Summary: When her sister starts planning to attend public school, Elena rounds up her friends to ask them for advice. Mateo and Naomi offer some mixed reviews.

"So, I bet you're all wondering why I gathered you here today."

Elena was pacing the floor of Mateo's workshop, her fingers laced and her features set in a thoughtful frown. Naomi glanced at Mateo and Gabe across the room from her perch on Mateo's worktable. They looked equal parts curious and concerned; Elena hadn't given them much clue as to whether this meeting was a social one or a serious one. It wasn't unusual for her to round them all up for a spontaneous hangout, and the workshop was rapidly becoming their de facto meeting place, but she'd usually offered an inkling of what she had in store for them by now.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Naomi finally said, crossing her arms with a light chuckle.

Elena's expression turned soft—not too serious an issue, then—and she elaborated. "Isabel is planning to start going to a public school in the city next week. I wanted to make sure it'll be a good environment for her, you know? And since I never went, I figured you guys would have a better idea of what it's like. I thought I'd get some advice, you know?"

For the first time, it clicked for Naomi that her royal friends wouldn't have ever been to a public school. A surreal thought—though she'd been in and out of different schools her whole life, it was something she'd expected her peers to have all taken for granted, and she didn't realize that they might not have all had that life. So why the sudden change?

Mateo beat her to the question. "Wait, why are you sending her to public school? Aren't there tutors at the palace?"

"There are! But Isabel really wants to study with other kids her age."

He let out a dry bark of laughter that dissolved in the air as the others turned to stare at him. The crooked smile slowly dropped from his face. "Wait, you're serious? She's doing this on purpose?"

Something in his tone tripped an alarm in Elena's head. Face falling, she lowered her voice to a horrified whisper. "Is it that bad?"

Mateo froze. "Uh." His face was stuck in a guilty grimace, his eyes wide with the panic of someone who knew they'd said the wrong thing. He met Naomi's eyes across the room in a silent plea for rescue.

She ended up not needing to intercede—Gabe cut in before she could. "I don't really remember it being too bad. Boring, mostly. A lot of pro-Shuriki propaganda in the history lessons, but hopefully that's not being taught anymore."

He might not have intended to be Mateo's rescuer, but Mateo latched onto the out anyway with a tiny sigh of relief.

"Right! Yes, the propaganda," he said, a bit too quickly. "There used to be a lot of that."

"Aside from that, there's nothing that really stood out," Gabe went on. "Some classes were hard, some weren't, some people were easy to get along with, and some were… ehhhh. But I think that's all pretty standard."

He looked over at Mateo with a raised eyebrow, as if expecting confirmation. Mateo forced a smile and a stiff nod.

Elena's shoulders fell in relief. "Okay. That all doesn't sound so bad. So there's nothing really unusual to expect?"

"I guess it depends on what you count as 'unusual.'" Gabe rubbed at his chin, thoughtful. "It might be more structured than what she's used to? I don't know what her tutoring schedule was like."

"Oh!" Elena waved a hand, suddenly in even better spirits. "Isa loves when things have structure. That'll be fine!"

"Sorry I can't be of more help. It's been a while since I've actually been to school. Even longer since primary. But your sister's pretty smart. I'm sure she'll do fine no matter how it turns out."

"Hey, Gabe," Naomi started, something occurring to her, "I never asked. Did you actually go to upper secondary?"

Avalor required schooling through ninth grade for its students, with the upper three years of secondary being an option for those who intended to go on to university. Naomi's decision on whether or not she'd attend was made for her by her Grand Council appointment the summer between ninth and tenth grade, but Gabe was three years her senior. He would've had the time to pursue that before Elena's return if he'd wanted.

"Hm? Nah. I knew I wasn't gonna do university, so it wasn't really worth it. I helped out at the bakery for a few years, instead." He frowned, his brow furrowing at the memory. "Honestly, I think I would've preferred school."

"Wow, I never would've taken you as a nerd," Naomi teased, and he arched an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, let's see how you like working for my dad."

"What about you, Naomi?" Elena asked. "You were in school here more recently, right?"

"I guess. But it's not like it was recent, recent. Not since last spring. And I never did primary here at all, so I don't know if I can offer any advice about that."

"But you know what it's like to go from homeschooling to public school, right?" She straightened up, back to being attentive and serious. "What's that like? Is it easy to adjust?"

