God’s hand came from the heavens to rest upon her head, reassuring her and waving away the bad mojo.

Well…Danni’s hand, but fuck it, close enough, probably. Dude was an actual angel in the moment. He could do no wrong. As the rest of her friends began to ask her what was wrong, what had happened, she moved to answer when Danny beat her to it, revealing his fortune: his fortune that he would…

Would…

What…?

What did he just…?

Mai stared at Danny, seemingly transfixed. As April began to babble, Mai loosened her grip, releasing the girl and standing straight up to her full…five feet. There was a joke to be made there, but it was gone, lost like any other thoughts that she may have had before Danny dropped his bombshell. He was going to…? And she was going to…? That…

There was no fucking way.

…right?

The other chatter around her melded into white noise. It was only when a pair of ‘fucks’ were exchanged that Mai fell down to Earth from a hundred miles away. Whatever, somehow she’d make it work. Being upset was overrated and, honestly, a little played out. With the exception of Sabine - obviously - everyone in their little group had had some sort of dramatic flair up today. The vibes were simply fucked today. Hip hip hooray and happy birthday.

When Dorian initiated the group hug, Mai leaned into it, ready to do some damage control. “Nah, don’t sweat it, bb. I went in there pretty fucking high and I probably shouldn’t have done that. I think she probably noticed and was just fucking with me. I’m good.” she lied in the most natural voice she could muster as she strained to pat Dorian’s back reassuringly. “Besides, a bitch burped in her goofy ass tent, and she’s just got to sit in there with it, so I mean, who’s the real winner here?”

It was her. She was the winner. Fuck a witch.

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"I just sort of do... It's a hobby more then anything," she responded towards Diana as she sort of started following along after her. Zelda didn't really know who Vicky was at all, and since she didn't seem to take notice of her or anything, that was something she was perfectly fine with. Sometimes it was better to stand back and kind of follow along the way after others. Then again that was the sort of thing she usually did, so she just followed along to where the ship was.

Upon getting there, she noticed Mary Sue was there too, and for the most part, she was trying to basically avoid looking in her direction now. Especially considering how their last but very brief encounter had gone. Zelda almost didn't notice when the guy decided to ask her what her name was. "...My name is Zelda," she ended up saying, but still remaining relatively quiet after giving that answer.

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She glanced over at Dorian when he asked her if she knew Percy. In her mind it should have been obvious considering she immediately ran up to hug him. "Well yeah? Might as well be like a cousin or something practically," was the answer she ended up giving him, before her attention shifted immediately back to Percy, and the fact that apparently Mr. Eyeball and Percy were practically teasing her to her face! "Well so kind to me the both of you!" she protested, glancing from Percy to the robot and back again. "And I mean yeah? Honestly back home started getting a little boring at times when not training or something. My parents thought maybe going to an actual school would be good for me or something, I don't know why though. I think it'd be even worse than that."

Then came the other issue that started popping up. That being the seemingly rising tension between Dorian and Percy. There seemed to be a miscommunication or something, and Percy basically threw an insult towards Dorian. Which then resulted in Dorian seemingly throwing a coat back at Percy over the whole situation and insulted him straight back. Well deescalating this situation didn't seem like it'd work out, but maybe she could potentially try and distract Percy about it instead. "Hey Percy! I want to introduce you to Andy! She's the girl who just went into the tent a minute ago or something. Then I really want to tell you about the adventure I went on, I haven't seen you in a while and I really want to tell at least someone the full thing that happened." There were a few reasons why she was basically rambling at this whole situation, since she figured that this might distract Percy a little bit from what's going on.

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This was getting to be a bit much.

Being adored by her fans on social media was one thing, but slowly this was becoming a group of nobodies. It was already bad enough that the flaming freshman had made his return, but the others who all glommed on to their original small pack were also proving to be rather annoying. The fashion don't made some quip that Sabine couldn't be bothered to hear before storming off into Agatha's tent. Leah had poofed also. Sabine was confused about her feelings about that.

