#cailean

Demanding.. that's how you'd describe NRC's inhabitants.

Whether it's Crowley overloading you with tasks whenever you ask if he'd found you a way home yet, your teachers giving you tons of homework each night, or your classmates either dragging you into trouble or needing you to bail them out of trouble. safe to say, you were rung out every day, but there was no time to rest. every time things seemed to get better or calm, here came trouble yet again. the overblots were probably the worst of it.

How were you, a magicless student, even still alive after encountering just one of those, let alone multiple? you didn't know, but didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Today, you found yourself hurrying around through the small town that was nestled in between the two schools on the isle of sages, picking up some more components for fertilizer for the greenhouse, as you had been instructed too, to prepare for some magic based gardening class. not like you could even participate, but hey - least you got a break from the gloom of NRC's campus! the island town was quite nice. people happily going about their day, the sun shining, the works.

After picking up the order of items at the shop, all the stuff being put into one bag. you attempted to heave them up and carry it- but it was too heavy.. maybe you should get a wagon? you dont know where to get one, and nor do you have any money to buy one.. no one around seemed to pay you any mind when you struggled, but soon enough you heard it..

"Halò! dae ye need sum help?"

A voice sounded behind you, a voice a rather notible accent.. scottish? well, scotland doesn't exist in this new world, so it was probably just a coincidence and most likely called something else here, but the familiarity of it caught you off guard. you dropped the bag you were trying to lift up, and spun around on your heel to look at who was speaking. it seemed to be a boy, around 15 or 16 from the looks of it, standing at around 5'8".

He was dressed rather casually- perhaps he lived in this town, or was a tourist? you didn't recognize him, as you knew practically everyone at your school at least a little, so clearly he didn't go to NRC. he wore a plain black t-shirt, plain jeans cuffed below his knees, a purple flannel tied around his waist, and sandal strap shoes. he also seemed to wear some thin black bracelets on his right wrist with one magenta beaded one on his right wrist , along with some plain thin anklets on his right ankle and a dangling threaded necklace with what seemed to be a dog tag.

He wore an enthusiastic, though slightly nervous, grin on his face that almost stretched between both of his spiked elf-ish ears. his smile showed off his pronounced canine teeth. though the main thing of note was his hair - it was buzzed on the left, the rest of his hair was sorta nose length and was swept to the right. most of it seemed to be a warm brown hue, with raven black strips here and there. it was certainly unique.. didn't appear dyed. how odd..

You had to admit that he looked rather nice - his face reminding you of ones of k-pop boys back in your world, a mix of handsome and pretty. you could easily see him posing for a magazine or promoting something in a commercial. it also carried a sort of calming and pleasant aura around him, as he smile it almost seemed like there was a beacon of light behind him (it reminded you of Kalim and his peppiness - they seemed to carry themselves in very similar ways).

You soon realized you were staring and brought yourself back to reality, cheeks tinted pink from embarrassment - though it could be excused away as you being tired from your bag struggle.

"Oh hi! um, yes actually- some help would be appreciated!"

He seemed happy by you accepting his offer, though he always seemed to be happy, at least from what you've seen so far.

You both grabbed opposite ends of the bag, and hoisted it up together. which definitely made the process a lot easier, but maybe thats just because he was heaving most of the bags weight.. hopefully this can make the process go a lot quicker too - you didn't want to get back by the time the sun was gone, it would be inconvenient.. and it would have been your reality if he never lent a helping hand. Standing side by side as you both held it atop your connected shoulders, and began to head back towards your destination, you of course directing the way. he seemed rather strong - his body being toned, though with a decent amount of chub, which you can somewhat see through his shirt as it hugged his biceps and chest while flowing a little around his abdomen.

"So, whare wee takin' this stuff?" "Back to my school! to the botanical garden, my potions teacher sent me out to get more of this stuff since it helps the plants grow better, and we needed certain blooms for the lesson tomorrow."

The boy stayed silent for a moment as they made their way up the mountain on the left side of the island, getting further from the town and closer to a place he knew he couldn't go. he hadn't seen them at RSA, he felt like he would have remembered a face as cute- uhh- as unfamiliar as theirs. and the only other school was… wait- are they that 'transfer' student he had heard about? the one from.. NRC??

"Whait- ar' yeh frum NRC? your.. tha perfect o'v that ol' dorm there, rieght?" "…yes?" "oh mo sheachdnar mhòr!! ahem sorrie- ay jus', word spreads fhast 'round here… an' a've heard sow mhuch 'bout how powerful an' brave ye ar'! how ye thook down many overblots inn'a row! it's jus' sow impressive!! can on'lhey imagine hard ye mhus'hve trained tah pull off stuff liek that ore how cool ye'r unique magic mhust bhe!"

