Jin couldn't stop his gaze from wandering around, settling in various groups of people, both seemingly human and obviously not. Hell, he was pretty sure he saw the fucking Bigfoot somewhere while he was walking past. Thankfully Xavier and the few people he'd actually met had much gentler appearances. They were easier to reign over if they didn't look scarier than himself.

When they reached the cafeteria, Jin grimaced at the sudden wave of incoherent, overlapping voices that flooded his ears and rattled his brain. God, he hated crowded areas. Especially when they were filled with conversing commoners that he couldn't give two shits about. He opened his eyes as he steadied himself and focused on his own breathing rather than the bustling bodies around him, just in time to see Xavier heading to one of the quieter tables, at which only a couple of students were sitting.

Seeing as he couldn't exactly leave his little roommate off with strangers-- not that he knew if they were strangers to Xavier, he just didn't trust them himself-- Jin glided after him, hoping that perhaps the distraction of one conversation might minimize the sound of hundreds of others going on around them. He stayed silent throughout the exchange, though kept a protective distance between himself and Xavier as if to warn the pair not to try anything, else they want to be burned alive.

'Oscar' and 'Draven' were their names, apparently. At least based on the little greeting Xavier had written for them. He seemed to enjoy their company, which in turn made Jin relax slightly. However, his eyes were immediately on the dark-haired boy who had addressed him in such a rude, untrustworthy tone, staring him down as if they were having a silent war of dominance. His roommate's excited smile helped him focus a bit, though he remained on edge even as he introduced himself.

"Jinseo," he said with a nod, dismissing his last name entirely. That, and his fiery red hair which could be easily excused, was the only indication of his family and the dangerous business they reigned over. He was smart enough not to let it slip out so casually. "Just call me Jin. I'm little Xav's roomie."

He gave a satisfied smile, entirely pleased with his own, in his mind more important role toward Xavier. He was probably the only one making a mental competition about such a childish thing, but he wasn't a losing kind of guy. If there was even the slightest competitive advantage, he would take it by the reigns and ride it to fucking victory.

Draven stared at the fiery teen for a few more seconds before finally subtly nodding his own head. “Draven, and this is Oscar.” He signaled towards the other boy with a thumb jerk, in which Oscar waved. The dark haired boy’s brow bent when Jin made the comment of being “little Xavier’s roomie,” and he looked away from the confident smile he was given. Not particularly wanting to give him more attention than he wanted, he turning his gaze back to the other two.

“The food is pretty good tonight.” Oscar beamed, seeming almost as impressed as if he had made the food himself. He was swiveling off of his bench seat, perking up onto his feet in a fluid motion. “Since Jin here is new, we could show him around.” He made his way around the end of the table with a slight skip in his step, stopping beside Xavier and Jin.

“Hm, let me guess…” Oscar made a show of grabbing his chin, eyeing Jin up and down and walking around him as if he were examining an extraterrestrial specimen. “Elementalist? With that awesome hair of yours, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say fire.” He grinned, seeming proud of himself even if his assumption hadn’t been confirmed.

“That’s pretty cool!” Throwing a playful smirk over his shoulder to Draven, he cooed, “Much cooler than controlling pebbles.”

Draven looked up from his binder to glare at Oscar, who simply stuck out his tongue in a friendly jab.

During all of this, Xavier was enjoying the interaction between “old” friends and new. He was engaged into surveying how the three teens interacted; Jin seemed to take them okay. At least, he didn’t seem to be annoyed, but maybe he was just hiding it well. Blue eyes slid over to look at Draven. Almost as if they could feel the other watching, the pair of gold eyes coolly lifted to meet his. He offered Xavier a light smile before returning his gaze to his binder. Well, at least he seemed to be okay with Jin.

Turning back towards Jin and Oscar, he could see his friend signaling him and his roommate to follow. He released a soft sigh, perfectly content with someone else taking the reins. He glanced up at Jin, wondering how he was really taking this. He hadn’t meant to suddenly bombard him with new people, but he figured since they were here he might as well meet them. Now was as good a time as any.

