Closed Unexpected Exchange

[Simon Thorne]

Simon sat alone at the Slyherin table, halfheartedly doing the reading for his next arithmancy lesson that afternoon. He was enjoying his time alone as he ate his breakfast, it was a rare moment of peace for him when he didn't have to follow Tyler around or amuse Sydney with his attention. Although he could have used her help now as he struggled with some of the things in the book. He spared a glance around the hall to see if he could spot his sister and let out a breath when he didn't see her. She was probably off to class already or studying in the library. But he hadn't seen her for a couple of days and it was concerning. He was sure if something had happened he would know but he made a note to look out for her at dinner to at least make sure she was alive. Simon shook his head and tried to focus back on what he was doing before.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben saw a Slytherin guy sitting alone on the table, he thought that maybe he didn't really had much friends, or maybe he was a loner by choice. A lot of signs told Ruben to leave him alone but the first year was not the one to listen to his own advice so he sit across the clearly older boy.
He started eating his breakfast silently, he hoped he wasn't bothering, maybe they could just enjoy the silence together. Ruben didn't have much friends yet either so maybe he could bond with him over that, or not.
Ruben watched as the other boy was studying, he tried to glance at his book but it didn't seemed anything he knew, probably another subject he would learn on his next semester or maybe just an advanced class.
Ruben decided to make a peace offering and extending him a plate with bacon he said "Hi! I'm Ruben. You want some?".
It was a dangerous move as the other boy could snap at him for losing his concentration but Ruben tried to focus on the positive outcomes as he nervously held the plate in his hand.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon slowly looked up from his book and when he heard someone sit down across from him. For a moment he was honestly surprised to see that it was a younger student who had approached him. He didn’t recognize the boy and took his time to get a good look at him before glancing at the plate of bacon once he registered what the boy was asking. “Oh, no thank you.” he said evenly. “I don’t like to have a heavy breakfast.” he explained with a grin. “What year are you?” he asked bluntly. Simon figured he was younger then him but considering he had just transferred last year there was a chance he was a second or third year he had just never seen before.

 

[Ruben Right]

The Slytherin boy retreated his hand and put his plate near him again "Sorry, it's just when I see bacon I can't really resist" he said putting some in his mouth.
If there was one thing he liked at Hogwarts were the meals, he was not a person that loved to eat or that loved food but even he had to admit that the Hogwarts food was great. He was looking at the other boy when he made him a question, Ruben decided to eat the bacon he was still chewing before answering for a matter of politeness "I'm a first year. And you are?" he said curiously, he could almost bet he was a fifth year, if not he certainly had the mature looks of one.
"What are you studying? That seems hard" he asked mostly because his curiosity took the best of him as he didn't understand what the book was about. Another piece of bacon in. The bacon was definitely delicious and he would probably eat most of it. That was one of the habits he brought from his trip to England, bacon at breakfast, it was probably extremely unhealthy but it was something he craved every morning, either that or pancakes which were not very healthy too so he sticked with the less sugary food.

 

[Simon Thorne]

“I can see that.” Simon said, under his breath as he watched carefully as the boy pulled back his plate and began to eat. He couldn’t blame the boy. The food was quite good for it being a school after all but Simon found the idea of eating before noon made his stomach deeply unsettled. But he couldn’t help but smirk as the boy questioned him back. “I am a fourth year.” he said plainly. “It’s arithmancy. You don’t have to worry about that until third year if you even decide to take it.” Simon explained. “I’d say it's more dull than difficult.” he added before looking back at the boy. He squinted at him slightly trying to figure out if they knew each other. “What’s your name?” he asked, his tone coming out more suspicious than curious. Simon really was trying to figure out what this kid possibly wanted. Did he know his family some how?

(ooc: sorry this took so long!)

