skymuffins | [Sept. 1/11] The Dining Hall, Early Evening

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[Sept. 1/11] The Dining Hall, Early Evening

Supper at Thrones Academy was always quieter at the end of the year.

At the very beginning of the year, it was different. Older students found their tables—some claimed in years past, others rearranging themselves to suit how friendships had changed over the course of the two month long holiday all returning students had endured—while the newest class, the ninth graders, congregated at the tables set up for them. In the weeks that followed they would realize that they were allowed to move to other tables. And they would realize that no one wished them to do so.

For now, they were thoroughly engrossed in talking to those of their year and the rest of the grades were varying degrees of relieved about it. The new kids did not notice the way that the Headmistress, Lenore Aubrey, did not at them even once for all that their tables were closest to her.

The older students knew why.

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Yeah, even someone like Liam could gather that there was something a little amiss about a setup like that. It explained a little about why the headmistress hadn't so much as looked their way, but it didn't exactly answer any questions, either.

"... What? Seriously?" And even Liam could drop the machismo for a moment when something struck him as seriously amiss. "But this is our... uh... our formative year, or whatever. Why the hell would they just spend the whole damn year acting like we're not even here?"

"The end of the year examinations that the Headmistress mentioned earlier are supposed to be deadly tough," Aron said, flicking at a minuscule bit of dust on his pants. "Apparently, a lot of ninth graders don't make it to grade ten. Lots of flunk outs, around here."

Liam raised an eyebrow like that, looking at the rest of the people gathered in the cafeteria.

"That would explain why we're about a third of the whole student population," he grunted, trying to sound gruff enough to not come off as actually being good at math. "How the hell do they expect anyone to pass if they don't even have the time of day to make sure people can hack it, though?"

A beat.

"Not that I'm worried."

Because, really.

"Of course not," Aron said. "None of us are."

Which was true enough considering the amount of laughter and talking that was going on around them. Even those who were less than pleased to be at the school didn't look worried right now.

"It's creepy," he added, raising one hand to point subtly at a girl on the other side of their table. "She's got a big brother here and he ignored her earlier when she tried to say something to him. Maybe they're not supposed to talk to us, but that's weird."

"What? Really?" Liam's lip curled back a little. Okay, that just went beyond creepy right along into the realm of...

Of...

Of something worse than creepy, that's what.

"You don't just stop being family to someone. Maybe her brother's just a dick with something to prove in front of all his little school buddies." Never mind that her brother was obviously an upperclassman, and all. "It isn't cool to have your little sister to tag along, or something."

"Tagging along maybe," Aron conceded. "But to say hello after not seeing each other for years?"

He watched as the doors opened to reveal servants with their food. "I don't like it. Maybe he is just a--a dick, but how many of the students here are siblings, I wonder."

"Always did hear things about how sometimes it ran in the family," Liam allowed. "There was some guy flying off at the mouth earlier about how his sister came here, before, but he hasn't been able to find her here. Not sitting at any of the tables in here or nothing. Me, I don't have to worry about any of that crap. This place is a clean slate, for me."

The first in what was probably going to be a short line of Walsh boys with powers, because one way or another, he wasn't exactly gunning for kids in his future.

"A really creepy clean slate."

"It does run in families." Really, Aron was living proof. "Though my father was not pleased that I'd tested positive to having magic."

He'd acted liked it was the end of the world or something. Aron still wasn't sure what to make of that, but it hurt a bit to know his father hadn't wanted him to go the same path he had.

"I wonder if we're allowed to see the enrolment records?"

"Hey, if you can get the teachers to notice you long enough for you to get your hands on them, I'm not going to stop you from trying," Liam grunted. "It's your funeral, man."

And Liam wasn't even the school's clairvoyant. Wild.

"Oh," Aron said airily. "I wasn't thinking of asking for them." Not when already he could guess that getting a teacher's attention would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

"Aren't you curious to see what the flunk out rate is? And where is that kid's sister if she's not here and hasn't been home?"

