Heat Index

After taking to his side for a moment, Vela then took the lead with her stride to navigate them on the trails that led to the student housing. She looked to him with surprise to find out he, in fact, did not live there. “That's quite a distance. You must be serious about your schooling, then." She observed, worth an impressed nod in his direction. She slowed her gait at a crossroads, eyes turning up towards the sky as she took note of the evening that had drawn lowlight over the school grounds.

She watched him with curious, ears twitching before she turned her head down the path she was headed in a subtle gesture. While the school was a safe place, she despised walking alone in the dark, even for short distances. Any other female might have asked if he would accompany her on the walk, but Vela started moving in that direction, glancing over at her acquaintance and continuing their conversation, “What is it that you study, Gwydion?"

@Gwydion

She began leading him along the familiar pathways that led through the school grounds, heading towards the housing and he noticed it had grown darker out since he'd been inside. He didn't mind it as much, but he figured he'd have to find a place to crash before too long because heading back to Perth would take a while. "Yeah, I guess." he commented about his studies. He should probably be more serious if he were ever going to graduate but he'd been learning a lot while at school -- more than he ever had out in the 'wild' so to speak. He felt like he could be of proper use to someone who was injured now, at the very least.

It was then that Vela spoke again, asking him what he studied. "Medicine, mostly." he said. There were other things but that was his primary focus. "I wanted to become someone who could help others, maybe not a doctor exactly but close enough to one that I'd be useful." he said. He didn't want to spend years and years in college and frankly he didn't know if he was going to graduate or drop out at a certain point. So far the school thing wasn't terrible but it was hard.



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The boy didn't seem too passionate about school, but then he mentioned his area of study. That is what piqued her interest fully. Vela even slowed her steps to continue their conversation, her smile a fair bit brighter as she spoke. “Ah, Medical Sciences! That is quite the endeavor, but it is a great way to help our common wolf, as you say." Her expression grew thoughtful as she could only imagine what sort of classes he might be taking. “I might have leaned that way myself, except that bodily things make me feel squeamish and I have been told by Bastien when he was ill that I have a horrible bedside manner." She shared this part of her as though it were simply fact, proved by observation, which it certainly was.

They drew closer to the housing buildings and she waved him in an outdoor corridor that led into a courtyard. Vela looked about until she spotted the entryway that led to her own quarters and she gestured for him to follow as she entered. She dropped the books in an area of the room that other study materials were organized. There was a plush seating area that was part of her cozy study corner that she'd put together. It was evident that she was also not the only one who temporarily lived here, although no one else was present. Looking to Gwydion she smiled and pointed her paw towards a bed at the opposite of the room. “Miriam is usually here, but she is traveling to visit family this week. Good thing too, I focus better without her being so loud."

@Gwydion

It was at his mentioning of his studies that she seemed to brighten up some and he looked at her curiously. She was a girl who took studying and work very seriously, he gathered. They seemed a bit opposite when it came to that. He was surprised she was giving him the time of day at all, but glad for it. It was nice to meet someone new and maybe make a friend. He had friends here but nobody he was truly close to.

He chuckled when she mentioned she might have gone into his area of study if not for the fact that it made her squeamish at times. And then she mentioned a 'Bastien' and he tilted his head, wondering who that was. A friend? A family member? "I'm sure your bedside manner is fine!" he said. "Who is Bastien? A friend of yours?" he inquired as they reached her quarters. He hesitated outside for a moment before joining her inside and settling in with her comment about Miriam being too loud. Probably her house mate, by the way she pointed to her empty bed.

