Convocation

[Carter Chevalier]

Weeks in Paris had worked wonders to clear Carter's mind. To revitalise him and restore his willpower to stick around in Pilot Ridge. The city he spent more than half his life in reminded him of exactly where he was going the moment Dominique was finished here. His classes were easy enough to maintain online, but there were definite stints of his impromptu holiday that were a total blur. Black out nights with complete strangers reminded him that relationships were hardly his forte. He had so few to come back to, and he remembered exactly why he lived that way.

But as he returned to the solitude of his apartment, he was also reminded of the distance he had from his brother. It was so much easier when they lived in the same dorm - a simple step or two and he was at his door at a moment's notice.

So he'd visited - at least for most of the day - and as he left the familiar dorm he felt somewhat drawn to another. A small pause in the hallway as he stared at it briefly. He wondered why. What the point of the draw was. He had no idea what the younger boy had been up to since their first and least encounter. But he wondered, regardless.

It wasn't far, and so he took the steps required of him in order to knock on the door of dorm 2-1-2.

[Salem Hirch]

"Die you sorry son of a bit...." Salem's words were cut off as the monster drove it's claws through the chest of his character. The game he was playing was far more violent than what he would normally play, but then again...Salem was a bit different now. Angrily he slammed the controller to the floor and secretly hoped George didn't hear it, or wasn't home. Luckily he was already sitting on the floor so he just sort of fell backwards and stared at the ceiling. He wanted a cigarette but at the same time he didn't want to get up and move.

His thoughts trailed off to numerous other things, his friends...if he had them left at all...his family. The typical things a depressed teenager would think of. The blonde boy closed his eyes and tried to block out the pounding that started in his own mind. It was a little pounding that sounded a bit as though someone were knocking on a door. Wait...someone was knocking, on his door. With a very exhausted groan, he pushed himself up off the floor. His half done button-shirt slipping off one shoulder as he stumbled a bit and grabbed the handle.

Salem was not exactly in the mood for visitors, but whatever, maybe it was a good looking guy. "Hell..." Once again, the illusionists words were cut short as the door swung open. Standing there, was Carter, one of the more larger causes of his pain. A fire suddenly went through him and he knew his skin was turning red, but he didn't care. He was too busy concentrating on not punching the other blonde through the wall across the hall. "What do you want?" Salem spoke flatly through gritted teeth as he attempted to compose himself.

[Carter Chevalier]

As Carter waited, he ran his fingers along the length of his hair. Even without a mirror or any kind of reflective surface he knew it looked good. Perfect, even. But with a few spare moments, there was no harm in ensuring such a thing.

By the time it opened, his arms were back at his sides. He immediately noticed the newfound colour on the boy's cheeks, and it held his curiosity for a spare set of moments before he glanced back towards his eyes again.

Carter pursed his lips at the sudden way Salem snapped at him, his eyebrows raising in a stint of surprise.

"That's hardly a fair greeting between friends." He denoted, shaking his head once at the fact, "It's nice to see you."

[Salem Hirch]

Salem's posture read anything but friendly as he simply stared at the other. Several things ran through his mind, things he wanted to say, things he wanted to scream really, but he just stood there. Almost as if awestruck that Carter would even be at his door.

As he took in the other blondes appearance he just wanted to cringe. What had Salem ever seen in him, he was like a Ken doll. Then he suddenly became aware that Carter had said something. That was too familiar a moment and the younger boys eyes shot up to meet the other's.

At first, he didn't want to say anything, but even in his current state, it wasn't like him to just be silent when someone spoke directly to him. Though, the word "friends" sent a wave of anger through him again and he sighed. He was not about to throw punches, not yet anyway. So, he decided to ignore the first half of the statement and act like none of it bothered him. Why? He wasn't really sure himself. Leaning against the open door, he shrugged. "Yeah, you too." His stance was a little less agressive as his body language would have suggested that Carter could come in, if he wanted.

[Carter Chevalier]

Being met with silence didn't seem to rattle Carter. As he was stared at, he simply stared back, his bright blue eyes taking in the sight of someone he hadn't seen in a fair amount of time. It was arguably difficult, now that he wasn't a student at Hammel, but he was still around enough. His brother was here, anchoring him to the place he barely cared for as it was.

The small lean he gave indicated that he could step inside, if he so chose to. Not to be one to ignore an invitation as such, he brushed passed the younger boy and stepped into his room.

