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Post by Tino Väinämöinen on Oct 24, 2010 14:51:04 GMT -5
[Yeaah, so we needed a thread with the hufflepuffins so... here you go~ Everyone come join! \o/]
Tino stood at the doorway leading to the Great Hall, looking at the buzzing hordes of students and listening to the lively chatter a little nervously. From the very start of the school year he’d taken up the habit of going to eat the meals a little early, when there were less people and it was more peaceful. But today he’d lost the track of time while doing his homework in the library and when he’d finally remembered to check the clock it had already been ten good minutes after the beginning of the dinner time. Despite hurrying down the long staircases, he’d found the hall filled to the brim. He shifted his weight on his feet awkwardly before making up his mind and stepping into the hall, evading chairs and students and all kinds of objects that were flying around above the tables. It sure was anything but peaceful.
It was not that he didn’t like his classmates or anything, he was actually a pretty social person and liked chatting with people but… he was also shy. It always took him some time to get to know people and here, in the middle of a medley of foreign cultures it seemed to have only worsened. Or then he’d been this way all along and only noticed it now that he had people from other countries to compare himself with.
Well, there was nothing he could do about it except get a grip of himself and go out there, start talking to people and try to make friends. He squeezed his way to an empty seat at the Hufflepuff’s table and turned to the student sitting next to it, plastering a smile on his face. A little forced but it’d have to do for now.
“Sorry, “ he said and gestured towards the seat. “Is this taken?”
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Post by maplesurple on Oct 29, 2010 2:01:34 GMT -5
Normally, Matthew would have been at his proper table with the other Ravenclaws to enjoy the evening meal. This instance was different, yet only due to the fact that he was still engrossed in conversation with his Hufflepuff partner that had been brainstorming with the Canadian all afternoon about a project that they were expected to produce for Divination. Though Matthew could not see much merit in spending time with another student trying to define images out of tealeaf smears, it would be a major part of his grade for the course. So he had made a temporary invasion of the Hufflepuff’s section, standing out amongst the bright yellow stripes of their ties and insignias.
The Canadian blinked absently as someone asked to sit beside him. He had been too caught up to realize that he might have been occupying space best reserved for those members who were actually supposed to be there. With a slow, cautious glance up to the Hufflepuff, Matthew’s kind but distant eyes locked onto the ones peering down at him with questioning curiosity. “Excuse me? This seat?”
Gathering up the folds of his robes, the teen began to scramble up out of his place at the table with a sheepish expression. “Oh. Yeah. I was just visiting over here. The spot is all yours. Sorry if I was in the way.”
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Post by Tino Väinämöinen on Nov 3, 2010 13:59:20 GMT -5
It was only when the boy turned his face up at him that Tino realized he wasn’t from his house. The colors of his uniform indicated he was a Ravenclaw, which also explained why he hadn’t looked familiar at all. The school year might not have started too long ago, but Tino still thought he had the faces of the Hufflepuffs more or less memorized. It would be embarrassing if he couldn’t even recognize his own peers. Getting to know them personally was an entirely different case, though.
Tino jumped a bit to the side when the boy suddenly stood, apologizing even though there really was no need. He could perfectly well sit down on the empty seat next to the Ravenclaw. He hadn’t meant to chase the other away.
“A-ah! No no! Not at all!” He waved his hands, a bit embarrassed. “You don’t have to go, I’ll just sit here!” Tino quickly sat down to emphasize his words. It was slightly uncomfortable, being squeezed between two strangers, and he pulled his elbows to his sides so he wouldn’t bump his shoulders into anyone. The girl sitting opposite of looked at him a bit funnily, to which Tino answered with a small smile before turning back to the Ravenclaw.
The boy was about Tino’s age, judging from his looks, though he might’ve been wrong. These things were pretty hard to tell nowadays. His hair and eye color were also pretty close to Tino’s own, but it was the air of kind of awkward shyness that made Tino immediately relate to him at some level.
