Adagio e Staccato

Fourteen hours, between getting on the plane and getting out of customs onto the island. Even in a first-class cabin, there was no escaping the inordinate boredom of staring out at clouds underneath you. Félix tried to sleep, but flying during the day and along the Earth's rotation meant there was never any night.

Then there was the bus ride from the airport. Thankfully, islands tended to be small and compact. It was still an hour's trip, but the roads were smooth with new pavement. All in all, it could have been a lot worse. Félix desperately wanted a shower, however.

The most noticeable detail one could pick out from Félix was not his nice but wrinkled clothes, or his red eyes against a pale canvas of a face. It was the fact he left the bus with no luggage at all. No, he did not forget it, but if anyone asked the boy he'd probably be happy enough to embarrass himself with such an excuse.

His luggage was still with his valet, who had to miss the first bus thanks to a visa mix-up. Though the gentleman's gentleman was apologetic and dismayed, Félix counted it as a blessing. He didn't really want someone dragging his stuff around to begin with. Not in public like this.

Félix was nervous enough. He had never seen so many kids and young adults, and almost all of them apparently could do things just like him. Despite his family's long history with the unusual, Starlight Academy and Manta Carlos Island were nothing he ever heard about. Now that he was here, it was like he was supposed to be used to what he was. What he could do.

The Academy was a massive affair. A college, a grade school, and so much more all crammed into three stories. He could see sports fields and gardens out in the distance on each flank of the architectural wonder. Apparently there were forests and lakes on this island as well. It really had everything, and it was overwhelming.

Admissions Office first. That's all. Just get there and you'll settle in.

He found the offices eventually. Félix was fortunate enough to find maps all over the place, especially since new students would come about at any time. His sense of direction wasn't his greatest asset.

“Hello,” Félix essentially went to the first receptionist he could find, at the front of all the offices. “Pardon. I'm looking for the Admissions Office? Is that right?” He pushed away some of the white hairs clinging to his oily cheek.

Maybe he could have just looked at the little signs telling him where it was. But the rigidly poised albino had enough trouble just taking in his surroundings. Every eye on him made him wonder whether they could see who he was. What he was.

Félix didn't imagine this was very helpful. The receptionist sort of just... told Félix to look to another person for help. Maybe it was her first day here as well, and the volume of students pushing their way through to their first steps on campus stressed her. Félix could pick out the noise as well. A musician was skilled enough to drown out background noise when necessary, so it was a force of habit for him to cut off the excess. But he could imagine how others would feel.

What Félix did make out was that the secretary wanted him to follow someone. He turned his head to see a man caught still like a statue. He was no more relaxed than Félix, which meant he was either as green as the receptionist or caught off-guard. Not really encouraging either way.

“Thank you,” Félix told the receptionist. Not really. He turned his attention fully to the young man right in front of him. It was hard to pick out anything spectacular about him, a suddenly unusual feature when plenty others on this campus had at least something physical that made them stand out.

Félix smiled as best he could, a tiny and almost unnoticeable effort. He gripped his left arm with his right, rubbing a few creases out of his dark shirt. “I'm sorry to bother you. If you could just direct me to the Admissions Office...”

At least Félix hadn't quite inconveniences the man just yet. “I'll let you lead the way then,” Félix nodded and fell back behind Lysander. He seemed friendly enough, but Félix did not risk the any opportunity to relax. He wouldn't even risk talking too much to the man. What if something went wrong again?

“What are you studying?” Finally, the damn broke. He figured a single question could not possibly harm anyone, and Félix would find out soon enough once they reached the admissions office and Lysander, in front of him, discussed his situation with the office.

“I'm going into Music myself,” Félix added with a polite smile. He loved music and music theory, but it was more of a hobby than something he wished to seriously study. Félix had to pick something to learn on campus though, while he focused for the most part in taking control of his powers before they controlled him.

Félix was probably lucky that his companion's face was turned away from him. And when Félix did see the man's face it was all smiles and friendly warmth, rather than gnashed teeth. But he did pick up a bit of noise under Lysander's breath. He couldn't make it out, but Félix knew the man had something... else to say about the situation.

“There's plenty of maths in music, in some ways,” Félix began, but he hesitated to say anything else. What would the man think of Félix if he belched out that he had his own degree in mathematics? What if Félix was starting to aggravate him already? His voice could easily make matters worse.

It was a shame that an explosive noise came out of nowhere. Félix could see the office right in front of him. As Lysandre stumbled, the albino debated whether it was his fault, whether it was better to just accept the guilt of it and continue on to the office. He could pretend he saw nothing, heard nothing, and be along before he caused more trouble.

“I'm sorry,” Félix apologized out of habit and fear. He would do better not to speak at all though. The man crumpled against the wall, and Félix cautiously moved in front of Lysander. There was an unmistakable look of worry on Félix's features.

((OOC: I figured out the dialogue, but I had to gamble about the noise. It's alright, I opted not to focus too much on it anyway. XP))

“Oh,” Félix was confused. It still didn't register to him that he wasn't the only one where weird things could happen around themselves. “I just meant... never mind. It's just habit.” It was the best he could do to try and deflect the situation.

He was still concerned, between the man's stumbling, grit teeth, raised voice, and all the while calling it a 'personality problem'. Félix watched him carefully even as Lysander seemed to calm down. If this was a 'personality problem', Félix had no idea what that would entail. A 'fire' problem would at least mean Lysander had a tendency to set things on fire.

“Félix Tenebre,” he introduced himself finally, smiling still apologetically. He still wondered if the mystics of his voice triggered Lysander. Félix knew so little about himself beyond the potential dangers of what he could do.

“I have a different sort of personality problem, myself.” Félix joked. He was uncomfortable explaining it any further, but he had a vague hope that it would make Lysander feel a little better about his outburst. He took Lysander's hand and shook it firmly, but just as quickly he let go and set his sights back to the office.

“Have you been here long? What are others like?” Félix was somewhat curious. It was a big school, and he strongly doubted he could pick and choose with whom he would have to interact