Of Meeting New People

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett placed his key in the lock and opened the door quietly. The room was empty, fortunately. He always found this moment of "hey new roommate" strangely awkward and even though it had to happen eventually, he preferred to push it back as long as possible, that is why he chose to meet his dorm at lunch time. He closed the door behind him and examined the place. Small, at least smaller than back in his old school, but he already knew Hammel wasn't as fancy as the old one.

He was wearing pale simple jeans he had "acquired" not long before leaving to Hammel, a sleeveless white shirt and some very dirty beige sneakers, and besides that, the only thing with him was one medium-sized backpack filled with clothes and nothing more. He had no money, no cellphone, no laptop, not even a toothbrush, but it was ok, in one a night out he could gather enough money to get by the next days. For now it was just about claiming a bed, but since there was only one option, this was a rather quick thing. He proceeded to drop his backpack in the bed and sit for a moment to take a more careful examinations. He knew the names of his roommates, but nothing more about them, he didn't notice any pictures anywhere nor anything that could actually tell him something about them besides the fact that one of them was very disorganized. At least there weren't any used condoms in the floor like his old roommate used to leave, oh, the not-so-good old times.

After taking a breath or two, it had been a long day in the administration offices, he stood up and thought that maybe it was a good moment to explore the dorm and get a feel about the school, maybe he could push the "hey new roommate" moment back to night-time.

[Logan Castille]

Logan sauntered down the halls of Hammel carrying three bags full of clothes and other things gained from a quick run to the nearest shopping mall. He was wanting to drop off his stuff before heading out to lunch. Upon reaching the dorm and removed his key and placed it into the doorknob. He fiddled the key around for a bit a realized that the door was unlocked. This could mean one of two things, he could have accidentally left the door unlocked or his new roommate must have arrived. Logan knew he would be getting a new roommate, but he never imagined getting one this soon.

Logan cracked the door open and walked into slowly. He threw his bags onto his bed and plopped down onto it. Shopping wore him out. He got up and walked around the corner to see a blond-haired kid. The first thing that came to his mind was that his new roommate was easy on the eyes. That's always a good thing. Logan approached him and put his his hand for a handshake. "What's up? I'm Logan."

"Welcome to Hammel." Logan walked back to bed and grabbed his wallet, which was thick with cards and cash. He placed it in his back pocket and walked back to talk to the person who would hopefully become a new friend. "Where ya from?" At that point, he felt his stomach start to growl. Hunger was making its presence known. He tried to hold it off, but found that it only became more ferocious. "You wanna head out and grab somethin' ta eat? I'm starvin'."

Logan didn't know anything yet about his new roommate. He had no clue about what kind of food he liked. Heck, he didn't even know if he even eats at all. People who arrive at Hammel are never just normal. There is always something special, or strange, about them. Logan hoped that he would be just as friendly as he is good looking.

[Rhett Goddard]

His roommate arrived. The boy didn't look that special, but just a big smile and some nice teeth.

"Rhett" He quickly shook Logan's hand, trying to hide the most his French accent.

There was no need to be a big observer to tell that he was clearly packed with money. Interesting. Maybe too interesting, up to the point where it was dangerous. Rhett couldn't tell that how or why, but, well, mixing a rich kid with one with a petty thief past, and present, maybe wasn't the best idea. He wondered for some seconds if this was Hammel's staff idea on purpose or if it happened by chance, he didn't even know if they knew about his past, but he didn't want to know.

"Just arrived from Switzerland." He answered, after all, he knew his French accent would give him away as being from France, at the moment there was no reason to give useless information. "Not really... I was thinking more about getting to know Hammel a bit more..."

[Logan Castille]

"Switzerland, huh? I never met anyone from dere before. Sounds like a neat little country." Logan replied. For once, he was actually interested. Logan had been all across the United States. He has been to Mexico, Canada, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, and Madrid on some family vacations, but he has never been to Switzerland. Switzerland was pretty exotic in his opinion. It's like he's talking to someone from Mars.

As Rhett spoke, Logan began to feel a bit suspicious. He didn't know why and did not yet have a reason, so he brushed the feeling off. After grabbing and slipping on a gray hoodie over his black t-shirt, he offered to give Rhett a tour of the institute. With five years of experience, Logan knows Hammel from top to bottom. "Would ya like fa me ta show ya 'round? I got a pretty good feel for dis place."

