The weekends were always long and boring. He had nowhere to go and no one came to visit him. His parents had put him in the boarding school to pass the responsibility onto someone else. He didn't blame them, though. Even he thought he could be troublesome at times.

Vladimir was leaned against the wall, sitting on his bed. Resting on his bent legs was a sketch pad. It was filled with doodles and random thoughts that he'd come up with and had no one else to tell. There was a soft leaded pencil clasped in his slender fingers and he was tapping the end on his thin lips.

The good thing about days like this was he could do pretty much anything without being disturbed. At the beginning of term, he hadn't liked the idea of being alone in his room. Now it seemed like a blessing. He no longer sought after the company of others. He knew his place in society and this was it. Bumbling along by himself, looking at people with the life he wished he had.

All good things come to those who wait, his dad had told him once. But if you wait long enough, surely bad things must come too.

His father had joked that he should have been born with a sign that said 'Doesn't play well with others' permanently glued to his hands. His mother hadn't thought it was funny, of course. Her solution was to toss him in this shit hole. She didn't want him around anyway...

Aiden sneered in response to the glares the driver was giving him. He rolled the window down and tossed the cigarette he'd been smoking out. He needed to quit, anyway. He pulled off the sunglasses he'd been wearing and dropped them in his front pocket, mentally preparing for all the idiotic and redundant questions about his eyes. Yes, he was well aware that one eye was blue and one was brown and no he didn't know why they were like that but it certainly wasn't because he was half dog.

He went on auto-pilot through the registering process. They were giving him a room with someone else even though his records had suggested against it. And to top it off, they were to get to 'know' one another. Fun. Aiden trudged up the stairs towards the room he would be using. He knocked on the door before he remembered that this would be his room too and pushed it open.

((OOC: Oh, by the way, here's a few images of Aiden ^^ More realistic & anime looking.))

Vladimir hadn't been expecting anyone to come in, and it showed by his reaction. His pencil dropped from his grip and he hurriedly shoved the pad under his pillow. Standing up, he straightened out his shirt and cleared his throat. He looked a little guilty to say the least.

"Uh... what do you want?" he asked, his English accent shining through in his agitated voice. No one had told him he'd be getting a room mate. The reception staff were a little freaked out by him. He used to play around with their minds when he had more dealings with them but he got bored of it quickly.

He ran his fingers through his lank black hair and shoved the other hand into the pocket of his jeans. His toes poked out under the flared bottom and wriggled nervously.

Aiden raised an eyebrow at him, wondering for a moment if maybe he was joking. It only took a few moments of studying the other boy's face to realize he was being serious. He shrugged his luggage off his shoulder and let it thump heavily on the floor. His hand was sweaty from holding the strap and he wiped it down the leg of his pants before holding it out.

"I'm Aiden. Looks like you've got a new room mate," he said, his voice casual and a little on the careless side. Even though he'd held his hand out to be shook, his eyes wandered around the room, trying to get a better feel of what this guy was like. He didn't even know his name.

"What?" Vlad stuttered, feeling and looking a little bewildered. A new room mate? "That can't be right... Maybe you've got the wrong room." He folded his toned arms across his chest in a defensive manner and shook his head as if he couldn't believe what was going on.

The small room was pretty standard. There were two single bunks pushed to the wall at either side of the space and a door to the left lead to a small bathroom with a shower. There was scrunched up paper on the floor as if someone had been trying to write an important letter but was being far to critical of their own writing. Both beds were plain with white sheets. Vlad hadn't bothered bringing one to individualise his living space.

There were posted on the wall. Most heavy metal bands with a couple of girls posing on cars and the like. Some sketches and half finished paintings were tacked up in places.

Aiden snorted quietly and leaned back enough to look at the number on the wall next to their door. Nope, that was the one. He shook his head and dropped his hand. "Sorry, this is it. You're stuck with me."

He shrugged, deciding that he really didn't give a care if the other guy wanted him in there or not. He bent down and picked up his suitcase again, then pulled the door shut behind him. He tossed his suitcase up on the empty bed and sat down.

"What's it like here, anyway," he asked as he started unpacking his clothes. He hadn't brought anything but a few changes. He didn't expect to be there long. Private schools never kept him for more than a few months and this one wouldn't be any different. Aiden would see to that.

"What's it like?" Vladimir repeated as he watched the boy make himself at home. It was a little too invasive for his liking. He'd had this room to himself to months and it had just been infiltrated by a complete stranger. He made a note to take this up with someone tomorrow.

"I dunno. The same as any other school in the country. Except with nothing to do unless you can drive."

Finally sitting himself on his own bed he let out a sigh and rested his elbows in his knees. He watched Adrian unpacking with little interest.

"I'm Vladimir," he said after a moment.

Aiden stopped in the middle of pulling things out of his suitcase. "Vladimir," he said disbelievingly, looking over his shoulder at the other boy. "You're joking." He took a moment to study the other boy. The name did seem to fit... but it was still unusual.

