The Touch of Hearts (Clem & Peregrine)

[Peregrine]

Nome watched her walk away with the same expression of polite interest he had maintained since the moment Dev had called him. However, once she was completely out of sight, Nome slumped back against the seat, spreading long legs out in front of him. His eyes fluttered closed, before he rolled his shoulders, trying to simultaneously relieve the ache in his shoulders, and the pressure of the metal bar that made up the bench against his back. He resolved that, next time, he wasn't going to be so concerned about presenting a perfectly human form, internal and external. They were such inefficient creatures, considering the fact that they had to live in this body all of their lives. They could at least be more comfortable. Of course, he would be careful that nothing about him could be registered as "odd" to a human, but that didn't mean he couldn't make a few subtle improvements.

All the same, there were benefits to the material. Even as he sat there the sun came out from behind the clouds and touched down on his skin, creating the sensation of a faint, golden glow underneath his skin. It was a sensation of comfort and joy, and it was something that was almost entirely foreign to him. There was pleasure in his world, but it was nowhere near so carnal as what it was possible to experience in the material world. Of course, to him at least, the detriments far outweighed the benefits. But that did not mean he couldn't enjoy the benefits in the short term.

His eyes flickered open quite suddenly with the awareness that someone was staring at him, with an almost surprising intensity. He looked around quickly, to find the eyes of a curly-haired blonde girl locked on his face. She blushed when he glanced in her direction, and her eyes darted away before they could actually make eye contact. For a second she tried to pretend they didn't both know she had been staring, before she let out a surprisingly sweet laugh, and looked over in his direction.

"Sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have been staring." For a moment the conversation seemed to hand awkwardly, before she spoke again, having apparently steeled her nerve. "Are you an exchange student?"

"A what?" Nome asked.

"A.." she hesitated, before trying to find a different set of words. "A student from another country, who came to study here."

"Ah," Nome said, the idea taking hold of him as the perfect solution to his little dilemma of what to do to start belonging at this college. Maybe this girl could be of use to him. "Yes. Yes I am. Thank you."

She grinned. "No problem. Where are you from?"

This one, at least, Nome already had an answer prepared. The human appearance was infinitely varied, but when he had no choice but to pay attention to matter such details became blatantly obvious. "Greece."

"Wow. That is a long way. And you hardly have an accent. What are you studying?"

Nome floundered briefly, even though his outward appearance didn't even flicker. Eventually he was forced to pull something common from the air, and hope it would work. "Mathematics."

The girl made a face. "You came a long way to study math."

"I am lucky," he replied. "Education in Greece is not equal to America."

She nodded seriously, before sticking out her hand. "I'm Amanda."

Nome imitated her curiously. "Nome." She latched onto his hand, and shook gently.

"It was nice to meet you... Nome. I hope I will get to see you again."

"I'm sure you will."

She grinned, a faint blush still touching her cheeks as she met his eyes again, before she walked away, an almost unnoticeable bounce in her step.

Nome forgot almost all about Amanda as soon as she left his presence. His thoughts were on the very valuable information she had just given him, and what he was going to do about it. He knew enough about the human world to know that they documented absolutely everything that happened. They would not accept someone who just appeared out of nowhere. He was going to have to figure out exactly what was going on here, find the necessary things to alter, and make sure that they were altered.

While Dev was in class, Nome began to do just that. Once no one was looking at him, something that took an almost irritatingly long time, he changed into a rather standard Caucasian boy, one that people overlooked constantly, and began to listen in on conversations. He quickly found out that the first thing he was going to need was something called a Student ID, and when he stopped a janitor to ask where he could get a replacement ID he was directed to the main lobby. The kind receptionist quickly shuffled him off towards student affairs. Nome did not actually go into student affairs, but walked back out of the building, passing under the eyes of the receptionist.

It was a boringly tedious process to gather the information on what exactly he would need to do to make it look like he was a valid student exchange student, not the least of it was actually going to a college in Greece and forging his student records there. Somewhere in the process, unknown to him, Dev got home and began to talk to him. He, however, did not know she was speaking, fully expecting him to hear what she was saying. The deal had been that he would come whenever she needed him, but that did not include hearing what she said whenever she said anything, or always being attentive to her every action and mood. Had he known she was speaking, Nome might have answered somehow out of a general vestige of politeness, if not answered her actual query. But he did not hear, and therefore continued to work on forging his student records.

