What Will Break First...The Plate Or The Stomach (Jasper)

[Serena Varsair]

Okay, so she'd have time on Mondays and Fridays after Math to go for a run and get a snack. "So I'm screwed on Wednesday. Just great. I'll be able to eat at least," Serena huffed at herself as she looked through the hot options for food for lunch. The cafeteria lady looked at her expectantly before saying, "Are you new, honey?"

"Yes, I'm sorry," Serena replied immediately, with a slight blush. If her slight French accent didn't give it away, she hadn't been in the United States for a long time. She wasn't nervous, but it was embarrassing to her for it to be called out. Hammel wasn't all too different from Kocher, but she had gotten used to how things were there. The lady just nodded, seeming relieved, "I knew I would've remembered that hair if I had seen it before. Was worried I might be going senile."

Serena smiled, briefly running a hand through her freely-flowing long silver hair, "Yeah. I uh, guess I'll have a hamburger." The lady grabbed a bun and slapped a patty on it. "What do you want on it?"

Serena realized as soon as she saw the patty hit the bread how hungry she actually was feeling. She had skipped breakfast in her anticipation to finish getting unpacked. With barely a pause between words, she began, "A second patty would be nice. I'd also like lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, onions..."

The custodian laughed, "Slow down, honey, the food won't disappear." Serena just smiled at her with an 'Oops' look, before looking at the notepad in her hands of things she needed to figure out. A plate slid out in her view and she quickly grabbed it, "Thanks!"

She moved out of the way of the people in the line she hadn't even noticed had formed waiting behind her. She mouthed a brief 'Sorry' to the first couple of people in view, and just decided to find a seat quickly. She wanted to get more, but getting a table that was open so she had room for her bag and notebook was ideal.

A couple of people in the line she had left yelled something akin to 'Come on', and she turned and a guy was still staring at her as she walked. She smiled at him and straightened her shoulders. Some things didn't change, no matter what continent you are on. When she had unpacked, she made sure to get a nice sleeveless top that was tight around the chest and loose around the waist. She hadn't had a chance to get to her shorts, so she wore pants, and her nicer, more formal boots.

As she got close to an open table, she noticed a bowl full of strawberries. "Not passing that up."

She quickly grabbed a smaller bowl, clutching the notebook between thumb and forefinger and just scooped it into the strawberry bowl, probably picking out at least 10 in the process. While doing so, her shoulder bag fell off down her arm to her elbow, immediately throwing her balance off, threatening to drop the burger plate.

Trying not to drop her food or notebook, she quickly made her way to a table and dropped everything the few inches it needed. There was a minor clang but nothing broke. "Whew."

((OOC: No expectation you were the guy looking at her, by the way, but you can if you want to be. Just wanted that to be clear, haha))

[Jasper Blackwater]

Lunch was Jasper Blackwater’s favorite part of the day, and for precisely the reasons that one might expect. He was particularly fond of cheeseburger day—it wasn’t quite as good as taco day, he thought, but it was, at the very least, tied with pizza day, and it usually blew nacho day out of the water completely, unless one got there early and managed to score some sour cream before it ran out.

He was seated alone at a table near the main aisle, because the distance was convenient and the hustle and bustle of other students had never bothered him. In front of him, a ceramic tray the color of a robin’s egg had been loaded with the day’s carefully chosen afternoon meal: a cheeseburger of his own (one patty, tomato, lettuce, extra mayonnaise, two slices of bacon), fries, three strawberries, and a small plastic cup full of chocolate pudding. He also had a bottle of Diet Coke—he’d decided over the summer break that he was watching his weight. He was just about to bite into his first fry when a clatter of someone else’s lunch tray at the edge of his table startled him visibly.

“Oh, gosh,” he said, although he followed the exclamation with a huff of breathless laughter. He looked up at the girl holding the tray—she was pretty, he thought, and she had very unique hair—and he realized immediately that he’d never seen her before.

He beamed.

“That was close,” he said, brightly. “Are you okay? You can sit here, if you want. I don’t mind. I’m Jasper.”

He stuffed two fries into his mouth at once and fixed her with a shining look of expectation.

[Serena Varsair]

In her panic to reach a table, she hadn't noticed there was someone there. Oh, a cute boy, wonderful. Now she was less mad at herself, but no less embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, my bag slipped, yes I'm okay," She ran her mouth off quickly, setting her bag down mid-sentence on the side away from the boy, "I can sit, good, okay."

