[Memory] The Young Apprentice

Nauleth, please!

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Drezda Ecks
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Mon Jul 23, 2018 6:57 pm

Intas 8, 2711 - Library
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Drezda was mildly irritated. She hadn't expected her final year in Brunnhold to start off like this, Professor Dallium saddling her with a younger student to tutor. It wasn't that she disliked the professor - far from it actually - but she resented the fact that she had had to accept this task to continue to appear good in the woman's eyes. She could have flat out refused, even citing her ill experiences in the past as a valid excuse. Except... she had tried to pull that excuse, saying how she'd be delighted to be of assistance but...

Unfortunately, Dallium knew about her past tutoring attempts, knew something of her personality although Drezda had been very careful to hold the true depths of what she was, a difficult thing to do around a skilled perceptive. Apparently, she simply thought that the Hoxian had attempted to teach those who were ill-suited to her, personalities incongruous with her own. Dallium seemed to think that this particular young man would be quite well suited to her. If the professor was correct then Drezda might actually have reason to worry; if anyone could match her with a kindred spirit then they had far too much insight into her real personality. It would be unfortunate if Dallium knew the truth because it would make all of her attempts to present herself in a particular way quite useless in hindsight.

Still, she couldn't deny that she was one of the best - probably the best - Perceptive Conversationalist in her year group so final year and awful past tutoring aside, she was obviously an excellent choice - on paper at least.

She'd been told to meet the male student by the name of Nauleth Siordanti in the Reading Room of Brunnhold's library. The name was familiar for some reason but she hadn't bothered to investigate; being told that he was a sixth year had thoroughly killed any curiosity she might have mustered. Although perhaps it would have been wise, if only to gain a better sense of what the young man looked like. Dallium had explained that he was very typical of an Anaxi galdor with the proper red hair and everything albeit taller than usual. Beyond his unusual height, the professor had been oddly cryptic about the boy, saying something about how the two sides of his face were asymmetrical and Drezda would understand when she met him; apparently he was unmistakeable. There had seemed to be something that went unsaid but she hadn't had the patience to approach the matter with the necessary tact and careful conversation. The Hoxian had simply agreed and allowed the meeting to be arranged.

The young woman had actually arrived early to the meeting. It wasn't a matter of eagerness on her part but rather the fact that she didn't want to try to pick his face out of a sea of similar ones. There were other Hoxians at Brunnhold of course but she knew that her features were distinctive enough that this Nauleth would have an easier time locating her than the other way around.

So Drezda had settled herself somewhat rigidly in a seat in the Reading Room, a book about advanced applications of Perceptive Conversation open before her. Such a book would be far above the level of the student she was apparently set to teach but just because she was tutoring didn't mean that her own education had to be neglected.
Last edited by Drezda Ecks on Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Nauleth Siordanti
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: Magus in the Making
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Fri Aug 03, 2018 12:31 pm

8th of Intas, 2711
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He didn't really need the tutoring, and the young Siordanti resented the suggestion with a vehemence he'd once reserved for his conversations with the Mona on the Field of Practical Application. Every professor had wanted to hold his clocking hand, to gingerly step around his past year of recovery, to gallantly attempt not to stare at his face in curiosity all because of his own mistakes. Everyone doubted he was capable—of repairing his relationship with the mona, of moving past his self-wrought injuries, of becoming a better man by actually clocking bothering to learn from his mistakes. It was maddening. It was discouraging.

But this?

This was fucking salt in the wound.

Freckled fingers fussed with the buttons at the collar of his uniform, feeling confined by their closeness and uncaring if he stayed in dress code by rebelliously undoing the first and then the second as he shouldered his way into the library and past a few third forms with a quiet but surprisingly polite,

"Excuse me."

Had the younger students known who he'd once been, perhaps they would have cowered before him or scattered into the stacks. Instead, they glared and seemed to walk slower, taking their time moving out of his way as if they had nothing better to do than waste his clocking time. Naul sighed, gold-rimmed gaze staring upward at the decorated ceiling of the library in an attempt to calm down, anger simmering in his field for a moment before he could focus, the nervous, jittery feeling under his skin not disappearing despite his best efforts. He'd rather be here alone. Or, better yet, nestled in some dark mausoleum in the Crypts, curled up with a pile of old grimoires taking notes without worry of interruption or ... what was this? Clocking guidance?

He didn't need some older student to council him.

