Nino was sitting in silence with his legs hanging over the edge of his new bed, a student roster that had been made for him in his hands. He read through the list again, trying to loosely picture what any of Ms. Bustier's added notations next to each name could really mean and not having much to show for it. He had heard stories about some of these things, but that didn't mean his mental imaginings were very accurate.
'Nino?'
Nino looked down at hearing his name, made with the audible sound of a quiet huff, to find Carter sitting quietly in front of him.
"Yeah bud?" he answered, holding the paper with one hand and patting the bed with the other in a gesture for Carter to join him, which the canine quickly did. Nino would rather the bed smell like dog than dust and detergent like it currently did. As was the case with many of the things in his 'bedroom' it felt like it had been appropriated from something else. A bed from the nurse's office replaced with a slightly better cushion, a school cabinet hastily outfitted with a few extra shelves to serve as… a dresser perhaps? A desk for his own uses, an empty trunk that smelt weirdly of chemicals for storage and a loose couch cushion that had been given to him for Carter to sleep on. The rest of the space was opened up by pushing all the student desks and things it held originally up against one wall, a whole load of them stacked up on top of each other a little precariously.
Carter looked up at his before wagging his tail and wiggling his way under one arm to half lay in his lap, sniffing at the paper though it meant nothing to him before glancing at the door and then back to his boy.
'Where did the deer woman go?'
"She's setting up for class I think…"
As soon as he said it Nino felt a wave of unease, his chest feeling tight before suddenly, there was Carter again, wiggling further into his lap and demanding to be pet. Nino couldn't help but chuckle, Carter having been exceptionally needy ever since they made it back to their new home in an effort to distract him.
Nino humored him, ruffing up the fur behind his ears as he looked around again. It still felt distinctly like a classroom, all the things that had been added for him sort of weirdly out of place. The bed was up against the wall where the white board was, his 'dresser' and other furniture stacked up in what would be the equivalent of the front of the classroom. The door was on the far side from him, providing anyone looking in with only a view of stacked desks, which he was grateful for. Along the wall to his left were several large windows, letting sunlight pour in from outside and capable of being opened though he didn't. It was alright… just didn't really feel like a place to live, and his previous night in it had been… unpleasant. It was extremely quiet and unsettling to be in a school after dark… especially one as different as this. He only slept at all because of his exhaustion, but even then his anxiety was enough to only let him catch at most a half hour of rest at a time. He had spent almost all of his time in there sitting, staring at nothing and fighting to hold himself together. Often somewhat… literally.
After a moment Nino nervously ran a tongue over his teeth, cursing and grinding them together when it caught on a few too sharp edges. He tried to breathe evenly, deeply unnerved by what he had found the easiest thing to change should he become too agitated.
He had no desire to find out what changed next if he failed to keep it together.
Nino couldn't help but sigh, looking back at the roster of his classmates and getting lost again in how… totally insane this was. Seriously? A mummy?
Ms. Bustier had wanted him to have some sort of idea of what to expect, so she had made a copy of her attendance sheet for him when she had left to add him to it. When she came back she had sat with him in the early hours of the morning, pulling over one of the student's chairs and leaning towards the bed for him to see as she marked things down. She had come into work exceptionally early to help him, and together they had slowly worked through the list, the teacher writing the species of each student next to their name as they went. Without those little notations it looked just like a completely normal class roster, but the added classifications marked smartly in red pen added a little depth to it.
Sphinx, mummy, wood nymph which was apparently different from other nymphs? Whatever a nymph was. Magma Golem, which hardly sounded safe but whatever, a wind elemental, a necromancer which yes, was actually a magic user who specialized in raising the dead. There were three dead people in the class actually, one was the mummy. The other two were something that had been described to him through the analogy of Frankenstein's monster and just a straight up ghost which was, freaking… god damn it…
A pair of people which were just another two variations of magic users, one being labeled as plainly as 'witch' even though the other had a more specific classification, and it was actually a little reassuring which was… stupid. Another was another magic user sort of, but apparently worked a lot through science too and was, apparently, responsible for the Frankenstein's monster type dealio he also had as a classmate. So, the mad scientist really, though Ms. B refused to call him that. Then there were another two which he had no idea what they were, a kitsune and a cat sidhe. Those two meant nothing to him and made him groan aloud in agitation.
"This is stupid!" he shouted aloud suddenly, spooking Carter a little as he collapsed backwards onto his bed and threw the paper away from him. His dog scrambled to stand and padded over to his face, trying to ask him something but it just upset him more, the boy turning onto his face and swinging his legs up to lay properly on the bed.
This was freaking stupid. He was seriously supposed to attend a class with three dead people and a handful of things that shouldn't even be freaking possible? Wasn't a sphinx a god damn lion woman? Seriously?
Nino was waiting for it to all be a joke, for someone to jump out of his cabinet/dresser and say "Haha! It was all a ruse and you can go home now! Man we sure got you!"
But that didn't happen, and it wouldn't.
"What do you even learn in monster school," he muttered aloud wretchedly, being dramatic but not overly so. In all fairness, he was utterly justified. He knew that the course material had been vaguely explained to him but it really hadn't sunk in, how could it? Magic? It was like Hogwarts and the Monster Mash had a ridiculously unstable baby.
'Nino?' Carter asked with a whine, anxiously wiggling his way underneath one of Nino's arms in an attempt to pry him up. 'Are you okay? What's wrong?'
"What Hogwarts house am I in?" Nino continued to spout nonsensically, pretty thoroughly in the realms of hysteria now. "Does that determine my homeroom? I can't do this Carter; this is so insane. This isn't fair."
'I don't understand,' Carter whined desperately, feeling some sort of relief when Nino finally sat up enough to hug him.
"I can't do this…" Nino muttered again, holding Carter a little too tightly but the dog didn't complain, Nino burying his face in the fur on Carter's neck and knocked his miss-sized, borrowed glasses free. He barely registered the fact that they had fallen, only the sound of them clattering to the ground and cracking enough to jar him.
Nino twisted a little around Carter, looking down to see that yeah, they had actually broken.
"Oh great," Nino spat harshly, pulling away now and moving to his knees. Carter made to move but Nino pinned him down with one hand, not wanting him to step on any wayward pieces of glass should he jump down. Nino reached over the edge and grabbed the glasses that weren't even properly his, a colorful string of expletives the only audible sound for a moment before Carter was alert, sitting up as much as he could with Nino holding him down.
'Deer!' Carter explained with a bark, wiggling again but Nino held him firm, looking even more put out as he turned towards the door.
Sure enough, Carter was right. Now that he was focusing he could hear it too, approaching from down the hallway. The steady clicks of hooves told him who it was.
"This isn't fair…" he whispered to himself, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so he would be facing forward and sitting when she came in. He held his broken glasses in his hands, releasing Carter now that he knew there was no glass on the floor but wondering if that was the right move when Carter leapt off the bed and ran for the door.
'Deer woman?' Carter asked, his posture still stiff and agitated as he padded anxiously in place near the door. 'Deer woman?'
"Carter get away from the door," Nino ordered, his voice sounding kind of… worn out. He played with the arms of the glasses, folding them with a quiet click then opening them again. He was aware of that same, rattled numbness that settled whenever he was forced to function coming over him, letting his eyes trail down to trace the spider web cracks in the lenses.
