Tighnari pov
I flipped through a couple of books before stopping at a particular set of pages with rows of different species of carnivorous plants elaborately painted onto the thin brown pages. I sat for a moment, admiring the room. Haypasia had really decorated her dorm room. Plastered all over the walls were diagrams, posters and charts of constellations.
"So, like I was saying," I said, looking towards Haypasia " I was given a chance to go to the Apam woods for a project"
"Oh? That sounds cool," she said, taping another constellation chart to her wall "What's it about?"
"We're going to be collecting rare samples to grow them in the lab," I explained as I opened a notebook to begin taking notes "It's for my extracurricular,"
"Oh I see, that's right down your alley. You should definitely go," She said, now she was making sure the poster was properly stuck to the wall. I nodded in agreement with her. She paused for a moment, staring at the poster for a couple of seconds before turning to me. I sat at her table taking notes, this was one of our study sessions.
"When is this happening again? Because knowing you, you wouldn't miss a class for your life," Haypasia said, looking towards me, adjusting her glasses and resting her hands on her hips.
"Oh yeah. I would never. And neither would the other people in my extracurricular," I explained "That's why its taking place over the winter break,"
"Oh, I see. Makes sense. But that's quite soon," she said, now she moved on to sorting a couple of the books she borrowed when we were in the library earlier.
"Yeah, not much less than a month,"
***
"Tighnari! There you are," one of the students called out as I entered the classroom, I realised it was one of my classmates who had also joined the extracurricular "We have some exciting news!"
"What is it?" I asked, setting my bag down on the floor next to a large pile of bags that belonged to the other students. The student talking to me was a boy I had grown somewhat familiar with, he was in a few of my classes, we weren't friends. Just a little more than a classmate, more of a colleague considering how often we work together in the extracurriculars. He had honey-coloured skin and small brown curls that didn't fall past his ears. Another student whom I've also worked with often stood behind him, she looked equally excited. She had fair skin and lightly pink hair, likely dyed from blonde.
"We've gotten permission to lead a group to collect samples in the Apam woods!" He exclaimed, putting a hand on my shoulder and walking me over to the counter "We'll be able to get our hands on those rare species that we can't buy!"
"Wait really?" I asked, a little surprised.
"We'll be spending around a week in the jungle," the girl piped up, still standing behind him. My enthusiasm died down a bit.
"Oh. But what about classes? I can't miss a single one of them," I explained, my tone becoming a bit more sullen.
"Oh no, no. You don't have to worry about that," the bubbly, pink-haired girl spoke again "The trip will be during the winter break!"
"Wow, that's great," I breathed, allowing the new information to settle in before asking "Who's coming?"
"Us," He said gesturing to him and the girl "You, and a few others - well, that is if you can or want to come,"
"That would be great and it's more than just an opportunity to collect samples," I said looking at the two tentatively "We could study quite a few different things, like growth patterns and where the species are abundant and why, stuff like that,"
"That's a good point," he said, taking a moment to think to himself.
"Is there a specific reason, I - or we, were chosen for the trip?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Well, she was the first one to propose the idea," he said pointing to the side of him where she stood quietly with a smile strewn over her face "And we figured it'd be a good idea to bring you along since you're familiar with the jungle,"
"I suppose I am," I replied.
"The trip will be the second week of the winter break," the girl spoke up again "It shouldn't take us much more than three days to get to the Apam woods,"
"So, it will be us... and," I said trailing off, hoping one of them would continue.
"Three others and one or two more people to supervise and protect us from the dangers of woods," He said smiling "Everything's been planned,"
"We refrained from telling you sooner for fear of the plan falling apart," She explained, picking a couple of books off the counter and walking past me. We continued discussing the details of the upcoming trip.
***
As the memory came to an end, I looked up at Haypasia, who was still sorting books. Now she'd also pulled out a plethora of scrolls in which she was also filing onto the overflowing bookshelf.
"That all sounds really cool but..." She started before turning away from the bookshelf "You must be a bit disappointed,"
I smiled a bit at the remark. Albeit a small and somewhat sad smile. She was looking directly at me. I couldn't read the expression on her face. Was it sympathy? Curiosity? She held a very straight-faced expression, though not one that looked cold either.
"Yeah, I am," I said quietly, keeping the smile on my face and dragging my eyes down to the floor "But I need to go on this trip,"
"Yeah, even if I haven't known you for long, I can tell how important these kinds of things are to you," she said, her lips shifting into a small smile before she turned back, I nodded lightly to agree with what she had said. It was important to me.
"I don't know," I finally said after a long pause "I might still be able to go home for a few days, but I don't know if the trip to and from will be worth it,"
I sighed internally before flipping to a new page to take more notes.
***
Cyno pov
I peered down and reviewed the notes I had taken during the lecture, I looked up as our professor called for our attention. He spoke up before some of the students left.
"For those of you who feel ready, there will be a set of final exams in the last week of term," He said, addressing likely the older students, there probably weren't going too many newer students in this course ready to take the final exam. I had declined last year as well.