Jin returned the introduction with a nod, as if affirming that he had listened and taken in the names. He was decent at remembering the titles of other people, be they difficult or otherwise. It wasn't the most exciting strength, but he took moderate pride in it.

He could feel a faintly irritated air coming from the more patient of the two, which he simply returned with a triumphant snort, soft enough that it likely wasn't noticed. It was incredibly enjoyable, winning. Even if it was as insignificant as this.

When the blonde, apparently a bundle of energy, called Oscar stood himself up and began studying him like some foreign object, he simply watched the kid as if he was used to it. Which he was. "Wrong," he mused on response to his guess. "You're on the right track, though."

His gaze made its way back to Xavier, studying his expression with mild curiosity. He found it interesting that the kid actually had friends his own age, obviously ruling out that annoying vampire. He didn't seem like the social type, and though he could understand the connection between him and Draven, who seemed equally as quiet and hard to read, Oscar completely stood out. Opposites attract, he thought to himself with a chuckle.

His thoughtful trance broken when he noticed the subject of his amusement urging them to follow, he lifted his head and began to do just that. It had been awhile since he'd had a tour with anyone, and though his father had engrained every nook and cranny of the school into his mind, he didn't see the harm in having someone lead him about. And considering how over-the-top and active Oscar was, the tour was already proving interesting.

Sensing a pair of eyes on him, Jin looked down to meet his roommate's gaze. "Your friends are pretty damn fun, aren't they?" he said with a teasing smirk. "Never thought you'd turn out to be such a social butterfly."

Reading Jin’s lips, Xavier couldn’t help but feel himself relax at his roommate’s reaction to the pair. He had been worried that Jin wouldn’t have the patience for Oscar or would be too competitive with Draven, but he seemed to be enjoying the company. At the tease Jin gave, a sheepish blush burned the tips of his ears.

The funny thing about Draven and Oscar was that they technically weren’t his friends; he was theirs. Of course, they didn’t treat Xavier as if he was any less important, but he would have probably never even talked with them if Oscar hadn’t have introduced himself that day a year ago. Oscar was just as energetic back then as he was today. At the moment, he was taking his duty as tour guide very seriously as he made an effort to point out anything and everything. His outgoing nature could be a bit hard to handle at times, but Draven kept him in check.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Xavier caught sight of the dark brown hair. The oldest of the trio, Draven tended to act like a mother hen, especially with having a crazy chick like Oscar running around. He was typically impatient and silent, but was actually quite charming when he warmed up to people. Xavier had only known Oscar for a few weeks when he was introduced to Draven. A smile tugged at his lips from the memory, remembering how Oscar made a fuss about how patient Draven had been with him having to write everything down, which normally wasn’t like him. Even though he could be as quiet as Xavier, Draven was more confident and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.

“So, here we have the line of hell. It’ll take you about 20 minutes to actually reach the counter to grab your food, but we have two hours to eat supper and socialize before roll call is done.”

Xavier managed to pull himself from his thoughts in time to see that Oscar had led them over to the end of the dinner line. It was backed up a ways, but he had seen worse.

“Tonight is Pasta Night, and they’ve got fresh lasagna.” He gave Jin a friendly nudge with his elbow. “Make sure this one eats, will ya? Draven and I are scared he’s gonna wither away one of these days.” He flashed a proud grin towards Xavier before trotting back towards his table. The blush that had only been settled atop his ears had now crept down to heat up his cheeks. He knew Oscar was teasing, but he didn’t like feelings as if he were a burden.

It was interesting watching Oscar running about, pointing out everything that passed by at record speed. He reminded him of a squirrel, honestly. Maybe a dog. Some animal that was quick-paced and seemed to have time for absolutely everything and nothing at all. Of course, it was just as amusing with Draven tagging along, especially considering how calm and composed he remained throughout the process. He reminded Jin of his mother, and that only made the whole situation even more entertaining.