Her ass was in that seat as soon as her legs would get her there. Normally, Serena was a confident person, and anxiety hadn't really known her for a long time. But embarrassment was coming frequently in this new place, and she sometimes gave into her weird desire to speak as fast as her brain would go. Taking just a moment to breath, she looked at him again. Nice hair, cute face, a bit weighty but nothing that bothered her, she was hardly judgmental of that.

Her light developed French accent still dancing with her old American tone, she gave him a quick half-smile and straightened her tray, "My uh, my bag was falling and so I needed to get my stuff down. I can move if it's inconvenient, honestly."

The fact that he had said his name to her just now registered, "Oh, and I'm Serena. Hi. Sorry again for disturbing you."

She looked at his tray and saw it covered with stuff. Noticing the french fries, "Huh, surprised, I didn't see the french fries...the layout is so different here."

[Jasper Blackwater]

Jasper shook his head at her apology, still smiling warmly; when he considered all of the things that could potentially go awry in a room full of teenagers with powers, being temporarily startled by a clattering tray didn’t seem awfully serious. Besides, she was new—he was sure that she was feeling anxious enough without his help.

“Seriously, it’s completely fine,” he said. “I’m just glad you didn’t drop your food. I did that, you know, during my first semester here. Spaghetti everywhere.” He punctuated the everywhere with a vague, sweeping hand gesture.

She had an accent, he noticed, but it was too faint for him to place. He’d never been very good at that sort of thing. He looked over to the lunch line, then back to her.

“Oh, you have to go through the whole thing,” he said. He was talking with his hands again, and his mouth was half-full of french fry. “See, it’s split into halves, so this bit is the express line, where you get your entrée, and then you can check out if you want, but all the extra sides and desserts are on this side here, and you come back around to the middle and check out after.”

He paused for breath. Serena wasn’t the only one who had a habit of talking faster than her lungs could keep up. He did, at least, have the grace to look a little sheepish; he was probably just confusing her more, wasn’t he?

“Sorry,” he said, with an embarrassed little smile. “Where’d you go before? You can have some of my fries, if you want. I got extra.”

He nudged his tray a few inches closer to the center of the table.

[Serena Varsair]

"Spaghetti can be messy, I hope it wasn't too bad. I would've died of shame if it were me," Serena said, returning the warm smile he was giving her. She appreciated someone who appeared friendly, and his baby face certainly didn't hurt his efforts.

That warm smile quickly turned to a grin as he expressively talked with his hands and described the whole lunch process. When she noticed the speed of his conversation, she felt herself relax a bit, no longer feeling quite as bad for her mile-a-minute. She could keep up with him just fine, in fact, she appreciated that he didn't mumble around conversation.

"No, no, it's fine. I talk quick too, I don't mind it." Ironically, she was talking a little more normal-paced now, being suitably destressed. She pushed the tray gently toward him, not in a negative way, but a friendly physical reply, "Don't worry, I'll live, keep them. I have strawberries."

She grabbed one and bit into it, eyes widening at the fresh, sweet taste. She hadn't had one in days, and it was great to finally bite into it again. Most girls really like chocolate, but her thing was strawberries. She loved every form of it.

"I'm from Kocher haute école pour les surdoués." As soon as she got into pronouncing the school's name, despite it being Swedish, her American tone died to a whisper and the full strength of her French accent came in. It faded slowly, still wrapping her next few sentences in a lilting French accent. "It is a school like Hammel in Sweden. Very different, but very similar."

Americans were rare at Kocher, where's the opposite was true here. She didn't mind, she had missed the US.

Not wanting to be the center of attention (at least not when she just meets someone, it sends the wrong message), she quickly asked, "How long have you been coming here?"

Oh yeah, that was a stupid question. Serena looked down as to hide her near grimace at the words she had just spoken.

[Jasper Blackwater]

“It was pretty bad,” said Jasper, who sounded altogether more amused than traumatized. “But I had slept through breakfast, you know, so I went back through the line and got another plate anyway. They make really good spaghetti here, actually.”

She was very friendly, he thought, and that always set him at ease. He didn’t mind doing most of the talking, but every now and then, meeting someone who could match his energy was a nice change of pace. He took advantage of the contented lull in their conversation to take a bite of his cheeseburger. He wasn’t offended when she nudged the tray back toward him—she was smiling, after all.