Had he not paid the price for his insolent youth enough already? Had Professor Hulle not made him feel like a cripple? Had Ophelia herself not made him feel like a fool? Had the lack of correspondence from his parents not made him feel like enough of an idiot? Had the wary gazes of all his peers not reminded him he had been stupid? Had every time he looked in a mirror and watched the uneven blink of his eyes or the lazy lopsidedness of his smile not been enough?

Apparently, it wasn't.

Slowly, standing in the foyer like some bug-eyed first form, the young Siordanti got a clocking firm grip on himself, tamed his scattered field, gathering the Physical mona that had become his comfort and the Perceptive mona that had become his curiosity into a more reasonable sort of collection near his person. He tucked away his indignant frustration and attempted to find some perspective, but it was difficult.

He didn't need this, but perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing to make connections. Nauleth didn't want friends, and he didn't need inferior study partners, no matter if this Drezda Ecks was in her final form or not. He knew his own skills and talents, he knew his own potential, and while he'd suffered (and suffered, and suffered) from the setbacks of his own making, he was more than ready for a change. A change by his own hand, thank you so very clocking much.

The tall red head sighed, exhaling through his nose slowly before he began to make his way through the library, aware that he was looking for a young Hoxian woman. He wandered the stacks for an extra moment or two before walking toward the Reading Room, ignoring the glances of his peers—a handful of students from his own form studying together at a table looking up at the unmistakable freckled face of the young Siordanti as he briskly strode past them.

There, under the illusion of being settled and patient, was the dark-haired young foreigner he was expected to meet. She had a book in her lap and honestly, all things considered, didn't even appear to need or want his company. Maybe, just maybe, if he slipped away now no one would tell Professor Dallium and the pair of them could just go on with their studies. Separately.

No.

Nauleth had himself to prove to all the clocking doubters, to the faculty who'd judged him unworthy.

Clearing his throat as he slowed his approach, the tall Anaxi was aware that his smile of introduction formed on his freckled face on the right side before the left,

"Miss Ecks? Good afternoon. I'm Nauleth Siordanti—your, uh, pupil." Had he heard a few whispers from other students about the Hoxian? Sure. Did he believe any of them? No, but only because he knew what everyone else said about him most of the clocking time. He didn't stick out his hand as expected in Anaxi greeting, instead quite aware of Hoxian customs thanks to his upbringing in an Incumbent's home. He bowed curtly instead, not too low as they were still peers as students and keeping his eyes raised instead of lowered because he wasn't a servant by any means. Then he straightened again, meeting Drezda's gaze patiently while he restlessly shoved his hands into his pockets for lack of something else to do with them.

"I don't know if Professor Dallium said anything, but Perceptive Conversation isn't my focus." As if the other galdor couldn't tell by the very gravity that seemed to weigh down his field, so heavy with Physical mona as it was. He blinked, right eye before the left almost imperceptibly, and shrugged, "But I've considered pursuing a teaching position when I graduate and have thus decided that Perceptive would be a reliable secondary study."

The end of his last sentence almost sounded like a question. Was he asking her opinion? Was he offering her a way out of tutoring? Both were possible. Even Naul couldn't tell.
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Drezda Ecks
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Sat Aug 04, 2018 8:23 pm

Intas 8, 2711
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As she waited, people passed by close enough to make her glance up, wondering if this was the boy she was meant to meet. Most of them were simply passing, her glance their way a cursory one as they showed no sign of recognition; they didn't even seem to be searching. Her interest in them was gone instantly, her nose firmly buried in her book once more. Hence, when another person approached, she glanced up, half expecting to look away again, eyes almost glazed over with disinterest.

However, when she saw who it was, she froze in place, blinking in surprise. The name hadn't clicked in her mind before although there had certainly been familiarity. Now that she was face to face with him though, she knew exactly who he was.

Younger than her but quite infamous, this was the bully boy who'd brailed during a duel. It had been no casual brail either; he'd suffered from backlash and had been lucky to survive. She'd heard that his face wasn't right anymore. Dallium had said that his face wasn't symmetrical and she had been right, she did understand it now that she could see it; the two sides of his face were out of sync. She'd looked up in time to see his smile form, the left side slower to take the expression, a lopsided delay. The way he blinked was more unsettling if she was honest. Unsettling and deeply, deeply fascinating. It caused a flicker in her field, the surprise registering for a brief second before the neutrality resettled.

