[@AThousandCurses]

[b][h3]APOTHECARY[/h3][/b]

"Asleep?! Khhhhh..."

Chloe stomped over to the door, back hunched over and face a storm of negative emotions. A strong gust of wind shook around her, pressure increasing with each step as she drew closer. Chunji's clothes would flutter as she approached, as if a wild autumn breeze were breaking out in the middle of a grassy field. "Some teacher, waking up later than his students. I'll go give him a first day wakeup that'll change his life!"

Right as a clenched hand was about to plunge through the middle of the door, however, Chloe stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened a moment, breath stopped; with Chunji's eyes, he could tell that her heart rate had spiked out of nowhere, her breath caught in her throat as her lungs struggled to push through some kind of shock. Nothing appeared wrong with her physically, but the recognition of something passed through her eyes, and then closed as if in comprehension of something in her head. A sigh escaped her, and all at once, the intense wind around her had dissipated. Her faculties had returned to her, and her body language had returned to a more neutral state.

"Ahem. As I was saying..."

The pink half-elf had seemingly shrugged off both her wrathful persona and her holier-than-thou posturing, shuffling ahead to open the door slowly, her focus looking anywhere but Chunji. Perhaps if she simply moved past it, he wouldn't realize anything even happened? Surely that was the correct play here. 

Chloe entered into the dim shed, briefly glancing around before finding the latch with a ladder leading down to the basement. Were Chunji to continue viewing the scene with his Ethos, he would see Chloe descend and approach the sleeping teacher, nearly on the tips of her toes. Rather than the enraged display she spoke of upstairs, the frill-elf decided instead to meekly poke at the man's shoulder and cheek until he stirred. What followed was minutes of them speaking to one another, the man slowly coming to while Chloe appeared to give apology bow after apology bow. Finally, the alchemist would scoop all of his loose papers into a folder and set it within one of his nearby filing cabinets, before beginning his ascent back towards Chunji alongside the now quiet half-elf.

The pair would arrive outside, Chloe slowly shuffling away from the man and closer towards Chunji, looking back at the alchemist. What Chunji would see would be a [url=https://i.pinimg.com/564x/3a/0d/73/3a0d733e52de6c079fc6db83c6d9b6ef.jpg]pale, haggard man[/url] slouching his way into the sunlight, the dark bags under his eyes almost seeming to meld into his flesh as permanent scars on his face.

"Dear me, dear me, it appears I dozed the night away. If not for your salient friend here, I fear I may have slept until the turn of the year. A teacher I wouldn't be, were I to laze until 1527. Heheheh..."

The man's chuckle caused his pointed, platinum-esque teeth to chatter, and his voice was a raspy monotone that gave off the air of one who was exhausted and yet tireless at the same time. His eyes burrowed into Chunji's, his thin black orbs staring miles into the boy as he cracked his own bony fingers and neck. They echoed like the snapping of dry bark and dead grass in the woods, and yet the alchemist didn't so much as wince at the sounds his body was making as he relieved himself of his stiffness.

"Arthritis flaring up, too... ah, but where are my manners? I am Lumyr, and in the years to come, I'll teach alchemy, herbology and research on The Decay. Ms. Steeler has already introduced herself, but I trust I'm able to have your name as well, mister...?"

One of those cold, concrete grey hands extended slowly towards Chunji. A grotesque grin formed on Lumyr's face as he continued to stare, unblinkingly, at the boy.

[hr]

[@Estylwen][@Psyker Landshark][@ERode]

[b][h3]CAFETERIA[/h3][/b]

The doll paced back and forth, staff slung over one shoulder as it hobbled back and forth through Iraleth's rejection, expression unclear. It made various 'hmmm', 'heee' and 'hawww' noises as it took in the Astran knight's words. For Ciara's part, as she gazed upon the pair, she would see two things that contrasted heavily: the doll's radiant light that stood out like a campfire in the woods, and the bucket boy's absolute lack of any light at all. The doll had the light of a pure and true saint, while the bucket boy didn't even possess the mundane grey light of the commonfolk, but well and truly nothing at all. 

"Alright, very well, I hath decided! You, Iraleth Kyrios, shall be an honorary member. You need not go through trial nor tribulation nor test of mettle, but may stand proud as an unofficial retainer to the Re'Gale family line regardless!"

As this declaration was made, the bucket boy began silently breakdancing in the background in celebration, drawing a small crowd of mildly impressed students golf clapping at the whelming display. A few would make remarks such as, "It's pretty good," or, "Respectable," and for a moment it almost felt as if the world had turned on its head. Even Bronsteel, from a distance at his own table, leaned over visibly to witness the bucket's head-spinning breakdance and gave a sizable, understanding "Huh," before returning to his food on his lonesome.

It was at that moment that the perfectly average display was interrupted by the sudden arrival of two more individuals. Davil crashed into the ground near Iraleth's feet, startling the doll backwards and causing the small crowd to disperse in surprise. The winged boy looked up at the ceiling while breathing like a hunted animal, having seen the pearly gates seconds prior before returning to this side of reality. Or had he? It might've been a stress induced hallucination, but he'd probably never know for sure. 

"I'm alive? I'm alive! Woooo!"

Davil jolted to his feet as Otis spoke, and quickly his joy turned into a blushing heap scrambling against the Strigidae's coat to 'shhh' him - but all too late, as the words had already escaped in that ever so stabbing matter-of-fact tone. Turning to Ciara with tomato cheeks, the crimson klutz would shrug and smile, and promptly shake his head defiantly. "Don't even worry about what the ol' chum's saying there, Ciara. He's probably crazy, or drunk, or something. You know how he is, I think."

The stone doll would proceed to slowly walk over and deliver a small kick to Davil's shin, which while not painful, did cause the boy to shamble to the side a few steps from the surprise. Davil would shout, "Heeeey! Someone's lost their familiar or their golem or something, someone restrain that thing."

"Oi. Shove off, you. His Majesty, me, was just finishing up the royal proceedings for the day," the doll would retort with a biting tone that was not present previously. "You are excused, Iraleth Kyrios."

Davil would simply turn to the rest of the group in confusion, shrugging once again as he backed away from the doll.