Naomi stilled. She did have experience with that, a dozen times over, and it had never stopped being a challenge. Her situation had been unique—jumping in and out of different schools for just a few months at a time. A year, tops. It wasn't just switching from homeschool to public; it was that each time she did so, it was in a completely different culture that she had to acclimate to while she was readjusting to the more structured school day. Inevitably, then, right when she'd gotten used to the new schedule and standards, her life would be uprooted and she'd be on the move again, just to start the process all over.

In one way, it had gotten simpler with time. Once she knew she could handle one move, she knew she could handle every other. But the increasing complexity of her peers' social lives got a lot harder to navigate as the years went by, especially when her usual contacts in the travel seasons consisted mostly of her parents and the occasional pen-pal.

"It's easier when you're younger," she finally said. "The classes are more general, so you're less likely to be missing something everyone else already knows, and the other kids are less likely to have really long histories with each other already, so it's a little easier to make friends faster."

Elena nodded, her face relaxing and her posture loosening again. "That's good. I think that's what Isabel was actually the most worried about." Her smile grew somber and a bit faraway. "She had a hard time making friends even before Shuriki, but the few that she had back then are all grown up now. It's a miracle she met Cristina when she did. I really want this to work out for her." Turning to Mateo, her brow creased again, just enough to betray the worry behind her deliberately light voice. "Mateo, is there anything you wanted to add?"

Mateo had never looked so badly like he wished Elena had forgotten he was there. He'd stepped back into the shadow of one of the columns, crossing his arms like he was hoping to disappear into it, and his smile as she addressed him looked artificial. "Um," he started.

And then he did not continue.

The silence stretched on, turning awkward, and then oppressive. Mateo fidgeted, unable to get any other words out, like there was some blockage he couldn't force them past, all the while Elena and Gabe stared at him in increasing confusion and concern. His gaze flickered helplessly to Naomi for the second time that morning, something desperate in his eyes.

Oh. Of course.

Naomi hadn't spent much time with Isabel, but the younger princess reminded her of Mateo in many ways. Quiet and bookish and a little bit awkward, at least until one of her niche subjects of interest came up, and then it was like she had a personal mission to make sure everyone in the room was as informed about it as her. All her sister's energy, but with none of the social grace. She spent most of her time alone, but still clung to Elena's attention in the moments they were together. None of it had struck Naomi as unusual—Isabel was still young—but presumably Mateo's quirks hadn't popped up overnight.

For him, this wasn't just an uncomfortable question, probing at old wounds—it was an uncomfortable answer, one he no doubt knew was the last thing Elena would want to hear. Public school was going to eat Isabel alive.

"You stopped going when Elena came back, too, right?" Naomi prompted. "So you're kinda in the same boat as me."

Their histories with school weren't remotely the same, and it didn't really answer Elena's question, but he wasted no time in gripping the offered lifeline nonetheless. "Yes! I also haven't been to school in a while. Didn't really see the point in going on to upper secondary when I could be studying magic full-time instead," he said, a nervous laugh slipping out as he concluded.

Gabe raised a curious eyebrow. "Really? You didn't go before your appointment? I'm kinda surprised."

"You didn't go to upper secondary," Mateo retorted, sounding defensive.

"Well, yeah, but I had a job lined up."

Mateo's pose was starting to tighten, his expression turning sour. "Wizard is a job," he muttered.

Either Gabe missed the quiet remark or the prickly warning in its tone, because he went on with a grin. "Besides, we already knew that you were a nerd. I bet you were the guy that reminded the teacher whenever they forgot to collect homework."

"No. I only did that once or twice."

Naomi couldn't recall him ever doing that—it must have been before her time—but she could hardly imagine it going over well with their classmates, at least the ones she'd gotten to know. Considering how sharp Mateo's voice had become, it sounded like it definitely hadn't.

Regardless, Gabe lit up with a surprised laugh. "Wait, really? Oh man, you actually were that guy! I was joking!"

"Well, it's not funny—" Mateo tried, his shoulders hunching, and something cautionary flared in the back of Naomi's mind at the sight. But still, Gabe pressed on.

"If it makes you feel any better, I—" he leaned in, his smile growing embarrassed, "—was also that guy. Always real popular with the other kids, huh?" Laughing, he swung an arm across Mateo's shoulders, a fair enough attempt at camaraderie and commiseration.

But Mateo, already agitated, flinched away like he'd been burned. He shoved Gabe's arm off and wheeled on him, lips pulled back in a snarl.

"Knock it off!"

"Hey!" Gabe protested, rubbing his wrist and sounding hurt. "I was just teasing."

