[CENTER][h2][color=#ffdb57]Vinegar 'Vina' Lilianne[/color] and [color=7ea7d8]Sam Tavares[/color][i][/i][/h2][/center]
[right][sup][b]Location:[/b] [i]Wolkwitz Auditorium, Merryweather Institute[/i][/sup][/right][hr]
Vina grumbled deep in her throat as some white-haired kid--with ALL THE SPACE this far up in the auditorium--stepped past and sat down right next to her. Some people. Did he not realize that she was explicitly sitting here to [i]avoid[/i] sitting next to people?

Still. What was she supposed to do? She was in a [i]school auditorium,[/i] for god's sake, it's not like she could punch him here and now, and she didn't really want to anyway. All she could do was shoot a glance to the side and glare at his--

"[color=#ffdb57]--ice?[/color]"

It's not that Vina was [i]surprised[/i] or anything, this [i]was[/i] a Primalist school, after all. Just wasn't expecting to see someone using it so casually, given her relationship with her own element and the care she had to take with it. Then she suddenly realized that she was [i]staring,[/i] and by what she just said he'd [i]know.[/i] So she turned back towards the front with a [i]hmmph,[/i] hoping that he wouldn't call her obvious faux pas into question.

Now Sam was regretting sitting next to this girl. She was clearly annoyed, he caught her staring at him before she turned away in a huff. Should he just ignore her? That would be the safest option. But this was a fresh start for Sam, he couldn't just let his awkwardness dictate his life. So he decided to talk to her, [color=7ea7d8]"are you not warm? With all these people in here I feel like I could melt."[/color] If she really didn't want to talk hopefully she would just say so.

Well, that was probably the end of Vina's privacy. With a [i]looooong[/i] sigh, she folded her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling, metaphorically kicking back since she didn't want to be the kind of asshole who puts their feet up in an auditorium. "[color=ffdb57]Well, my tolerance might be hotter than most. Especially you, Ice Cube.[/color]" Weighing whether or not showing off was a good idea when she never knew if it'd put a hole wherever she was pointing it, she eventually brought a hand down in front of her and [i]carefully[/i] let a nimbus of superheated air dance around it [i]without[/i] firing a heat laser out of it. Progress! 

"[color=ffdb57]My element's heat,[/color]" she finished, voice dry as the Sahara. "[color=ffdb57]I'm [i]literally[/i] in my element here.[/color]" 

Honestly, it was actually a little [i]cool[/i] for her. She was way further north than she was used to, the auditorium was air conditioned, and she was sitting far away from most people. Forgot being 'not warm, she was [i]cold![/i]

Well that sigh wasn't a great start, but at least she was being friendly instead of just telling him to screw off or something. He let out a small chuckle at her comment after she displayed her ability. [color=7ea7d8]"Very nice, I can appreciate some dry wit. I'm Sam, by the way. Though I like how Ice Cube sounds, probably too cool for me though."[/color] Now it was his turn for a bad pun, two could play at that game.

Oh, good. It was time to play the name game. A ghost of a smile came to her face. At least this way she could introduce herself the right way before Sam learned her confusing legal name. Because really, honestly. Vinegar? Really? "[color=ffdb57]I'm sure there's a way to use heat and ice to pun off of 'dry wit' there without dragging it out too far, it's a shame I can't find it.[/color]" He seemed nice-ish. Not [i]annoyingly[/i] nice, too, like a lot of the pain-in-the-ass people Vina had dealt with over the years and had usually led to her beating on them because she thought they were making fun of her. Just...generally friendly. 

Still kind of a pain in the ass that he'd decided to randomly sit with her, but, hey, gotta make the best of any given situation. She shook out her hand to banish any of the excess heat from it before reaching it out to him for a fistbump. "[color=ffdb57]Vina. 'Sup, Ice Cube.[/color]"

Sam first bumped her, [color=7ea7d8]"nice to meet you Vina."[/color] He had his first new friend at the institute. Well, he supposed his roommate could be his first friend, though they hadn't interacted a whole lot yet, so maybe not. Either way, this was a good sign of things to come. [color=7ea7d8]"I've got dry ice to go with dry wit, it feels like the pun is right there."[/color] The auditorium was seeming quite full now, most of the student body seemed to have finally arrived. [color=7ea7d8]"It seems we may have to fridge this discussion, I suspect we'll have to listen to some boring opening speech any minute now."[/color]

"[color=ffdb57]Heh. Fridge.[/color]"
[hr]Oh [i]goddamnit.[/i] There it was. [i]Thanks,[/i] Natascha. With both the reminder of all the roadblocks that had suddenly been placed in her way as a newfound Primalist [i]and[/i] the use of her proper name thoroughly ruining what good mood she'd managed to garner, Vina scowled at Sam, keeping her voice low enough to fly under the radar of the general din as she honest-to-god [i]growled[/i] sideways, one hand rubbing at her temple while the other began fidgeting with the [i]motherfucking tie again.[/i]

"[color=ffdb57]If you call me 'Vinegar' I'm going to punch you in the face. More than once. [i]Savvy?[/i][/color]"

She wanted to cause less trouble at the Merryweather Institute. She wanted to be less of a habitual line-stepper, being friends with Charlotte and then with Jason and Olivia had made permanent testiness a lot less alluring. But she was still in an enduring foul mood from the circumstances of her transfer here, she missed her friends...and the lure of anger was just so [i]tempting[/i]. It was like a drug, and the more you tried to hold it back the more you craved it. She pressed her lip tightly together, digging her spare hand's fingernails into its palm and focusing on it to keep her mind off it, and--

--aaaaand she'd just pulled off her tie again.

