Try to eat something

[Isolde Moore]

Isolde stopped to think but he had just answered for her. But her brain didn't want to register that fact.
"...Oh, warriors too, blank moment," she laughed at her stupidity.
"Usually I would ask what powers you ahve as do most people around here do like some custom but I don't care much. Sorry if I sound rude," she added on quickly.

[Arihant]

His heart pounded for a moment as he heard her mentioning powers. He still hadn't been able to tell anyone about that just yet - he hadn't even tried, but... Well, no one had asked him either. And he was glad of that fact.

But then his pulse slowly returned to a more normal rate as he... he realised that it was OK. She wasn't asking. She wasn't asking. He liked this girl immensely more for that fact.

Although... what did she say? It was a... a custom?

That wasn't good.

"It's alright, I... don't mind." That. Right there. That was an understatement. He paused for a while and managed to eat a bite of the food on the plate below that was plaguing him so.

He couldn't stop himself from asking, though.

"Do they... always ask? What your powers are, I mean."

[Isolde Moore]

"No, well yes, but I haven't had the fortune to meet many people yet which I'm kind of glad about," she answered truthfully.
She liked this guy.
That was two nice friends she had now...well she hoped.

[Arihant]

"Neither have I," he replied. Yet another understatement. He'd met one person so far, other than this girl, and he hadn't seen her since- since-

Well, that didn't matter right now.

"It's really not as easy as they make it out to be."

[Isolde Moore]

"I get what you mean," she mused and bit into her new cheese and ham bagette.
"The lunch food isn't great either," she turned it down.
"So what class are you in next?" she asked brightly.

[Arihant]

Right, that was it. He couldn't eat a single other bite of this mush... 'stew'... whatever it was. It tasted like it had been fermenting for at least three weeks, and though he was not usually fussy about food, he had to make an exception here. The thing was vile.

He pushed his plate away and took a sip of his water.

"I haven't actually got my timetable yet," he replied when he'd finished gulping down the clear liquid. Was that normal? Not having his timetable yet?

Maybe they were waiting until they knew he was going to stay.

Ugh.

[Isolde Moore]

Isolde looked up at him, bewildered.
"How come?" confusion drenched her voice.
She realized this was not her bussiness so she decided to change the subject.
"This food is....eugh!" she shuddered.

[Arihant]

She certainly seemed to be perceptive, he could give her that much. So far she'd managed to avoid a lot of subjects that he wouldn't have been able to deal with - his family, his powers... - and now she appeared to be - Well, he didn't know. Was she changing the subject so that he wouldn't have to explain himself about his timetable, or just because the horrendous food had actually distracted her?

If it was the former, then he felt he had ample reason to be concerned. If she could... could tell that he was uncomfortable with talking about these things, then would she want to know why? Would she try to find out? Maybe she didn't even have to... Maybe she was one of the telepaths that Nurse Gornray had not-so-very-subtly hinted about. (He had quite the fear of running into one of them.)

So he hoped it was the latter. After all, he was hardly interesting. Just because he had secrets didn't mean the whole world would be clamouring to find out about them - at least, he hoped so. It was a lot harder to remain inconspicuous in such a close-knit community as this school clearly was.

After a moment's deliberation, he decided to ignore her first question. A conversation about the abysmal lunch they'd been provided with would be considerably less dangerous.

"I know, isn't it?" he answered, his voice considerably lighter than he felt. "I have a feeling that some unfortunate rat may have drowned in this stew." He gestured at his plate with distaste and took another gulp of water to try and remove the taste from his mouth.

[Isolde Moore]

Isolde laughed and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, this cheese is quite.....well a lot of colourful words could cover it but I don't feel obliged to say them so I shal just go with...eugh! again," she smiled and threw the cheese down on the plate and took a swig of orange juice.

[Arihant]

There was only one overriding thought in his brain as he watched her laugh at what he'd said and throw her baguette down on the table -

This. Is. Weird.

God, how long was it since the last time he'd just sat and spoken - joked - with someone? How long was it since the last time that-

Wait, hold on.

And now memories filled his mind, but not the disturbing kind. Not like last time. That 'last time' was what he was thinking of - sitting in the snow, talking, laughing - he had laughed, hadn't he? Or at least, he was fairly sure she had - and sure, he'd showed how much of a freak he was, but she didn't seem to - had she even cared? She'd seemed... maybe she had been concerned.

No. No. He was just deluding himself. He was probably leaving, anyway - what sort of life would await him here if he didn't go? He'd just be some kind of social outcast, a complete reject. He couldn't make friends with anyone (even if he was able to, something which he doubted considerably).

It would just be the same as before, only that there'd be spectators for his solitude.

"Yeah," he said quietly, a little of his sadness seeping through into his tone. Then he roused himself, reminding himself that he was actually having a conversation with someone, and that it still wasn't in his best interests to freak her out completely.

"Yeah," he repeated, louder and more brightly. "I think we can safely establish that we won't be getting any fine cuisine here."

He tried to smile.

[Isolde Moore]

Isolde smiled and shook her head.
"I don't think that's entirely true, they've got have some good food here. Just not today at the present," she shrugged and smiled brightly.
"You have a very nice smile, you should show it off more often," she stared past his head out the window, "Anyway, where have you been in the school so far anyway?"

[Arihant]

And now she was complimenting him, and he still didn't understand why. God, it felt so strange - so surreal - as if it wasn't him who was sitting there. It wasn't him.

Why did they all have to treat him as one of them? Why did they have to be so welcoming? It was... It just... All it did was make it harder. Harder to push them away.

"Not many places," he said, trying to recollect where he'd been. "Just the dorms and a couple of other places. I think I'll probably go for a walk around the campus this afternoon."

Yes, that would be better. Much better. Time to think. Time to be alone.

To decide.

"What about you?"

[Isolde Moore]

"Not as much as I would like too," Isolde frowned.
"I've only been here for a few days and so far I've only seen my classrooms, reception, common room, girls dorms and here. I would like to explore outside though sometime," she added quietly.
Silence flowed between them for some time and neither knew how to break the silence. She broke the baguette into tiny pieces before speaking again to break the horrible silence.
"So...what parts of the school have you seen?" asking the first question that came into her head.

[Arihant]

He thought for a moment.

"Um... Just my dorm, the battle training grounds, the hospital and here," he answered truthfully. There was no point concealing this from her, and he didn't like to lie unless it was absolutely necessary.

"So, really, not very much."

[Isolde Moore]

"Like me, then," she smiled merrily and took another sip of her orange juice.
"Do have nay specialties? playing musical instruments, playing any sports or what not?" she asked trying to keep the conversation flowing.