Opening Day [OPEN]

[astonishing_xmods]

WHO: EVERYONE
WHAT: Mingle/Figure out Room Assignments/Meet old friends again
WHERE: The whole campus.
WHEN: September 1st, 2018
WARNING(S): None. If anything goes into warning territory, please create a new log for it.




For all of the newcomers, welcome to Professor Xavier’s Institute of Higher Learning! For all of our returning students and staff, welcome back! Once Professor Xavier’s welcome speech wraps up, it’s time for everyone to get themselves situated in their dorms and, more importantly, get to know your fellow mutants! Even if you’re not sharing rooms, you’ll still be sharing the same campus with each other, so don’t be afraid to get used to all of those new faces! Or even catch up on old ones! You have options; don’t be afraid to use them.

[[ ooc: This is the general mingling post for all of our characters to get settled into their rooms, get to know each other, reminisce with old friends, all that jazz. The log will be split into multiple locations. ]]

Comments

[tiamaris]

Tiamaris sat up, fast. His eyes had been shading back to gold as he lay down alone. Now, at the new voice, they snapped to a wary orange, and widened slightly. He looked at his new roommate trying not to react, since he wasn't sure how he would react if he let himself go. Fear in him, what would this be like? He had to share a room? He had no clue who this boy was, what he expected of him... and his comment about the smell... had he already decided to hate Tiamaris? Would he hate him when he found out about his... well... everything. "I guess," he said carefully, keeping his voice neutral. Was he going to be like his father? Tiamaris really had no other model for another person. But... did he have to take that? Had he escaped for nothing? He remembered reading books where characters acted arrogant to keep themselves from seeming weak, so that they were not bullied. He clung to that, trying to make his face look arrogant... which really didn't change his expression at all, the dull orange eyes watching warily.

[batteredbatter]

Koshi was having some very similar feelings but for very different reasons. At least he didn't have many past bad experiences to deal with, just hypothetical ones he could see happening all to easily.

At least this guy seemed... okay? If a bit serious. He wasn't really sure what to make of that glaring.

"Um, well... I'm Koshi Tanaka! It's nice to meet you!" he said, bowing, before remembering himself. He stuck out a hand - right, welcome to America.

[tiamaris]

His eyes shaded slightly towards the gold at the bow. A bow? He had read about that, seen it on TV. That was how you greeted royalty, right? He.... he could live with that. If he was seen as a figure of authority, of power, then he wouldn't be attacked for it, right? Monarchs were only attacked if they ruled poorly or someone else wanted the throne. This boy was just giving it to him, so... it was safe? Right? He tried to remember how the monarchs he had read about had reacted. Not the ones who were ultimately disposed, but the ones who were seen as kind and benevolent.

Finally he inclined his head respectfully, then hesitated before taking the hand once, and shaking it, his own palm warmer to the touch than average perhaps, his grasp firm, a bit on the too firm side. He didn't know how hard a handshake should be, just somewhere between authoritative - whatever that meant - and bone crushing. He didn't hear bones break, so he really hoped he did it right. So... how long exactly did one hold a handshake again? Frustratingly, he could not remember a single reference to length....

His eyes shaded slightly back to orange.

[batteredbatter]

Koshi was pretty tough, and had experienced more than his fair share of "show dominance through aggressive hand-shaking" on the diamond, so he barely even noticed the other boy's grip. He was just happy to shake hands, though after a few seconds he let go - hopefully his roommate did too.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, just deciding to be direct about it - if they were going to be roommates, it wasn't like he could dance around not knowing his name very long.

[tiamaris]

When Koshi let go, he did too, taking that as a signal and pulling his hand back. The hesitation before giving his name was all awkwardness on his part, though it might not seem as such to others. He simply was trying to figure out how to handle each and every interaction. In this case... he thought he was supposed to just say his name... but the other boy had given two names, first and last. He only had the one... Finally he just... said what he knew, and hoped for the best, his eyes sliding slightly closer to orange, though still dull and somewhat clouded. "Tiamaris," was all hi said when he finally spoke, perhaps a half minute after the question was asked. It came out in a sort of rumble, like distant thunder.

