Another Chance

Good? morning

The architecturally dubious building was the master bedroom, the two students explained. There was no gender division, and to the silent surprise of both newcomers, they explained that SHIELD advocated education and autonomy, and above all, personal responsibility. And they also had a complex and incorruptible surveillance system in each bedroom hallway, Clint added with a sneer.

Each plant had a common area with similar characteristics. The supply of food and drink was the responsibility of the institute, as well as a fortnightly deep cleaning. But the daily order was in charge of the students, and neglecting it meant various punishments.

"What kind of punishments?" Thor asked suspiciously.

Loki wasn't too bothered by that, because he was pretty efficient at picking up his own mess (the best way to get caught in mischief is by leaving trash lying around). But Thor was... Well, he was Thor. He was as good at keeping clean as he was at being subtle.

"Depends on Fury's creativity, or if there's something to fix in the facility," Clint explained as they got off the elevator on the ground floor. "The favorite, now that spring begins, will surely be trimming the hedges, mowing the lawn..."

"Help remove the wasps' nests that always appear in Annex 2" added Natasha.

The two suddenly laughed, as if remembering some past event. Thor smiled slightly, as if he thought it was a joke. Loki was sure it wasn't. Still, it didn't seem that bad... As punishment for not picking up the trash.

As soon as they stopped laughing Natasha and Clint continued with their tour.

On the ground floor was the main dining room of the school. A large cafeteria, at the time still almost empty except for two or three early risers and the employees who were busy in the kitchen. As Natasha explained (and Loki had seen in the papers that he had looked at during his long episode of insomnia), there was a fortnightly menu rotation. Three different options for each of the three meals of the day, and a selection of desserts. Adapted for various tastes, and customizable for those with allergies, intolerances or with specific diets.

In addition to the dining room, the ground floor also housed other rooms, which extended along the arms of the building, with various purposes. A few extra game rooms, a few study rooms, in case the ones upstairs were taken, and so on. While commenting that the four went outside. They stepped out into the center of the U, and suddenly Loki and Thor could see what was on the other side, beyond three more buildings: A wide river. The morning sun was beginning to reflect off its surface, giving it a golden glow.

They were far enough away from the shore that they couldn't hear the sound of the water from there, but as they began to follow Natasha and Clint it became more and more audible.

Leaving the U, they crossed the road that surrounded the bedrooms and, crossing a short bridge, they reached a kind of garden-bar-greenhouse, although it was open on all four walls. It had a glass roof over most of the covered area, so it might as well do the trick as long as it wasn't too cold. There was a central walkway that ran along it, and the path they traversed.

Loki would have wanted to stay and see what flowers or plants were cared for there, but after a brief note about gardening classes and extracurricular activities Natasha moved on, ignoring all that. He could have stayed behind, but he didn't trust Thor to explain later what other things were in the school, so he followed the veterans and promised to come back later.

The four went out to a kind of cement plaza. Opposite the U of the dormitories, and towering over the river, was a building. To the left, and with a staircase to access it, there was another, which also had a kind of terrace overlooking the river.