Combined Reserves, Preserve, Thursday After Classes,

[glacial_queen]

Older students might have been surprised when the handwavy email had gone out inviting anyone interested in joining any branch of the Reserves (Martial, Magic, or Support), should meet up Thursday afternoon in the preserve.

When they got there, they would see that not everything had changed; there were still tables set up with moddable snacks and beverages, including a plate of (lumpy and slightly charred) cookies that Karla was standing behind, wearing a proud smile.

"Welcome to the first meeting of the combined Reserves," she said, once it seemed like everyone had arrived. "As those of you who have been here awhile already know, sometimes the island isn't always the safest place to be. There are occasional attacks and incursions--some are tiny and almost silly, some are big and dangerous and possibly even life-threatening. The Reserves were formed a few years back for to help us prepare and train for these invasions; to work together as a group. Whether your strengths lie in the area of fighting with weapons, having powers, taking care of others, or even research, there's a spot for you here. No matter what your skills are, we'll probably see something that requires them to be defeated."

Taking that as a cue, Wesley cleared his throat. "As Karla mentioned, all sorts of abilities are useful," he continued. "The Reserves were formerly broken down into separate groups -- Martial as well as Magic and Support -- but we'll now be meeting together, with Karla and Dolf and myself leading subsections."

Pause as he took a sip of water and tried to stealthily sweep a number of suspicious-looking cookies from the table into a garbage can. Sadly for the teal deer, one of them missed and landed on the ground. Those poor, poor teal deer never had a chance.

"Er. My name is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I'm from Southern Hampshire in England, I'm a senior, and I'll be running the, ah, martial branch. We'll go over weaponry, general strategy, and that sort of thing."

He looked to his fellow leaders to take over.

"And I'm Dolf Wega," Dolf said, giving everyone a bit of a wave. He looked somewhat more comfortable with himself now that he was leading a crowd again; his shoulders were relaxed. "I'm from Amstelveen in the Netherlands, which is across the ocean..." He'd encountered a few people who were from different universes by now, "...so sorry if I get something wrong. I'm leading the Support services and I have been for a while. We make sure that everyone communicates okay, that people get fed and taken care of and bandaged if something goes wrong, and everything else that doesn't mean beating people up."

He slanted a look at both Karla and Wesley.

"Which is important sometimes," he added. "You can't fix all problems by hitting them."

That wasn't meant as a malicious stab, though, and he was smiling through it.

"But today, we want to talk about what you can do, and not just us."

Karla grinned and nodded at Dolf's comment. "That's true, so after my introduction, we'll be turning the floor over to you. I'm Karla, a junior, and I'm from the Territory Glacia in the Realm Kaeleer--don't worry if none of you have heard of it. I'm heading up the Magic Reserves. That's a catch-all for anyone with powers of any sort--magic, mutation, spells, summons, materia--whatever. The three groups are going to be working together to form one integrated whole, so whenever something attacks, we can all work together as a unit, no matter what our personal skills are. Speaking of, please don't worry if you don't think you have any useful skills right now--we're here for learning just as much as practice and we welcome people to hang out and watch. Also, feel free to share only as much as you're comfortable with; we want you to feel welcomed and included more than anything else."

She gestured to the tables of food and smiled. "So, please feel free to help yourself to some snacks and things and let's talk about who you are and what we all would like to see from these groups, okay?"

[Co-written with the usual suspects. Please to be pretending this is in the right comm. *facepalms* OCD up!]

Comments

Arrive and Mingle

[glacial_queen]

Eat, chat, do your thing.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle had been missing this, so she was glad to be back, and glad to help herself to snacks. Even if Shanie is incredibly unimaginative right now.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[wwiii]

Warren loved Karla very much. And he didn't particularly want to see anyone lynch her today. So he was going to be hovering (not literally) near those cookies, attempting to keep an eye out for anyone who didn't understand that they were not good for you. In a very serious way.

Every now and again, he actually managed to nerve himself up to reaching for one or two.

My, they were conveniently crumbly if he held them too tightly, today.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[life_inshadow]

"Why does she keep baking?" Tara asked, in the lowest voice she could manage and with a few guilty glances to Karla. "And, uh. Hi."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[wwiii]

"Hey." Warren attempted a little smile that fell just a bit short. Considering he was usually the one who wound up eating most of these, he was probably allowed. "I think..."

His voice dropped fairly low as well.

"I think nobody really has the heart to tell her to stop."

