Strix

Ava listened to him, and she couldn't help but be intrigued by the way he thought and spoke. It wasn't often that she ran into someone who challenged her and made her think beyond simple words such as the ones they had exchanged. She smiled lightly and nodded. "I suppose you're right about that as well," she said. "I guess I never really thought about it. We're kind of just taught to say what needs to be said, whether it's the right thing or the truth or not." She shrugged her shoulders a little bit.

Strix smiled, visibly content with Ava’s response. The professor had his doubts at the beginning but she had proven to be perceptive and open-minded. If all his students carried those traits, he would be a very happy professor. “Never hurts to pause and think”, he remarked in agreement.

Scarlett jumped when she realized someone else was in the office with her. She watched him walk into the room and for the briefest moment smirked as he stepped over eggs and she saw some of her setup in action. But that was quickly erased from her expression when he grabbed her and shoved her into the tables. She let out a groan and grimaced when her hip knocked hard into the wood, her body crumpling to the floor where she landed on her knees.

It took several moments and a few more wilful strikes across the face for Strix to return to the present. Until then, Scarlett’s voice barely registered, nor did the pain he inflicted on her. There was hardly anything the girl could say or do that would make matters right. Now, this was a truth the old man had to live with.

Sasha quickly shook her head furiously, "No! It's not like that Sir!" she tried to assure him, but knew that this made her look bad and that he had every right to be upset by what she'd done. She bit her lip, "I just, I saw your classroom and remembered you were -" she stammered, she wouldn't call him nice exactly with how intimidating he was, but he didn't seem as scary as the Master she was hiding from. "um, not as scary." she admitted, her face turning red.

“Not as scary, hm?”, Strix repeated thoughtfully. It surprised him to hear this admission considering the way he had treated Sasha in the past. There were undoubtedly far more fearsome Masters but that it would be him that she came to for help flattered and irritated him in equal measure. Life had shown him again and again that he couldn’t overcome his nature but he had still thought that he had become a little better at it.

"Okay, fair enough," she said. She couldn't really argue his point on that. "It's just at thing people say, you know?" she said, cocking a brow at him. She smirked a little bit, smiling wryly at him. "But, I'm not sure that makes me a liar all in all, although..." she paused just a little bit. "Aren't we all from time to time? I can't think of anyone who's ever been one hundred percent honest all the time, can you?"

Strix drew forth a brief, albeit satisfied smile. Even the most dutiful warden could not deny that there were only a few more rewarding pleasures than being right.  “People should stop and think more before they speak”, the professor pointed out.  Especially if the results are careless lies… “We speak our language but the language also speaks through us. Did you know that what others say influences the perception you have of them almost as much as other aspects?” It was an odd, however not infrequent, combination of tease and passion that overcame him. Strix could fill long hours with academic conversations, but knew very well that most of his unprompted bouts of lecturing were neither relevant nor interesting to others. He only trusted that at some unspecified point in the future, his teachings would come and benefit them.

"I may be many things," she said. "But a liar isn't one of them. Though, you won't always like what I have to say." She shrugged her shoulders a little bit. She coked her head a little bit, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Interesting to meet you, Strix," she said. "And, I can assure you that my priorities are right in line where they should be," she smirked. "They just may not be what others qualify as important." She was intrigued by him, she had to admit. She licked her lips a little bit. "Tell me, Strix. Where do your priorities lie?"

“You said ‘sorry’ at the start”, the professor reminded the other. He was a man of petty words but plentiful actions. The warden had no magic and no supernatural strength to rely on but he had a meticulous mind and a near infallible memory. His continued existence assured him that this was good enough. “And assured me shortly after that you were indeed not. Therefore, one of these statements must be a lie, no?”

Sasha tried to steady her breathing so she wouldn't be heard. Even if she could manage to do so, she was sure that the professor could hear her pounding heart from across the room. She shifted inside the small closet, squeezing her eyes shut and yelling at herself internally for being so stupid. Why did she think hiding in here was a good idea? The Master she was avoiding probably wouldn't find her, but someone else would, and the professor might be upset she was in his closet.

“Oh, that’s fucking alright then” The professor made an elaborate gesture with his hand as if to dismiss her, but the irony in his voice was telltale. Yet the upset was not completely fake. Strix had gotten to know Sasha as a good girl. She was a little naïve perhaps, but ultimately innocent. To find her in his classroom like this rang all kinds of alarm bells, many of which he was unable to voice accordingly. Thus, he focussed on the one he could. “The sneaking around and hiding is a case for the therapist, maybe the guards, but not worth explaining to the old man you were taking advantage of? That what you’re saying?”

Revenge Gone Wrong || Strix & Scar

The door swung open at once but it was only several moments after that the professor sprang to action and set in motion an unfortunate series of events. He did not know where to begin first. His instinct was to check on the books but reason urged him to take care of the intruder first. That was the thing about books: they could always wait.

