62 Ymiden, 720
Zurl’lei was up early. He had had a headache all throughout the night. His high from earlier had gone, but left an ache in its wake. It was minimal, but enough to push Zur to do something to take his mind off it.
He had plans to go to the library near the institution to learn more about chemistry. He wanted to see if his hypotheses from earlier were factual.
He walked up the steps to the front doors of the library with a smile. Once through the front entrance, he was greeted with a great warmth and the lovely smell of paper. The crisp sound of turning pages delighted him as he made his way through the library.
He was looking for the section on sciences. He had been there before to research psychology, but that had been a while ago and it had been on a whim that he had found it.
He passed a section labeled cooking and another titled construction before he located the appropriate area from afar.
He couldn't help but overhear a table’s conversation as he was making his way to a nearby table, though. Whether it was his astute hearing (still overly sensitive due to his drug induced hangover) or simply his troublesome curiosity, he heard the mention of Yvithia. With a name as striking as hers, it was impossible to mistake that was what he had indeed heard,
Zur took a seat at the table adjacent to where the name had been spoken. It was none of his business to get involved in a conversation he hadn’t been invited to, but his interest and strong connection to the topic of discussion propelled him to listen further.
“I hear she's absolutely gorgeous,” said a small woman who sat with one leg crossed over the other.
Zur stood and began to make way for the table.
“She blesses her followers with a unique mark,” said a lanky man with glasses that were far too big for his face.
“I’m sorry to intrude on your conversation,” Zur said. “But I couldn’t help but overhear you're mentioning the immortal Yvithia?”
“Just like that!” The lanky man announced, pointing a finger at Zur's immortal mark. He was all smiles, and so was the small woman with the crossed legs.
There were two others sitting at the table. One was a tall woman with a face full of freckles and the other was a burly man with a scar that ran from his bottom lip down his chin.
“The blessing of Yvithia gives its followers the ability to control minds,” the burly man stated. He was grinning, but it didn’t look like a grin of malcontent. Was he trying to impress Zur with his knowledge (regardless of how incorrect it was) or was he hinting at something more?
“It’s not mind control,” Zur corrected with a smile.
The man frowned. He was obviously trying to impress his friends with his knowledge. But it was wrong, and Zur needed to see that it was corrected. He couldn't be giving those marked with Xypha a bad name.
“You’ve probably met her, huh?” Asked the tall girl. Her nose crinkled when she spoke, which made the freckles on her face dance.
“I have.”
“I knew someone who had Yvithia's mark,” the burly man said, taking another chance at impressing his friends. "He was able predict the future."
The members of the table each took part in their own moment of awe. Zur had only been gifted with a few abilities from his blessing, but he was sure the man's claim didn't hold water. Predicting the future seemed a little too... immortal-like.
“I'm not sure her blessing grants someone clairvoyance,” Zur said, speaking his mind. He wasn’t stating anything, for he didn’t know himself, but something just didn’t sound right.
“Well, Yvithia told me that before she died so…”
Where was this coming from? Yvithia wasn’t dead. At least she hadn’t been the day he had received his mark from her. And if she had died since then, wouldn’t he have known about it?
Zur felt the need to explain to this man that she was indeed still alive or else his friends would be given false information and shared it. Like a plague, rumours spread quickly.
Zur cleared his throat. “Oh, actually…”
The man slowly stood up. He was frowning, his eyes menacing slits. Zur could hear him growling under his breath; the whole charade was frightening.
Zur was quickly pulled to the side.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
He turned to look at who had dragged him out of harm’s way. It was a short, middle-aged man, but the glasses on his nose and the crinkles in the corners of his eyes illustrated wisdom beyond his years.
“But I was just explaining-“
“You’ll come to find that people don’t like to be wrong. So it’s best not to get argumentative about things and just keep your mouth shut.”
“But-“
“I know, you weren't doing anything other than trying to help him understand, but ego is a fragile thing.”
Zur looked at the burly man from the corner of his eyes. He had sat down again, his attention elsewhere. Ego, huh? Wasn't that the part of consciousness that deals with how much someone knows and how much someone thinks they know? Zur certainly knew someone with a big ego and it wasn’t that guy.
“Especially a guy like that,” the man continued. The glasses he wore made his eyes look unnaturally large. “He looks like he definitely knows people in higher places. You think messing with him is bad. He’ll change your story to make you really seem like the bad guy and before you know it, you’re pegged under the watchful eyes of dangerous people.”
It sort of sounded like the way younger adolescent schools were in books Zur had read when he was a child.
