FOUR.

                “You’ll catch a cold if you sleep here.”

“Sleep... here?” It took her a second to register where here was, and a second longer to fully find her thoughts. “Oh -- right. Heh, I didn’t mean to fall asleep out here at all.” Sitting upright returns some feeling to her tingling limbs. Stretching does the same with the added bonus of waking her up further. “How long have I been out here?”

❝You say it’s not your fault, but you don’t hesitate to say that you forcefully destroyed Akademia property and injure its staff…for the sake of a magic. Cadet-❞ He pinched the bridge of his nose, then shaking his head in disbelief. ❝If there really was a bug—which I highly doubt there was—you could have easily subdued it with magic. If you’re gonna kill something, at least learn from the lectures I told you about small flying targets. So then, where is it now?❞

“Well, I had to! And I did listen, you know. I just used my guns instead of magic. I’m better with them! It was just... too fast, and I missed. A few times. A little.” Kind of. Sort of. She decided to leave those bits out. It was hard enough fabricating a story that simply wasn’t true; it would do her no favors to sound uncertain in the middle of it all. “Dead, of course! Where do you think it is? Like anything that small could stand up to my shooting!” 

Levi does not believe mere observation should hold within its description such heavy implication. Though she owns perhaps more naivete than ill will; therefore the response is cast from his focus, and instead replaced with the question at hand.  “I tend to get that a lot,” he replies, and his gaze drops to the remnant sheen of his leather military boots. “I’m older than you’ve presumed, number one.  “Two, I suggest you introduce yourself to me before continuing this prying.”

“You can call me Cater! I’m from Class Zero, which means I’m the best cadet around.” A true statement, definitely, but there’s an underlying implication that she is the best herself. Ever the egotistical child she is and it shows in the streamlined way her shoulders rise and set, pride and arrogance scripted into every exaggerated motion she makes. “And you are? I need a name, or I’m gonna have to call you Captain Grumps for the rest of your life.” Not like she wouldn’t do that anyway.

              ❝ um , miss ? juvia hopes she isn’t being rude                        but it would be BEST for you to wake up or you’ll                        get into SERIOUS trouble with he professor. ❞

“It’s fine! Who cares about him anyway?” She offers a shrug, a rough edge of movement painted with apathy. “He complains too much anyway.”

The man holds no such interest in arguing with the likes of a child, own facade mellowed to exhibiting no reaction for such naive commentary when his occupation demands of him all the energy he can provide.  Though how incredibly peculiar is the approached presence; he does not remember the likes of such a loudmouth lacking filter at base.  “Is that an objection you’d like to waste my time with?”

“I don’t care that much. Was just making an observation.” A lot of it is haughty confidence, knowing the best and expecting as much from the world’s entire wingspan. The other part, curiosity, expectations set aside for the sheer sake of prying. “You don’t look very old. How did you get so high up so fast?” Not that age is a reason for discrimination or anything. Not like she’d care if it was regardless. 

⊰⚔☢⊱           “He jus’ got done an’ was fixin’ t’ prolly give y’ detention like I get. Fuckin’ hell, ‘m lucky I didn’t join y’ in dream land cuz ‘o last time.” Last time being, whenever he fell asleep on that perch of his that idiotic dragoon had fallen backwards off his chairs and managed to give himself a concussion. Then again, the number of times he fell from his seat is hardly surprising when he doesn’t sit normally in the first place. It isn’t like he planned on having more detention and doubted that she had a desire to face that as often as he did. “Th’ hell didja y’ do last night?”

Rebellious child that she was, disobedient soul that she could be, she saw the entire process as useless, a waste of time that could be better spent elsewhere.