location: one of the aurelius courtyards
It was oddly warm outside. Strange, considering that they were at the brink of December and that there was a lingering chill in the air since the news about Madam Rosmerta's death came out. Over the past days, Colin regretted not getting off-campus housing. Every step he took around the castle these days and nights, he felt such a pervasive lump in his throat that left him constantly uneasy and unsettled.
Tonight, Colin sat on a stone bench in one of Aurelius’s many courtyards. A beautiful ragdoll sat at the edge of the bench, fast asleep. The sky was darkening, cool purple mingled in with a dark blue that was fading into a black. Only flecks of orange were present. He sat at the furthest part of the courtyard, away arches that led into the castle. He had his legs extended out in front of him on the bench, his back against a pillar. One of his hands had its fingers curled around a cigarette while the other hand was pinching the edge of a textbook. Though, Colin hadn’t turned a page in that book for the last fifteen minutes. As much as he was trying to read, and grasp the abundance of knowledge in there, Colin couldn’t focus on the pages in front of him. His mind was clearly somewhere else and he wondered if it made sense just to call it quits and pull out papers to review for the Aurelius Tribune instead.
There was so much to fucking do.
These were the moments that Colin missed in childhood. He just needed a break.
But didn’t everyone?
Colin’s thoughts, thoughts that had nothing to do with the intricacies of how two-way mirrors worked, were disrupted by the movement that he caught in the corner of his eyes. Colin looked up to see who was approaching him. Zelda, the cat by Colin’s feet, stirred a little as well - peeking her inquisitive blue eyes open slightly, but just as quickly fell back asleep.
Colin straightened up a little and nodded his head in greeting at the figure approaching his vicinity. "Hey."