But that could wait. They had more pressing matters. Such as Mai's fortune being less than stellar. Sabine almost blurted out her own poor fortune. Almost. Danni had beaten her too it with his own fortune of doom and gloom. Him? Killing everyone he loves? Impossible.

Or was it? Her own fortune had said she would have to confront her past and make some changes.

Thankfully, beautiful April pulled her out of it. "April's right. He is not worth the time and effort. Mai, I don't truly believe in that hullabaloo, it was supposed to be for fun. We are the directors of our own fates." If Sabine were being honest, she knew better. Agatha was who she was for a reason, but it was an attempt to make Mai feel better.

Before she could continue to heap praises and love on to her friend, she overheard Dorian tell the freshman off. She had to admit, it was the first time she saw Dorian in a positive light (other than the fact Danni and Mai liked him and she trusted their judgment. Most of the time......).

"Good on you telling him off. But we need to talk about this movie thing. Everyone seems to be inviting themselves to it. It's your birthday Dorian, who do you really want there and who do you not? I'll ensure the don'ts do not attend." A little mind wipe of the invitation would do the trick. No one would have to know.

Out of sight, out of mind was Dee’s running motto and honestly, Andy’s comment would have bothered him if he didn’t already understand why she was acting like that. He got it - there were lots and lots of new people and it was too much for her to take in. Zar-zar got so antsy ‘cause she knew Andy wasn’t handling the crowd well and well, fight seemed like her default mode so it made sense. Danni could work with that! After all, Dorian, Princess, and Beanie got a little overwhelmed by the people sometimes too and he was besties with all three of them! He hummed a happy little tune, plotting how to endear himself to the pair. They seemed like a fun pair!

However, Princess put it into the universe that Dee might ask that prick to movie night. Danni audibly gasped, shocked that it might be a possibility. “Absolutely not allowed. No, no, no, I can’t do that. Not allowed! I would rather let myself sit our first test naked t’an let t’at munchkin ruin Dee’s day anymore.” Danni announced, emphasizing his statement with a stomp of his foot. Thankfully, the universe seemed to agree as things exploded (without his help, Danni would like to add!) with the mean freshie. Danni didn’t know what a para-why-u-hulk was but with how spicy the freshie spat it, he couldn’t imagine it was anything good. He gasped in shock as he clutched at imaginary pearls, just in case.

And then, Danni gaped at Dee as he just let loose. Dee was a crier, an internalizer, but to get him angry enough to react? Yeesh, the freshie had fucked up. Danni could count the times Dee had-after the powers stuff and the x-mansion of course cause that was a whole ‘nother nightmare-that Dee had actually raised his voice like that and Danni was usually asked to leave him the fuck alone for a while. Well, at least Danni knew any potential invites were dead on arrival. “Ew, Mads, what kind of advice is t’at? We swear blood oaths over grudges ‘ere, silly goose. T’at freshie is a dick and he deserves whatever shitty t’ing Aggie is goin’ ta reveal ta him.” Danni announced in response to Mads suggestion, fully ignoring the fact that even when he is angry, he basically forgets about the issue once the next day rolls around. “And I don’t know about you guys, but I have a dragon and t’ere was always a chance I turn into a massive flaming ball of death so you know, silver linings right?” Danni played it off, waving Dee’s concerns away like he wasn’t genuinely terrified of burning everyone around them alive because hero’s didn’t get scared!. He reeled in his favorite dope, kissed his cheek, and used his free hand to awkwardly shape his mouth into a smile.

