It seemed that Lucien did not hear them, as he suddenly closed in on himself in his chair, truly looking as if tears were just about to spill over and dampen his cheeks. A sincere look of concern filled Nimuraâs face, and she frowned, pained to see Lucien, her friend and simply fellow human suffering in any way, shape, or form. She felt a strong urge to rub his back or offer up some other form of physical comfort, but she refrained from doing so, afraid of startling the boy further or making him more uncomfortable. He probably wouldnât have noticed in any case, if his missing of their words and actions hadnât already provided enough evidence for such a conclusion. Murra held her hands tightly in her lap, leaned slightly in Luluâs direction, with that worried look still ever present on her lips and in her eyes.
A rush of warmth whirled through the air, tingeing chilled fingertips and melting cold breaths, resuscitating the frozen food back into its prime, the warm, comforting smells of pancakes, syrup, and bacon once again flavoring the air. With it came a very similar tone in voice, as a new teacher came on scene. She was terribly pretty, with kindness and warmth radiating from her in both the literal and figurative sense. The Pyromancy professor- that made sense. Polite but stern, logical but compassionate- understanding. Nimura really liked her, so she was delighted to learn that this teacher covered Magical Theory, meaning that she would be
her teacher.
Looking down at her plate and suddenly sensing the pressing of time, Nim quickly forked some food into her mouth, relishing in the sweet taste and fluffiness of her pancakes and the rich crunch of the bacon. As she did so, the teacher who had just spoken up came to their table with a broom and dishpan, offering it to whomever would take it to pick up the fallen tray and food items. So perhaps they
did care about it having happened. Nimura felt it to be in poor taste, almost reinforcing the idea that Lucien had made a grave mistake that was currently being frowned upon. However, upon looking at the white-haired boy, he seemed eager to correct his mistake, but seemed taken aback and ashamed once more when he discovered he couldnât even hold the cleaning tools. He took a deep breath and collected himself, and the mess was taken care of.
They would need to leave soon to head to the main orientation at the library, but in the meantime, Nim turned to look at Lucien, glad he was doing much better.
âYou didnât get the chance to eat. Did you want my other pancake, Lucien?â Her Swedish accent intertwined with her words, making them sound carefully chosen and slightly foreign in her mouth, but in such a way that gave a sort of cute, try-hard impression. She smiled sincerely, motioning to the other pancake that was left on her plate.
âFeel free to decline though, if youâd like.â Another closed-eye smile, and she took a sip of her drink.
A little time later, Theren spoke up, suggesting that they head to the library then, lest they be left behind. Nim grinned and nodded her agreement, pushing her chair back and getting up, grabbing the trays around the table while Theren threw an arm around Lucienâs shoulders, goading him along to walk beside him. Nimura brought up the rear, as she had dropped their trays and glasses off along the way, wiping her hands gently on her pants and smiling brightly, happy to just be here and eager to soak in all the sights and emotions. Theren made mention of their groupâs diversity, and she simply nodded cheerfully in agreement. Ter seemed to be the appointed leader of their group, and Nim happily followed after him, letting him take the lead in terms of conversation and the likes. She was much too busy looking around with wide eyes anyhow.
When he turned his attention back to Lucien and herself, asking them of their secondaries, a delighted look filled her features.
âCertainly Familiar Conjuration, since that is what my family is famous for, but Iâm also pursuing Illumination. Though, if I can have it my way, I hope to worm my way into any and every class I can on my off days.â A wry little smile pulled at her lips then, positively brewing with energy and perhaps a bit of mischief.
âI really want to learn as much as I possibly can while Iâm here, even if it means not necessarily being able to wield that knowledge in a physical manner.âThey continued to make their way to the library, and, upon arrival, Nimura was, as expected, totally taken by it. It was so large! So much knowledge! She had a strong inkling that she would be spending
quite a bit of her time here. It was very open, with many windows for natural reading light, warm colors to encourage learning and comfort, and many locations to settle in and immerse oneself into a good tome.