So help him, Liam was curious. Something wasn't sitting right here. Maybe that had something to do with his family being somewhat suspicious of people with powers all along. His old man, as much as he'd sucked, had been downright disappointed in Liam when he'd found out that he was one of those 'wand-waving weirdos.' That didn't exactly instill much trust in the people who ran this kind of school.

"... You need any help with that?"

"I wouldn't turn it down," Aron admitted. "Not in a hostile environment like this is."

And it was hostile, he thought, from the way everyone acted like they were invisible.

"You manage to do any magic yet?" he asked. "You said you're the first in your family."

"... Kind of," Liam hedged, wrinkling his nose a little while he tried to figure out a way to dance around that question. "I mean, I'm not like some kind of kid prodigy or anything. I didn't have my old man telling me how it all worked. I figure I'll pick up on it more while I'm here, though."

He wasn't about to hike up his shirt and turn around to show off that stupid citrine, either way.

"I was quarterback on my last school's football team, though. Tri-state champions three years running."

He didn't need his stupid powers to be awesome, thanks.

Just like Aron had no inclination to take off his gloves and show off his stone either.

"Impressive," he said, and actually meant it. "You're from Jersey then?"

Aron was not above proving that he was awesome in his own way either.

"Well, duh. New York and Connecticut don't even hold a candle."

Besides, the accent was probably a hint. Of course, it was possible that Liam was being wilfully obtuse in that regard.

"How about you? Where you from?"

Don't get him wrong. He didn't even like the guy. But Aron seemed to be the only one here with any amount of sense in his head, either.

"California." For all that he spoke with only a slight accent. "You never did say your name."

He didn't know how he could be partner in crime with someone nameless.

And an idiot, but for some reason that didn't bug Aron as much as he thought it should.

Idiots seemed to be the ones that stood the better chance around here. For all that he was a bit of a brick, he was a fairly calculating one. Who else here had realized that there was something seriously wrong with the way things were unfolding for the new ninth grade students, yet?

"Liam," he stated, his voice crammed full of that gruff pride that pretty much screamed 'dense jock.' "It's Liam."

Aron's amusement was kept under wraps. While Liam was hardly a friend, he was the only one he'd talked to for any space of time as of yet and he had the power to tattle on him about his planned bout of breaking the rules to get information.

Aron would tread carefully, to a degree. "Well then," he said, "in order to sneak into the offices, we'll have to do it when most people are occupied elsewhere."

"That's easy enough," Liam replied, shrugging dismissively. "After curfew is the obvious choice. Or while everyone is eating lunch. Unless this place has some kind of not-shitty sports team, which I doubt. Who would they even play against? So big sports events are probably right out."

Which was kind of a heartbreaking realization for a former championship quarterback.

"Does this place have regular assemblies or anything?"

"Monthly," Aron replied. "And there's a few dances throughout the year as well."

Which, well, that was alright. He didn't mind them.

"They wouldn't expect any of us to pull something the first night here."

Liam filed away the information about dances for a rainy day. He wasn't so big on them, but you never knew when that kind of thing might be useful.

"So, what, you're saying we should raid the offices tonight?"

... Actually, he kind of liked that.

It was wrong, truly, that Aron's grin tended to make him look innocent rather than worrisome.

He liked that about his grin. It kept him out of trouble.

"Unless you're too tired?" Aron murmured as people at their table began receiving their food. "We might never get a better chance."

"Tired, my ass," Liam scoffed, his hackles lifting just a little, though he was struggling to keep his voice down. "I'm in. What the hell."

It wasn't like he had anything to really lose, here, after all.

"Then we'll leave as soon as we're done eating." Aron looked up innocently as a server set down a plate in front of him. "No one will think it odd if we say we're going to unpack at the dorms."

Wasn't that a nice and normal sort of thing to be doing on the first night?

"That shouldn't be too hard to pull off," Liam snorted.

Hell, he'd brought so few belongings, he probably could unpack and still have time to throw himself into the heist.

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overcompensating - 2011-08-02 20:49 (UTC) - Expand

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