“Gotta turn t’at frown upside down! Cause guess who still ‘as presents and cake and ‘is favorite dinner made by ‘is favorite person?” Danni beamed, “It’s t’e birt’day boy and t’at’s you! So let’s go see…” Danni thought really hard about all the conversations that had been happening around him. Gods, there was just so much. Dee mentioned something, something… “Oh! ‘he spaceship! T’at was it right? Everyone walk and talk, walk and talk, lovelies!” Danni grabbed Dee’s hand and started walking, “But Beanie’s right like always, gotta make t’at list now so we can text t’e right people. And just for the record, unless someone is about ta port me home or like, I dunno, ‘ave some groceries delivered, only birt’day boy and whoever he wants ta give it ta get special birt’day dinner. I only brought enough for like four…ish?I don’t remember but you better get t’at noodle cooking!” Danni commanded as he took off from the tent. They were going to have a good time! Agitha and the freshie would just have to deal with it!

---

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As the spaceship came closer into view, Victoria could feel herself growing restless, wanting to just jump on the construct and start tearing it apart, figuring out how it worked and then making it into something better, preferably armor-shaped. A task that did not seem all that difficult, considering that the ads were woefully boisterous - They were not showing a spaceship, they were showing half of one, with all of the damage.

Which was why it put such a damper on her mood when she noticed a certain someone standing next to it, looking all interested. Victoria was unsure what it was, but something about the synthezoid gave her the creeps. Something was just fundamentally wrong with the way Vision talked and acted that she had half a mind to flee, with 'kill it with fire' being a close second. She wondered if, if there were more of them, they would all cause such feelings in herself - if it was just Vision himself, or if it was their kind. And she was at her core an Ultron, like she is one to talk! And yet...

So of course, Diana called up to him. FML, Victoria managed to think, putting her attention on the once more growing group of people and trying to ignore the Synthezoid's presence to the best of her abilities. Diana helpfully supplied the name of her companion, which immediately flooded her system with VEIL threats again, however Victoria silenced them on the grounds that there was no reason for Zelda to use her powers at the moment. None of the other people gathering around seemed to be much of a VEIL problem, so she believed she could manage just fine.

As everyone and their grandmother engaged in greetings and introductions, Victoria chimed in: "Hello. Victoria van Dyne, pleasure to meet you all." she said towards the group in general, before addressing the senior, "Yeah, sorry about that, I spent most of my time studying or training. I've been told I need to get out more though, so... here I am. I'd love to spar sometime to benchmark my armor though!" she offered, trying to make small talk, failing miserably and inevitably falling back to the one thing she could talk about for ages.

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Andy entered the tent, and like others before her, she would find that it was bigger on the inside, like it was straight out of Doctor Who. The space still managed to be cramped though, as Agatha was utilizing both the air and the ground to hold her many witchy artifacts. A gigantic panther hissed at Andy - well, at Andy's bag specifically - as she entered. The lit candles that were floating idly through the air along with tarot cards, crystals, and other assorted objects, were extinguished by an unseen force.

The old crone at the table looked past Andy with an air of disapproval and displeasure. "I was wondering when you were going to show your face again after that nasty business in Genosha... Selene."

"Oh, don't be such a dumb slut, Aggie!" Selene, the spirit inhabiting the doll in Andy's bag complained. "Why, you remind me of poor old Lot's wife - just one teeny tiny little peak and she turned to salt. Such a fucking drag."

"Should have guessed." Andy sighs and places the bag so Selene and Agatha can see each other. "Guess that makes my questions easier." She mumbles to herself. Andy looks around the room, taking it all in. She is a little surprised at the space of it all and gives the giant cat space. It might not actually be aggressive toward her, but she wasn't taking any chances. The already irritated Andy slumps in the chair.

At least the bickering in here wasn't directed toward her. Outside, it felt like the backstory to a teen drama movie. If she were lucky, it'd be a John Hughes film. Andy knew better than that. She was not lucky enough for this to be a John Hughes film. However, that didn't stop her mind from casting the group from outside into the parts of Breakfast Club. That Beanie girl was Molly Ringwald, obviously. The two fairly interchangeable French boys (why were there so many French-sounding people at an American school) were the jock and the nerd kid. She had no idea which was which. She somehow ended up in the role of Ally Sheedy's character Allison. She wasn't certain who Judd Nelson was yet, but if she ended up around the group much longer, she was sure to find out.

