Free time

[highonlullabies]

Kyhel sat by a window in the library, a large tome in front of him. The tome contained advanced healing spells, but they were all written in different languages, and so a few of them gave him difficulty.

His pet ermine, Tal, was curled up on his lap, and opened her mouth in a wide yawn, a look of bored disdain clearly visible in her eyes.

"Tal, I happen to find this very interesting. Would you rather be fighting in the Arena right now, possibly getting killed?" Tal gave him a look as if saying that fighting in the Arena would be her favorite thing to be doing at that moment. "You are incorrigible."

While trying to decipher a spell written in Drow, though, even Ky had to stifle a yawn. This wasn\'t his favorite way to spend his free time, but no one had been around to talk with. He knew all of the students, but wasn\'t on completely friendly terms with all of them, but it wasn\'t because of his lack of trying. But he was good friends with most of them, especially since he was a healer, and they figured that they better be on friendly terms with him, or he might not heal them. But Ky never thought that was why many of the people were his friends.

[DeathsAngel]

Serry walked into the library, feeling rather down actually. She couldn\'t believe she had just let that stupid coward walk away, she should have killed her right where she stood. But it didn\'t matter, she was no longer a problem of Serrian\'s. Only a disappiontment and a hate she would just carry around like all her others.
 
She slammed the door to the library, causing the few secluded people to glance up at her. One of her instructors said she had to spend more time in the library studying, and maybe that would help her advance to level 8. After all she had been in this damn place for over three years and was still only a level 9. She had wanted to be the youngest to graduate, that sight was quickly leaving her.
 
She looked around for an empty seat and finally picked one by somebody she thought she\'d seen before. Maybe a teacher or something-No! Wait, he\'s one of the healers. She thought, remembering. She sat next to him and picked up the book she was supposed to be reading, but she quickly got bored and looked over to see what the healer was reading.
 
"That any good?" She asked, looking at the Drow text on the front. "You read Drow?" SHe asked. Serry was a lot more interested in what he had to say than her work. At least she would stay awake to hear what he had to say, and he was a grey elf after all. Being only half grey she was always wanting to make friends with real grey elves.

[highonlullabies]

Ky heard the door to the library slam, and jumped slightly, and looked at who it was who slammed the door, and saw a half-elf girl who he recognized. Serrian? He believed that was her name. When she sat down by him, he looked at her from beneath his long eyelashes, studying her. He had never spoken much with her, but he figured it was better late than never. He could never have too many friends.

When she asked him about the tome, he became elated. "Oh, it\'s incredibly fascinating, but it has so many different languages that it makes it somewhat a difficult read. It\'s a book that contains many advanced healing spells. I\'m not especially fluent in Drow, but I can read it well enough." He then glanced at the book that she had. "What is that book about? Is it interesting?"

Tal poked her head up to look at the person Ky was speaking to, and Ky laughed sheepishly. "Oh, this is Tal. And where are my manners, I\'m Ky!"

[Shadowstorm]

From between the pages of a leather-bound tome, amber-flecked eyes darted up toward the conversation, a wry smile stretching across his gaunt features as his fingers drummed across the table to herald the halt in his studies. Almost impatiently, his head tipped to one side.
The sound of beads clicking across the desk betrayed this movement of his, gaze quite firmly fixed upon the pair of them.
Assessing the situation for just a moment.
He didn\'t recognise the girl, but he had seen that healer passing to and fro during his many times in the Infirmary, be it as a victim or as an attacker...

Muttering the last sentence beneath his breath, he snapped the book shut, standing up to replace it in the shelf with a very deliberate flourish, allowing his purple sash to flutter in view.
Seniority always helped with manipulation...

Pushing back his flaxen hair, Nitor Quant settled his eyes upon the boy with a surprisingly warm smile. An invitation, no less...

...go ahead and ask for help...you trust everyone, don\'t you?

[DeathsAngel]

Magick. Serrian thought disgustingly. It didn\'t really make the person bad, only the magick. But if she were to get out of studying she would need to ignore that little fact. After all, he was a healer.
 
"No," she answered his question. "It\'s teaching me, in great detail how to do absolutely nothing!" It was a bit of an exageration, but it felt just like that. "It\'s about..." She paused to read the one sentence discreption of the book at the front page. "How to control your mind and think clearly in battle." She rolled her eyes. "I do control my mind, and it\'s not like I do magick or anything and I think I clearly I need to in battle, as if I\'d ever really get into one. I\'m an assassin not a warrior!" She sighed deeply.
 