He paused when everyone else did, gaze settling on the barely-moving line, then on Oscar when he felt a bony elbow jab at his side. He raised a brow, wondering faintly if the blonde knew he would probably be burned if he ever did that again. Probably not, but he didn't feel like warning him either. If it were to happen again, he would just have to learn his lesson the hard way.

"We were on our way to do exactly that, actually," he pointed out, remembering their original reason for coming to the cafeteria in the first place. He glanced back at Xavier with eyes gleaming in amusement. "His stomach growled and everything. I don't think he even realized he was hungry in the first place."

Turning his attention toward the line, which was gaining length quickly, he frowned. Two hours probably sounded like plenty of time to most, but he personally didn't like wasting valuable time waiting in lines. And he had made the plan to have this whole process to as quickly and efficiently as possible; he could probably manage to get himself to the front of the line some way or another.

"Wait here," he finally ordered, pulling his hands out of his pockets and fixing himself to look taller, larger, and all-around much more dangerous. His eyes regained their red outline, and using his thumb to crack each one of his fingers he finally stopped at the counter, waiting for one of the women working behind it to notice him.

Within a few seconds, a large lady with her hair tied back and covered in a hair net looked up at him over a pair of glasses. She waved a hand towards the line, dismissing him. "Line's that-a-way, hun. Ain't any special services here; ya gotta wait." Her words were accented. Southern, maybe, he was too focused on his own motive to tell.

"Right, well," he said, his normally vulgar way of speaking now replaced with something proper and polite, yet somehow far more demanding, "I'm on a schedule, see. I've got a meeting with my father fairly soon, can't keep him waiting." He leaned in closer, lifting a hand and gesturing for the woman to do the same as he lowered his voice. "He's pretty important, you get me? He's got places to be, and I don't want to hold him up. The name 'Kim' mean anything to you?"

---

A satisfied grin plastered on his face, Jin returned only a minute or two later carrying a large tray, two plates sitting neatly on top of it with stacks of lasagna resting gently upon them. They smelled like heaven, surprisingly. He'd always been told that public schools had really shitty food. Of course, this wasn't exactly your typical school, public or otherwise.

"I dunno about you, Xav," he said in a cheerful tone, nudging the tray toward his roommate to show he'd gotten food for him as well, "but I'm fucking starving."

Xavier was ultimately surprised when Jin commanded him to stay. He arched a brow incredulously; it wasn’t like he was going anywhere. Curious, though, he watched after his roommate as he boldly made his way towards the counter, passing all the other students in line. He immediately started to wring his hands, watching nervously from the far end of the line. What was Jin going to do? He couldn’t see from that far back, but he secretly hoped nothing dangerous was going to happen.

Within a few moments, he noticed Jin returning with what looked like a tray of food in his hands. As he walked up, Xavier noticed the red outlines around his eyes again, and the familiar wing-fluttering feeling flooded his stomach.

Reading Jin’s lips, he couldn’t help but smile. How he had managed to pull of getting food before everyone else was a mystery, but a mystery that he was perfectly okay with. Turning away from the line, he walked side by side with his roommate, leading him back towards the table. As soon as Oscar saw them, he almost spit his drink.

“Holy shit, how did you manage to get food that quickly! You sneaky devils!”
Reaching over, he plucked a small glop of cheese on the edge of Xavier’s plate and crammed it into his mouth, giving the chuckling teen a playful wink.

Draven on the other hand was looking at the plates suspiciously. He glanced up at Jin, and it took all he had not to lift his brows in alarm. The red outline rimming Jin’s eyes was all the explanation he needed. He kept his cool, but made wary glances towards Xavier every so often.

Even more proud when he saw Xavier's happy smile and glad his roommate wasn't one for questioning, Jin followed him back to the table that Oscar and Draven had returned to, setting the tray down and taking a seat across from them.

He grabbed a fork, taking a slow bite out of the lasagna. It wasn't nearly as good as what he was used to eating, namely gourmet food that was rarely ever the same once unless his father ordered otherwise, but it was decent compared to other alternatives. He chuckled at Oscar's outburst, flashing him a devilish grin. "Just gotta learn your way with words," he explained with a hint of mystery in his tone.

