Sleeping beauty

So, a new school, new living arrangements, pretty much new everything. New everything only meant he had a lot of things to explore and discover, so it was good, kind of. At least Gwenaël tried to convince himself of that, as he was really doing his best not to feel terribly homesick right away.

In the meantime, one good thing he could do to keep his mind away from his one true home was walk around the campus, trying not to look too lost (he definitely was lost- he really needed to get that tour thing he'd been told about when he finished all the paperwork at the administration office.) while he just tried to find his way around to...Well, whatever he'd end up finding interesting really. He lived on an island, so he had some sort of secret hope he'd find the beach, but he also remembered the way to the school had taken him suspiciously far from anything ocean related. Which was a big bummer.

As he carefully strolled around the campus ground, trying to look like he was chilling and not desperately looking for his way back to something familiar, the young man noticed something a bit odd. Or more like someone. Someone was lying in the grass in the middle of nowhere on the campus, kind of like they'd passed out or something.

Gwenaël bit his lips as he rocked on his heels a little, peering at what appeared to be another boy from afar. He could always just walk away to find a nurse to help, as it seemed like the poor guy had collapsed here or something of the like; or he could go and try to talk to him. Since he didn't really know where the infirmary was, or where he could go to find anyone who'd be better at him with dealing with that kind of situation, he decided to try and apply whatever little stuff he'd learned about first aid.

Which was how he found himself hovering over the other guy, pushing at his body awkwardly to try and put him on his side- that was what you did with unconscious people, if he recalled well. Just as he was doing it though, he also thought of maybe trying to talk to him- there was close to no chances he'd answer but it was worth a try anyway.

“Hello! Wake up! You're injured?”

He hoped his English wouldn't fail him now- he didn't really have much time to think on what he wanted to say after all.

@Elias (sorry for the title, couldn't help the fairytale reference there ;D)

Wow he must be very good at this first aid thing. That was his first thought when he saw the other was opening his eyes, and he couldn't help a bit of pride from swelling up in his chest. Said pride was quickly crushed by a new brand of insecurity over his grasp of the English language- what the hell was a woer? Was that his name? Why would he ask you after it though?

He didn't have much time to ponder about that as he suddenly had a close up view of the stranger, making him jump back just a little at how sudden it all was. He let out a small breath though, seeing he seemed to be pretty healthy, muttering a small “au moins il est pas mort...<at least he's not dead>” to himself. Which was kind of embarrassing, talking to himself like that, though he didn't pay much attention to that right now as his mind was pretty busy trying to grasp all the things going on all at once.

And man did the guy talk a lot. It might have been better if he'd stayed asleep, as it was complicated to really follow everything that was being said right now. He did process a few informations out of it all though. First of all, his name was Elias, and he'd nicely welcomed him to the school. Something something coffee. Testing. Pick him up. Okay he could do that.

“Hello, thank you Elias. My name is Gwenaël, nice to meet you.”

After a brief smile back to him, trying to be friendly too- that ruffling his hair thing was pretty cool, like they were good buddies already… And now he looked a bit at him Elias looked like he was a cool guy and all, so he was on the right path to become one of the cool kids himself. He looked older too- hanging out with older teens was like, totally cool. So yes, this was good for his cool factor. Besides, his english lessons which were usually pretty boring finally came in handy, as he managed to use what he'd learned there on introducing himself.

That said Gwenaël quickly stood up and reached to grab the other young man under the arms to try and pick him up, just like he'd asked.

“I don't know if I can pick you up…”

Admitting it was incredibly uncool but still, he'd try. He'd do everything he could to pick him up as asked; maybe he still was sick and needed help being carried somewhere to get help. It sounded likely after all, he'd just been collapsed on the ground a minute ago, no matter how lively he was now… This was pretty awkward, him half hugging a random guy like he was and pulling up to try and get him to his feet or carry him. Still, it would be worse if he just let someone cool like that down. His mom would be so proud of him for being so helpful on his first day too.

Of course the moment he'd realise this 'pick me up' wasn't something to take litterally, but more of an idiom, he'd probably mortified. For now though, he was putting a genuine effort into trying to lift Elias.

@Elias (I'm sorry but there was this slang. I couldn't resist the silly idea here. Forgive me for the odd turn this took.)

