Sit Right There

Beata was a big school. That was something Mal was taking a while getting used to. He had always been used to a small amount of kids around his age and, along with that, a small school. But Beata was large and had many kids with many powers. Malcolm had just barely scratched the surface with meeting them all and hoped to possibly meet more by finding a very crowded area.

His first idea had been the lounge, but he wanted to see somewhere new and his second idea was the courtyard. Propping his goggles onto his face he walked right into the courtyard and up to the first person he saw. "Hi there! I'm Mal and I'm new here. How long have you been here?" It was now his introduction, stating his name and asking how long the person he was talking to had been there.

Summer had passed by like an arid breeze, flying away without a second thought, and she couldn't even blink before it completely vanished.

Too much had happened in the past month. None of it was good, and all of it was her own stupid fault. Silently, she had wondered why she bothered coming outside after staying locked up in her room. Maybe it was because her brother would have told her that she needed fresh air or maybe she was hoping to see someone familiar to talk to. You could've just gone to the infirmary was what the voice in her head told her. The idea was tempting - Lamia had thought about seeing Logan, but in the end, it would be a waste of time and she would've just been another eyesore for him to deal with. Slowly, she bent down and grabbed her sketchpad, opening it up to another blank canvas. With a few sideways glances, her fingers began to sketch the fountain centered in the middle of the courtyard, basking in all of its glory.

She thought she had hidden herself in a corner far enough that nobody would notice her. It was so far in the dark and she was so small that no one really noticed her, like a ghost flickering in and out of the world. All of a sudden, someone intruded on her private space, raiding on her parade, and golden eyes flickered restlessly from underneath uneven bangs. The stranger had disheveled brown hair and bright blue eyes... or at least that's what she thought it was. Orange-gold goggles rested on his face, strapped around to make it difficult to pinpoint what shade they were. Was she supposed to say something? She had always been a failure at socializing; it was a task for her to come up with a sentence, let alone speak.

Her hand slowly pulled on the scarf around her neck, adjusting it to cover her mouth a bit. "O-oh... u-uhm... H-hi." Her voice was distorted and muffled from the fabric, and Lamia forced a tiny smile, her words scarcely louder than a whisper.

Summer had been fun, as always in Rhode Island. Malcolm had plenty of friends back home, but moving off to this new school was weird and hard to cope with. Though the only solution was making friends.

There were plenty of people in the courtyard. Mal entered the large space and scanned the crowd. Heads of many colors spotted the stones and the plants and he couldn't help but say hello to every single person he passed. He recognized a few faces from the passed couple of days, but he didn't address them directly. Stopping in the middle of the courtyard he scanned the area again. It was peaceful and relatively full, though the open space allowed it to feel less crowded and more happy. The late summer sun shone above them, but the air bit a little on his cheeks. When he finally stopped one someone he clearly saw in a corner he decided on talking to her. There were lots of kids and each one seemed in the open enough. He had no idea this girl had intended to be invisible, but it was clear this hadn't worked too well.

Approaching her, he introduced himself as he had and waited for her to respond with her name and an answer to the question. When she didn't immediately he gave her a few more seconds. All she said was hi and Mal had to frown at this lack of enthusiasm. He wasn't the type to force people to be loud, but he preferred when people were at least better at responding. She had heard him, right? She wasn't deaf. Hopefully. Well, okay, she had responded to him, so she had obviously heard him.

When she moved the scarf over her mouth, Mal found it a little more annoying. It was very anti-productive to cover the source of sound. Dropping swiftly into a crisscross position in front of her he grinned, trying to brush off her lack of enthusiasm. "What's your name?" If she was just shy he supposed it was nicer to slowly work into the big questions. If she was just being silly then she would respond and all would go well. Everyone had a talkative side, he believed.

A frosty puff of air billowed out as she took a deep breath, her hands curling up on her lap as she managed to badly conceal the sketch she had been working. Her gaze drifted up to him, and immediately, she wanted to get up and leave. He was the kind of person who could get along with everyone and be popular without question. Good looks, outgoing, friendly, and most likely intelligent. It would be a waste of time for him to be around, but Lamia couldn't find the courage to walk away. Maybe she had gotten too used to Magic being able to hear her all the time that she began to assume everyone could do the same without a problem. Her heart sank down into her stomach - the mere thought of him only brought back unwanted memories, and right now, she shouldn't be dwelling on the past.

