Almost Friends

[Kira & Lee Norris]

One move. That's all it would take...
The pawn moved forward, and Kira's king rolled. She sat, humiliated; taken by the lowest of chess pieces, and all because of an amateur mistake on her part. A stupid mistake. Dignified; head bowed, Kira's inhaled deeply, waiting for the final words to strip her of all she had left...
"Checkmate."
"You're ghay!"
Lee laughed, flicking his pawn in her direction. She caught it, smiling weakly.
"I don't think I've ever beaten you."
"Nope," he said, leaning back. "And never will."
She pulled a face. "You're just a freak."
"You're just jealous."
"A little," she admitted, tiredly. Hadn't she always been?
It felt a lot later than it actually was... maybe... maybe by several hours? But the evening had settled; and many yawning students sat relaxing and laughing around the room. Kira had no idea where Madeleine was- though, if she was honest, she didn't mind having Lee to herself for a little bit. She was a selfish cow, like that; she'd sort of learned to accept it was part of who she was.
And without Madeleine, Kira got to pretend that Lee wasn't engaged for a bit... 'cause right now, all their engagement seemed to do was remind of Deron.
Whom she still hadn't broken up with, dammit.
She was useless. She was a coward. She was- had been- well, she'd been distracted, had she not? Arihant had been... he'd just been there at the wrong time- or the right time, depending on how you looked at it. She hadn't seen him much since the first day they met... and she was actually a bit annoyed about that. She liked him, and he was one of those people... she just kind of wanted to know more about.
So. Selfish and nosy. Truly, Kira was a model of morals; she set a standard unattainable to others- she was the... something of humanity.
"Again?" Lee asked her, making her jump.
"What? Oh, yeah, sure, why not?" she shrugged; her eyes not really focusing as Lee began to rearrange the pieces; black and white; across the board.
"White moves first."
"Mmm." A pawn was pushed forward a square.
A black knight jumped. "Kira? Are you alright? You look a bit... out of it."
The same pawn was pushed forward another square. "Oh, yes. Of course."
A black pawn moved; blocking hers progress. Drat. "You sure?"
"Of course, Lee," she snapped. "Why wouldn't I be?!"
"I just thought..."
"No, Lee," Kira sighed. "Sorry. Maybe I won't play chess. I'll go... read, or something, instead. Ask Jack over there. He doesn't look too good either."
"That's because- oh, wait- you sure?"
"Yes," she said tiredly, getting up a stretching. "Sorry for being useless."
"You're fine," Lee said, now also absent-minded, as he began to tip the pieces back into their little compartments.
Kira got up, and began to cross the room, wondering vaguely what she actually was going to do, when quite suddenly, from the shadows, she saw him.
Arihant.
Well... it was only polite to approach him, wasn't it?
Barely concealing a new, inexplicable grin, Kira swerved on the spot, and headed towards Arihant instead...
"Heya," she smiled, reaching him.

ooc: Wasn't overly sure what Arihant was doing, or how they met, so I didn't go into specifics. Do you need it changed?

[Arihant]

How long was it now?

He glanced at his watch, trying to ignore the leather that was almost worn threadbare in some places and the great, ugly crack down the face. Its appearance was irrelevant - or should have been, though he wasn't too sure about that. He wasn't vain by any measure, of course not, but... Well, the thing was hideous.

Irrelevant, he reminded himself. It wasn't like he could afford a new one.

At first glance the time appeared to be seven o'clock, and Arihant was faintly surprised. Was time really passing so slowly? How hard was it to make a simple decision, anyway? He was sure it was probably much easier than ignoring said decision, as he had been trying to do.

Then he realised the second hand wasn't moving. Fantastic.

Well, let's just say it had been about a day and a half since he'd gone to the nurse and received her ultimat- No, that wasn't fair, it wasn't an ultimatum. More a... proposition. And he still had no idea whatsoever to do. Not that he'd been trying remarkably hard to decide one way or another, but still. He'd sort of been hoping that something would make his decision for him.

Yesterday he hadn't been able to think for long, so he went on a long, long walk - for the greater part of the day, really - around the grounds, plugging his headphones for his laptop into his ears and carefully concealing the end of his wire in his jeans pocket so no one would try and approach him again. The people here were so friendly... It scared him a little. How could that happen? How could they just... not know what he was?

He guessed people with magic to protect them could act with a little more caution than the both suspicious and normal Austrians he had passed every day in the street and on the underground. And rightly so, he supposed, but he knew that no magic was going to protect them from him.

Today he'd wanted to start going to his classes - see what it was like, even if he didn't know if he'd stay - but his timetable hadn't been ready yet. This left him with rather more free time than he wanted, so he had made a half-hearted attempt at figuring out what he wanted to do. He even made a table of all the pros and cons of the situation, nerd that he was. This, shockingly enough, had been very ineffective and so eventually he'd been driven down from his dorm out of sheer boredom. And the desire to find a music room.