It wasn't fair… but it's how it was. This was still the best option. He had to… find some way to operate. If feeling numb was the only way to do that then… well. So be it.
He let his frustration and hysteria take a back seat, shutting it down as Carter obeyed him and backed up a little from the door. He heard her stop just outside, the clops of Ms. Bustier's hooves easy to hear as she shifted in place, opening the door and letting herself in after a gentle knock.
He didn't look up right away when she walked in, staring down at the glasses without really seeing them as she slowly approached him.
She didn't speak for a moment, fidgeting with something in her hands. It sounded like something soft, and it made sense when she suddenly spoke up to say, "I've brought you a backpack. It has what you'll need."
Nino looked up, seeing the simple leather messenger bag held in her hands. His gaze trailed passed it, focusing on the invisible seam between her deer half and her human half for a second or so before he remembered himself, looking down again.
"Thank you."
"Of course."
She was quiet.
Nino didn't look up again, having a loose enough grasp on the hour to know that when she left this time he'd be expected to go with her. Students would start arriving soon.
"Did you break your glasses?" she asked quietly, looking at the object held in his hands. It was clear that she didn't really know what to say to make any of this better for him, she had said all that she could think of. And since he wasn't really sure what he even wanted to hear, he took the small talk angle.
"Yeah," he muttered plainly, holding them up a little for her to see. "Dropped 'em."
"We can have them fixed," she explained with a soft smile in her voice, but when he looked up he saw that the expression didn't reach her eyes. She was worried.
"Thank you," he said again, his own voice… burdened.
He was worried too.
"It'll be alright Nino," she couldn't help but say, wanting to somehow attempt to put him at ease. "I promise you it will be alright. You might even have fun." As she said this last statement she stepped forward, closing the distance between them and setting the bag on the sheets beside him.
"Is it time to go?" he asked nervously, looking at the bag like taking it meant there really was no turning back. However, logically he knew… he couldn't really turn back now anyways.
"Yes…" she answered him softly, sounding almost regretful that it was the case but she shook it off, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to speak firmly. When she spoke again her voice was much more cheerful, attempting to put as positive a spin on it as possible. "I have you sitting in the front! I know young people normally like to loiter in the back but I think it will be good for you, you'll learn more that way. And also, I put you next to someone who I think you'll get along with. He's a sweet boy, a little excitable but he's kind. You'll like him I'm sure of it. It would be good for you to make friends."
Nino looked up at her a little skeptically, his gaze drifting to the discarded class roster that Carter was now sitting on to hide it from view like a good boy. Surely the shepherd had assumed that Nino throwing it was bad and was protecting him, and despite how nervous he was it actually made him smile.
"Who…?" Nino asked without really finishing the thought, running through what names he remembered in his head though he had mostly been focusing on the species classifications.
"His name is Adrien," Ms. B supplied helpfully, smiling at him as if she was proud of him for engaging. No doubt she would be watching all day in hopes of him getting chatty with Dr. Frankenstein and friends. "He sits up front as well and has had an empty seat next to him for a while. He's very friendly, he can sort of be disruptive too but, well-," she stopped her thought, probably finding it unprofessional and refocusing herself. "At any rate, he's personable."
Adrien… yeah, he recognized that name. Adrien Agreste. It came first on the list alphabetically, but to Nino's dismay he was one of the two things he hadn't recognized even remotely, a cat sidhe. So, he really wasn't sure what he was getting into there.
"Cool…" he muttered, sighing a little as he put on his glasses. The cracks didn't cut right through the eye-line so it was bearable, but the prescription had been whack anyways so he was wondering if he'd be better off just not using them entirely. After a moment he looked back to the messenger bag beside him, noting from the way it lay that it had at least a few books in it.
He wasn't ready, even remotely, but he didn't really have any other plans of action. Admittedly some small part of him was morbidly curious, but even with that curiosity he highly doubted he'd ever wander willfully into a class of whatever the hell were his circumstances different. And as he tried to steady his heart beat and force the sharpness of his teeth to return to normal, he darkly wondered if any of them were really the biggest threat in the room.
He waited until he was totally stable, burying his budding hysteria and fear as deep down inside himself as he could before reaching out and taking the bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder. He considered moving his sleeveless jacket somewhat in an attempt to hide his scar but… after a moment he did the opposite, shifting it so it was exposed. He couldn't lie to any of these guys, they knew what it was. He might as well come out clean, and hope that they gave him some sort of slack in return.
Eventually he stood, sighing deeply before giving Ms. Bustier a small, hesitant smile. Ms. B smiled back, nodding her head in approval before gesturing to Carter, and Nino took the signal to cross to his 'dresser' and grab Carter's leash.
"Thanks again for letting me take him to class," he said in a quiet voice, naturally subdued somewhat in an effort to stay calm. He roughed up Carter's fur affectionately as he attached the leash, rubbing some dirt from his nametag with a thumb and letting himself smile when Carter licked his face.
"We knew that he'd help you," Ms. Bustier responded gently, smiling still when he stood before her, ready to go now. She backed up a little, turning slightly towards the door. "Shall we go?"
Nino hesitated, looking from the Cervitaur to the door to his dog, before finally, he nodded. First day of school… he was as ready as he could be, he supposed. And by that he meant, not ready at all, but they were already walking.
'Class?' Carter asked, waiting until they were in the hallway and Nino was locking the door behind them before nudging his boy. The shepherd was alert, aware of how tense Nino was as they followed the deer woman out of their hallway for the first time since they had arrived. They had only left their room so far to pee, and while Carter really didn't like figuring out how to pee in the bowls it was clearly a better alternative to wandering the school looking for a bit of grass, at least for now.
"Yeah buddy," Nino answered in a low voice, Ms. B looking behind her when she heard him speak but turning forward again upon realizing he wasn't talking to her. Nino twisted the leash again around his fist, reminding Carter, "No barking alright? Just stay with me. This is gonna be sort of weird…"
'No barking,' Carter agreed, the dog holding his head high in a firm, determined posture akin to a police dog. Despite this professionalism though his tail still wagged a little, and Nino smiled. 'I don't know these smells,' Carter said again, pulling away from Nino a little as they got closer to the populated parts of the school. A few students were early.
Nino was quick to pull him back, listening carefully and examining the smells too as he walked, not sniffing nearly as obviously as Carter was but just breathing through his nose.
"Yeah…" Nino agreed, looking around. He was struck again by how normal it looked, the hallways and water fountains and things basically the same as they should be. "I'm not sure we'll ever know all of them."
'I can!' Carter informed him, looking up at his boy and looking pleased to inform him of this. 'I'll learn all of them. Then you won't have to.'
Nino couldn't help chuckling a little, shaking his head before saying, "Thanks."
'You're welcome.'
Nino let the conversation drop for the moment, recognizing the open space of the courtyard on the far end of the hallway they were walking down. He could hear a few people up ahead, a couple of early risers already on campus though school couldn't be starting for another fifty minutes or so. Well actually, maybe that wasn't all that early, maybe he had just always been late as heck to school before.
Nino was contemplating the fact that he probably couldn't ever fake being sick to not go to school now that he actually lived at the school he was attending, and how that sort of sucked, but he was drawn from his thoughts by Carter nudging him again.
'Nino,' he started, trotting a little ahead of him to more easily look up at him. 'Will we know anyone in class?'
"Ms. B will be there," Nino explained, frowning at Carter's confused expression before checking how far ahead of him Ms. Bustier was walking and leaning down to whisper, "You know, deer woman. She'll be there."
