Second Floor Common Room, Monday Afternoon

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

After getting back from teaching Mike's Karaoke class, Troy settled down in the common room. He'd been too nervous to eat before class, so he was rather starving now.

The Tim Tams weren't so bad, he decided, after having opened a box of those.

The vegemite, he decided, was.

Anyone who stopped by the common room? Was likely to see Troy rushing around, trying to find anything to get the taste out of his mouth.

Comments

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"A-Ano," Hinata said hesitantly from the entrance. "A-Are you a-alright?"

It was obvious, really, that he wasn't but...

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy finished downing the glass of orange juice he'd been drinking, and made a face. "Ate something disgusting," he said. "Can't get the taste out of my mouth." He went through the fridge, trying to find something else, and settled on a can of Coke.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"M-Milk, perhaps," she suggested. "T-That's f-fairly good at g-getting rid of t-tastes."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

It was clear from Troy's grimace that, in fact, the Coke hadn't worked. "Thanks," he said, pulling another glass out of the cupboard and pouring himself a glass of milk. His face cleared as he drank it, and he relaxed. "Thanks," he said again. "Yeah, that helped a lot."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Y-You're welcome. It's b-because milk c-coats your throat," she said helpfully. "Y-Yogurt is good for r-removing tastes as well."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah?" Troy grinned. "Thanks." He paused. "Have we met yet? Sorry, I haven't really been out since I got back to the island..."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She flushed. "I d-don't think we h-have," Hinata admitted. "I d-don't get o-out as m-much as I should. I a-am Hinata."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"Troy Bolton," he replied, holding out his hand and smiling widely. "Graduated senior. You new this term, or did you come in last term while I was gone?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"L-Last term," she admitted, going to shake his hand the way that Turtle-san and Petrelli-san had taught her to. "And s-still getting u-used to it. It's a p-pleasure to m-meet you."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"You, too!" Troy flopped down onto the couch. "So, you're liking it here, then?" he asked.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He shouldn't look as smooth as he does, but the expression on the face and the panic in the eyes makes it very easy to figure out what's the trouble.

He holds out a cup of sweet black and herbal tea he'd brought from Oz as well as a large chocolate chip and sour cherry cookie.

...he'd just been walking down to enjoy some things on the grass, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

*handwaves Troy being dumb enough to try the vegemite again*

Troy grabbed the tea and the cookie, swallowed the cookie in three bites, and downed the tea in four long swallows. "Thanks," he said. "Whatever you do? Don't try the vegemite."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"It's d-different," she said, smiling slightly. "But e-everyone is v-very kind. I'm n-not used to s-so much f-free time."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He blinked.

"The what--oh, that? I found it in my pantry this morning." His lips quirked to the side.

"Might be useful in very spare doses, but I wouldn't want to have much in anything."

A hand to his bag found another set of three cookies.

"Here, if you need them. Or just liked them. I figure you're hungry if you tried an unknown substance in any quantity."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"I didn't eat before class today," Troy explained. "Too nervous. Mike's away, so I had to teach it. Oh," he added. "I'm the TA for the Karaoke class." A pause. "... And my name is Troy."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"No?" Troy smiled in return, just as slightly. "It's different from pretty much everywhere, I think. What are you used to back home?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir managed not to smirk. Or laugh. Or do anything else that might have been offensive but somewhat appropriate.

"Nice to meet you, though I believe we might have seen each other previous. Just a passing remark, though, no names."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy would have been okay with smirking or laughing, really. He'd probably have joined in, for that matter.

"Which would explain why you look vaguely familiar," he said, nodding. He took a bite of one of the other cookies. "These are really good," he added. "You make them?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"I make a lot of things," he admitted with a faint smile. "But yes, those are mine. And the name is Liir. If you've heard mention of the boy with the broom on the radio, that'd be me."

His hand rested on the end of the handle that jutted out from the quiver strapped around his waist.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"A l-lot more t-training," she admitted. "E-Either with m-my team, or a-at home. And t-then there's missions a-as well. It's so... q-quiet here in t-that sense."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy blinked. "I don't listen to radio much," he said. "But, uh. 'Boy with the broom'?" He eyed the handle jutting up. "What's it for?"

