Collab with [@SheriffLlama]

[hider=Estella x Mason]
Estella was still in bed when she heard three hard knocks on her door. She forced herself to get up and open it, but was not really in the mood to talk to anyone. At least, until she saw who was standing in front of her: Mason. Her heart almost skipped a beat and she immediately covered her hideous black eye with one of her hands. “M-m-mason?” she stammered nervously. “What are you doing here?”

Mason looked down - literally, [i]down[/i] - at Estella. He was about to respond but fumbled with his tongue and said something stupid like: “Ugh…” He swore under his breath, then sighed. “I- uh… thought, maybe, you -” He held up the cold pack. “Might want something for your eye…” He muttered, shifting uncomfortably and pretty much cursing himself for trying to talk to her. 

Estella accepted the cold pack graciously, taking it from his hand and holding it to her eye. “Thanks, Mason,” she said, giving him a smile. But then she recalled the fact that he broke his arm earlier that day and asked in a concerned voice, “Shouldn’t you be using this for your arm?”

He glanced dumbly down at his arm. “Oh-” He said, wincing slightly. “Uh, yeah… but it’s not that bad..” He observed. Another under-the-breath curse. He knew he shouldn’t have done this. 

Estella glanced at the ground. She felt like she said something wrong but she didn’t really know what to do. Why was it so hard for her to talk to him? She took a deep breath and tried to change the subject. “So, uhm,...” she began, originally intending to ask him about his first day, but remembered that he broke his arm so that probably wasn’t a good thing to talk about. “You’re from Till right? What’s it like there?” She mentally slapped herself on the head. She seriously couldn’t come up with a better question?

“Yeah… It’s… not as nice as this place… It’s fun though…” He said. “What’s principle like…?”

“Hm...Well, if you think this place is nice, Principle is a lot nicer. We have a lot of buildings and facilities even more luxurious than the academy,” she said, feeling a lot more comfortable now that she was talking about something she knew. “I mean, I’m not saying that this place isn’t great, it’s just Principle is a lot better.” She was starting to look up and look directly at Mason, though it was subconsciously.

Mason’s head started spinning when she launched into sentences about her homegrid. “Sounds nice... “ He muttered.

“You really don’t say much do you?” Estella asked now that she was more confident. “Not that I really mind, I like to talk a lot myself, so I hope you are okay with that.”

“That’s fine.” He observed. “I don’t mind.”
She began to go on and on about herself like how she wanted to be a famous singer, but was invited here and accepted the invitation to make her family proud. She talked about her life back home, how she wasn’t just an empty-headed pretty girl like everyone thought she was, and she even admitted her fear of the water and how she never learned how to swim. It helped that he was a good listener though she never opened up like this to anyone before. 

Mason listened, as they both made their way to the wall, which he leaned back against. He was careful to follow each word, scared he might miss something. He almost smiled when she admitted his fear of the water. “Water’s nice…” He muttered, absently. As she continued talking, they slowly slid down the wall and sat on the floor. Even sitting down, he still towered above her. He found it strange how eager he was to listen - as if her voice was enchanted or something.

Estella began to notice her powers activating, even though she didn’t want them to. She quickly got up, afraid that she might accidentally command him to do something. “Let’s go for a walk,” she suggested, hoping that it would count as a command so she could use up her powers that way. 

"Okay." He said, and promptly stood up, walking after her. He found it was an odd sensation... He felt so comfortable to do whatever she said. And that was fine by him. 

They walked out of the dorms but didn’t have anywhere to go in particular. Estella relaxed a bit after the whole episode with her powers. It was a nice night to be out though; the moon was bright and full and there was a soft breeze that felt nice on her skin. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” she said. The sight alone almost took her breath away.

Mason nodded, followed her gaze. He briefly turned his head and stared up the huge building that was the castle. “It’s beautiful…” He observed, speaking of both the sky and the building. 

They just stared at the view for a long time until Estella broke the silence.“You know just about everything about me,” she began. “Why don’t you share a bit about yourself?”

Mason thought for a minute. He wasn’t a huge fan of talking about himself. “Well… I wasn’t always the biggest kid in class…” He muttered. “In my last year of grade school in Till, I was barely five feet tall…”

Estella held back a giggle. She could not imagine this [s]giant[/s] very large guy ever being one of the shorter kids at school. “Continue…” she urged him nicely. 

“Uh… got picked on sometimes…” He observed. “Till I got kinda tall… and broke the kid’s nose…” He left out the fact that he’d broken the kid’s nose with one punch - a result of his strength. He also left out anything about his anomaly. 

That was more like the Mason she was familiar with not that she thought less of him since the kid whose nose he broke probably deserved it for picking on him. “So, do you have anyone special back at home?” she asked curiously. 

He shifted, slightly awkwardly. “Eh… no… never really liked someone…” He said. He hoped she realized he meant until now… he’d rather not outright say it.

Estella nodded, trying not to show her disappointment. “A-ah… I see… Same with me…” she said. 

He sighed lightly. “I think I’m open to people, though…” He said, probably failing at being discreet. “That is, if I find someone I don’t hate…”

[i]“Well, I don’t think he hates me,”[/i] she thought to herself but was unsure whether or not to make the first move or not. She took a deep breath and whispered softly, “What do you think of me, then?”

“You’re definitely on the list of the few I like…” He answered. 

“Oh…” was all Estella managed to say though on the inside she was extremely happy. Maybe she shouldn’t because it might not mean that he actually [i]like-liked[/i] her, but still it was a ray of hope. 

It was getting late and the two of them returned to their respective rooms after saying good night. Estella returned to her bed, in a lot better mood than before and even forgot all about her black eye. 
[/hider]