At the very least, now that he had figured out what exactly he needed to do, he seemed to be able to do it with some relative ease. Forgery was not a new experience to him.

 

[Anya_x]

Dev grumbled at his lack of response. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the table before opening up the internet. She began a brief search of supernatural beings. Many different things came up which only made her frustration worse. She clicked closed the internet and attempted to write but feeling the same lack of imagination as before Nome had been with her. Something about it made it easier for her to write.

She wrote two sentences and gave up. She laid down on her bed, knowing that the essay was due the next day. She closed her eyes, hoping that a nap would help. Soon she fell into darkness, the sleep overcoming her. She had her arms across her stomach when she had laid on the bed, but when she was in her dream she was standing up, looking out from a cliff.

Nome showed up, in all his gorgeousness. She had to stop thinking of him like that, he was just there because of a stupid deal she had done with him. Plus she knew nothing about him. He stood there, on the cliff with her. The wind whipped around them, her hair blowing around her face. She looked to him and he seemed to be looking back at her, but there was a glow to him. He wasn't just a human and she had to tell herself that.

He took a few steps toward her and she almost backed away. When he reached out for her she stopped and let his hand touch her skin. The fear in her eyes slowly subsided as he stood there. She looked into his eyes, wishing that he would talk to her. He opened his mouth and a terrible noise came out, a screeching noise that left her ears aching. She screamed, pulling back from him and holding her ears.

Her screams echoed as she slowly drifted from the unconscious world into the real world. Her eyes opened and she sat up quickly, fear apparent on her face. She stopped screaming and held her mouth. What could that have meant?

 

[Peregrine]

The next morning, Nome appeared a block away from campus on a deserted side street. After an exhausting and highly irritating night, everything was in place for Nomiko Papandrea, unexpected Greek transfer student, to make his appearance.

He wandered into the front office with a slight hint of reservation on his face, the expression of one who knows he belongs, but is still uncomfortable in a new place. To him, communication was far more than a verbal art, and he had fully explored every facet of it. The work-study student at the front desk looked up as the door opened, before quickly looking away, the faintest blush staining her cheeks. By the time that Nome made it to the front desk she had composed herself.

"I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you a... potential student?" It was obvious from the maturity on his face that he was not a high school student, but that did not mean that he could not be looking to start college late, or take the next step in his education.

"No," Nome said, shaking his head politely. "I'm a transfer student from Greece."

"Transfer student?" The confusion and stress was enough to quickly clear the receptionist's mind, and she ruffled hurriedly on her desk. "We've never gotten a transfer student midway through the year before. Usually it is a full semester." She looked up, only to see Nome offering her carefully doctored paperwork. She took them, scanned them, before saying "Please wait here. I'm going to need to take this somewhere else."

Nome was bounced from Student Services to the Academic Advisers Office, to the Office of Foreign Affairs, to the Accounting Office, everyone trying to understand exactly how Nome had gotten here, and what they were expected to do with him at this point. To their surprise they even found the record of the school paying for his ticket to get him to the United States, as well as his passport and transcripts from his college in Greece. Eventually they were forced to conclude, despite the oddity of the situation and the fact that no one could remember organizing a foreign exchange student over the summer, that Nome really was supposed to be here, and they were going to have to find a way to accommodate him.

They printed him out a schedule, gave him a student ID, and sent him away with a large number of apologies at the convoluted nature of his introduction to the campus. They told him that they would find a dorm room for him as soon as possible, but since all the rooms were filled to capacity it might take a bit of time. He would, unfortunately, have to do his best to catch up in his classes, but all of his professors would be contacted as to his special exception, and would do their best to aid him in catching up.

Nome left four hours after he had entered the building, and waved a polite goodbye to the secretary. Only once he was alone did Nome release a frustrated breath. Humans, and their damned insistence on having to record everything. There had been more than one point in that situation where he had been certain that his elaborate plan was going to completely fall apart. Only luck, quick thinking, and a faint skill in matter manipulation had saved him from disaster and attempted arrest.

