self_inflictedexhile | tvd / nysm } { the salvatore school for the young and gifted

tvd / nysm } { the salvatore school for the young and gifted

Nestled just on the outskirts of the tiny town of Mystic Falls, Virginia is the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. As far as most of the town is concerned, the school is exactly how it's marketed - a boarding school for rich and gifted students - but a few are aware of it's real origins.

A school for young supernatural students, so that they can grow up somewhere where they didn't have to hide.

The headmaster is actually much older than she looks, having not aged a day since she was seventeen, but she's learned to dress herself up to fit the part. Her long hair is swept up into an elegant twist, her pant suit is perfect and polished, and her makeup is appropriately adult. Still, there's not a lot that can hide the youthfulness of her features no matter how hard she tries.

She's standing at the front of the school, watching as the car pulls up in front before flashing the man who arrives a bright smile and wave. Once he emerges from the car, she waves and makes her way closer to shake his hand.

"Mr. Rhodes. Welcome to the Salvatore School."

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"Yeah, no, I get it," Dylan agrees, nodding. He's not about to force anyone to join the Eye, either, even if there are perks that come with that, too. "I was just kinda thinking out loud."

He might continue thinking, albeit much more quietly, even if it gets him no where. It would be nice for all the kids who don't have the advantages he and Hope do to be able to have a little freedom during the full moon, without having to worry about hurting someone.

Later, though. Right now, they seem to be coming up on the perimeter of the party-proper, a man playing bouncer for anyone who might have impossibly made it this far sitting on a stump, nearby.

He stands as they approach, glancing between Hope and Dylan, then back again, his eyes lingering on her for a second too long. Dylan draws his attentions back to him with a terse, "She's with me."

He sits back down, apparently cowed, and Dylan guides Hope past him and towards the crowd.

"There's your usual party shit," he tells her, nodding to where stalls serving food and drinks have been set up -- or, well, maybe 'set up' is bad wording. Instead, they look miraculously like they've been carved out of trees, still living, or woven entirely out of fresh spring flowers. Miraculously, in either case, they don't seem to be hurting anything, whatever the stalls have spawned from still somehow alive. There's probably magic involved, to be perfectly honest. Either way, Dylan doesn't seem particularly surprised, himself.

"And there's some games -- " He nods towards what appears to be a hedge maze in the distance, the concept of walking a labyrinth as part of more somber ritual made into something more entertaining. A gesture to a group running around with a football follows -- there are also more traditional games, too, albeit with a slightly more violent lent. " -- and then some more traditional shit."

Somewhere, someone is standing on a tree stump, telling a story -- a fantastical view of history. Somewhere else, there's a more traditional labyrinth for self-reflection and meditation. There's a ritual being prepared, somewhere else. And so on and so forth, though music and sound seem present through it all.

Also through it all, beyond the man on the door, no one seems to have noticed Hope, for better or worse. Right now, for today, she's one of them.

Honestly, Hope would prefer to go unnoticed, so that's fine by her. She nods her agreement, before sliding her hands into her pockets.

"Okay. I'll go ... mingle."

She says like mingling is totally one of her special skills. It's not. But she's going to give it a valiant effort, making her way over to one of the games and offering them a smile.

"Hey. Room for one more?"

The man currently holding the football pauses at the question, where he'd just been about to pass the ball off to someone else. He squints at her for a moment, presumably trying to place here, and then whether or not he does, he smiles. "Yeah, sure. You can -- "

He's cut off by someone else ramming into him with enough force that he drops the football. The interloper then runs off with it, and outright grinning, now, he tells her, "You can start by helping me get that back."

She grins back before nodding. "That? I can handle." Thankfully, she has many years of experience playing touch football for the Salvatore Stallions. They also, unfortunately, always had to take an L against their Muggle opponents, so it might be fun to play to win for a change.

She starts running after him, before tossing back over her shoulder. "Is it anything goes?"

"Pretty much," he tells her, running with her, now. "I mean, like, don't stab anyone or whatever, but ... "

Actually, stabbing probably wouldn't be a total no-go, all things considered, but he's teasing, anyway. He really doesn't expect her to do anything they can't handle. Everyone playing in this particular game is anything but human.

"Don't worry. I was told that it was a no stabbing party."

But after that comment, she throws in a burst of speed, doing her best to catch up with the wolf with the ball and dropping into a skid, to try and trip him to keep him from getting to the goal line.

"Cool."

The wolf carrying the ball, meanwhile, never sees her coming and tumbles ass over tea kettle onto the ground. He's quick to reach for the ball he dropped, however -- but so are a half dozen other wolves on both sides of the game. At this point, it's more wrestling match than football game, and someone grabs for Hope, trying to pull her into it, too.

