"Try to look natural, man. You're stiffer than a scarecrow on a garden stake," Milo hissed out of the corner of his mouth as yet another group of female upperclassmen passed them with increased looks of interest.

"I can't help it!" Nicholas complained, turning over his schedule and his map of the campus for the fifth time. "Milo, have you seen our classes? Now, why does a major in art need biology as a prerequisite? There's no science in art! None whatsoever!"

"Well, what are you asking me for? I'm here for a degree in engineering. I don't know the first thing about art," Milo fired back, groaning and fixing his sunglasses as the high-pitched sound of laughter came from the nosey batch of teenage girls directly behind them. "And why are the girls here so creepy?" he added as an afterthought, making sure to lower his voice to the point where only Nicholas could hear him. Just.

There had been no photography class offered as a major. He was still rather bitter about that.

Nicholas shrugged, disinterested and overly perplexed. "They probably sense the model in you," he replied, skimming through the brochure they'd received upon entry to the grounds again. "Even with our fake new identities, you still give off that vibe, you know?"

Milo wrinkled his nose. "I have a vibe?"

"Yeah, dude. Trust me. It's kind of hard to miss." He was actually surprised no one had recognized the teen wonder as of yet. Perhaps, he pondered, Milo had been away from the spotlight just long enough that no one would be the wiser to put two and two together. Plus, he looked a whole lot different now; longer hair tied up messily in a half-convincing bun, a more distinguished jaw-line, he was hardly the gangly teenager Nicholas remembered him as.

And, he supposed, he was sure he didn't look anything like he had before either.

"How much further is it to the admissions office?" Milo inquired, leaning over his friend's shoulder to try and read the miniature map as they passed under a series of oak trees where a number of sophomores and seniors had gathered around a series of booths and stands in the attempt to draw interest to their various clubs. "This whole place is making me a little uncomfortable."

"Which part?" Nicholas asked, feeling much the same. "All of the people or the fact that we are here to actually learn something?"

"Both," Milo said darkly and they both laughed, some of the stress relieved from their forms.

They passed several of the pre-set tables and shyly ducked away from the massive crowds of students enjoying the sunny plaza and warm summer afternoon. The temperature was a lofty sixty-seven degrees (which, for a college nestled near one of New York's largest bays, that was exceptionally warm) and the day had turned out to be more pleasant than either of them had thought. From their position in the plaza, they could see the outline of the looming infrastructure that was to be the main base of their studies. By the ominous way the sun's shadow was cast, plus the large prismed clock face embedded into one of the towers, it was easy enough to assume the festivities would be lingering for at least another hour, and the two boys still needed to check in and find their dorms. Rikard could be calling them later that evening to make sure everything had run as smoothly as planned and to verify that their false names and diplomas had withstood the strict legal systems.

"It's just over there," Nicholas went on to answer the blond's initial question, pointing to a smaller building residing behind the main "hall". "Though I think getting there is going to prove a tad bit more difficult than I'd thought."

Milo scowled. "Define 'a tad'."

Nicholas gestured with a hand to the bustling main drag of vendors, excited students, and equally excited professors all out and about and mingling in the main path, making it virtually impossible to continue down the graveled walkway without having to pass through the middle of the festivities.

"No big deal," Milo scoffed, brushing off Nicholas's sour mood, taking his arm and gently tugging him off to the side through an open patch of grass and field. "We can take a shortcut this way. No one will mind. Trust me. I've been to enough colleges."

"Not this one, I hope," Nicholas fretted.

"No, thankfully, not this one."

"Good, because that might have presented us with a problem."

"Nah. Besides, I'm not Milo Astor III here. I'm Alex Harper, engineer and tech extraordinaire. At your service, my liege." He mock-bowed and Nicholas roughly shoved him to the side to continue marching through the high grass, nearly knocking the man off his feet.

"You're a dork."

"Well, so are you. Read that fancy piece of paper again. Make sure we're going to the right place."

"We're going the right way, man," Nicholas huffed, even as he moved to obey. "The campus isn't that big. Sooner or later, we have to wander upon the right building, right?"

