First day - Meetings and Augmentation [Closed]

Arthur sat in the hall filled with harsh unnatural light. Not that he minded, it was the only light he had been subject to for the greater proportion of his life. So this was the Zodiac school? It was just about as… Harry Potter-ish as he imagined. It was rather like the private school his parents had sent him to last year, but older and with blacked out windows for the benefit of his kind. 

He crossed his legs amd studied his time table. Biology, ha, that was a waste for him. He was a vampire, they were practically born with an inate knowledge of human biology, foriegn languages, boring, why did he need to learn German or French or whatever it was? (they didn't spesify so he assumed he would have to make a choice at some point). English literature, good, shame they didn't have more lessons in that, history, also good, Geography, meh, and his various magic tutoring. Oh what a fun year that would b—

OH FUCK OW! He hissed and spat out his blood from his sliced tongue. Fuck, you would think that after all these years, he would have worked how to NOT cut himself on his fangs. He could feel the cut healing with the healing agents in his mouth, but it still hurt. Shame vampires were immune to their own endorphins in their saliva/'venom' or he wouldn't be able to feel the pain (but he would be constantly high, so, perhaps it was good.)        

Matthew shuffled into the big Assembly Hall, shaking with nerves. He had just arrived and was really frightened... He looked down at his polar bear for support. "Hey, KumaKuma... do you think I'll fit in here?" He asked, but all he got back was a tired "Who...?" Matthew cuddled him and petted his fur. "Just sleep, Kumalumi, alright?" The bear nodded and nestled into Matthew's chest. Matthew smiled down at him before focussing back on the building.

It was... Huge! Giant, not like Matthew's small house, which he used to refer to as a mansion, but has now reconsidered. His house was only as big as the first two floors of this castle! He wondered in furthur, looking at the masses of students milling around. There was even a vampire here! Matthew had heard scary stories about vampires and about how they'll haunt you in your dreams and drain your body of blood and leave you to shrivell up in agony! And to... Matthew stared as the vampire cursed and spat blood out of his mouth. Oh dear... his natural instincts kicked in and he darted forwards.

"Excuse me! A-Are you alright?" He asked, nervously. He pulled out a handkerchief and held it out to the blond tentatively.

Arthur looked up to see a blond boy holding out a handkerchief to him. He scowled and sat up straight, shoulders back, as he was supposed to. What was he supposed to do with tha handkerchief? The cut was in his mouth! He swallowed the rest of the blood in his mouth and spoke, “No, thank you,” He said politely, “I'm fine.” He said softly, barely opening his mouth. His tongue was slightly sore and swollen, but not an open wound any more.

He decided to ignore the boy and looked back down at the timetable. He did wonder what the boy was though, although not enough to ask him. He certianly wasn't going to start up a conversation with someone, he didn't like talking to strangers. He yawned, his teeth defending for a moment, as they always did when he yawned. He needed to learn to control that.

"Eh, sorry..." Matthew withdrew his hand and slunk back a little, feeling sheepish. "My name's Matthew Williams, what's yours, eh?" He asked, polightly. Although, the first impression he got was that the boy didn't want to talk to him when Matthew was going all out to make friends with him. He figured that if the boy didn't like him, he'd move onto another person... If they ever saw him. Matthew had a tendancy to blend in with the background, which he never really understood.

He glanced at his polar bear, who he often used for support, but Kumachiki was asleep at the moment, which made Matthew feel like his encouragement was slipping. He bit his lip, turning back to the boy and fiddling with his sleeve.

((Unabashedly jumping in now~))

Roderich had been settled in the uncomfortable assembly room seat for quite some time now. It pained him really, having to sit through this dull orientation meeting in a hard ancient chair yet again. He had heard it all several times before, and those times had all been deathly redundant and boring as well. If it were not for the fact he got his schedule at this meeting, he would have skipped it entirely. The Austrian would much rather be taking a leisurely nap anyways. Not even the overly excited and bright-eyed underclassman were enough to amuse the arrogant man.

