First impressions (kenzie)

Mat's history with confrontation is a treacherously shaky one. There was that one huge fight the first week he was in camp. People gathered around to watch him confront an Ares camper who was getting on his nerves. He had no idea the trouble in which he was getting into at the time, but he soon learned after a trip to the infirmary to be more weary of people's backgrounds. Then, there was that guy at the volleyball pit who foolishly accused Mathieu of cheating, the latter then popping him one in nose. The boy ran off, leaving blood drops on the ground. That was the instant before a strange blond girl approached him. Needless to say, Mathieu's temper got the best of him at times.

Therefore, it must have been pretty understandable when he didn't appreciate the hard shoulder ramming into his arm as he passed someone in the library, making him drop his book, which fell to the floor releasing a shower of sticky notes and papers that were wedged into the pages. For a second, her merely looked down at his copy of Bones of Contention lying on the floor in a chaotic mess. Then, as realization sunk in and his arm began to sting where he had been run into, he slowly looked up at the boy, gritting his teeth together furiously. His eyes sunk into the glare that he had so well mastered over the years, his lip slightly upward with a sneering look. His eyes shot hate in the boy's direction, and his fists clenched in a ready-to-use fist.

However, fortunately for the boy, a thought slowly made it's way into Mat's head. He had been having such a great day. He'd analyzed a good two chapters of his book so far, and was looking forward to doing more work on it at his cabin. Sure, he would be missing dinner, but he didn't really care. His learning was more important, and much more exciting. As he remembered his excitement for his new reading material came in, the hate had to give way considerably. It is incredibly lucky for the boy who ran into him that Mat was having a good day, otherwise the situation would have turned ugly really quickly.

"You should watch where you walk, garcon," Mathieu spat, angrily. He turned away from the camper and kneeled down beside his mess of things, and began to shove the papers haphazardly back into his book, the disorganization bothering him. He coped with it by quietly telling himself it was temporary.

Mat was slightly satisfied that this boy, although out of line, apologized to him. He didn't acknowledge the apology, but noted that one was given. It was then that Mathieu also noticed that his papers were not the only things that had fallen, and there were textbooks that were obviously not his littered around. In fact, these books had made such a ruckus that some of the other people in the library snapped around and were watching the pair intensely. During the incident, one even had the audacity to hush them. Mathieu despised the extra attention, and tried his best to ignore it. It was all a mental game, and he just needed to tell himself over and over that nobody was watching, and nobody had bumped into him. That plan proved useless when his adversary kept making annoying noise towards him.

"I don't really care to learn your name," Mat told him, blatantly. He'd learned long ago that sugar coating things were an unnecessary waste of time, and one should really get straight to the point. Mathieu ignored the outstretched hand. He rarely ever shook someones hand, especially someone with whom he had just met acquaintance. He finished compiling his papers into a stack and pushed them into about the middle of the book. He pressed his palm on his leg, ready to stand when he noticed how much worse off the boy was than he, with many more objects on the ground and much heavier ones at that. A strange feeling arose in the pit of his stomach, gurgling with an unfamiliar discomfort. It was guilt. Looking at the boy and then at the ground, Mathieu felt somewhat obligated to assist. With reluctance and a tensed jaw, he shifted his position on the ground and began stacking the textbooks atop one another. Then, with a hefty grunt and a ripple of his biceps, Mathieu hoisted the pile into the air, glad for hours at the gym in order to get a fit aphrodite-expected form. "Where do you want these?" he asked, gruffly.

Mat nodded at the instruction, and began to carry the books to the designated area. It caught him a little bit off-guard that this boy was about to sit in the exact same spot that he had picked for himself when he was entering the library. He liked the seclusion of the corner, and the comfort of having his back guarded by two durable walls. Arriving at the table, Mat set the books down and scooted them towards the middle, examining the cover of the top book. It wasn't a familiar title, but the subtitle read something about bioethics. He had never particularly cared for the subject of medicine, but he enjoyed life sciences and histories the most, mostly pertaining to early hominid species so there was quite a gap between the interests of the two. However, that isn't to say Mat didn't know a thing or two about the topic. He had done a fair amount of study in medical care, and had passed over a whole unit about ethical measures.

When he realized he was being spoken to, Mat lifted his eyes from the book and trained them back on the boy, who had previously introduced himself as Luca. He wasn't really sure if this was a legitimate offer, but it didn't not matter for it seemed a silly one. He had no reason to sit with him, and no more so to drink coffee with him. In fact, in Mat's eyes, he had more reason to shove the boy back than to show an interest. However, watching the boy carefully, he noticed some indiscernible genuine essence of him. It seemed that the abrasive manner of Mat had not made a scratch on Luca's outer surface and it was a little bit puzzling. Mathieu narrowed his eyes. Perhaps it was fascination or boredom, but he accepted.

"I suppose I can spare a minute," he said, hesitantly. He pushed back a chair and sat rather regally. If this boy was going to make an attempt to get to know him, Mat was going to pry enough to see if he was worth much before letting any information of himself slip.