Feeling a small crack in the light-hearted atmosphere, Jin turned to look at Draven, who had yet to say a single thing since he introduced himself and Oscar. He was giving Xavier anxious glances, his gaze occasionally fluttering to him and back again.

His eyes began to burn with the effort of keeping only that part of his disguise up, and he let them return to their former, more normal appearance, though still kept a wary eye on the elementalist in front of him. It seemed like he'd figured something out. What, he wasn't sure, but whatever it was it looked to be enough to make him this jumpy. "Something wrong?"

Xavier had picked up his own fork and started in on his first couple of bites. The lasagna was good, but definitely not his favorite. He enjoyed the simpler things, especially the night when the lunch ladies made basil tomato soup and grilled cheese. He could practically smell it now.

“Geez, Xavier, I didn’t know you liked pasta that much.” Oscar’s tease met his gaze and he shrugged, offering the blonde a smile. “That’s good, though, you need to eat. You’re shriveling up.”

Xavier snorted and flashed his left wrist quickly, making Oscar laugh. Distracted by his conversation, Xavier didn’t notice the exchange that Jin had started with Draven.

Diagonal from him, Draven lifted his gaze from where he had been writing. The only thing that had given away that he was feeling apprehensive was the quick peaks he had been making in Xavier’s direction. Apparently, Jin had picked up on that. At the moment, he seemed calm and collected, his brow set in a flat line, as well as his lips. Setting down his pen, Draven eyed the younger man before him.

“I’m a bit worried about your proximity to Xavier.”

Jin made sure to laugh when he needed to, keeping an ear on the conversation going on next to him while also focusing on Draven's words. It was a strength of his, having separate conversations at once, be they secretive or otherwise. It was a necessary skill, considering the business he would take over in a few short years.

He flashed what could have been an innocent smile, were his expressions not so naturally devious. "Is that so?" he mused, pausing briefly to nudge his plate toward Xavier, silently giving him the affirmation to eat his food as well if he so desired. "Well Xav seems perfectly happy with me being around, so I guess you'll just have to live with it."

He rested his chin on his knuckles, the fingers of his other hand tapping rhythmically against the table top. He was starting to dislike this kid; he was so incredibly different from himself that the idea of 'opposites attract' was entirely overridden, and he was getting on his nerves. That patient, calm demeanor made him so easy to forget, which apparently gave him the opening to notice what others didn't.

He hated perceptive kids like that when they weren't on his side. They always ended up figuring him out and messing up whatever plans he had. And in this case, those plans would be getting closer to his roommate. He stilled his tapping fingers and balled them into a fist. He was having too much fun with this; he wouldn't let some elementalist ruin his game before it even started.

The dark haired boy let a small smirk tug at the corner of his lips as he noticed the unsettled rap of Jin’s fingers on the table. Jin’s assumption about Draven’s perceptiveness was spot on. Being quiet and calm had its perks, and for Draven the biggest perk of all was having little to no attention drawn to himself, giving him time to be observant and catch the little things that normal people would miss entirely. His observational skills were quite good, and he liked to use them whenever possible. At the moment, Draven was getting a hunch. They were usually right, and even though he couldn’t confirm it, he decided to mess with the demon a bit.

“Did I hit a soft spot?”

He leaned forward suddenly, resting his elbows on the table which in turn broadened his shoulders. Another perk of being perceptive was being able to pick up on non-verbal ques and body language. At the moment, his upper body tilted forward looked relaxed, but it was actually initiating a challenge of dominance, while his broadened shoulders made him appear larger than when he had been tilting back. All of these little ques were used to paint a larger picture, and Draven liked to use them well. His forearms lay closed on the table, a typical calm pose but also a posture to signify a closed and confident attitude, which was something Draven currently had.

Meanwhile, Xavier had almost eaten his entire plate of lasagna and after noticing that Jin had slid his over towards his roommate, Oscar followed suit with his plate, still half full.

