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 Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 7:50 pm
So, this was the first day at Hillworth, and honestly, Luke was utterly appalled that he wasn’t sharing a room with his brother. This seemed like some sort of a hate crime…how could they sneak out and do their…superhero stuff if they weren’t in the same room? Now he was banished and double banished for being away from Jason which…honestly cool, it was nice to have some freedom but…still.
Double banishment was utterly uncalled for and this just…
With a heavy sigh he opened the door to his room and very nearly turned to leave it. It was so small. How did they expect anyone to actually live out of these dorms? It was pretty much going to be the two of them in a closet together, and this just…damnit. It sucked.
The boy who was to be his roommate was already in the room, and had claimed one of the beds, and Luke gave a half hearted wave and walked to the empty one, jerking his suitcase up and half throwing it atop the slick blue mattress.
“Uh, hey! I’m Luke…I guess we’re roommates, huh? I have to admit I’ve never like, had a real roommate before, and I thought I’d be in exile with my brother so, I’m sorry in advance if I seem moody…this…has been a whirlwind of a month or two…like, we got moved to this city and our mom banished us here…it’s been a lot but…”
He drew in a breath and managed a smile that was almost genuine as he held a hand out. “None of that is your fault so I’m going to do my best to just push it all away. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2023 8:49 pm
Julian was used to this room size; he had the advantage–if it could be called that–of already being at school when he found his room assignment, and he did find some relief in the fact that rather than he be relocated, his roommate had moved. On the bright side, he didn’t have to deal with him anymore! On the downside, he had to meet a new roommate, and given the history of Hillworth, he’d been anxious.
He hadn’t had to pack anything up, hadn’t had to move, he just hoped that the arrangement could be much of the same as it was before. He’d been going through a workbook when Luke arrived and though his stomach was in knots, he flashed a quick smile to greet him.
And…
He seemed friendly. Chatty.
That was different, at least.
“Oh, okay,” he said, rather dully. He wasn’t the best at introductions, he knew that, but he wanted to make a good impression. They were going to be roommates, they’d be seeing a lot of each other. He’d really prefer not to start off on the wrong foot.
He cleared his throat to make room for words. “I’m Julian. It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry that you didn’t get to be with your brother. It sounds like you’re going through a lot.” He stretched so that he could awkwardly offer his hand to shake. “I can stay out of your way if you need space.”
Julian didn’t seem to take up a lot of space; his things were neatly put away and he hadn’t stretched out at all since his roommate had left and it seemed like he took up well less than half of the room already.
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2023 3:33 pm
Luke took hold of Julian’s hand, pleased that he wasn’t met with straight up violence or…whatever else Hillworth Boys were known for but, this boy seemed quite soft spoken and…kind of timid.
“It’s not your fault that they didn’t put me with Jason, though…in a way it might be a good thing. We rely on one another a lot and I guess they didn’t want us being too rambunctious.” Letting go of the boy’s hand, Luke glanced around the room and sighed. “What do you wanna do to make this place look more…home like? Are we allowed to decorate anything? Like, I really don’t know much about this place other than the horror stories that I’ve been told but…we are allowed to do some things with the rooms right? Maybe we could get some bright curtains or something? Wall decorations? What do you like, Julian?”
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 1:38 pm
Julian listened intently while Luke talked, nodding occasionally and without much energy. It wasn’t because he wasn’t listening or wasn’t invested, he was just still used to keeping himself small and out of the way.
“Oh, um. It always looks like this.” Well, it was cleaner now than it usually was, but he didn’t know how long that would last for. Luke seemed nice, at least. Maybe he’d keep his things organized more than Julian’s last roommate.
“They’re a little picky. You shouldn’t put up anything important. If they come in to do a check, they’re not really gentle so it might get messed up. But, um. I don’t know, I’m good with anything.” He glanced around, not because he thought the place looked fine, but he really couldn’t imagine it looking any other way. “If you want to change things up, you can. I’m not picky.”
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 1:43 pm
“Sweet!” He looked around the room again and let out a sigh, opening his suitcase and withdrawing a stack of clothes that he put into the drawer of the closest dresser. “Are we allowed like…out to get things? I read that there’s a curfew and all this other bad crap here…but like, school hasn’t started yet, are we allowed to go out and get things to make our dorm a home? We should be right? They can’t be that strict…”
And if they were…oh boy, oh boy would his mom be hearing about it, and from both boys, he was sure. Jason wasn’t one to just let things go if they were this messed up.
“I have some money from my mom for decorations and things, I was thinking if you wanted we could pick things out together so that the room looks nice? And is like, what we both want. Even if you’re not picky, you live here too so you should have some say, Julian! That’s how roommates work, I think…right?”