"Yeah, but let's not forget, Rikard wants a progress update soon, so it would probably be better if we spent the majority of our energy trying to track down this possible agent, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, you're probably right," Nicholas sighed, taking out his phone and bleakly beginning to skim through the slightly cracked screen, "but how are we supposed to find this girl anyway? There have to be a thousand girls on this campus alone, not even counting the professors. All we have to go on is a dark, foggy picture of someone who may or may not wear glasses. That doesn't really narrow it down too much."

"Well, we know it has to be someone on this campus," Milo reasoned, "as a number of encrypted emails to a known criminal website have come from a computer in this school. And the lab with the laptop with the given IP address is in the medical wing, which leads Rikard to believe whoever is behind these messages is in one of the health-science courses."

"Which is why I'm being forced to take anatomy," Nicholas sighed, finally fitting two and two together. "Because you're hoping I'll get lucky and have a confrontation with our spy."

"I'd say that's a pretty good wager."

"Yeah, that sounds like Rikard," Nicholas grunted, perhaps not as surprised by this turn of events as he maybe should have been. Rikard was a crafty kid and, honestly, it didn't stretch his imagination to suppose the boy had set him up intentionally. "Let's just hope we get lucky."

"Well, we're not getting anywhere standing out here being roasted alive," Milo pointed out, eyeing the cloudless sky. The lump under his shirt wriggled as Trekk gave his unspoken consent. "How much further do we have to walk? I wore the wrong shoes for this today."

Nicholas rolled his eyes and pointed to the upper corner of the map. "It's just a little further. Behind there, I think. Admissions hall. Yes, I translated that right. It's right there." He gestured to the small structure where a number of civilians were crowded into an extended line. The queue expanded halfway across the campus and showed no signs of letting up soon as even more students moved to register.

"Oh, well, that's lovely."

Nicholas groaned in agreement, wiping his hair out of his eyes and hitching his backpack further up onto his shoulders, feeling Lorr squirm uncomfortably inside. "Well, do you have any better ideas?" He glanced around at the field, his attention grabbed by several groups of students all gathered around a small pit, engaged in some kind of game with a ball and a wooden hexagon.

"No...what are they doing?" Milo inquired as a number of them burst out laughing and hauled themselves out of the pit.

Nicholas shrugged, having never seen anything like it. Even if he had, it wasn't like he'd had any friends who would have attempted it with him. But...it did look like fun.

"You mean those guys over there?"

Both boys started at a soft voice coming from directly behind him and they spun to find the owner sitting against the roots of a large maple tree. Two pools of aquamarine blinked behind thick anime-like lenses and a nervous smile spread across the teen's face as she raised her eyes from a thick notebook, pencil hovering over the paper midthought.

"Oh, hello," Milo coughed, attempting to straighten his wrinkled appearance while Nicholas groaned again and rolled his eyes at his best friend's antics.

"Hi," the girl responded quietly. "Gaga ball."

"I'm sorry, what now?" Nicholas asked as Milo deflated, fearing he'd just been insulted by the first female they'd managed to have an actual conversation with.

"The game." She pointed with her eraser. "I accent your li-I like your accent, sorry." She flushed slightly, retreating further into the social anxiety Nicholas could literally feel radiating around her. "And I...I know that...that to you, I'm the one with the accent, but...I just wanted to...to...yeah, o-okay, I'm...going to shut up n-now. I'm sorry. So sorry."

"Uh, thanks?" Nicholas chuckled, recognizing the same self-conscious uncertainty he'd had as a teenager (and, quite frankly, had never really grown out of). "I...like yours too? Is that the proper way to respond to that? Sorry, posh manners aren't really my forte."

"Oh my word," Grimm moaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And here we go. Awkward Encounters with Human Beings Take Two."

They both ignored him.

Cautiously, the girl let her gaze drift from Nicholas to Grimm and back to the Moroccan once again. "Okay it's-it's okay," she corrected, momentarily squeezing her eyes shut in an unconscious form of self-berating. "Freshmen?" she went on once she had regained her composure.

Nicholas paused, confused by the sudden change in attitude, and looked to Milo for an explanation.

"Yeah, we're freshmen," the blond confirmed. "How'd you know?"