Jasper blinked politely as Serena spoke in fluent French. He’d managed to catch the ‘Kocher’ part, at least—they got transfer students from overseas every now and then, and it was one of the bigger schools for meta-humans. He nodded vigorously and gave her a starry-eyed look that was appropriately impressed.

“Wow,” he said, with genuine enthusiasm. “I was wondering where your accent was from! I wish I could speak French—I can speak some Spanish, and I know some O’odham, but French is so nice-sounding. Do you miss it there?”

If he thought her question was out of place, he made no sign—he seemed happy enough to keep talking for as long as she would allow him.

“Well, my power manifested in 2010,” he said, speaking thickly through another mouthful of cheeseburger. “I lived in Arizona before then. When I saw Hammel for the first time, I thought it was, like, the nicest place in the world.”

He covered his mouth as he chuckled sheepishly, to spare her the view of his half-chewed food.

[Serena Varsair]

"Oh wow, you can actually sleep past breakfast. I missed it because I was unpacking some of my stuff; normally I can't bear myself to do it..." Those words reminded Serena that she was starving. Her metabolism wouldn't let her go long without eating.

Jasper seemed really impressed with her French, and it took Serena by surprised. She had forgotten what it was like to not live somewhere where multiple languages are commonly spoken. To her, French, German, and Russian, among others, were so commonplace that sometimes she spent whole conversations doing a language shuffle.

"Yeah, I do a bit. Mostly the friends. I still talk to them online, but it's not quite the same y'know. But Vermont is nice, and I get to be closer to some family now, which is fun." She finally started digging into her hamburger, though she did have just enough lady-like qualities to swallow before speaking again. Well, most of it anyway. "I do kinda miss my house in France though. It was nice to go to on holidays..."

The thought of the deserts of Arizona made her skin crawl. Vermont was definitely freedom compared to that. The laugh and half-eaten food in his mouth did nothing but make her grin and grab a napkin from a holder for him.

"Just don't spit on me," She quickly said with a small laugh, "I had a guy spit half of burrito in my hair one time. It was days before I felt like it was clean."

To be fair she had squeezed his knee at the time, and he made it up to her later, but that wasn't a detail her new friend needed to know right now.

[Jasper Blackwater]

“Oh, yeah. I can only manage it when I’m more tired than hungry,” he said with a laugh, “which is, like, unicorn-level rare. Which floor are you on? I live in the co-eds—I work tonight, but if you need somebody to show you around, just let me know.”

He flashed her another winning smile, apparently oblivious to the fact that what he’d said could have been easily misconstrued as flirting. The thought didn’t occur to him much—he was naturally exuberant, after all, and he’d talk to anyone and everyone who gave him the time of day, male or female, with the same unbridled enthusiasm.

Jas nodded along as she spoke of the friends she was missing. He felt for her—he’d been here for years, and he still pined for the friends and family he’d left behind.

“That’s good,” he said. “That you’re closer to your family now, I mean. That was the hardest part of the move for me. I have two younger brothers, and we were all really close; actually, I went to Tucson for summer vacation, and the oldest is taller than me now. It’s such a weird feeling.”

His eyes were full of wonder at the mention of a house in France. It evoked images of rolling countryside to him, wildflowers and trickling streams and cozy, well-decorated cottages with open windows to let in the breeze….

“I bet it was beautiful,” he said.

She offered him a napkin, then, which snapped him out of his reverie. He took it, looking mildly abashed.

“Sorry,” he said, again. “That’s gross, huh? I’m not a spitter, I promise!”

He dabbed at his face, then, still grinning.

[Serena Varsair]

"I'm on *insert floor once confirmed here*. And I'd love someone to show me around," She smiled and almost subconsciously feel herself move in a way that showed off the chest opening in her top more. He was probably just being nice, but that might've been why she was doing it. She had a weakness for nice cuties, and was often too trusting early on to learn whether they were actually good guys or just putting up a facade.

"So what do you like to do around here?" She asked excitedly, knowing he was interested in showing her around. She wanted to get an idea of what was here. She had signed up for the Track club that morning, but she knew there was more than sports.

Him talking about his family made her frown, feeling bad. She had never truly been far from her family, at least not like that, and now she was within a few hours of the two parts of her family she cared about.

