Caelum Living Room - Friday Morning

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

Chris woke up early and headed to the kitchenette to make coffee. He wasn't thinking too much about the fact that it was his seventeenth birthday. Well, okay, if you wanted to be technical, it would only be his fifth birthday. Stupid time travel.

Either way, he wasn't thinking too much about his birthday. Birthdays had never really been a big deal for him growing up because of the whole orphan thing. Which he wasn't anymore. Which made him wonder if his birth parents would be calling him today.

He sat on the couch in the living room with a cup of coffee and a book, trying to distract himself until his cabin-mates woke up.



[open to any Caelum residents or anyone who has reason to stop by the cabin!]

Comments

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

Chris opened the door and smiled at the girl standing there. "Hey," he said. "I don't think anyone else is awake yet."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Of course she wasn't that lucky. At least it was only one person, and well, he was smiling so that at least meant that she hadn't misstepped too wrong yet.

"A-ano," she flushed and tried not to stammer too badly, "Ino-san i-is normally up by this t-time." At least she had been back home, and up for hours already. Hinata was rapidly coming to the conclusion that people around here tended to sleep in far more than anyone back home. "S-sorry for disturbing you."

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

"It's okay," Chris said. "You're not disturbing me. I actually think Ino is out somewhere. Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Oh. Of course. Ino-san must already be out training and in her attempt to be polite and wait until a reasonable hour she'd missed her. How embarrassing.

She fiddled with her sleeves and wondered what to say to his offer. It was a very nice one, and she could almost hear Ino-san going 'Confidence, confidence!' and Turtle-san had told her that she had to be strong and not let people see that she was afraid, or nervous, or anything but supremely confident.

Supremely confident wasn't happening, not yet, but she could, Hinata thought, at least be brave enough to come inside and accept a cup of coffee. It was a start.

"I-I would like that, if y-you're sure," she said, painfully aware that she'd taken slightly too long to answer and hoping he wouldn't mind, "I am Hyuuga Hinata." The pause as she remembered, again that here names were backwards from what she was used to. "Hinata is my f-first name. Ino-san is a friend from h-home so I was h-hoping to catch her."

And a small shrug. There wasn't anything she could do about not catching her in time.

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

"I'm Chris Halliwell," he said easily, picking up on her anxiety and trying to make her feel comfortable. "There's a pot of coffee made and I'm sitting here by myself drinking it."

He headed into the kitchenette to pour her a cup. "Do you like cream and sugar?" he asked.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"J-just cream, please," Hinata flushed slightly, "I've already had more sugar s-since I've been here than I-I have in months b-back home."

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

Chris prepared the cup of coffee and carried it into the living room. "Make yourself comfortable," he said. "I take it you're new?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She sat down somewhat gingerly, trying to look comfortable. "J-just started," she agreed, "a-and I'm guessing you've been here for a-awhile."

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

"About a year and a half," Chris said. "And I remember how overwhelming this place can be when you're new. Has your school-assigned big sibling been helping you out at all?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"H-Hoshi-san has been very kind," she said, "b-but it's a bit h-harder now because we're in separate cabins."

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

Chris nodded. "Which cabin are you in?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She sipped her coffee, smiling a bit. "I'm in Draco," and she hadn't even stammered, good, "and I'm sure I'll be o-okay, it's just a shock. I didn't know I w-was coming here, until the morning of the picnic."

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

"Oh, wow, yeah, I can see where that would be unsettling," Chris said.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"It's n-not so bad though," she tried to assure him, "Yamanaka-san did t-tell me that Ino-san would be here, so I k-knew that much at least."

And one familiar person made a huge difference when everything else wasn't what you were used to.

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

Chris nodded. "Yeah, I came here with my brother, so that made it a lot easier to deal with."