The Hermit, The Tower, The World (Vol.2 Complete)

25th of Inandyl - 4th Velron (cont.)

Calas, Chou, and I have dinner together in the Great Hall as it is closest. His first act, when we are both seated, is to place a small plate of brie on my tray. I give him a flat stare while he chuckles softly to himself, the back of his hand curled in front of his face as if to hide it. Like his shoulders aren't twitching and he doesn't have a mirthful glint in his gold eyes.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." I state flatly.

He calms down soon enough during our meal and while my expression is tight, there is still a hint of a smile there that I cannot hide. He chuckles again when I use said brie on my dinner roll instead of butter, but doesn't say much else while we eat.

After food is in our bellies, he strikes up a conversation with Chou and it is interesting to me as well. Not only am I curious to know more about how Chou interacts and learning more about her, but I realize that outside of the brief conversations we have had outside of class, I know next to nothing about Calas.

"So, you are a construct?" Calas casually addresses Chou, who is standing on the table.

Chou focuses on him intently, tilting her head from side to side, as if pondering the question deeply. I know this posture as she has done it ever since Professor Lighthammer "borrowed" her for analysis after she was created. Coming to an answer, her entire body shakes with the trill in her voice.

"No, That doesn't sound right."

"No," Calas shakes his head in time with Chou's movement, "you're right. A construct wouldn't be able to speak like you do. But do you think?" He searches the vaulted ceiling for the right words, "Do you have thoughts, I mean. You seem to know and understand a fair bit. How did you learn them?"

"I think I do have thoughts sometimes. Some things I learn from people, but other things, I just know." Chou responds slowly, her wings fluttering in a lazy, random pattern.

"Like an automaton? I can see most of your parts are made of metal…" Calas' voice trails off as Chou hugs herself with all six appendages in a modest fashion. I hold in a laugh as Calas slowly covers his face with a hand, breaking his eye contact with Chou and heaving a sigh.

"Never mind. The mouse has called you her familiar so I suppose we can leave it at that." He says to Chou to put her mind at ease, but he's side-eying me now with a soft, golden intensity. It's not the menacing, mischievous stare I've become used to. There is something… different about it now and I find myself smiling back.

"How are you so good at explaining things? You take these complex ideas and you break them down so simply." I ask quickly, looking down at my fidgeting fingers.

Calas seems a bit surprised by this question and after a moment shrugs a shoulder.

"Practice. I guess." He pauses for a beat. "I have younger siblings so they always have tons of questions that demand to be answered." He gives a soft laugh in his throat as a look of nostalgia crosses his face.

"They don't ask your parents?" I ask quizzically, only realizing after I said it that it might seem intrusive.

"Nah, they are generally unavailable now that we are more grown." He shakes his head though, unphased.

Suddenly nervous to ask more, I hesitate. I recall what Vesa said about his family, a mercantile organization of what she deemed to be thugs, and that Calas is the successor to it. A pressure fills my head that I haven't known before. It feels akin to fear, that if I say something wrong to him, I would ruin—whatever this is.

He breaks the silence with a question of his own and relief fills me.

"What about you? Any siblings back home in…" He trails off, a questioning expression on his face.

"Tranmere. Or rather, outside of Tranmere." I finish for him, "And no. No siblings. Just me and my parents."

"Oh, Tranmere. We are practically neighbors." He leans his chin on his palm, his elbow being supported by the table between us.

"Neighbors?! Aren't you from Horora? That's so far!" I exclaim with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm from Horora," he smiles, a toothy grin, "but it's not that far. By ship, anyway." He takes a drink before changing the subject.

"Some might say you are lucky to be an only child. I don't think so, though. I think having siblings teaches you a lot."

"That's probably true." I say slowly, reflecting on my own experiences and finding only myself when my parents weren't around. Oddly enough I never felt particularly alone in those moments, but looking back on them now, they do seem a bit empty. Like that hollow pang I get every so often.

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"How many siblings do you have?" I ask without thought.

"Three. All good for nothing tricksters, but I can't blame them for that." He pauses, nodding to himself. "I blame my uncles for that."

I cover a laugh before gasping out. "What do your uncles do to make them that way?"

"What don't they do, is likely the shorter answer." Calas gives a shrug, hands to the sky. "I just know that they had a pretty heavy influence on me at that time and," he pauses, a pained look on his face, "well, they didn't do me any favors. So I hope they aren't getting into too much trouble while I'm gone."

"Hey," I start, changing the topic again, "Speaking of trouble, you said you got into a lot of fights last year. Do you think it's because of them, too?"

He hesitates and I feel like I have maybe gone too far. After a long moment with that calculating gaze fixed on me, he finally shakes his head.

"No, there were other factors that went into that. Thankfully, nothing to do with my uncles." His voice is careful and bland. It makes me feel like he is hiding something, but instead of deterring me, it just makes me want to know more.

"Factors? Did you get into fights with arithmetic?" I laugh, trying to pass off the vague answer he gave as a joke.

