Lute set down the black instrument case and rotated his wrist. Sometimes it still ached, even months after healing. When the Gloss had finished, he had expected to possibly lose his fingers. Well, he kept his fingers, but he'd broken his wrist in the most ridiculous way possible about three days post-Gloss.
Lute was sitting at lunch when a wasp stung him. He reacted with a yelp and jumped up off the bench, but somehow tangled his legs in the straps of someone’s abandoned satchel and went careening to the ground. His wrist took the brunt of the fall and snapped. It had hurt like hell.
First of all, wasps were not supposed to be on Anesidora, so he had no idea where it had come from. Bees had been imported as pollinators, but their wasp cousins had most definitely not. It must have been attracted to the bright-colored paint job on the bench upon which he was seated. Oh, and it wasn’t until after his ever so ungraceful leap that he realized the paint job was new. Probably only hours new since it had been wet paint. Help had come, but someone thought the satchel belonged to him and its contents were questionable by legal standards. Instead of being brought to a healer, Lute had found himself roughly detained by a Brute enforcer who didn’t give a shit about his family name. So, while eventually he did receive medical aid, the manhandling with no regard for his injury that he was subjected to led to a worsening of the break. Eventually the legal misunderstanding was resolved, but the damage had been done. Hence the occasional ache, despite the premiere healthcare that the Velra family members always received.
Lute and few others in the family (who had not been supportive of the immense luck chain spent for his cousin) had a secret list of Reasons to Hate Hazel. This pain in the wrist ranked the least of his additions to the list. His heart sank every time he thought about his former crush asking him out during the gloss. In the moment he panicked and said he wasn’t sure, because how could he date her thinking it had only been the gloss causing some mental manipulation…arghh!...and now she was seeing someone in the Hero Track that Lute wanted to hate. However, her Poleaxe Meister boyfriend was such a nice guy, it was almost a second level of torture that Lute genuinely liked him and was happy for her.
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Lute was also convinced Hazel was somehow responsible for all the worst times that his chaining kickbacks had caught him off guard. She was always there with that fake sympathy for negatives and ready to pounce and take advantage of your goodwill for positives. It was so annoying. There was no way it could just be chance. Lute believed it must be connected to what made Hazel a ‘genius’ at chaining.
Pulling away from those morose thoughts, Lute focused on opening his harp case. He closed his eyes and caressed the strings lovingly, glad for the solace he found in music. Today he had volunteered to play for a prospective student orientation that Celena High North’s Arts department was hosting. When he opened his eyes the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen stood in front of him.
“Hello,” she said in the most magical sounding voice he’d ever heard. Frozen and a little breathless he failed to respond immediately. She tilted her head and her smile dimmed slightly. “You…um…play the harp, I see.”
“Oh…oh yes…” Lute fumbled over the words as he felt heat rise to his face, sure the pale skin was flushed brightly now.
Another girl Lute had failed to notice before gave the Angel a gentle shove and said
Natalie…the Angel’s name was Natalie. Wow…appeal points…so…she must be a…
“Sorry, I keep telling everyone I put my points into strength, but no one seems to believe it since rabbits automatically get assigned a certain amount into appeal,” Natalie sighed, then prompted, “Are you playing for the event today?”
“Yes,” Lute replied with his wits recollected. “You’re one of the prospectives for the Art Department. What will your focus be?”
“Culinary,” Natalie answered brightly.
Whoa…that smile is lethal. Lute tried to recall what skill his great-grandmother’s chef had when Natalie provided it.
“I have Cook of the Moment. Have you heard of it?”
“Actually, yes. That’s a great one. So S-Rank?” At Natalie’s nod, Lute added, “You’ll do well here.”
At this point he noticed the other three girls with Natalie wore various looks of boredom, wry exasperation, and smirking amusement. Even a horrible shy introvert like him had manners, so he introduced himself and asked the others about their candidacy as Art students. When enough pleasantries had passed for politeness sake, he picked up his harp and made excuses to get ready for the performance.
“Oh, sorry, of course,” Natalie replied.
“It’s fine.”
“Well, we look forward to hearing you…and the others,” Natalie smiled blindingly again. Her friends had started stepping away when she finished with, “Hope to see you again sometime.”
The Angel Rabbit was already halfway through the crowd when Lute whispered, “Yeah, hope to you see you too.”