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben wondered why the boy had chosen arithmancy if he found it dull so he kept hitting him with a wave of questions "Well, why did you chose it then? Aren't optionals supposed to be something you should enjoy? Or are they so bad that you were forced to choose the things you disliked the least?" he said with an questioning look mixed with an apologetic face, after all this was his future too so it would be good to know more about it. Ruben started to fear third year once the other boy didn't exactly seemed thrilled about it.
He ate another piece of bacon. The young Slytherin boy tried to answer the other boy's question but he realised that the sounds he was making weren't understandable as he had food on his mouth.
Once he swallowed that piece of bacon he said "Sorry you probably didn't understood a thing" he said giving a chuckle and a small smile to the other guy "My name is Ruben. Like Reuben but without the first e. My parents wanted to be original and I was born in Europe. And yours?" he said hoping that the other boy understood that he was asking for his name and not about his parents. His question might have seemed a little confusing, or maybe it wasn't and he was just overthinking it.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon sighed as the boy started to pepper him with questions. He closed his book and started to listen with growing impatience and raised one of his eyebrows at the idea of only taking classes you enjoyed. It was a naive opinion and he tried not to hold it against him but Simon did try to think about what his father would do if he insisted on taking only classes he wanted to and he came up blank. The idea was far too absurd, even for his adequate imagination. “Well sometimes we do have to take classes we don’t enjoy because they are good to know. Even if they aren’t the most exciting.” he said with a tight smile. “Don’t worry you might like it.” he added with a wave of his hand. He didn’t like the slightly nervous face of the boy and didn’t want his sour mood to color his opinion too wildly. But his smile became even more strained as the other boy started to speak with his mouth full. “Simon...Thorne.” he answered simply. Simon added his last name at the last second in case they did know each other somehow. “Where in Europe?” he asked, curious. He knew he wasn’t the only person not from New Zealand not to go to this school. But since the topic was brought up he was intrigued.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben didn't quite understood the concept of learning anything just because it was practical and not because he actually enjoyed it. Of course that sometimes he would have to do it, it reminded him of his History of Magical lessons, he hated it yet it is practical to learn.
Ruben appreciated the interest from Simon, asking him where specifically he was from, assuming he was not a stalker. He laughed in his own head. There was something about Simon that intrigued him, he wasn't sure if him closing his book was a bad or a good sign, and considering he had just been a bit impolite, the other Slytherin boy seemed actually more interested than he should be.
He noticed some small reactions of his, like his smile, he knew that smile way too well. He seemed to be repressing some sort of thing, maybe his honest opinion. Ruben used those smiles for that, and to come off as polite but he decided to let it go. He didn't want to make things awkward with Simon and come out as too agressive.
"Well...hard to say. I was born in Portugal but then I moved to London in England for about...two years I think? It might have been just one. I had five years old by the time so i don't quite remember it. After that we just went to Portugal again and now here I am in New Zealand. Quite the story huh?" he said making a forced smile.
For some reason the topic of where he was from made him a bit uncomfortable, there wasn't a specific reason he just wouldn't usually tell than to anyone unless that, like Simon, they asked.
"What about you?" he asked trying to figure what where he could be from. He was probably jumping to conclusions but he didn't exactly seemed from New Zealand. His slight accent gave him out but Ruben couldn't exactly place it "Where are you from?" he said completing his question.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon crossed his arms and listened to Ruben’s story. “Quite.” he said bluntly as he finished a rather long winded explanation of his life. If he had known the answer was going to be so convoluted he might not have asked. But the part about London did intrigue him. So maybe the question hadn’t been so useless after all. “I grew up in London.” he answered quickly, and he figured he owed Ruben the same honesty. And it wasn’t like any of this was a secret anyways. “Just transferred last year from Hogwarts Scotland actually after my father got a different job here in New Zealand.” Simon neglected to mention that said ‘new job’ was because his father had lost his old one. And the only way his family could escape the complete destruction of their good name was to move to the opposite side of the world. Simon could feel the anger and frustration he felt constantly last year start to bubble under the surface but he took a deep breath and smiled again. That was behind him now and he wasn’t angry anymore. He had made his peace with the whole situation. At least most of the time. “How are you liking school so far? Not too homesick are you?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben was intrigued by the fact that the other boy was from England, maybe they crossed paths there but neither of them should remember if they ever did. "Not even a little homesick, Hogwarts was the kind of change I needed" Ruben said with a weak smile. He meant that with every single bit of his soul but he wish he didn't, he wished to be homesick, wished to be excited to return home during summerbreak, wished that his whole life was different, but those were just wishes and they weren't coming true anytime soon. He couldn't exactly talk about this with his siblings, they weren't exactly left out by their parents like him and they couldn't really understand when he tried talking to them about it. "What about you? London is hard place to top" he asked, London was indeed one of his favourite places and it could be hard for New Zealand to ever be better than it.

 

[Simon Thorne]

“Is that so?” Simon asked curiously. He almost wanted to laugh, what things could an eleven year old possibly need a change from. He was about to say as much but he paused to think about his own father, and his constant stream of belittling comments that he had to grow up with. Comments that made him so grateful to board a train every year even if it was only for a few months at a time. Simon frowned when he thought about Caleb at home by himself against their parents now that Delilah was at school. He always thought his brother got off way easier than he ever did, he was also glad it was only one more year before he would come to Hogwarts as well. Simon almost didn’t hear Ruben’s question. “Hmm, well sometimes I miss it.” he admitted. He liked the gloomy weather of London and the constant activity of the city, but it wasn’t his home anymore. It wasn’t like any of his friends back home had bothered to write. “But I don’t think it’s useful to dwell on those kinds of things.” he said finally, and grabbed a piece of toast.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben was aware that it might sound terrible that an eleven years old was saying he needed an escape from home but that was just true, his parents were awful and they only cared about his siblings. Ruben was the forgotten one.
Even when they came to Hogwarts the goodbyes were different for everyone, for Valentin it was like he was going away forever. They said goodbye hugging him tight and giving him tons of kisses. For Veronica was more like a 'don't disappoint us' memo than a goodbye. For Ruben it was exactly a goodbye, a single a dry goodbye from afar "Things at home are not always easy. I don't know if you have siblings but I'm a triplet and the way our parents treat us is very different, you can clearly see that there's a favourite" he said sighting and looking down.
Suddenly the boy realised he had just vented with Simon and maybe that was a bit much for their first meeting "Sorry, I didn't meant to vent" he said giving him a week smile.
He gave him a bright smile when he heard the boy saying that it wasn't worth it to dwell on things, he totally agreed "Wouldn't have put it better" he said, it was more important to focus on the present and future than on things we couldn't control anymore because they had already happened.