I've Never Been Good at Making Friends (Salem)

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Xun had always been pretty good at multi-tasking - or, at least he thought he was.  At the moment, he was currently stuffing his face with some market-bought sushi, tapping away at his calculator, sipping tea, and precariously balancing his calculus textbook on the edge of the table as he tried to finish his math homework in time to get in a couple hours of training later.  At the moment, his ability was actually feeling useful - his fingers sped over the number buttons on the calculator with incredible speed and accuracy, allowing him to finish problems more quickly than he would have otherwise.

Unfortunately, for a few moments, he became too cocky with his actions, and let the textbook slip out of hand's reach to take a large gulp of green tea.  It took only that amount of time for the book to fall off the table, sending papers of worksheets flying as Xun gaped at the mess.

"Ai-ya," he hissed, setting chopsticks and calculator aside as he flailed to pick up the various sheets that had fallen on the floor, hoping some passer-by wouldn't end up stepping on or ruining his hard work.  His cheeks were flushed slightly, embarrassed to have made such a dumb scene in front of other students.

[Salem Hirch]

Salem was balancing his math book on top of his head as he walked and nibbled on a peppermint stick. Normally he would never try something like this, but honestly, he was bored stiff and was avoiding doing his math homework. He hated math, and really didn't see the point in it besides of course general math. This however was algebra an not something he really felt like he needed, but he also knew his parents would kill him if he failed. So, with that in mind he took the book off his head and walked into the student lounge not expecting to see anyone.

Well he didn't really see anybody, but he did a flurry of paper sailing through the air and landing around him. Not really thinking about he started to pick them up. Grabbing a few more he finally looked up to see who the papers belonged to. His blue eyes locked on the other boy and he blushed a little. Salem was never good at talking to other guys.

"Sorry..." He whispered. "Didn't mean to just grab...I uh...know how papers can get away from you." The blonde added as he held the papers out to the other.

[Deleted]

Xun didn't see the person helping pick up his papers until the other boy spoke. At that point, the Chinese boy's gaze darted up to meet the blonde's, cheeks still pink with embarrassment. Ta ma de... So someone had seen.

Well... At least he was helping instead of laughing, Xun figured. "Oh, no, ah... Thank you," he replied back, equally as quiet. "I... Appreciate it." He finished picking up the papers that the other boy didn't get and looked up when the stranger offered him the pile that he'd gotten. "That was very kind of you," he murmured, a faint smile touching his normally passive features. If anything actually made Xun happy, it was people showing kindness towards others, including himself.

"Ah, um, I'm Xun, by the way," he added, offering his free hand and holding the papers in the other. "I... Do not think we've met before." The blonde seemed vaguely familiar, but probably just from class or something. Xun didn't make a habit of getting to know people.

[Salem Hirch]

"Hope I didn't mess any of them up." Salem made a soft whimper and looked up at him. Catching his eyes a moment. The pink on the other boy's cheeks let him know he was probably just as shy and awkward as Salem himself.

"You're welcome though, and it was no trouble at all...just ya know...being nice." He slowly stood and started nibbling on his peppermint stick again. Now it was more out of not really knowing what to say more than actually wanting it. Then the other introduced himself and Salem felt silly for being quiet.

"Oh, um....no...I'm usually locked away in my room or the library..so...I don't meet a lot of people." Another splash of blush spread to his cheeks as he looked to the floor again. His scrawny 5 foot 6 inch frame felt smaller for some reason when he was shy. Biting down the stick he grumbled at himself.

"Sorry, almost forgot to introduce myself. My name's Salem." His red candy stained lips formed a little smile as he clasped his hands behind his back and held his book back there as well.

[Deleted]

Xun blinked at the blonde boy, shaking his head when Salem spoke. “Don’t worry, it was my fault for dropping them, it’s my fault if they’re messed up,” he assured the shy boy, managing a small smile. Xun didn’t smile much, but when he came across a quiet person like himself, he felt more at ease and open.

He stood when Salem did, shifting his papers onto the table and beginning to rifle through them to see how much sorting he would need to do. As Salem spoke, he looked up again, only now realizing he was several inches taller than the blonde. “I will make sure to pass the good karma on,” he told him, nodding with the same small smile still in place.

“Ah…” Xun understood that sort of behavior. “I am pretty much the same, but I spend more time in the training rooms than anywhere else,” he replied, pulling out a paper from the stack and sorting it further back. “It… Is always nice to meet someone who is not… Terribly outgoing,” he admitted as an afterthought. Outgoing people were fine, but they exhausted him.

“Salem,” he repeated, sounding the name out. Wasn’t there a town in Oregon named Salem? Xun was sure he would remember it. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” And Xun genuinely meant it. “Ah… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you if you were doing anything…” he added after a moment, catching sight of the book. “Are you studying too?"

[Salem Hirch]

He shuffled on his feet some more as he watched him a little more. Xun was polite and carried himself like someone who worked out, but of course he couldn't be sure and wasn't about to ask. "Do you work out?" That was probably the worst line Salem ever heard. And once again, his mind was getting off track. "Well, good to know my good deed will not go unrewarded." He chuckled and moved his book in front of him now.

Training rooms huh? Well that explained the posture, and how he looked. "I stay as far away from those as I can, then again I don't need any like harsh training or anything..." Salem paused and tapped the glasses near his blue eyes. "Projected Illusions." He stated, in a very 'matter-of-fact' way. " Yeah, 'not terribly outgoing' is putting it mildly for me. If it wasn't for a friend or two of mine, I'd stay stuck in my room forever."

A little blush spread to his pale cheeks and his nose again as he heard Xun say his name. "It's nice to meet you too." He started to move to a table close to him, more to the point, the one next to him. If he had to do algebra, he may as well have some nice company right? "Oh no, you're not keeping me from anything." With that, Salem held up the book, a little oblivious to the fact the other boy had seen it.

"Just algebra homework, nothing major." He wrinkled his nose as he said the word 'algebra'. Now he turned the chair backwards and flopped into it. His book open to his homework and he sighed. "I hate this stuff. It makes my head hurt."

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Xun listened curiously as Salem spoke, tilting his head and giving the occasional glance up while he worked on sorting out his papers. "The training rooms are not for everyone," he agreed easily with a faint smile. "I prefer training outside myself, but it has been too cold until recently." Xun nodded at the powers explanation. "That sounds... Interesting," he mused. "My ability... Well, enhanced speed is what they call it, but there is more to it than that," he explained. Xun wasn't sure how much he should go into it; but, even now, he could feel the energy build in his body with each moment of friction between his fingers and the pages. He'd have to release it in a couple of hours.

His smile widened a little as Salem spoke again. "I know what you mean," he agreed. "My room is so much... Quieter." Although for him, it wasn't friends that got him to go outside his room, but his martial arts training. Xun scooted over a little as Salem moved to sit next to him, surprised but not unpleased to have someone join him. Normally he might have been against it, but the blonde boy had already proven to be the type Xun would get along with.

"Ahh, algebra," he hummed. So they were both working on math. "If you need any help, math is actually one of my better subjects," Xun admitted, almost a little sheepishly. He had taken algebra a couple of years ago. "It is... History and English that give me a headache," he added with a small laugh.