"Good afternoon, Mister Siordanti. Not pupil, please. I'm not a professor," she explained, setting her book aside and standing to return his bow out of pure politeness, mirrored but not to the same depth as him. She straightened, brushing hands over her hair to tuck the straight strands behind her ears. Her head turned as she scouted for a table, choosing the best place for them to sit where they wouldn't be disturbed but where conversation - of the non-magical kind - would be permitted. If they conversed here, it was unlikely that anyone would mind so this would suffice for the time being.

"She didn't mention your focus to me and I didn't ask but yes, I can sense where your interests lie," the Hoxian commented dryly. Physical Conversation, such a waste of a focus in her opinion. To think that one could utilise the mona to do such fantastic things and some people chose to waste it on something so uncouth. She thought similar things about Static Conversation, preferring magic that was subtler in application. It was why she delighted in Perceptive. Living had its uses as well, still carrying the intimacy of her preferred conversation.

She didn't feel the need to deride his focus though, not to him anyway. She was trying to appear nice for the most part, or at least, hide her darker impulses. In truth, it didn't matter if people saw her as a bitch but sometimes she had to make the effort. Thus, inwardly, she looked down her nose at him but on the outside, she simply raised her brows. Teaching. He wanted to teach his focus and use her own as a means to understand students, no doubt.

"You're interested in teaching? You intend to pass on your... own unique magical perspective?" she questioned softly, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly. Oh that was funny. What an interesting lesson he could pass on to future generations! He could serve as a warning of what could happen if you were an idiot with the mona. He didn't need to teach for that. Oh she could imagine how it would go for him. Some students would pity him, some would mock him behind his back. Actually, the one's that pitied him would likely mock him too and all of them would be glad that it wasn't them.

"I can see how Perceptive Conversation could be advantageous in a teaching position... if you really want to have an idea what people are thinking... and for crowd control, of course," she added with a soft laugh as if that bit was obvious.

"Come, we can sit over there and we'll see what can be done for you. I should warn you, I haven't tutored in a few years but I'm doing this as a favour for Professor Dallium. She says we're... compatible," Drezda explained in an off-hand manner, gathering her things and moving past him to the table that she'd indicated.
Last edited by Drezda Ecks on Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nauleth Siordanti
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: Magus in the Making
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Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:49 pm

8th of Intas, 2711
"Clearly." Naul returned an equally dry riposte to the older Hoxian student's comment about being able to sense the weight of mona in his field. That was somewhat of a moot point, honestly, and while he didn't feel the need nor desire to defend his choices or his interests, there was an air about Miss Ecks that already set him on a strange edge. Perhaps he could talk his way out of his so-called opportunity and be done with it.

But, well, then the young woman had the nerve to mock him.

"Clocking hell, I suppose that's warranted, but considering my extensive personal reformation with my relationship to the mona, I think I'm in a rather unique position to, indeed, pass on my magical perspective to others as you so eloquently attempted to put it. Thank you." The young Siordanti's response was deadpan, but beneath the stoic persistence was a passion that didn't come from a place of hurt or defensiveness, no. He alone knew the kind of work he'd accomplished and he was quite comfortable with his successes, regardless of what it took to put him in his place to begin with.

Drezda attempted to cover her insult with humor and neither side of Nauleth's face lilted into even a hint of a smile, "Why wouldn't I want to have an idea of what my students were thinking or feeling? Isn't that all rather advantageous in the privilege of teaching for galdorkind?" His sea glass-colored eyes narrowed and the red head's brows drew together in a look of frustrated puzzlement as if the Hoxian before him was just some other spell to be taken apart and analyzed before rewriting into something better.

He eyed her choice of table and shrugged, having not set down his things, turning to follow her while he raised a hand to his uniform collar, fussing with buttons, "Given Professor Dallium's reluctance to allow me into her classes for next year, I'm assuming that her suggestion of you as a tutor was some way of assessing my fit for the Conversation. I suppose with perceptive magic, compatibility is an advantage, but I can't be ersed to take lessons from someone who's already dismissed my potential in the moment they've met me, Miss Ecks."

To say that Naul's tone was one of challenge would have been a vast understatement, but he spoke his mind without a hint of shame, reaching to pull out a chair and set his bag down as if he was more than content to see just how much of Drezda he could stand before walking out of the library disappointed yet again.