And that was the final straw. Mateo tensed further, his hands balling into fists and his eyes narrow, like he was gearing up for a fight. The sudden pressure in the air was palpable, the mood swinging from awkward but friendly to a brewing shouting match in record time, and Naomi's stomach dropped at the awful familiarity of it.

"Anyway!" she cut in loudly, hopping off the worktable and interrupting Mateo's next sharp intake of breath. Gabe and Elena's attention swiveled around to her almost comically, both looking startled at how quickly things had escalated. "The point is that none of us really have recent experience to pull from that might help your sister. But she's probably gonna be fine. Primary school is as easy as it gets."

Technically not a lie. Maybe she was cut out for politics after all.

Elena looked relieved, more or less, though she cast another worried glance toward Mateo. He'd retreated against the column, eyes closed, and was drawing slow, deliberate breaths through his nose in a clear bid to calm down. His mouth moved soundlessly as he repeated something to himself. Whether it was working or not was more dubious—his brow remained furrowed, and his fingers dug into his arms, hard enough that it looked painful.

"And even if it doesn't work out, it's not like she doesn't have options, right?" Naomi went on, finally addressing the uncomfortable possibility. "She can always just go back to having tutors."

"I know that," Elena sighed, "but she's really looking forward to this. And I am too, for her sake. I'm worried she's going to get lonely as I get busier with ruling. Cristina can't come to the city every day to play, and even if she could, Isabel should have more than one friend by now, right?"

Against the column, Mateo squirmed.

The motion went unnoticed by Gabe and Elena. "Seriously, your sister is gonna be fine," Gabe said, smiling. "The Castillo-Flores family raised some pretty great daughters. Everyone's gonna want to be her friend."

Elena's shoulders relaxed again, and the room fell into a lull.

"And now that that's taken care of," Naomi started, voice light with false levity, "I'm sure Esteban's got some important Crown Princess stuff he needs you to look at."

Gabe snorted as Naomi rounded him and Elena up, urging them toward the door. "Since when were you so concerned with what Esteban wanted anyone to do?"

Since he turned into the easiest out to get her other friend some privacy. "Since he agreed with my opinion on increasing Professor Mendoza's research fund last week," she said instead.

"Oh, don't tell me I'm going to have to deal with constant bossiness from both of you now," Elena said, frowning.

Naomi scoffed. "I would never. Me, acting like Esteban? Imagine the scandal." She gave the two another insistent nudge.

But Elena's eyes flickered over Naomi's shoulder, and she hesitated at the door. Is he okay, she mouthed, tilting her head minutely toward Mateo.

I'll talk to him, Naomi volunteered, before she really considered what she was mouthing back. I get it.

And with another nudge, she finally cajoled the two into leaving. When she turned back to Mateo, he was still pressed against the column. His eyes were still closed, but as if he was merely dozing—the tension had drained away into exhaustion. Now that they were actually alone, she had no idea what to say to him.

"You good?" was what she went with, immediately cringing at how blunt it sounded.

"Sure," he replied, his voice faint. Cracking his eyes open, he added, "Actually, can I ask you something?"

Well, that question rarely preceded anything good. Withholding a sigh, she waited for Elena and Gabe to clear the library. "Sure. What's up?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't regret staying behind.

Nodding, he took a slow breath, like whatever he wanted to say was particularly difficult. "Do you think Elena was looking for honesty, or reassurance?"

"Oh, um…" That wasn't what Naomi had been expecting. A complaint about Gabe, maybe, or a request for comfort of his own. Elena's chatter had receded into the hall, leaving Naomi unable to make out any of the words, but she could still catch the tone of it, a breathless sort of maternal concern she reserved only for her sister.

"I think most people usually want reassurance," she finally said. "It sounds like her sister's pretty set on this, so whether we tell Elena public school is the worst or not isn't going to change anything about what Isabel does—it's just gonna stress Elena out more."

Mateo's face pinched, and an uncomfortable sound wrung itself out of his mouth. "I really messed that one up, huh?"

"Well, I don't really think you helped," she admitted. "But if you ask me, a bit of reality every now and then is a good thing. Public school is the worst."

That earned a quiet laugh and a small, lopsided smile. Mateo averted his eyes, rubbing at his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess that's one way of putting it."

He was rubbing the shoulder Gabe had grabbed.

