One major problem with being an Incubus - aside from all the obvious ones - was that it was exceedingly difficult to find clothes that fit. The demons with the closest proportions to a male Lust demon would be either a Nymph or a Golem, but clothes made for the former tended to be too tight, and the latter were generally too loose. And even should Cobalt find something that fit him okay, he would still have to modify it himself; adding wing holes to shirts and tail holes to trousers. It was a huge pain.
Of course, Cobalt was unable to continue teaching in soggy clothes, so he was forced to rely on his fellow teachers for assistance. Mr. Bretzt - the Sloth AD teacher - kindly supplied him with a spare tracksuit he kept in the staff room, but it was baggy in all the wrong places, and with his wings and tail flattened against his back, the Incubus had a hard time sitting down.
Nervously readjusting his tie for what had to be the dozenth time, the Incubus cleared his throat and turned to write something on the blackboard, wincing as he heard his students muttering and murmuring behind his back.
"Could we all quieten down please? I understand you're only just back and it's nearly the end of the day, but we have to start as we mean to go on," he called over his shoulder, picking up a piece of chalk.
He swallowed hard as their chattering died away. The day's events were beginning to get to him, and this students were picking up on it. He had to just focus.
"So, over the summer, a few excavations took place around Brimstone. Something to do with new building projects, but that's not important. What's important is that some new ruins have been uncovered beneath the town, similar to the ones we discussed in chapter twenty last year. Now, this is going to be on your final exams, so I feel it would be prudent for us to consider taking a trip to-"
Halfway through his explanation, the school bell abruptly went off, startling the Incubus and causing him to drop his chalk all over the floor. As his class stumbled over one another in an effort to be the first to leave, Cobalt just sighed and hunkered down to pick the chalk up.
Such a short-lived burst of confidence at the start of the day, gone in an instant. He was foolish to think that the Damned Offense wouldn't be on the tongues of everyone in the school, least of all the class that suffered the worst at the hands of Diate. He just wished they wouldn't discuss it around him...
"Get it together, Trayer..." he muttered, scooping up the last of the chalk.
Picking it up, he glanced at the back of his hand, feeling himself grow uneasier at the sight of the scars he bore. His mother told him that they resembled the wounds his father had upon his hands, and Doc Elliott had told him to be proud of them, but every time Cobalt saw the jagged lines scored into his flesh, he just felt uncomfortable.
"Snrk! Ah! Mm... Mah... mm..."
The sudden snort and subsequent babbling startled him, almost causing him to stagger back and bash his hips off the teacher's desk. Slamming the chalk back where it belonged, Cobalt whipped around and scanned the classroom for the source of the disturbance.
"Hello?" he called into the seemingly empty room.
The chairs and desks were empty, but when he focused, he could hear the distinct sound of soft, regular breathing. Raising an eyebrow, he stepped away from the chalkboard and slowly made his way down the classroom's centre aisle.
"Mah... moo... mm..."
Coming to a stop at the middle row, Cobalt looked to his left, where the sound was coming from.
A girl was lying curled up beneath one of the desks, her head resting against her schoolbag. Her skin was brown in colouration with lighter patches, identifying her as a Golem, a demon of Sloth. Her uniform was rumpled and unkempt, and she had kicked one of her shoes off in her sleep, revealing a stockinged cloven hoof.
The Incubus took a deep breath.
"Lottie?" he whispered, reaching over to shake the Golem's shoulder.
She mumbled in her sleep and rolled over, turning to face him. Lottie Deyeyr had a round, freckled face, with a pair of circular glasses sitting skewed upon her nose. Two jagged horns jutted through her curly silver hair, a strand of which she was idly chewing on.
"Lottie!" Cobalt yelled, shaking her a little harder.
"Ngh... mah...!" she groaned, burying her face into her schoolbag.