The girl laughed, her embarrassment fading to amusement. "Well, for starters, you are both walking around looking completely clueless. Believe me, I know what that looks like. I expect you're searching for the admissions office. Everyone is these days. Secondly," And she grinned even bolder as she pointed to the map Nicholas was holding, "you're reading that upside down."

Nicholas frowned and flipped the pamphlet over as Lorr chittered mockingly. "Oh..."

She giggled, jerking a thumb over her shoulder as she returned to staring at her notebook. "Admissions is over that way," she mumbled, bashful once more. "Last building on the right, second end from the door-second door from the end. If you hurry, you can probably make it before the line gets super long again."

You should really go then, Nicholas, Lorr encouraged as Milo nodded his consent and began walking in the direction the girl had gestured. You do not want to be late for the Guardian's summons.

Right, thanks, Lorr. "Er..." he began and the girl's warm gaze flicked back to meet his. His breath hitched and the words he fully had prepared to beat a hasty retreat vanished, leaving him stumbling and scrambling for coherent sounds. "Well, um, shukran and...ah...maybe I'll...we'll...see you around then?"

"Yeah," she smiled anxiously. "Maybe so. Good luck."

"Uh...good luck...?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "With getting through admissions?"

Nicholas could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. "Oh, r-right. Thanks. Good l-luck with your...ah...essay?"

She beamed easily. "Thank you. You'd better go after your friend now." She nodded toward Milo who was already a good distance ahead, ducking under a stray soccer ball and tossing it back to the participants with a fancy, showboating swing. "He's clearly having way too much fun."

Nicholas snorted, allowing himself a brief smile before taking her advice and hurrying after the blond just as a second ball came soaring for his face.

"Enjoying yourself?" he teased as Milo effortlessly caught the projectile and hurled it back across the park possibly a little harder than was necessary. "Maybe once we catch this spy, you should join the football team."

"Are we talking your football or mine?" Milo chuckled.

"With Trekk's superstrength-enhancing abilities, does it make a difference?"

The man smiled. "No, not really. Perhaps I should. Maybe someone there will actually know how to read a map." He shoved Nicholas playfully to the side, learning a wounded pout from the holder as he picked up his pace, nearing the end of the field. They were approaching the final building now, the bold-faced sign confirming their destination.

"Harsh. That's really harsh, man. Be honest, you need me. I'm the one who figured out the whole science-health thing and the best way to track our thief."

Milo scoffed. "You're not the only super-spy here, James Bond. I would have figured it out too, you know."

"Oh, yeah," Nicholas agreed insincerely. "Eventually. After about a hundred years, maybe."

"Oh, you are the worst. The absolute worst. Just get inside and sign us in before I have to take you out myself." Milo heaved open the door and shoved Nicholas ahead of him, ignoring the man's continued laughter.

Neither of them noticed the curious eyes that followed their steps until they were long out of sight and the door was closed firmly behind them.

"Lorr, Trekk, come on and check this place out!" Milo exclaimed with a belt of excitement, spinning throughout the narrow room and coming to lean against the lower of the two bunks while Nicholas slipped into their assigned dorm much more cautiously, quietly latching the thin frame before stuffing his hands into his pockets and calmly gazing around at the small (but roomy) residence the college had provided them.

One on side, a set of bunks lined the wall adjacent to the window, and across the way, two thick oak desks and dressers were already prearranged for them (though he had a feeling Milo would want to do some redecorating before too long). He sighed, grateful that the two of them had ended up as roommates. It would have been extremely difficult to explain a magical flying pigeon-hippogriff to anyone else, not to mention extremely risky for both his safety and Milo's.

"Nick, look at this place!" Milo went on, swooping back over to toss an arm over the man's shoulders and drag him more firmly into the room. "I'll bet we got the nicest gigs on campus! Everyone is going to be so jealous!"

He was acting so much like a kid in a candy shop that Nicholas could only grin along with him as he moved to set his backpack down on the desk and unlatched the zipper. Lorr waited patiently to make sure the coast was clear before letting himself out, floating into the air and spiraling around Nicholas's head, sending a shower of feathers raining down on the boy's head.

