hello world, hope you're listening

Paloma sat down at the bar and bit her lips, still unsure of what she was doing at that place. For some reason, she just felt like that was the place to be right then. Ever since Valentine's Day, she had been feeling a little weird. Everyone - or at least a lot of people - going out with their loved ones, enjoying the day, and she was stuck there alone. The few that were alone had broken up with their boyfriends or girlfriends a while before, or maybe they were just taking some time off.

She was a fifth year. Everyone had had some sort of relationship by then. Everyone had had at least one crush, kissed at least one guy, dated at least for a week. She had nothing. What was wrong with her?

Mikhail was sitting alone, when he spotted a pretty blonde not far away. He shrugged to himself. A little company wouldn't hurt, he thought, so the Hrabrost went over to her.

"Hey," he said.

Paloma's head snapped up and she smiled at the boy next to her, "Hey. Uh, do you wanna sit?" She took her bag from the chair and put it on the floor, next to her foot.

"You're from Durmstrang, aren't you? Most of the teens here are students. But I don't think I've seen you around, are you new?" Okay, slow down, she thought to herself. Or else she'd just start rambling. She definitely sucked at small talk.

"Yeah, sure," Mikhail shrugged simply sat down in the empty chair.

"I'm from Durmstrang, yeah," he nodded. "Um, I kind of am. I was homeschooled for a few years." He smiled a little. "So, what's your name?" Mikhail tapped his foot.

Paloma nodded, she'd always wondered what it must be like being home schooled, though she thought she'd positively hate it. It'd just be her. Her, her siblings, her parents, and her instructors. It all just seemed too dull in her mind, and she wasn't even one for partying and fun. She focused on her studies, more than she'd like to at times, but she enjoyed the thrill of being in a school. Because, when you thought about it, it was thrilling. New people, new professors, new subjects, there was always some kind of drama, especially in Durmstrang, you could never really be bored.

"Well, in that case, welcome to Durmstrang. I'm sure you'll like it here, even if it takes a while to adjust to everything. It can be a little crazy around," she muttered and chuckled lightly. She introduced herself, "I'm Paloma, Paloma Poots."

"Yeah, thanks," Mikhail nodded. "I'm sure it's going to be fine. I don't mind it being crazy. Being homeschooled was about as boring as it gets, so that'll be interesting."

He smiled. "So, what are you doing here, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Interesting... it'll definitely be interesting," Paloma nodded, "What's your name?"

She shrugged and looked at the barman before turning back to the boy. "I'm not even sure myself," she told him, "It just. . . felt like the place I needed to be. If that makes any sense."

"What about you?"


(ooc: sorry it's so short and awful! D: )

"Mikhail," he answered nonchalantly. "You?"

He chuckled. "It sort of does. I mean, I don't really have any reason to be here, either. Probably exploring, if I'm honest. There's a lot of different places here." Mikhail had not seen much of the place, really.

"Mikhail, that's a nice name," Paloma answered and frowned softly at his question. Hadn't she already told him her name? Maybe she was going crazy. . . but she was almost certain she had. "Paloma," she replied again.

She nodded slowly, "Exploring is always fun... Plus, Port Durmstrang is always nice to know. It can be a good place to get away from the stress of the school."

"Hmm," he nodded. In her expression, Mikhail saw that he probobly had done something wrong. Maybe he had misread something? Or just completely missed out on something she said? He decided on saying nothing at all.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "It's a pretty cool place, as far as I've seen. Much more exciting than just seeing the same old places all the time."

Paloma nodded in agreement and took a sip of the butterbeer in front of her, previously forgotten. She had never been good at small talk - what was she even supposed to say? "Um, so," she started, not even knowing where to being, "Uh, why did your parents decide to send you to school only now, if you don't mind me asking... ?"

The Uchitel took another sip of the butterbeer, mentally scolding herself. How was she hoping she would, one day, find someone for her if she couldn't even keep a conversation with a stranger going? Add that to the list of yet another thing she couldn't do. Merlin, that list was starting to get big.

He made a face. "They didn't like the idea of sending me off here being who I am. Things at my old school didn't go so well. You see, I'm deaf. They thought that it would be difficault to speak to people, but I cope well enough." Mikhail shrugged.

He didn't really need to not tell anyone. The Hrabrost often misread people's lips and missed things, so why not just be open about it to avoid situation where that would be especially awkward.

"Oh! That's cool..." Paloma said, genuinely surprised, and added quickly, "I mean, not the fact that you're deaf, but uh, that they finally decided to send you. People here aren't usually too judgmental." She nodded along to his words, "I'm being completely honest here, I wouldn't have guessed if you hadn't said anything." She guessed, "Do you read people's lips? It seems kind of. . . hard. I mean, not when they're talking slowly, but I know a lot of us talk fast without even noticing."

She wouldn't manage being deaf. Or anything else, actually. She wondered how people like Mikhail and Tessa lived like this. Of course, you had to adapt. It was either this or die, but she couldn't see herself managing to make this work. She'd thought about if she would rather be blind or deaf, and still couldn't come up with an answer.