Golems were known for being generally sluggish, but this one was a cut above the rest. She must have grown tired while packing her schoolbag and curled up to sleep right there on the floor. Stepping away from her, Cobalt retrieved a large dictionary from the teacher's desk before loudly dropping it atop the desk that Lottie was sleeping under. It landed with a crash, causing her green eyes to snap open.
"WAH~!"
Lottie sat bolt-upright, almost smacking her head off the underside of the desk as she glanced around wide-eyed. Pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, she turned her gaze onto Cobalt and broke out in a wide grin.
"MISTA TRAYA!"
Before the Incubus could react, Lottie suddenly tackled him with a tight hug, knocking several desks over and bowling the pair of them to the floor. He cried out as his back struck the linoleum, but she just squeezed him tight and beamed up at his face.
"I missed you!" the Golem announced happily.
"W- We just had class...!" Cobalt choked, trying and failing to shake her off.
"We did?"
He sighed.
"Lottie, did you sleep through the whole class again?"
She just yawned in response. Squirming out of his student's grasp, he climbed to his feet and dusted himself down.
"Well, in any case, school's over, so you should probably head home," he said, leaning over to right one of the knocked-over desks.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Lottie raised an eyebrow and cocked her head, causing a curved cowlick atop her head to wobble to and fro.
"But it just started...?"
Another issue with teaching Lottie; the girl was eager, but she had remarkably poor comprehension. Thankfully, her mercifully short attention span kicked in as her confused face returned to its usual smile.
"Ooh, ooh! How was summer?!" she asked enthusiastically, clutching her knees as she jostled up and down on the spot.
"It was alright, I suppose. Nothing too special. What about you?"
"It was super fun! Me and Quinn went on a trip to her home in Ingerland!"
"England, Lottie."
"Yah! We went to see old buildings and a park and a car place and a rainbow parade and a zoo and a-!"
As Lottie excitedly rambled on and on about everywhere she visited on her holiday, Cobalt discretely zoned out and continued to correct the upended desks, smiling softly. He was happy to hear that Lottie and Quinn were getting along so well outside of school. Against all odds, that Imp had a remarkably good effect on her.
"- and a potato shop and a swimming place and Quinn's house! That one was my favourite!"
"Is that so?"
"Yah, yah! She only had one bed though. Quinn said she'd sleep on the floor but I said I was okay with sharing so we shared! She went even redderer than usual!" Lottie laughed, slapping the floor.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Oh Lottie. She still had a lot to learn.
"Well, it sounds like you had a good time, then," Cobalt said, offering her his hand.
She gleefully accepted and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
"I wanna bring her to my home place next! My auntie's friend had a baby and I wanna show him to her!"
Once again, her smile faded as she pursed her lips, confused.
"How are babies made, anyway?" Lottie asked with a thoughtful expression, looking as though she was going cross-eyed.
Cobalt froze up as she turned her gaze onto him, expecting an answer. The room grew a little warmer as he nervously laughed and tugged at his collar.
"A- Ah... Well, um..."
Though he was more than capable of teaching the biological aspects of Science, the Incubus found himself floundering for words as Lottie's green eyes bored into him.
"It's something that just sort of... occurs... whenever two people like each other and, um... sleep together," he said, trying and failing to skirt around the issue.
Lottie turned her head to one side.
"Sleep together...?"
Suddenly, her eyes went wide.
"Me and Quinn are gonna have a baby?!"
"What? Wait, no-!"
Lottie grabbed her bag and pulled it on, nearly tripping over her own hooves in the process.
"I gotta go tell her!" she cried excitedly.
"Lottie, hold on-!"
"Bye-bye, Mista Traya!"
Before Cobalt could clear anything up, the Golem hurriedly rushed out of the classroom, babbling to herself the entire time. With a heavy sigh, the Incubus glanced down at Lottie's discarded shoe and picked it off the floor. He frowned and placed it into his bag, deigning to give it to Quinn later. As forgetful as Lottie was, he could usually count on her best friend to keep her on track.
"See you later, Miss Deyeyr," he sighed, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
At long lost, the day was over. He was looking forward to getting some rest.
