Matthew is leaning against the wall outside of Lovino's door. He can hear the boy snoring and the fire crackling in the fire pit. He'll wait patiently for the boy to wake up. They have all day to explore. He'll admit that he read up on his fire lore. He's going to do his best to stay on Lovino's good side. They are temperamental, relying on emotions to fuel their fires. Matthew bites his lip. He has a sling of water on his back in case of an emergency.
He hears Lovino wake up. He can see smoke rolling out from under the door. He waits half an hour before knocking on the door. He sighs when it doesn't open. He waits. An hour later the door doesn't open so Matthew tries again. The smoke from under the door increases. He's either being annoying or waking Lovino up. He sighs and knocks once more, quieter this time.
"Lovino?" He calls out softly. The smoke stills. He takes a deep breath. That's not entirely a bad thing. Yet.
"It's Matthew, uhm. I was wondering if you wanted to be shown around campus today? Maybe see where your classes are and the-" He jumps back as the door singes. It bursts into flames right before his eyes. Lovino steps out with a scowl. He sneers at Matthew, but looks at him expectantly. Matthew gulps and waves him on. He can feel Lovino's eyes on him as they walk around. He can feel everyone's eyes on them as they walk around. He can also feel the sparks coming from Lovino. He peeks at the boy, glaring at everyone around them.
"It's rude to stare," Matthew says loudly for everyone to hear. The kids are taken aback by the loudness in his voice. Matthew doesn't get loud. They all are jolted back into their own business. Matthew lets a small accomplished smirk cross his face when he doesn't feel sparks anymore. Lovino is still glaring though.
"Here are some of the classrooms where your classes will be, simple stuff, math, history, too many languages here to have a designated class for it," Matthew explains, gesturing to the rooms as they walk through the teen wing. Matthew smiles at Lovino, not letting it falter when he doesn't respond, just looks at him unamused. Matthew continues on. He shows him the work our areas, the pool, the library, and the mess hall. None of it gets a reaction from Lovino. His same bored unimpressed expression on his face.
"These are the training grounds," Matthew says once they're outside. Lovino grimaces, crossing his arms tighter. Matthew almost feels relieved at the show of emotion. He gulps when he realizes the emotion is annoyance and that Lovino is leaving scorch mark footprints on the ground. He guides Lovino to the far off burnt training area.
"This is where you'll be training-" Matthew barely has time to finish his words before a blast of flames is sent his direction. He ducks easily enough, rolling out of the way. Lovino is glaring hard at him. He's shaking with his arm extended. There's smoke fizzling off his clothes.
"I don't fucking need training," Lovino snarls at him. Matthew raises his hands in surrender from the ground. He's in a dangerous position and he wants nothing more than to get out of it.
"I didn't say you did," He says gently. He can't stop the shaking in his voice. He is scared. The water in his pouch will only do so much and the energy required to get water instantly or from the lake would take a lot out of him. He and Lovino are locked in a standstill. Slowly Matthew makes a move to stand up. Lovino cringes and coils his arm back. Matthew freezes. Lovino lets out a noise of frustration and throws his hands at a dummy opposite of Matthew. The metal creaks after so many years of not being used. Matthew scrambles as quietly as he can away from the arena base. He sits on the sidelines as Lovino unleashes rage after rage of fire at the dummies. It's not long before the whole stadium is dancing in fire.
"I don't need training," Lovino says darkly to Matthew now. He's still shaking, but smoke is no longer coming from his clothing. Matthew stands and walks a step closer. When Lovino tenses, he stops.
"I never said you did," He says again. He rubs at the back of his neck. Lovino is still regarding him badly.
"This is your personal ground though," Matthew says with a shrug, no longer smiling. Lovino stiffens. Matthew hurries to explain.
"It's built for fire, so whenever you want, it's yours to come to," He says, looking at Lovino hopefully. The boy sneers and stomps off back towards the main building. Matthew trails after. Just to make sure Lovino makes it back to his room alright. When they get there, the door is still singed away. Lovino simply steps through the embers, and a wall of fire closes the door hole.
Matthew sighs.
He doesn't even bother to remove his clothing when he gets to the pool. He drops in feet first and sinks to the bottom. He lays on his back looking up at the light through the shimmering water's surface. He lets out a bubbled scream. He's not angry, or frustrated. He's worried, and scared. Lovino has the capacity to seriously destroy something. Anything. Everything. This facility is all Matthew has ever known. He worried Lovino will destroy it. And he's worried Lovino will destroy himself in the process. He noticed his posture as he stomped away from the grounds. Hunched and protective of himself. He's just as scared.
He raises an eyebrow when he sees a few figures floating at the surface. No, not at the surface, above it. He sees Francis smiling down at him in the water next, beckoning him to come up. Matthew sighs and does as he's asked. Gilbert, Alfred, and Antonio are suspended above the air, smiling brightly down at him. Alfred is the first to lose his smile, in turn for baffled confusion.
"Dude why are you wearing your clothes in the pool?" Matthew glances down at himself, having completely forgot about his clothing. The other's sputter into laughter. Matthew shrugs and steps out of the pool, willing the water to be left behind. The others drop to the ground next to him to coral him to dinner. He spent nearly four hours under the water. Oops.
He doesn't see Lovino at dinner. He takes a tray to go for him. He comes to the door to find it no longer burning as brightly. There's a dull crackling fire at the base, but the inferno is gone. Matthew knocks on the wall to the side, now standing in the doorway. Lovino snaps his eyes up to him, glares, and the inferno is back full force. Matthew sighs and takes the water from his pack behind him. He swirls it around his arm and the food protectively. He hisses as he sticks his arm through the flames and places the box on the ground. He pulls his arm out sharply. The water had begun to boil around him.
He calms the water and rubs it into his skin to kill the burn. He glances back at the door. He pauses when he sees it's no longer raging like moments before. He smiles softly and continues on his way.