“Um…” He hesitantly started and offered his hand to the boy, the shy smile still on his lips. “I’m Tino. Nice to meet you.” Maybe he could strike some sort of conversation with him, he seriously needed something to distract him from the oppressive crowd.
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Post by maplesurple on Nov 11, 2010 15:57:20 GMT -5
Matthew blinked owlishly at the hand extended in his direction through his eyeglasses. He wasn’t sure if he had been anticipating the Hufflepuff greeting him that way. Normally people were so protective of their spaces from House to House. The gesture made him smile faintly, awkward and boyish as he took hold of Tino’s hand and shook it. “I’m Matthew. Matthew Williams. From Ravenclaw – though I guess the color sort of gives that away, doesn’t it?”
Blushing, clearly also quite unused to making new friends due to his own shyness, Matthew eased back down to sit on the bench next to Tino as he released the other teen’s hand. “I was just visiting because I had some questions about a project for Divination with one of your Housemates. It’s still really early in the year but I wanted to get some extra credit assignments out of the way to get a head start.”
He studied Tino’s face. The boy looked like he would be someone easy to talk to. Already, Matthew’s shyness was starting to ebb as he smiled at the other student. “Do you have Divinations this year? I’m sort of a nerd when it comes to studying, so I do it more than I should. It would be great to have someone else to study with.”
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Post by Tino Väinämöinen on Nov 14, 2010 7:46:14 GMT -5
Tino chuckled a bit as he shook the boy's, Matthew's hand. ”Yeah, it does. Though I have to admit I didn't really notice at first.” He smiled a little embarrassedly at the other boy.
He was glad when Matthew decided to sit back down and launched into his explanation about why he was sitting at the wrong table. Tino had been a little nervous that the conversation would pretty much die after the introductions (that had been happening a lot, too), so he eagerly grasped the subject the other boy had so kindly offered. And it even seemed their interests were similar.
”Ah. Yeah.” He answered and smiled back at Matthew a little shyly. The boy seemed really nice, and Tino was happy to have run into him, even if he wasn't from his House. Such trivial things didn't really matter in friendship. ”But I already have a feeling it's not my best subject.” Well, honestly speaking he thought he completely lacked the talent for it, which was a shame since the subject itself was really interesting. Like all the classes in the school. Tino had always been eager to learn about things, even in the muggle world, and now after being accepted into Hogwarts his hunger for knowledge had only been increasing. And now, talking to the Ravenclaw, he got surer and surer that he'd finally found a kindred spirit.
”I guess you could call me a nerd, too...” He grinned a little bit to himself, remembering how the muggle kids had sometimes called him that at school. However, he'd always found it sort of a compliment, it just meant he was smarter than them. ”It'd be great to study together.” He paused, pondering for a short while. ”What other classes are you having? I'm not sure if we share any...” He felt a little disappointed when he realized he didn't recognize Matthew from any of his classes, though it might be he just hadn't noticed him before. Or then the Ravenclaws had the lessons together with some other House. If that was the case, maybe they'd still get same assignments or homework and could find a way to work on them together.
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Post by maplesurple on Nov 16, 2010 12:51:23 GMT -5
“We have a few that we share, actually.” Matthew informed Tino with a wry smile. “Though I’m a rather unremarkable person, so people tend not to notice me. I don’t find it all surprising that you never saw me. That’s the way I prefer things.” Lifting up his hand, the Canadian swept it back and forth in front of his face with a slight grin. “It’s my invisibility powers. They took years to perfect, you know?”
Hearing Tino mention his difficulty in his class made Matthew tilt his head at the other boy. “If you want, I could tutor you? I have actually done it on and off to help others in the past. These things come easy for me for some reason but I understand that other people have trouble with them. We could meet either after classes are done for the day or after the Evening Meal.” Matthew reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. “I spend most of my free time in the Library. If you’re interested then maybe we could meet there a few nights a week or something?”