-----
"Oh, Cobalt! I was looking for you!"
Right as he was about to step out of the main school building, Cobalt looked over his shoulder to see Mr. Hersh rushing down the hallway towards him. The Glutton waved him down, wiping his sweating forehead has he slowed to a halt.
"Ugh, I'm getting out of shape... A- Anyway, here you are!" he gasped, clutching his knees as he pushed something into Cobalt's hands.
Glancing down, he found himself holding a familiar-looking key. It was fairly weathered, and was stamped with the number 521. His room key.
"Wait... I'm back in the student dorms again...?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
His colleague nodded apologetically.
"I'm afraid so."
"But what about Mr. Whitaker's old apartment? Surely that one is free?"
"Well, with last year's mix up, the housekeeper used that one for storage, and it's now so full of old garbage that you can't even set one foot in through the door."
Cobalt sighed heavily. He had hoped to move into the apartment belonging to the teacher he had replaced the previous year, but because of his appearance, he was mistaken as a student and given a student dormitory instead.
"But hey, I heard the Headmistress updated the dormitories over the summer!" Hersh said with a forced smile.
"I- I see..."
He clenched the key in his fist and took a deep breath before giving the Glutton a smile. No, it wouldn't do for him to act ungrateful. Despite the small size of his room compared to the teacher's apartments, Cobalt had to admit that he actually enjoyed living among his students. There was a certain sense of community in the students dorms that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but appreciated all the same.
"Thank you, George. I take it my things have already been delivered?" he asked, pocketing the key.
"Yes, we left it with the housekeeper. Everything should be ready and waiting for you."
"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow."
Stepping out of the school, Cobalt waved to his colleague before jamming his hands in his pockets and starting on the winding path around the campus towards the student dormitories. Though the sun was shining, it was still a chilly day, prompting the Incubus to shiver as he made his way down the gravel pathway. Flanked on both sides by the pink leaves and grey trunks of the ashbirches, he found himself feeling strangely nostalgic as the twin dorm buildings loomed up ahead.
The two buildings were the tallest in the entire campus, rising up into the sky like a pair of accusatory fingers. Like the rest of B.I.D., they were comprised of old, ivy-covered stone blocks, and in the many years since their construction, they had both begun to lean precariously towards each other. Rather than renovate the dorms properly, however, the previous headmaster had deigned to connect the two buildings with dozens of metal beams. Somehow, this stopped them from toppling over, something Cobalt still couldn't figure out. He found it best not to think about it; it was best if he wanted to get any sleep, after all.
As he approached the small plaza out the front of the dorms, however, the Incubus' ears were suddenly graced by the most horrific noise he had ever heard. The discordant twang of a half-dozen guitar strings screaming in pain rang out through the evening air, throwing him completely off kilter.
Sitting on one of the benches in front of the girls' dorms was a slender girl bearing a weathered-looking guitar. Her skin was yellow in colouration, and coupled with her long elfin ears, Cobalt knew right away that she was a Nymph, a demon of Hubris. Her hair was a rather shocking shade of electric blue, and it hung across her face, obscuring one of her eyes from view. What was visible was scrunched up with concentration as she experimentally mangled the strings once more.
Cobalt cleared his throat loudly, partly to gain her attention, and partly to distract her from playing any further.
"Sir!" she cried in a uniquely high-pitched voice, smiling weakly upon seeing him.
He returned the gesture. Whitney Brode; another of his closest students.
"Sorry for not speaking with you earlier; I've had a long day, as you can see," the Incubus sighed, gesturing to his borrowed clothing.
The Nymph shuffled across the bench and gestured for him to take a seat.
"It's okay. I figured as much," she replied, nervously hugging her guitar.
Sitting next to his student, Cobalt took a deep breath of the crisp air.
There was a time when Whitney was a completely different person; a haughty and pompous girl who glided through the halls like a princess and treated the school like her own personal retreat. Those days were long gone, however, after Cobalt managed to chip away at her vainglorious front and get in contact with who she really was. Though she lost many of her friends and admirers, he was glad to see her happy in her own skin after spending so many years pretending to be somebody else.