Logan walked toward the door with his key and cellphone in hand. He never went anywhere without them. He turned the doorknob and remembered something, "Oh next time ya leave the room, be sure and lock it. I've got too many expensive dings in here and I don' wan' 'em ta be stolen." Logan pointed over to his desk which held his laptop, MP3 player, and several other expensive gadgets.

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett just popped up a fake smile as Logan commented on Switzerland and after watching the boy's movement through the room as he took his hoodie, he just agreed silently after the touring proposition. Just before following Logan outside, Rhett decided to go back and take a gray keffiyeh from his backpack and quickly wore it around his neck. He walked right next to Logan's side as he commented about the lock, but all Rhett did was smile cleverly while looking directly at his eyes and then walked outside.

"So, Logan," Rhett walked next to Logan, as close as he could without actually touching him. "Tell me a little more about yourself."

As they walked through the halls, he looked around as much as he could. One of the most important skills you have to get in parkour is spatial perception, and even though he wasn't planning on parkouring inside, he still enjoyed a lot to get as acquainted with the place he was going to live for the next years as he could.

[Logan Castille]

Logan began the walk, setting an average pace that isn't too fast or too slow. He approached a set of doors the led to the exit. "You wanna know a little more 'bout me?" He paused for a moment and began to explain, "I'm seventeen and I'm from Louisiana, if ya can't tell by da accent." By the time he finished his sentence, he was on the school grounds. He pointed into three separate directions and stated, "To da left is da trainin' field, to da right is da pond, and straight ahead is da courtyard."

He pressed forward, walking through he courtyard and into the main building. He passed a few doors and hallways and pointed to each as he said what they contained aloud, "Down dat hall is da classrooms. Dat leads to da trainin' rooms. Dat leads to the gym. Dat's the auditorium. Here's da library, cafeteria, student lounge, and student club offices. If ya go dat way, you'd go down into da research lab, and dat room right dere is the main office."

When he was done pointing to all the major spots of the school, Logan turned and began to walk toward the cafeteria. "Is dere anything else ya need me to show ya?"

[Rhett Goddard]

Not really Rhett thought as Logan asked if he could know where he was from by his accent. As they walked through the grounds Rhett kept up next to Logan, listening carefully to his words and repeating them to himself so he could later remember. Hammel definitely was hugely different than Kocher, and at moments he thought they were walking in circles, but hopefully they were not.

LOGAN IS REALLY HUNGRY! An echo shouted into Rhett's ear

"No need to..." He quickly started replying and stopping suddenly, noticing it had been an echo. "Err... so, you said you were hungry, right?"

He felt that small distant tingle in the back of his head. Weird, taking into account it was most likely the first actual echo of the day, but it happened to that he hadn't taken a single headache pill in days. He needed to get some.

"Maybe after eating, can you point me to a pharmacy of some sort?" He spoke softly and looked away from Logan.

[Logan Castille]

"Yeah. I'm starvin'." Logan walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a plate. He walked through the line and placed anything and everything that looked tasty on his plate. "This should do." He paid for his meal and walked over toward an empty table and sat down. Typically, Logan never ate in the cafeteria. He usually heads off campus and into town when he wants to grab something to eat, but he didn't mind chowing down on the food Hammel had to offer every now and then.

"I know dere's a pharmacy in town," Logan explained while halfway chewing on food, "ya can't miss it. Pilot Ridge is a small town. It's right around all da other businesses." He began to wonder why Rhett wanted to know where of all places a pharmacy was located. "You don' feel good or somethin'?"

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett followed Logan into the cafeteria and stood aside, observing the other students, as he took his food. When he was about to pay, Rhett couldn't help to eye Logan up and down. Well maybe he does not look that bad for an american... When his roommate turned around, Rhett did too and pointed towards the nearest empty table, which was half the place away.

It was rather interesting to see how all the other students positioned in the cafeteria. That cliche about american school's clique was clearly not an exaggeration. Jocks there, cute girls here, nerds over there, weird people in the back. He wondered where Logan usually sat, there was no rich kid area and, so far, he hadn't greeted anyone and unless he was new in the school, which Rhett doubted, there was probably no rick clique because rich kids don't on campus. Good theory, I'll have to look into that.

"No, well, not yet, I don't feel bad." Rhett answered Logan's question. "But you might after all that food."