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 5:42 pm
“Um.” Julian was hesitant to answer and it seemed like he was quite reluctant to deliver any bad news. He chewed on the inside of his cheek and turned away. “Well, they are a bit strict. I would definitely recommend going through the whole rule book. They sort of expect us to break rules here so you have to be very careful so you don’t get in trouble. A lot of kids have records and all, so it’s not exactly a ‘one answer fits all’ sort of thing. But, um.”
He cleared his throat and tried to sit up a little straighter so he didn’t look like he wasn’t paying attention.
“It’s best not to draw much attention to yourself unless you want people to find ways to get you in trouble. Some people act like it’s a hobby.” Students, faculty–he’d seen it from all sides of this place.
“I haven’t really had a roommate that cared about collaboration before so it’s sort of new to me.” He wasn’t saying enough, he knew it. He felt like a robot giving generic answers, so he had to force himself to come up with something creative so Luke knew that he wasn’t trying to blow him off. “Um, if you could decorate this however you wanted…what would you do?”
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:28 pm
“They have…records? Like…criminal? Jeeze…I heard this place was awful but I didn’t know that part of it. My mom said that she put my brother and I here because she heard they had a good orchestra.” He grimaced and shrugged, running a hand through his unruly brown hair. “I play the clarinet, and I was pretty good in my old school back in Bailey, and I guess mom wanted us to keep going with our music…I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt that she didn’t know all this other stuff but…yikes.”
He looked around the room, turning in a slow circle as he did so. “Curtains. Something maybe…blue? Or like, blue with clouds if we could find them? Something that just made it feel less…sanitary…and maybe some glow stars? Oh! Julian! We could get a lava lamp!” That would be cool, along with the glow stars…it would make the room almost…fun.
“I love the stars, but like…this city has way too much light pollution…it sucks.
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:59 pm
Julian tilted his head slightly, attention redirected to Luke when he spoke about playing the clarinet. “Oh, that all sounds fun.” It did! A lava lamp seemed interesting more than anything else, but he really wasn’t the sort to make a fuss about much. Luke was the one who needed to feel more comfortable here, especially since all of this was new to him.
“I’ve lived here my whole life, I don’t think I’ve ever really gotten to see the sky outside of the city much. Um–you said you played clarinet? That’s cool.”
He was interested but he tried not to sound too interested. His own violin case was resting against the wall by his bed, but he hadn’t really played in a while.
“Your mom really enrolled you at Hillworth for orchestra? This is, um. Well, this is sort of–some of the boys here are definitely a bit rougher. So you do have to be careful.” Although, Luke seemed friendly; he might wind up just making friends of everyone.
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 7:09 pm
Luke nodded. “I do, yeah! I’ve dabbled with a few other things, but the clarinet is my baby. Do you play anything?” He brightened and looked at Julian almost eagerly. “Yeah, that’s what she told us, but I’m not really sure. This whole move and everything has been super sus, so…she could be lying. I don’t know. I’m glad she got a better job and all but…I miss home. Oh! One day, we’ll have to find somewhere to look at the stars, they’re so pretty, Julian! I’m so sorry that you had to grow up here where you can’t see them, that sucks majorly.”
He gave suddenly sheepish smile and withdrew his clarinet case. “I’m glad that I got you for a roommate, you don’t seem like you’re any kind of a bad person at all, so…I’m excited to get to know you better!:
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Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2023 8:50 am
Julian couldn’t say that it sucked, but then, he didn’t really have much to compare it to so maybe he just didn’t know what he was missing. He smiled politely as he navigated his feelings on his new roommate. They weren’t bad! It was just a big change and he was doing his best to adapt to that. Luke seemed nice, though–that was the most important thing.
Julian hadn’t relaxed yet, but that wasn’t abnormal for him; he was regularly rather high strung.
“I don’t think I’m much trouble,” he assured. Aside from sneaking out at night, sometimes, he was always well behaved. And he only snuck out for good reasons! He just couldn’t exactly explain them, so he didn’t blame anyone who thought otherwise.
“I hope things work out with your mom, though. There are definitely better schools than Hillworth, so I hope she pulls you and your brother out and can move you in somewhere more comfortable. It feels a little stifling here, but it’s not so bad! I just leave campus every now and then to relax and it’s a bit easier.” Like when he went to the park to play, but…
“I used to play the violin more, but I’m kind of taking a break for right now.” He ignored the sudden throbbing in his hand. “Maybe we can play together sometime. I’m not so good right now, but I’m working on it.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2023 11:44 am
“You play the violin?” Luke absolutely lit up at the idea of having a roommate who was also musical. That…well, that would make practicing much easier at any rate. “I’ve never played any string instruments, but the violin has always been a secret desire of mine to learn, that’s awesome. Are you in the orchestra here?”