Nicholas brushed them out of his hair, already working to unpack his things, and set a framed photo of his family on the desk closest to the door. He paused upon seeing the image of himself, several years younger, his mom and dad on either side of him and Nino hunched squarely on his shoulders, trying his very best not to topple off. Layla looked ready to lunge if that event were to ever happen while Ali just looked on and laughed, clearly less concerned about the dangerous consequences than his wife.

Nicholas smiled, recalling that day. It had been right after Nino's third birthday party when they had first discovered that both boys would require some means of corrective lenses. His parents decided to give Nino a few years to see if he would "grow out of it" and had made the decision to go ahead and let Nicholas have contacts. Less costly and less likely to need replacing every two weeks after taking another bashing to the face was the excuse they had given then. It still held true to that day, though Nicholas did notice that his vision tended to be less blurred whenever he transformed. He chalked that up to another of Lorr's many hidden talents.

"Yeah," he agreed, wrenching his gaze from the picture in time to see Milo chuck his bag onto the floor carelessly. "It is pretty nice. A bit on the plain side, but I think we can work on that. We want to make it look like we are actually planning on spending time here."

"Exactly," Milo affirmed, flopping down onto a beanbag chair and shoving his earbuds in. "And who knows, maybe this agent will be harder to find than anyone thinks and we'll leave here with full degrees."

Or get caught falsifying our identities, recognized, and then thrown in prison for the next half-century while our miraculouses get confiscated and then stolen by the thieves so that way Su-Han will never trust me enough to tell what my father was neck-deep in, Nicholas added bleakly. "That's assuming we are going to be stuck here for a really long time. And I for one do not plan to make this an extended stay."

Milo opened one eye tiredly. "I thought you were the one who wanted to finish high school," he reasoned. "Whatever happened to that plan?"

"Yeah, well, that plan didn't really involve being surrounded by kids who only want to party and play football. Your football, not mine."

"Not to mention all of the pretty girls who absolutely would fall madly in love with you," Milo teased. "Such as; hint hint, certain brunettes sitting under certain trees in certain fields."

Nicholas felt the scarlet creep up his neck, his mouth already open to form the protest. "No! That's not...she's like...ten years younger than me! I mean, yeah, she's cute but no!"

The smallest of smirks spread across the man's lips as he leaned back into his chair and rested his arms behind his head. "Whatever you say, dude. If you don't go for it, I might."

Nicholas threw up his hands. "I can't believe we are actually discussing girls right now! We're on a mission, Milo! This woman is just a distraction!"

"A pretty distraction."

"Milo, no."

"Fine," the blond caved, crossing his arms and winking at Trekk who merely stared. "Party pooper."

"We should be getting ready for Rikard," Nicholas went on, spinning around and yanking out his laptop, grateful to have something to change the topic. "He should be calling soon, and," He shot his watch a look, "I have my first class in an hour."

"You know you're just trying to dodge my point because I'm right. She's a suspect too, just so you don't get too attached."

"I literally spoke to her for a minute in a half, I'm not attached." Nicholas finished connecting to the free wifi before spinning to face his partner before he finally connected what the man had said. "What?"

"You didn't see her notebook? There was an abbreviated sticker on the front upper corner. I recognized it from one of the banners on the way in. She's in one of the health courses, dude. She could just as easily be our spy."

Nicholas groaned and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Great."

How'd I miss that? he wondered to himself, waiting for the inevitable response from the creature currently masquerading as his conscious.

Do you wish for the obvious answer or a well-fabricated deception? Lorr offered. I believe you may have fallen victim to her natural charisma. She was, from my understanding, a very unique young human.

Really, really not helping me here, Lorr.

There was a resounding beep from the computer and both boys hastily scrambled to hit the video feed. Nicholas reached it first and Milo sat down on the edge of the bed next to him as the internet buffered.

"Well, look at it this way, unless she is the sleeper agent, you may get lucky. Maybe you won't ever have to see her again. That will solve all of our problems, especially if you didn't find her attractive, right? Nothing to worry about."

"Right," Nicholas plastered on a forced smile as the screen flickered to life and the familiar devious brunette's face appeared onscreen. "Nothing to worry about at all."

"Hey, guys!" Rikard called, waving cheerfully. "So, how goes the first day?"

Both males collectively groaned.