[batteredbatter]

Koshi felt a bit awkward about the pause, wonder if the other boy somehow hadn't heard him. Was it a sensitive subject? He had to call him something though. There was a small sigh of relief when he finally responded.

"Tiamaris," Koshi repeated, trying it out. He'd never heard a name like that before and had no idea what country it might be from. He didn't want to pry too much though, so he just smiled. "Nice to meet you, Tiamaris! Let's get along as roommates then."

Moving on, he looked around the room. "So you picked that bed?"

[tiamaris]

Again the hesitation, as he thought. Get along as roommates? Nope, he had no clue what to do with that at all. He watched the other boy, warily, ready for any sudden attack. When he was asked about the bed... was he supposed to have waited? Was there a rule? Was the other boy going to push him around about this? He frankly didn't care which bed he had, he had plopped down on this one randomly. So... he really didn't mind one way or another, but if he gave way here, would that mark him as weak? As prey? If so, there was only one answer to give. "Yes," he grunted. The voice sounded a bit "Isn't it obvious" but that wasn't his intent, nor did he recognize the tone in himself as reading that way.

[batteredbatter]

Koshi wasn't really sure to make of all these long pauses. Maybe his roommate didn't know English as well as he did? Koshi had to admit, sometimes he had to think about it when people spoke too fast, so he could understand. Or maybe he was just really methodical? Either way, he wasn't sure what to think of getting a one word answer after all of that.

"Okay... well, then I'll take the other one," he said, making sure to speak a bit slower and more deliberately. "Is this your first time in New York? America?"

[tiamaris]

He heard the slow deliberate way the other boy was now speaking to him. He had never before had a twitch, and didn't think this was a good time to develop one. He was not stupid, and he did not much enjoy being spoken to as if he was.

But there was a question on the table that still needed to be addressed. Somehow. He did not want to answer those questions, because they might lead to more questions, questions about where he had lived, and with whom. And then eventually this boy would find out that Tiamaris was a murderer. He would find out that he had killed his mother, and then he would attack him. That was how it happened... right?

Oddly... his uncle's face came into his memory, somewhat fuzzily. Why? Why remember him now? Because he knew that Tiamaris had killed his own mother, and still tried to help him? No... there were more people like his father than like his uncle in the world. He knew that much from books and TV. And he finally was somewhere... indoors. He had a roof over his head. He wanted to sleep at least one night here before he was chased away.

So... what should he do about the question? It was tempting to just pretend to sleep. To ignore the question but... but what if it didn't go away? What if he kept asking. No, there had to be a way to stop the question. He thought briefly, or... or maybe he was remembering... blood running over scales.

No. He didn't want to kill, he hated killing. Hated it. His eyes shaded closer to the red side of orange. He didn't want to ever kill again. But he was so tired. So very tired. He just wanted to stop running. To have a place to sleep where no one knew he was a murderer. That he had to kill to get here... that irony was not lost on him, and he felt the weight of the deaths on his talons. on his shoulders. No, he didn't want to kill any more. But he didn't want to be chased away, or treated badly again.

"I choose not to answer," he said finally, hoping that the other boy would not press him, not sure what he would do if he did. His eyes were still too close to red, though the color was cloudy. Close to danger, but not there yet. Not that Koshi could know that. Not that Tiamaris himself knew that.

[batteredbatter]

Leading to questions was sort of the idea, as far as Koshi was concerned. That's how you got to know people, right? He figured he should know a bit about his roommate besides his name. Even it seemed he'd have to be very, very patient to find out.

Even more so, with an answer like that. "Oh, okay."

Koshi quirked a bit of a frown, obviously disappointed but not going to press it. It was just the first day - maybe this guy was actually just really shy? It didn't even occur to Koshi that some people may have come to the institute from much less cushy backgrounds than he did.

"Uh, well... so what kind of things do you like? Any hobbies?"