“Good Lord, I didn’t even know you could eat this much. How is that little stomach of yours handling all of that pasta?” He laughed, waving his hand dismissively. “You’re going to regret that later.”

Xavier stopped chewing and arched a brow at Oscar, who flashed a grin. “Hey, I’ve known you well enough to know that you’re either gonna bloat up like a balloon or you’re gonna have some serious stomach pains later.” Xavier sighed, knowing that Oscar was right. He normally didn’t finish his own plate, let alone even touch someone else’s, but for some reason he was starving, more so than usual. He reached for Jin’s plate next, tearing into the layered pasta with his fork as Oscar snickered under his breath.

Jin clicked his tongue in utter annoyance and irritation, and it took all he had not to jump across the table and burn a hole straight through Draven's throat. He was too damn full of himself, without any reason to be. The elementalist was considerably smaller than himself, at least that's what it had seemed like when they were walking about on Oscar's tour. No matter how confident and powerful he tried to seem, it only made Jin more impatient and ready to kill him.

He stared steadily at the other student, eyes rimming with that same red color and hands growing hot. He had no doubt that by the time he was done there would be a melting hole in the table where his palm had been resting against it, but he couldn't care less. Draven needed to learn his fucking place, be it through a simple conversation or, the more likely of the two, by force.

"You already know the answer to that," he said with a dangerous smile. "But apparently I did, too. Being the little mama bird you are, I doubt you could hurt a fly unless you thought one of your babies was in trouble."

Letting that little metaphor sink in for a moment, Jin gave a pointed look at Xavier, who was eating a surprising amount for how small he was. "What do you have against me, huh? I've got only the best intentions when it comes to Xav here. He's gotta leave the nest sometime, doesn't he?" His words came out as a doting coo, as if he was trying to consol a baby or some animal. That's certainly what it felt like he was doing.

Draven simply smiled, but it had a darker tone to it. Seeing the red lines appear around the teen’s eyes once again, he couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that he was managing to ruffle the others feathers. If there wasn’t an annoyingly wide table separating the two teens, he would most definitely take his dominance to the next level, but since this was their first meeting he figured allowing the demon to have a little taste would keep him aware of who he was dealing with.

“I’ve hurt many flies before, and I’ll do it again.”

At the mention of having something against Jin, Draven shrugged. In all honesty, he didn’t have anything truly personal against Jin at all. The main issues here were that he was a demon, in most cases demons couldn’t be trusted, and a demon had an interest in someone he liked. Of course, his motive was to get Jin to understand that he wasn’t on the top of the food chain here. The cooing jab made him internally cringe, but he kept his composure. His opponent seemed childish in his verbal attacks, like someone who didn’t think before they spoke.

“How am I supposed to believe you have good intentions? Especially after hearing about the history you’ve got.”

He smirked, aware of the fact that he had information he probably shouldn’t have. One of his many hobbies was eavesdropping, whether it be for selfish reasons or for gaining information to protect others. He was barely noticeable, which made it easy for him to infiltrate conversations. When Jin arrived, it wasn’t hard to miss the tinted car with the “hit man” opening the door for him. Of course, Draven had been within seeing distance, and recognized the superiority of the car, the driver, the fiery boy who had stepped out. Unfortunately, he had recognized them immediately.

“What are you guys talking about?”

Flicking his gaze to the side, Draven saw Oscar and Xavier both looking in his and Jin’s direction. His gaze lingered on Xavier for a moment before he offered the two boys a smile.

“Ah, Jin and I are just getting to know each other a little better.”

His golden eyes slid over towards Jin, a dangerous gleam flashing behind his onyx frames.

“Aren’t we?”

The second Draven mentioned his 'past' with that coy, know-it-all smile, Jin noticably tensed. He'd kept that little detail a well-hidden secret, and he hadn't been here nearly long enough or talked with enough people for anyone to be suspicious of him. He had even made sure that the lot was empty when he stepped out after first arriving, unless...