Her name? "O-Oh... I-I'm s-s-sorry." The start was only worst off than last time, and her throat suddenly felt dry, catching every word inside like a Venus Fly trap, snatching each phrase piece by piece out of the air until they were disintegrated without another thought. It shouldn't be this hard to introduce herself, right? In the past month, she nearly got killed - probably twice -, knocked unconscious a few times, had to deal with a ghost of herself, and a few other things. Yeah, this should be easy-peasy. No problem at all. Swallowing down her anxiety, her eyes clenched closed as she focused on getting the words out slowly, "M-My n-n-name is... L-Lamia."

With that done, was she supposed to say anything else? Welcome him to the school? Tell her house? Ask him to leave her alone? Just not say anything at all? The silence was slowly starting to stretch onward, and something inside her was gnawing to tell her to continue off where she was from. A part of her thought it would be a bad idea in general, but it'd be poor etiquette of a prefect if she wasn't friendlier... somewhat. "Y-y-you're n-new, r-r-right?" Yes, you moron. He's new. The uniform says it all. "W-welcome t-to th-th-the Academy."

The courtyard was a nice place to socialize, so Mal was confused as to why someone would be there to hide. If anything, hiding would be best done in the dorms. There people had to knock to get in and get your attention. In the courtyard it was open and welcoming and Malcolm looked for the first person he saw to talk to. Lamia didn't seem very hidden to him. Shy people offended Malcolm. Not because they were shy, but because they never gave enough to the conversation and he just didn't like feeling like he was holding it up. Perhaps he would give this girl a few more minutes before leaving. Mal didn't want to seem rude but he figured she thought him rude just for approaching her. If shy people wanted nothing to do with other people, why didn't they just avoid them obviously?

When Lamia apologized, Malcolm opened his mouth to let out an 'it's okay' but thought otherwise. He figured he was being nicer by calming his nerves and sitting down to make her feel bigger. Talking softer was also something he had done and he had hoped he had helped by doing this, but the amount of time it took for her to respond was starting to get on Mal's nerves. He was just about ready to leave. Just the fact that she had to close her eyes to get her name out was enough to tell Mal he needed to leave. "Nice to meet you. I can go, if you'd like?" Mal said, standing and brushing himself off. He backed a couple of steps away and prepared to leave.

Talking was something Mal always did. He never allowed silence to go on. Lamia asked her question before he had the chance to completely walk away and she was just loud enough he turned to face her again so he could answer. The silence between her introduction and her question was simply Mal walking away. "Uh, yeah. Thanks." He responded, not really feeling as excited as he had been when he had first approached her. "How long have you been here?" He asked hesitantly, wondering if it was safe to repeat his question from before.

Oh, he wanted to leave? Her lips thinned and her fingers grasped themselves together tighter as if it would release the tension that was bubbling up inside her. Stupidstupidstupid. Lamia looked up to give him a sheepish, fleeting glance, a mousy smile gracing her features. She should've just gone to the infirmary instead. It would've been more convenient and she wouldn't be wasting some faceless stranger's time. Most people got tired of her blandness, her stuttering, how quiet she was, and her inability to start a conversation rather quickly. His offer to leave was only a short sign that she hadn't improved at all. A few moments after, she realized she had been staring and her eyes immediately dropped to the floor, watching her feet as they nervously shuffled themselves together. "Y-you d-d-don't have t-to go... b-but it's u-up to y-you." If he wanted to leave, then he could. If he didn't, then he could stay. How could he ask someone like her to make a decision for him?

Malcolm wasted no time in trying to initiate another conversation. These were the kinds of things she couldn't keep up with - people who were too eager to talk. Another shaky breath passed by, and she mulled on the answer a bit. How long had she been at the school? Maybe it was stupid on her part, but she lost track after awhile. Maybe it was only because she wanted to forget a good portion of it and try to leave the past behind. As if I could actually forget. As long as the clock kept ticking away with each passing second, she could figure it out within mere seconds. "I-I st-started a-a-attending th-the school... tw-two years a-ago."

Or, it was close enough. It was only a few months short of the Winter Formal that she had taken her first steps past the gates with her brother. Brought back memories of those days where she tried to hide her gift more actively. "I-If you e-ever n-n-need help, I-I c-could do s-something about i-it." The words were mumbled, and her mind took a few moments to register the fact that she had subconsciously spoken up in the middle of her thoughts again. "A-at l-l-least, th-that's wh-what the sc-school s-says I-I should do s-s-since... uhm... yeah..."

