[D1, LM] Bus Stop

[Uru Miskwa'a]

From the other room walked in another group of arrivals. In the center of them was a girl who smiled and chatted with the others as if she was unphased by the portkey journey. She teased a Wampus boy walking alongside her who had a particularly ill-colored complexion before patting him on the shoulder with a warm laugh that seemed to lighten up his spirits.

As the others all spotted friends in the room they ran off to their respective tables while the young Native American girl found herself a table of her own. She sat there exuding a kind of energy of one comfortable in her own skin as she asked for an order of fries and began gently scanning the room for familiar or new faces.

[Layla Smith]

Layla had looked around as the magic was cast before looking back, finding a basket of fries for her. Handy, but she was a little surprised.

Guess they're less worried about magic here, or this is a safe place... that reminded her of a few places back home.

"Yes, from Hogwarts" she confirmed with a nod to the ketchup girl "ah, cool. Hogwarts is a pretty prestigious school, your cousin is lucky."

A brief pause before she added "as I'm sure this school is also."

[Xanthe Vanderwyck]

She didn't think her cousin was particularly lucky; what with that condition she had, but it *was* true that she *acted* as if she was indeed very fortunate just because she got to go to that school and be placed in that house. A sentiment that Xanthe herself did not necessarily share.

"Well, Ilvermorny's pretty big. All the witches and wizards from the continent go here." She didn't seem to be defending the school's honor so much as simply stating a neutral fact, before adding a question with slightly more interest in her voice; "Are you going to be sorted alongside the first-years? If you're unlucky, you'll get to pick from more than one house. That's tough."

Usually it was the other way around of course; the more houses you got to pick from the luckier you were regarded to be.

[Fitz Crowinshield]

"Huh, that's a decent point Xy." Fitz nibbles at his food, periodically take sips from his bottle and wincing. "I suppose she would get sorted...I mean, I'm guessing here too. I can't say I remember seeing any transfer students before."

Fitz glances over the blonde. "What brings you here anyway instead of Hogwarts? I mean, we have a solid reputation, but it's a bit of a commute."

[Layla Smith]

"I don't think transfer students happen often anywhere" Layla shrugged, picking up one of her chips (fries!) and nibbling it to delay answering the questions being thrown at her.

"Guess I get sorted. That will be an experience, I wonder if your sorting hat has as much sass as the Hogwarts one."

Another chip...fry? She knew that question was going to come numerous times, and she didn't really consider what she should say.

"Change of scenery? Fresh start" there was a shrug from the white-haired girl.

[Xanthe Vanderwyck]

She did vaguely remember something about a hat, last time the extended family came together and Lydia had talked about it. But Xanthe didn't really know how to picture it.

"Oh we don't have a hat. We have the statues. And then the wands... but I guess you already have one of those, so it's probably just the statues for you."

[Arlington Wayne]

"Yeah, the wand ceremony is a tradition from when receiving them was restricted." Arlington nodded. "Many don't do it now, acquiring them before coming to Ilvermorny. As for the Houses, we were all sorted into Thunderbird. Miskwa'a over there is a Pukwudgie."

[Layla Smith]

Thunderbird? Pukwudgie? Statues?

Layla looked confused.

"I don't really know this school well, what's the idea behind the house names? Or the...statues? Do they just point you at the right table or something?"

[Xanthe Vanderwyck]

Xanthe looked over briefly at the Pukwudgie student that had been indicated; that had *almost* been her house. She looked back toward Layla then, the light catching her eyes in that strange way again as she spoke.

"They're the magical creatures the house founders liked the most. There's Thunderbird, Wampus, Horned Serpent, and Pukwudgie, and the statues all do something to show that you'd fit into their house. Usually it's just one that wants you, but sometimes its more than one. That's pretty rare though, so you probably don't have to worry about it."

[Layla Smith]

Not that different to Hogwarts I guess.

"I see, thank you" Layla nodded, picking up a few more fries and nibbling them "so you're all the same house. I don't know where I'll end up, but you all seem nice."

If a bit weird. You'd all be Gryffindor or Hufflepuff I think.

She went silent after that, letting the friends talk.

[Fitz Crowinshield]

"We won't judge you too badly if you aren't Thunderbird." Fitz's words are as deadpan as possible, but there is a glint in his eyes, and the hint of poorly suppressed grin at the edge of his lips. "I mean, we have to have outside objective reports that we're the coolest"

[Sylvain Leloup]

"We do have the best entrances" Sylvain added, wolfing down the last bit of burger.

[Grace Wilkinson]

There was yet another pop, as a short blonde haired student materialized. She noticed the group at the bar, and moved closer, her short heels clicking on the ground as she walked.

"hey guys!" her greeting was bright, as her eyes settled on the usual suspects...Arlington, Fitz, Sylvain...oh, the Vanderwycked was here too? Strange. Oh and a newcomer...

