There are many faculties that exist for the purpose of emotional labor, for the duty of mending one's heart and treating any wounds or tears that would exist in its place. Whether it be the unyielding cycle of work, in which the common adult subscribes themselves to, the sweet lull of alcohol that drowns all but the strongest sorrows, or the hope of a better yet distant future that doth push one to their utter limits. It remains without clarification that such measures are abound and aplenty, and yet, this text serves no the sole purpose of an infomercial, and instead transcends into its narrative purpose. For with such a forlorn prelude, must come its forlorn conclusion.
And the conclusion at the end of the tunnel, revealed that one boy was without such emotional faculties. While spared from the pains of alcohol and physical labor, the fact was that it did little to quell the ache inside the boy's heart.
Tommy drank what remained of the tea in his bottle.
On a surface level, it would have been hard to discern what it was that had troubled the young fellow so much, as there existed a distinct lack of any perceivable, tangible threat.
As such, the situation mandated the application of a more careful, emotional approach, one that with prior knowledge or instruction, would enable the observers to understand what the problems were.
That observer being Lucius, it should have come as no surprise as to what came next.\
“Hey Tommy, you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost, not that it would surprise me in this madhouse”
With a flick of his head, Tommy swung his head straight into Lucius.
This was the first time, in which Lucius had found himself the victim of Tommy’s clumsiness, and with the sharp pain that had thrust itself on his face, he hoped it to be the last.
“Ow, damn.” Lucius had found his voice higher and more displeased than he had expected, and realizing that in spite of his superpowered abilities, was still on the receiving end of a large amount of pain from what should have been nothing, sighed.
“Are you alright?” Tommy questioned, his concern now lying with his hurt friend.
Lucius could only give a cryptic smile and nod.
“Yeah, just a few million lost neurons, I’ll sleep it off.”
Taking his response in good measure, Tommy took it as a sign to move on from his injury.
“So, what seems to be the matter, Lucius?” Tommy asked, eager to know.
“Well, the matter is you, the question is, what state said matter is in.”
“Was that supposed to be some attempt at sciency humor?”
“Yes, though I would like to believe that it was more of a well executed jest instead of just an attempt, if anything.”
“An attempt and a good joke are not mutually exclusive, you know?”
After all, Tommy thought, just because something warranted extra effort and time put into it, it didn’t mean that the final product was by any means worse, if it had been contrived by one who had done it with ease.
“Well anyways, disregarding all this debate on whether I was funny or not, I’ve been meaning to ask if you were alright, I mean, you’ve been staring into space and zoning out a lot recently, which seems a little out of character to me.”
“Oh, I see”. Tommy gave a disheartened smile at the mention of his visible displeasure, and hoped to remedy any fears.
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“Look, if it’s about that whole getting teleported into a fountain thing, there’s no need to worry, we’ve pretty much all seen it.”
“Is that thought supposed to remedy my concern somehow?”
Lucius shrugged, as he envisioned himself in Tommy’s position.
“Well, yeah.”
Though judging by his reaction, that doesn’t seem to be what’s disturbing him…
Doubting the possibility of Tommy voluntarily explaining the source of his discomfort, Lucius opted for a more subtle strategy and approach.
“You sure it isn’t about that? It isn’t even that bad to be honest, hell, I once had some deranged hippie throw some goat blood on me, and let me tell you, it was on my favorite suits too, and the smell took weeks to get out.”
Playing the role of a caring, yet slightly over-talkative affluent, he saw what must have amounted to some degree of guilt manifesting in Tommy’s eyes, as his endless attempts at reaching some resolution, being to etch and drive its way, deeper and deeper into Tommy’s heart…
Or so he thought.
“I appreciate the concern and all, but the fact of the matter is, that it doesn’t concern you, that’s all.”
Said with a hint of disgust and a slight wrinkle of the side of his nose, Lucius’s former vigour was reduced to that of modest disapproval. His stance on the situation turning a complete 180, Lucius shrugged and simply left.
While he convinced himself that he had done it out of pure sensibility and saw no other reason to continue, the other third unmentioned inhabitant of the room knew it to be otherwise.
Having tuned into the conversation throughout its entirety, Harux only saw it fitting to depart for breakfast with the end of what he interpreted to be a quaint exchange of dialogue, and so, without much ado, he arose from his meditation, and left.
“Hey, I’m gonna go get dinner, you coming, Tommy?”
Offering a warm invitation to come have food, his lingering roommate, in reaction, just gave a shake of his head.
With the understanding that Tommy would not be coming, Harux made his way towards the cafeteria.
Five minutes passed, and the hungry Elvish boy arrived at the scene. As he began to make his way towards the queue, his eyes scanned the location to see where Lucius was. And sure enough, he was located right where he was time and time again.
Only this time, with some additional accompaniment.
Harux’s eyes scanned this new individual for a brief while, before he got his food, and sat down adjacent to Lucius.
For whatever reason there was, the same girl who had handed him the weird letter only a few days prior, was now in the middle of conversing with Morgana, and sat now, opposing him across the table.
Not that he minded of course.
Only a moment after Harux sat down, he dug into his food. He might’ve been curious over who the girl was sure, but in no reality was he going to prioritise that over food.
“Is Tommy doing alright?” Interposing her presence into the meal at hand, Morgana glanced towards Harux, of whom she would have supposed, had relevant information.
“Mhm, he’s okay, he just doesn’t want to eat, that’s all.”
“Doesn’t want to eat?” Lucius cut in. “That’s the understatement of the century,” he chided.
“W-well, maybe something’s just come up in his life, you shouldn’t be so quick to judge, Lucius.” Turning her head towards him, she shot a look of disapproval. In response, Lucius raised his eyebrows and turned the other cheek.
A tad angsty, and unable to even look the others in their eyes, Lucius reserved his mouth for his meal instead.
In time, they collectively came to the agreement that Tommy was probably bothered over Jaiga.
After all, she was missing, and for all intents are purposes, it did seem that he liked her.
Mealtime would then wrap itself up as usual, with the usual dosage of conversation, banter, and of course, food. The rest of the night would continue unceremoniously, as the students saying their respective farewells, headed back to their rooms.
Lucius stood in front of the door and unlocked it. Slow and leisurely, he entered and promptly knocked on the bathroom door.
Perfect. There was no response. Checking it for himself to verify the absence of people, he saw none, and promptly began his usual shower routine.
All the while Harux relegated himself to his daily meditation, focusing his Resolve as he felt his blood and oxygen flow throughout his body.
In essence, all was well, and the day would have ended perfectly.
If not for one small little detail.
Tommy was missing, and in his place, left no indication of his departure and whereabouts.
No indication of his whereabouts evident in any place in the room, Harux saw no issue with it, and carried on his routine. After all, whether his roommate was getting late-night supper, training, or whatever else he might have been up to, it was none of his business really.
And just like that, the night seemed to end peacefully.