A Helping Hand

[Fell]

((Reserved for LexiXander))

Finally, finally it was Autumn. The days were shortening, the temperatures dropping... It had been a long an unpleasant summer for Ravi, who hated the heat. But now that it was cooling, things would be a lot better. He\'d be able to keep his shirt on all day, which meant fewer talking-to\'s about the Academy dress code. Really though, the black cloth made him feel like he was going to die on some of the hotter summer days.

Though today hadn\'t been as hot as the summer, it had nonetheless been a rather warm day for the Fall and Faris had had him working out in the sun for almost all of it. What that meant was Ravi was now feeling rather drained - there was nothing he would like to do more than take a long, cool nap in the shade. Unfortunately, though, Faris had given him some work to do overnight. It was just grunt work, really - sorting papers into proper piles. What am I, his secretary? the demon thought, though there was no real malice in it. He was just tired.

Ravi approached the door to his room, then paused and looked dubiously at it. He couldn\'t turn the door handle with his hands full of paper as they were. No way in hell. The most he could do was disarm it, which, while it was certainly a good thing, didn\'t exactly help him to get inside. Looks like I\'ll be asking for help, Ravi thought, glancing around the hallway. His eyes fell on the only other occupant, a 5th level with very dark brown hair.

"Excuse me," Ravi called out politely, eying the boy with two-tone eyes of his own, "but do you have a minute?" Actually, if he had more than just a minute, that would probably be very helpful. Ravi really, really did not want to sort through all of these by himself. It would take forever, and it would be night in truth before he got to go to sleep! As it was, it was about half an hour to sunset, but it would take a couple of hours for twilight to be truly well and done. If this kid didn\'t have too much work to do tonight, maybe.... I\'ll have to ask, Ravi concluded, waiting for the boy to respond.

[LexiXander]

A pair of feet carried an assassin as one should, silently. Auel had been immersed deeply into his thoughts, still stuck on his contemplations of how he might pursue a partner some day. Oh, how he wanted a significant lover by his side at night, but at this point and place, that was nearly impossible. Especially seeing as even hinting at something toward another male member of the academy may result in his… instant demise.

During these unavoidable trains of thought that had been coming up frequently in his mind, he continuously found himself wandering the halls without a predetermined destination. As was the current situation.

The halls were fairly vacant, and every once in a while he would stumble upon one that was completely so. However, the hall he was in now had only one occupant, and this finally jarred Auel from his thinking in order to lift his half-mast eyes from the sturdy floors.

The man standing his opposite seemed to have a rather generous amount of paper work this evening, probably assigned by a busy Master. He was a very attractive man, most likely an apprentice, with gorgeous, long hair of a crimson shade, and his eyes looked to match as well.

He hadn’t expected the beautiful man to speak to him, but he did, and it was only proper that he comply. Auel nodded and changed his direction toward him. When the Asian boy reached him he opened the door quickly and smoothly retrieved half of the man’s pile. Then fallowed him quietly into the dorm room.

[Fell]

Ravi smiled when the boy changed his course to walk towards him, opening his mouth to explain that he needed some help opening the door, and while he was at it, did he have much work tonight? But the dark-haired boy didn\'t say anything, or pause for instruction - he simply opened the door, then took half of the paper\'s in Ravi\'s stack and walked into his room. The demon blinked, surprised - he hadn\'t expected that in the slightest. "Uh... Thanks," was all Ravi managed as he slipped into his room after the boy, kicking his door shut and re-arming it with another wave of his hand.

The demon turned to take in his room again - one of his favourite things to do at this time of the day. The sunset bathed the entire room in a golden-red light, bringing out the chestnut undertones in his desk and bed frame. The carpet, a deep red in most lights, revealed itself to be crimson and gold and orange in the setting sun. Even the dust that floated quietly through the air gave the room a honey-golden look. Unquestionably Ravi\'s favourite time of the day, and more than a little bit because of the way his room looked in it.

It was certainly a much nicer room than many of the Apprentices had. It had been a Master\'s room, but the Master had died and Ravi had ascended to the rank of Apprentice when the usual Apprentice rooms were entirely filled. So, lucky him, he got a rather special deal out of it, even if it meant he roomed closest to the 9th levels.