Naomi bit her lip, curling her fingers together. By unspoken agreement, the two of them hadn't discussed their time in school together ever since they left. It felt taboo, a forbidden relic of an ancient era, where lifting the lid on it would release a curse they couldn't contain. She wanted to leave it behind, that feeling of ostracization and loneliness, in favor of her new life, with her new friends, and she could imagine Mateo felt similarly. He always seemed far more comfortable in his robes than he ever had in his uniform.

But at this rate, that seal would split open on its own, whether they wanted it to or not. Might as well do it while they still had some control.

"Seriously, are you okay?" she finally asked. "We never really talked about how awful things were last year."

He hummed, still not looking at her. "Does it matter? Things are better now, right?"

Naomi drummed her fingers against her thigh. "Well, if you have to ask…"

It took a heavy moment for him to speak again, just slouching against the column instead. Finally, he met her eyes with a plaintive expression, and when he spoke, his voice was small. "I've been trying so, so hard to not just end up as 'the weird kid' again."

Heart panging, Naomi went to speak, but Mateo wasn't done.

"Elena and Gabe actually seem to like me," he said, a sort of hopeful disbelief in his tone. "I don't want them to think that there's something wrong with me."

"I think flipping out like that is gonna do that faster than just admitting you don't like certain jokes," Naomi replied, and Mateo winced. "Give them some more credit. I mean," she forced some humor into her voice, "I know you're weird, and I still like you."

He offered her a weak smile of gratitude before folding in on himself again.

Naomi sighed. "Gabe's not a jerk, you know," she said. "I'm sure if you told him how badly that kind of stuff actually upsets you, he'd back off right away. He'd feel awful for doing it."

"That's the issue. The sort of stuff Gabe does is normal, right? I don't want to make him feel guilty for jokes I'm supposed to get. It's not his fault I'm…" He waved a hand around before drawing it back in, despondent. "...so sensitive. And, ah," he swallowed, "there's the alternative. That Gabe doesn't care. And—and I'd rather never find out if that's the case."

"Do you want me to talk to him for you?" Naomi offered. "Then you don't have to find out, either way."

He straightened up abruptly, horrified. "What? No! That's even worse!"

"Okay, okay," Naomi raised a hand, "I just figured I'd ask."

Finally unpeeling himself from the column, Mateo shuffled past her and over to his worktable. He rifled through a neat stack of spell books, like the motion would cover up how morose and weary he still looked.

Feeling awkward and unsure how to continue, Naomi shifted her feet. She could tell when her presence wasn't wanted, but it didn't feel right to leave with things still so unresolved.

"So… I guess I'll let you guys sort this out on your own, then," she tried. "Or are you really planning on never saying anything about it?"

"I'm planning on getting used to it. And in the meantime, I'll just think about other things until I calm back down. My spells. Baby jaquins. I don't know."

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "How's that been working out for you?"

"It works sometimes," he said, shooting her an annoyed look. "Today just—" face hardening, he shook his head and turned back to his books, "—I don't know." And then, sounding anxious again, "Hey, um… so, even if I blow it with the others…" he peeked over his shoulder, "...at least I'll always have you, right?"

Something in the back of Naomi's mind cautioned her against offering anything she couldn't guarantee. Her life had been miraculously stationary for well over a year, but that didn't mean it would stay that way forever.

But then, if honesty wouldn't change his mind, then reassurance was probably the best policy.

"Hey, I wasn't planning on going anywhere," she said, smiling. "I think I can promise you that."

Funny, the things that stick with us.

Where José was meant to be roughly analogous to the Esteban v. Naomi conflict, Dante was meant to be a rough stand in for the Gabe v. Mateo conflict. To be clear, I don't think Gabe actually has it out for Mateo - as Naomi succinctly puts it above, Gabe's not a jerk. But he is used to a very different social climate than Mateo. There's a bit of 'bro culture' among the guard, and a lot of the arguments between the two read to me far more like Gabe is trying to goof around, assuming that Mateo's frustrated reactions is him being in on the bit, whereas Mateo reads the playful ribbing as genuine insults and sharply escalates, and whoops, now they're fighting again and they both think the other shot first. It's just miscommunication all the way down. It's part of why I explicitly added bullying to Mateo's background in this fic - if he was used to that kind of teasing being actively malicious, of course he would have a hard time seeing it as a joke.

Admittedly, the Gabe-Mateo conflict doesn't get much more expansion in this fic (although Gabe does continue to appear! he's out of cryptid land!). But I can say now that I've officially started writing the sister fic to this one where that dynamic is the Whole Point - more word on that later this year.