He shook his head and went back to unpacking. Maybe he was just expecting thing to be bad out of habit. So far no one had given him a hard time. His room mate was a bit standoffish but then again, so was he. They seemed to like the same type of music. And even though he really didn't like the posters of the women, he supposed it was a normal thing for most guys their age.

"No I am not!" he snapped, sitting up straight. He then added in a hushed voice. "My dad's Russian..." Folding his arms across his chest, he turned away from the other boy and looked a little sulky. He wasn't used to this kind of situation. He'd never had to share his room before and so far, he wasn't liking it.

After a while he stopped glaring at the wall and glanced over to see what his unwanted room mate was doing. Even though he didn't like the idea of sharing his space, he was a little curious to find out what it was like. Perhaps it would be a good thing. Like having a brother. He couldn't help seeing this all going wrong though.

Aiden didn't speak again until he was done unpacking. It was quick. He didn't bring much with him and he was pretty used to this. He could pack even faster. When he was finally finished, he slipped the well used suitcase under the bed. He sat on the edge of it and rested his elbows on his knees, staring down at the floor.

He sat back in the corner of the wall in silence for a few minutes before he spoke up. "You smoke," he asked and dug the pack out of his pocket, offering it the other boy. "I'm trying to quit but..." He trailed off with a shrug. It wasn't going to well. He smoked more to give himself something to do than of an actual habit.

Vladimir got up and took a cigarette from the packet. "Thanks..." he mumbled before going to the window and opening it. He leaned against the wall and dug around in his pocket for a lighter. "Quitting is for losers," he added as he blew the first drag of smoke out into the night.

He only smoked when he had the money, and currently he was strapped for cash. The supplies he 'needed' for his art took priority over most anything else and usually ate into his allowance. He had to buy everything over the internet as they were far from any major city that might have an art shop. The charge for postage and packing usually made up most of the money he spent.

"Been to a lot of other schools?" he asked, taking note of how quickly and simply he unpacked.

Aiden snorted in response to that question. 'Understatement of the century', he thought to himself. He lit up a cigarette as well and returned the half-empty pack to his pocket.

"You could say that... I have a tendency to break rules I don't agree with." He smirked to himself. The part he left out was that he didn't agree with just about every rule there was. "Parents thought maybe a place like this could 'handle' me better, whatever that means."

He shrugged it off. It hurt, of course, but he'd told himself long ago that he wouldn't let his mother's callous ways hurt him anymore. If she could just not care, then he could do the same.

"My parents sent me here because they thought it would get me to socialise more," he said as he gazed out of the window at the lamps that lit up the campus. "I think I've tried to keep to myself just to spite them..." It felt a little odd exchanging excuses like this with someone. If he was still alone he would have probably still been doodling away. A variety of teachers in assorted trouble. Some not fairing too well.

"You've kind of ruined that though," he said with a bit of a laugh. It was nervous sounding and he began to chew his bottom lip. He hadn't made eye contact with Adrian since they'd met and he wasn't about to start now.

Aiden smiled a little and shrugged. "Hey, man, you don't havta talk to me if you really don't want to. I know how important it is to get revenge on your parents."

He looked over at the other boy, wondering idly what it was he had hidden so quickly under his pillow. He had only caught the movement out of the corner of his eye when he opened the door. At first he hadn't really cared but now he was curious.

"Don't let me get in your way," he added after a slight pause. "I'm just here to sleep, you know? You can finish what you were doin'." He smirked. "I'm not a snitch so if its somethin' bad, you don't havta worry."

((Sorry I haven't replied in so long. >.< I've not been checking this forum!))

He glanced at the other boy with an inquiring look before his eyes moved across the room to the pillow he'd used as a make shift hiding place. It hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped. The corner of his sketchbook was peeking out and his pencil was laying on the floor. The amount of times he'd dropped that pencil, it was a wonder it didn't fall apart every time he sharpened it.

"I wasn't doing anything bad," he defended himself. Did he look like the kind of person that might like causing trouble? I tried to keep himself out of trouble as much as he could. He wasn't keen on attention. "Just drawing..." He stubbed the cigarette out on the ledge of the window and chucked it outside. It would land on the tarmac two floors below. No one bothered trying to identify the smokers any more. It was a waste of effort.

"You're pretty good," Aiden said, glancing around the room at the drawings on the walls. "I can't draw anything better than a stick figure." He chuckled a little.

He stood up when he was finished smoking and walked over to the window. Not thinking to ask first, he leaned over the other boy's bed, resting one knee on it, and tossed his cigarette out the window. He stayed there, looking outside for a few moments. "It's quiet here," he commented, turning a small smile towards Vladimir.

A slight blush crept over Vlad's cheeks as the other complimented his drawing. He wasn't too good at accepting compliments. He glanced over the drawings himself. Most of them were black and white and looked like they'd come out of a comic book. A few were painted in water colours. Hopefully Aiden wouldn't ask to look in the sketchbook. A lot of his more gruesome work was hidden away in there.

"I like it quiet," he said as he watched the other boy clamber onto his bed.