He halted in his struggles when the other boy spoke up again. What was that he said? How was he meant to pick him up if not physically, with magic? He didn't have that type of magic. Though it'd be fun probably, levitating things with your mind… He wondered if there were people like in the x-men movies on this island. That would definitely be impressive.
Still, he slowly let go of the other, a bit unsure of what he meant, when the explanation came out of his mouth. Metaphorically. That was pretty much the same word as in French, so it was very, very easy to get now. Oh no.

“I'm very sorry!”

Oh no this was awful, he was smirking and chuckling and- okay so this cool guy whom he'd hoped would be a friend and his first step toward being one of the cool kids at school was laughing at him. Laughing at him, the horror. Gwenaël would have reached out to help him when he wobbled but he feared it'd just add to the overall dorkiness he was exhibiting- he was being so uncool just before. He could feel a healthy blush creep on his cheeks as he looked down, trying his best not to lose his cool.

And then came the whole cute business. He wasn't cute, thank you very much! He was a manly man, potentially a cool one even, not- cute. And his nose wasn't something to boop like that gosh, he wasn't five! Taking slight offence in the gesture, he still didn't say much about it. He'd already probably ruined all chances of not- looking like a big nerd in front of this guy, he didn't want to keep on digging his grave like that. Maybe by being mature and not answering to the provocation he'd salvage whatever bit of coolness he could still pretend to. Not that he looked cool right now, redder than a tomato and opening and closing his mouth without speaking a word. Like a goldfish. That was what he looked like- a goldfish.

Besides- he'd heard of lolitas, on tv. One of these emissions his mom liked to watch, where it depicted people with some sort of strange hobby in a bad light. Lolitas were girls who wore frilly dresses and thought they were dolls. Anything but cool.

Now he kind of wished he could find a tiny hole and hide in it, or disappear forever from this earth and… Actually no, he absolutely didn't want to disappear. It was a bit too late to think of that though, as he could see right through himself. There were no more feet to see down on the grass- it was kind of odd how it still was squished under his weight. There was absolutely nothing left of him to see; on the plus side, that meant he couldn't look like a lolita. On the more bothersome side, he didn't look like much at all.

That was going to be a real mess. There was no way Elias would ever think he was cool now.

“I'm here! Sorry!”

His voice squawked awkwardly- the joys of teenage years for boys, coupled with the sudden amount of stress he was under. Just to make sure his presence was known, he reached to grab onto the other boy's shoulder, not really thinking about how freaky it could be to have an invisible hand hold onto you for dear life like he was doing.

@Elias ( He wouldn't know what moe is, as he doesn't read mangas himself- might be something he need to get into though :) Also I feel bad for him now-)

Apparently the sudden disappearance hadn't freaked the other one too much. There was no screaming and running away or anything of the like, though he did look… pretty surprised. Not completely weirded out, that was a positive at least.

It was kind of odd too, how he was apologising when he was the one creating problems with this stupid ability he had no control over. This was all a big disaster, he didn't even attend one class yet and he already was building up a reputation as that one weird kid. The only cool guy he'd spoken to so far was now painfully aware of how odd Gwenaël was and would never see him as cool. Being an angsty teenager sucked. Usually he could just go to his mom and act like the big child he still was, but not this time, he had to toughen it out and just deal with it like the grown independent man he was.

Of course, Gwenaël wouldn't ever blame this on Elias- it was all his own doing, as he'd made a fool of himself and managed to embarrass himself, while also over thinking everything- though the last bit wasn't something he'd take into consideration. No, self-doubt definitely was stronger than using his brain right now. He'd probably have much less trouble with his ability if he stopped his panicky over analysing of everything. Obviously though the teenager was clueless about that fact.

He couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed at how the other was acting too- it was his fault for making him all worried like that. Still it was kind of nice to have someone talk him out of his spell- not that he'd reappear just like that. He didn't really know how to do it, and usually just waited it out. He remembered that one time when it lasted about three days… Just before he came here actually. His mom had told him to stop fretting over the trip, and the anxiety causing by taking the plane for the first time, moving to the other side of the world and generally the stress caused by the huge change coming in his life had made him go through his most awkward, longest invisibility moments. They'd been scared he wouldn't be able to board the plane, though he luckily went back to normal the day before.
If he recalled well, the first time it had happened to him, it had only lasted a few minutes; hopefully it would be the case right now. One of his biggest fears was to stay invisible forever. He couldn't imagine living like some sort of creepy ghost like that.