And he took the time to look around, ignoring the blunt edges of his response in favour of his curiosity. With his back still to Salem, he took a slow breath.

"How have you been?" He offered, rolling his shoulders back.

[Salem Hirch]

Salem's original anger had boiled down into more of a steady indifference. Another annoyance he would have to figure out for himself later. For the time being he would indulge in Carter's company, if for nothing else but the fact that he had company at all.

He barely flinched or made any other movement as the older blonde stepped into the common room, which was of course a total disaster area. Salem had made sure of that only a few hours ago, when he started playing his game. Soda cans and chip bags were strewn about around the area he had been sitting.

The old Salem would have been embarrassed by this, new Salem however...simply did not care. As he was slowly shutting the door, he suddenly had to resist the urge to slam it shut. It took a great deal of his will power, because the question Carter had posed was for some reason making his blood boil again. Chewing on his lip, Salem pushed the door closed roughly, but not in a startling manner.

"How've I been?" He repeated the question. "Well, to be totally honest with you...I've been a hell of a lot better." Salem's face turned to watch the back of that blonde hair and he wanted nothing more than to punch him, but once again his restraint was winning.

[Carter Chevalier]

The hostility of the younger blonde continued to surprise him. Where it was coming from, he didn't rightly understand. Without a word edge wise, there was little Carter could do to understand and potentially diffuse the situation.

"Yes, I can see that." Carter replied honestly. What better to use than honesty?

It was such a nothing response to be given, too. He turned around, then, allowing his blue eyes to settle on the familiar face nearby. Carter couldn't help but maintain a neutral expression; an easy feat given the obvious anger on his face and in his tone of voice.

"Why?" Carter asked, raising his eyebrows with the question.

[Salem Hirch]

Taking a deep breath, he mentally paced himself. He had to really, otherwise he would just go off like a bomb, and that would not have been very productive. Salem's eyes fell on Carter's and he forced his own expression to soften. Not to a happy one, not by a long shot, but it showed a lot less anger and a little more of the hurt and confusion that really lay inside his head.

Now he focused on his own words, Salem wanted to make sure he did not sound like a simpering child. "Well, just had a pretty shit year is all." Not the best of starters, but the younger boy was just going to roll with it. "Kinda had myself a bit of a mental breakdown...I think." With that, he haphazardly flung himself into a nearby chair.

"Let's see, first...my best friend goes to college. I know, silly, but he's like a brother to me." That word 'brother', seemed like it hurt Salem, like it stung him deeply. "Then, I find out my real brother is..." The blonde took a long pause and sighed. There was no sense being subtle. "He's dead." "Then there was Cam, that was my own fault. Never fall for a friend. Then...there was you." He glanced up at Carter as he spoke that last word, wondering if he'd get any kind of reaction.

[Carter Chevalier]

A bad year. Carter pursed his lips as he nodded his head to one side. He didn't understand what made the year so bad for the younger blonde, but he knew what a bad year could do to a person in general.

Carter could talk about brothers. He could talk about issues with said brothers. He could talk about how it felt to alienate himself from his twin; or how it was to be alienated from his twin. But he didn't. He could have talked about Cam, too. The boy he had something of a minor history with - sex at a time where it was convenient. But it wasn't worth mentioning.

He, however, was.

"Me?" Carter asked, his eyebrows raising a touch.

[Salem Hirch]

There was that odd silence again, and Salem found himself half staring at Carter - and half staring through him. Like the other male wasn't there at all. Truthfully, he was waiting on him to say something, anything. Luckily he didn't have to wait long, but the question brought back the anger. "Really?" Was his first response as he straightened himself to sitting upright in his chair.

"Are you that dumb, or just that shallow?" Salem was no longer choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to, nor saw the point. His eyes narrowed a bit, and though he definitely looked angry again, the hurt he felt still showed through. "Well, if you really need me to spell it out for you..." The smaller blonde stood slowly and folded his arms across his chest. "I think part of me is more mad at myself, but the fact of the matter is...I trusted you, and you.."

Salem looked away for a moment. "I should have known that everyone else was right, that you're as big an ass as everyone says. But no, I had to trust you and let you in. " Turning his red, and now slightly colder blue eyes towards Carter he sighed. "Do you even care that I may have actually cared about you?" The urge to give the other boy a nice right hook was rising again.