He certainly didn't. Baking made her happy. And a happy Karla made for a happy Warren, so long as he could get out of eating the results.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I've been trying to dispose of as many as possible," Wesley murmured to Warren under his breath, spotting the subtle crumbling of the cookies. "Unfortunately, it may be too late for some of the squirrels."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[withasword.livejournal.com]

Oh, so this was the Karla she kept hearing about. You'd have to forgive her if she was eying the cookies with a healthy amount of skepticism.

Kate might give those a miss and stick to a glass of water. This was her kind of group, and ending up with food poisoning from this would really, really suck.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully was glad to be back; it would've been good to have this to refer to over the summer but... still. A few new people, too, good.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[life_inshadow]

Someone really should talk to Karla about those cookies.

Someone who was not Tara.

Grateful as she was that the meetings were running again -- and that this time she didn't have to talk in front of people every week -- she was equally grateful for Warren and Wesley and their diligent efforts to keep the unwary safe from Karla's cooking.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[selfhelphero]

Billy hadn't heard about Karla's cookies, but luckily, he wasn't that hungry. Someone up there was looking out for him, clearly.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[trigons_child]

Raven was happy to return to the Reserves. She wasn't touching the cookies, though.

Introductions

[glacial_queen]

Name, class, where you're from, skills, interests, basically whatever you're interested in sharing.

Re: Introductions

[wwiii]

"I'm Warren." Warren, who was slightly prickly, because he was looking occasionally at that plate of cookies and trying to puzzle out just how many he was going to have to eat, for the team. "I'm a senior, from New York, and my skills run mostly in the area of emergency medical support, and, uh, the obvious."

He spread his wings slightly. Not enough to smack anyone, fortunately, but just enough for people to be able to see that they were there.

"I am learning some fighting skills, mostly hand-to-hand and using sticks, but I'm still kind of picking up on that sort of thing. I'll be a while before I'm any good to the martial group, I think."

Re: Introductions

[withasword.livejournal.com]

"I'm Kate, a junior and I'm from Georgia in twenty years or so." She wasn't big on intros, but this was starting to just roll of the tongue.

"I have a sword," which she could use, yes, "I've learned a few different martial arts, and have some magic." A sword. Some magic. Nice and vague.

Re: Introductions

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"I'm Dana Scully, I'm a junior, from the Virginia-Maryland area." There, she didn't have to get into age that way, yet. "I work at the Clinic, and I'd be happy for help if we set up any kind of First Aid stations during the next crisis. Assuming it would help."

Re: Introductions

[life_inshadow]

"Hey, I'm Tara, I'm a senior," Tara said. "I'm originally from this little boring place in Northern California. Uh .... last year I was one of the leaders on the magic side, but I sort of rotated out this year. But I'm pretty much a witch, anyhow. The spells and charms kind. Not the mean kind."

Re: Introductions

[selfhelphero]

"I'm Billy, and I'm a sophomore from New York City," he said. "My skills lie mostly in the magic area. Or, well, entirely there, I guess. I'm not much of a hand-to-hand guy at all." That was just a tiny understatement, really.

Re: Introductions

[trigons_child]

"I am Raven, and I am a senior," Raven said. No, still hard to believe when she said that.

"I am from a place that was called Azarath, and I am an empath and a healer. I am able to take the pains and fears of others into myself. I also have some knowledge of sorcery, though I am not as skilled as many of my friends here."

Suggestions and ideas

[glacial_queen]

What are some ideas you have for meetings? Things that might be helpful, useful, or interesting? Share them here!

Talk to Your Leaders

[glacial_queen]

When they ping in!

Re: Talk to Your Leaders

[glacial_queen]

Karla would be happy to offer whatever's left of her cookies--darn it, Wesley, stop being clumsy!--to anyone!

Re: Talk to Your Leaders

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Dolf was there, looking more energized than he had for months.

Re: Talk to Your Leaders

[life_inshadow]

"Hey," Tara said, ambling up to Dolf. "I ... don't think I've run into you since I got back. Thanks for keeping this going."

[OOC: SP is made of cakes made of unicorns, of course!]

Re: Talk to Your Leaders

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley was around, looking pleased at the assumed turn-out. And occasionally sweeping more cookies into the trash when he thought he could get away with it.

Just to ease the burden in case Warren had to have the leftovers. He was a generous friend like that.

OOC

[glacial_queen]

I am running around prepping for a trip to Canada, so pings will be slow for me.