Agatha's eyes were focused on the doll, but then they drifted on over towards Andy. "That's an impressive acheron you have configured as... a doll," Agatha murmured. "If I were to guess, I would say it would belong in the private selection of the Sorcerer Supreme. And yet... Here it is. With you." Agatha tilted her head at Andy. The air hummed with magic. "I see. I'm sorry, child, for the circumstance of your birth."

"If you'd like to let me slip on out of this damp little thing, you can investigate this all you'd--" Selene started to say, before Agatha flicked her fingers and some sort of magic duct-tape appeared on the doll's mouth.

Of all the shows of magic, shutting up Selene was the most impressive thing anyone could have done. Andy sat up a little straighter. "Yeah, it's a bit of a story. I don't know it all because she keeps saying it isn't that interesting. And I ended up with her after Genosha." Andy gives a bit of a shrug there. "I figured one of us should be responsible. Since she so far hadn't been." Andy didn't even know if her biological father was living or not. At this point, she suspected not.

"I'm glad you're not one of those that are looking for her to free her." Andy knew that Selene had acolytes and followers. It hadn't been nearly long enough for them to forget about her. But Andy hoped the seventeen-year time jump would at least allow her time to get used to her new duty.

Agatha considered that for a moment. She elected to lie to this young girl. Truthfully, she might have freed Selene - if for no other reason than solidarity with her fellow eons old sorceress. Or perhaps one day, Agatha would be the one imprisoned inside an acheron, with Selene walking freely. "She will not be contained forever. Do you have a plan for what happens then?" Agatha asked Andy, attempting to size the girl up, see how much she had thought about this... Agatha doubted she had considered it more deeply than the immediate issue.

Andy can't help but sigh, a little defeated. "Not really. It took a dozen or so mutants last time. I was only able to buy time to do it. If you have any advice, I'd appreciate it." The anger at the kids from outside was being pushed away for the bigger worry. The whole reason she agreed to go to this school was for training. She needed it. Andy had never been properly trained in a fully mutant setting. Yeah, there had been bursts of it. The time at the gym was the first. Then the bit of time she had had living under Magneto's roof. But everything had happened so fast between that and the end of Genosha. Everything before the gym had been nothing but oppression. Using her powers had been risking prison or worse. This new world where she was free to use her powers in a school setting. It was better than she could have anticipated.

"You could bury her in the heart of a sun, but that would do nothing. You could enchant the acheron with the finest spells in the universe, bid the favor of all the gods, and it would do nothing. Time will see all locks rusted and broken, and Selene has nothing but time," Agatha reasoned. "People like her - people like us, child... We will always come back. It is as inevitable as the sun rising in the sky or the cool embrace of the moon at night."

"Were I you, I would wash my hands of this situation, and let inevitabilities be inevitabilities... But if you are not willing to turn a blind eye, then the best you can hope for is that you can change someone who is unchanging - that you can rehabilitate Selene and show her a better path."

Well, Andy could dream. "I might as well try." She shrugged. Andy glanced at the bag. She had a flash of anger as she thought about how much of her life had been destroyed because of her mother. Her childhood. Her time on Genosha. The memory of the bird pecking her until she drained it of life swam to the forefront of her memory. Then, of course, now her time at high school, in what she had hoped would be relatively normal.

"I had been giving these gifts out after the reading, but I believe beforehand is appropriate in this case," Agatha then ventured. She opened up a small portal in the air and stuck her arm through it, reaching and fumbling around, before pulling it back out with a small key. She set the key down on the table in front of Andy. "Should it ever be too much, insert this key into any door, open it, and throw the acheron through quickly. It will send her tumbling into a black hole."

