The boys' dorm is a long room with bunk beds going up the two longer walls. On the far side, there is a big mirror with a few sinks.

::Jasmine walks in with Aidan.::

"So it's communal and not the Ritz. Sorry about that. But nobody else is here and it'll do for tonight, right?"

::She smiles at him.::

"Absolutely fine. Much better than the underworld."

::He returns the smile, although feels paranoid something will happen when he falls asleep. A side effect of having to watch your back constantly.::

"Thank you for this."

"Hey, trust me - it's the least we can do."

::Jasmine looks at Aidan for a while, then shakes her head.::

"... it's good to see you, Sparky."

::She uses Andrea's old nickname for Aidan very much on purpose. She puts her hand on his shoulder for a moment, then leaves to her room.::

::Aidan smiles, feeling wanted for a moment. It's nice to see a friendly face, many friendly faces. Especially Andrea, he likes her a lot for some reason. He gets ready for bed and lays down on one of the many beds. He tosses and turns a little before staring straight at the ceiling. Everything feels strange, being back in the land of the living, so to speak. He spends the rest of his time thinking about Paz.::

(I hope he didn't find someone else...)

::Worried, he falls into a troubled sleep.::

:Aidan tosses and turns in his sleep, even more so than before. His dreams turn to nightmares of the underworld as well as the likely alcohol abuse that he has put himself through in the last few months. His eyes dart under his eyelids and he shocks himself awake in a cold sweat.::

"Where am I!?"

::He almost falls right out of bed as he gets to his feet and looks around the room, now morning. He hasn't been asleep for long, but it's longer than he has been used to getting.::

"Oh..."

(Witch school...)

::Everything coming back to him slowly, he scratches his head and heads to the hallway.::

::Aidan runs in and slams the door behind him, punching the nearest wall as hard as possible, yelping out afterwards. He shakes his head and clutches his hand to his chest and sinks a little, back against the wall. Why does he always get the urge to run? His breathing begins to become irregular and he starts panting uncontrollably. His eyes widen a little as he begins to have a panic attack.::

::Jasmine, ever the one to pre-know a severe emotional outburst, also ever the stalker, pushes the door open and walks into the boys room where girls are so not allowed.::

"Aidan."

::When she sees him, she runs over and gets down on the floor beside him. She doesn't usually do this, but she immediately starts using her magic on him to calm him down and give him a big psychic hug.::

"Calm down."

::Aidan didn't expect her to come after him, but his breathing begins to slow and become calmer as he looks her in the eyes. He doesn't assume she is using her powers and just simply thinks perhaps he's trying to calm himself down with good results. Quiet tears from the attack roll down each cheek but he makes no noise. He looks down to the ground.::

"Hey. Come on."

::The witch shifts so she's leaning against the wall too and forces an arm behind Aidan, around his shoulders. She pulls him closer and hushes him with quiet sounds.::

"Shh, it's okay. It's all right."

::Aidan closes his eyes tightly and shakes his head.::

"You're wrong, it's not alright..."

::He leans into Jasmine just a little.::

"...not at all."

(...and I can't make it right.)

"Yeah. I guess I am wrong."

::Jasmine smiles slightly and gives Aidan a little squeeze, trying to get him to relax more.::

"It's really hard for you, isn't it? Coming back to everything changed."

::Aidan nods slowly and looks forwards blankly. He wipes his face.::

"I keep thinking things would just be better if I left. I've caused too much by coming back, and nobody understands what I've been through. I'm messing everything up, I'm trying but it just keeps going wrong."

"Aidan, I'm not saying that the folk here have treated you exceptionally either, but you gotta remember that it's a struggle for them too. Some more than others. Especially given how, well... there was a service and everything, Aidan. People had truly... accepted... that you were gone. And then you pop up out of the blue."

::She gives him a nudge.::

"Can't really expect things to be business as normal, can ya?"

"I had a service...?"

(Everybody really thought I was dead...)

::The thought of this sends chills down his spine, but at the same time, people should have tried harder...but...his death must have looked so convincing...this is so confusing. Aidan thinks on the matter. If someone close to him had 'died' and suddenly appeared once again...he'd be nothing but happy and sympathetic. What right would be have to be angry if the other person didn't do what they did deliberately? It doesn't make sense to him. Maybe it's because he's a forgiving person.::

"Everybody's different, Aidan. Paz is in shock. And... well... he has a right to be hurt, you know. I'm not trying to say it's your fault but from his angle you've been alive all this time and didn't let him know. Of course he's gonna ache from that. And it doesn't look like you've explained things well enough for him to not think it wasn't intentional."

::She sighs, pausing for a bit. She's not trying to be cruel. She just wants Aidan to understand.::

"You need to give him time, mate. And... realise that a lot of time has passed since you last saw him. A lot can change, even in half a year. He's a different guy to how you knew him. Mostly the same, sure, but... he's moved on a bit. You can't expect him to be the same Paz he was before his boyfriend died."

(Especially how it's not the first time. Poor guy.)

(I hate change.)

::He does, and always has hated it. He hates the term 'moved on' as well. It makes him sound like something that is easy to get over. He sighs and looks away. He just wishes he could go back in time.::

"I didn't do any of this deliberately. It hurts for him to think that I did, or that I didn't do enough. I can't get close enough to him to tell him anymore, he wont look at me...and when I did tell him, it wasn't good enough. Just..."

(I wish he understood, and I wish people wouldn't keep treating me like dirt.)

::Aidan isn't in the know that Jasmine can read thoughts, he knows she's psychic but her abilities always were a mystery to him.::

"I know how hard Justin's death was on him. I just don't know how else to say I didn't mean this. I'm not the bad guy."