"Layla?" she blurted out in surprise.

[Arlington Wayne]

Arlington knew there had been other transfer students. He just couldn't remember who was who. And then, there she was. He gave a wave and continued to sip on his second cherry shake.

[Mischa Primakov]

Portkeys didn't phase him quite so much now. Not after the events of the last few months. He grinned as he stepped in to the diner's main room and looked to see who was here and, more importantly, where all the Wampus action was at. He was rather perplexed to find he was early for once.

Well, so much for fashionably late entrances. I'm early this year. At least the Thunderbirds decided to provide an audience.

He sauntered in, aiming smiles at those he knew.

[Xanthe Vanderwyck]

It had already been crowded before; now the diner seemed to be overflowing with people. Not a good place to be for Xanthe. Or rather, not a good place for *old* Xanthe to be! She had to make a change to her thinking; had to be more comfortable around people. So she took a deep breath and... kept sitting there for a bit. Looking at the newcomers.

Apparently the two girls knew each other? Well, that was good.

Or bad, if Grace knew Xanthe's reputation; she'd probably ruin her chances of leaving a good impression with the newcomer by telling her all those rumors as soon as they left the table. But no! That was still old Xanthe thinking. Wasn't it?

"You know each other?"

[Sylvain Leloup]

Yup, there was too many people now.

Sylvain laid back in his chair and crossed his arms waiting for the bus to come, only half listening to what others where saying

[Faith Cassidy]

Faith let out a small happy sigh when she looked up at the diner. There was a pleasant feeling being here again, a sort of homecoming even before they were back to Ilvermorny proper. She stepped up and opened the door with a small ding that rang out any time someone entered or exited. Someone back behind the counter raised a wand without so much as looking up from what food and such they were preparing, giving it a little flick and the sound cut off as quickly as it had started, likely providing a pleasant reprieve to the endless dinging every time a student walked through the door.

"Busy." she said with her slight southern drawl, standing for a moment near the entrance and just taking it all in, seeing who she recognized.

[Cian]

Brushing up against Faith's shoulder, Cian placed his hand so that he could come around into the diner without incident. Perhaps it was more, perhaps it was a greeting too, but Cian didn't wait long to give an answer. Slipping into the main part of the diner he began his brief search about for someone or something, just an excuse to be distracted more like.

A city-boy, he'd always had that natural flair and presence that drew people a bit closer. Was something more prevalent in his attire from off-campus.

[Uru Miskwa'a]

Seeing two of her housemates walk into the diner Uru smiled softly and twiddled her fingers as a hello.

[Faith Cassidy]

Faith let out a small "Mhm?" of confusion at first when she felt the hand on her shoulder, glancing back and seeing Cian. There was a small smirk, and a nod of acknowledgement as he went past. Her eyes scanned for a few moments before the twiddling of fingers caught her eye, returning Uru's smile. She made her way across the diner.

"Hi Uru, how was your summer?"

[Uru Miskwa'a]

She smiled again as Faith came to the table and re-situated herself on her chair.

"Good. Good! Normal kinda stuff. Except we went down to Sweetwater to watch one of my brother's matches. He hasn't made the pitch yet, but he's working hard at practice apparently... It'll be a shame not to be able to see him this year."

She put a fry up to her lips before asking, "How about you? Did you end up doing that thing?"

[Cian]

Pausing to return a smile and a nod in Uru's direction, hard as it was to not be known, he let Faith cross ahead in front of him toward the table. Before moving elsewhere, perhaps the bathroom or something, after not finding what he was scanning the room for. Sauntering off as was his wont he was bound to return shortly.

/exit

[Faith Cassidy]

"That's great, he's really good. I still don't really have a knack for flying, to be honest." she said with a little sheepish smile.

"Uhm, my summer was...alright." she said, after a short pause. She tended to get a little uncomfortable about questions that pertained to what happened at home, and tended to respond with things like 'Alright', or 'Fine' without providing a whole lot of detail.

"Oh, yeah, I spent a bit of time in Cheaha, camped up near Bald Rock; it was nice to get away for a little while." She had a massive forest right up against one side of her small town, Mount Cheaha, home to the highest point in Alabama. It was one of the things she had been talking about doing at the end of the year prior. Also...

"I didn't end up getting a tattoo though... I don't think it would have gone over very well." That was the other thing she had been thinking about at the end of the year, just an off-handed musing of 'I think I want a tattoo...' when they were sitting around in the common room.

[Uru Miskwa'a]

Uru grinned softly as Cian meandered off with his somewhat usual coolness. She nodded attentively as Faith recounted her summer in her normal vague terms when talking about home but stopped and gave a half shake of her head at the end, "What do you mean? I think a tattoo would be p cool."