Andy stared at the key for a moment. Could she even trust that she wouldn't be tempted to use it? A part of her was ready to use it now. But that would be breaking the promise she had made. Finally, she leaned forward, picked it up, and put the key into her pocket. "Thank you." She supposed she should ask a question now. Mostly what she had wanted to know had been answered. Eventually, Selene would be free.

"I'm not sure what to ask. I feel like any of the questions I might have asked seventeen years ago seem silly now. I've met Zari and traveled through time with her; I don't want to know if we don't work out. I want to be happy. I know who my mom is. I know what my future holds, mostly. What sort of questions have been asked so far?" She expected they'd be trite, but maybe it'd give her inspiration.

"Ah, it has mostly been what you would expect. People wish to know of who they will become, what star crossed love they are fated to have, and whether their abusive parents still stalk them from the shadows," Agatha explained. "Most of your classmates are destined for tragedy. Such is the life of a hero."

Andy knew the answers to most of those questions, or at least the variants that matched her life. She also completely expected her life to be a tragedy in the end. That was why she wanted to be happy now. "Well, I'll become what I must. I'll try to make Zari happy, and if we don't work out, that is sad. I want us to. As for parents...well, we both know the answer to that. Alright, I suppose I'll ask this: Can I make a place for myself among this generation? Will I always feel like I don't belong, or will I find a way to make it work?" Andy didn't want to be an outsider. She wanted friends. She couldn't really call it friends her own age since most of her current classmates had been born after the fight on Genosha. Or in the case of the older students shortly before.

"Have you been educated in the arcane arts, Andy?" Agatha asked. "You have the makings of a sorceress - a pity that you are enrolled here and not at Strange Academy, I see much potential in you..." She trailed off, before snapping her fingers and the tarot cards suspended in the air began to dance. They moved in strange bizarre patterns - glyphs, almost - before three of them settled down on the table in front of Agatha and Andy (and Ebony and Selene, who was trying to speak but was muffled from the magical gag). The three cards drawn were, from left to right: the Six of Wands Reversed, the Magician, and the Queen of Pentacles Reversed.

"Sometimes, the Cards answer a question other than the one that is asked. That is always important to an astute young witch to keep in mind. I have drawn a simple three card spread for you, each representing past, present, and future. Witches work in threes - for instance, Maiden, Mother, and Crone. There are fundamentally two types of cards - the Major Arcana, the Fool's journey, which deals with spiritual forces, things spinning out of your control. And then the Minor Arcana, the cards of the four suits, who detail more commonplace elements of your destiny."

"In the past, you have the Six of Wands Reversed. Wands represent energy, motivation, passion, creativity - they are the burning fire of life. I see here that you have a private achievement, a success that you were unwilling to share with others. It is a sort of confidence that sets you apart from others, one that pushes you to dwell in the shadows. An outsider, an outcast, an exile."

"In the present, you have the Magician - this is a card of the Major Arcana. Recall, this means this is a major spiritual force from the universe. The Magician is the first visited by the Fool, for she holds all of the tools - she can achieve anything that she desires, she is perfectly capable and inspired. In the context of your question, I would say this indicates that you have everything you need - that if you wish to fit in then it will be so. Do not change yourself. You are sufficient. You are enough."

"Now, the future... You have the Queen of Pentacles, Reversed. Pentacles - otherwise called coins - typically deal with more material goods and attachments. Your coins are slipping from your grasp, yet they are all you can see. You are falling from your throne, falling from grace. It appears to me that the Cards are warning that you may lose yourself in the pursuit of fitting in... Be wary of who you choose to trust, Andy. Genosha welcomed Selene and now the island is but dust."