"I know you're not. But you gotta give him time to realise that. And..."

::The witch trails off, about to say uneasy words.::

"Well... if it so turns out that things don't go back to how they were... you're gonna have to accept that."

::She doesn't mean right this second. Aidan needs time to adjust just like Paz does. But she's worried about him in the future. She doesn't know what Paz will do, but it could easily not be in Aidan's favour.::

(...and that would be my queue to leave. I doubt I could bare to see him with anyone else.)

"I should get some more sleep. I have seven months to catch up on."

::He says, with little emotion.::

"Yeah. You should."

::Jasmine removes her arm from around him and gives his knee a squeeze. She gets up and walks to the door, then pauses.::

"Aidan..."

::She hesitates, then turns around.::

"You have your own life too, you know."

::With a grim smile, she leaves and walks upstairs. She's going to the bathroom.::

::Aidan pauses for a good minute or so, mulling this over. Life. Life...now there's a curious word. How does someone who has been 'dead' for so long suddenly carry on living in the real world. It's all so surreal at the moment, and he doesn't fully understand the complexities of the matter himself. He knows Paz needs time, and as well as that, Paz isn't him. He'll react differently to things. If Aidan had a track record of losing boyfriends in the way Paz has, he can't say he wouldn't react the same way. He just knows how he himself would react. This is completely irrelevant.::

(I don't know what to do...I need some kind of a sign.)

::Looking vaguely towards the ceiling he dismisses the idea and pushes himself to a standing position. He moves over to the bed where all of his things are and takes his top and shoes and socks off. He slides under the covers and tries to wrap himself as much as possible as if the blanket is going to protect him. He stiffles another tear.::

(My own life...of course I do. I know that. Just...it's too hard to think about. I was so happy before.)

::Ordinarily his thoughts would keep him awake, but he is so exhausted that he falls right to sleep. He'll wake in about a week.::

::Having various nightmares about ungodly situations involving fire Aidan suddenly wakes up, springing forwards. He panics for a few moments until he realises where he is. Everything hits him about where he now is and what's happened so he cannot cling to those first few seconds as if nothing bad had every happened. He groans and gets dressed into something new, heading for the kitchen.::

::Petunius arrives with Vanyel and Hayley.::

"Okay, so boys' dorm. Here it is. Make yourself at home, Vanyel and one of us'll check up on you in a while."

::He gives a thumbs up to the gypsy before leading Hayley to the girls' dorm.::

::Vanyel simply stands there, unsure of what to do. He figures he should have asked for a more extensive tour, but too bad he hadn't. Well, thats what exploring is for, yes? Exactly. And without a second thought, Vanyel heads towards the kitchen..::

"Here it is."

::Petunius announced to Gabriel as he turns on the lights.::

"Make yourself at home. Can I get you anything? Something to eat or drink?"

"No, thanks. I'll just get unpacked."

::Gabriel pats his backpack and looks around the room.::

::Petunius nods and starts to make his way to the door.::

"Okay, well if you need anything, just yell. I'll be downstairs in the kitchen--which is the next floor down."

::He smiles at him lightly before making his way there.::

::Gabriel heaves his rucksack onto a free bed in the middle of the room and unzips it. The item at the top is slightly crumpled family photo, upon seeing which Gabriel rolls his eyes. He pulls it out of the bag and slides it into a drawer.::

(Mom.)

::That done, he starts methodically unpacking.::

::By the time everything is unpacked, it's quite late. Deliberating between going to find some food or getting some sleep, Gabriel settles on the latter.::

(Are there any other students...?)

::He's looking at the empty beds in the room. As much as Gabriel would like to go and make some friends, he doesn't know where he'd go to look for them, so he pulls on his pyjamas and climbs into the bed, dropping off pretty quickly.::

::Gabriel wakes slowly as the sun streams in through the windows. He didn't close the curtains last night.::

(Ugh.)

::With an internal groan, the young boy swings his legs out of bed and rubs his eyes. It feels far too early to be getting up again, but as he starts to realise where he is, a small buzz of excitement brushes away his drowsiness.::

(I wonder if we'll start proper lessons today...)

::That does it. In a bit of a hurry now, Gabriel pushes himself up and gets dressed quickly, before heading out of the dormitory to the upstairs hallway.::

::Paige opens the door tentatively at first to check the room is empty. When it is, she opens the door wide and walks in with Zack and Zoe.::

:: Zoe gets the distinct impression that there are hardly any boys at the school yet. She looks at Zack.::

::Zack is pleasantly surprised by this. He puts down the cases and then moves his to a bed at the wall.::

::Paige turns to Zoe.::

"How about we go next door and let Zack start unpacking?"

"Sure."

:: Zoe grabs her case and waits for Paige to lead her. She glances over her shoulder at Zack. She's getting antsy.::

::Paige and Zoe go to the girls' dorm.::

::Zack watches them leave, setting his jaw. He starts to worry about Zoe as soon as she's out of the room. But he makes himself turn to his bed, hauling his case on top of it. He opens it and starts sorting through his things.::

:: The door slams as Zoe runs inside.::

"Hey! Paige told me to come back in here, the dorm's full of girls or something."

:: She's just happy she doesn't have to meet them yet.::

"This place is so Hogwarts."

:: She lays down on the bed next to the one her brother has chosen.::

"Haven't seen any elves. Yet."

::Zack pauses.::

"Or students."

"I'll be upset if there's no elves."

:: Zoe rolls onto her front.::

"Aga wants to-"

:: She waves her hand around her. The place is new, so the wolf wants to check it out and she's territorial.::