“All journeys start from a single step. You just have to take it.”~Bernin, The Burning Fairy
Bernin had spent the last few days doing nothing. Well, by her standards at least. She had of course given her report, both in person and on paper. There were some questions and answers given. As were the sighs and slow exhales that are a part of a long debrief. Instead of moving on immediately though, she instead decided to stay at the campus for a bit. While she loved her life on the road, this last excursion had been a little much and the comfort of her own bed had been nice.
She had also spent a lot of time getting her Fae nature further in control, as much as that was possible. Something she learned long ago was that the Fae had a very different definition of control. While she was far from pure or even a quarter Fae, that still applied to her power. Still the emergency she had suffered a few weeks ago was truly a wake up moment. She had been languishing and deluding herself into perfectionism. Her last issues were so long ago she thought herself immune. That was obviously not the case.
That didn't mean her progress was not there though. She had come far from the snivelling girl that arrived here long ago. While accepting that she had room to grow was important, accepting that she had already grown in many ways was just as important. She decided to stay in bed for a while longer, after all, who doesn't love a breakfast in bed. Especially when you can magically clean the crumbs. She moved her arms out and cast her magic to the small kitchenette, where a small fairy began spreading some jam on toast. Truly, the uses of magic were endless.
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She took some time to herself for the next couple days. Slowly increasing her workload. She ate out a lot, trained, slept and started the next day. Her training was definitely bearing fruit, but she needed a way to drain the Fae magic into something and so her new project began. Luckily, she was able to get started right away.
Fae magic wanted to be free, to change, to adapt. Yet, it still had rules, especially hospitality. So, she had spoken to the head chef at the cafeteria. He was more than happy to oblige if she stayed out of the damn kitchen, his words. So, after dinner, Bernin sat down at an empty table on the third floor. Most tables were personalised in some fashion, enchanted or with some non magical art. This table had been broken last week though, so it stood relatively untouched. She grabbed the crystal and a small engraving tool and got to work.
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Kirrin was having a great morning, he finally managed to get assigned to the afternoon shift at the library, allowing him to sleep in every other day. He also had definitely aced his last theoretical exam. His horns were growing as well and someone even complimented him on them yesterday evening. He walked to his regular table, it was relatively new, last week Ray had managed to shatter the top when he arm wrestled his clone.
He put his tray down and began eating, only after a few bites did he notice the quiet. Sure, people were talking at the table, but normally there would be a lot more noise than this. Crans especially loved to interrupt and had this horrible habit of speaking with his mouth full of food. But no, instead he sat there, eating quietly, speaking every so often. He barely noticed the weird nagging sensation telling him to keep his elbows off the table, today just kept getting better and better.