Ravi set his pile down on an end-table next to his window nook, then looked at the boy. "How\'d you know?" the demon asked curiously. Maybe he was psychic? Even though he looked human... Well, there was a different sort of feel about him. It occurred to Ravi at this time that the boy was also quite attractive, especially with the copper undertones in his hair lit to brilliance in this lighting.

[LexiXander]

Auel had to admit, the room was of a much higher class then most and a sight to behold in it’s grain. He liked this room immensely, it was the sort of thing he hoped to have someday for himself and partner. Though he never seemed it, the two-tone eyed assassin was a secret romantic and not hesitant to give or do things for the one he might someday come to love. Once again, his thoughts had strayed toward that end of the mental and emotional spectrum.

He simply lay the pile next to it’s other half where the elegant man had set it. He turned slowly and answered smoothly to the question asked, “You were standing in front of a door, with a pile of papers.” his voice was a velvet shawl, an arousing drawl with every word and a deep, almost “bed-room-voice” tone. It was completely natural. Such a plain sentence was made incredibly interesting just by his voice. Auel gave a small shrug of his shoulders that said ‘It was obvious’.

The brunette looked away from his companion and to the closed door, then returned to the stack of leaf. This man was entirely too easy to read, “You’d like some help? Or you wouldn’t have closed the door.” As before, the silent words were, ‘and you’d already have sent me off.’

Auel made such things as his unspoken syllables heard even though their vibrations never reached the air, it was a special talent of his. Somehow, everyone always knew what he meant.

[Fell]

Woah... It was all Ravi could really think after hearing the boy\'s voice. It was much smoother, much gentler than most of those here, but not in a weak way. It was just rather like melted chocolate in its consistency and.... sensuality. Furthermore, the way that he used his body to continue sentences was absolutely fascinating. Few had mastered the art of nonverbal communication so well, and Ravi found himself wishing that he could do the same.

Ravi smiled at the boy; he was good at this. "Alright, you caught me - I would like some help. All I really want to be doing is taking a nap, but as you can see..." the demon admitted, gesturing to the papers. Ravi stared at the seemingly impossibly large stack with a sigh. "It\'s just grunt work - sorting into piles and putting the files into folders." In other words, Ravi\'s least favourite kind of work. He didn\'t mind working, but only on intellectually stimulating things. Sorting was... rather horrific in Ravi\'s mind.

"Do you have the time to spare?" the Apprentice asked politely. It would depend largely on his house... Ravi knew that when he had been in Purificio, he would barely have had time to open the door for another, let alone kill an hour sorting papers. Then again, he had also been especially slow with his assignments... At least the ones that required long-term focus. Focus had never been Ravi\'s strong point, which was probably why Faris had given him this assignment. It would take focus on a dull thing to keep all the papers straight...

Ravi sighed, hoping to hell that this kid had some time to spare... He didn\'t think he would be able to get this done on his own too easily.

[LexiXander]

Auel paid close attention to the man’s words, nodding when he was eventually asked for his time, helping with the work his upper classman had been given. “I do, I’ve just finished my own work,” ‘for now.’ He looked around the room once more, taking in his surroundings again and then looking to his working companion with the two-toned eyes, like his.

“Auel, Purificio, and you?” He lifted the half of the vast pile he’d retracted form the original and sauntered over to the comfortable bed where he set it down, as well as himself. He looked back tot eh elder man, genuine curiosity on his face. Honestly, he wanted to ask his partner several different bits of information, but he’d take it slow at first.

He split the pile again and placed one third on the covers while the other was left on the floor. He’d have to start now if he wanted to get this done quickly enough to have a decent conversation maybe. Auel didn’t much care for grunt work either, but he could handle it without complaining, and it had been an upper classman who had requested his assistance, which meant the only polite thing to do would be to comply willingly.

[Fell]

The ending of the other boy\'s sentence was so complete, despite its silence. Ravi grinned; he loved that this person could speak so clearly with so few words. It was then that Ravi noticed his eyes as well. The Apprentice\'s head moved back a little in surprise, for they were very unusual in any species. Ravi was sure he couldn\'t be human. Or, well, at least not all human. "You must be a quick study. It took me forever," Ravi responded with a roll of the eyes. It was perfectly clear that he did not miss his days as a student.