Andy took in what Agatha said. It took her a moment to process it all. She wasn't sure what achievement she had that she was hiding. There wasn't much to be proud of in her past if she was honest. There was relief that Andy could fit in without having to change herself. Something she felt the students here might pressure her to do. She didn't want to change. Becoming friends with Zari had made Andy more comfortable with herself. She didn't fear herself like before meeting any of the Mutant Underground. Zari had helped with that, but intrinsically she hadn't changed. If she decided to be friends with the group she had just met, they might try to get her to conform, according to the third card, that was dangerous. She didn't want to lose herself. She had only recently felt sure of who she was.

Finally, Andy nodded. "Thank you. That is a lot to think about. But I think it will help me. I appreciate your advice." Andy started to stand. The key weighed heavily in her pocket. "You said I had the potential for the Arcane arts. It isn't something I have had much interest in. I know it is there in me, but I haven't been trained at all. I am taking the Eldritch Magic class." How could Andy explain that she was afraid of learning magic? Afraid of becoming her mother or a puppet for her. That matched the last card in a way Andy wasn't certain she could express. She glanced at the bag. "I don't want to become...I don't want to be used." She finally said. It was the best that she could explain.

"There are as many kinds of witches as there are stones on the Earth," Agatha said, after a brief moment of silence. "Even if you were to study in magic, specialize in the dark arts, you would be a witch of your own. No two of us, however seemingly alike, are truly so. And no one can rob you of your power unless you allow it to be so."

Andy nodded again. "Thank you. I will do my best." That's all anyone could do. Andy picked up the backpack and then exited the tent, the sun and heat reminding her that this was Southern California. She regretted a bit wearing pants instead of shorts.

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@Ever Faithful@Natsu@Ogobrogo@Nallore@Forsythe@BlueSky44: The Vision turned his head - not the way a human would, but as a machine would, in a fluid unnatural motion. His eyes seemed to rest on Diana, but the synthezoid truly could have been looking at any of them in particular. His eyes were more powerful than any camera currently on the market - and most microscopes as well. "Ms. Novikova," Vision greeted, "it is good to see you. How are your mothers? I am currently examining repairs made to this ship. So far, they are adequate."

A secure, encrypted message would be delivered to Vicky, reading: 14:30:08 34.052235, -118.243683. QUERY: Niece. How are you feeling? I see that you have met other younglings. Are these your friends? END OF QUERY.

@PatientBean: Sabine will get an email from the school, informing her that she has a package in the mailroom waiting for her. The email doesn't give much information, but does include a picture of the package - a long, rod shaped box.

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April's eyes widened in shock - mostly at her own lack of thought. She had been so busy trying to dismiss Agatha that she had let her words just ramble and ramble, getting away from her, and accidentally hurting Mads' feelings in the process. April was mentally kicking herself. She knew that she was a chatterbox - she knew that she needed to stop and think before opening her mouth - and that she could always get herself into trouble that way without much effort or thought on her own part. "Oh OMG fam I didn't mean it that way!! I meant like those crusty old witches with mysterious pasts and like scary cats and stuff and warts and everything - not like you, you're a good witch, and a good person, and if anyone ever says anything else then they're a complete and utter idiot," April apologized, hoping that Mads would forgive her - and that her feelings weren't too bruised.

A lot of things then happened all at once. Dorian swore at the asshole freshmen, threw the jacket at his face, and then rejoined them. Leah tried to discretely slip away, only to shove past Zari in the process. April's phone buzzed with a text, but she didn't have a chance to check it. Dorian pulled them all into a group hug, apologizing for getting people to do tarot, and Mai revealed she burped in Agatha's tent. April couldn't help but giggle. She bet the witch hated that.

But most importantly, Sabine had said April was right. Maybe she had a good opinion of her! April did an internal dance of happiness not too long after that had happened. She had gone from probably a nobody in Sabine's eyes to a somebody in less than just a few hours! Despite having kept her crush to herself this summer, April was now suddenly dying to talk about it. Maybe she and Mads could talk about it that night, after Dorian's birthday stuff.