'Good!' Carter barked, looking pleased. Ms. Bustier looked over her shoulder and smiled, and Nino was really really hoping that it was at Carter's bark and not because she had heard what he called her when they were suddenly interrupted.
"Caline!" came a sharp call, grabbing the groups attention about twenty feet short of the main courtyard. Ms. Bustier stopped, holding out a hand so Nino would do the same before looking around for the source and happily calling out in return.
"Irène! Oh, Nino," she said suddenly, turning to the boy who was also searching for the source of the voice but stopped when she referred to him. "This is good actually, this is one of your teachers. It would be good for you to meet her now."
"Is this the young werewolf?" the new voice said bluntly, making him bristle a little in discomfort as he turned to look at the new comer for the first time. The female voice was just saying, "So you must be my newest student," when he actually caught sight of her.
He barely, barely cut off the scream, like barely. She was still at a slight distance, approaching them from an intersecting hallway she must have been stalking down. You couldn't say walking, you couldn't really walk with talons, and to say she strutted would be inaccurate. Harpies hardly strutted.
"Nino, this is Ms. Mendeliev," Ms. Bustier introduced his teacher, both professionals aware of the fact that he was as tightly wound as a piano wire but giving him a little room for error. Though the second teacher hardly looked as nurturing or as kind as Ms. Bustier, she did stop a short distance away to give him some space.
Carter was very clearly giving him the 'Can I bark now?' look but Nino ignored it, trying to regain his composure as quickly as possibly by assessing the woman in her entirety. She was scary, her lack of arms and possession of wings each longer than he was tall somehow not getting in the way of the fact that she wore a labcoat over her torso, the long white of the coat open against the jet black yet eerily dark purple feathers that coated her avian like lower body. The talons that supported her could effortlessly rip him apart, so he focused on her face which was reassuringly human… well. 'Reassuring.' She looked about as approachable as her bird-of-prey body implied, but it was human. Her chin was sharper then her talons and her hair was an unnatural dark purple that somehow… worked. It stuck up in a bunch of directions as she leaned forward to peer at him over the tops of her glasses.
Oh yeah he should probably respond.
"H- uh," he faltered, swallowing once and gripping Carter's leash like a lifeline. "Hello, Mam'."
He flinched a little when she shifted her wings, coming a little closer now that he had acknowledged her. She didn't look particularly nice but at least she was being considerate of the fact that she was probably freaking him out.
"Hello young man," she addressed him, nodding her head in greeting instead of a handshake that would have clearly been impossible. He returned the gesture a little shakily, and she was entertained that his dog did the same. She looked him over for a moment before saying, "I'm glad I had the chance to meet you before class, at least this way you can adjust a little." She reached up, using the bendy elbow (shoulder?) like part of her wing to fix her glasses, which had been sliding down her sharp nose, in a surprisingly smooth motion. She fixed him with her gaze again. "I've been made aware of your situation and have been asked not to assign you homework for today, however don't expect the same treatment tomorrow." She ignored Ms. Bustier's huff and kept talking, speaking firmly. "Our greatest weapon against uncertainty is knowledge, so I expect you to pay attention and learn everything you can. Given the nature of your enrollment here I would find it appropriate that you be my finest student, so I look forward to teaching you."
Nino could only nod again, looking at the floor (and her talons) seeing as he had no idea what else to say. Ms. M turned to Ms. Bustier, fixing her wings as she said, "Caline, Mr. Damocles just stopped by my room to inform me that we'll both be trading off teaching his ground education this week and next until he has the basics. I have business in the mornings so I told him you'd take the early A.M slot and I'd teach him after school."
"Oh… did you," Ms. Bustier answered dully, clearly a little miffed to have been blatantly assigned earlier hours by her co-worker, but with one glance to the side at Nino she decided to deal with it, for his sake. "Well that's alright, tell Mr. Damocles next you see him that that's fine with me. However, we should get going."
"Of course," the harpy said sharply, acting as if stopping to talk to them had been an inconvenience as it was. 'Sharp' really was the best way to describe her, whether it was her tone, attitude, talons or chin. Nino didn't much like her, but that didn't mean he was going to screw around in her class.
With their conversation concluded the teacher stalked away, continuing down the direction she had been heading and giving a sour look to Carter as she did. The dog, to his credit, did not bark or growl, but he still huffed and shook himself like he was shaking off her negative vibes.
'She's bad,' Carter said plainly, not liking the tone or attitude of that scary bird woman at all, but Nino didn't respond to his comment.
"Well," Ms. Bustier said with a tone of finality and a slight huff, "we should get to class."
With that the Cervitaur continued on her way, Nino and Carter following dutifully behind her. Nino wasn't really sure if he should feel better for having met her or worse, because he wasn't sure if that was the worst thing he'd see all day or only the beginning. He liked to think he got the worst thing out of the way first, and was feeling a little more confident about dealing with magic users and mummies now. Least they weren't harpies.
On that note though, Nino picked up the pace a little to walk alongside his much nicer teacher, looking up at her as he asked, "Ms. B? Does everyone else know I'm coming?"
"Yes," she informed him, smiling at him in an effort to make that seem like a good thing. "Mr. Damocles told my students that they'd be having someone new in class today. I believe he also told them about Carter and they've been asked not to pet him without permission."
"Oh, good," Nino responded, a little surprised but glad for the that. Carter had promised to be good but if a zombie up and touched him out of nowhere he probably wouldn't be down with that.
Nino let it end at that, though that hadn't answered his real intent behind the question, which was to ask 'Do they know I'm a werewolf?' but he didn't want to clarify. As he walked he looked nervously at his shoulder and saw how apparent it was but he didn't cover it, sticking to his earlier sentiment. No point hiding it here.
When they finally made it to the courtyard Nino saw that it was populated sparsely, looking over the edge and feeling cold sweat on the back of his neck before looking away. He had only glanced down for a second but… ha. Man.
Today was gonna be long…
'Snakes!' Carter informed him, sniffing at the ground and excited to pick out something he could name, though Nino doubted it was just a snake that had left its smell behind. From what brief glance he allowed himself he realized nothing was going to be simple or straight forward. He'd kill to see and actual snake right about then.
Nino straightened his back, not wanting to shrink in on himself or only stare at the floor as he followed Ms. B, even if that what he genuinely would prefer to do all day. This was going to be nuts and probably really upsetting, he just needed to deal with it and he was going to do it with his head high if possible. Still though, he was insanely glad once again that Carter was going with him.
He stopped abruptly, Carter bashing into his legs while Nino tried to not do the same to Ms. Bustier, who had stopped suddenly herself to unlock her classroom door. She was muttering something as she did, a series of words he didn't catch or understand but she only muttered for a moment before she fished out an actually lanyard of keys to work with.
Magic maybe. Whatever.
"You can wait in the room with me until class starts," Ms. Bustier suddenly said over her shoulder, swinging the door open and heading inside. "Or you can explore the campus, but I'd understand if you weren't comfortable with that yet."
Nino followed behind her, saying something simple and mumbled like, "Maybe tomorrow…" before she flicked on the lights, and suddenly he was much more absorbed with looking around him.
"Welcome!" she said warmly, trotting away with a somewhat muffled clatter thanks to the stretch of rug at the front of the room. "This is my classroom; you'll be spending a lot of time in here. Feel free to poke around while I set things up."