[Carter Chevalier]

It was always obvious when a person's attention wasn't completely invested in a moment; the blank and somewhat distant stares were proof enough of that. But as the conversation ventured on, he found himself wearing the mark of confusion. Dumb, or just that shallow? He would have said neither, had he the chance.

With hands resting in his pockets, he flicked his glacier gaze down to the folded arms offered to him. By the time he glanced up, Salem's expression wore read; likely for more than one reason.

"What exactly did I do to you?" Carter asked him, eyebrows raised; curiosity clearly flared in a new way. "Or - perhaps more to the point - what do you think I did?"

[Salem Hirch]

Okay, Carter had to be joking right? No way he could have not realized what had happened. At least that's what Salem thought. Something about his reply though shook the young man a little and he scoffed. "Wow, you really don't know do you?" The shorter blonde took a few steps closer, but not too close of course. Part of him just wanted to reach out and smack that look of his face, then another part of him said how futile that would be.

"Are you totally unaware of the reputation you have..had..around here?" His tight expression only softening a little. More so for the slightly less threatening tone he had decided to take. "That you're practically a man whore." This was blunt, but once again he didn't care. "Well, wether or not you do know or don't care really isn't the issue." There was another feeling bubbling up in Salem. Regret, mixed with shame, on top of his anger. It was by no means a pleasant feeling.

"I chose not to believe what people told me about you. Ended up with a crush on you. That...what we did was my first time and I thought it was supposed to mean something. I guess I was wrong." With that he turned away, just slightly, with his arms still folded. "I was wrong about you that's for sure. Everyone was right to say what they did about you."

[Carter Chevalier]

As Salem asked what could only be seen as a rhetorical question, Carter kept his eyebrows raised. He rarely wore curiosity unless he meant it, and this moment was no exception to that fact. Whatever it was, he didn't really know. Not enough to warrant any change in his usual behaviour. He took these steps all the time, high school student or not.

He shook his head. Of course he knew of his reputation, infamous as it was. And he nodded his head to the side once. They were colourful words to use to describe it, but it wasn't the first time he'd heard it either.

"Everyone has a right to say whatever they want about anyone." He argued, though he kept his tone light. There wasn't an ounce of anger from the older twin; it wasn't the first time he'd had this conversation, and it likely wouldn't be the last. "Everyone has a right to choose to believe it, or not. Find truth in it, or don't." A small roll of his shoulders; a shrug to the fact. Gossip was a way of life, both in high school and beyond.

Reputations weren't the point, he mused to himself. "Who told you I believed it meant nothing to me?"

[Salem Hirch]

This was on the verge of being exhausting. He knew Carter wasn't thick, in fact he knew the boy to be very intelligent. Salem wanted to stay angry, he wanted to out right hate the guy, but the look on Carter's face gave him pause. Being angry at him was really doing nothing except making Salem feel sick. "You're right, they can say anything they want." This seemed to come out as an very exasperated sigh, like the shorter boy was giving up his anger.

"You're right again Carter. They do. I chose to not believe it, I didn't want to." His voice has softened and his arms were no longer protecting his chest. They hung at his sides, and he felt somewhat naked. "I don't know what I thought, or why I chose to ignore it...maybe part of it was something else. I don't know." With this he slumped against the wall behind himself. This was becoming an emotional roller coaster type of day. But, he had not expected what the other blonde said next.

His eyes snapped up to Carter, there was confusion there for sure. Had Carter really meant what he just said? Why did it matter if he did? "Oh, I'm sure it really did..." Salem's words were very dry as he spoke, but not angry. His voice was still calm. "No one told me Carter, it...it was sort of obvious. At least it appeared that way."

[Carter Chevalier]

Rather than a means to work away the clear anger on Salem's features, Carter offered the notions of beliefs and rumours as a means to give way to it. On some level, he supposed he had to understand where ill feelings would come from. Salem wasn't the first, nor likely the last to ever misunderstand one of the Chevalier twins. Still, he allowed the younger blonde to give pause to his actions and emotional discourses.

Still confused and very willing to show it, Carter found himself growing more and more lost as Salem continued on. Things were incredibly vague, but at least the cloudiness such emotions provided seemed to slowly dissipate.

Catching his eyes, the older twin offered little resistance in his own expression. There were no negative connotations to wear; nothing but the detailed desire to understand a little better. He likely shouldn't have cared either way. Perhaps it was easier to leave him to settle in his aggression. "You assumed." Carter reasoned. Without a single source to call forth as a witness, it was rightly chalked up to that.