A spattering of noise behind him brought him from his grumpy thoughts. The sound of spitting, to precise. The Austrian cringed. He could not stand the unsanitary, and spitting would be classified as anything but sanitary. It brought the Mahrt's good posture to a slouch, as if the new position would keep him safe from the germs that were surely crawling toward him from the rejected saliva. His only comfort was the fact the person behind him had slipped back into silence.

Except, now a new person was speaking. Somewhat annoyed, but now mostly curious, Roderich twisted around in his seat to gaze at two unfamiliar blond boys settled behind him. He blinked, suddenly feeling awkward due to his unabashed and rude staring.

“Ah...Hallo,” he greeted whilst his gaze traveled downward to locate the spit claiming a spot on the worn floors. Distaste faded away and was replaced with mild interest as his eyes spotted a red tint to the miniature puddle. The aristocrat's gaze immediately darted back up, amused and noting the fangs nestled amongst the quieter boy's teeth.

“Are you both new?” he murmured in polite curiosity.

He didn't say anything, but shifted over to let the boy sit next to him.  

Then, another one turned around. “Mmm, hello. Yes I am.” Arthur acknowledged the new boy. He looked a little older than Arthur, but he could never tell. He certianly looked like someone he would get along with, a public school boy, just like him, and he held himself well, just like he did. Arthur didn't doubt that he was from some sort of wealthy back ground, or if not, an aristocrasic background at least.

“Arthur Kirkland,” He said quietly and held out his hand to the austere boy, “And you, are you new?” He asked.

Matthew nodded, smiling. Ok, he had the boy's name! He felt like he'd achieved something. But when a new boy walked over, Matthew felt very shunted, scooting away slightly. He didn't think he fit in this little formed group, even though he was with the vampire boy first, so he decided that he'd get himself heard, and turned to smile at the new man.

"Hello, my name is Matthew Wi-- Uh..." He cut himself off when the man asked if he and the boy were new. "Ah, I am ye--"

"Mmm, hello. Yes, I am." Matthew ground his teeth before forcing himself to relax. He cleared his throat again.

"I'm Matthew Will--!"

"Arthur Kirkland. And you, are you new?"

"I'M MATTHEW WILLIAMS, It's a pleasure to meet you!" Matthew yelled, though keeping his sweet smile on. Sometimes he wondered if people could even see or hear him. It sometimes felt that way, especially when he was overshadowed by those around him... He didn't offer his hand, seeing as Arthur Kirkland had offered his already.

Roderich stared at the boy holding out his hand in some wonder. They all seemed to throw around their full names with childish ease. Especially the long-haired blonde. It was one thing to trust a magical being with their full name, another to yell it. He certainly had no use for a full name, but he could spot a few students from his seat that would.

“I am Roderich.” He shook the proffered hand while giving the louder boy a quizzical stare. The Austrian then politely offered his hand to the other. He did not understand this kid. Mostly, he could not fathom this boy's need to shout. It was almost as if he had been repeating himself and then became frustrated.

“I thought so. You are sort of standing out,” he murmured mostly to himself. “No, I am not new. I am just here to pick up my schedule.” He waved the aforementioned papers at them as if to prove his motivations. After letting the papers fall simply back to his lap, he let his gaze rest on Matthew.

“And what are you?” he hummed.

Did the boy have to shout? Arthr winced as the sound hit his ears, even in the rather noisy hall. He saw a teacher glare warningly as them, it wasn't his fault, it was… Matthew, according to the shouting. Didn't he know it was rude to interrupt people? He should have waited until Arthur had finished speaking to introduce himself, as was common etiquette.

Calm down, Arthur, you must not get too high and mighty, he told himself, not everybody he would meet would be raised in an arisoctatic family with strict rules of etiquette. The boy was probably more common, and he could detect something of an American accent, so that explained his rudeness.

Roderich introduced himself (causing him to briefly wonder the origin of his name, “Charned,” He replied as Roderich took his hand in a firm shake. After he shook Roderich's hand, he turned to Matthew, “Yes, we heard you the first time. Nice to meet you,” Bloody yanks.