Which was something he probably should tell the other boy now he thought about it. How did you bring it up though? 'Sorry you might be here for a few hours to a few weeks, I don't know how to control myself' didn't sound like something he wanted to say. In the meantime, he'd been silent for a small while now, and it probably was going to get a bit creepy to have a mute, invisible entity clinging on to your shoulder like that. Which reminded him he probably should remove his hand now, letting go slowly.

He did feel a little calmer- there was a form of comfort in finding someone who'd bother trying to help him out in his situation.

“Thank you.”
He breathed that one out, not really expecting for his tone to convey just how relieved he was at the reaction the other had when facing this.

“I don't know how long it takes for me to be normal again.”

After a small pause, used to pick his words carefully, he went on talking- his voice was much calmer and didn't break any longer, which was a good news as he was indeed starting to feel a little better about the whole ordeal.

“It is long sometimes. If you stay with me, you can't do what you want. I can follow you maybe? Then when I am normal you know it. You want coffee.”

It was hard to convey what he wanted right now actually. He'd been told being in immersion in a place where they only spoke English would really boost his skills, and he hoped that'd come fast. He couldn't wait until he could express himself without all this frustration. In the meantime, Elias had talked about coffee before- caffeine expert (an espresso?)-, and he didn't want to hold him back; though expressing it all with limited vocabulary and a fairly uneven grasp of English grammar was complicated. Like his life wasn't complicated enough.

@Elias (See before he didn't have any friends, now he can have an invisible friend. People will still think he's odd, but he'll have companionship! and unlike others his invisible friend is actually real.)

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Well apparently he'd managed to get the other to understand his problem. That was a real relief, and a proof his English wasn't as terrible as he'd expected it to be. Sure, it was approximative, but right now his main goal was for others to understand what he was trying to say, and it had worked.

Another big positive right now was the fact the other had agreed to his odd plan. That way he'd be sure Elias knew when he was better, and it wouldn't worry him too much, and he could also probably get back to a part of the campus he might be more familiar with. It was a very good situation now he thought about it. Plus he got to hang out with a cool guy, even if nobody would see it.

Hopefully nobody would deem Elias to be a weirdo for being nice to him and keeping him company. After all, people who talked to themselves were… often a little odd. Then again if he spoke loud enough people would get he wasn't really alone, and there were a lot of odd magical stuff on the island so it may even seem normal.

He didn't really need anything exciting now either, as he felt like he'd gone through enough strong emotions for a week. Just following him around quietly was good enough. He felt a little tired too, all the stress from the past few days, being still jet-lagged and the random use of his ability was taking its toll on him. So coffee was an excellent idea right now, even if he didn't really drink it usually. He was, after all, a real grown up man now, who could drink real grown up men drinks like coffee.

Being quite obedient and willing to please, he immediately set out to follow the other after his gesture. Not that Elias would really see it, since he was still… Well, not quite visible. The question took him by surprise. He wasn't really sure actually- one day? Two? He'd gotten here yesterday or the day before that, then had slept quite a lot, went to the school and…well had gotten lost. He had left his suitcase at the administration office to look around a bit before going to his dorm, since he wanted to stretch his legs, and then this whole mess had happened. He couldn't quite go meet his future dormmate with his current predicament, so really it would be good to stay around Elias a little while longer.

“One or two days. I took the plane, and then sleeped. And then went to school, and now I am here.”

Were they becoming friends? He never really met someone in such an odd way but then chatting like they did was how he'd made all his friends before, so maybe they were actually starting to become good buddies or something. That'd be pretty nice. Still, if he wanted to make a friend, he had to put an effort in and so far he'd done nothing but bother him.

“And you?”

Okay that was kind of lame, but he could try more things, maybe see if they shared interests or something…

“You like the sea? This is an island, so there is a lot of sea, but not close to the school. My house is near the sea in Bretagne. Where are you from?”

He hoped his disappointment with the lack of sea close-by was made clear, though he was unsure of it. How did you tell someone you absolutely loved going to the beach and hoped to get there to fish shrimps sometime soon when you didn't know the word for shrimps? And how did you convey this without sounding like a dork? Hopefully his questions didn't annoy him either, he really just wanted to get to know him better. If they were going to hang out until he was back to normal, it'd be a good idea.{/td}
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