"I suggest you don't fall into the trap the rest of my clocking peers have, lest you prove you're just as inferior as the rest of them. I'd hate to be disappointed in Dallium's glowing recommendation." Fingers waggled past the left side of his face in dismissive admission, and the tall Anaxi sat, expectant.
Welcome to Brunnhold, stop-clocker, now go home.
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Drezda Ecks
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Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:41 pm

Intas 8, 2711
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Had she intended to make the effort not to be a bitch? Yes, she believed so. To be fair, she could have been a lot worse, at least she'd made some thinly veiled attempts to hide the bitchy comments but they probably just made the words all the more cruel in their underhandedness. Well, if there was no facade then there was no harm in offering truth and in any case, if they were going to be in close proximity then she couldn't lie perfectly; her field would likely give something away.

So truth it would be!

Still, she let him talk, setting her belongings down with a pensive expression on her face. She seated herself, not quite as ram-rod straight as she leaned forward slightly, placing lightly clasped hands on the table as she crossed her legs beneath it.

"Are you quite finished making your judgements about my judgements of you?" she retorted, a brow quirked. "Are you used to people being careful around you as if you're a scrap that might explode without warning at any moment? Well, I'm sure that's how those who are in authority treat you, your teachers and such. Your peers probably laugh behind their hands and act sorry for you to your face? Yes, well, I'm neither. I might be senior to you but I'm not an authority figure and I'm older than you so I'm not your clocking peer. And don't say that the difference between us isn't much because I've had more years with a declared focus than you, closer to being spat out into the world too so it makes a world of difference now although it won't in five."

The Hoxian considered him in silence for a few moments, head tilted to the side. "Everyone seems to think that my people aren't judgemental but we are, probably more so than Anaxi. We don't have many passives in Hox, very, very few in fact, they're rare and so our bloodlines are considered very, very pure. Do you know one of the reasons we think passivity happens? Monic relationship. If you had an ill relationship once then it doesn't matter how much you beg the mona, many Hoxians would consider it irreparable like shattering a glass and trying to put it back together without it leaking. Mona remembers and so we think that memory can taint a bloodline. A woman wouldn't want you to sire her children, if you bred it could be considered grossly irresponsible. If you were to attempt to teach at Frecksat, it might be decided that you shouldn't be allowed near our young. What if you tainted them by being in their proximity? What if you inadvertently taught them to repeat your mistakes or did it on purpose out of spite?"

She let her words hang in the air between them for a moment before she leaned back, allowing herself to recline slightly, making herself comfortable.

"Me? I don't care. I'm a Perceptive, I dabble in things that would be disapproved of in my Kingdom. Emotion. I've grown up in a Kingdom where your face gives away little or nothing of what you truly are so... appearances? Deceptive. However, I don't think it takes a Perceptive to see how embittered you are. You think everyone's going to judge you and have to snap at them. Well, guess what? They are going to judge you and if you want to teach galdori youth then you'll need to get over that. If you think that your peers are bad, imagine what they'd be like if they had no feeling of camaraderie towards you. If they were your students."

The young woman moved to take materials out of her bag but paused, turning her attention back to him, still poised to prepare herself. "I haven't dismissed your potential, Mister Siordanti. I can tell that you've the makings of an indectal field, there's fair strength there for your age and you've room for growth. Your magical potential doesn't worry me. Your monic relationship doesn't worry me. If you hadn't repaired it sufficiently then I doubt that you'd be sitting in front of me. However, I do take issue with the fact that you're setting yourself up for the prospect that I'll treat you the way that everybody else has and you can trot off feeling that your bitterness is justified. If you want to whine like a child and set yourself up not to succeed by avoiding opportunities altogether then go right ahead. Please, prove to Professor Dallium that she was right in thinking that you couldn't do this."

She took out paper, pen, the book she'd been studying before he arrived and some other books more suitable to his level.

"You might think it a privilege to teach galdorkind, Mister Siordanti, but there are plenty of galdor who are honestly just a waste of resources. If you choose to be one of them then please let me know because then I can get on with my own studies," she explained, indicating her own book before moving her hand to gesture at the ones that she'd brought for him. "Or you can actually get on with things without all the bitterness and the self-pity and just do it."

The final year girl watched him expectantly, wondering if he'd decide to go back to talking about how everyone underestimated him and looked down on him. It was hardly ingratiating.
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