"Too loud, huh?" he said with a smile. "You'd not like living with my family then, my sister is pretty loud too. Which is weird considering she married Mr. Silent." he joked, trying to ease up some of the nerves he felt just by being in a girls room. He was certain there was no reason to be nervous about anything but that was not something he was able to control. "My brother is a pretty quiet guy... I guess Imm somewhere in the middle." he added. He could be both, if he wanted to.
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Vela shook her head insistently as Gwydion attempted to downplay her admitted flaw. “No, really, it's horrendous! Once when Bastien was ill, I told him he looked like he'd seen death and that the conversation did not go well." She explained in order to provide the proof of her negative self assessment in the manner of medical practice aptitude. The only clarifying question that her fellow student seemed to have was about who Bastien was.

She blinked at him, puzzled for a moment as she'd never been given the opportunity to answer a question like this before. “Oh, well, Bastien is my guardian. He raised me." Vela moved ahead of him into the dorm room, not thinking too much of the inquiry. When she's settled herself down, she looked to Gwydion expectantly and gestured to a number of places for him to make himself comfortable. “You can sit anywhere you'd like, you don't have to stand there."

Sharing her experience with Miriam seemed to spark conversation of Gwydion's family. Her nose wrinkled slightly, imagining a large family that he was a part of that never had a moment of peace and quiet. She always had to remind herself that up until now, all she knew was Bastien's presence when he was actually around to be present. Otherwise, she found ways to keep herself entertained and all of them were relatively quiet activities.

“Don't misunderstand..." Vela started, suddenly feeling a bit guilty about how she might have depicted her roommate. “Miriam is a wonderful girl, she just...doesn't stop talking, and she stomps when she walks, and smacks when she chews, and she breathes very heavily when she sleeps..." She went down her list of loud things that Miriam did and then regarded Gwydion while he labeled himself as somewhere in the middle of the loudness scale. “Yes, of course you are. I would certainly tell you if you were loud, no need to worry about that." She smiled at him as if she would be doing him a favor by monitoring his volume.

@Gwydion

He let out a laugh when she explained her terrible bedside manner to him. "Okay, that is a little bad," he agreed. She then told him that Bastien was her guardian and he nodded his head. "Oh, I see!" he said as she offered him a seat anywhere. He chose a spot easily, one near her, and settled down.

It was then that Vela began talking about this Miriam character and all her little quirks. Gwydion stifled another laugh, shaking his head. "She sounds quite wonderful," he joked, though truly she sounded like a bit of a nightmare. He was sure she was fine in general and that not many people would notice such quirks of hers but as Vela regarded him and told him she'd tell him if he were being too loud he had to think that maybe these were things only someone like Vela would notice. Then again, he could be wrong, he'd never met the other girl so who was he to speak on it?

"Good to know my volume is not an issue yet," he said, playfulness tinging his tone. "You know, Vela. I like you. You say what you mean," he decided, nodding his head and looking her way again.

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Her fellow student took a seat nearest her in the little study book she'd carved out for herself and after hearing all about her roommate, she was glad that he still seemed to think Miriam was wonderful. “She really is very nice. I think you'd like her.” Vela pointed out, making a mental note for herself to introduce them at some point. That would make Miriam happy. She always liked to tell her about the other boys she spent time when when she didn't sleep in her own bed, like Cullen, Lyall, Kurt, Malcom, and Bruce. There was no reason she shouldn't like Gwydion too.

He made the comment that he was glad that his volume wasn't an issue and she openly agreed with him. “No, it's not. You have a nice even tone to your voice. It's low, but it has a smooth quality to it like..." Her nose twitched and her eyes squinted up slightly as she searched for the right comparison. “...like when you open a book and slide your paw pads over the page just to feel how smooth the paper is before you read." She described it slowly, her toes spreading as she recalled the enjoyable sensation and then she started to nod to herself. “Yes...yes I believe that's it." She gave a final nod, blinking her eyes open to a normal size, looking to him with the slightest hint of a smile playing on her lips.

When Gwydion stated the reason that she was liked by him, she tilted her head to the right, curiously. “Well, yes. What is the point of wasting time saying things I don't mean when I can simply tell you what I think." She seemed slightly puzzled until she recalled interactions with other students, including Miriam. Her expression was deeply pensive once again, brows furrowing as if she were trying to solve the most difficult math equation ever put in front of her.