Nino didn't respond, dropping Carter's leash since the shepherd was tugging so sharply at it, eager to sniff around himself and looking up once to see if Nino would allow it before darting away, leash trailing after him. They were contained in the classroom now that the door was shut so Nino wasn't too worried about it, and he was admittedly much more focused on looking around.
It was… kind of awesome.
It was big, much bigger inside then he would have given it credit for. The floors were weirdly different than any of the hallways or his own classroom/room which had come off as the most like a normal classroom to him. Ms. Bustier's had clearly been modified, dark wood floors paneling the whole room. Every desk and bench and book case was another type of tasteful darkwood furniture, the desk scuffed and worn and burned oddly in places. Each desk was cluttered with books and pages and pens kept in etched troughs at the edge closest to the students, like the class just stood up and walked out at the end of the day and the classroom was left in the middle of a moment. It gave everything an odd sense of motion, like they were really right in the middle of something and class was constantly in session.
As he walked forward and looked around he saw cuts and ink stains and all sorts giving life and history to a classroom that had supposed only been used for two years, and it was altogether much closer to what he had been dramatically picturing in his head. Metal and glass magic looking contraptions reached out from the ceiling and caught the light of the tall arched windows of stone walls, something that would have been much more at home in a castle then a modern looking school building. Bookshelves of every height and build reached up the walls on the right side but didn't crowd things, two rows with four of those flat table-like desks each staggering all the way to the back, each one at a slightly higher level than the last so everyone could see the teacher. The space between the rows was large, and the spaces on either side as well, and Nino could actually picture a Cervitaur comfortable walking around them, talking about other worlds and the things that lived there.
"Cool…" he said aloud, turning slowly and looking at how alive and unique it felt, his 'hogwarts' comparison from before coming to mind as he started to chuckle to himself. Seriously, it felt like Defense Against the Dark Arts in here.
If Ms. Bustier heard him she made no comment, looking up and smiling every once and awhile from her custom, chair-less teachers desk at the front of the room to watch Carter dark around, sniffing everything. Her own desk was cluttered with things Nino likely had never even considered before, and she was thinking about calling him over to show him when she heard him speak up, his tone very confused.
"Trees?" he asked loudly, and when she looked up she saw that he had made his way to the windows, staring outside and leaning as close to the glass as he could without touching it. She watched as the boy looked left and right, and tried to keep from laughing as he whirled to face her incredulously.
"We're in the middle of Paris?" he stated like a question, gesturing to the window. "But forest?"
"We are technically still in Paris," she clarified, her use of the word 'technically' clearly not helping as he stared out of the window again, so she continued. "I'm sure you've noticed this room is hardly built similarly to the rest of the building."
"Yeah?" he asked slowly, still staring outside. He didn't see anything that looked remotely like Paris out there.
"Well, to explain briefly," she stated simply, gesturing to the space around her when her new student looked back to her. "My room can best be described as a pocket, most used classrooms here are. Our purposes usually require unique resources, and certain protections. Think of the door to my classroom as our door. If you entered with just the key you'd end up in a classroom that looks exactly like the one that you now use as a bedroom. However, if you unlock it with the key and the spell, you get to the real classroom and open it to all others who follow. It's a useless precaution really," she said with a wave of the hand, looking around her room fondly, "but it allows for my personal touches. This way I can have a classroom more suited to my particular needs as a teacher. This room does exist in Paris; however, you don't see Paris when you look outside because it exists in a pocket between realms. What you see when you look outside is actually the FarLands, but were you to stand firmly within the FarLands you would not find this classroom no matter where you looked, because it exists between, not in. You can only get to it through the human realm, and even then you can only get to it with the proper spell."
Nino gaped, looking back out the window at the discovery that it was actually another world. A whole other realm, like actually. He knew people kept saying that like that existed but there it was. It looked wild, deep massive forests stretching out towards the horizon and huge, distant mountains. He was standing in a room that existed between two realms.
"What…" he tried to ask, his question falling short so he shook his head and tried again, still staring intently into the other world. "What happens if you were to like, jump out the window. Would you fall into the forest? Or Paris? Or nothing?"
"Paris," she answered simply, looking down when she noticed Carter had come over to say hello. She smiled and patted her flank to signal it was alright for him to stand with his paws against her, allowing her to pet him as she continued. "This classroom is accessible through the human realm so you can argue its more firmly rooted there, since that is its origin. You'd fall through a space of nothing for a moment before being dropped back into the human realm, though it would still be the equivalent of a second story so I recommend not trying it."
"Wasn't planning on it," he replied, his voice still stunned and distant as he stared out in awe. That was totally nuts. And… really awesome.
He could feel it, sort of, just for a moment. He relished it, held onto it like it was fragile. For just a second, he wasn't afraid of this crap, it was just… super cool. The books and the weird glass things and the desks and the FarLands, that was just… sort of really rad.
Not all of it had to be awful, maybe.
Nino took a step away, tearing his eyes away from the window and looking once more around with a smile, before he asked the question, "Which seat is mine?"
"That there," she said with a gesture, pointing near the door. He followed her direction and settled on a table that held only one set of the books and half the paper of the others, stretching over all of the table but focusing on the right. Must be where Adrien sat, he reasoned. Nino glanced over to check where Carter was before heading towards his seat, hesitatingly for a moment before gently setting his bag on the tabletop. He sat on the bench, his seat the closest to the door but still some distance away, the space of the room impressing him again as he tried to get settled.
He took a moment to gather up the papers, seeing as he had suspected the name 'Adrien' printed neatly at the top of each. It was an odd mix of standard notebook paper and aged, weighty parchment, and though he wondered if he should he started to look through them. They were class notes right? Or something similar. However, when he realized that he could hardly make sense of anything at all he decided perhaps the middle wasn't the best place to start. He set the papers aside, neatly stacked on Adrien's side of the desk and started to look over the textbooks, hesitating before opening his own bag.
Sure enough, his copies were present, along with a notebook and something akin to a bound journal. He found a handful of pens and pencils cluttered at the bottom, along with a pencil sharpener and a folded piece of paper he found to be a map of the school. Seeing it made him smile a little, even if he was sort of intimidated by it. It was reassuring to have Ms. B looking out for him.
He knew he wasn't actually expected to be participating per say just yet, but he figured he should have his things out to at least look the part. Plus, he intended to take notes on… pretty much everything.
Nino had been staring in quiet confusion at the introductory page of one of his books when Carter finally returned to him, intent on trotting straight over to his boy but stopping short at Nino's table, sniffing madly at the right side of things.
'Cat,' Carter said firmly, without even a shred of doubt as he continued to sniff. 'Cat. Cat here, Nino?' he asked, as if to make sure he heard. 'There's a cat.'
"Is that what that is?" Nino responded, subtly breathing through his nose himself. Must be. Made sense. "Yeah, the guy who sits here. He's like a… something. That's probably what it is. Is that gonna be a problem? I know how you are with cats."
'I said I'd be good,' Carter reminded him, seemingly irritated and huffing at the empty seat and walking towards Nino almost as if to prove he had zero interest in the cat he knew sat there. 'I'm always good. No barking, you said. I won't bark.'
"You sure?" Nino asked with a smile, chuckling a little when Carter growled. He put up his hands in defeat. "Hey alright, I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll be fine; it's not like you've ever lost it near a cat before. That's totally never happened."