Ignoring Arthur Kirkland, Matthew shook Roderich's hand. You didn't hear me, you spoke over me, damnit!, Matthew thought, fuming a little, but only on the inside. There was no need to express his anger, yelling was merely a one-off thing. To Roderich, he replied, "I'm a water Nymph! I am new here, so... I'm not entirely sure of my way around..." He mumbled. Although, mumbling was never the smartest of ideas. They'd already probably lost interest...

Matthew came back down from his thoughts and realised that he was still holding Roderich's hand. "Gah! Oh, I'm so sorry!" He pulled his hand away sheepishly, staring at his feet. After a long pause, he asked, "...Wanna meet my familiar?"

“Charmed.”

“Indeed. It is quite a pleasure,” replied Roderich automatically in a tone that only indicated boredom. He did not mean to be unappreciative and rude, but he could not muster up the effort to be completely courteous. The fact that he had to spend his first moments back in school listening to teachers ramble on about old rules placed the Austrian in a foul mood. If he had not butted into this conversation, he probably would have sneaked away.

He was jerked from his thoughts as the water nymph spoke. He had to lean in further though, as the boy's voice slowly drifted down into a mumble. Roderich could not help but wonder what was wrong with this creature. It had trouble talking and it was not letting go of his hand. Roderich started to glare until it started apologizing profusely.

“It is fine,” he lied when his hand was finally released. Discretely, he pulled his hand down to clean it of the sweat that formed on it. A frown tugged its way onto his lips, but as the nymph—was its name Matthew? He could not remember—continued to speak, he finally mustered up the ability to be polite.

“I would love to meet it,” lied the Austrian once again; this time remembering to feign an interested expression.

Arthur looked back down at his timetable. It was obvious that Roderich didn't want to speak to him by his forced reply, the same tone Arthur used when he was forced to converse with his relatives. "Do whatever you would like," He told Matthew indifferently. He didn't want to talk to them, really, it just so happened that he sliced his tongue and they came to see. Besides, the boy... MAtthew, was it? Seemed to be ignoring him, so he had an excelent way out of the conversation.

(( Pffft, calling matthew an it ))

Matthew brightened considerably, no one had ever paid attention to him for this long! It had to be a new record! Matthew dragged Roderich over to where his stuff and Kumakiki was, grinning. "This is my spectacular bear, what do you think?" He asked, presenting his snoozing best friend proudly. Although... Although, he doubted that Roderich would be impressed at all (Not at all being fooled by that ruddy face), which made his heart drop, and he suddenly felt embarrassed. "Lazy little thing, isn't he?!" He laughed - a bit too loudly, putting his hands on his hips.

"...Who?" Came a soft mumble from Kumasaki, which made Matthew smile.

"He's so cute! ...Even if he forgets who I am, some times..." Enough times to make me lose all confidence in myself and cry... No! Bad Matthew! No downer thoughts like that! Matthew slapped himself lightly to bring him back to the world.

"Well... What do you think, Roderich?"

Roderich nearly protested as he was dragged away from his seat. He had liked that spot! He had carefully chosen it because the people near it were all quiet people. This spot was not quiet. He wanted to grouse and fuss, but he could not bring himself to be undignified. All he could do was stare at this strange and eager boy's familiar.

And what a familiar it was. He was not sure exactly what its point even was. It looked horribly useless. It was simply lying about sleeping. It did not strike him as cute, merely fat and lazy and dim. However, this strange child seemed so eager, so in need of approval. He could not bring himself to state his actual thoughts. He instead stared kindly at the boy.

“It is...” he faltered, but quickly found his words again, “It is horrendously cute. He must be a great companion to have at your side.”

"Mm... A great companion..." Matthew mumbled. To be honest, no, Kumajura was the worst companion ever. He forgot Matthew's name and even who he was, couldn't perform the simplest of spells that you'd expect of a familiar, and spent most of his time sleeping, eating and pooping. But Matthew woudn't call him a burden, just a regular pet... He nudged the useless lump. "Kuma, wake up!" He prompted, continuing to shake and bother him. Giving up, he turned back to Roderich and sighed.