But as Cobalt looked over at Whitney, he noticed a somber look in her eye.
"Doing some practicing?" he asked, nodding to the guitar.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm not very good, though," the Nymph sighed, idly plucking one of the strings.
Cobalt took a deep breath.
"Well, we've all got to start somewhere. Nobody was born a master. Keep at it," he said encouragingly.
That seemed to coax a smile out of her for a split second, but it quickly faded, replaced again by a distant, melancholy look.
"It was your butler who taught you how to play, wasn't it?" Cobalt said, remembering the well-dressed Nymph that had visited him on behalf of Whitney's parents the previous year.
"Gulliver, yeah... Never got to practice much, though."
"You'll get plenty of time to hone your craft this year. Just remember to study, yeah? Exams and all that."
The smile flickered back, but only for a moment. Something was definitely troubling her, and though Cobalt would have once simply waited for her to speak to him of her own volition, he got the feeling that the time for passivity was over. Clearing his throat, Cobalt turned to face the Nymph.
"Whitney, are you alright?" he asked sincerely.
She glanced up at him, took a deep breath and shrugged.
"I'm... not really sure, sir."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"... Would that be okay?"
"Of course. That's what I'm here for."
Whitney took another deep breath.
"Mommy and Daddy... They're gonna get divorced," she admitted after a moment's hesitation.
Cobalt's eyes widened. He remembered her mentioning something about her parents disagreeing over her future before, but he had no idea that their relationship was so rocky. Everything he knew about Charles and Juliet Brode was from external sources; either news about the former's modelling agency or the latter's clothing label. He wasn't really sure how to comfort her on this.
But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
"I see..."
"Can't say I'm surprised, to be honest. They always fight so much, I just... It's hard hearing them actually say it, you know?"
Cobalt just nodded, prompting her to sigh.
"Makes me wonder if I should just, like... do what they say. I mean, they were fighting over me again, so if I just join Daddy's company or start making clothes with Mommy, then maybe-"
"Is that what you want, though?"
She looked into Cobalt's eyes.
"W- Well, no. But it's not really about what I want."
"Yes it is. It's always been about what you want, Whitney. They have the best intentions, yes, and those intentions are clashing. But at the end of the day, it's your future. Only you get to decide what that entails, remember?" the Incubus continued in a soft tone.
He thought back to the PTM, all those months ago. The way Gulliver urged him to help Whitney along this path of independence she chose for herself...
"I'm sorry that it's come to this with your parents, but if keeping them together would mean fettering your own spirit, then I'd say it's not worth it."
Giving Whitney a smile, he clasped his hands and nodded to her guitar again.
"Put yourself first here, okay? If you want to go on to play guitar professionally, then there's no time like the present to start practicing. If you want to do something else, then go ahead and do it. Remember what we talked about when we properly met? About who Whitney Brode is?" he said in a soft voice.
Whitney stared at her guitar as her smile returned. It was small, but it remained.
"Whoever I want her to be," she answered, a little more confidently.
"That's right. Let your parents do as they please; you're your own woman, and don't forget that."
"Sir, I..."
As she was about to continue, Whitney suddenly thought better of it and shut her mouth. They both sat in silence for a few moments before the Nymph abruptly rose to her feet and lifted her guitar into her arms.
"Thanks, sir. I guess I can always count on you, huh?" she said, nervously running her fingers along the instrument's neck.
He gave her a small shrug.
"I don't know about that. But I'll certainly try my best."
Whitney's smile widened a little.
"Heh. See you tomorrow, sir."
She turned on her heel and walked into the girls' dorms. Taking a deep breath, Cobalt gazed down at his feet. He didn't envy the position Whitney was in right now, but he quickly made a silent vow to help her through it, whatever way he could. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the key to his room.
"I suppose I ought to go too."