→ Jamie Lane ● Team Bromance 2.0
He had managed to dodge the majority, Jamie weaved in and out of the path of the flying dodgeballs - legs bruised, but still managing to keep up with the manic machine. By listening for the sound, a small click as a ball was released, Jamie knew the precise moment to dodge.
Ball after ball flew in his direction, he leapt from side to side, until he realised his fatal error - he had been backed into a corner. The machine paused, tilting it's cannon-like front towards him, the gears inside whirring away. He braced himself for a direct hit. A hit that never came.
The machine in front of him slowly faded. It was hard to believe it was ever real, it looked ethereal, ghost like, as it grew more and more transparent. Eventually it was gone. Two bells sounded, the end of the lesson. Jamie knew exactly what he wanted to do, he headed back towards the dormitory in search of his friend, Kevin.
As Matthias reached the bottom of the staircase after exiting the nurse's office, he decided that he wanted to go get something from the pack he had brought along with his suitcase. He made a sharp turn down the hallway, which lead to Valiant House and, for the second time that day, he smacked right into someone else heading the same way as him, without meaning to.
He winced at the bump, which almost knocked him over, though he managed to keep his balance and the paper handkerchief pressed to his nose, his arm having been nudged a little, which caused him to yelp out in pain. "Ergh! Ow, crap... hey, sorry about that, I didn't see you there!" He lowered his head, not bothering to keep it lifted up as he peered at the boy over the handkerchief held pressed against his face.
Knocked back to reality, and out of his one-track-mind, Jamie took a while to process what had happened. The boy from the Elements lesson earlier, who Kevin had known, had stumbled back and held a handkerchief speckled in blood marks
"Err, sorry?" Said Jamie, hesitantly. Not sure if the collision was really his fault - judging by the other boy's face, however, he had been having a rough day. Jamie tried to be nice, apologetic.
"Do you need a hand?"
Mum would be proud, his inner voice sarcastically reminded him. He wasn't exactly sure how he could help, but since it looked like they were heading the same way, Jamie took the lead, holding the door open.
"Oh, heh, thanks." Matthias gave a smile to the guy, which was partially hidden by the bloodied kerchief, but he accepted the gesture none the less, stepping through the door and giving a small pause to wait for the other guy to get through as well, glancing over at him before raising his brows in realization.
"Oh, hey, you were the guy who was sitting with Kevin in Elements, right? What was your name again? I'm Matthias. Or Matt, or whatever you wanna call me." He smiled again and offered his non-occupied hand for a shake. "... Had a bit of an accident with the dodgeball machine, heh. That thing was completely, god damn nuts. Man, it was fun."
"Ah," Jamie remembered Matthias in the cage, alongside some other people. He had taken a sharp ball to the face, ended up being carried out by a strange girl - who seemed to have some rope to carry him with. "It got you good," he commented, admiring the broken nose, "must mean you're too slow."
"It's Jamie, by the way." he introduced himself, "You know Kev too? I've been looking for him all afternoon, he missed out on all the fun." The lounge area was empty, it looked like they were the first to come back inside.
As they entered Valiant House's lounge area, Matthias came to a stop slightly inside and shook his head slightly. "Nah, it got to my head and I started to gloat. -And- I took my attention away from it for just a moment. Gotta be careful around here, looks like."
He nodded his head softly, mentally reminding himself that he hadn't seen Kevin since the Elements class, and a quick glance around the lounge area revealed that he wasn't here either. "Well... doesn't look like he's here. If you want, you can come with me into our room and see if he's there? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
Roommates, that explains it, Jamie followed behind as they made their way to Kevin and Matt's room. Jamie was dreading going back to his own bedroom, where Ginerva was no doubt waiting to pick another fight.
He resorted to small talk, just to stop any awkward silence creeping in. "So, what do you think of this place?" He asked, curious what his own answer would be - so much had happened, and yet they still hadn't even met the headmaster, or any teachers at all, really.
Matthias fished out the keycard from his pocket as they approached the door, tilting his head a little back thoughtfully. He'd definitely thought that it was an... interesting place. Exciting, no doubt. He'd never even imagined he could tell anyone else about his abilities, and that had made him alot more cheerful and up-beat than usual.