There really was no secret about her being a prefect, but she never boasted about it. Her position only came up whenever there was a new student and they might need help. Malcolm was a new student, right? Or maybe it was just a bad idea to try and mention it. After all, who would believe that a timid girl managed to smuggle their way into such an authoritative role just to get something to show off about?

Leaving seemed almost the only option. Malcolm was getting tired of hearing her stutter and watching her cringe. His eyes drifted restlessly to other areas of the courtyard where people were having fun, lively conversation. They laughed with each other and pushed each other around, looking very much like good friends Mal wanted to have. He looked back at the small girl before him and tapped his leg restlessly, trying to decide if he should leave or not. When he finally did she said something quietly but added onto the end the completely opposite of what she had just said. That was even more annoying! Mal had to refrain from sneering at her obvious indecisiveness.

Turning back to her, he stared at her for a second, eyes searching her face. Maybe she did want him to stay. She had spoke up instead of saying something like 'okay' or 'yeah.' So he stopped leaving and sat back down. She had allowed him the option of leaving anyway, but she wouldn't have said anything if she had truly wanted him to leave. So Mal stayed.

Starting another conversation was the right way to continue talking. In fact, he didn't actually consider it starting another conversation since he was still talking to her at the same moment, it was just another way to keep it going. Luckily this question didn't take her long to respond to. Eyes widening at the amount of time she had been there, Mal wondered what it would be like when he had been at Beata that long. "That's a long time! Has it gotten boring?" He asked, curious to know. Sometimes if he spent too much time on one thing or in one place he got tired of it.

It was nice of her to offer help. Malcolm knew he would need to ask a few questions and an older person was the best person to ask. Or, someone who had been there longer. He was glad to take her up on that offer. "If I need to know anything, I'll be sure to find you." He said with a smile. Then she made some comment about how that was just what the school made her do. The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement and annoyance. "Why does the school say that?" He asked, not aware that she was a prefect. He hadn't been there very long, after all.

Having been at Beata for a very small amount of time, Malcolm didn't really know the prefects or what qualified you to be one. He was sure he would figure it out eventually and hopefully never have to be one. He was friendly, but he wasn't that kind of person.

It didn't surprise her with how restless Malcolm seemed. People easily got sick of how bland or plain she was, how quiet she talked with a paper thin voice, how much she stuttered. If she had to be honest, she would be tired and irritated of herself too. No, she was sick of herself every day. The people around, chattering like birds and singing their happy tunes, Lamia regretted not telling him to just leave her alone. He would be better off talking to someone else instead, after all.

She was completely taken aback at his answer, her mind lagging as she slowly began to turn the gears in her head. Was it surprising to be at the school for so long? Her eyes drifted aimlessly as she tried to find an answer. A nervous giggle, sweet as a bell, escaped, and she smiled a bit. "N-n-not really..."

How the hell could this school get old? There were too many different abilities. One day, someone would have a malfunction and cause some sort of accident. From cicadas to destroying half the school to dragons appearing and spewing fire out of their mouths to students fighting one another... She had been part of the misfortune to be played into the more difficult bits of the school. "Th-there's a l-l-lot of e-events th-that the school pl-plans... O-or m-m-missions we c-can go o-on." Lamia couldn't help but grimace a little at the thought of her trip to the mansion. Awkwardly, she forced herself to smile again.

Oh, right, he was new. Stupidstupidstupid... Taking a shaky breath, her hands reached for the necklace that would normally be around her. Except, it wasn't there. "I-I'm a pr-pr-prefect." Fingers clamped around her bag, digging through her belongings and whatever pouches there were. At one point, she had stood up to search her pockets, patting at the uniform's jacket and turning her head to look behind her. Why did she bother? It wasn't like she could feel anything... Goddamn, was there a person with metal detection gifts?

How didn't I notice until now?

It was true, some people were a little annoying, shy people the most. But that didn't mean she was a bad person. Mal was sure Lamia was a good, friendly person, she was just a tad bit quieter and more reserved, which just wasn't Malcolm's type of person. he didn't like it when people got down on themselves and, if Mal had known what Lamia was thinking, then he would have been very upset. But he didn't so he continued to be just a bit restless, eager to go find someone more energetic and open to talk to. But he wasn't about to just ditch her. She had offered for him to stay, so she must have wanted him to in some way.