Honestly, the idea of offering to tutor other students was something that Matthew had been considering since arriving at the school. He had been inspired by the lessons that he had taken on flying over the summer. Matthew figured that if he could utilize his skills to help others then perhaps he would feel less useless. The Canadian knew that he lacked presence, charisma and the outgoing personality of others and that caused him to be forgettable. Maybe if he touched more people in a way that helped them then it would help him be more confident in being comfortable standing out in a crowd.
Of course he didn’t explain any of his reasoning to Tino. They had just met and it really wasn’t appropriate to launch into such deep topics of conversation. Maybe once they had become steady friends then Matthew would share the profound things that were constantly circulating through his mind. “It’s up to you. Honestly, it wouldn’t be any trouble.”
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Post by Tino Väinämöinen on Dec 7, 2010 11:33:27 GMT -5
Tino felt a small pang of guilt when Matthew told him about them sharing classes. It might've been natural to not notice the boy in one class, but to miss him in every single one... Apparently he'd been wrong thinking he's paid good attention to his surroundings. He felt totally ignorant right now. ”Sorry.” He meekly apologized, lowering his gaze at the plate in front of him and uninterestedly picking on it. It didn't really seem like Matthew was mad at him, quite the opposite if his joking was any indication. But it didn't really make Tino feel much better about it, he knew what it was like to be alone.
Still, Matthew didn't keep dwelling on the subject, so neither did he. And the Ravenclaw was quick to provide with a new topic; Tino's head whipped back to the other boy as he offered to help him with his studies. ”Would you really do that?” He asked excitedly. Truth to be told, he wasn't sure at all that he'd pass the course if he continued his current way. He'd thought Divination would be fun, but all it had given him so far was headache. Some extra help to get him back on the tracks sure would do nothing but good.
”Well, it's all kind of over my head right now so...” He rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrassed to admit his defeat. ”If you're sure it won't be any trouble, I guess I could use some help.” He laughed nervously before continuing, ”I don't have any after-school activities so I'm fine with any time really... Though maybe before dinner would be better.” He glanced at the clock on the Hall's wall and then Matthew. ”Do you think somewhere around five would be good?” The last classes usually ended around three in the afternoon, so that should leave them both with a few hours to rest or to do homework before meeting up in the library.
”Do you have your schedule with you?” Tino asked, swallowing down a mouthful of potatoes and leaning down to dig his own out of his back. He stared at the piece of brown parchment, full of numbers and names of different subjects and scribbled doodles of Moomins, and frowned slightly in thought. ”What classes do we actually share?” It felt like such a stupid question, but Tino wanted to know when he should be looking for the other blonde. And maybe they could pair up whenever there was a group assignment during class. At least he could be sure he had a motivated partner that way.
[So late orz. I'm sorry! ;A;]
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Post by maplesurple on Jan 26, 2011 15:38:02 GMT -5
Smiling as Tino seemed uncomfortable with the idea of not recognizing him from their classes, Matthew gave his own wry smile in return. “It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize. I’m actually pretty used to it. My face is one of those that is easy to forget.”
At the question about his schedule of classes, the Canadian shifted around so that he could pull out a folded slip of paper from inside his robes, thinking nothing of the fact that some would find it odd for him to keep his schedule on him at all times. Matthew handed the schedule over for Tino to reference it while turning back to the subject of tutoring. “Of course I would help you. Plus, it would help me understand Divination a little better myself if I am learning it alongside you while we work.” Matthew’s smile grew more pleasant with the thought of expanding his knowledge. It always made him so happy to think that he might learn new things.
“My schedule is pretty clear too. I devote most of my time to academics, so I don’t have to work very hard to balance all of the extra-curricular activities. Most of those, I did early over the summer so that I would have more time for my studies. If you couldn’t already tell, academics are very important to me.” The Canadian made a face. People found him strange for being so obsessed with them. Though they were always very happy to have him around when it came to needing things done for classes. “Five would be a good time. I’d estimate that it would take us around an hour to properly work. That will finish us up with more than enough time to get to the Great Hall for the Evening Meal.”
Tilting his head at Tino, Matthew asked him curiously, “When would you like to start these study sessions?”
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