shieldacademyau | [Mingle-Log] Only non-alcoholic beverages in the punch bowl...

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[Mingle-Log] Only non-alcoholic beverages in the punch bowl...

[This is an open mingle log. You do not have to be part of the community to post in this thread. Consider it a test-drive of sorts to get your voice or meet new characters!]

SHIELD Academy
Open House
Everyone is congregated in the spacious auditorium of the SHIELD Academy. The noise level is probably a decibel below deafening and the lights are probably a little dimmer than what might seem normal for this time in the evening, but it doesn't seem to bother anyone as they just carry on. There are banners strewn about welcoming all first years to a new chapter in their lives while others welcome the others back for another year at the Academy. Refreshments are served up on stage while other tables set up around the massive room are home to pamphlets and flyers for clubs and classes. Special electives and advertisements for training sessions are also littered amongst the tables.

Make a few friends, find old ones, look into clubs that catch your interest. This is open house for all returning students and prospective students, so hang out, hit up others and just mingle!

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Wanda stiffened, the briefest of hex auras shining around her before she reined it back in.

"... I don't know how. I am lost." She turned around to see who she was talking to. A nice looking young man, to be sure. "There are... so many new people here. And my brother ran off and abandoned me."

Loki didn't really look too startled by her momentary loss of control, though it intrigued him further. He shrugged the thought off, filing it away for later contemplation. Right now, he could be a gentleman and keep the lovely doe safe from lurking predators. Because he wasn't one of them. At least he wasn't someone she had to worry about. Much.

"That wasn't very brotherly of him, now was it? My brother is around here somewhere as well. Allow me to accompany you until yours is located." He smiled quite pleasantly. "I'm Loki Odinson. I can show you around the new faces... or we can avoid them entirely. Whatever you're more comfortable with."

"... Wanda Maximoff." She had a halting way of speaking, as if she was thinking very hard before everything she said. "I'm... fine with seeing the new faces. I'm just not very good at... talking with them. Oh. Nice to meet you." She added, hurriedly, not wanting to appear rude.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Maximoff." Where she spoke very hesitantly, he spoke quite fluidly. Everything he said was worded deliberately the way it was spoken and often times could have hidden meanings, but as for right now, he was being mostly genuine. As genuine as Loki could be with anyone he didn't know.

"You're not entirely social, are you? Not to worry, if anyone bothers you or puts you on edge, I don't mind playing defence for you."

"I'm afraid I come from a rather... sheltered home life. I like the idea of-- being social. I'm... just not very good at it." A small, grateful smile pulled at the edges of her mouth. "Thank you, for your offer, though. ... It's very kind of you."

"Practice makes perfect." He offered and nodded when she declined his previous offer. "If you're looking to be social, why don't you take a look at a few of the clubs and see if anything interests you. Smaller groups of people with like interests might help ease the awkwardness out of conversations."

"That's a good idea! ... Only... the only thing I'm any good at is magic. And even then I'm not that good. ... I blow things up a lot." She admitted, looking dejected.

Well, consider Loki's interest completely piqued. A raise of both eyebrows was all the indication that she'd surprised him at all, however. "Magic?" A playful little grin worked over his lips. "My best friend is the founder of the Magic Club. You should join us. We can accidentally blow things up together." He held up one hand and a glitter of green magic danced along his fingertips with the light pulse of focused energy.

Wanda's eyes lit up when Loki's magic showed itself. "Ooooh! It's so pretty...!"

Bringing her hands up, pressed together, she opened them like a book, showing her own hex aura off, on purpose this time. Unlike his, hers was a bright robin's egg blue.

"... I wonder why yours is green. There's an entire club for-- people like us?"

He seemed genuinely impressed by her display, letting his own sizzle out like a dying flame, curling his fingers into a fist to cut it off entirely. "Yours is quite lovely as well." It was a different kind of magic, from what he felt anyway.

"That is something I'm sure we could research together, if you wish to join." He paused a moment, thinking. "Well, it's a rather small club. But you aren't alone in your mystical abilities."

"How many people are in it...?" She let her own magic flow in and around her fingers, moving her hands unconsciously to spread it out and let it flow, almost as if she were playing cats cradle with it.

Loki couldn't help but almost find a strange sort of mesmerising calm state of mind wash over him as he watched her toy with her magic. She claimed to blow things up accidentally, but she seemed to have more control than she gave herself credit.

"A small hand full. Myself, Kaplan, and a select few others with similar gifts or just a general interest in magic." He flexed his fingers, looking over his black painted nails for a moment of distraction. "How long have you been working with your powers?"