He seemed to have broken her. Lamia didn't respond to his statement, so he figured it must have been something she didn't feel she needed to respond to. Only she eventually laughed and responded, though with something that was opinion based. "I guess for you it's not. But I just barely got here. Two years seems like a long time!" He exclaimed, finding it super cool that she had been there for a while.

Yeah, it seemed Beata was a large and constantly changing school. But there was so much Mal didn't know about it he figured the only special thing about it was that the students had special abilities. He didn't know anything about missions or weird goings on. There was so much a unique school like this could go through, but none of it had ever crossed his mind. Making an 'o' shape with his mouth, Mal nodded and listened to Lamia's short answer. "Missions and events? That does sound like lots of fun." Mal said, smiling and thinking about it. [color=magenta]"What kind of missions do they have?"[color]

Lamia reached for her neck, but there was nothing there. Mal knew there was nothing there and he had no idea something was supposed to be there. Nodding when she responded he was about to say something but she started to look around for something. Probably what she had reached for around her neck. "Um, you lose something?" He asked. Malcolm was more than willing to help her find it. Whatever it was. Which probably wasn't helpful, but still.

Everything was completely numb. She hadn't felt anything ever since she came back from that trip. Maybe she shouldn't have done that, taking into account the warning signs she received. But it was so like her to ignore it and pretend to just hope, for once. For once that something would go her way. What was worst was that Malcolm wound up asking about the types of missions they have. If she told him, would he be the kind he would be stupid to jump in headfirst? Or was he the kind to completely avoid it from just hearing about how dangerous it was? Even more, was he the type to just do everything for the money? He had asked her, though, so it would be rude to not say anything in the end. Taking a shaky breath, Lamia mumbled, "K-killing... m-monsters... d-dangerous th-th-things..." If he pushed her to elaborate, she wouldn't mind in the end. Though, it was a touchy subject in the least. "Th-there's the W-Winter Formal a-a-and A-Autumn F-Festival too... O-or S-Summer T-Tourney."

Once her heel found the edge, she slumped back down where she was sitting, conceding in defeat. Her brother would kill her - no her dad would - if someone found out that she lost it. How the fuck did she lose it? Her lips thinned, and the moment Malcolm asked if she lost something, her entire body tensed. Was she supposed to say yes? If she did, the most likely explanation was that he'd help her, but it'd just be burdensome in the end for him. She shook her head, almost imperceptibly with a weak "N-no", a small sigh escaping.

"I-I-I c-could probably f-find it l-later." That was a lie. A complete, utter lie between her teeth. This wasn't Magic, he wouldn't be able to tell that it was a badly concealed explanation. Her voice was quiet enough that nobody could distinguish other layers beneath what she wanted to say. He wouldn't hear anything in the end, right? Unless this guy had super-hearing for his gift, then that would be a different case. "S-s-sorry, th-that was a w-waste of t-time."

"I-Is th-there a-a-anything you w-want to... uhm... kn-know about th-th-the school?"

The idea of missions sounded pretty cool. He supposed the best way to test how well one had trained their powers was to send them out to do things with them. Though Mal wasn't sure what kind of mission his power would be useful for. He figured he'd just have to focus on strong doses of radiation instead of the usual slow and painful. That sounded faster and much nicer. Well, not nicer, but a little better, at least. Lamia seemed hesitant about answering, but this had become normal. He didn't even find it weird that she paused a bit between explanations. "That sounds cool. Not really my style, killing, but if it's bad monsters than I suppose it's okay." Missions seemed dangerous, yeah, but if it was for the greater good, than he was fine with doing them.

Lamia then brought up other events and Malcolm got more excited than he had been. "Ooh, that sounds fun! I like dances and festivals. Fun is always more fun than danger. Though I don't know about entering a tourney." He thought aloud, wondering what kind of stuff they did in a tournament. But dances were cool. He really liked dressing up for anything and a formal dance was just another excuse to dress up.