"But... I need to read it to get by." She forced a light smile. "How long have you worked here?" She asked, glancing sideways at the man who had just shut his book. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he put his book away, still keeping most of her focus on Ky. "I\'m Serrian, from the house of Cruori."

[Shadowstorm]

His attention switched on the mention of Cruori, smirking with a little less warmth as those same silvery eyes shuttled up and down this young student of his very own, most revered house.
Turning to face her after the dust had settled from the replacement of his tome, the two silver daggers emblazoned upon the bottom right corner of his jet black robes, "Not useless knowledge at all."

Striding over, he put his hand on the table in front of her, "Not only do you need to know the skills of battle to pass your tests, tell me - what will you do if your victim wakes up, if they have company, if there is a guard posted where you did not expect one?

You must learn to control your mind, to quell panic, to keep yourself calm in battle, but also to protect yourself against those who control your mind for you. There are many enemies of the Academy who would pull your mind apart to find us."

He glanced down at the book with his own light, amused smile, "However, you are unlikely to learn the skills you need for combat by reading about them...there is only so much that words can convey on such a physical subject."

[DeathsAngel]

Serrian turned her full glance as the man started to speak towards her. She looked down(enviously) at his purple sash, than back up at the face. "If I kill the man he can\'t get up. And if he has company I wait until he is alone. Nobody is with a person all the time, eventually my victim will be alone and then I will strike." She said matter-of-factly, though could see his argument, she still did not wish to read the book.
 
"Another reason I find it pointless." She agreed to his last statement. "It is awfully hard to learn how to do something through a book." She shrugged lightly. "But I\'m afraid I haven\'t a choice in the matter." And I\'m playing it good girl this year... She thought silently to herself.
 
"So, to whom am I speaking with?" She asked, rather politely for how she usually spoke with people. But she was playing it nice this year, plus it was good to be polite to those a lot more advanced than she was.

[Shadowstorm]

He extended a hand, long fingernails sharpened to a point.
With a still-amused glance down at the girl from his position of evident superiority, his smile stretched. Connections were useful...that, and she reminded him quite strongly of his own opinions when so young.

His laugh was not a belittling one, but a genuinely amused chuckle as he met her eyes again, quite conscious of the attractiveness of the young girl in front of him. After all, it was difficult not to notice.

"Nitor Quant of Cruori, the pleasure is mine, Serrian."

He assessed the glint in her eyes for just one more second before continuing, leaning closer to her, "Of course, if you were to have some hands-on teaching...excelling beyond the others in your class wouldn\'t be so difficult now, mmm?"
To get into Cruori, one had to have ambition, a drive to keep them going...and a passion for what they did. He was willing to bet that she had all three.
After all, it wasn\'t cheating to use the resources surrounding you. Especially if they were offered with a polite and willing smile.

Turning to the healer, his hand lingered, "...pleased to meet you both."

[DeathsAngel]

And just what do you find so funny? Serrian thought, but didn\'t say that aloud. It was bad enough getting into trouble with that magick-user the other day. She was glad she had after he had introduced himself, as a smile appeared on her face. Not the one of a happy child, but one of a thought of being trained, graduating and then killing all those who had annoyed her. That thought filled her with an evil kind of joy.
 
She reached over and shook his hand. "It\'s nice to meet you Nitor Quant." And it actually was, excelling quickly sounded very good to Serry indeed. She had hated to see some of them advance to level 8 when they had arrived after she had, she would have to kill them, too. Too embarrassing to let them live, plus it gave her an excuse to put someone else on her Death List as she liked to call it.
 
She did not answer his question, though, not in words at least. Though her facial expression gave the answer, especially her prideful eyes. "And are you offering said teaching, Nitor?" The young girl prayed he was, then she could easily best that stupid coward, Camie, if she ever saw her again. She would probably just end up hiding behind some master, she was a disgrace to the cruori house, and just the thought of her brought a lust for killing to Serrian. But she would deal with those matters later and deal with these matters now.

[highonlullabies]

"Ah, well, that might not be useless. I\'ve worked here now, for... hmm... 36 years? Nice to meet you!"

A man came up to them, wearing a purple sash, and Ky remembered healing him quite a number of times... or healing his victims. What\'s his name.... Nitor? Yeah I think that is... Ky thought.

