animus_network | ☿ // 005; [text]

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☿ // 005; [text]

[This message flickers onto the network late at night, once Waver's had a chance to both check his mail and read the book delivered to him.]

Who the hell left that in my mailbox.

I am not playing games. I am not remotely pleased. If I ever find out who you are, I'm going to throttle you. And if it was an administrator, I'll do much worse than that.

[Waver didn't linger on the network for very long after posting; he eventually stormed off carrying the book in question and wearing a disturbingly calm expression.]

[action; floor fifty-five]

[Why was there an incinerator here and could it possibly come to life and kill him? Who cared? Certainly not the Clock Tower's favorite professor. Who, by the way, to be slowly coming apart from 'tranquil fury' to just plain fury as he threw his newly received book into the incinerator as hard as he could.]

Fucking tower. [He reached up to something at the level of his collarbone--a pendant hidden under his shirt, apparently. Satisfied it was still there, the magus lowered his hand and turned sharply to head back to the dorm floors.]

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[ Unlike the first few times Waver's met Sertoria, she seems to be a little dispirited. Her hands are in the sleeves of her cloak and she lifts her head up, snapped out of her thoughts, when she sees Waver. ]

Waver, are you all right...?

I'm fine.

[The answer was short and a little strained, hands lowered to his coat pockets. Waver knew damn well he didn't look or sound fine, but it was still worth a try.]

Are you sure...? You do not look it.

[ Speak for yourself, Sertoria. Her problems aside, she was still willing to help out a friend. ]

...It's been taken care of. There's nothing to worry about.

[He withdrew one hand, raising it to adjust the sunglasses on his head in a near-automatic gesture.]

What about you? Is everything alright?

Did something upsetting happen? I know I am in no position to pry, but you are a friend, Waver.

[ She looks legitimately surprised at his question and merely shrugs. ]

I... will be alright in a few days. Something upsetting happened. I have forgiven the person for the most part since it was not his fault, but I am unable to forget it, like most things that have happened.

I'm sorry to hear that. This place doesn't really make letting go of troubling things very simple, does it?

[It was difficult for Waver to consider most people friends--that was just the way he was and the way he'd always been. He'd help people that needed it, sure. And there were people he liked well enough, of course. But it was no simple thing to confide in most people, much less call them more than acquaintances.]

[Still...maybe it would be safer to admit just a little to one or two people. If someone was playing mind games with him, speaking with logical people that had their heads screwed on right (so to speak) was the best way to counter it.]

...Sertoria, is it common here for people to be sent things from no obvious source?

It is more or less my own inability to forget anything because of my memory. It makes me great if people depend on me to remember what is happening, but I always remember the unpleasant things that happen.

[ Sertoria can understand that. After all, trusting people is something that while she does freely, she needs to work on. Maybe she's a little naive to trust people she really doesn't know too well yet...

It's when Waver asks a question that she's yet again brought out of her thoughts. ]

...Not to my knowledge, but I am not ruling out the possibility of the administrators trying to mess with us yet again or someone amongst us trying to sow the seeds of discord.

[Waver sighed, looking exhausted. He honestly felt sorry for Sertoria--there was plenty he had in his own memory that would be near unbearable if not for the faded nature of human memory in itself. How she managed especially in a place like this was impressive at the least.]

That's what I thought as well. Someone playing some sick little mind game. Especially considering who's in charge this month.

[ All the while, Sertoria's still finding the strength to smile. Perhaps it's become commonplace for her to do nothing but smile, but at least it didn't worry those she cared for. ]

I would say it could be Jason for all we know. I would need more information to go by to make a conclusion, however.

[ A pause. ]

What did you receive that was upsetting?

It's...nothing I'd want to discuss at any length.

[Beat.]

You can stop that if you'd like, by the way. I know what fake smiles look like.

That bad, hm?

[ Her eyes widen slightly and she sighs, shaking her head. ]

...All right. I am used to being strong around others, so it is a little hard for me to not smile around others. I do not like worrying people.

To be completely honest, I'm not that much different. Assuming one substitutes 'smiling' for 'irritated sarcasm'.

Really? I had not noticed.

[ Now she's grinning just to tease him. ]

[It was probably hard to tell the conversation was putting Waver a little more at ease, given how much he was frowning.]

Hilarious.

[ For a moment, Sertoria studies Waver slightly, trying to see if she was helping him at all. ]

Should I work on it so I can get a hundred percent, Professor Waver?

[If possible, he frowned even more at that. Even so, he'd seemed to relax otherwise and taken on a more casual stance.]

I tend to grade my students rather harshly, you know.

[ Her grin weakens slightly when he frowned more, wondering if she said something wrong. However, when he relaxed, she seemed to do the same. ]

I am a hard worker.

I suppose I've dealt with worse. You should see some of my half-wit students, I swear. If they didn't have such exceptional talent I'd bloody well make half of them transfer.

Are they unable to do their basic mathematics, tie their shoes, and that sort of dim witted behavior?

I can think of one in particular for whom common sense itself seems an utterly foreign concept. He's lucky his aptitude for magecraft is absurdly high.

...Have you been wanting to teach magecraft here, Waver?

I've thought about it, but...there's not a great deal I could do, really. Even if it was possible for my world's magic to translate here--and I don't assume it impossible--it's a difficult matter. Most of what I teach is theory and techniques to those who already have the basic talents at the absolute least. And besides that, magecraft in my world is more a complex science than I imagine most would expect.

I see... Well, there is nothing saying you cannot at least try, right?

...Well. I am the one that's always saying effort is just as important as bloodline when it comes to magical proficiency. Perhaps this is my chance to prove it.

I would definitely support this endeavor, Waver. I am interested to see what you can do.

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