[u][b]Regis Dimitrios[/b][/u]

Regis strolled into the magnificent halls of the Sun Room. Its sight a breath-taking view to behold, as it was every had time he had seen it. The day had finally come. Wherein he would virtually be tied to another person for an entire year, if not more. Regis had dreamt about and anticipated this ceremony since the very day he had become aware of its existence. He would spend entire days thinking of how grand it would be, how he'd create a true companion in mind and soul, bonded together on a level yet unknown to him! He knew how capable the people who chose the partners were, surely they would grant someone as great as a Dimitrios with an equally suitable companion! Or, at least, someone great enough to truly understand Regis' eminence, and to not avoid him for some reason!

With his usual wide, self-assured smile and regal gait befitting one of his stature, Regis took in the grand sight of the hall, the groups of anxious chatterings between classmates or friends, the majestic and dazzling lights shining a rainbow down upon them all. In such a lovely place, with such fabulous people, at such an momentous occasion, Regis gulped down a sizable breath of fresh air and atmosphere...

... trying to calm down the unbearable shakes that had gripped him. While other's laughed during the usually humorous speech that the Headmaster always provided, Regis could only maintain a strained smile as he tried not to vomit, he blazer becoming a sauna as sweat dripped down his back. Was the Sun Room always this wide? So spacious? The usually grand hall felt like a coffin as the Headmaster continued his speech, something about balance and tradition and was it always so hard to breathe? This was absurd, he had never felt apprehension about taking the [i]sacramentum[/i], yet the thought of walking up that podium sent waves of anxiety through his bones.

Regis took deeper breaths, and tried to analyse the cause of this seemingly sudden panic, vaguely aware that the first two people to be bonded had already been sent up. He doubted it was the act itself that worried him, people had done the ritual a countless number of times without particular incident, although he had heard some nasty rumours about people exploding when attempting to form bonds with more than one person. Unsubstantiated rumours. No, it wasn't the ritual.

All that was really left to consider was the partner. Regis didn't have water where his brain was, he knew very well most people avoided him. His usual assumptions was jealously, or that they feared themselves insufficient when compared to him so they never responded well to Regis' attempts at friendship. If the person he was to be bonded to for an entire year reacted the same way... [i]Alright[/i], he thought to himself. [i]You've some got time to calm down, drink some water, think of the calm ocean waves--[/i]

[b]"--and Regis Dimitrios!"[/b]

[i]Excuse me?[/i] Regis blinked. The panic that had only just begun to wane returned in full force when he realised that, one, he had been called up already, and two, that he did not hear his partner's name. He might have heard an 'erg' at the end of their name, but that was it. That would have been part of their last name. He didn't need that! Realising he was still standing there even after a few seconds had passed, he finally started to move his feet, which may as well have been encased in blocks of cement at the effort it seemed to take. He trudged up the stairs, only just realising that two new druids had appeared to help off-load the mass of students.

Regis only hoped that he would remember his partner from somewhere, and hopefully avoid the potential social faux pas of not knowing someone's name despite it being uttered several seconds prior. Considering his usual prowess at remembering people's names with 100% accuracy, surely he would be fi-- Nope, no idea whatsoever. The boy he was paired with was unfamiliar. Like most people the boy was taller than him, but not absurdly so like half the other boys were. Blond hair, blue eyes, all accounts reasonably attractive, but Regis ignored all that in favour of focusing on breathing and remembering the script he spent an entire train trip pouring over.

"Uh, hi." That was most certainly not how it went. "No, wait, hello." That wasn't it either. "Hang on, was it 'salutations'...?" He looked away from the boy, as if pondering a deep philosophical quandary. "Give me a second." He began ruffling through his blazer pockets, picking out his crumpled script. "A-ha! It was 'greetings'. Greetings!" Good start, good start. "Crap, there's more. Uh, 'greetings sir slash madam second year Mage of St. Fortuna's Academy for the Higher Arts whom I may...' Wait, dammit, I was supposed to change that bit. Excuse me." Regis grabbed a pen from his front blazer pocket, and started scribbling out parts of the first sentence, and would have continued if he wasn't reminded that this was not a meet'n'greet.

"Excuse me, but--" one of the druids spoke up, to which Regis instantly ceased his actions.

"Sorry!" he said, cutting off the druid before they could finish speaking. His eyes went right back down to the script. "Something something 'esteemed and distinguished', something something 'glee and various forms of exuberance', something something 'rampaging hormones'... and uh, nice to meet you and whatnot. Okay, bonding time!" He shoved the script back into his pocket.

Nailed it!