He was about to cut in a few times while the newcomer spoke with his new friend, but decided it would be better just to watch. Ky watched the two talk with excitement, his gaze darting from one to the other. The topic he found to be somewhat distasteful, but it was an assassin\'s academy, not like he could really get away from the talk of killing.

Finally, Nitor addressed him, well, sort of. Ky took the chance to speak.

"Good to meet you! I\'m Kyhel, and my ermine is Tal!" Ky held up Tal for a brief moment, before placing her back on his lap. "Well, what luck, you\'re both from Cruori! I\'m sure we\'ll all be great friends!"

He beamed, and then heard Serrian ask her question, and wondered if Nitor would help her.

"Well, that would be nice," Ky pointed out.

[DeathsAngel]

Serrian looked up at the older man with a little of disgust. "I\'m sure we\'ll all be great friends!"? She quoted to herself. Grow up. But it was almost as unwise to make a healer mad at you as it was to make somebody who could kill you mad at you, so she didn\'t comment aloud.
 
"Yes... It would." She smiled with a fake sweetness. But not for my victims I\'m afraid. She added silently. She looked down at her open book and closed it. She didn\'t bother trying to read any more of her book, it would be more interesting to try and hold a conversation with a spider than to read that book.

[highonlullabies]

Ky felt Tal bristle, and frowned slightly. Why is she acting like this? Nitor and Serrian are really nice. They might be a little dark, but they\'re still nice. Ky thought, and Tal met his gaze with a look that said, \'Don\'t trust these people. They\'re not your friends.\' He shook his head, and she gazed into his eyes again. \'You must feel uncomfortable around them. Trust that feeling. They\'re not good people!\'

Folding his arms, he didn\'t want to argue with Tal around his new friends, because he didn\'t want them to know about the awful lies that Tal was saying about them.

But he did have an uncomfortable feeling around them, but he suppressed the feeling, positive that it didn\'t mean anything.

[Shadowstorm]

Nitor watched the expression changes carefully, the beaming smile of Ky dampened by his distaste for their subject of conversation. The girl, however...she was quite the opposite. Her distaste showed in the little twitches of facial expression.
Bowing his head just a little more, he replied with silken tones, "But of course I am willing. Furthering the abilities of those who will one day represent my House is a worthy task indeed."
The flash of a dangerous smile was directed at Serrian. Ambition was a powerful inhibitor of sense...

Waving a hand dismissively, he watched the ermine bristle and swayed the line of conversation back toward the healer, "But, let us not discuss the ways of violence in front of a healer...I\'m sure he finds it most objectionable."

With that, he settled a hand on Ky\'s shoulder.

[highonlullabies]

"Thanks!" Ky told Nitor. How kind of him to think about my comfort. Ky mused, but didn\'t want to be the reason that they stopped their conversation. He didn\'t want to make anyone mad at him. "You can continue if want to. Don\'t mind me."

When he felt Nitor place his hand on his shoulder, he almost couldn\'t suppress the uneasy feeling. As if something wasn\'t right about Nitor. Or Serrian, for that matter. Tal... I should probably listen to you more... but... maybe I\'m just being paranoid? That\'s probably it. Ky convinced himself. Absentmindedly, he chewed on a strand of his strawberry-blond hair, which was a sure sign of his nervousness.

"Umm..." He realized that he was chewing on his hair, and removed the strand from his mouth before continuing. "Nice weather..." He looked outside, and saw and heard raindrops pitter-pattering against the window, and felt the sound relax him. Please, stop touching me... He thought, but then was ashamed of his thoughts. He\'s probably just trying to be nice... why am I so rude sometimes? Still, he almost wished for an emergency to happen so that he would be able to get away from those two without seeming rude.

He looked down at Tal, who bore a satisfied look on her little ermine face. \'Oh shut up, you.\'

[DeathsAngel]

Serrian was unable in her meager years of training, to hide her grin of joy, she was however able to make it an arrogant cruel grin, though. She turned to see the healer slightly nervous and wondered why, she didn\'t plan on hurting him.
 
 "Okay, we can change the subject." She shrugged, that was extremely respectful for Serrian. At least she actually agreed to stop. She wouldn\'t start calling him "elder one" or some shit like that stupid bitch did. But, she forced her mind from the other day and came back to focus as Ky asked about the weather.
 
She cocked an eyebrow and replied: "I guess so, though I don\'t pay too much to the weather. I actually prefer a cloudy day, it makes it easier for my practicing." After all, she was practicing at being an assassin. She smiled at Tal, the animal looked nervous. "Does your pet not like me? He seems uncomfortable."