'It was up to no good,' Carter answered indignantly, knowing exactly what incident Nino was referring to and not appreciating the lack in trust. 'You weren't there. I saved the mother.'
"Mom could have handled a tabby dude," Nino snickered, entertained by the fact that Carter still looked mad but feeling a faint wave of guilt at the mention of his mother.
She was probably so upset…
He shook his head, shoving that down too and gritting his teeth.
Now wasn't the time for that.
Carter wormed his way under the desk, lying down over the tops of Nino's feet and looking like he was settling in for the day. He snuffled at the cat smelling bits of the floor but otherwise ignored it, claiming the spot as his own. He'd like to see the cat try and take it, not that he'd do anything, he was a good boy, but still.
Nino was going to return to having no idea what his textbook even covered when he suddenly, taking him completely by surprise, the door opened.
He didn't hear them coming, something he was starting to get used to and had apparently taken for granted. He tensed, his whimsical hope of entering a world he didn't understand with open arms gone in a sudden flash of insecurity. Part of him wanted to keep looking down, but another part of him was stubborn, and frustrated. He didn't like being afraid of things. So he looked up as Ms. Bustier greeted them.
"Good morning Rose! Good morning Juleka," Ms. Bustier called out with a smile, the two girls addressed appearing out from behind the door that had blocked them from sight. Nino felt a slight yet undeniable chill as they both entered the space, having been in the middle of their own conversation but stopping to greet their instructor.
"Good morning Ms. Bustier!" the small bubbly girl leading replied, her voice high and energetic. He assumed this was Rose, she was dressed in such a light color of pink it would hardly be appropriate if she wasn't. She was short, blond and somehow managing to exude an aura of pure sunshine and a cold chill he had always associated with graveyards at the same time.
Necromancer.
The second girl mumbled, nodding in the teacher's direction before continuing forward with Rose. It was the movement that gave her away first, the lack of smell second, and the subtle shift of color as if she was just barely transparent third. She ghosted forward, quite literally, the movement so completely smooth that he was relatively unsurprised to see that her feet were not on the ground at all, but rather that she was floating.
Dead person number one was on the scene…
Nino stayed completely silent, holding his book with white knuckles as he leaned back slightly to check on Carter, ready to restrain him if-
Carter hadn't moved from his spot, watching the girls with interest and sniffing in their direction curiously before laying his head back down. His chest was flesh against the tops of Nino's feet, his breathing and heart beat were utterly even. Carter didn't see them as a threat in the slightest, despite the fact that one was literally a ghost and the other specialized in magic concerning strictly the dead.
You know. Whatever right?
The girls made it all the way to the isle leading down the middle before they noticed him, the girl he had deduced to be Rose gasping a little in an adorable way.
"Oh, are you the new student!? I didn't think you'd be here already! Hi!" The girl raced back, her pink robes and large brimmed pink hat swaying as she ran to him. She was about to say something more before she noticed with a second gasp that Carter was peering up from underneath the desk at her, using her proximity to sniff at her feet. "Oh and hello to you too!" she said with a giggle, absolutely bending down to pet him before she stopped abruptly, remembering something and straightening up before eagerly extending a hand. She smiled at him, and in the moment her boundless enthusiasm overcame her graveyard vibe entirely. "My name is Rose Lavillant! Welcome to the class!"
Nino stared at her for a second, trying to overcome his tenseness as he released his book with a little difficulty, forcing himself to just have it together and shake her hand. It was so small compared to his own, and the palm somewhat cold though the rest was warm. After a moment he managed to say, "Um, I'm Nino. Lahiffe. Thank you."
"This," Rose declared with a wide gesture to left, where he had absolutely not noticed the emo ghost girl was already floating and he jumped a little in surprise, "is Juleka Couffaine! She's my best friend, we sit just up there," she said, pointing again to a desk a little farther into the room. The ghost, Juleka, gave him a very small smile and an equally as small wave, Nino realizing just in time that a handshake would probably not be the way to go and waving a little as well. He was pretty much operating on the assumption that if they technically didn't have hands, don't go for it.
Rose was still talking, bouncing a little as she giggled and said, "Oh, I should probably say too, Juleka is a ghost. You've probably never seen a ghost before have you?"
"Uh, no but um… I was sorta given a brief rundown on some stuff," he explained quietly, trying for a nervous smile. Juleka smiled a little more at that, but Rose put her hands to her face, her large baby blue eyes suddenly filled with nearly theatrical emotion that was actually genuine.
"This must be all so crazy for you! Being a new werewolf can't be easy," he tensed a little at that, but she kept going, "but don't worry! Everyone here is super nice! You'll make lots of friends!"
Ah… so everyone did know. But…
Nino stared at Rose for a moment, absorbing the way she smiled at him and spoke so genuinely and realized…
She knew. And she still shook his hand and welcomed him, she still took the extra step to reassure him. And he knew, he knew at least vaguely what they both were and he still greeted them. Sure he was kind of afraid in concept but… she seemed nice. She might raise the dead and the other girl might be dead but… they seemed nice.
"Um," he finally replied, chuckling a little weakly as he reached up to rub at his neck. "It's been kind of a lot, but I'm doing my best."
"That's an understatement," Juleka spoke for the first time, ending the statement with a quiet laugh and Nino actually smiled a little more genuinely.
"Seriously!" Rose agreed with a laugh of her own, but she went right back to being super heartfelt in only a second. "You're so, so brave. Everything is so different all at once, I don't know what I'd do. I'm really, really happy you're here, you won't have to worry about anything now! Except tests," her expression warped into something of a pout, "you always have to worry about the tests…"
"You'll do fine…" Juleka spoke softly, clearly continuing the earlier conversation they had been having. Rose clutched her arms close to her chest, her emotions instantly switching to fretting as she was distracted.
"I studied so hard, it won't be fair if I don't get an A!" she complained, her tone a little louder as if to let Ms. Bustier hear on purpose, but if she heard it the cervitaur was unfazed by the passive plea. Nino sat idly by, watching as the tiny adorable necromancer panicked about a test on something he could only imagine. It was sort of humanizing.
The girls loitered for a moment more, the ghost drifting up the steps eventually to coax Rose to the proper seat and leaving Nino staring at his hands. Nino took a deep breath as they sat down, somewhat proud to have survived that and… undeniably reassured.
When the door opened again a short time later he was a little more prepared.
The next guy who came in didn't talk to him. He looked up when Rose called out, "Good morning Nathaniel!" and responded with a wave, but when he caught sight of Nino he looked a little caught off guard and quickly looked down, skittering to his seat in the back of the class with only a shy smile to offer. Nino tried to reason with himself that maybe the guy was just shy but… he stared at his hands a little more bitterly this time.
'He's like a rabbit,' Carter commented, sitting up for a moment to rest his head on Nino's knee and look up at him. 'He runs. I promise I won't bark near him, it would scare him.'
Nino snickered a little at that.
Nino shuffled his things a little but didn't have anything to do with them, so he just kept nervously waiting. Students started to arrive more quickly now, coming in bunches and groups. Not all of them acknowledged him or even saw him, and those that did had varying reactions.
A group of three had come in not long after the shy boy had, all wrapped up in their own, rather loud argument they were having. Nino really didn't like how the pocket aspect of the room meant he couldn't hear people approaching from outside, but he was distracted from his annoyance when he was effortlessly able to hear their entire conversation as soon as they passed the doorframe.