Thankfully for me, he chuckles softly but there is a change in his eyes, a wariness like a careful predator. "No, I did just fine with factors and figures last year." He narrows his eyes at me then Chou for half a heartbeat before changing the subject again.

"How exactly did you make Chou?" Calas offers his finger out to Chou on the table as a perch as he asks, but chuckles as the butterfly only hugs his finger with four of her spindly arms.

"Honestly, I have no clue. I mean I have tons of notes and I followed them, but I never expected—" I pause giving a hapless gesture, "Well, anything. I didn't expect anything to happen."

"Uh-huh. Notes, huh? Mind if I take a look?" Calas gives me a suspicious look and from his tone, I'm guessing he doesn't believe me.

My heart skips a beat and I only now recall what Professor Lighthammer warned me about at the end of the term. About how mages would come looking for this technology that I have haphazardly rediscovered. When I look at Calas, the hint of a wolf head peeks out of the collar of his long-sleeved shirt, and, for a moment, I wonder if he might be one of them.

"Oh, well," I hesitate, looking for an excuse of some kind to give him, but several moments pass and I can feel my heart in my throat.

"You don't have to," Calas breaks the silence between us as he leans back in his chair with an air of nonchalance. He gives a slight shake of his head and his eyes soften. "It was just an idea."

Something in his eyes, gives me pause. If he was looking for my secrets, he could have asked me at any point during the term. And he didn't press when asking about it now. Also, why would he have helped me at all during the term if all he wanted from me was a piece of magic that I happened to recreate?

He had said at the party that he studies different kinds of magic. What if he could help me figure out the pieces that I couldn't understand? The possibility seems worth the risk in that case.

"Sure. When?" I agree quietly, giving a shrug.

He blinks in surprise before looking out the windows of the Hall and I do the same, curious as to what he is searching for out there. It is not quite twilight, but it will be soon by the amount of red and purple in the sky.

"Tomorrow morning?" he answers, his attention shifting back to me.

I gesture at the sky outside, but let it fall. He sounded so eager, but maybe he has plans tonight. Tomorrow is fine. I think to myself, and tell myself that I shouldn't be disappointed.

"Yeah, tomorrow is fine."

He smiles, but it's not an intense kind of expression like he is wont to give me. It is rather gentle and I take a deep breath as some of my doubts melt away with it. He has been so different outside of class, I've noticed this week.

"I'll meet you in the Library at first bell." Calas says as he starts to get up, collecting his dishes on his own tray.

"The Library?" My brow furrows and I bite my lip. I think about the time the trek would take to get my notes in the east tower to the Library as I gather up my own things onto my tray. I remind myself, that if he can help me decipher those strange pieces of the lattice, that a little walk would be well worth it.

"I might be a little later than first bell." I say sheepishly as we start walking toward the exit to take care of our dishes. Chou flutters up to my shoulder to perch as we leave with an excited trill.
"It can wait until another day. I don't want to intrude on your plans." his voice trails off, but is laced with… apology? Calas almost sounds disappointed.

"No, no!" I correct him quickly and the words are a bit too enthusiastic. "It's nothing like that! I just keep those notes in a, uh, a different place." So much for my promise to Professor Lighthammer to keep them away from prying eyes. I never expected them to be golden Duskwood eyes. For some reason, that I cannot quite grasp yet, I feel like I can trust him with this.

We take care of our dishes in an awkward silence and exit the Great Hall together. We remain in that stagnant silence until he breaks the lull.

"We could always meet in the Sanctum at first bell, instead." He suggests to me as I pass him through the main door. "It's just getting dark already so tonight seems like not enough time." He adds, following me outside into the courtyard.

My heart lightens at the idea of him being free this evening, but the next thought in my head is, why in all of Akeroth does this make me happy? I try to play off my smile with a dumb joke.

"What's wrong with the dark? Are you afraid?"

"No, mouse, just the things that lurk in it." His tone is more serious than I expected as we start walking to the Sanctum together.

I am caught off guard by his rather serious answer to my joke and it makes me wonder what in the nine heavens would Calas Duskwood be afraid of? Making a mental note to think on this remark later, I change the subject.

"By the way, you owe me an explanation!" I say in my most haughty tone, my best impression of Cira, really.

He stops walking to face me squarely, a small furrow on his brow in response.

"You owe me a very long, stupid story about Kishi spreading rumors." I demand, talking about the promise he made to me before my mock exam.

Calas breaks out in a laugh and we start walking again.

"I was hoping you conveniently forgot, but I suppose I do." He paused as we walked side by side, our shoes clicking softly on the cobblestones below our feet. Tilting his head toward me, he asked tentatively, "Do you have time now?"

I grin at the invitation, still finding it a perplexing jumble between who he was when we met and who I have come to know him to be, especially this week. Sure, he is still sarcastic, arrogant, and intimidating at times, but now I am starting to see something else. Something that feels real. It makes my heart race, just a little, to think that maybe there is much more to Calas than he lets other people see.

"Yes! Tell me everything!"