"And a further set of practical exams, that will take place between next week and up until the end of the winter breaks," I've spent almost 2 years in this course now. I was definitely ready to take exams. I listened more intently.
"Those of you that receive the passing grade for both exams will become official matra," He continued "You will have proper jobs and responsibilities within the Akademiya, I know you're all well aware of this but just in case you weren't, Those of you who are going to take the exams this year-round must come and speak to me now or later, preferably soon in more of your cases,"
Once he finished speaking and dismissed those who were still listening, the majority of the last students still in the class finished packing their notes and supplies and left the class. I, and a few others, about four, remained and did as we were asked. We walked up to the front of the class. Each of us spoke to him briefly and individually. In the end, all four of us wrote our names on a sheet of paper with the intention of taking these final exams.
"I'll reach out to all four of you individually," He explained before we left "And I'll explain in detail what your second exam will be, as it will be different for each one of you,"
I noted what he had said and left the classroom and turned to head for the House of Daena. The exam may be at least 3 weeks away, but it wouldn't be harmful to be overprepared. I figured I'd spend the rest of my time studying.
If I passed those tests, then once the break was over, I would finally be a mantra. An end to these classes and much more time to focus on my darshan. AlHaitham was getting ahead. Although I'm not typically a competitive person when it comes to AlHaitham...
I stepped into the glorious library and headed off to my usual section, though I had multiple considering the amount of information contained in my matra course and my darshan.
I stared down the tall bookshelf once I reached it. I dragged my hands across the spines to find a set of very specific ones. I picked out three books once I saw them. I didn't need to check the contents, I had previously borrowed these books a few times and had found them to be quite useful.
I turned around to head off to another section when I spotted a certain someone sitting at a desk in the centre of the room, next to the elevator. I smiled at the sight before realising something. I walked over to the centre where the busy, twitchy-eared student was scribbling away in various notebooks with more textbooks sprawled out beside him. As quiet as I was and as sure as I was that he hadn't seen or heard me when I was about five metres away, his ears twitched and poked up just a second before his head. I felt myself smile at that cute tendency of his. This wasn't the first time I had approached quietly and noticed he'd done this like his ears would catch onto me being here before he did. I walked up to him and smiled.
"How'd you know I was here?" I asked, setting down the books I was holding and pulling out the chair next to him.
"You have very light footsteps, not like anyone else's. I've gotten used to hearing them, so I knew it was you," He said calmly with a smile as I sat down. I glanced at his notebook, despite the speed he seemed to have been writing, the handwriting looked very tidy.
"How long have you been in here," I asked.
"I've been here for less than half an hour, why?" He asked continuing to scribble in notes.
"You always seem to be studying, so I was just wondering how long you've been at it," I replied, opening the first book I had picked off the shelf.
"Oh, well, I was studying with Haypasia for a couple of hours before then," he said, laughing a tiny bit to himself to lighten the mood "She had to go and do something, so I just came here to study,"
I sighed and looked at him again.
"Do you ever stop studying?" I asked "You're always saying I need to take care of myself but you don't seem to be taking your own advice,"
"I'm fine, I'm not the one getting in fights," He said, as if he was making a point.
"But you're always studying," I complained.
"I'm managing my time perfectly fine," He replied as he continued to take notes. I sighed and took a glance at his notes. I paused a moment staring at the intricate lines that flowed across the page
"Those drawings are amazing," I said, without taking my eyes off his work. He smiled softly and I noticed his ears lowered just a bit. He turned to look at me briefly
"Thank you, they have to be good if I want to remember them," He said, taking a long glance at his notebook before he flipped it shut. He did the same to the textbook he was copying.
"You really are dedicated to your studies," I said, leaning ever so slightly back in my chair with my body facing him "It's admirable, really,"
I added 'really' once I noticed him laughing a bit at the comment. He packed up a few more books and collected his stationary before dumping them in his bag.
"I'm going to head back to the dorms to grab a few things," He said standing up from the desk before adding in a playful tone "And maybe study a bit more...anyways, you coming with?"
I laughed sharply at the remark.
"Yeah, I'll come," I said standing up next to him as we walked off. We walked for a few minutes in content silence, not awkward or uncomfortable.
"You know, you always seem to act so sternly when you're around Kaveh and AlHaitham," He mentioned out of the blue. The statement caught me a bit off guard.
"Do I?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah, whenever the four of us are doing anything together, you're always so much quieter and you always have this serious look on your face," he said, glancing at me for a moment "Kind of like AlHaitham,"
"Don't compare me to him," I said with a groan. I heard him laugh a bit once I had said that.
"But I'm not wrong, whenever it's just us, you always seem much more alive, happier almost," He said it without missing a beat, without glancing back at me. Despite that, I turned my head away as I inexplicably felt my face heat up. What on earth is going on with me?
We continued walking in silence. This time, likely to both of our dismay, it was a little more awkward.
***
2250 words