"-can take any bet you want as soon as you learn how to fix yourself," the shorter boy of the group was grumbling, settling a pair of thick goggles that seemed best fit for welding around his neck and pulling a pair of regular looking glasses from his pocket. Bandages and cuts dotted his dark skin anywhere it was exposed, his ridiculously stereotypical white coat rolled up to the elbows. Genuinely, he looked out of place without cracks of ominous lightning behind him, and he didn't even need the taller boy to address him for him to know this was the mad scientist.
"Come on Max!" the tall boy was grumbling, his own skin… off. It had a greenish hue to it and was covered in somewhat unsettling patchworks of skin and stiches. He himself looked pretty normal, which was probably a testament to the craftsmanship behind creating him. It was a little strange to see something that was clearly dead walking around, arguing and whining like a normal, jockish boy. The tall undead creation continued, Kim if he remembered correctly, and his tone kicked up the pleading. "I'll be your guinea pig for all that stuff you wanted to try! I won't even complain!"
"You always complain," the third of the group commented, a very short and petite girl with bright, unruly pink hair. Her outfit was comprised of blues and sport garb, complete with fingerless gloves and a competitive attitude. She grinned, hopping a bit ahead of the boys and moving a lot quicker then Nino would have given her credit for, her motions incredibly smooth and fluid. "Max is probably right Kim, we wouldn't want you falling apart on the final turn!"
"Okay yeah you're fast Alix," Kim griped, irritated and indignant, "but saying you could lap me a hundred times is ridiculous, not even wind moves that fast."
Oh, Nino's thoughts chimed as the sporty girl laughed. Right. The comparison to wind was literal, he recognized the name Alix from the roster. Wind Elemental... She looked human to him, in fact it was sort of a relief that everyone was humanoid so far. Clearly none of them were, their smell, movements, or appearance proved that (especially Kim's because wow that guy smelt dead), but still, at least they weren't harpies.
The three continued to argue as they moved to their seats, only Max actually spotting him and noticing he was there. The boy didn't approach him though, he just assessed him coolly and gave him a nod, clearly intrigued but filing him away for some future speculation of his. It felt weirdly analytical, but maybe that's just how mad scientists operated.
Nino made a mental note to never agree to any experiments.
So far so good… and Nino looked forward as the door opened again. A group of two, the both of them girls.
When the girl in the lead entered Nino could not compare her gate to anything other than a strut, each step deliberate as she glided in like a queen about to grace her servants with her presence. She held her head high and her back was perfectly straight, her entire figure cloaked in an expensive looking cotton robe and gold jewelry ranging from thick roped necklaces to delicate jingly bracelets. From her perfectly managed long blonde hair and elegant, Egyptian styled hair piece Nino decided almost effortlessly that he didn't like her in the slightest. Call it instinct.
His attention shifted to the… girl? Running along behind her. Gender was a little hard to pick out thanks to the carefully wrapped bandages that covered her entirely, leaving only the space of her bright eyes visible (and her glasses, oddly enough). He could see strands of red hair in a few places the bandages had shifted on her head, but it was impeccably tight everywhere else, and he was glad to see that the theatrical representations of mummies had been pretty spot on. The other girl just looked like a brat, but he was forced to assume that perhaps this was the sphinx? She had a glamour on, he could tell. From being near Ms. B he had realized that glamours had a sort of smell to them, and this girl had such a strong one that the tingle of energy from it nearly made him sneeze.
"Oh, he's here already," the bratty maybe-Sphinx commented quietly, whispering to the mummy though he could absolutely hear them. He had a feeling she knew that. "He doesn't even have a muzzle? Talk about lax security."
Nino tensed, feeling heat creep along his arms and the back of his neck as the mummy girl hesitantly agreed.
He had kind of been expecting that but… his fingernails dug into his palms.
"The only person who's ever needed a muzzle is you Chloe," a voice suddenly called from the doorway, and Nino looked up at the exact moment the girl Chloe scoffed in disgust. The girl who had spoken was still standing there, her hands on her hips as she said with a smirk, "Maybe I'll buy you one for Christmas and show you how to put it on."
"Alya!" Ms. Bustier shouted, the girl in the doorway jumping a little at being called out. Ms. B looked angry when she said, "That's a warning! Keep your comments to yourself!"
"Did you even hear what she said!?" Alya shouted in reply, Chloe and the mummy girl giggling to each other. The rude wannabe queen was clearly chuffed at having got the girl in trouble, and shot a glare to Nino as well just for good measure that made his skin crawl. Yeah, he definitely didn't like her.
Ms. B had walked up to Alya, looking cross and demanding an explanation. Nino had been pretty set on calling as little attention to himself as possible for the entire day, but as soon as he heard Ms. Bustier mention Mr. Damocles' office he couldn't stay quiet.
"Ms. Bustier!" he called out, standing with his hands on the desk. The girl named Alya turned in surprise when he spoke up, and he was distracted by her for a second before he stuck to his guns, swallowing nervously before stammering, "Uh, Ms. B, seriously. She was trying to be cool, Chloe started it. She was just defending me. And uh, I appreciated it," he added, looking back to the girl before dropping his gaze and looking away a little.
"I didn't say anything!" Chloe lied, crossing her arms in an irritating chorus of jingling jewelry.
"Yes you did!" Alya countered, looking pissed, "He's been here for like what, thirty minutes? Can't he at least hit the hour mark before you start being awful?"
"Oh like anyone should ever believe anything you say," the sphinx spat back, and Alya visibly bristled before Ms. B raised one hoof, crashing it against the hardwood in a loud jarring crack that made everyone jump.
"Enough!" she demanded, her tone and posture stern as she regained control of the situation. "Alya, sit down. Chloe, not another word, if either of you pick a fight again you're both going to the office. Class hasn't even started yet let's all be civil."
"But she-!" Alya tried to start again, but one look from her teacher and she knew pushing it would only get her sent out. With a huff the girl Alya shot one irritated look in Chloe's direction before she did as she was told, walking to her seat. Nino was a little stunned when he realized that that was actually the seat directly behind him, and she wasted no time in getting his attention once she sat down.
"Just ignore her," she told him, speaking in a low voice as he turned around on the bench to look up at her in surprise. What he saw when he looked up was a pretty dark skinned girl with long, curly red hair, dark glasses and a beauty mark above one eye. Her teeth were pure white when she smiled, and her eyes held a bright kind of light to them as she talked. "I don't know if you've met her, I'm hoping you haven't. She's just trouble, so stay away from her if you can manage it."
Nino blinked once, kind of unsure of what to say and rubbing at one of his arms nervously. She was still looking at him though, withdrawn in a way but curious, and he forced himself to say something.
"Thanks," he muttered, finding it hard to look her in the eyes, but he could still see the flash of surprise on her face. "For saying something. But, don't get in trouble on my account. I can deal with it."
"You shouldn't have to deal with it," she answered back immediately, and when he looked back into her face she looked genuinely pissed off. "Like seriously, I walked in right behind her, she wasted no time saying something crappy to you, and she knows you heard it. She doesn't know you, no one does. She doesn't just get to pick on you and get away with it, that sucks."
"Well I… I mean I get it," he found himself saying, his tone almost stony as he said the words without really thinking about them. But as soon as he said it he realized it was true. "She's got a right to be like… I dunno."