"It's... pretty awesome if you ask me. Sure, there aren't any teachers of what we've seen, but... dude, getting to learn to control an element? Being in a place where it's okay, even encouraged to practice your powers, and meeting with other people roughly your age who has powers too? That's pretty much the best thing that's ever happened to me."
He sent Jamie a grin over his shoulder before unlocking the door and pushing it open, stepping into the room. With a quick look around, Kevin was nowhere to be found. "Well, damnit. Guess we'll have to look somewhere else."
The room was unusually empty. It looked as though Kevin had never been there, half the room was void of possessions, a noticeable lack of clothes and clutter - and a bed far too neat and tidy to be a teenagers, freshly remade.
"Did he not even have any things?" Jamie queried. Kevin certainly wasn't here, and with his absense from the sports lesson, Jamie considered the worst case scenario. The dodgeball machine had already sent a few people to the nurse, maybe it had got Kevin as well.
"Yeah, he did..." Matthias muttered as he lowered the cloth from his nose. His nose was red and ever so slightly swollen, but the blood flow had more or less stopped. His suitcase and bag were still on his bed, but Kevin's things were nowhere to be found. However, just as he was about to turn back to Jamie, Matthias noticed a note on Kevin's nightstand.
Walking over to it, he picked it up and quickly read it over, eyes widening slightly. "... Awh man... Jamie, listen here." He turned around, cleared his throat and read from the letter. "We regret to inform that Kevin Blake has been the victim of a minor accident. He is fine, but will regrettably be taken out of Gilded Halls during his recovery. We're sorry that this happened on the school's grounds, and we are looking to see if we can find a fitting replacement as your roommate. Regards. The Gilded Halls staff."
Looking up from the paper, he offered it to Jamie, frowning. "I guess Kevin isn't coming back for a while, huh? That's a bummer, he was a cool guy."
Jamie's expression showed his clear confusion, he hadn't seen any mishaps - they were playing with fire and managed to survive the lesson. He wondered what would have happened that was serious enough to send him away.
"Damn..." was about all he could say in response to the notice. It put a definite dampener on his day, knowing the one friend he made had already left. Jamie's friends, back at home, had remain a constant for years - he had never really thought about losing one. His fist clenched in upset frustration.
"I really need a drink," he announced, wondering whether the school would slip up enough to stock the fridge with alcohol.
"Well, if they do, it's probably not gonna be the students' fridge." Matthias gave a little smile and nudged Jamie's shoulder slightly with his arm as he tossed the letter onto his bed. He had been really fond of Kevin, despite the short time they'd spent together. He was a cool guy and a -really- cool room mate.
Pausing for a moment, he raised a hand to scratch his cheek thoughtfully. "Though you know... the headmaster might have some stashed away in his office somewhere." He shrugged his shoulders somewhat, sending him a smirk. "... Just saying."
Jamie looked up, a slight smile on his lips. Normally, he would be up for this kind of thing - sneaking in to locked rooms was practically his speciality - however, after the long, emotional day he wasn't sure if it was worth the effort.
He laughed at the proposal, "Remind me of that idea tomorrow, and I will definitely be there. I bet the old geezers got a cabinet of the stuff." He had yet to explore the upstairs part of the school, but he remembered from the map that the Headmaster's office was above the library - judging from the outside, it was huge.
Matthias gave a nod and a smile, tucking one hand, not currently holding the bloodied cloths, into the pocket of his jeans, trying not to think too hard about the whole 'Kevin not coming back' situation. "I'll be sure to do that. Anyways, uh... guess I'll see you around tomorrow, huh? And hey, if you need a hand... you know which room I live in." He flashed his teeth in a little grin. Jamie was definitely a cool guy, Matthias wouldn't mind hanging out with him. Seemed like they could really hit it off and... well, -do- stuff around here.
Jamie gave a quick wave, "See ya around." He turned out of the room, shutting the door behind him, wondering if it was even worth going to his own room. He settled on some time alone, exiting Valient Halls and finding a secluded spot, under a tree. Kevin and Matt seemed like cool people, he wondered if he should give more people a chance.
Some would stay firmly in his bad books.
Joint post with Sir Bastian
