Snippet #2681096

Nikolai carefully watched for the others' reactions. He hadn't pushed very far, and the girl seemed fine with this behavior, though the other boy seemed a bit unimpressed—perhaps even taken aback.

"Likewise. Not a roommate per se, though. More of a neighbor, really," said the red-head. Despite her hair color, she was apparently from Zest.

"Oh, silly me. Neighbors, not roommates." He rain his fingers through his hair and gave a short sigh. "A Freudian slip, perhaps?" he said slyly. Nikolai looked at the other two. He wouldn't mind being roommates with them, actually. They were both pretty people.

The girl introduced herself as Aquina Rosenberg, though she also offered a nickname to use instead. Rosenberg... the name sounded awfully familiar. Something to do with engineering? Ah, he'd look it up later. There were plenty of people named Rosenberg. It was likely a coincidence. Apparently, Aquina hadn't been the one to open up the house, and neither had the other boy—who was a Midlander named Shane, according to his introduction.

"I have a little gift for you," said the Midlander. "I bought a box of chocolate biscuit, I hope it helps us to break the ice. Bon appetit." Shane set his gift on the table before looking at Nikolai with confusion. "Why are winking at me? Has something dropped into your eye?"

Nikolai laughed to himself. Shane was the oblivious type, then. Or perhaps naive. Well, Nikolai did like the accent. He was just about to say something that was a little more flirtatious—then another boy walked in. With dark hair and blue eyes, the boy was hard to place. He could have been from any one of the islands.

"Hey, all! I am Rook Foster and I happen to also be staying here. I assume everybody here will be fellow tenants, so I hope you all the best."

Oh, cheerful. And nice, too. After greeting Rook, both Aquina and Shane took their leave. Both of them had traveled today, and they were clearly tired.

Which left just Nikolai and Rook.

"Hi there, Rook." He gave the other boy a lazy smile. "I don't know if you heard, but I'm Nikolai Utkin. Where are you from? This your first year at the Academy, da?"

The newest kid was... interesting. (Well, they were all interesting, but Rook was the only one still in the room. Judging from his bags and the slightly rumpled appearance, Rook had likely traveled here as well.) Nikolai always found nice people interesting, and judging by his introductory statement, Rook was definitely nice.

But something else had caught Nikolai's interest, too. None of the two tenants before him had opened up the house. So, either the school was stupid enough to leave one of their dorms unlocked, or there was someone else. Nikolai hadn't bothered to see who he was sharing the dorm with before coming to Mayfield, but now he was curious.

"Odd question," said Nikolai, his smile becoming sharper, "but do you know how many people are staying Mayfield?"