"And if a god will wreck me yet again on the wine-dark sea, I can bear that too, with a spirit tempered to endure."

Scarlett squirmed in his grip and tried to pull away from the water but he seemed to only pin her down harder. "And? What do you mean and?" came her immediate response before she could think better of it. She shook her head slightly but it only pulled her hair. "I don't - I dunno, not be late for curfew again. I won't be late, I'll apologize right first time I guess. Is that what you want?" She tried to sound demanding when she asked that last question, but it came out more nervous sounding than she would've liked. It sounded more like a child trying to get out of trouble and she hated it. But she hoped he was finally satisfied.

Strix frowned loudly at the slave’s first response. It confirmed his suspicions that this little stunt would be far from enough to keep her in place. He only prayed that her future misbehaviour would occur somewhere far away from him. “Is that what you want?”, the professor fired the question back at her, but began to lift her up and further away from the water. With one big stride, she was tossed on the ground below him. “It will do for now”, he scoffed, about to turn away but not without raising a finger in warning first. “If I hear about your poor behaviour again, I will inform the rest of the school about your fear of water. That’s a promise. If there is one piece of literature the entire island reads, I hate to say it’s this gossip blog”  Another sigh was threatening to be voiced but Strix quenched the desire with an order far more striking. "Now, get out of my sight and pray that we don't meet again!"

Sasha gave a small sheepish shrug at his comment. She thought she was pretty good, and she got a lot of compliments at the club where she sang, but she was never one to boast about herself. "I like jazz and gospel the most to sing, but probably alternative or indie to listen to." she explained. "I think Alison Krauss and Nina Simone have amazing voices, but I don't think I'll wind up anywhere near them. Not that I'm aiming at fame, I'd probably be terrible at handling it, I just really love music." she realized she had rambled so she stopped. Sasha busied herself wiping down the desks in the classroom, and nodded while she listened to him explain. The difference made sense, she had heard of both topics before but never had the chance to take a class in either of them. She wondered if she would have room in her schedule at some point to explore with some classes outside of her majors. Something like sociology that was totally different could be interesting. Sasha finished with the desks and nodded towards his at the front of the room. "Do you want me to clean your desk as well, Sir? Or just the student ones?" she offered.

That the girl did not turn away his compliment made him believe that she must be truly talented. Strix was pleased, if not even jealous about that. He did not envy the supernatural abilities of others, not really. Even if most of their magic was far more impressive, they could not expand on the mind nor give access to the dreams, hopes and beliefs of a thousand years of culture. They could give no knowledge to treat wounds or help poor villages with modern technology. His abilities weren’t flamboyant but they had far more lasting value to society. But Sasha, like many other talented humans, had something that was never granted to him. A simple pleasure; A simple life, perhaps. “Do you work here somewhere? I’ve seen many bars on this island. They’d be fools to turn down a good singer” A compliment, albeit delivered as swift and sour as the rest of his words. "'though I suppose the world has never lacked fools..."

Ava couldn't help but smirk at him a little bit. She shook her head. "You're not wrong," she said, her eyes traveling over him in order to get an idea of who he might be and where he might rank around here. She narrowed her eyes in pure scrutiny. "I'm not," she shrugged. "And, I wouldn't exactly call it inattentiveness," she said. She cocked her head to the side. "I may of just not prioritized certain things correctly." She didn't recognize him, but she figured at this point, she was the newbie. She had been gone for some time, after all. She licked her lips a little bit. "And, who might you be, anyways?"

Strix raised an eyebrow, a sign of acknowledgement even if the rest of his face remained unchanged. Her examining eyes impressed him very little. He found that most people did not know what they were looking for. “No? A liar then”, the professor concluded. “I don’t see how that’s better” It was the first time that he noticed the woman near his classroom. In time, she might find out that his disapproval was not reserved only for her but also most others he interacted with. “Strix. Professor of Sociology”, he introduced himself after a pause, as if to decide whether the answer was worth his breath. “And I hope you get your priorities straight soon, Miss”

A - If I’m in love.

Ava licked her lips a little as she clutched her bag in one hand. She wasn't really sure what she was expecting, but she wasn't expecting this. Things felt different. She flared her nostrils and inhaled deeply.

As soon as the last student scurried away from the class room, the professor went through the motions: Packing his bag, organizing the chairs, locking the door and marching back to his home. A routine often helped people push through the harder, darker days. It was no different for Strix. But it was perhaps this monotony and the chance to overcome it that the man let the girl collide into him. Her growl was met with steely eyes and an even longer pause, almost as if he could not hear her. “You don’t seem particularly regretful”, the professor observed eventually. "The inattentiveness of you lot never ceases to fascinate me. It seems this trait is not limited to the students”