"I know that feeling kinda. My half-brother Harry is growing up quickly and is supposed to be 6' 4". His father isn't short, so I'm not surprised. I'm surprised I ended up this tall, given my father's height."

The thoughts of her home in France intruded in. It was her house, it belonged to her in less than 6 months. Of course, now it was empty now that the family had moved back to the United States. Serena nodded, "Yeah, it was. Not big, but we fit comfortably and had a nice view. Now it's just one big empty..."

Serena was thankful that he answered that way with such enthusiasm. Some guys were such slobber mouths. "Good, now I know I won't end up with half-chewed burger on me on my first day."

As if in response to herself, she immediately took another large bite from her hamburger.

[Jasper Blackwater]

Being raised by a hardworking single mother had instilled in Jasper many admirable traits, and his reluctance to sexualize women was not the least of them. He wasn’t blind, though, and he noticed the subtle way she shifted, and for a fraction of a second, his eyes dipped downward and then quickly away again.

He made a noble attempt to drown his guilt in the juicy center of his cheeseburger, and was busy chewing for some seconds afterward, looking pointedly at the frills of the lettuce or the stain on the table or, really, anywhere but Serena’s breasts.

By the time he swallowed his food, he’d managed a miraculous outward recovery.

“Well, I work a lot, so the culinary club is really all I have time for,” he said. “Other than that, it’s mostly hanging out with my girlfriend, or playing video games—you know, living the casual life. A lot of people hang out in the dorm common area, though. It’s a good way to meet people.”

He noticed her frown when he mentioned being apart from his family, and he hurried to turn the conversation upward again with a smile.

“Oh, man, 6’4” is huge! Hunter’s dad was tall, too—I never met him, but I’ve seen pictures, and they look just alike. I take after my dad, but neither of us got the stereotypical tall, stoic American Indian genes. I was real disappointed.”

He smiled sympathetically as her sentence about her old home trailed off into nothing. He grabbed the last few fries off of his tray and nodded his understanding.

“Well, if you do, it won’t be my fault,” he said, with a laugh. “I can’t make guarantees for anybody else. You might want to take some napkins with you when you go.”

[Serena Varsair]

Serena noticed the discomfort; but only hints of it. The way he glanced away and acted made her wonder if maybe he was homosexual or just not interested in her. Either way, she relaxed away from trying to look sexy, her body language probably almost read as disappointed.

As he told her about himself, that disappointment quickly turned to embarrassment and guilt as he mentioned the word girlfriend. Even if she didn't believe in love and the like, she respected those who did...and their relationships more. She may not be monogamous, but most were.

To him, this mixture of emotions didn't last for long visibly, and she did reply, "Well, then, maybe I'll meet some people around there...What kind of games do you play?" to hide how bad she was feeling about the rest. Though the thought did occur to her, having a friend in Culinary Club could lead to some fun free food.

Listening to him describe his family made her give a half smile. It sounded like they may have come from similar familial setups. At least from what he said. It was nice to meet someone like him so soon to arriving.

Popping most of another strawberry in her mouth, his laugh made her want to flirt again but she refrained. He had a girlfriend; if he wanted or needed something to do with another girl, he could make the move. Besides, really, she was looking pretty great without trying to flirt (at least, she thought so), so if he was gonna feel anything, it probably wouldn't matter what she did.

"So, you said you work," Serena asked, "What do you do?"

[Jasper Blackwater]

Serena’s disappointment went unnoticed by Jasper, who was now too consumed with his quiet worrying to register much else. He was apparently finding great comfort in his food, though, because the selection on his tray was beginning to dwindle.

“We have group movie nights, sometimes,” he said, grateful that the conversation still seemed to be moving smoothly. He had a girlfriend, but he was always on the lookout for more friends. “So that’s fun. Um, actually, I’ve been playing a lot of League of Legends lately. I don’t know why, because I’m terrible at it, but I can’t stop.” He huffed out a chuckle at his own expense. “Do you like video games? There are a couple consoles in the dorm that get passed around.”

He returned her half-smile, feeling encouraged. A moment later, he started on his own strawberries; he picked up the first one and dunked it unceremoniously into his chocolate pudding. They were good—he made an appreciative noise at the back of his throat.

“Oh, I just work at the mall,” he said, after he was done chewing. He’d learned his lesson earlier, with the cheeseburger. “There’s a doughnut shop called The Holey Land. It was the only thing I could get and still be home by dorm curfew, but it’s not a bad job. I like having something to do.”