As if the work he had gone through already wasn't enough, he was now actually going to have to attend classes and do the homework to maintain his cover. During that time, he was also going to have to find a way to deal with the needy, clingy Dev, who was almost certainly going to insist on retaining his attention for a good portion of the day. People were going to start tracking his movements, and if he was somewhere he shouldn't be things were going to get interesting really quickly.

 

[Anya_x]

She tried to shake the feeling but it wouldn't go away. She hopped in the shower, trying to forget everything. The water rained down on her and she wished with all her might that this was just a dream. A dream right? He didn't do that much that made her feel better.... just his voice helped her write, a lot. She climbed out and got dressed, throwing her hair in a messy bun. She looked in the mirror and sighed. She wiped her face and slowly applied eyeliner, smiling at the end result.

She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, not ready to go to school. She grabbed a coffee and sipped it as she walked. She popped in headphones and jammed out in her head, everything else melting away. She just wished that the week would be over. Vacation was coming up! Of course, that was when all the parties happened. The parties she was never invited to.

She didn't mind. That was what the popular kids did right? They partied. Here she was trying to get a great education and not slack on the way. She made her way to the college, stopping in at the academic office. She checked in with everyone in the office and then made her way to her first class. English. English in the morning was terrible. She had to remember everything and most of the time her brain was still asleep.

This particular English was creative writing. Short stories, fantasy, fiction and everything else. She loved it and hated it. She wished that she could just write and write. Maybe with Nome around she could. The other people filtered in and she caught a snide glare from one of the girls. Great, going to be that kind of a day. She thought. She looked down at her notebook and started scrawling out sentences, waiting for class to start.

 

[Peregrine]

Eyes followed Nome constantly that day. He could feel them on the back of his head, the side of his face, but, as seemed to be human nature, whenever he tried to make eye contact with the starers all he was met with was hastily averted eyes, and people too embarrassed to admit they were staring at the new kid. It was both frustrating and exhilarating. On the one hand, Nome loved to be the center of attention, but if he was going to be the center of attention he wanted people to keep him there, not look away as soon as they realized he knew they were staring. It was such a uniquely human trait that it was nearly incomprehensible. In his world, there was no such thing as eyes, and therefore nothing like staring. Either your attention was on someone or something, or it wasn't, and everyone knew exactly which one it was. Here though, it was all a matter of inference. He had to be able to look at someone, and somehow know what they thought and believed just by what was written on their face. At times the urge to cheat, to reach out with his true self, was so overwhelming as to be nearly instinctual. Only the fear of Zesari finding him before he was ready kept Nome in check.

"N...Nome!"

Nome was not the only one to look around as his name was called out. It didn't take him long to spot a petite female waving in his direction, with a rather buxom blonde hanging out by her shoulder. It took Nome a moment to recognize the girl who had called his name as Amanda, the girl that had given him the idea for his cover yesterday. He smiled at her, the expression coming of natural and intuitive, even after his delayed pause, and he could see embarrassment slide of Amanda's shoulders in a cascade. He lifted a hand in hello, and the two quickly walked over to him.

"Nome, this is my roommate, Emily," she said, gesturing towards the relatively pretty but round-faced girl who was standing next to her. Emily nodded and stuck out her hand. Nome took it hesitantly, allowed Emily to pump it a couple of times with a firm grip, before politely extracting his hand.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Emily said. Her voice, despite her somewhat lackluster appearance, was enchanting, and more than made up for a rather mediocre first impression. "Rumors have been flying everywhere since yesterday, and it is good to finally get to the bottom of them all."

"I hope they've been good things," Nome replied, slipping relatively easily into the exchange of pleasantries and small talk.

"Almost exclusively," Emily agreed, "But there are always a couple tidbits thrown in by spiteful people whenever someone gets this much attention." Emily waited, her gaze expectant, almost as though hoping that Nome might accidentally reveal whether these unknown facts were true and false. Her blue eyes were remarkably attentive, studying every aspect of him with a human familiarity that Nome doubted he could ever fully achieve.

Seeing that her friend was comfortably entrenched in conversation, Amanda politely extracted herself. "I've got to get to class. See you later Emily, Nome." She walked away before her friend could even finish the necessary goodbyes, waving over her shoulder.

