Mary Sue Sullivan and Andy Drummond
Andy had decided that reading was a punishment made specifically to make her suffer. Not only was reading hard enough with the letters jumping around the page, but the words were also hard. She spent half the time looking at a dictionary when she was in the library. It probably would be easier on her computer but she still had an old-fashioned way to study. She had grown up during the transition and tech now was even more advanced than it had been the last time she was in school. So sitting with the physical books sometimes made her feel like she wasn't spinning out of control. Even if she wished she could just have the books read to her. All of that combined and it made her Physical science class's upcoming presentation about a geological epoch a trudge.
Though Mary Sue was making a concerted effort to study less, and enjoy her time at school a bit more, she still frequented the library. For one, she liked it, a lot. It was big, and quiet, and people for the most part were easy enough to avoid when she didn't have the energy to be around them. For another, it was a part of a bit of a social hack she made up in her head. She had what she viewed as conflicting goals; get closer to people, and continue to work on making herself a better. The easiest way to do both these things at the same time would be to study in public, and what better place for that than a library? It was with that spirit that she reacted when she saw Andy, who seemed to be working on... Something. She figured she'd say hi and hope she wasn't bothering too much in doing so. Pulling up a chair across from the young girl's mini dragon horde of books, she gave a wave and said, "
Heya! How've you been? We need to do another movie night soon!" A part of her was sure that was clunky or somehow too direct, but Andy felt like a direct kind of person.
Andy looked up a little startled.
"Oh, hi" She smiled brightly.
"Yeah, that was fun. I'd be down for another movie night." Andy sighed and leaned back in her chair happy for this excuse to look away from the books and notes and attempts at making words make sense. She rubbed her eyes.
"What brings you here?" It was a dumb question. Why would anyone come to the library but for study material? She was surprised at how well-used the library was, and it was not a small one either. There were a lot of books here of all sorts. That reminded her she needed to ask Mads for help with some magic stuff for the Eldritch Magic class.
Mary Sue blinked for a moment, realizing that the correct answer to that question was not "To maximize her capacity for studying and socialization". Instead of saying something like that, she instead rubbed the back of her head and said, "
Well, honestly I was looking to see if we had any records on the previous Contests of Champions." She admitted, not wanting to make it seem like she was trying to talk about team things with Andy per say, "I figure the best way to know what to expect is to see what winning teams have in common, you know?" With their team practices, Mary Sue felt like she was in good enough shape, with a solid enough grasp on what she could do with her powers, so now she wanted to hone more and more of the non-physical things that would lead her to success. "
What about you?"
"An essay about a geological epoch." Andy shrugs, she shifts some of the books so there is room at the table for Mary Sue.
"Yours sounds more interesting, and probably more interesting than writing about sandstone." Andy smiles.
"I don't know much about the history of the Contest. Other than the Young Avengers were the winners last year." Andy thought they might have been the winners the year before that too, but she didn't know for certain.
"It's funny, I'm normally super competitive and would be diving headfirst and fully into something like the Contest. But because of school..." She waves her hand gesturing to the books in front of her. She frowns a bit, trying to consider how to explain how little schooling she really had had before coming here.
"I don't know I want to do well in classes and graduate." Andy's goal for coming to this school, other than spending time with Zari, was to learn how to protect her mother...or maybe better put the world from her mother. She didn't plan on becoming a hero. She had one job, to keep Selene from escaping her prison. But her whole life couldn't really be dedicated to that. She needed to eat.
Mary Sue rested her head on her left hand for a moment, and gave a small hmm. She wanted to do well at
everything, and a part of her knew that she couldn't but the idea of not pouring everything she could into all her goals just didn't fit right in her head. She understood prioritization though. "
I think..." She started to say, and then paused to think. She wanted to help Andy, but she also wanted to make sure any advice she gave wasn't tailored to her own interests. she
wanted to tell her to focus on the competition, because that's what was important to her, but she knew in her heart that that wasn't fair. "
I think you need to focus on the things that will make you happy in the long run. I want to be a hero and I want to save people, and I think for me that means the Contest is like, super important." She said carefully, "
But! I also spend a lot of my free time studying, and if you ever want a study partner, maybe we could help each other out." She offered, smiling.