[tiamaris]

.....Hobbies......? He just stared at him blankly for a moment, orange eyes fixed. Hobbies? Like... what? He read about people who had the leisure and freedom for hobbies, things like painting and crafting... Nothing he had ever been allowed, had ever tried anything unless.... "...Does reading count?"

[batteredbatter]

"Yeah, that's a hobby!" said Tanaka with a smile, glad for something resembling a normal answer. His shy-guy idea was starting to solidify more. "So you read a lot? Fiction or non?"

[tiamaris]

Tiamaris shrugged. There was not much to the motion. "Anything I can find to read, I read," he said simply. His eyes shaded closer to gold.

[batteredbatter]

"Well, I guess I know where I'll find you if you're not here then," he said with a laugh, moving over to his bags to start unpacking. "Anything else? Anything you want to know about me?"

[tiamaris]

"Where to find me?" he asked, somewhat confused. Where did that mean he could be found? And... why would anyone ever need or want to find him? He actually missed the other question, in his confusion.

[batteredbatter]

"At the library, right? I hear they have a pretty nice one here," said Tanaka with a smile, somehow thinking that Tiamaris was slower than he really was yet at the same time completely missing just how much he obviously didn't know. "Y'know, there's probably a book club too."

[tiamaris]

"There is... a library?" he asked, eyes shading to gold, still dull, however. Schools had libraries? Now that the boy had said it, he vaguely thought he recalled reading about that, but it had never been a part of his life, and had not stuck with him. So... libraries weren't just for homes? He had long since finished all the interesting books in the library, but he could reread something. It did not even occur to him that different libraries would have different books. Then the other thing said caught up to him. "Book.... club?" he asked. Why would someone use a book as a club? It didn't seem like a useful weapon, not that he had much experience with weapons in general.

[batteredbatter]

"Yeah, of course," said Koshi with a smile, nodding. It was kind of like talking to a little kid in some ways. "I haven't visited it, but with how this place is? I'm sure it's huge."

As for book clubs... well, Koshi didn't actually know if they had one here, or even what book clubs really did, he just knew his middle school had one and they weren't that uncommon.

"Yeah. They'll probably have a club week soon and you can look around if they have one then."

[tiamaris]

He was... so confused. The gold in his eyes got even foggier, the colour even duller. The poor boy was so lost and confused. "They have a week for blunt force weapons?" he asked, completely out of his element. Not... that he actually had an element, per se, as fire did not quite count in this context.

[batteredbatter]

"I... what?" Koshi was confused too. He couldn't really figure out what was going on, since that definitely wasn't the definition of "club" he'd learned. "...wait, like a bat?"

Yeah, this was a disaster.

[tiamaris]

"....The animal or the tool for baseball?" he asked because yes he had read about baseball, and seen it on TV, but... had never played it. To his mind the word tool worked as well as any other he could easily come up with. He hated being confused...

[batteredbatter]

"Uh, the baseball one... but where did you even get that from 'club week' though?" asked Koshi, still not sure how the conversation had gotten here. Then his face lit up in a smile and he grinned. "Oh, are you thinking of joining the baseball team?"

[tiamaris]

"..... how did you get that from this conversation?" he asked, his words so dry, it was a wonder they didn't catch fire. Join... the baseball team.... was he serious? And how did they even get to that? What made him think that?

[batteredbatter]

"...wishful thinking?" Koshi sighed. It seemed like... having a roommate might be even harder than he thought. He figured this conversation was obviously a bust and he might as well just make sure to lay some ground rules if they were going to live together. "Look, just... the only rule I insist on is if the bathroom door is closed, knock. Or y'know, don't go in. Ever."

[tiamaris]

"Don't go in, ever," he repeated dryly. "and just where do you intend that I go?" he asked, eyes a dark burnished orange suddenly, the change startling in the speed and the intensity. The cloudiness fell somewhat away, adding a luminescence to his eyes. This.... person... was going to keep him put of the bathroom, was going to dictate the parts of the room he could and could not use? Was this to be like his father all over again?

Basically, yes, he misunderstood the use of "Ever".