Sabine praised Dorian for yelling at the terrible freshman - and then offered to mindwipe anyone Dorian didn't want attending. "I agree - it was totally iconic the way you were like FUCK YOU PERCY and like threw the jacket at him!! I wish we had a video of it, I bet the clip would go viral." April didn't say it, but a small part of her was worried that Dorian would ask Sabine to mindwipe her so she couldn't go. It wasn't a big part. But a small part had that anxiety.

Danni grabbed Dorian and announced that it was time to walk and talk, as the group (finally) started to migrate away from Agatha's tent and towards the spaceship. "I don't mind running to the store - what do you need?" April volunteered. "Of course, it's up to Dory how many people he wants to have there - you only have your birthday once! Well I guess you actually have it every year, since that's how a birthday works, but... you know what I mean!"

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Percy Novikov was flabbergasted, as fabric hit his face. The asshole had been trying to apologize? He had made this jacket custom... to make up for the one they had ruined? Percy's brain glitched for a moment. This didn't match the narrative that was going on. He considered again the words Dorian had mouthed - had he not been cursing at him, just poorly mouthing an apology? Was Percy in the wrong in this situation? Did he owe Dorian Gray an apology?

Percy quickly rejected that conclusion. He was never in the wrong.

Dorian Gray was just an idiot - maybe not an asshole, but an idiot who portrayed himself as one because he didn't know any better. Percy pulled the jacket off of his face, and swung it over his shoulder. He stared for a moment at Dorian Gray. Percy then turned his attention back to Zari - who was seemingly unfazed as one of the assholes idiots plowed right into her. "Jesus," Percy cursed. Yes, idiots made sense. These people weren't mean. They were just stupid.

"Wait, the Y2K girl?" Percy asked Zari, raising an eyebrow. He saw that the group of assholes idiots were migrating away now, despite one of them - Mads - trying to suggest that he and Dorian fight. "Zarina Raynordattir... Do you have a girlfriend?" Percy asked with a smirk, a twinkle in his eyes. "I need to hear about this, immediately - or rather, right after our fortunes are read. I believe you were here first, so go on. I can tell Andy stories about you when you were little while we wait."

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Leah had slunk away from his hug. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Dorian. She was always so hard to get to know, hardly giving him the time of day most of the time. If he had to guess she probably wasn't much of a hugger anyways. He tried to ignore Mads for right now. He didn't need to fight Percy Novikova. He shouldn't have even done as much as he did. Part of him wondered what his parents would think about how he acted just now as he mentally kicked himself for his foolish behavior. His first year here they were almost constantly here, getting called for the numerous pranks he pulled to try and get some attention. He didn't care if it was good or bad so long as it was fun. But now he had friends, or well he had some close friends and then all those people Danni knew. His mental chastisement got interrupted as Mai confessed to burping inside of Agatha's tent.

Once the absolute shock and horror of potentially offending one of the strongest witches of this generation came to pass, Dorian couldn't help but chuckle at Mais antics. "I can't believe you burped in Aggies tent. You're wild for t'at" He didn't bother looking back, but he could overhear as Zari did her best to distract Percy. Threats aside, she seemed alright in his book. She could've let Percy lock on and focus on Dorian, but that small act of kindness didn't go unnoticed. Neither did Percy's gaze. He didn't need to look, he could feel the eyes staring at his back. Chills ran down his spine everytime Percy turned to look. He could already feel himself wanting to double back on everything he'd just said and did and apologize once more to Percy. However Sabine had just complimented his performance and Dorian couldn't even think of the last time she'd ever said something like that towards him.

He wouldn't say she was mean per se, but he could tell when the conversations were fake between them. Just social niceties to keep the piece anytime Danni got distracted and they were left to awkwardly fill the air between them. This wasn't that. He glanced towards the tent where Andy had gone, then back towards his group of friends that was once again beginning to decrease. "Non, no mind wipes necessary I t'ink. I'll make a list by t'e end of today and we can just send out e-vites. As for dinner, I'll 'ave to pick out deux amis to 'elp us enjoy the meal t'en." He gave Danni a cheesy grin. As the began to make their way towards the Kree ship, Dorian glanced down apprehensively towards the ground. "Can we just not mention Percy today? I kinda want to get 'im out of my mind if t'ats ok?" Everyone was acting like Dorian had just done something amazing, but then why did he feel so shitty about it?

