"You look extraordinarily miserable today."
After a beat, Horwell removed himself from the window, cheek sliding against the glass with a muffled squeak. The uncharacteristic grimace set in his face made Owlan snort at first, but when he realized whatever had Horwell down was not a laughing matter, he quickly clamped a hand over his mouth to hide the twitching grin.
"Oh, Owlan," he sighed, the exaggeration of it forcing the man in blue to turn away lest he start laughing again, "You can laugh at me. I don't mind. I know it's probably very funny for me to be so glum, but it's just terrible... Mia hasn't come home at all today. And it's been raining and dreary and..." Horwell trailed off with another sigh, his forehead connecting against the fogged window with a soft clink. "Well, I'm worried she won't come back..."
Owlan took another step away as he listened, casually glancing through the open door of Horwell's room. Every time he saw that silly terrycloth tower, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. That Remlit had to have been the envy of every other creature in Skyloft—she had someone waiting on her hand and foot (no, wait, multiple people), a castle that probably rivaled the Temple of Time, the attention of each and every child within sight...
"Horwell," Owlan finally scoffed and waited for the other teacher to turn around again before continuing. "If she doesn't come back, I'd like to see who in Skyloft could have constructed a shrine of worship better than your own."
"But... it's raining."
The simplicity of Horwell's statement brought a faint smile to Owlan's lips. "She will come back. She always does, right? Maybe she likes water. Remlits swim, don't they?"
"...yes, actually. Yes, they do. But swimming and raining are...?" Horwell scratched the back of his head, turning around to pace the length of the hall. "But it's cold and grey and I wouldn't want her to get sick... if I had time, I would go outside and look for her, but I should probably be heading off to class now, shouldn't I?"
"What have you got planned for today?"
Shrugging halfheartedly, Horwell halted in place outside of his room. "Oh, nothing special. More on the extinction of surface animals, I think... Why? Do you think I should I switch to mathematics today?"
"Why don't you ask for some of the students to go outside and find Mia? I'm sure at least half of them would do anything for a few extra points on their next exam. ...Just a suggestion. Think nothing of it. I mean, Icertainly wouldn't give bonus points, but I do know you'd do anything for that silly animal..."
As Horwell ventured toward the stairs, Owlan began tallying how many times the other man sighed on his way to the classroom. Funny how attached he'd gotten to an animal that wasn't even his... If anything, Mia may as well have belonged to him since Headmaster Gaepora hadn't asked about her in ages. She made Horwell happy, though—all animals did.
But seeing him so distraught was a bit heartbreaking. All of the people in Skyloft Academy agreed unanimously that Horwell was the friendliest and most approachable person in the building. Even students who'd never had a class with him had nice things to say. It wasn't that Horwell's mood affected every occupant of the building, but concern for him would be the talk of the town by nightfall.
One corner of Owlan's mouth curled upward as he returned to his quarters to retrieve his umbrella. Oh, the things he did for this man...