"I appreciate that." Andy smiled.
"I don't care about being a hero. I'm here mostly 'cause of Zari. The Contest is cool and all, but because of it, I'm getting behind in classes. After this, I have to read a hundred pages, work on a presentation for Ancient History, and do a practice sheet for Geometry. All of my previous schooling did not prepare me for this." A major understatement. Andy smiled a little. She hadn't smiled a lot when thinking of her life pre-Zari. She found humor in the changes at least.
"What are you studying? I know we aren't in any classes together." Andy probably wouldn't have even noticed Mary Sue if not for being on the same team. Was it weird that students in different years were on the same team? There weren't a lot of freshmen who had made it this far even.
"
Uh, normal classes are CS, Art, American history and Philosophy." She said, blinking for a moment. It always struck her as weird that she had to focus on America so much, but
so much of modernized superheroics really did center around the actions of that country. "
The more interesting ones are Combat, Strategy, energy constructs, super heroics, and gymnastics. What about you?" She had felt like she'd learned quite a lot from her more specialized classes than her normal ones; something about the amount of self discovery she had to go through to really be comfortable with the mechanics and utilization of her power.
Andy smiled, she didn't know what CS was and wasn't about to ask.
"I'm taking, Classic Literature, Geometry, Physical Science, and Ancient History for the standard classes. Then the fun ones as you put it are, Elemental Manipulation, Advanced Battle Strategy, Eldritch Magic, and Combat 301." Andy leaned back a little bit thinking.
"I can help you with Combat and Strategy. I don't think I could help with any of your normal classes." Her last American History class had taken in while going to Northwood and that school had not been ..uh...good.
"That is if you want help from me. I mean." She tacked on quickly. Not wanting to assume that Mary Sue wanted or needed her help.
"Mads has been helping me with Eldritch Magic." She wasn't certain why she added it, but it was her way of saying she was happy to get help. That she wasn't afraid to ask. Help was sometimes needed and there was no shame in that. Andy had learned that when the Drummonds had taken her in.
Mary Sue's interest was peaked, "
Honestly, I'd be interested in hearing what's covered in Eldritch Magic." She said, her tone incredibly curious. Magic was a thing that she
knew existed, but hell if she knew how it worked. "
I'd love to get a hand with Combat, I just... still not used to fighting." She admitted. "
But, maybe I can give you a hand with Classic Lit. I kind of read a lot growing up, there's a good chance I've at least read anything you're working on in class." She offered. It was true, after all; one advantage of an isolated childhood is that there's lots of time to read.
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Mary Sue Sullivan
Location: Stark Hall, 4th floor stairwell.
Skills: N/A
Life had become so much recently, and Mary Sue was beginning to be worried that
something would have to give sooner or later. The
was what she wanted, but god it was a big ask to have her squeeze four extra hours into her schedule. Being pulled from class sounded so cool on paper, but when you realize that the work doesn't go away because you aren't there to do it, it becomes the exact opposite of that. Still, she persevered. Her stress was high, but she was
barely rested for this. To call her on edge would be an understatement, but it made her more alert, or at least she hoped. This year was turning into a trial by fire, but she hoped that surviving it would burn away the parts of her that weren't enough to begin with.
Taking a step outside of her dorm, she let the door close quietly, wanting to not even risk waking her roommate, for fear of some spited reprisal. Cutting curfew, at this point, was actually not that uncommon of her, if only because she often found herself out late studying. Taking a deep breath in, she started her way down the hall, and slipped into the stairwell, not wanting to take the elevator down for fear of running the risk of alerting anybody that she was out of her room. She needed this extra practice time more than anything; it was
essential to her team having the slightest chance of winning against the Young Avengers.
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