He tried to push the thoughts away for now, thinking about what was to come instead of what's already happened. Though small flashes of Percy's stupid face kept appearing in his mind, the way he looked when they first bumped into each other. He rolled his eyes at himself, looking ahead towards where the ship should be off in the distance. "What kinda tech you t'ink t'ese Kree 'ave? I wonder if t'ey 'ave some sort of advanced parts t'at would be compatible wit' my set up at t'e dorm. Turn my super computer into a super SUPER computer! Best processor and graphic kree tech can buy ya know?" Hopefully all the tech and new experiences would be enough to replace the ones in his mind right now. Technology made him do that sometimes, forget the world around him as he focused solely on the task at hand. He wasn't anywhere near Zaris level, he didn't think he could build a floating eyeball but…he wasn't half bad if he thought so himself.

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Go back and act like they mean something.

Dorian was just being nice, quit being a bitch to everyone.

Why did you even stay with them if you were just going to leave?

Those were the thoughts going through Leah's head currently. A big crowd always made her antsy, because there were too many people to keep track of while she was passively staying on guard. And she didn't want to get aggressive with people, since she already had enough on her mind. Fuck. Now she was thinking about him again. Why did everything have to get ruined by the thought of Imperator? Leah was having a decent day today. She woke up without a nagging comment from her frenemy roomie, she saw April again after forever... And watched a new kid get torched, watched one of the nicest kids in the school swear and throw a jacket at the new kid who got torched, and then she was told by a wizard with more power in one strand of hair than Leah had in her entire body, that she never actually killed her dad and would have to finish the job. This day went south too quickly for her taste, and now she was listening to the negative thoughts in her head, the ones that she never understood but never really made any attempts to shut out somehow. Part of her wanted to just go back to her dorm and crawl under a blanket.

She wasn't listening to that part of her.

Instead, she walk across the field to where, surprise, more people were. A half-broken spaceship from the Kree. They probably needed heavily things moved, right? "This thing's seen better days." She said. Leah decided she'd walk over there and do something productive when she saw the man, the myth, the legend floating around. Vision. The Ultron guy. Wait- Was he the Ultron guy? No, he's the guy who zapped Ultron. That Ultron guy. He seemed alright. Who was that girl he was talking to? Might as well fight out. "How long's this been here?" She stopped just short of a mass of exposed wires where the walking soul stone (Was it the soul stone?) was. He seemed... Not so robot-y in her presence. Well, he wasn't technically a robot, but he wasn't really human despite being a person. "Vision. Didn't know you'd be here." Leah wasn't exactly a superhero loremaster, but she knew the guy had done some badass things before.

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Ardere held back the bile creeping into her throat when, by random chance, she saw Vision turn his head in the most unnatural way possible. If there was one thing more surreal than the technology of the Kree spacecraft, it was the technology that allowed for the existence of Vision. He, (it?), the caretaker seemed awfully polite but nonetheless did not soothe Ardere's mind. The machine man was just as alien as the ship itself.

The redhead considered herself familiar with robots and AI but to suddenly leap from Lego Mindstorm to Vision has fried her brain. She quickly found this place less appealing, especially when another group of students came to see the vehicle. Judging by the exchange of pleasantries, the blonde girl must be really familiar with the staff.

"Hi..." Ardere blurted out, hiding her unease with forced politeness, as she greeted Diana before her attention was drawn towards another blonde upperclassman. "And hello...uuhh...Victoria..."

Wow, everyone here is so tall! Even taller than Peter!