He had had no idea whatsoever about where to go, and somehow after a long search ... he'd ended up here. The common room.

He'd immediately found himself a secluded seat in the corner of the room as he decided that to walk in and then right out again would be much too conspicuous, especially for a newbie like him. He tried to look industrious, like he had a purpose for being here (by marking in bowing on his sheet music, which probably just made him stand out more), but eventually he'd given up and started people-watching. And then daydreaming.

He was on the verge of being drowsy enough to actually be dreaming when a sight made him start up from his sleepy position. It was... it was her. Kira. And she was walking towards him.

Why was she smiling?

Well, no matter. Out of no conscious wish of his own, he found himself smiling back widely - well, as widely as he was capable. He was still rather too shy for grinning.

"Heya," she said, her bright blue eyes showing not even a hint of the distrust or fear that he always expected to see. Why was that?

She was special, that girl. Anyone could see that.

"Hi," he replied, standing up - it would have been unspeakably rude to remain sprawled across the armchair as he had been. His voice sounded so stupid, so... surprised.

He paused a moment, looking down at her smiling face. Like an idiot. Why did he never know what to say to people, for God's sake?

"How are you?" he asked, and then cringed at the awkardness of the words. Great job, Arihant. Really original.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Tired, and bored," Kira said honestly, shrugging a little, and wishing she had something more... interesting to say.
Still, Arihant looked refreshingly shy; he was really genuinely shocked she'd come over, wasn't he, or was that just her being silly; being fanciful? After all, why would Arihant be surprised she'd come over to see him?
They... were they friends?
The question confused her. It wasn't... it just wasn't something you asked people, was all.
"Sorry, you looked comfortable there," she said apologetically, biting her lip and nodding towards the armchair. "You can sit down again... I don't mind. Oh! But, em, hows you, then? Settling into Orchid alright?"

[Arihant]

He smiled at the frankness of her answer. He couldn't help it - something about her made the corners of his lips twitch upwards as if they had a mind of their own, even things that he might not have even looked up for had someone else said them.

It was... well, it was confusing, to say the least. But he knew it wouldn't be the best idea to think about it just now. He got distracted much too easily - it was an unfortunate side effect of having lived outside of society for so long.

"Oh, no, s'OK," he said, resting his hand on top of his violin case to stop it from toppling over. "Standing never did anyone any harm." At least, I think it didn't...

"I'm settling in... all right, I think." Lies, all lies. "Still finding my way around, though. You wouldn't happen to know if there're any music rooms, would you?" He gestured at his instrument, mainly so he'd have a reason to glance away. Her eyes were so... vivid, so alive. It was hard to meet them for very long.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

“I think so…” Kira said vaguely, wishing, for once, that she paid more attention to what was going on around her. “Um, yes. Yes, there must be. It is a subject, isn’t it? Yes, of course it is, Kira, don’t be silly…”
Oh, she was talking to herself.
Oh, dear.
And to make matters worse, he wasn’t looked at her. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, whenever his mahogany eyes dropped her gaze, it panicked her. It felt like he was pushing her away- trying to avoid her. Was she bothering him?
She really hoped she wasn’t bothering him.
Suddenly uncertain, Kira giggled nervously. “Sorry. I’m flipping Head of the Spies and I don’t know anything about this school! Er… do they give you maps?”

[Arihant]

He had to admit it, it was... it was sweet, the way she got so frustrated with herself for not remembering.

You dimwit. Don't. Think. Like. That.

"Um..." he said, trying to reply. He'd tuned out a bit while he was admonishing himself for his wanton thoughts. He thought he'd caught the gist of it. "No, I don't think so. I don't even have my timetable ye-"

Hang on a second. Did she say what... what he thought she said?

"Y-You're Head of Spies?" he asked, rather disturbed, his eyes flashing to meet hers.

Oh no. No no no. This was not good. Spies... Well, OK, so Ari wasn't a spy, nor had he ever met one - except Kira, apparently - but they... they knew things, didn't they? That was their job, for God's sake. Would she - did she know about him? Had they told her?

No. No, they couldn't have. She wouldn't be trying to- to help him if she knew, she wouldn't have even spoken to him at all. If she knew what she was... Arihant. Murderer. One and the same.