One by one, her fingers curled up into her palm, not unlike his had a moment ago, swallowing up the glowing hex aura. When her hands opened again, it was gone entirely, and she flicked her wrists, as if removing a bit of water from her fingers.

"Well... my power manifested when I was three. But I didn't start really training until I was eight."

He watched her with continued interest as she dispelled the hex aura. And here he'd thought he and Billy were unique little snowflakes among a hailstorm of wannabes. There were at least three snowflakes, it seemed.

"Three? That's awfully young." He couldn't imagine having that kind of power at that age. His own had been dormant until his mother began working with him to use it. "Where did you train, if you don't mind my prying?"

"It is. Pietro says it's because we have such a powerful father but.... I think I would have rather been older." She raised a finger to her lips, indicating what she had just said was a secret, eyes darting back and forth once, to see who might have just over heard. Thankfully, it didn't appear to her that anyone outside the conversation seemed to care.

"I trained at home, up until a year ago, maybe. And then I trained at a boarding house. ... I-- mentioned I'm 'sheltered,' right?"

Loki smiled. "Your secret is safe with me." He whispered. He was the God of Mischief and Lies. Spreading truths about wasn't something he was known for in most cases. He could keep a secret.

"No shame in being sheltered. Up until four years ago, I wasn't even keen on human customs. I think I can sympathise with your nature of sheltered status." Exiled to Earth by Odin with his brother was so how he wanted to spend his better teen years. Actually, it hadn't been so bad.

"Well, those of us with magical inclination do what we can to help eachother out. So even when you're not in class, I'd be more than delighted to work with you. I'm sure my friend would as well."

Wanda was 100% not up on what it meant to be Loki Odinson. She was, however, very relieved to hear he didn't identify as human. What a discovery! Another non-human magic user...! If she had known they were that easy to stumble upon, she would have tried going out sooner. "Would you? ... I'd really appreciate it. What, um... What 'year' are you in?"

She will probably learn quickly. Either by word of mouth or experience. "Of course. It is always a new experience working with another magic user. You learn new things on both sides." He and Billy traded tricks back and forth over the years and the little twit always picked them up much faster than he had. "Fourth year. This is, quite unfortunately, my last year, but it should be a good year."

"Aww... We're in third." It not immediately clear who the 'we' is comprised of in that sentence, but she doesn't even seem to notice she's talking in plurals. "I'll be sad, when you go." Jeeze, Wanda, there's still an entire year left. And you just met him.

Loki had a bit of a context clue as to who the 'we' were, as she kept referring to her brother. But he wondered if there might be more to the 'we' than that. He does smile, a bit softer and a bit more genuinely when she says she'd be sad. He blamed Billy for any and all forms of empathy he'd developed.

"You... and your brother?" He asked hesitantly, making sure he had that right. "Not to worry, we still have a full year ahead of us. Much can be learned in that time. And I'm sure we can keep in contact after, to continue training and learning." There were endless possibilities to magic and much could always be learned and taught.

"Me and my brother, yeah. And-- I'd like that." She perked up a bit. She was making a friend! Who would have ever thought she could do such a thing as that. "... maybe this place won't be so bad, after all."

If Loki could hear her thoughts, he would have told her that if he can make friends, anyone in the nine realms can make friends. "Then I'm pleased to have brought you such delight." He smiled and motioned for her to look around. "This place isn't as bad as we make it out to be, Miss Maximoff. It will come to feel like home, of that you can be assured."

"I hope so. ... I really do." She was already feeling better about this place. Loki had done much to relieve her fears, certainly more than her often-spoken-of-but-currently-missing brother.

"What... do you do for fun when you're not at the magic club?"

He offered her a warm smile in response.

"You mean there are other activities besides magic?" He teased, the sarcasm was, surprisingly, not something he'd developed here on Earth. "It depends on your interests. There are training sessions you can schedule either privately, or in groups that help you control your powers. There are also recreational activities to partake, swimming, gym, horse mount lessons... there is even a massive library with one of the largest collections of literature on Midgard. I've even found books of my realm there, which was a bit of a shock. I even provided more accurate translations for the ancient futhark runes." He shrugged. "If none of that is your scene, I do throw a stellar party." Yes, hello common Midgardian vernacular. He does know how to use it, he just doesn't tend to very often.

Some of those things sound great to Wanda. Some of them-- not so much. She'll be skipping the library, thank you very much. the party, however...

"Oh... Are parties a-- common thing here? Is there dancing?"

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[Mingle-Log] Only non-alcoholic beverages in the punch bowl...

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