Frustration bubbled up in his chest. That didn’t seem fair. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. It wasn't like he was being disrespectful, he was just trying to make his point. He had every right to that as the next guy, didn’t he? It wasn’t his fault that the man had gotten so easily offended. He wasn’t trying to seem like he knew everything. How would he know what he was and wasn't allowed to say ? He felt himself starting to shut down. It was decided. He wasn’t the one with problems being social, it was everyone else.
“It’s good to stand up for yourself, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes it’s better to just let them feel like they've won.”
Zur wanted to thank this strange man, but didn’t even know his name. “And you are?” He asked cautiously.
“I teach chemistry at the institution. I come here on my lunch break to relax. Still surrounded by academics, sure, but there’s something nice about being around dusty old tomes and the sweet smell of crisp parchment, am I right?” He chuckled. “I noticed the heat coming off of that conversation you were having there and decided it was best I butt in. I hope you didn’t mind.”
He stuck his hand out for Zur to take. Zur didn’t mind at all. In fact, he was grateful he had stepped in or else who knows what would have happened. As they were shaking hands, Zur kept glancing back at the man he had just encountered.
“Chemistry can be a controversial topic, that’s why I know a thing or two about ego and opinion and stepping into the unknown. Not everyone is going to accept the new, but it’s my job, among other professors, to get it out there.”
Zur directed his attention back to the professor. He had come here to learn more about chemistry. Before his most recent debacle, that’s what he had set out to do; that's why he was here in the first place. What better way to prove his drug induced hypotheses than to ask someone who teaches the subject?
“I’ve been looking into taking classes here,” he began, hoping the subject change wasn’t entirely out of nowhere. “In chemistry specifically.”
The professor’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling. “Is that so?”
Zur nodded. “I was wondering, and this might be completely random but, the things that compose substances have different forms, correct?” He pointed to a nearby table, then to his canteen, then waved his hands around him.
“There are states of matter, yes. That table is composed of atoms that are so tightly knit together we deem it a solid. I presume there’s water in your canteen?” He smirked, hinting at the fact that it was day time in a learning environment and therefore alcohol wouldn’t be a good choice to drink. But he wasn’t judging. “The atoms of the water have a little more wiggle room to bounce around. We call that state of matter liquid. And this air- the stuff we breathe day in and day out- you can’t really feel it unless it’s a muggy day because the atoms have so much room between one another they rarely collide. That state of matter is air.”
Zur was smiling. He loved talking about scientific subjects with others who shared the passion. He was also grateful that his hypotheses weren’t complete nonsense. He had conjured up a talking rabbit during one of his drug-induced states, so he could never be too sure if what he thought about during them were true or not.
“Are there only three states of matter?” Zur asked, pressing for more.
The professor shook his head. He had a playful grin on his face. “I can’t be giving away all that juicy knowledge for free now can I? Or else I would be out of a job and I wouldn’t get to see bright minds like you in my classroom!”
Zur smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “That makes sense.”
“So will I be seeing you in class sometime soon?”
Zur made no hesitation in answering the question. He very much wanted to continue learning. It was what he was good at. While others were athletically inclined and enjoyed playing sports, while some were artistic and dabbled with paint, Zur was talented in the educational department. He loved to learn and he picked up on new subjects quite easily. This ability only fueled his desire to learn more.
“Of course you will!” He promptly exclaimed.
“That’s wonderful to hear. And hey,” the professor pulled Zur in closer so he didn’t have to speak so loudly. “Don’t let people like him get you down, alright?” He made a subtle gesture to the man sitting across from them. “The only thing we can control is how we react to situations, not the people who create them.”
He took a step from Zur before pushing his glasses higher up his nose. “I expect great things from you!” He announced cheerfully before walking away.
Zur turned and headed towards the bookshelf that housed the sciences; he would continue his search for texts on chemistry. He spent a few moments analyzing the titles that were embossed on the spines. Once he had made his selection, he plucked a book from the shelf and returned back to his original seat a table from the one he had interrupted. He noticed something though. Before he sat down, he looked at a book that hadn’t been there earlier. Had someone taken his seat in the short amount of time he had been away? The book was open to no particular page, but a small note was resting in the middle of it. In tiny scrawl were the words, “I’d keep your trap shut if I were you”.
Zur picked it up and crumpled it in his hand. He looked around for the one he knew had written it, but the man was no longer sitting at the table adjacent to him. He recalled what the professor had said to him, about not letting it get to him, but as he sat down in his seat and felt a cold, wet sensation creep into his pants, he couldn’t help but frown.
Whether it was a prank or a warning sign, the water that had been waiting for him to sit on just proved not only that ego’s were indeed fragile but that people could be so immature.
ooc
As there are no current NPCs for Rharne's academy, I chose not to give too much detail as to the professor's name or appearance.
