Matthew's patient waiting was interrupted when the girl reacted unfavorably to his greeting. The neutral line of his mouth turned into a frown when he met a wall of mental resistance, followed by a slew of meaningless thoughts and ideas.
She's using static on us, Miguel. he complained to his twin.
Well, that's what you get for not using your words. Miguel replied, as if he were a teacher telling a first-grader to use the point of the pencil for writing, not erasing.
I am using my words. Matthew retorted.
Your voice, Kuya. I'm talking about your voice.
Matthew's face turned to an annoyed pout at the notion of being snubbed by this girl and scolded by his younger brother in the same few minutes. But then the psychic took a second to look at the girl again, and he realized that his voice her head was probably the first time she'd been connected to another mind. As he didn't know how to apologize for such a violation of privacy, Matthew simply swallowed his pride, returned his expression to neutral, and removed his gaze from the girl to face the new world ahead. Before he purged his mind of the idea of communicating with anyone aside from Miguel ever again, the girl appeared by his side.
Matthew would never admit it, but deep down he did feel as if he was missing something whenever he did not experience something with his own eyes. So even though he had already taken in her appearance, the esper examined her one more time with his real brown eyes. She was dressed differently from most girls: she wore suspenders along with her pants, a short-sleeved white dress shirt, and she had an orange river of hair flowing from her head. In the time that he absorbed her appearance again, she had given them her name: Barbara.
Miguel was all too happy to talk to another soul on this crazy train, so he replied to her greeting first.
"I'm Miguel," he replied with a winning smile. "And this is Matthew." he added with a tilt of his head towards his twin. "He doesn't talk much, but I guess you're the one he wanted to greet. He has a thing for lonely people." This last statement was met with a huff and an elbow to the side from Matthew, who did not want Miguel revealing anything further about him.
Then Matthew turned his head and gave a polite nod, his own way of saying "Pleased to meet you, Barbara," along with broadcasting the same statement to her mind so that his body language was clear to her. A shadow of a small smile could even be spotted on his face before his lips straightened out into their default expression once more.
I'm sorry about earlier. First connections are always uncomfortable, and I guess all of the recent developments made me forget that. Are you alright? he asked once more, sincerely concerned about her comfort.
He would have spoken further, but the senior known as Kira Aberdale interrupted his train of thought. Forgetting Barbara for a minute, he listened to the young woman in front of him as she tried to make their entry into the Second Academy as least horrible as possible. He asked Miguel to write both their names down and introduce the two of them both, as well as add that Matthew "is seventeen and likes reading and writing," before letting that task move on to the next person in the crowd.
When the new students were split into groups, Matthew, almost unknowingly, grabbed Barbara's hand to keep her with the duo. Stay close to us. he beckoned, forgetting that most common of social conventions: that one should not suddenly grab another person's hand, especially if that person was a: mostly a stranger, and b: of the opposite sex. But he held on to her, though at least not interlocking their fingers, as he and Miguel followed their guide around the tower. The two of them took in as much detail about the facilities as possible, noting where every room of significant function was as they moved.
When Kira asked if anyone had any questions, Matthew surprised everyone around him and spoke. Miguel even found himself incapable of producing a quip at this occurrence: his antisocial older brother had just spoken his real voice, without even counseling with him about this decision.
This place is already doing weird things to our heads. Miguel thought as he took in the event. Then he amended his previous thought with another one. Well, weirder things to us.
But Matthew had a good reason to speak aloud: he didn't want to reveal his powers to anyone he didn't trust yet, and that list included everyone that wasn't Barbara and Miguel. He stuttered a little when he began; the thought of opening his mouth and not letting lyrics fly out was something he'd almost forgotten, but he quickly regained his composure and asked his questions.
"What sort of behavioral restrictions are there on us, such as curfews or dating? Will all these facilities be constantly open to us? Are we allowed to move across towers? Are there any real classes in this place? Are there any other student organizations or factions in this place? Can we contact our families at all?" Matthew waited for Kira to answer each one before moving on to the next, taking in every answer before he fell silent once more. He still did not realize that he was still holding Barbara's hand.
Do you have any questions, Miguel? the older twin asked.
Hm...nah, I'm good. You asked them all for me. he replied.
Okay, then. Matthew let out a breath as he reacquainted himself with a silent mouth. What about you, Barbara? Did I miss anything you wanted to ask?