"What?" Alya cut in, her expression still serious. "A brat? This school exists literally to stop stuff like that, you shouldn't just take it."
"Well, like you said," he remarked with a tired sounding laugh and a small smile, looking up into her eyes and a little less intimidated now. "I've been here for like thirty minutes. That's so far the only bad thing someone has said, I'd say I'm doing pretty okay."
The girl grew still, watching him with a curious and slightly sad expression before she said, "You really came in here expecting the worst huh?"
He hesitated, before finally he shrugged, petting Carter with one hand as he laid his head on the bench to see what was going on. "Yeah. I guess so."
He looked down at his dog, focusing on petting him instead of anything else. He could still feel the tension in his shoulders, and the word 'muzzle' was stuck in his head, but he relaxed a little when he heard her laugh quietly.
"Hey, if anyone gets that it's me, trust me." He looked up, and when he did he was caught a little off guard by her smile and the gesture of an outstretched hand. "My name is Alya," she told him simply, grinning as he shook. "You?"
"Nino," he answered, smiling too.
"Well, Nino, I think you're okay. So if Chloe gives you crap tell me or Marinette and we'll handle it."
Nino hesitated, about to say something along the lines of 'Thanks but I can take care of myself,' but was distracted by the name, asking instead, "Who's Marinette?"
"That would be me."
"Ah!" Nino jumped a little in surprise, turning all the way back around again at the quiet giggle of yet another girl. He was really meeting a lot of people at once, getting names right was going to be hard. How did she sneak up on him too?
"Hehe, sorry!" she apologized, and she was unexpectedly close to him. However, she looked so nice that he didn't really feel intruded upon, just surprised.
She was pretty, her face soft and nice looking as she smiled at him. Her eyes were a very deep blue and her hair a dark black with a blueish hue to it too. Her hair was done up in high pigtails with a hair piece of some kind on the high back of her head that was in the same style as the rest of her clothes. It looked sort of traditional and had a clear Chinese influence like the girl herself, the robe itself a dark red with what looked like half of the Yin-Yang symbol sewn on the front. She was slim, pale, and kind looking, overall very pleasant.
"I'm Marinette," she introduced herself, extending a hand as well. "Alya is my best friend, and she totally means that by the way. We will handle Chloe if she gives you a problem."
"I, I uh, appreciate it," he stammered, chuckling a little nervously as he shook her hand. "But really, I know I'm new at this but I've dealt with bullies before. I'll be alright."
"I'm sure you will be," Marinette giggled, sounding oddly sincere when she said it. "You're really brave, even though this must all be so overwhelming you're still here." She met his eyes with her own, speaking genuinely as she said, "That says a lot about a person you know. When they do the things they have to even if they're afraid. I really respect that."
Nino froze, gaping a little and entirely unsure of what to say. She said it so seriously, and suddenly he had the feeling that she could read him like a book.
He was snapped out of it when Marinette made a small noise of surprise, giggling and saying, "Well, hello!" towards the floor. It took him a second to realize that it was Carter, sniffing intently at her legs with his tail wagging.
"Carter!" he chastised, his face a little hot as he reached beneath the desk to pull his dog back. "Dude, no!"
'She smells nice!' Carter defended himself, tail still thumping, 'Like food! And she's soft and nice. I like her!'
"It's alright!" Marinette assured him, hesitating for a moment before asking innocently, "Can I pet him? His name is Carter right?"
"Oh, uh," Nino paused, looking down to ask Carter directly, "Is it alright if she pets you?"
'Yes!' He responded with a bark, wiggling out of Nino's hold and sliding out from under the desk to stand in front of Marinette directly, his entire behind wagging with his tail now. 'Hello!'
"Oh you're so cute!" Marinette cooed, dropping to her knees to scratch behind his ears. "It's nice to meet you Carter, hello! Haha, yes, hello to you too," she managed between giggles, Carter bouncing up a little to lick at her face.
"Down boy," Nino said with a sigh, smiling a little too even though he could feel a lot of the students watching. "Play nice."
'I am nice,' Carter grumbled, giving him the dog equivalent of a glower before returning his attention to Marinette, clearly infatuated. The scene was so pleasant that Nino managed to ignore Chloe's distant comment of "What is that his brother or something?"
A few of the students were whispering, talking about the dog and wondering what it was. In their defense a dog was probably ever rarely just a dog in their world, and he was contemplating how to clear that up when Marinette stood again, giggling as she moved around him to sit down in her seat. Carter made to follow, hoping up the little step to sit in the space beneath the two girls.
"Hey aren't you supposed to be sitting with me?" Nino said in fake irritation, snickering at the look Carter shot him. The girls laughed too, both of them showering the dog with affection. Carter was a little hesitant about Alya at first, but when she started scratching under his chin he was sold.
"Looks like you lost your buddy to Marinette's sunshiny aura," Alya joked, grinning down at Nino as Carter squished up against Marinette's legs. "Wouldn't be the first time it's happened."
"I am not stealing his dog," Marinette responded with a pout, running her fingers through Carter's fur as the dog practically melted into her hands.
"It's really a matter of him running away with you," Nino chimed in, his voice actually pretty steady and the joke landing. Both of the girls laughed and he found himself smiling, and though his back was turned he had a feeling Ms. Bustier was watching him with a smile of her own. "He really likes you."
"Oh!" Marinette abruptly exclaimed, something occurring to her as she looked at him with innocent curiosity. "I'm sorry if it's rude to ask, I'm just so curious. I've heard before that- well, can you really talk to him? Or is that just a rumor?"
Nino blinked once, suddenly a little self-conscious even though she asked it so nicely. To his surprise she seemed to pick up on that, and he had to rush to cut off her apology.
"You're fine!" he assured her, laughing a bit nervously. "Um, yeah actually, I can. Well, sort of, it's not perfect. A lot of it is visual, like I have to be watching him to get what he's saying. But I know that he likes you. He keeps saying you seem nice and smell like food." He was suddenly a bit embarrassed at having admitted that, the sentiment sounding really weird when it was out in the open even though it was from his dog not him. However, it being from his dog didn't make it a lot better.
Once again though, Marinette picked up on his embarrassment immediately, almost too fast to be attributed to just being observant.
"Oh, that must be from the bakery," she said with a laugh, staying engaged to deflect the awkwardness he suddenly felt. It was really effective. "I live in a bakery that my parents run in Paris, the Dupain-Cheng bakery. I wouldn't be surprised if I smell a lot like bread actually." With that she looked down at Carter, petting him still as she said, "Are you only letting me pet you because you think I have food? That's not very nice."
Nino was a bit distracted, looking at her carefully while she was focusing on Carter. He could feel Alya watching him, and though both girls looked totally human, he was wise enough now to know that they weren't.
Marinette must be the witch. He recognized the last name Dupain-Cheng from the roster and had even thought to himself that it was a name that seemed fitting for someone labeled as plainly as witch. As for Alya… he looked over at her, and when he caught her staring he was the only one who looked away, the girl unabashedly observing him with a curious smile. He couldn't peg her; he didn't know what he was looking for anyways. She smelled like something but he didn't know what, and he wasn't entirely sure what the proper etiquette for asking was.
For the girls he had already seen the sphinx (probably, he was taking the Egyptian theming of her outfit as confirmation), the mummy, the wind elemental, and the witch. That left the wood nymph and the kitsune, which he had no idea what that was. He didn't exactly have access to google, not that it would likely be of much help anyways.
