“Actually that line may have come from a shepherd. One named Book. I never watched TV much; that was more of my sister's thing, but I was always there with her. You tend to pick up a line or two. Especially after watching the series three times in a row.” Xan grinned before the light in his eyes dimmed slightly, thoughts on his sister again. He glanced out the window so Jia wouldn't catch sight of the emotions running rampant across his face, pretending to be interested in the scenery for a moment.
He wondered if she was awake yet. Probably not, as she was a couple of hours behind and most likely still sleeping. He'd have to give her a ring later, just to hear her voice. She had called him last week but it had been a brief conversation, cut short by the commencement of his class. It was probably the first time since he had been at Alden, that he wanted to skive off class. Was she lonely? Did she miss him?
Blinking, Xan came back to the present, and barely caught the tail end of Jia's question. Guiltily, he pushed thoughts of Jasmine to the back of his mind. He had a pretty girl talking to him and all he could think of was his sister.
“...house pets, or do you want to help wild animals?”
He managed to cobble together the jist of her query. “Oh—uhm—either would be good really. I don't mind helping out any animal in need. I don't see a problem with helping wild animals.” Mentally berating himself, Xan told himself to focus before he alienated...his new friend. Could she be called that? They'd just met and still hardly knew one another.
“I play tennis at the moment. Mostly for fun. I might play football or soccer later. As I said, I'm taking it easy with school and stuff. I don't want to miss out on the summer weather here,” the brunet replied. He wondered which House she was in, as he hadn't seen her in the common room or other areas of Arvandor.
“I'll give just about any genre of music a shot, though I have yet to find a single rap song I like. R&B, hip hop, not really my thing either. I probably don't look it, but I'm a fan of dance music; I just can't dance to any of it,” Xan admitted ruely. “Oh, and don't even ask if I can sing. My sister always tells me kittens cry when I attempt to sing.”
Damn. He had to stop doing that. Xan wondered if it was possible for him to go even one whole day without mentioning or thinking of his little sibling. It would probably be easier for him to stop breathing.
Jia's next question brought him back to reality though.
“I...don't even know how to explain,” he faltered. “It's like...when you look someone in the eye and you can tell how they feel; their eyes are the window to their soul and they can reveal so much. Except I don't always need to be looking at a person. I...suppose I'm just sensitive to those around me. Maybe it's instinctual or something.”
Xan didn't really want to talk about it any more. Talking about his powers made him feel...less human. He remembered the night his mum had told him the truth. How angry he had been, how in denial. Even though deep down, he knew it for the truth. How else could he have 'fixed' Raj? How else could he simply...know how a person was feeling? The little things over the years added up. His lack of physical similarity to the rest of the family. The odd looks grandma Helena used to give him as a child whenever he piped up, telling her not to be sad anymore, that grandpa Jacob was happy in Heaven. The math never did add up proper.
He had never been very good at sums though.
Shrugging lightly, Xan pretended that was all there was to it. "I'm not a good dancer at all but I don't mind watching those who are. If you have any competitions, I wouldn't mind going."