Edward drifted in and out of sleep; it was a habit, one that he had no intention of correcting in the future. He liked sleep, because with sleep came dreams, and he adored dreams - especially when he woke up in one that wasn't his. It was always a treat - like a little peak into the purest depths of a persons soul. Nightmares where also fun, but not nearly as much. as dreams were; usually nightmares tended to feel the same, with the usual elements of fear laced within - unless of course, said person was afraid of some truly extraordinary things, in which case, nightmares tended to be hilarious.
He chortled quietly as he recalled a certain nightmare involving tuna and peanut-butter . . .
In any case, when the transport bringing him, and a dozen or so other students, lurched to a halt, he finally snapped out of his dreary state. They'd arrived.
Pakora Academy was the number one school for demi-humans, and as a school alone it was one of the best, or so he'd heard; he hand't had much of a school life to compare it with. Matthew had homeschooled him on near everything. Social interaction was learned from interacting with various people on the streets while hunting for cults, or otherwise on the streets. Not exactly a normal learning method, but it suited him just fine. The academy, despite its preference for demi-humans, was still a good enough institution that there was a sizable amount of purely human students attending; students that he was arriving with now.
The humans with him looked around in awe and a hesitant sort of fear. There were all kinds of creatures here, some straight of myth and legend. Demi-humans, even if people were aware of their existence, were still relatively rare to encounter, so Edward was sure that for normal humans, seeing such a large gathering of them would cause at least some mild apprehension.
Because, despite them not being overtly hostile, each and every human here was aware that many here could kill them without so much as a struggle.
It fear from that knowledge that Edward would have to struggle with others; he knew what true monsters were like, and children were children, despite the difference in race and ability - as such, they shouldn't have to fear for their lives, nor have to experience being feared so intensely.
They were herded into the auditorium, and Edward felt a small smile grace form across his face. It was adorable, really. Fear and apprehension had given way to one of the most universal feelings in the world - boredom and annoyance; not even demi-humans wanted to put up with old men and their repetitive speeches.
Those feelings were again quickly swapped with excitement. Rather than the boring auditorium like what was expected, they were instead treated to what looked more like a huge party. Food was lined up on the side, and welcoming decorations were placed all over the walls and ceilings.
Time passed quickly, with the ceremony - if such an informal event could even be called that - ending with the speech of the highly cheerful and bubbly Student Council President. He was honestly tempted to laugh as she fumbled through her speech, still managing to grin, despite the rather obvious choke at the beginning.
With the ceremony over and the party officially underway, several students began getting up. Others went to leave immediately, while most began chatting with each other.
Edward, on the other hand, had his eyes on a certain ghost. Laughing internally, he could feel her desire to . . . interact, people. He could feel the accidental front she put up, and the nervous girl underneath - some things, it seemed, didn't change, even after death.
When another girl physically crashed
through her, a snort of amusement escaped unbidden through his lips. Now that was just uncalled for! he thought with a grin.
Deciding to lend the poor girl a hand, he got up, and literally offered her a hand.
"Hey there," he asked, grinning slightly. "Need any help?"
Afterwards, he looked up at the other girl, and smiled. "Hey, no need to be so nervous. Your face's going all stiff, you know?"
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