If Lamia had lost something, Mal wold have loved to help her find it. She looked so frantic, he wouldn't have cared what it was, he would have just liked to help her look for it. But she sat down and said it was nothing. Though she did add that she could look later, which meant it was something. Though possibly nothing too important? "Um, okay. He said hesitantly, finding it was best not to push her, especially if she was already having enough trouble talking to him. "No, it's fine. If you lost something I wouldn't have minded you getting up and looking for it. That's more important." Though in this case it wasn't that important.

Thinking over the question he mused with a small hum in the back of his throat. There was a lot he wanted to know about the school, but he figured most of it came with experience. Though there was something. "What are each of the houses like?" He asked, having brought this up once with Owen.

Lamia smiled softly at Malcolm's response, partially because he seemed so flippant about the missions and partially because he seemed to joke around a bit. Clamping her hands closer on her lap, her eyes drifted around for a few moments restlessly, and she took a deep breath. "I-I th-think th-th-the festival i-is coming up s-s-soon..." The words were completely caught inside her throat. What should she say now? The exact date of the event? Elaborate on the missions? Talk about what happened at the Formal? Specify the tournament? Her heart sank down to her stomach from the mere thought of the tourney, partially because she personally knew the half of the highest ranked students, and one in particular stuck in her mind. Another shaky breath, and just as she thought that the silence would drag on for so long, Malcolm changed the subject to the houses.

Was this a common question to ask at the school? What their future roommates would be like? Or was it asked because they wanted to know where they would fit in? Actually... that shouldn't matter right now. Allowing her mind to settle into a peaceful calm, Lamia slowly began the explanation, trying to be as brief and simple as possible in the case that she wound up rambling. "U-uhm... S-Summers are u-u-usually th-the optimists a-and most fr-friendly." Some of them were almost too optimistic and others were far too open with voicing their opinions. While they weren't terrible people, she wouldn't mind avoiding them if possible. "A-Autumns a-a-are the fr-free-spirited a-and most cr-creative." Also known for causing a lot of trouble, too, she added silently in her mind. She doubted anyone would forget the illegal party they threw, and even then, not all of the Autumns were rebellious; just moreso than others. At least, that's what she had assumed.

"Sp-spring st-students are th-the m-most orderly and u-u-usually w-well-respected in th-the school." Lamia bit her lip, her hands squeezing themselves tighter to try and release whatever tension she still had. Swallowing her anxiety, she finally concluded: "W-Winters are s-supposed to b-be th-th-the i-introverts... b-but most i-intelligent." Most intelligent? Hell no. She would have to wonder why she was sorted into this house when her grades were so completely abysmal. Did they screw up her test in the end? The only thing she fit was being quiet. The prefects were supposed to be the poster boy and girl of their house, yet here she was, scarcely representing the qualities of her supposed domain. "I-Is th-th-there a-anything else... y-you uhm... want?"

Thinking about missions was kind of scary, but it was reasonable to train them and such. Malcolm would wait for a while to go on missions, if that was how it went. He would volunteer if he thought he could be of some help to a mission. Otherwise he was sure he would just leave it be. If missions were as hard or dangerous as Lamia made them sound, then he would wait to go on his first one. Nodding he thought about what he would like to do at a fair. There was so much a festival had that it just sounded fun. "Then I can't wait for it to happen." He said excitedly, wondering what it would be like. They had had small fairs in Rhode Island, nothing too big and fancy. What if this one was really big? That would be awesome! Malcolm got excited to learn about a festival.

After Lamia had freaked out over the something she said she hadn't lost, Malcolm was glad she offered to tell him anything else he needed or wanted to know. That just meant no more awkwardly avoiding talking about the thing she had lost but actually hadn't. Mal wasn't sure if the question was because he was curious which house he would be in or what his dorm mates might be like. Either one really seemed to fit, so he supposed there was no wrong reason. Hmm, Summer's sounded cool. Spring came off to him as more fun than orderly, like Autumn. He had always imagined Autumn more like Springs, but a little more fun. But he supposed the explanation worked, especially Winter.

After the explanations, Mal wasn't sure what else he could ask. That had been his only real pressing question, so he supposed he was done asking questions. When Lamia asked what else he would want to know he put on a thinking face and thought hard for a few seconds. Then he shrugged. "I got nothing. I think I'll go. It was nice meeting you." Malcolm said, getting up and waving at her before turning and leaving the area. Perhaps he would find another person to talk to. Or just lounge about in his dorm or the lounge. Just because.