((OOC: Is it alright that join as well?))

Many of the people coming into the building were brand new to the academy, young, excited and fairly likely to be lost. Jeremy had actually been living at Vytal for the past five years, having gotten used to the winding halls and myriad passages a solid year before he had even enrolled. This, his mother pointed out to him, made him a perfect ‘new friend’ to those just getting off the shuttle. The act that was giving Jeremy so much anxiety in this particular moment was going out into the crowd, meeting somebody, and befriending them. Throughout his entire scholastic career thus far, he had managed to completely avoid making any friends what so ever, no personal attachments and even the number of acquaintances he had could be counted on one hand. Now however, he was starting his fifth year where team work and comradery were considered corner stones of your education, a practice that Jeremy was clearly lacking. That, and his mother wanted him to have some friends his own age, and argument he had clearly failed to make much headway against since he stood at the threshold of the main hall.

His apprehension had him setting one foot into the main hall before turning around and hurrying down the hall towards the dorms for a moment, then turning again and heading back to the main hall. He did this several times, murmuring to himself the entire way, trying to talk up the nerve needed to actually make one on one contact with another living breathing person. Unfortunately, he was so preoccupied with his internal conflict that he managed to walk headlong into a small group of people who were headed toward the dorms. The group and Jeremy fell as a tangle of limbs into the main hall, landing with a thud and muffled curse words. They all managed to pull themselves apart and one of the group who had gotten to their feet first hauled Jeremy off the ground roughly.

Watch where you’re going tiny! The young man growled harshly, holding Jeremy by his vest. Jeremy was pushed back to one of the others who had gotten up, clearly a friend of the first boy as Jeremy felt a firm grip form around his shoulders as the first boy started to walk closer. He drew out what looked like a night stick from a holster on his leg, and with an angered look on his face, rose the weapon into the air.

This is why I don’t make friends… Jeremy thought as he closed his eyes and braced for the incoming strike.

Jeremy was hoping that the upcoming bashing with the night stick wasn't going to amount to much. He had his aura active, and at full power he could probably handle a decent thrashing for a while, but it would still be uncomfortable to say the least. This would only really become a problem if they all decided to gang up on him to deplete his aura faster, or if they aimed to make it a marathon beating. The first could very likely become an issue, but he doubted he would have to deal with the group of ruffians for long. While tussles and fights happened fairly regularly around this school, so too were there many several teachers or upperclassman that were tasked with making sure nothing got too far out of hand. Mercifully, Jeremy was saved by one such upperclassman even before the first blow was made. She was a tall and lovely young lady, her long silky hair starkly contrasting against the pair of black cat ears that adorned the top of her head. She spoke first to the group of freshmen that were attacking him, something about rotten meat, but whatever the case, Jeremy got the distinct impression that she could happily and easily spank all of them. He didn't know what year she was in, but she seemed, at least, very confident in herself which Jeremy certainly admired; especially considering the severe lack of confidence in himself.

She had turned her magenta gaze on him and asked after his well being, and while he certainly didn't consider himself to be in the best situation still, he was about to respond with a thankful 'alright' when he felt the boy to his left stir. Jeremy's arm was still held tight, but the boy let go of Jeremy's wrist and reached quickly to his belt. Jeremy acted more reflexively than thoughtfully in his next actions as he flipped his arm upward and grasped this young man just under the jaw. There was a flair of his aura and a quick flash of tawny yellow light as his left sleeve tore itself to shreds as one of his dust tattoos activated. In less than a second, a steam of seemingly liquid, vibrantly amber glass whirled up his arm like a coiling serpent before flowing over the boy's face and head. When the light had faded, the boy let go of whatever it was he was trying to get to at his belt, as well as Jeremy's arm, as he tried to pry an inch thick layer of glass from his head. Jeremy, who was surprised as much as the young man he had just covered in glass, decided to take advantage of his newly freed limb to come around in a hooked punch to try and free himself of the fellow on his right side. Jeremy's fist managed to meet very solidly with the throat of this boy, who had tried to get a look at his now frantically flailing friend. The boy gasped sharply in surprise and the sudden inability to breath properly that accompanied being punched full on in the jugular.

Jeremy, who suddenly found himself fully free of anybody's grasp, hurried forward to try and gain a bit of distance from his attackers despite their current conditions. In his hurry he managed to collide with his rescuer, finding himself bouncing off of her curvaceous backside and landing in among his assailants, one clutching his neck, the other trying to break the glass covering his face by smacking his head against the floor.

I- I'm o-okay, I uh, I think. Th-thanks! He managed to stammer out, a mixture of exasperation and embarrassment painting his face a scarlet hue as he tried to bring himself up to a seated position while hiding his now visible left arm. While he didn't much mind people knowing about his tattoos, the scars that wound around his body were another story. It was at this point that he noticed the fellow with the glass on his head started to move a little more sluggishly, which was alarming. C-could you h-help me get h-him free? Jeremy asked frantically, not really sure what to do. He didn't want to hurt this guy, and at this point he was passing out from lack of air.

Jeremy watched with interest as she removed the glass from the young man's face with just her aura, which was... fairly relaxing actually; though he didn't know if she was using her semblance or some other technique he had yet to learn, but it was very effective. He was glad to see the boy would be alright, despite the colour of his face and the desperate gasps for air. Jeremy let out a sigh of relief, not really sure what he would have done to 'clean up his mess' as it were. He looked up next when she asked if he was new, the comment of him being a 'small fry' didn't bother him at all considering his stature.

S-Sort of, I-I g-guess. He stammered, still not particularly comfortable with the situation, or with talking to somebody of superior... everything? Honestly he was pretty floored by her personality as a whole, feeling like he could very easily just get swept up in whatever she had going on without a chance to say no or steer clear. M-my m-m-mother works in the c-cafeteria. I-I've been arou- When she offered to take him on a tour, he didn't know if she had heard him trying to explain his relative familiarity with the campus, or if she was just choosing to ignore him. Neither would have surprised him overly, so he decided to just go with it. In truth, he had avoided most of the upperclassman campus because he was very easily intimidated. He rarely ventured out of the staff walkways that his mother used to get to and from the kitchen, so while he technically knew where everything was, he had very seldom taken the time to actually visit the many landmarks of the campus.

He paused to give a quick look at the boys who had attacked him, the two on the ground were starting to recover and gather themselves while the third was looking indignantly at the young woman who had attacked them. It took a moment before Jeremy even considered the thought that she had sort of stolen this boy's weapon. With a nervous look back toward her and her suggestively swinging hips, he started after her and away from the entrance hall. As he quickly walked to catch up, wondering if maybe the wiser move would be to take a side passage off and hide, he also took out his pocket square and tied it around his left arm as quickly as he could, covering up his tattoo and scars as best he could. Only a few little pale marks against his dark skin poked out from under the ever-green cloth, though it was hardly less conspicuous. He just hoped she didn't ask about it.

Th-thanks f-for the h-help w-with that b-by the w-way. Mm-my n-name is J-Jeremy Aatxe, m-may I-I-I ask y-your n-name? The stuttering was actually very annoying to Jeremy, he cursed his nerves and anxiety for never allowing him to have a straight forward and reasonable conversation with another person. Especially when he was talking to a member of the fairer gender did the problem become exacerbated, far and away from the smooth introduction he would have preferred to make.