He fixed her with another cheerful look.

“Have you been to the mall yet? It’s pretty big, actually. There’s a lot of stuff here, for such a small place.”

[Serena Varsair]

Though she didn't quite have as much food initially as he had had, she was also making great pace through her meal. She pulled a water bottle (filled with what was left a fruit drink she had made while she was at her cousin's house) from her bag and took a drink of it.

"That could be fun, depending on the movie. I'm kinda picky when it comes to watching stuff. If it doesn't get me excited, I get bored easily." She took another strawberry bite before adding, "If it's Star Wars though, I'll be there for sure."

She covered her mouth with a goofy smile, realizing she was talking like he had been earlier. She went to grab a napkin to clear the edges of her lips of strawberry juice.

It definitely seemed like she had made a friend in Jasper, and it made her smile when she replied to him, "Yeah, I love video games, though I mostly just play on my computer. I'm actually waiting for a new one to come in the mail."

He worked at a donut shop at the mall? Now she had to go. The Holey Land...as a name, was deeply hilarious to her, and she couldn't contain the laugh, letting a few giggles come out, "It's a...it's a creative name. But yeah, having something to do is good. I'm kinda worried I'll get bored here until I get to know some more people."

She returned the cheerful look. Yep, she had definitely come to the conclusion that she had a new friend in this boy. She was looking forward to seeing him more. He even liked strawberries! Maybe she could convince him to make something in Culinary Club with them later.

"I had heard there was one, but I haven't been yet. Good to know that there's a pleasant variety of stores." After saying those words, she realized that she was speaking more formally again, but shrugged it off. The formality bled in at times from the language translation in her mind. When you are pre-filtering multiple langauges, you tend to think in more stricter words. Hopefully once she was here longer, it would go away a bit. She hoped, anyway.

[Jasper Blackwater]

“Oh man, I love Star Wars,” said Jasper, enthusiastically. “I spent my best childhood years wishing that Podracing was an actual thing. I would have been so, so great at Podracing.”

He beamed, completely unfazed by the fact that she had been talking with her mouth full. After all, what were friends for, if not for being candid? They were friends now, right? They’d had an entire conversation and everything….

“What kind of computer did you get? I’ve had the same laptop for, like, four years. Every time I boot it up, it makes this really weird GREEERRRG sound… I think it might be, you know, time.” He finished the sentence gravely, as though his laptop was instead a cherished pet, or perhaps a small child. It was, technically, old enough.

He laughed heartily and nodded his agreement as she asserted that The Holey Land was a creatively named store.

“Yeah,” he said. “I mean, you’ll have more opportunities to run into people than you think. It’s just an adjustment, you know? It certainly was for me, anyway. I hope it was an adjustment for everyone else, too, or I’ll feel really dumb.”

With that, he polished off his last strawberry and was thoughtfully silent for a moment or two. If he noticed her transition into more formal speech, he gave absolutely no sign.

“I could give you my number, if you want, and that way you can text me if you have questions. I mean, only if you want, obviously. If the idea weirds you out, I will totally understand.”

He made some emphatic hand gestures again, for good measure.

[Serena Varsair]

Serena grinned back, having spent a lot of her childhood thinking a similar thing, "I know, right? Though I was always more enamored with the Clone Troopers honestly. Though you knew they were going to be bad guys in the end, they were so cool, especially in the Clone Wars cartoon."

Serena realized what she was saying and almost laughed to herself. Here she was, a 17-year old girl, talking about how she loved a sci-fi cartoon. What a time 2015 was.

"Well, it's more of I got parts for a desktop. My cousin is going to help me put it together over Skype. I have a pretty good idea of how to do it, but he does it for a living. He could probably help you with getting a new laptop, or fixing up your current one if you want."

Serena twirled a bit of her hair as he talked about adjusting and meeting people, "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not worried. Who could say no to me?"

There it was. There was her confidence coming back. Serena almost sighed, but it instead came out as a quick breath before she quickly said, "Oh, yeah, I'll take your number, no problem at all. Fair warning though, I like to text at random times. I get bored a lot."

She grinned at his gestures again. It reminded her of an Italian boy she was friends with back at Kocher.

((OOC: If you want to wrap it up in the next post or 3, I think that'll be good, ))