They sat in the table and Rhett continued eying his surroundings. Even though he didn't feel quite comfortable in Hammel, he definitely didn't feel out of place like in Kocher. Maybe it was the fact that this was more of a normal school rather than a rich-kid school like Kocher. Or it was maybe the fact that near the cashier of the cafeteria, a girl with red hair looked, acted and walked strangely suspicious. It looked familiar, he knew the gig.

"Do you know that girl near the cashier? Red hair, cute lips. Rhett tried his best to point only with his face. "Do you still have your wallet? She's pickpocketing them as they pay."

She's good...

[Logan Castille]

Logan laughed lightly. "Trust me, I can down a lot of food," he said, "but I usually work it all off at da gym, so it's all good." His food slowly started to vanish from his plate as he ate. Before long there was nothing left. His plate was empty and his stomach was full. "I'll be fine. I'm worried 'bout ya. Do ya get headaches or somethin'? I might have some meds in my room for ya."

At the mention of a pickpocket, Logan quickly jumped from his seat and looked to the woman working the cash register. He didn't feel anyone dig through his pockets, but just to be safe he checked them. He found his wallet still intact and with all its contents accounted for. His eyes glanced over at Rhett and then to the woman one last time. Logan has yet to notice her do anything suspicious just yet, so he began to wonder why Rhett would suggest that she could steal from someone. Logan was no pickpocketing expert, but he couldn't imagine that there would be an employee trying to steal from someone in a school filled with super powered students. "Is everythin' okay, Rhett? I don' dink she would steal anythin'. Maybe we should get ya dat medicine."

Logan left the cafeteria and headed for his dorm with the intention of finding Rhett some medicine. He didn't quite know what was wrong with Rhett, but he was willing to try and help. Rhett was a new student and his new roommate after all. There was sort of an obligation to help. He unlocked the door to his room and began his search. A few moments later he found something. "I've got Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Is dat what ya need?"

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett paid little to no attention to Logan's comment about his metabolism, but when he mentioned the headaches, his way turned. For a moment he asked himself how would he know, but then again he did know that headaches are a very common thing among metas in development. Bummer in being among the bunch.

Logan didn't catch ginger-girl in the act, but it didn't amaze him, she was too good. Rhett most likely made a mistake by telling Logan. Rhett could definitely not trust him and for better, he had to be more quiet and less obvious about himself. After all, if they were to be roommates, it was better to keep his privacy at maximum.

When Logan stood up after his, rather quick, lunch, Rhett followed closely after eying the red-haired pickpocketer one last time. He had the feeling it was not the last he would see her around. And so they were back in their dorm.

"I don't know but we'll see." Rhett took the pills from Logan's hand and without examining them, took one of each and popped them, swallowing immediately. "Yes I think they'll do."

He could recognize the flavor and he was already feeling better. Thank god for placebo effect.

"So Logan, what do you do for fun here?" Rhett employed his best humor for the question. Truth was he didn't care the answer, but feeling boredom for his roommate, he decided to spice it up a bit. The better Logan thought of Rhett the lest he would attract his attention in a harmful way. "Back in Kocher, which was filled by spoiled brats, sailing was the biggest thing. People couldn't wait for the weekend to go sailing. I found it boring, thought. The lake parties, now those were quite good."

[Logan Castille]

Logan placed the bottles of Ibuprofen and Tylenol next to Rhett's bed. "You can 'em whenever you like. I don' need 'em dat often." He then turned to his cellphone and began replying to random texts he has received. Logan is one of those people who are always doing something on their cellphones. He never goes anywhere without it and would be devastated if something were to happen to it. It's basically his baby, his pride and joy. While scrolling through his list of contacts, he felt obligated to ask, "Do ya have a cellphone, Rhett?" He couldn't imagine not having a cellphone. The thought of it made him cringe.

When it comes to having fun, Logan is all over the place. He goes to parties, hangs out with friends, heads into town, and does whatever it takes to keep from becoming bored. "I do all kinda stuff. If it keeps me occupied, I'll do it." After Rhett told him what activities people at his former school enjoyed, Logan laughed. "Sailing? Dat sounds fun every once in a while. I would never do it every weekend. A lake party sounds fun though. I could go fa one of dem right 'bout now."

