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

[adminfury]

[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!

Comments

[anythingwithstrings]

"It'll be more convincing, I'm sure we're being graded for something being here. I have an excuse."

Gale wasn't exactly the most social of students, Maya would be if she wasn't trapped to the edges while she worked through the mental fortitude to make herself more capable in social situations. The chaos of this orientation was just a bit beyond her usual, "If I fainted, you could carry me out of here and we could part ways until this all ends?

[ensared]

"Can't handle it?" To anyone who didn't know him, he might sound taunting. But Gale knew about Maya's powers and if all of this was starting to irritate him, it was definitely taking a toll on her. "If you need to get out, you know I'll help."

[anythingwithstrings]

"I'm fine. I simply meant we could get, I dunno, extra credit if we came up with a ruse to get out of here instead of just leaving."

There was a little bite to her words as she crafted them in the din of the party. She'd stuck herself to the edges of the room to keep in the room, and she knew her limits. At the same time it would be so much easier to just go anywhere but here.

She was just avoiding swanning off like a diva. At the same time she did faint during last year's orientation.

[ensared]

"Maybe, or maybe it's too easy an excuse. They could see right through it."

Not that he would be against leaving this thing. There was supposed to be a shindig going down for the juniors and seniors later; he'd want to be in a good mood for that, instead of annoyed by the crowds. A break might not be a bad idea, for both of them.

[anythingwithstrings]

"We would need to sell it properly, if we did it. You also need to turn... about twenty degrees to your left and take two steps forward. That way the cameras can't catch your lip movements."

Maya's mouth didn't move, and she was purposefully cutting short the soundwaves from their conversation to eliminate eavesdropping. They had figured out a few ways to prevent Maya from overhearing certain parts of the school's offices, but there zero successes at overhearing Maya when she didn't want to be overheard.

"I'd need to be in the right situation for it to be convincing, fake my attack before I actually succumb to the stresses of the sound levels, and you need to get to me first and carry me from the room like you're genuinely concerned. Then we head off wherever we want after we're out of direct line of sight of, well, any staff in the auditorium. Otherwise we're just slacking..."

[ensared]

"Or I could be talking to myself, grumbling about how boring this whole thing is," Gale said pointedly, though he does turn anyway, skimming his eyes across the scene with an air of disinterest to sell it properly. It wasn't hard to do. And he'd been wandering around aimlessly the entire time he'd been here, so making his way over there - especially with that girl advertising an archery club nearby - wouldn't be all to easy.

[anythingwithstrings]

"I don't know the exact specifications of the security cameras, they could be able to make out your lip movements."

Maya kept her head down and looking at her book. Playing with her hair absently, she needed to make it look accidental when she dialed down her headphones. Which would make her keeling over more realistic... because if she did accidentally dial down her headphones she'd be unconscious in the space of a few minutes.

"I'll give you a countdown, when I hit zero be looking at me. Ten..."

Maya turned down her headphones at around four, and started to slump over at zero.

[ensared]

He'd maneuvered himself close enough, and was just starting to strike up a conversation with one of the students advertising the martial arts club, making sure he was angled just right so Maya would be within eyesight, somewhere behind and off to the side of whoever he was speaking with. When she started to slump, he waited a moment before taking notice, his eyes flicking over her, to the other student, and back to her rapidly as he feigned realization. Quickly, he excused himself and made his way over, the picture of a concerned upperclassmen that even Gale could pass as. He's spoken to Maya often last year, so it wasn't hard to pretend.

"Maya, you alright?"

[anythingwithstrings]

"Careful not to tickle me."

Of course those words were for Gale only, anyone else didn't see Maya do anything, she was the picture of 'out cold.' Maybe all this was going to plan for once.

[ensared]

"No promises," Gale muttered, making it look as if he was trying to coach her on how to handle the situation, even as she gave into the pretense. As he took on her weight, he made their way toward the door and the teacher standing watch there.

"I think it's the sound," he told the man, indicating the crowd around them. "It's starting to get to her. She needs to get somewhere quiet."

They're out the door in no time once he was given a nod of approval, but he wouldn't back off the show until they were somewhere more secluded, less likely to be noticed. There, he let her stand on her own, staying close to the wall in case she had pushed it a little too much. "You good?

[anythingwithstrings]

Maya adjusted her jacket, hair, and headphones as she stood there. She'd had to keep her mind pretty focused on a single constant sound to keep from actually being in a coma. Which, while it would be perfectly method, would not be helpful once the stunt was over with. She chewed on her lip and looked a bit nervous, "Fine, just a little nervous, a boy wants to take me somewhere quiet."

Maya grinned right after, she was being playful again. She shouldn't tease the person that helped her escape from boring school functions... but she can't help it. "Alright, where to now? Or are we splitting up here?"

[ensared]

The comment was met with a roll of his eyes, but Gale gives her as much of a smile as he ever does. Teasing he could deal with. Somewhere over the course of his life, he'd developed a talent for attracting friends who couldn't begin to know the meaning of subtle, even when teasing, so this was nothing.

"I didn't have anything planned until later tonight, so unless you've got somewhere to be..." Gale's voice trailed off questioningly. There wasn't really anything for him to do until the party he knew would come later; he was just grateful to be out of the din.

[anythingwithstrings]

"Oh right, that secret party we're not suppose to know about."

Trying to hide a party from Maya was pretty much impossible, and if it wasn't today, she'd probably head over even if second years weren't invited. But she's had enough of stressing her head out focusing away from the heavier sounds of people being people, so she'll just settle for practicing in the Music Room while everyone else enjoys themselves.

"Well, I have nothing up yet. I figured I'd get out of the party at some point and either head for the music room, gym, or archery range..." While she can practice her darts, and billiards while at home. There wasn't really an access to a safe archery range at home. Her sister's workout stuff was at college with her, so she had to get creative on who to ask to work out with. "Thoughts?"

[ensared]

"Yeah, that," he said flatly, not surprised in the least that Maya knew about it. It was hard to keep a secret like that among the student body; it was bound to get out eventually, and there'll probably be more than a few underclassmen crashing it, too. Standard practice, in a school like this.

"Archery." An easy decision. Gale's been practicing archery for years, taught by his father from a young age. "At least for me. You don't have to come, but I doubt there'll be anyone out there."

[anythingwithstrings]

"I need the practice if I've got any shot at the team," Maya adjusted the settings on her headphones one last time. Their pretense of why they left the party wouldn't hold up if they ran across a teacher. The rest of campus security wouldn't really be a problem, it couldn't send them back to the party.

"So, met your roommates for the term?" Maya asked as she lead the way down the hall. Keeping an ear out for anyone else wandering the halls. Sneaking around people was not something she needed extra practice on, but she found it fun to do when she could.