Luke fon Fabre lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his face utterly blank. Some time ago, he wasn't exactly sure how long; his mother had knocked on the door. When he didn't answer, she'd just said something through the door. Something about him leaving his room and actually doing something. Luke wasn't sure of the exact wording; he hadn't been paying attention. When he didn't answer, she left, and Luke had scarcely budged since then. What was the point, really? What did it matter if he got out of bed or not? Luke didn't even know why he'd bothered to get dressed. What was there to do? Talk with the servants? With all their 'Yes, Master Luke' and 'can I get you anything Master Luke' , as though he'd explode into a gooey mess if they were to ever treat him like a real person. And that was without father finding out and chastising him for speaking with those 'beneath him' and saying he should study instead.
The manor was filled, it seemed, with books he was meant to study. He never did. When they weren't boring, they were depressing. Filled with descriptions of people he would never meet, of places he would never be allowed to go. The only lessons he enjoyed were Master Van's, but on a day like today, when he wasn't in Baticul there was absolutely nothing to do. Nowhere to go. Nobody to talk to like he wasn't some kind of emotionally fragile little idiot. Except for Guy. Guy talked to Luke the same way he talked to everyone else. That was why he liked him so much. When he smiled at Luke, he meant it. When he thought Luke was being an idiot, he said so. It made him feel almost normal. But who knew where he was?
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." A familiar voice called out to him from the west-facing window. Luke sprang out of bed, a joyful smile quickly spreading across his face.
"Guy!"