“I suppose not everyone likes it...which is okay, because it does keep idle talk to a minimum...I loathe idle talk. No one actually asks about how someone is doing, because they care how someone is doing...you can tell by the way they hold themselves when they ask. Most talk to be heard, hardly ever to listen...Bastien listened...even when he didn't understand what I was saying..." Vela stopped talking then, closing her mouth and sealing her lips up when she realized that she was running her mouth just like Miriam. Citrine eyes slowly drifted over to Gwydion, expecting to see him completely disengaged from the conversation.

@Gwydion

"I'm sure I would," he agreed, though not for the same reasons Vela might be thinking. Gwydion had turned into a rather agreeable adult, he made friends fairly easily but that was about it. Romantic relationships were not something he'd delved into yet.

As she carried on, she complimented him in a way he'd not heard before and he offered a smile in return. Dè mu dheidhinn seo? A bheil seo a’ faireachdainn math?" (What about this? Does this sound good?) he asked in Gaelic, the tone of his voice didn't change but the words did and he wondered if she would understand them. He chuckled and switched back to the common language, not wanting to carry on and confuse or anger her.

"That's true. It's always best to just say what you mean, in my book." She trailed off a bit, closing her mouth as if she had made some realization or something and he quirked a brow, not minding at all that she was 'running her mouth' like Miriam. "I like listening to you," he added from his seat. He didn't mind the sound of her voice, it was light and kind of pretty, if he were admitting that to himself. He might be like Bastien a bit and not understand what she was saying if she started talking too much about her studies but that was alright too. Sometimes it was nice just to sit back and listen.

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The subtle change in Gwydion's words seemed to catch her off guard. Vela sat up a bit straighter, her ears swiveling as if to catch the syllables as they floated across the air. She blinked, her gaze drifting upwards as though looking upward would help her peer into her own mind for a response. “Maith? Sea ... is dóigh liom?" She spoke slowly, hesitantly, her body language closing off with a lack of confidence in what she was saying.

She then looked at him, ears laying back slightly as she apologized softly, “Apologies, Gwydion...I only know what Gaelic Bastien spoke around me when I was little so I only know bits and pieces." She huffed, crossing her front paws in frustration while she suddenly regretted having not tried to learn. It didn't serve a purpose back then given she hardly ever talked when she was a pup to the point where most people thought she was mute. It wasn't that she couldn't it was that she didn't want to.

To her surprise, Gwydion agreed with her that it was best to speak plainly or at least that's what he said was true in his book. Without skipping a beat, she expressed her interest in their shared commonality by asking, “What book is that exactly? Is it in the library?" There was not a single sign that she was at all being sarcastic when she asked, waiting for his answer expectantly. Vela had always thought this way, but never did she find it in any sort of documentation, book, or otherwise. Trailing off on her miniature rant, she looked over to find the brute quirking a brow as he watched her before telling her that he liked listening to her. That was new. “Oh, alright then." There was a long pause, smiling to herself and then she looked at him. “Do you have class tomorrow?"

@Gwydion

It was cute watching her try to fumble through a language she did not know, but he refrained from laughing at her. He didn't want her to think he was making fun of her. "It's alright, we can talk just fine like this," he said.

As she asked him about his book, he did let out a little laugh. "Oh. Not my literal book, it's a turn of phrase," he told her. "I just meant in my opinion," he added to clarify.

It seemed this was where the conversation lulled, as she looked back at him looking at her. Did she not believe him when he said he liked listening to her or did she find it weird? He supposed it could be either but he hoped she was just at a loss for words instead of newly uncomfortably with him. His ears flicked as he sat forward and she asked if he had class tomorrow. "Actually, I don't. I'm free so I'll probably head home for the day." he answered truthfully.

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