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"Training? Missions? Yeah, it sounds like you'd be a lot busier back home. What kind of training? Sports?" Troy grinned. "I spent a lot of time on the court, back home; I had to, for basketball."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Flying on," he said. "And occasionally, fending off creatures from the bowels of the Underworld, but hopefully that won't come up again."

He nodded towards the couches.

"May I sit? I was heading for the lawn to attempt to be 'social' while the good mood was still over me but I'd rather not if I've found someone willing to talk to me here."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"You don't need my permission!" Troy said, cheerfully, flopping down on the couch himself. There was plenty of room beside him, still, where he was sprawled, if Liir cared to sit on the same couch.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"N-No," she smiled. "Not s-sports. Ninja t-training, a-actually. F-For all the training y-you look like y-you enjoyed it."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I di- you're a ninja?" Troy's eyes were wide. "That? Is so cool. So you, like, go off on secret ninja missions and stuff?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata laughed quietly. "Yes," she said, amused. "W-We do have s-secret m-missions, and 'stuff'."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He sat on the same couch, but kept to his side. He was no stranger to sharing.

"Well, it's not my common room. I always feel oddly when I'm in another floor's common room."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy shrugged. "I think they're pretty much everyone's common rooms," he said. "We just tend to gravitate towards whichever one's closest. I've never had any problems going into anyone else's, though."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"That is so cool. Can you tell me about any of them, or are they all top-secret?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"You're probably not terminally shy or standoffish," he pointed out with a faint smile.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I-It's not t-that terribly e-exciting," said the girl who'd grown up with it, "and t-there's not m-much, I d-don't think, that w-would make a g-good story. At m-my rank w-we're mostly handling e-escorts and d-delivering m-messages."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"... And you are?" Troy asked. "Could have fooled me," he added with a grin.

He shifted his weight, just slightly, mostly unconsciously, but it opened him up to Liir maybe a little bit more, and his leg moved to brush against the other boy.

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"But you're a ninja," Troy said. "Seriously, that's so totally awesome. So, what kind of ninja stuff can you do?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Ninja-stuff?

Kiba would be laughing, she knew. Hinata merely smiled. "W-Was there a-anything in particular y-you wanted to know i-if I could do?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He noticed the brush, but the rest went over his head. Too many years of being clumsy and awkward to think it was anything more from someone else.

"Incredibly. Hence why I carry around baked goods. It's much easier to meet people without having to talk overmuch when you fill their mouths."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

That got a big laugh from Troy. "Yeah, I suppose it would be," he agreed. "And thanks again," he added, taking a bite from another cookie. "They are really, really good."

Was that Troy's foot, bumping a bit against Liir's?

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"I'm glad you like them."

He didn't mind, so he didn't move.

He closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch.

"The karaoke class... were you the TA last semester? A friend of mine took the course."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"Nah, I was off-island last semester," Troy said. "A friend of mine from home got me a spot in a summer theatre course at NYU."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy considered the question. "Well, I don't really know what real ninjas can do..." he said. "Oh! Can you walk up walls?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Theatre. Amber's in the theatre as well. Did you know we had one on the island? I didn't until she told me."

He didn't know where the rest of that was or what it was, really. Hence not commenting.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I c-can," she said. "It's a f-fairly basic s-skill."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy nodded. "Yeah," he explained. "I was going to be in the show, actually, until I ended up leaving for last term. Kinda hard to be in rehearsals while you're in New York, after all."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Would it really matter? As long as you had all the lines learnt and all?"

He had no idea of how the theatre worked.

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Troy said again. "There's a lot more to it than just learning your lines. There's blocking to learn, and costuming, and... well, you probably could learn the lines and then just come in, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as working with the cast during the rehearsal process."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Ahh... so it's like anything else. Even though it's fake, it has to be real?"

Liir is somewhat confusing until you learn what he means half the time.