He obviously wasn’t anyone who was troubled, at least not in any way that Luke could see, so that had to be the reason that Julian was stuck in this school too…it made sense.
“I would absolutely love to play together with you, that could be fun! I’ll look for some fun music that can be played with the two instruments, ah! That’s the best! I’m so excited to have you as a roommate…”
He paused and then looked at the other boy, having finally processed what he heard. “Oh! Is everything okay with your violin? Is there anything I can do to help with your break? I know I got overly excited I just…I really love music.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2023 8:44 pm
Julian seemed briefly flustered. “Well–no, the violin’s in good shape! It’s just, I hurt my hand a while back and playing just hasn’t been the same. It doesn’t sound how I want it to. It’s like I can’t hold the bow right anymore. But I’m working on it. It’s not comfortable, but I’ll–I’m trying to figure something out. It’s a work in progress, um. All good things take time. And it takes time to do something right, so that’s okay. I’m not trying to rush anything.”
He was rambling a bit, he didn’t know why he was so quick to offer justifications and reassurance. “It’s just sort of sporadic, when I can play. So I’m not in the orchestra right now. But maybe when everything is back to how it should be, I think I might like that. It’s sort of just a day by day thing for when I can play so I can’t really make a lot of commitments.”
His jaw hurt. His mouth felt dry. He flashed a quick, hopefully encouraging smile.
He didn’t want Luke to worry or think he was trying to blow him off, he was just afraid of him setting his expectations too high. It was way too early for Julian to start letting him down.
“But I’ll keep trying! I’d like to listen to you play, sometime. If you like an audience.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2023 8:51 pm
“Oh s**t, hand injuries are no joke for musicians!” Luke took a step towards Julian, half reaching out as though he were going to take the boy’s hand. “What happened if you don’t mind me asking…? Like, was it a break or like a slash? Like, would physical therapy help? Not that I’m good at physical therapy but I…okay this is going to sound stupid, and don’t judge me too hard, but like, I paint miniatures for like, tabletop games? And sometimes my hands cramp something awful so I’ve gotten good at like, massaging them? If that would help you, I’d be happy to try! But if it’s like, a slash or something like that, I don’t know if that would help the problem, oh my god I’m rambling so much.”
He took a step backwards and shoved both hands into his pockets, realizing that he was being too much.
“I hope that you’re able to get it working again, and…if not, I hope that you can find something else to play, like…if it’s holding the bow…have you thought of like…trying to swap hands? Seeing if you can get fingering with the…well…no…that would be even harder, wouldn't it? Ugh…so…what color lava lamp should we get? Hashtag changing subject since I have made things hecking awkward and I'm sorry!”
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2023 6:43 pm
Julian didn’t immediately offer his hand; he kept it close to him, as seemed to be his nature. He was rubbing it absentmindedly and it didn’t even seem to occur to him that Luke was asking for it. Before he had to make a decision, Luke had stepped back and he felt himself breathing a little easier. Well–no, that wasn't fair to Luke. It wasn’t exactly the type of conversation you have with a stranger right off the bat. Especially one that you wanted to get along with!
“It’s–it’s okay,” he insisted, but didn’t feel the need to answer when Luke had already changed the subject. He smiled quickly and drew his knees to his chest as he rested against them.
“I don’t mind you talking, I think it’s neat that you paint miniatures.” He didn’t have any fun hobbies like that; he was hardly playing violin and he doubted exploring was going to be interesting to Luke. Oh! Well, maybe, if he was new to the city. Julian just didn’t think he was exciting enough to play tour guide or get lost with.
“I don’t think I’ve ever shopped for lava lamps, I’ve only seen them in novelty stores. You probably have a better idea of them than I do. But I’m a little excited, I think they look neat. It could be fun to have one around. I’ve really never done anything to try and brighten up the room. Um, I sort of figured this is just temporary anyway.”
Hopefully. He’d be home soon. Probably.
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2023 7:16 pm
“I’ll look into it then, but we’ll get one, and it’ll be great…and then we can figure things out after that…hey, what are the classes like here? Like, again, I’m from a small town so like, everything was kind of different there so…are they hard?”
Maybe Julian wouldn’t know any different but, it was still worth talking about.
“You have your schedule, yeah? Should we compare?” Hopefully they would have some of the same classes, and hopefully…argh. He just wanted this to be good.
“Here, here’s mine!”
Turning around, he reached for his paper schedule and handed it to Julian.
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