Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a decent afternoon of fencing practice. Howl had barely been able to convince two other students to start up a fencing team. It was somewhat surprising that the other boys weren't really interested in learning sword-play. Fencing did not require pummeling the opponents, and perhaps that was the reason for the lack of interest in the sport. Back at his old school, Howl was an average fencer. In Hillworth, he was the best on the team, which did not please the effeminate lad at all. There was no challenge for improvement until competitions.

Knowing that his fencing teammates were only going to supply him with a small amount of practice each day, he had been putting in extra hours on basic exercises. And such extra hours had made him less than pleasing to smell. The full body protective gear he had to wear did not exactly breathe very well, and as a result, he had to take a shower.

The showers were pretty quiet while he cleaned himself up, but when he finished his shower and was on his way out with his towel around his waist, he heard a relatively shrill cry of there being a girl in the showers. Howl's head drooped slightly and he let out a wispy sigh.

"I apologize," he stated, his voice being enough to reveal their mistake, "but I do not have the proper parts to be considered a girl." He turned to face the two boys, smiling in a manner that seemed to read "I'm used to this."

It was not like Howl had not experienced this sort of thing before. If it was the very first time he was mistaken for a girl, he would have been embarrassed by the current situation. However, after at least 12 years worth of being called a girl in school, he seemed relatively unphased by the situation. He brought up his hand to his own chin and listened to the baffled lad as he seemed to sputter out stray words in confusion. The other lad (who looked similar to the first one) at least was more coherent.

"I am not trying to sound male, sirs. This is the voice puberty bestowed upon me," he calmly replied. Momentarily, he glanced towards a drenched lock of hair before brushing it off of his face. At least the wet hair would stay out of his face, since it wasn't as silky as it usually was when dry.

In an attempt to pull the conversation away from his "feminine charm," Howl casually commented "So, it is obvious that Killingworth caught you doing something. Dare I ask what the punishment was?"

Ah yes, the infamous reactions of disbelief. They were always so priceless to watch. Being an avid people watcher, Howl did enjoy this part of the socializing process. He might have commented about his voice in comparison to his body, or if he had been raised with no manners, he may have rolled his eyes. Yet this was not how Howl functioned.

Politely, he continued on the conversation while trying to not pay too much mind to Mister Gawk-face. "I feel for you both. That sounds like quite a punishment." He paused and let out a polite chuckle as he pointed out "I suppose this means you will be resting quite nicely tonight."

One more chuckle escaped from his mouth before he cut it off short.

"Oh! I have been rude! Here we are talking, and I have not even introduced myself!" Holding onto his towel with his left hand, he extended his right hand. "I believe the title the school gave me was the 'school hot chick,' but I usually go by the name of Howl Wickham. It is nice to meet you and your... I assume your brother?"

Howl's hand returned the squeeze with a polite, yet firm grip of his own. "Xanis, that is an interesting last name. What nationality is it, could you...?"

It was about here that the older brother interjected. Another sigh escaped him as he attempted to think of a polite rebuttal. However, nothing was really coming to mind all that readily.

"Elzo, was it? I can assure you I do not use steroids. However, if you don't believe me, then I guess I should leave you alone, seeing as I do not swing that way." If one knew Howl well enough, they would have been a bit surprised at the last statement. However, he followed up the comment with a chuckle, to signal it had been meant as a joke (even if it was what Howl would consider to be a ridiculously rude joke at best).

The spectacle was absolutely amusing to watch. If it weren't for the fact that Howl was so polite, he might have laughed a bit more, but he held in the laughter. After all, he had gained this amusement by being a bit mean, and it would be cruel if he laughed aloud over such amusement. The effeminate lad also couldn't help but think about how Elzo was the only one who was wearing swimming trunks to take a shower.

In a hope to maybe enlighten the elder brother, Howl directed a comment casually to the younger brother. "Marlo, dear boy, it would seem that your brother missed out on the joke." Letting out another polite chuckle, he turned partially towards the locker stalls. "As much as I enjoy just standing around in a towel, I would actually prefer to get back into my boxers. I would enjoy continuing this conversation after you two have... cleaned up a bit." A gentle smile curled upon Howl's thin lips as he began to turn towards the lockers again, offering a polite wave as he began to exit the scenario.

With his back turned, Howl was defenseless against the accidental assault. All the accusations were relatively standard and went relatively unnoticed. However, the towel he had been holding up to his hips suddenly grew heavy (thanks to Elzo and that thing called gravity) and insisted upon straying from where it had been held. It took Howl about three steps to fully grasp what had just happened.

He had been exposed. The common place emotion of embarrassment bubbled up inside of him, causing his cheeks to flush mildly. Yet, it seemed that even then, when the whole locker room got completely silent, that Howl had retained his dignity (to the degree that was humanly possible). Certainly, he could have acted immature and yelled at Elzo, or he could have run off, covering himself and crying. No amount of cursing, crying, or cowardice would give him back his dignity. It was in Howl's nature to do the respectable thing.

Loosely placing his left hand over his nether regions, he turned to face Elzo. He leaned down to where he had fallen. He no longer had his gentle smile upon his face, but instead had a relatively neutral [removed](save for his mildly rosy cheeks).

"I believe you have something that belongs to me, Elzo." With his right hand, he reached out and waited to get his towel back.

Amidst the cruel laughter, Howl had managed to take up his towel and refasten it about his hips. His face was still slightly pink, and his expression was still relatively neutral. He glanced to the brothers as they seemed to somewhat retreat as well. If the effeminate lad had been more bold, maybe he would have hollered out about how it was obviously a mistake to get the other boys to quiet down. Yet, such yelling would be rather rude, despite the good intent.

So instead, he set his sights on cheering up the victims of circumstance. Holding firmly onto his towel with his left hand, he approached both of the Xanis brothers. To the elder one, he offered a slightly pat on the shoulder, and in a calm tone reassured "If it means anything, I know it was an accident and that you are as straight as a line." He paused thoughtfully. "Perhaps you will learn something about dignity from this. Hold your head up high and ignore the teasing words." He turned to face Marlo and gave him a firm nod of the head, then once more attempted to retreat to get into his boxers and other garments.

If there was one thing Howl knew, it was teasing. And when one was even partially involved in something so embarrassing, all parties would be receiving harassment. Taking in a deep breath, the teal-haired boy prepared for a bumpy road ahead.