THE MOMENT
"Okay...," Dwight emerged from the black portal and found himself at the edge of a vast courtyard. Polished chrome walls extended on either side of the stationary portal, so he guessed it was fenced in. The two walls he could see disappeared before reaching their adjacent counterpart, and he couldn't see a ceiling. He felt a cool breeze blowing and tall purple grass gently swayed in the same direction toward him. "... this isn't right." He turned around and walked through the portal again, except he forgot to think about going back to where he came from.
He was trying to get back to his dorm, and instead wound up in a small break room with a dozen other students sitting around studying alone or chatting with each other. It was a familiar location and he knew how to walk back to his dorm from there. But, he decided to make a point of mastering the portal. It was late in the school year, and he'd transferred from another college, so he needed to get the hang of things in a hurry.
When he went through orientation, there was a lot to take in. Not only was it a full-fledged Superhero college, it was also in an alternate universe, and the students came from various realities. The portals connected different parts of the campus that existed on different Earths, and in order to use them he needed to have an idea of where he wanted to go. Except, it was more of a vague concept than a strict, 'I want to go to my dorm'. He had to conjure the feeling associated with arriving at his room, which was difficult in the first week.
Dwight tried to concentrate on positive and happy feelings, and he was also forcing the association to his dorm room as he imagined it clearly. But, when it came to happy thoughts, there was always one more prominent than any other. He walked through the portal hoping he'd gotten it right and instead exited into a different break room. In all his experimentation, he'd figured out that the breakrooms were the 'default' location for anyone going through the portals without a location in mind. This one had fewer students, but they were still doing the same things. The saving grace was that he caught sight of a familiar blue hairdo walking past the doorway. She had long, pale, icy-blue hair falling below her waist and a blue hoodie with blue and white flannel pajama pants.
"Hey babe!" he called out as soon as he recognized her, and rushed to meet her. "Can you show me around, I'm lost," he said. It wasn't exactly a lie, nor completely true either. More than anything he was simply learning how to get around. But, he'd take any excuse to say hi to his girlfriend, and maybe even spend time together.
Blanche 'Blizzard Baroness' was an active Super and often busy when not at school. She was the one who told him about the school and even got him invited, but that all came with the knowledge she wouldn't have too much time to spend together. She'd informed him that she'd cultivated a professional 'persona' while on campus to go with her hero identity, so he shouldn't be surprised by some of her behavior in public.
She was known as a 'cursed prodigy who's cold hearted to basically everyone', and upon further discussion he got the feeling that she was purposely giving him an excuse to not talk to her. And, after years of dating, he also knew why she was doing that. Blanche was trying to save him from the stigma of being her boyfriend, but that didn't matter to him in the slightest. He'd already made up his mind to approach her if he ever saw her, and in that moment he did with no hesitation. He even hugged her as he asked.
And suddenly, the room seemed to go still. He became acutely aware of a dozen eyes on him, more likely on them. Was her reputation this widespread? It was honestly impressive enough that he found her that much more attractive in the moment. She smiled at him, then her expression hardened into a frigid glare as she eyed everyone in the room.
"Yeah, I've got a boyfriend, what's it to you? Mind your own business, losers," she growled and everyone immediately resumed whatever they were doing as she leaned forward to peck Dwight on the cheek. "You're lucky I'm only cold hearted to basically everyone. So, let's go on a tour."