Emily quickly turned her attention back to Nome as soon as Amanda was far enough away to be safely ignored. "Hey, I'm pretty familiar with campus. I'd be glad to show you around at some point, and let you in on all the little secrets." She fluttered her lashes in something that was clearly supposed to be an alluring manner, and leaned in towards him ever so slightly. Nome didn't even blink.
"I don't really have time for it now. I'm jumping in over two weeks behind, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm afraid that campus secrets will have to wait until after that."

Emily blinked, momentarily struck dumb by his rather brusque push-off of her invitation. But she quickly gathered herself back together and replied, voice unchanged. "Alright. Well, keep me in mind if you do need anything. I'd be very glad to help."

"Thank you," Nome replied, and Emily seemed to take comfort from the fact that he did at least seem to have some good manners. She smiled at him sweetly, before turning and walking away, her hips swaying slightly from side to side.

As per usual, Nome forgot all about Emily as soon as she walked away. But Emily most certainly did not forget about Nome. He was all the rage on campus right now, and she was going to do everything in her power to figure out just as much about him as was humanly possible. She smiled politely to the people who greeted her as she made her way towards her next class, nodded, and even talked briefly with some people, but her mind was on another matter. After all, Nome wasn't the only one who was suddenly surrounded by a buzz of conversation. There was also the matter of the girl who had been seen talking with him on the bench yesterday, for far longer than anyone else had been able to contain the exotic newcomer. And, just as it happened, Dev was in Emily's next class.

The girl was always early to class. It wasn't as though she had any sort of social life to detain her. But this morning, Emily would be early as well, and for several minutes Dev would be all hers. Emily would make sure to take advantage of those minutes to the best of her ability.

She seated herself next to Dev, dropping down her shoulder bag and shoving it underneath the table. "So," she said, unconcerned about interrupting Dev's writing. Emily certainly wasn't friends with the quiet girl, but she also made sure to talk with everyone and anyone who might someday be useful to her. Connections were very valuable. This wouldn't be the first time they had talked. "The rumors are starting to go wild. You've got to let me in on the scoop, if just so I can help sort out truth from lies, and keep the wildfire you've created under control."

 

[Anya_x]

Dev had glanced out the window of her classroom. She noticed Nome and straightened her posture slightly. Who was he talking to... Oh no. Really?! She grumbled beneath her breath, debating beckoning him and asking what she wanted. No she couldn't do that. He could talk to people right? That wasn't in the thing that he couldn't talk to anyone.

She got up from her seat and walked over to the window, looking out at them. Two girls now, talking with him. She wondered what they were talking about. They didn't know he was with her yet, did they? Why was he even here? What was he telling them? Questions ran through her mind, trying to figure out why he was there. She watched, hatred sitting in her stomach.

Dev's eyes widened when she saw Amanda pull away and Dev ran back to her seat, writing with a new emotion drenching her. That stupid girl... Stupid stupid! She never got anything. Not even him! And she had summoned him! Hmm... was she being crazy? I mean it was normal to get upset right? He was supposed to be her friend... She let out a sigh, trying to calm herself down.

That was when she heard it. Emily's voice. Shit. She thought, trying to keep her attention on her paper. "So. The rumors are starting to go wild. You've got to let me in on the scoop, if just so I can help sort out the truth from lies, and keep the wildfire you've created under control." Her head shot up. Wildfire? What?! She didn't do anything! He was supposed to be to himself and he was the one gallivanting around campus!

"I don't know what you are talking about Emily." She said quietly, taking her notebook and closing it. Thank god the teacher came in right then and forced Emily to go sit. Class went by quickly and she was glad. She ran out before Emily could talk with her again. She only had the one class today and was relieved when she left the campus, running quicker than she usually did.

She made it to the small cafe by her house in no time. She went inside and sat down at her favorite spot. It was a small retro diner, with checkerboard floors and red booths. They had the best milkshakes in the whole town and their burgers were to die for. She ordered a chocolate peanut butter shake, a bacon cheeseburger and fries. She settled into her seat and pulled out her notebook. She looked down at the scribbled writing from when Emily talked to her. Ugh! Why had Nome done this?

"Nome?" She whispered. "You there?" She hoped it was enough for him to come. She needed to ask his plan about school. Why he was at he school. If he was trying to do a cover story she needed to know the story in order to keep up. If Emily was going to continue asking her questions then she would need answers.