"Useless, though... And you don't have to pretend you like him if you don't like him, you're not fooling me with that face!" He pouted, folding his arms and giving Roderich his hardest glare (Which, to be honest, wasn't as intimidating as he'd like to think).

Roderich raised a confused brow as all the enthusiasm of the nymph seemed to drain away. Sure, the boy's companion was rather pathetic, but moments ago he seemed so proud. Roderich was not enjoying this confusing interaction at all. He could not figure this boy out, and it only managed to frustrate him. Were nymphs not supposed to be easy-going women? His short temper disapproved of this most of all. A glare worked its way onto his face to match Matthew's own pathetic glare.

“It is called having manners,” growled Roderich, unconsciously trying to stand up taller to look more intimidating. He was hungry, bored, and irritable. He had no qualms about lashing out at some kid he did not know. “But of course, if you would rather I be bluntly rude, that can easily be arranged. Fine. Your little companion is utterly pathetic and useless. Maybe you should wait to show him off until he learns a bit, hmm?”

Matthew winced, taking a step back, trying to even out the height again. This guy was so... so... Horrid! Matthew would bet his right arm that Roderich didn't have any friends with that attitude. "I, um... It's not like he's anything special, but he's my best friend and he's so adorable! But I suppose something like you wouldn't appreciate that, would you?!" He picked up Kuma and glowered at Roderich. "I'm a Nymph. We're really friendly most of the time, but if you get us angry, we can be deadly..." He narrowed his eyes, "we just aren't angry very often! And it's lucky that we aren't because if we were, the world would be in danger!" Ok... Over-exaggeration...

Although, right now Matthew wasn't... Wasn't too angry... Just... Ok, he was angry. Quite angry. "Well, you're not perfect yourself, you know! I mean, look at that stupid hair, can't you gell it or something?" Oooh, that made him feel kinda bad... Because Matthew didn't have the neatest of hair, after all...

Roderich sneered at the boy, unable to fathom how he had wronged him. All he had done was pay him attention, unlike the other boy, and offer to come see his pet. He had been polite until the grumpy nymph decided to freak out at him. How dare he? The more the boy spoke, the more the alp grew to dislike all nymphs. He scoffed, stepping forward to make sure the younger boy could not feel equal in height.

“At least my friends have the decency to remember my name,” he growled, “but you are right. I would not appreciate a useless friend who could not remember who I was.” He stifled a laugh at the nymph's threat, knowing that it was no bluff, they could do damage, but it did not scare him. Most of the students and teachers in the school could cause major damage. Why should one little forgettable nymph boy scare him?

“Right, right, boy,” he sneered back, unable to remember his name, “at least my hair does not make me look like a woman. Hell, I am even the correct sex for my species, unlike you.”

That one stung. Matthew could help the tears that welled up in his eyes. As far as he knew, he was the only male nymph... But there must be more! ...Right? He put Kumasiki down and turned his back, bowing his head and taking off his glasses to clean them and have a chance to wipe away the tears. He was less angry now, more offended. Yes, that was the right word. He bit his lip to hold in the sobs and put his glasses back on. He formed a ball of water - just a small one - and froze it at -40°c (Or fahrenheit, it didn't matter, becuase that's the cross point for those measurements). Turning back to Roderich he held up the ice ball.

"You see this? If it hits you, the sheer cold will paralyse that part of your body. Now. Stop. Pissing. Me. Off."

Arthur was getting bloody annoyed by the fight. They may not have thought anyone could hear them or something but they were grating on his mood, trying to threaten each over, over a god damn BEAR! Finally he couldn't stand it and stood, "Shut it, both of you!" He screeched, grabbing the ball of ice and setting his hand alight like he was used to. Fire magic was the one he was the most competent at, and the ice slowly dripped in to water over his fingers.