Ravi smiled with delight when Auel mentioned his house. "You\'re from Purificio as well? Now I really have no idea how you have any time left to help me out!" the demon espoused with a laugh. Ravi was always happy to meet another Purificio student, for it was a rather small house. The workload drove many away, he thought, but Purificio students also tended to be of a bit higher caliber than their counterparts in other houses. At least, Faris had always said that, and looking back Ravi had to agree.

"Ah, but I carry myself away," Ravi sighed, though he smiled at the same time. He\'d completely forgotten to return the information. "My name is Ravi - Ravi Sachin de Dysme," the demon replied. The name made many people laugh, but he was proud of it. It was his name, then Kalyan\'s last name, then the name of his line. Literally, his name meant "Ravi Sachin of the Sunset".  Ravi was the youngest in the Dysme line, though he had heard that one of Kalyan\'s "sisters" was thinking about siring someone.

The work, though, was of paramount import at the moment. Ravi turned to the papers with a grimace, then began to sort through them. "Think you can figure this out on your own?" the demon asked, the question not a taunt or an insult but.. a question. He knew that some people had trouble with categories and most of the people at the Academy didn\'t like asking for help, so he\'d gotten into the habit of reaching out when he could.

[LexiXander]

Auel spoke clearly, his voice with a resounding tone to it as he started flipping through some of the files in his lap,” I make due.” His words left his lips with a slight upturn to their smooth, reddened surface.  This man had something about him, something that just made him want to grin and chuckle, there was an amusing air about him.

When the man finally said his name, it caused a little distraction in his concentration, relaxing the papers in his grasp and turning to the demon. Auel’s eyes softened in the merest amount and he smiled handsomely, “Interesting,” ‘I like it.’

He shuffled on the comforters a moment, bringing one leg up to fold underneath him, ‘If you don’t mind me asking,’ “You don’t seem to be entirely human, my apologies if you are.” The assassin’s eyebrow rose inquisitively, making his silvery eye widen slightly.

[Fell]

Even though all Auel said was "Interesting", Ravi could tell he liked it. That made him smile; he never liked it when people insulted his line, and even the laid-back air demon could be driven to some form of confrontation when it came to his "family".

Ravi couldn\'t help but chuckle, though, when Auel asked whether or not he was entirely human. The way he asked it, too, was so PC. Not "What are you?", but "Are you entirely human?" Few people in this place so pussyfooted around things. "The wings didn\'t tip you off?" the Apprentice asked, though he did so with an amused air. "Nah... Not human at all, anymore." Ravi was sure Auel had gotten the idea with his first words, but it wouldn\'t hurt to clarify. He was rather curious about the student\'s lineage as well, though. Ravi still couldn\'t imagine a human born naturally with eyes like those.

"What about you? With your eyes..." Ravi asked, shrugging a little bit as he picked up the first of the papers. A graded test - he put it next to him in the first of the piles. He would have finished answering the question fully as he didn\'t mind sharing what he was, but he\'d lost that line of thought already. Today was not his most focused of days.

[LexiXander]

He shifted on the comforter, a light rustling sound as he got a bit more comfortable for the long time he was about to spend sorting papers. His lips turned into a small grin, ‘I knew you’d ask me that.’ “You’re very inquisitive aren’t you, but it\'s just because of my linage, as is yours.” Auel’s odd eyes flicked up to meet Ravi’s squarely, a soft chuckle leaving the younger’s mouth.

He liked this man, and human or otherwise was not an issue to Auel. He liked people for who they were, and disliked people for who they were, not beacuse of their looks. It was so much fairer. He was an assassin, so he found that the least he could do to repay the ones he was after and this judgement usually decided their place, time, and cause of death. Either way, Ravi had made it onto his good side very quickly, something harder to do then most would expect.

‘I don’t like to tell people this,’ “I’m part incubi. It’s something most would judge me for, and I don’t like that.” He picked up an essay on the effectiveness of some specific spell and lay it on top of a pile he’d started for them.