No, there was no possible way Kira would still want to be - did she want to be? - standing there if she knew. She'd have run away long ago.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"I... am..."
Why was he looking at her like that? Like, suddenly, she was some kind of monster. Kira bit her lip. She was Head of the Spies... why did that... was that a problem?
Maybe, something within her reasoned, maybe he was just shocked, was all. Kira didn't really look the type. Or maybe... maybe he was disappointed in her. Maybe he expected better. Or maybe... what if... he didn't know what Heads were and she sounded really... threatening?
And suddenly, Kira didn't want those eyes to look at her anymore.
They stood, momentarily silent; before Kira finally managed to clear her throat.
"Is... is something wrong?"

[Arihant]

Great show, Arihant. Really, quite spectacular. You'd think after three whole days at this place you'd manage to be at least a little less freakish.

"No... No, I'm- I'm fine," he answered, his voice wavering ever so slightly. A negligible amount, really. But still, it was there, and he didn't quite know why.

He put it down to nerves. And self-hatred, of course, but he was fairly sure that there were little of his actions that were not affected by this overriding emotion. "Just... a little surprised, is all," he said, truthfully, for once, and then realised that he could not tell her any more of the reason for his (stupid, socially inept, stupid, awkward, stupid, creepy, stupid, strange...) reaction. Not... not unless he told her about... that.

How could Nurse Gornray expect him to remain if just the thought of telling people about what he was never failed to send a tremour down his spine?

"I just pictured people who're... a bit older as the Heads."

Well, that was at least sincere in part. He'd become rather gifted at telling half-lies over the past four years - it managed to assuage his guilty conscience in at least some small form. And, come to think of it, looking at her... She didn't seem young, but... She didn't seem old enough, that was all.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

... What?
"I'm 16 years old," she frowned, crossing her arms. "I'm old enough."
It felt like a challenge. It wasn't any of the other things- it was her age? And why should that be a factor?! Yes, of course, it was understandable, perhaps, if she had been a first-year. But she was 16 years old. She knew she looked at least that.
When you were 16 you could join the army, for chrissake.
Why not be Head of the Spies?

ooc: I think it's 16...

[Arihant]

And by way of trying to calm her a little, he had rather succesfully managed to offend her. It wouldn't have mattered, except that- except-

OK, it shouldn't have mattered. But still his heart continued to increase in speed.

"No, no, that's not what I meant, I just thought -" He took a moment to breathe, realising that (as always happened when he panicked) his voice was getting faster and his accent stronger and stronger. He was only a few steps away from babbling at her in Hindi. Why was he always so stupid?

"Don't you have to be at the top? Sixth year?" he asked, after collecting himself. Somewhat.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira shook herself slightly. Silly Kira. Being stupid. He was just confused. He just didn't understand.
No big deal.
"No," she shook her head. "It's really... really whoever is best for the job, regardless of age."
She felt like she hadn't really explained herself very well on that count but... argh. He'd work it out.

[Arihant]

"Oh," he said, and he didn't quite know how to respond to that.

She was... best for the job, then. The best spy. Best at finding out secrets.

Really, the best idea would be for him to just disentangle himself now and keep himself safe, but... Well, if he stayed, he'd have to... to tell them all anyway. And he didn't...

Didn't really want to disentangle herself, idiot that he was. At least, not while he was looking at her.

"You must... be very powerful, then," he remarked, after a moment's speculation, and smiled. He smiled rather a lot more when around-

That. That right there. You dimwit. That is a dangerous thought.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira laughed aloud at that, thinking back over her words, and realizing how stupidly arrogant they must've sounded.
"No," she sighed, smiling. "Not really. Not at all. Sort of... more... I just can plan stuff. My Spies do all the real work. They're a good team."
Understatement.
"What group are you in?" she asked, suddenly, curious.

[Arihant]

What group was he in, come to think of it?

Well, he wasn't in the Spies, he was certain of that. Surely he would have recalled by now if he were. And he would at least have had the forethought to avoid such a risky group, or at least he liked to think so.

What else was there? Oh, Carers. That would just be beyond a joke.

And... Academics? No, he doubted his skills in IT and Physics would get him far in this school.

What was the other one? There were four, he was sure of that. He'd read a book on it. "Four Groups, One Resistance"...

Resistance.

Of course, the Warriors. He remembered the grim feeling he'd had when he filled in that part of the application form.

"I'm in the Warriors," he replied, after having paused for a ridiculously long time to try and recollect.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Oh!"
Wow. A Warrior, then. Kira had to admit, that was a little disappointing. She would've liked it if he'd been in her group... but, since she hadn't received any notice of his arrival, she'd realised he wasn't. So he got Madeleine...
Oh no.
Madeleine.
Madeleine the star.
The prodigy.
The Warrior.
And as much as she liked Madeleine, she hated the idea that Arihant may... what if he... what if he compared her to Madeleine, and judged his Head superior?
It was stupid, yes, but it got to her, all the same.
"Your Head's Madeleine Baudelaire," Kira forced a smile. "She's... she's really good."
She's brilliant.