"Both of you, shut up," He snarled, tipping the water on to the floor, "He was trying to be polite, okay?" he growled at Matthew, then turned to Roderich, "And you shouldn't have continued being rude." Finally, he stalked off to the other side of the hall, trying to calm down.

Roderich let out a bitter chuckle as the nymph boy teared up. That was much more correct for such a species. It almost made him feel better, except for the slight bit of guilt tugging on him. He shook it off though, continuing to glare at the bothersome boy, even as he started summoning up a ball of frozen water.

“Oh? Paralysis? I can d-” he started to snarl, but the previously quiet boy had butted in. He gave the boy an indignant look as he snatched the frozen ball, and could not restrain the need to let out a hiss. His indignant frown grew as he was reprimanded, but Roderich did fall quiet. As calmness settled back in, he had the decency to become embarrassed for causing a scene. He never lost his cool in front of crowds. He sat back down, not apologizing, but not antagonizing the boy further. He merely wished he had kept to himself.

“You should probably sit down,” he suggested quietly, but apathetically, “Unless you want people to keep staring.”

Matthew felt annoyed at the boy who pulled away his ice ball and melted it. He'd felt kind of proud of that! It was difficult magic to achieve for someone like him who hadn't been learning for very long! And he hated the fact that this boy though that it was ok to yell at him, as though he knew any better! But Matthew didn't retaliate... The boy was... Ok, he was right, Matthew gave him that. And... Well... He defended Matthew too, he supposed... A little. “You should probably sit down, unless you want people to keep staring,” Roderich suggested. Matthew sighed and sat down in the closest seat.

Hanging his head, he felt the tears coming back and welling up. "I'm s-sorry... I dunno what came over me... I just... I don't like people lying to me..." He wiped his eyes and continued, "I feel like I've shamed my heritage... Already, on the first day of school! We're not supposed to get riled up like that!" He scolded himself. Kumachenka put his paws on Matthew's chest.

"Cheer up," He demanded. Matthew patted his head but otherwise ignored him.

For a moment or two, Roderich examined the nymph. He made no noise of approval or disapproval as he sat by him. He merely stared without emotion, still horribly confused. When the tears started to appear, the colder student averted his gaze. He stared at an ancient window, one of intricate stained glass, like it fascinated him. He did not know how to deal with the creature sobbing beside him. All he could do was sit still and let the odd kid talk.

“Mm, yeah, sorry too,” he murmured awkwardly. He raised a brow upon hearing the bear talk, but he did not cast much more attention on it than that. It still did nothing to impress him. He sighed before opening his mouth again. “Sometimes, it is just better to accept the little lies when they come your way.”

Roderich's eyes fell closed after that, as though trying to block out all the sounds of the assembly room.

"Sometimes, it is just better to accept the little lies when they come your way.” Well... Matthew'd never thought about that. And he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, either. He stared at Roderich for a few moments, scrubbing at his eyes. The man seemed to be thinking, or maybe trying not to think, it was hard to tell. Either way, Matthew felt really uncomfortable now. He wouldn't feel right saying something, but the silence of it all was nearly killing him, so he made up his mind and spoke up.

"So... Am I on your hate list now?"

(( Ohgod, short post is short. ))

Roderich blinked at the abrupt murder of the silence. He had not thought there was anything wrong with quiet that had enveloped them. It was much safer than speaking. He sighed quietly, turning to look at the younger one. Looking carefully now, the boy struck Roderich as a depressing person. His face was puffy from trying to resist crying, his hair was a mess, his clothes were not anything special, and not even his own pet could remember who he was. The nymph managed to be perfectly out of place.

“It is only the first day of your first year here. Once you have gotten used to this place, then I can pass judgment,” answered Roderich, a wave of arrogant pity flooding through him. The kid was such an easy target. Too easy. He did not even want to put the work in of tormenting him.

“Nymphs are nice,” he started awkwardly, trying to comfort him. If Roderich was going to sit next to him, the younger boy needed to be happier. “I am sure you will find some people here who become very fond of you.”