She immediately dropped her head into her hands and barely managed to stifle the loud "[color=ffdb57]FUCK![/color]" to the point it wouldn't be audible on [i]stage,[/i] let alone the people around her.

Becoming acquaintances with Sam was a good start. This was not.

[color=7ea7d8]"Yes ma'am, understood,"[/color] Sam gave her a mock salute, [color=7ea7d8]"I prefer going by the short versions of people's names anyway."[/color] Sam had always thought his name was a bit boring, he'd never been more happy to have it, it could have been much worse. He was then startled out of his thoughts by Vina swearing quite loudly. She seemed to have undone her tie. [color=7ea7d8]"Hey, want me to get that for you? I'm guessing the fuck is because you find tying the tie frustrating?"[/color] Sam found it frustrating too, but he could at least manage it good enough.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could say to Vina that [i]wouldn't[/i] make it worse at this point.

[i]"[color=ffdb57]I can tie a stupid tie![/color]"[/i] Vina spat, metaphorical hackles raising and fists clenched tight as she struggled to take deep breaths to calm down. "[color=ffdb57]I just can't [i]keep[/i] it on without feeling like I'm choking! And that's NOT why I'm mad![/color]" She pressed her palms into her eyes. Inches away from a full-on explosion, she used the pressure to ground herself as the tie hung loose around her neck. Charlotte had taught her some breathing exercises; but breathing exercises only worked when you weren't hyperventilating madly and trying to not turn everything within ten feet into a scorched wasteland. Socially. Metaphorically.

By now, the people that Natascha had called were starting to filter out of the auditorium. She [i]knew[/i] she had to go. She'd been trying to avoid this [i]exact[/i] situation and keep her temper under control, and it wouldn't be great if she was late to the literal first thing her new teacher asked of her because she couldn't. Still, most of a minute had passed by the time she managed to wrangle herself down enough to use those exercises, and the rest passed actually [i]doing[/i] said exercise.

"[color=ffdb57]Sorry,[/color]" she found herself muttering through her teeth to the person sitting next to her as she kept on breathing carefully and finally stood to catch up with the rest of her class. "[color=ffdb57]I've got some issues with anger.[/color]" [i][color=ffdb57]Well no shit, Sherlock,[/color][/i] she thought irritably. It was pretty evident. Great. He probably thought she was a [i]lunatic.[/i] Well wasn't [i]that[/i] entire incident a disaster.

After a moment of silence, she took one more long, heavy breath, and spoke in a bit more of a moderated tone. "[color=ffdb57]You said Sam, right? You Tavares?[/color]" 

Sam flinched back a bit at her sudden outburst, whatever response he was expecting that certainly wasn't it. She was clearly going through something and while he felt awkward he wasn't just going to leave her in the middle of it. While she calmed herself down a pun about her being hot headed popping into Sam's mind, along with something about her being bitter about her name. While he thought it was a bit funny now was definitely not the time. After a moment of breathing she was back, not exactly calm, but more in control.

[color=7ea7d8]"Ya, I'm Tavares, looks like we're in the same class, we should probably go and catch up with everyone."[/color] He stood and stretched, it's not like they had been sitting for long, but the seats weren't the most comfortable and feeling warm didn't help either. [color=7ea7d8]"And it's fine, don't worry about yelling. I'm a pretty chill guy."[/color]

Huh. Well, would you look at that. It looked like he [i]didn't[/i] immediately look at her like a basket case after she freaked out on him. Didn't that make a nice change. She was far too used to losing her temper once resulting in a whole slew of consequences, from a visit to the dean, laddering all the way up to being shoved back into the foster system again after her newest set parents decided they didn't want to deal with her.

She pressed a hand to her chest and took a few more deep breaths, finally actually [i]calming down[/i] and deploying a rare sincere smile with no sarcasm or vitriol. "[color=ffdb57]Thanks, man. 'Preesh.[/color]" She stepped out into the aisle, jutting her thumb out towards the entrance. "[color=ffdb57]Let's go. Natascha kinda seems like someone you don't want mad at you.[/color]" A beat passed as she looked down at herself. "[color=ffdb57]Ah, fuck, this [i]tie![/i][/color]" She let out a long, heavy sigh, and just like that, the tension on her face returned, and the smile grew sharper once more. 

"[color=ffdb57]Let's get out of here so I can tie this damn thing again in time.[/color]"