She gives a shriek as she's pulled into the pile but it's a happy one, trying to wriggle her way through to reach for the ball. But there are too many and as powerful as she is, she's only 5'2" so her arms are a bit short. The ball slips away from her and rolls towards one of the other wolves.

Hopefully they're on her team. Not that she knows which team she's on.

Considering they immediately start heading in the same direction she had been, when they manage to extricate themselves from the pile? It's probably safe to assume that they're on her side. Either way, though, her new friend is quick to help her to her feet, once he has his own back under him, and jerks his head in that direction.

"C'mmon."

Hope takes cue and follows after him, keeping her eyes on the rest of the field. Despite all her grumbling to the contrary, she always enjoyed the yearly flag football game at the Salvatore School, but then again that just might be her wolf genes. Sports and werewolves always seem to fall hand in hand.

Mostly she's just keeping an eye out for the ball, calculating her next play in her mind, but does thrust her arms in the air when the ball crosses the finish line in their favor.

So does her new friend. When the time for a victory dance passes, however, he turns to face her a little more fully, sticking out a hand.

"Matt, by the way."

Since they kind of skipped the introductions and all.

"Hope." She reaches over to shake his hand, hesitating for a moment before adding on. "Mikaleson."

Might as well start on an even playing field, rather than lying and having it come out later.

While Matt doesn't try and pull away from the handshake in any great hurry, now that her full name is out there, his eyebrows do go upwards. "Like Mikaelson Mikaelson?"

As if there are any others.

"Yeah." Might as well keep going. "Klaus was my dad." But he's dead now, so no one needs to worry about him anymore. Though it might change the way people around here feel about her.

"Huh, okay," Matt drawls. If his eyebrows were any higher, at this point, they'd be in his hairline. Thankfully, after a beat, he lowers them. "Kind of ballsy for you to admit to that, to someone you just me. I'm here for it."'

Especially since it doesn't feel like she's mentioning it with the expectation of special treatment.

"It's the kind of secret that never ends well, regardless of when or how it comes out."

It's not necessarily her trying to be bold, but more her trying to be honest. Dylan brought her here knowing her secret, and didn't tell her that she needed to hide who she was. So since she's choosing to trust him in that she'd be safe here, she's choosing to trust these people with who she is and hope that they are willing to see her for who she is, not her last name.

"Sometimes, the best strategy is just to get it out there and see how it goes."

"So far so good?"

She hasn't tried to kill him, so far, and like he said, it was a bold move for her to namedrop her family, but he respects that. As long as she keeps not trying to kill him, he can give her the benefit of the doubt. He figures that'll be the consensus among most of the people here, too -- or at least the younger ones.

Edited 2022-12-11 19:56 (UTC)

"Okay."

And that relaxes her shoulders some, a bit of relief rolling through her because no, she's not here to kill anyone. She just wants to have some fun, so as the rest of the wolves set up again for the next play, she tips her head over to the side.

"Back to the game?"

"I'm not really sure what's going on, right now," Matt admits, glancing in the direction of the rest of the group. Thankfully, no, it doesn't seem like they've missed much. Thankfully, Matt tips his head in that direction, before he finishes, "But yeah, c'mmon."

Hope nods as she falls in line to follow. If they're going back to the game she will happily try to work out a few more plays in their favor. If not, she'll move on to the next activity until she needs to recoup some energy and with that, get some food.

Maybe try to introduce herself to someone else. But mostly she'll follow Matt's lead.

The game does, in fact, pick up again and continues on for some time. When it breaks up again, apparently done in earnest now, Matt pulls her away a few feet, and tilts his head beyond where they've stopped. "You wanna grab something to eat?"

"I could eat."

She follows him over to where the food is, seeming a bit bouncier and lighter than she was when she arrived. She leans back against the table, looking out over the rest of the group before turning back to Matt.

"So is this how it is all the time?"

"What, like food and parties and crap all the time? Or ... ?" She's going to need to be a little more specific, as he's not entirely sure what she's asking.

She shrugs, because she doesn't know how to say this without it sounding sad or like she had a terrible childhood. Granted, she did have a terrible childhood, but she doesn't like other people to believe it.

"...Fun?"

She didn't fit in with her mother's pack, or the one at school. Partially her own fault, partially theirs, but she didn't realize it could feel like this.

"Oh, uh ... " Matt takes a moment to consider that, looking out over the pack. Not that he really needs to. This has always felt like family. This has always felt like home.

He recognizes, though, that if she has to ask, this must not be the experience she's had with her own pack, and that stings. He doesn't necessarily think she's sad, but he's sad for her, and as such, he hesitates a little before he finishes, " ... yeah, kinda. I mean, I never really have to worry about whether or not they have my back, you know?"

They've always been a tightknit group.

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theloophole - 2023-06-28 02:04 (UTC) - Expand

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