Theren asked where they would like to sit, and indeed, many of the chairs were quite full. Nimura hummed quietly, gazing around.
âI donât mind wherever we sit; we could even find a spot on the rug, or even the floor. It makes no difference to me.â She smiled brightly, allowing the others to make the decision,
âWe could join others at a table too.â She added as a sort of afterthought, gazing about the room and greedily taking in the new surroundings.
IrritatingâŠ
mercilessly irritating. The well-built German man pulled at the pristine white and
tight collar hugging at his throat, barely loosening it with his fingers. It wasnât even so much the suit that was causing this agitation- far from it, though it did aide in this whole mess. It certainly didnât help that he nigh never wore suits in the first place. He clenched his fist, fingertips digging into the skin. How had he been talked into doing this whole thing again? Narrowed eyes slid to the wall as he walked down one of the many hallways of the main building, dropping his other hand from the tie and collar and tilting his head back and forth, soft cracks sounding as he stretched his neck. Drey ground his teeth- he hadnât been in such a position in ages, and why
he had put himself through this torture, was beyond him. Flabbergasting, honestly. So vexing a situation this was, that it
actually showed on his face. A deep-set frown and furrowed brows, Dry let out a deep huff of air before tightly and sharply tugging at the cuffs of his sleeves, straightening and setting them perfectly against his wrists in one furious motion. His nostrils flared before he came to a simple halt.
Draivess crossed his arms and simply leaned against the corner of a window, head turned to gaze out of the clear structure before him. His eyes raked harshly down across the grass, across the bark of trees, but eventually it slowed, softened. Eyes tilted up to the heavens, sky bright but still dotted with some dark clouds off in the distance from the recent rain, a different sort of frown now lingered on his lips, devoid of that prior, poisonous anger. Instead it was now pained, eyes melancholy. His hand slid along the corner of the surface in front of the actual windowpane, before fingers started tapping aimlessly on the flat of said surface. With another huff of air, he turned his head from the window, staring instead at the floor now.
Why, why,
why was he putting himself through this? An endless hell, to be sure.
âTch.â He vocalized, but let out a defeated sigh shortly after, features softening before his entire face went blank, any previous emotion seeming to slip right off. He straightened his shoulders, face level and form easily displaying confidence, even if he didnât necessarily feel it. It wasnât as if he felt the opposite of it now, though, either. He felt nothing, steeling himself for having to appear in front of other people. So many other people. It wouldnât do to dwell on it. Besides, now that he gazed down at the watch on his wrist, he realized he was going to run late if he dawdled like this any further.
Slipping his hands into the pockets of his trousers, Draivess continued his walk down the halls towards the library, not particularly fazed by the looming of time despite having noted it only moments before. As he neared the place for orientation, he did not seem to notice any of the other students, or at least did not even slightly bother to look towards any of them, simply slipping past them with pristine silence. Not a single sound echoed from his footfalls, and his attention was completely focused on the back wall where the other teachers were gathering. They all seemed to be there save one or two. Honestly, he didnât particularly care. He did not look at the others, did not meet any possible gazes towards him, did not greet them or share in their excitement for the first day. Drey came to a stop at the front of the library, turning then but still not looking at any one particular person or thing. No, his gaze was currently fixed up on the balcony railings. He stood a notable few feet away from all of the other teachers, who seemed to be grouped quite closely together, chatting animatedly. He stood in stark difference to them.
He was emotionless,
face utterly void of any sort of hint as to what he may or may not be feeling currently. However, his body language was a bit stiff, displaying obviously that he was a bit out of his element to anyone who might be paying particular attention to him. In the next instance, he moved, crossing his arms lightly and tilting his head down to look around at the gathered student body, figure seeming to relax into the action. With the movement, tight sleeves were pulled back a few inches, revealing a tiny bit of the ink that stained his wrists.
Upon looking at the many young faces displayed before him, and quelling the rising discomfort that threatened to spill over and make him do something he would no doubt regret in the presence of his peers and colleagues, the answer to his previous question presented itself.
Ah, yes. Duty. That was why.