That One Dorm (Open)

There actually was someone else in the lounge, though it's understandable why he wasn't spotted at first glance. After all, the exchange student may have even taken it as a compliment. He was small, quiet, and pretty much tried to keep to himself. But he did raise his head from his own book when he noticed that someone else had the same idea as him, using the peace of the lounge for some reading.

Jeremy himself was currently tackling a rather lighthearted read at the moment, a little Terry Pratchet to cleanse the pallette between more serious titles. He was almost done with his copy of "Unseen Acedemicals". Though, the cover of the other boy's book did catch his eye. Lovecraft, that's a name he hasn't heard recently.

"Sorry to bother you." he said, suddenly wide-eyed. He surprised himself with the sudden friendly interruption. "B-but... If you're really liking that book... I've got a copy of Call of Cthulu i-if you'd like to b-borrow it. It's p-pretty much one of his most crowning achievements a-as a writer... heh...." He gave what he hoped was a friendly look and a sheepish smile.

Even if he were to recognize a book of the Discworld series, he probably wouldn't know just what the book was unless he had a very strong understanding of English. This book was clearly not written in Japanese. Jeremy felt himself relax just a bit and nodded as well. "Yeah, he really mastered the true art behind horror." It had been a while since he could simply talk about writing with someone. "It never was about the murders ore mutiliation, but about that dark indescribable thing creeping in the back of your mind. That feeling of helplessness against it." he sighed a bit, getting a distant look in his eyes. The exchange student's mind was filling with darkness, creeping horrors from god-knows-where, hunting for things best left unknown....

He nodded and offered a slight smile. "Yeah, I moved into the dorms not too long ago actually. I'm Jeremy Braun. No... wait... Uh... Braun Jeremy. Sorry... If you haven't guessed, I'm the exchange student who keeps screwing up his cultural stuff..." his face took on a deep shade of red as he shut his book as well. "S-sorry. I've really been meaning to get this sort of thing right...." he mumbled, fishing for any kind of distraction from the subject... and found none.

The redhead sat there, fidgeting with the spine of his book for a few moments of awkward silence. Why was it that entire pages of dialogue came so easy to him... and yet just speaking to one other person was so difficult? "So... uh.. what... other books do you read?" he asked, returning to the only common ground he could find that he felt safe with.

He nods at his introduction. He took a moment to think to himself trying to remember the books he likes. In the meantime he made sure to respond. "I dunno. I am not sure I pay attention to the cultural things. But I am a slacker so that could be my fault," he said.

He thought to himself and finally answered. "I enjoy George R. R. Martin. Game of Thrones guy. I know he might be a bit mainstream, but I had read the books before his show, so I like to think i am better than those who only watch the show," he said chuckling. "Lets see.....there's William Gibson I like.....I can't remember anything else I read lately," he said rubbing his nose with a finger.

"Oh, yeah. I've been meaning to read that. I haven't even watched the show to be honest.... but... I've heard good things about it." he gave a slight smile. "If you're interested in some good sci-fi I just finished reading some books by Oreson Scott Card. He has this amazing style that makes everything seem surreal, but only if you stop to realize the facts of the situation, like-" He cut himself off.

He was about to do it again. He was trying to keep himself in check. He never could balance it right. Either he couldn't find the right words to say at all, or he simply started to go on rants that eventually bored people. He was trying to be better about it, and not be such of a fumbling idiot in conversation. "...sorry... I was rambling, wasn't I?"

"Dude you talk to a guy who rambles. But I don't talk to much so I just let others talk while I listen, It really isn't that big of a deal," he said calmly. He smiled and looked out the window. "I hope it rains. I really like the rain," he said.

He grabbed his book and put it back in his lap and just stares out for a second. His glasses lightly slip and fall onto the floor revealing his mismatched grey and brown eyes. "Oh damn," he said reaching around to pick them up and hastily starting to clean them a bit paranoidly.


((If that is even a word. XD))

When his glasses, fell, Jeremy dove to try and catch them, but was too slow. "Whoops!" He looked up to apologise, and noticed his eyes. "Wow. I didn't realize that was an actual thing. Dicromatism, was it?" He murmured, looking at the other boy's eyes. First focusing on one, than the other. "Huh... that's really cool. I've only ever really heard of that in books before, I wasn't sure if it was real." he smirks slightly, chuckling first before making his joke not-so-private. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone must've picked you to be the protagonist of some story."

He laughs. "I wish I was that special. It's heterochromia. There are no particularly negative effects to my knowledge. I just have a different eye color because my grey eye doesn't have enough melanin in it. Yeah it's a thing. But surprisingly very rare in the world, cause it never is a problem in a person," he said putting his glasses back on.

"Thanks by the way. I didn't want those to break. The lenses are particularly important," he said putting a bit of his thumb into his mouth and chewing on it slightly. He took it out quickly and wiped his finger on his uniform pants as if trying to keep in control of his habit.


((EDITED))

"Well, I mean. Of course your special. You've got something not many people have." He gives him a slight smile. "Even if it is just some kind of... uh.. melanin... thing..." he shrugged. The exchange student sighed. "I mean, it could be worse. You could've ended up having to look up to talk to pretty much anyone, like me." The short boy gave him a sheepish look, hoping to loosen things up a bit with a little self-depreciation humor. He spotted the thumb-chewing, and thought it must have been something done out of nervousness, like how tightly he was clutching his book right now.

"I don't really know, I haven't really been here that long, myself. But..." He looked around with a sudden hush, as if checking for anyone was listening. He slowly leaned in, with an odd air, as if he were about to tell him some dark secret of these halls. In a low, haunting breath, he answered. "If you really think this place is haunted..... You might want to give the Lovecraft a rest for a while." A smirk crossed his face with a 'Snrk!' which broke in to snickering laughter.

He laughed at him lively. He enjoyed this guy. "I like you," he said smiling. "I am going to head to my room. I have to study for my class tomorrow. But we will have to see each other again alright?" he said.