Um. Awkward. (Amos)

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Everything was much clearer when you were off the ground, Ravyn thought. You felt freer, less tied down to the drama and complications of the world below. Most of the time when she couldn't deal with things she just flew, flew until her muscles burned and she ran out of breath.

She had done that today. Between officially breaking up with Cameron (whom she had heard was getting around even more than she realized), meeting up again with Lucah, and her knew sort-of-friendship/sort-of-crush on the Raines twins, she just needed to get away from Hammel for a while.

Now, panting, she found a place to perch - a random window on the third floor. It had a nice hollow in the wall of the building, and she settled down, peering into the room but unable to see inside through the foggy glass. She assumed it was empty, just for the sake of feeling alone. Because now that she had finished her outburst and had her feet on somewhat solid ground again, she felt a turmoil of emotions bubble up within her.

Without warning, she began to sob. She hated crying. She hadn't really cried in a long time, apart from the occasional tear and sniffle. Even throughout the mess she had just gotten herself out of, she had managed to, for the most part, stand strong and keep herself calm. But now, up here, feeling secluded and alone, it was just too much. Sometimes the only thing that could make you feel better was a good cry, and she indulged herself now, folding her arms around her knees and pressing her forehead against her legs as she sobbed.

[Amos Freeman]

Amos was struggling with the Xerox machine, holding several choice parts of it together while trying to get an even copy.

He was alone in the publications room, as per usual, because it was a small club to begin with and most of the people who said they were going to show up never did. Some of them had other clubs that they cared more about, for example. Others were too busy organizing parties to get any actual journalism done. The ones who didn’t have an excuse probably could have come up with one, given five minutes and an impending deadline.

Regardless of how it sounded, he didn’t mind too much.

He pulled the still-warm sheet out of the tray and sighed, scratching his head as he thought. The margins were still uneven; he hated to waste paper, but leaving it like that was totally out of the question. He carried the paper over to the cardboard box by the window that he had designated for paper recycling.

That was when he heard the crying.

He stood temporarily frozen, dozens of thoughts whipping through his mind at approximately light speed. It was definitely a female voice, strained though it was. Amos was comforted by the fact that women were generally less likely to be serial killers, and sobbing ones even less so, although it still left the question of how said woman managed to get outside a third floor window.

Well, he supposed, it was Hammel. Weirder things had happened.

He dropped the paper into the box with a light swish and pulled the shades back tentatively so that he could peek out of them. He saw the edge of one ivory-and-brown mottled wing, and his heart sank.

He knew who that was.

Not intimately, of course; Ravyn Rozanova was rather more popular than he was, and they had only spoken once or twice in their entire time together as classmates. He wondered briefly if it was really his place to be comforting someone that was well outside of his social circle, but then he considered the alternative.

He couldn’t just let her, you know, cry.

“Um,” he said a bit quietly, pushing the window open further and sticking his head halfway out. He hit the back of his head on the frame, and he inhaled sharply to refrain from using his more choice vocabulary. “Er,” he began again, undeterred. “Are you… you know, okay?”

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn was far too into her breakdown to notice Amos peeking out through the shades. When the window creaked, however, her heart leaped and she jerked her head upwards (almost falling off of her perch in the process), her eyes focusing on the pale-skinned boy peering out at her. Oh, God. She had thought she was alone. She turned her head away and attempted to brush her cheeks with her sleeves, but it was hard, being cramped up along the window. She recognized him - Amos, that kind of nerdy guy that she didn't really know, but remembered him asking her and some of her friends questions for an article once. She didn't recall exactly how she reacted, but she knew she was with Cam at the time, and so she more than likely hurt his feelings. Not necessarily on purpose, but she always went along with the crowd, and Cameron had more than likely made fun of the poor boy. She felt guilty, even if it hadn't been entirely her fault.

"M'fine," she mumbled, talking to the air. "Just, you know, getting some... Fresh air." She bit her lip. She wanted to ask him to leave her be, but that would be rude, and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt someone else.

"Um," she said, turning back towards Amos and peering in through the window. "Where exactly am I?" Now that she had someone to talk to, she should at least attempt to be friendly. Even if her eyes were most certainly puffy and red, and she probably looked extremely unattractive with the mascara-running-down-the-cheeks look. She sniffed, rubbing at her face again. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to interrupt.... Whatever you were doing."

[Amos Freeman]

“Right,” Amos said, not unkindly but a tad bit skeptical. The first and second floors also had fresh air, as far as he knew. He paused awkwardly for several moments; the windowsill was digging into his toneless stomach uncomfortably. “Um, do you want a bottle of water or something?”

He didn’t really know what people normally did when they attempted to comfort someone, although he inexplicably found himself doing it rather often.

“I’m in the publications room,” he replied, adjusting himself on the window. “I mean, it just gets a little stuffy in here in the summer, so… I wasn’t trying to, like, eavesdrop or anything. I was just trying to get the margins straight on the front page of the, um, student newspaper.”

Which you probably don’t even read, he added mentally with a slightly accusatory pang. Even though it’s free.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

She let out a little laugh. It was really more of a hiccuping sigh, but at least it was something. "Actually, water sounds nice," she admitted, shifting a little. "I was just flying for about... Gosh, I don't even know how long. Longer than usual. I'm parched." She managed to give him a very slight smile. "Thanks. Amos, right?" She knew, but it was better to pretend she wasn't certain.

"The publications room?" she asked, confusion evident on her face. She wasn't going to admit it, but she had never even heard of it. The student newspaper, however, she had heard of, and she felt a little heat rise to her face. She had never even opened a copy before. "Oh. Well, that sounds like a good reason to be in there." What else could she say?

She peered in again. "I don't suppose I could come in, could I? I... Think I'm done for now," she said, motioning slightly towards her face. "And I wouldn't mind taking a look at what you're working on," she added. If nothing else, it would help her get her mind off of things. "If... If that's okay," she muttered, glancing down. "I could use a distraction." She shrugged, wincing as a wing bumped uncomfortably against the stone edge of the sill she sat on.