[Fell]

Ravi found himself smiling as he caught Auel\'s silent message. This kid was good with communicating what he meant without speaking. Wish I could do that half so well. It\'d be useful, the demon thought, sorting papers without really thinking about what they were. All it took was a glance at the first page to tell the subject, and then it was but a simple toss to get it into the right pile. "That\'s fair," Ravi replied verbally, halfway expecting Auel not to continue the explanation. Had he ever finished his? The redhead paused in his sorting to think... No, he hadn\'t, had he?

Ravi was about to speak to clarify his own species, but Auel beat him to it - even though it didn\'t seem like he liked to share. Again, with those eyes! the demon thought with an inward chuckle.

"Seems a weird thing to judge someone on, especially here. How many of us can say we\'re pure humans at the Academy?" Ravi asked, though the question was somewhat rhetorical. This place was like a haven for everything weird out there, and the true humans that showed up had to be pretty open-minded and hardworking to keep up with all the supernaturals around. So really, who was it who was judging Auel on his heritage?

Oddly enough, Ravi found himself kind of wanting to hit whoever it was. Maybe it was a protective streak for the Purificio students. Or maybe it was one for this student. Either way, Ravi knew he wouldn\'t be acting on it. Confrontation really wasn\'t his thing.

[LexiXander]

Auel nodded silently, ‘That’s a good point.’ He kept shuffling through the immense mound of papers, but listening very carefully to all the other said.  He was always careful about listening to people’s voices and body language. They usually gave quite the bit of insight when it came to a person’s personality or tendencies.

“But,” he gave a small pause, setting another essay In it’s correct place, ‘being an incubi,’ “People tend to take it as being a person who sleeps around, with anyone.” ‘I don’t do that. ‘ “I prefer getting to know people a little before things are taken that far.” It was a simple moral code he’d adopted long ago. Ever since the massacre, but that wasn’t to say he hadn’t abandoned it once or twice when persuaded correctly.

“Not necessarily a life story, but at least a bit of knowledge.” ‘ That would be fine.” He hadn’t looked up at Ravi for most of the time, but he did when his last sentence came into speech. To be honest he wasn’t completely sure whether he was half implying something or not. Though he did find the other attractive, Ravi was his elder here and therefore not someone he should try and start a relationship with. After that, well…that wasn’t something to be even considered until people got past the ‘just talking’ stage. He enjoyed speaking with the apprentice though and they still had hours to go with all these papers.

[Fell]

((Sorry it\'s been so long. This one kind of got lost near the bottom of the page! D: ))

Ravi nodded, shuffling papers of his own as he listened to Auel both with his ears  and with his eyes. This boy knew body language like no other the demon had ever met, and made sight practically a requirement for communication. It was damned interesting. So was what the kid said.

"It\'s plenty," Ravi said with a chuckle, meeting the kid\'s eyes happily. He really did have beautiful eyes. "I can see why people would assume that, though. And why it would be... unpleasant at best," the demon added, pulling a face on the word "unpleasant". Being judged by your race was never fun. Ravi was lucky that air demons were so uncommon - few prejudices or stereotypes to deal with - but those that did know tended to assume he would be as undisciplined and scatterbrained as many were. Even when he proved himself to be different. Talk about frustrating.

Ravi had to imagine Auel faced the same kind of stuff when people found out what his heritage was. "I know how much it sucks when people assume stuff about you just because of what you are..." the demon began, speaking a little softly now. His eyes darted away for a moment as he thought back. "The master I\'m apprenticed to almost didn\'t choose me because of the reputation air demons have. Heh. Guess I got lucky, though. He\'s more open-minded  than some," Ravi continued, forcing the bitterness from his voice. It had hurt when Faris had first told him that. At least he\'d given Ravi a chance to prove himself, though.

Ravi had to admit, talking to Auel was nice. The kid could listen like no other, and he had a most interesting method of communication. Not to mention that he seemed like a generally good person - though in a place like the Academy you couldn\'t tell for sure right off the bat. Sometimes it felt like everyone had a hidden agenda.