Wait.
Nino turned around in his seat, taking advantage of the lull in conversation to look forward again. Carter stayed up with the girls for the moment, bouncing between the two of them and expecting constant affection, which he received. As his dog distracted them Nino took the time to actually read the names of his textbooks, glad to have the old school google that was likely to be much more helpful at his disposal.
'History of Realm Relations'
'Literary Development through the 15th Century Forward'
'Elemental Magic and Its Physical Manifestations'
'Those that Surround You' That, that one, that one sounded right.
Nino quickly opened it, a tad baffled by the bizarre way in which it was organized but finding that, yes, it was a compilation of species and creatures, each with detailed classifications. Why ask awkward questions when he could read? Actually… as he skimmed through the 'table of contents' of sorts he noticed a section called Lycanthropy, and found that maybe this book would be more interesting than he had figured.
Nino hesitated, staring sightlessly at the book as he considered flipping to that section now but… no. No, he shook his head. Now wasn't the time… what could he read in there that wouldn't just make his first day more difficult?
Well… it hadn't really been all that bad so far. Parts were awful, and he was still tense as hell and pretty uncomfortable but… he looked over his shoulder.
Alya was shaking her head at Carter, who had somewhat wormed his way up onto the bench between the two girls. Marinette was giggling as Carter threatened to knock down her things with his tail and Alya just stared him down with a raised eyebrow, clearly entertained but still a bit skeptical of the creature. Nino couldn't help but smile, glad that Carter had made some friends. And glad that, maybe, he had as well.
Even as he looked backward he ran his thumb nervously over the binding of the book, wondering what it would say about them. All of them.
Would it be best to leave it to them to show him what they really were, rather than read it from a book?
And was that true for himself as well?
He didn't know. He still hadn't decided by the time he turned back around, closing the text but still holding it in his hands. He looked down at its face, staring critically at its aged gold embossing. Stating plainly yet complexly, 'Those that Surround You.'
Who did surround him?
A witch who he rather liked, not at all the wicked west kind he had been low key expecting. A something or other, the kitsune he was guessing since during their conversation a girl who smelt like the forest and had a handful of branches sticking out of her hair had wandered in with a particularly massive and heavy looking dude he took to be the golem? So that was the nymph and Alya was the kitsune, and she seemed pretty cool, if a bit hotheaded. The skittish dude, Nathaniel, seemed shy more than anything, not at all threatening or really all that strange. Max was a bit of a wildcard, the intellectual calculating types always were, and his undead bestie seemed kind of jockish but not dangerous. At most he'd be a jerk, right? Alix struck him as competitive and energetic but those weren't bad things really, and the mummy hadn't left much of an impression besides the fact that she kept poor company. Chloe sucked, but there had to be one yeah? And Rose was incredibly sweet (though he got the impression she might actually be one of the more dangerous people in class) and Juleka was reserved but pretty cool.
Overall, they were just… well, they weren't people but, he knew what he meant. They had personalities, not all of them grand, but unique. Yeah sure three of them were dead, one of them was mean, three of them were magic users and the rest were a bunch of somethings but…
It wasn't that bad.
Nino jumped when he felt something furry brush against his leg, looking down to see that Carter had decided to return after all and was staring up at him curiously.
'Are you okay?' he asked, tone somehow serious though he couldn't convey much of one. The German Shepherd was watching him carefully, probably quietly worried he had made Nino mad by wandering off, but in reality that was the farthest thing from his mind.
"Surprisingly," Nino said slowly, taking a deep breath and nodding his head. "Yeah… I'm alright."
'Good!' Carter cheered with a quiet woof, the sound and cheery attitude enough to make Nino smile again. 'That's good. And I haven't barked at all. I told you.'
Nino chuckled to himself, shaking his head and patting Carter. "Yes I know, you're a good boy Carter. But, then again, the cat dude isn't here yet, that'll be your real test of willpower little man."
Carter was in the midst of defending himself when there was a sudden sharp snort of laughter behind them, followed by a quiet yet distinct, "Oh no…"
Nino turned, looking back at the girls to find Alya snickering helplessly into her hands as if trying to smother the sound and Marinette staring down at Carter with a suddenly hesitant expression. Marinette spoke again, biting her lip a bit as she said, "I did not think about that."
"Think about what?" Nino asked the obvious question, looking uncertainly at Alya who seemed determined to speak, giggling though she was.
"Oh, my, GOD," she managed in spurts, giggling again before finally she just laughed out loud, absolute glee in her eyes as she said, "That's so funny. Do you think he's going to freak out? Please tell me he's going to freak out."
"No," Marinette said quickly, though by her voice was far from convincing, her expression even more so. "No, no it will be… it'll be fine, I'm sure. He's probably not- he's… hm…," she hummed, a hand raising to her face as she was suddenly considering something.
Nino stared at her in bewilderment, Carter looking on innocently since he couldn't actually understand anyone else. Finally, after a long moment Marinette looked to Nino, saying slowly, "Well, um. You see, Adrien, the boy who sits next to you? He's a- well, he's a cat sidhe. And he's not actually a cat, at least," she hesitated, "not all the time. But, I don't think he's fond of dogs. Mr. Damocles mentioned you'd have one but I'm not really sure a lot of people here knew what he meant by 'service animal'. I didn't pick up on Adrien being particularly agitated by it but… he might not have been paying attention."
"Well… he might have had a hard time sitting next to me anyways wouldn't he? If he had a problem with dogs?" Nino replied with a shrug and a weak smile, stunning even himself that he had actually just managed to make a joke about- well… himself. Alya took a second to process it before she was laughing, bending over the desk and cackling a bit as she leaned forward to give him a high five, Marinette giggling a bit too though she still looked concerned.
"Well obviously that's not the same thing. I just mean, um… Oh, it'll be fine. I'm sure it's fine, Carter is a good boy. He isn't going to harass him is he? Adrien can be a handful but I wouldn't want him to actually be scared."
"No of course not," Nino assured her, looking back down to Carter as he repeated, "Right Carter? You'll leave the cat alone right? No sniffing either, just to be sure."
'I said I wouldn't!' Carter huffed, grumbling a little in an expressive enough way that even the girls seemed to pick up on what he meant, both of them laughing.
"Uh… I don't want to make him uncomfortable or anything, I'll just have Carter sit on my left so he isn't near him. And I guess, if it's a big deal, I can just take him back to where I'm staying. I was kinda hoping he could stay with me but, if it's gonna freak the other guy out then it probably wouldn't be a good idea."
"Nah," Alya said with a shrug, still laughing a bit. "Adrien wouldn't make you take him out of the room, not unless Carter straight up attacked him, he's way too nice to do that. It'll be fine, but if it isn't at the very least it'll be funny."
"Alya," Marinette chastised her, the 'kitsune' too preoccupied with chuckling at whatever mental image she was entertaining to pay it much mind. Nino spent a moment more watching them before turning to look forward, scanning the room for a clock or something and finding nothing.
Class was bound to be starting soon and the only one missing was the Adrien guy, who was the last person he had to meet and likely the most important since they'd be stuck next to each other. He was hoping to somewhat get along with him, seeing as it was clearly what Ms. B had been aiming for putting them next to each other. She must have considered Carter in that equation when she sat them together, so in all likely hood it would be fine.
Prooooobably…
…right?