Logan walked to his side of the dorm and slipped off his gray hoodie and black t-shirt. He then began his search for another shirt. "Ya wanna head into town? I can show ya where da pharmacy is and stuff like dat." Eventually, he came across a red button-up shirt. He snatched it off the hanger and walked near Rhett. "It's better dan sittin' 'round here wit nothin' ta do." He then slipped on and button up the shirt in front of a mirror, followed by quickly spraying himself with a bit of cologne. Logan always made sure he never used too much. "Whadda ya say?"

[Rhett Goddard]

"I don't have one, no." Rhett replied to Logan's inquiry about having a cellphone. At some point I'll have to get one, though.. "Not like I have any friends yo have their numbers anyway. Kocher's life was left behind in Kocher."

Rhett was starting to not like Logan that much now. He sounded like one of those fun funny people that are all about having friends and taking life as not-serious as they can. It's not like that's bad, 'cause it is quite healthy, and fun, way of living, but it was just not Rhett's style. He was not the social type and Logan seemed like the king bee.

Landon...
The word appeared in Rhett's head.

Landon? What is that? Rhett hated unaccurate echoes. He hated his involuntary power when it didn't work right. But it was all about luck anyway, he just couldn't hope to them to be helpfull all the time.

"Huh?" Logan's question about heading to town snapped Rhett out his thoughts, When did he took his shirt off? He doesn't look that bad... "Oh, right, going to town..." Logan found and wore another shirt quickly and then bathed himself in perfume. It smelt good. "Yeah, sure, let's go, it doesn't sound half bad."

Before going out, Rhett dropped the keffiyeh and instead wore a beige hoodie with white stripes and nodded at Logan to say that he was ready to go out.

"A weird question," Rhett said to Logan as they left the dorm. "Landon... what is that?"

[Logan Castille]

"No cellphone?" Logan immediately felt sorry for his roommate. He couldn't imagine a life without a cellular device at hand 24-7. Dat must suck. "I'm sure yer gonna make plenty of friend in no time," he said as reassurance, "when yer ready to get one, just lemme know. I can probably find ya an awesome one." Logan claims himself to be a cellphone expert. He always has the newest one available with every feature imaginable. His taste in cellphones can be quite pricey, but he never has to worry about a shortage of money. His parents send him plenty of it every month. Being born into a rich family has its benefits.

Once Rhett agreed to head into town, Logan thought up a plan of action. "Alright, I'm gonna call up a cab." He dialed a number into his phone and in a matter of minutes, a cab driver was on his way to Hammel. "We'll drive by the pharmacy and den figure somethin' out. Now let's go wait for the cab."

After grabbing his key and his wallet, Logan headed out the door, assuming Rhett was following. "Landon?" Logan looked around curiously. "That's my middle name. How did ya figure that out?" He knew that his middle name wasn't written anywhere in his room, and he knew he never told Rhett what it is. Logan was slightly concerned, but he didn't let it get to him. He just assumed that Rhett read his middle name in the office or something like that when he registered and was assigned a dorm.

Logan eventually made his way outside and stopped on a sidewalk. "The cab should be here any minute now. I'll pay for it, don' worry."

((Ooc: Sorry for the delay! I had a stressful week. I hope it doesn't have too much a negative influence on my writing!))

[Rhett Goddard]

Oh, is it? Rhett thought as he followed Logan outsite the dorm. Stalkery inaccurate echoes, thank you very much for the uncomfortable moment

"Talking about powers is weird, isn't it?" Rhett didn't feel comfortable talking about them, but it was a conversation that would happen at some point anyway. "Powerless people assume all we want to do is let others know about them, show them off. Show how we are better." No headaces IS better. "I've learned, though, that most metas don't go around showing them off or actually talking about them. Most consider it a rather personal thing, an intimate topic for a conversation."

Rhett paused as they arrived at the sidewalk to wait for the cab.

"So yes, considering we're living together, you will find out eventually so I'll drop it off." That sounded like it's a load. Well maybe it is... "I have this... I think the word in English is the same as in French, clairvoyance?" At that moment the cab arrived and Rhett quickly jumped in first, moving towards the opposite side to make space for Logan. "It is actually a combination of that and... retrocognition, is it? It's called Extrasensory Perception." Rhett paused and attempted to look at Logan directly to his eyes. "I gain information randomly, past, present or facts, about people around me."

Rhett then quickly looked away and breathed heavily in and out. It felt like he talked for ages withuot leaving Logan any moment to reply. Having control of a conversation was good, but he didn't enjoy direct control that much.