"That's not something you're supposed to know yet, birdie," he murmured, letting each syllable pause in the air with a dangerously threatening tone. The table in between himself and Draven was the only thing keeping him from murdering the other boy. Methods of death and torture were already going through his mind, as they always did when he grew tense enough.

The intensity of their conversation slowly relaxed when another voice butted in, causing Jin to turn and stare at Oscar and Xavier, who were looking back at the two of them with questioning curiosity. He flashed his own smile, affirming Draven's lie with a nod.

"Yeah," he agreed, giving the elementalist a sideways glance that said 'we'll be finishing this later'. "Just a friendly chat, is all."

Upon hearing the demon’s agreement, Draven settled back into his writing, acting as if the serious conversation he’d just had with Jin had never existed. Frankly, it was like Jin himself didn’t exist at all. However, Oscar and Xavier were still vividly aware of Jin’s presence.

As Oscar went back into bragging about an exchange he’d had with a female shifter, Xavier couldn’t help notice that the red outlines around JIn’s eyes had returned. Even though they were mesmerizing, he couldn’t figure out why they had appeared. His brow bent in a worried fashion, but he tried not to think about it too much. Maybe he had been showing Draven his power or something? A twang pulled at his chest and he frowned at himself. Why would he think that he was the only one special enough to see his powers? This was a school full of nothing but kids with powers; they would all start sharing at some point. So what if Jin had been showing Draven? There wasn’t anything wrong with that. In fact, it was normal.

A sudden static sound filled the air and Oscar halted his story, glancing up towards the ceiling. Draven’s gaze lifted from his binder as well, glancing around as he closed the notebook.

”Attention everyone: roll call will be taken in ten minutes!
Please finish your dinner and head back to the dormitories.
Thank you!”

“Well, I knew it was coming sooner or later,” groaned Oscar, grabbing his plate and slipping off of his bench seat.

Draven pushed his glasses up with a subtle touch, stepping out of the table seat as well. “Of course, classes start tomorrow.” Sliding his empty plate onto his binder, he glanced over at Oscar. “Curfew is nothing new.”

A smug grin split the kid’s face. “Yeah, but my rule breaking techniques this semester will be.”
Draven grunted, unamused by the possible trouble he would most likely get dragged into.

Noticing that everyone was getting up to leave, Xavier quietly followed suit. After grabbing his own plate, he picked up Jin’s as well. He stacked the empty plates together and looked over at Jin, nodding with his head in a “come on” motion as he followed the crowd towards the main entrance. He weaved around them gracefully, his hips swinging perfectly to prevent brushing up against others. Making it the trash bins he placed the empty plates on the top rack, piling them on an already large stack of dirt dishes.

Turning his attention toward Oscar and the story he really didn't give a damn about when Draven returned to whatever he'd been doing before their conversation, Jin gave a brief glance toward his roommate, followed by a wink. He was staring, and though he wondered faintly why Xavier seemed somewhat bothered by something, he could at least remain satisfied by the fact that his eyes were on him rather than someone else.

When static broke the buzz of conversation resonating throughout the cafeteria, Jin looked up on instinct, not that there was anything to see. Roll call, huh, he thought, remembering Oscar saying something about that. Either two hours had gone by incredibly fast or he and Xavier had just eaten late. He was betting on the latter.

Reaching for the plates only to have his roommate gather them up instead, he stood up from the bench and rolled his shoulders a bit, which were sore from leaning forward for so long. He was sure to watch where Xavier took the plates, not used to dining in a cafeteria and assuming he would likely be doing so for the remainder of his school life. He would need to figure out where things went and how things worked if he were to do that.

As he followed Xavier, he made no move toward politeness, pushing people out of his path when they got in the way. It was entirely the opposite of his roommate's strategy, forcing his way through rather than twisting and weaving around the other students. It was actually kind of sexy, the graceful tactic he used. Though he assumed he would have to wait a long while before he could put it to use for himself.

"Where to now?" he asked when they reached the rather disgusting pile of dishes, watching the crowd of students file out of the cafeteria and into the large space outside.