LOG: Amara and Julian

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

Amara and Julian meet in the kitchen and chat a little!

Two days into classes at Xavier's and Julian was feeling the crunch. Things were much tougher than they were back home and people didn't seem to have the same laid back attitude. Back home he'd had plenty of privacy, mostly because his parents hadn't cared enough to ask where he was going or what he was doing, but here there was none. People asked him how he was doing, and many of them seemed genuinely concerned for his well-being. He'd also made the all-too-easy observation that everyone who lived in the mansion could also double as a model. He was heading between classes now, with a few minutes before he was expected in room three, so Julian decided to swing into the kitchen for a drink.

Amara was in that limbo of not really having too much to do right now since her college classes were all but wrapped up for now. Right now, however, she was trying to make a very important decision - what was she going to cook? No formal structure to her day tended to throw off her schedule, so it was possible she was organising her lunch at a slightly odd hour. She glanced up when Julian entered, smiling cheerfully. "Hello!" She said equally cheerfully, turning to face him properly. "I think you must be Julian." Because heaven forbid she not continue with her surprise!knowledge of who he is.

Words caught in his throat the second that Julian entered the kitchen and saw the blonde making, what looked to be, lunch. Usually, he would have given her a charming smile and strutted up to the counter to introduce himself, but there was something disarming about her. She even knew his name, 'Is it getting warmer in here?' he wondered. 'Wait, she knows your name, pull it together Keller.' he forced himself to smile and compose his involuntary ogling. "Yeah, I'm Julian- and you would be?" he asked her, flashing- what he thought- was one of his most charming smiles.

It was quite possibly the fact that she was a figurative ray of sunlight - not only did she radiate heat, she was also just far too cheerful for words. "I'm Amara," she said with a grin. "We chatted on the journals. About you being infamous. I hear everyone's excited about having you here." Or at least the teenage girls were. Which Amara was not one of... but only just barely. She still felt like one of them, and that totally counted for a lot, right?

"Oh," Julian said, partly relieved that she wasn't some sort of telepath with some of the thoughts that were racing through his head…then again, she still could be, so he did his best to block those thoughts- not that he knew how. "It's nice to officially meet you Amara," he paused and approached the counter with false confidence, leaning on the center island across from her, "pretty name, by the way." The reason he'd come into the kitchen in the first place was a distant memory now, replaced with something far more interesting. He did his best to give her the patented Keller 'charming smile,' which could melt hearts and open doors, but it came across as sheepish. He cleared his throat, "How are you doing today?"

"It's nice to meet you too, Julian!" She kept smiling, partly because that's just what she did and partly because she was genuinely pleased to meet him. "And thank you! I will have to admit, Julian is one of my favourite names." She paused, a mischievous light in her eyes. "But then, perhaps I am biased? One of my middle names is Juliana." She laughed lightly, more at her attempt at a joke than anything else. "And I am very well, thank you, if a little hungry, but I can not decide what to eat. How are you?" She focused all her attention on him, as though she was utterly uninterested in anything other than his wellbeing.

Julian relaxed slightly, "Amara Juliana," he thought for a moment, "has a nice ring." He surveyed the counter top to see what was out, "I'm doing well…just class after class, ya know? Thought I'd pop in for a quick drink before I rushed off to Biology." He pointed to one of the unopened containers, "What're you making?"

"My full name is Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla," she said, pausing and taking an obvious deep breath at the end of it. "It's a little bit of a mouthful, but I like it." She nodded in agreement about his comment about class, still smiling. "Taking a break between classes is very important," she said mock-seriously. "And I am actually not sure what I am making, I am still trying to decide." She looked rather forlornly at the food. Decisions, decisions!

Julian stared at her dumbfounded, his smile was a smirk now, "That is quite a mouthful. I'd never be able to remember it all." His own middle name was a closely guarded secret, and it was unlikely that anyone- other than school staff- would ever know it- unless, again, Amara were a telepath of some sort. Julian examined some of the contents, "Well, I don't know what you're in the mood for, but I know Nori made a pretty good stir-fry with some of this…I have no idea what of this, but still, quite good."

"I have had twenty years to go get used to it," she said with a laugh. Or at least twenty years of memories, how long she'd actually lived in Nova Roma was up for debate. "But as long as you remember my first name, I will be quite content with that." That was really the most important part, she would be terribly sad if Julian did manage to forget her name. "Perhaps? I have never been very good with stir-fries, we didn't really have them where I lived." Her gaze shifted over them a few more times, and she finally grinned. "But I could perhaps make up some pasta sauce, I am sure I saw some spaghetti in the pantry I could cook."

"Oh, this place has everything, that I can't complain about that one bit," Julian shrugged. "The only thing I think I can complain about would be the weather- though…it seems to have warmed up a bit." Julian looked out the window at the desolate winter landscape and tried to figure out why it was so much warmer all of a sudden. "I'm from Beverly Hills, by the way. What about you? I can't imagine a place without stir-fry."

"Oh, yes. The weather is awful. I hate winter." She huffed and glared out the window, as if somehow Mother Nature would see her and fix the weather accordingly. "I am from..." There's a long pause, as Amara works out how to explain this. "Brazil," she finished eventually, with the very slightest of frowns on her face. It wasn't entirely accurate, but it would do for now. "We were a very insular community." She sighed again at the window. "It has taken me a long time to get used to the weather in New York."

She didn't look Brazilian, but Julian took her at her word, "That's quite the plane ride." His thirst returned and Julian went to the cupboard where the glasses were kept and fetched on; then went to the refrigerator and filled it with filtered water- the tap stuff tasted funny. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to it. Oh, by the way, did I miss that bon fire?"

It was a long story! Which she might explain sometime. It wasn't that it was secret or anything, just complicated. "It is, its. Thankfully I don't do it very often." She wrinkled her nose at the thought. Flying was one of the things on Amara's 'Things She Hated To Do' list. Right up near the top. "I have been here for a couple of years now, and I still don't like it. And no! You haven't. I am thinking about having it this weekend, depending on the weather."

Julian finished the water, then set the glass in the sink. He didn’t want to leave the kitchen to head to class, but he also didn’t want to start screwing off on his first week. “Let me know when it is, okay? I’m looking forward to some Smoores.” He smiled and glanced at his watch, he’d just make it if he left now. “I need to get going, I’ll see you around Amara,” he gave her a smile as he turned to leave and head out of the kitchen. “Good luck figuring out your lunch.”