His praise made your cheeks flush- despite how semi-thick accent, you understood his words well enough. luckily he seemed to not know you were magicless.. as that would cause issues if anyone outside of your classmates found out. Not many people complimented you or thanked you for your efforts at NRC - you got a job done, and that was that. not like you expected more, it's a school based on villains after all, but still.. this boy seemed to fill a niche that you needed. being a magicless student and taking down overblots? now that you thought about it, it was kind of impressive, on a certain level.

You gave a nervous chuckle, "yeah i guess, but im sure anyone could have done it."

He frowned as your lack of self confidence, though the bag blocked your faces from each others' view. "ay don't think sow. not tah argue ore nothin'! jus'.. ay think ye should give ye'rself mhore credit is all..."

He eventually made the two of you stop in the middle of the trail and lowered the bag down for the ground, which was somewhat helpful due to your arms being strained from not taking a break till now. He gave you a worried and sincere look. but still tried to show a smile, perhaps to console or reassure you - not wanting you to be sad if you saw that he was sad. but he wasn't ever that good at hiding how he felt, and he always felt like he shouldn't have to hide or lie about that stuff. right after setting down the bag, he grabbed both of your hands and cupped them in between his with a gentle yet firm grasp. staring into your eyes with his soft brown ones. like a chocolaty oasis frozen in time inside two spheres.

"Wee mhay not know each othare, bhut.. ay jus' wanna let ye know that.. ay.. ay think ye'r realay chool! and after interacting with you today.. i beelive y'er very lovleh as whell! a've heard sow mhuch 'bout what ye've done.. defeatin' overblots an' whatnot all on ye'r own! ev'ry time ye get knocked down, ye get bhak up! ay don' think ay could ev'a dae that.. itt proves jus' how sthrong ye ar'! most people wo'ld have left those blotters tah their fates.. bhut ye didn't! even if ye pro'lly didn't get anythin' in return f'ur helpin' 'em…"

"People talk 'bout ye all ov'a tha islan', an' over at meh school- an' ay know f'ur a fhact they admire ye an' wanna bhe jus' liek ye! ay.. aye shure dae, that's f'ur shure! ay can tell that ye we're destined f'ur great things, an ye'r already on ye'r whay there, from wut a've heard! ay swear on that witt meh whole heart tah be tha truth! sow.. please don' put ye'rself ore ye'r achivements down liek that an'more, a'ight..?"

His voice was so genuine and filled with emotion, that it tugged at your heart strings a bit. you felt compelled to tell him to lower his voice, being so close to the school. maybe one of your friends might think something is wrong, but hopefully everyone was still in class and not wandering around near the front gates. His vice boomed though the dirt and tree laced path, his words filled with passion. he hoped to get his thoughts across to you this way, not sure 0f any other way he could express himself. both of your faces were a strawberry hue as he spoke, at one point you had to remind him to breath.

When he finished, you agreed to be a bit more self confident, him getting you to do a pinky promise with him, and afterwards he immediately took your words to strong value and dropped the topic, satisfied. you both stood there in silence, you took in everything he said and were glad to meet someone so friendly and kind, a stark contrast to most of your classmates. meanwhile he was staring at you hopefully, both of you silence for a while, staring into each others eyes as a gentle breeze softly jostled the leaves of the nearby trees.

it was.. peaceful. being in this moment, with him, it felt right.

You had just met him, but you felt as though you had already known him before.. maybe in a past life. his optimism and praise touched your heart. he felt like a cold drink of water in the dry desert of this villain school.

After a few moments he let go of your hands, his face getting a bit redder as he turned away from you, averting his eyes and rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle and wobblily smile. he hadn't even realized he was making such prolonged physical contact with you, and was a bit embarrassed from it.

"s-sorre sorre! didn' mean tha.. uh.. be 'too mhuch' as sum of meh classmates say, heh eheh.."

"Nah your fine dude! heh.. i really appreciated it- what you said. maybe you should be a motivational speaker or something." you said, returning his smile, which seemed to make him perk up a bit and get a bit more bashful, running a hand through his short black and brown stripped hair.

"Though, i reeeally get to get this stuff back to my teacher, and im sure class already ended by now, so.."

"o-oh rieght! wee sh'uld get goin'! don't want ye tah get in trouble!!"

You both pick the bag back up and continued on your way up the trail. when you got to the front gates, he seemed a bit apprehensive to step foot on campus, looking like he feared he might get grouped up on at any second since he wasn't a student there.. but you placed a reassuring hand on his bicep for a moment, causing him to let out a small and quiet surprised chirp sound followed by a nervous sigh. you beckoned him forwards, gesturing at the empty courtyard in front of you.

Sure, if you were caught you'd get in trouble for bringing a non student onto campus, but then again when did you ever obey the rules? your scuffle with riddle when you first got here was evident of that. plus, being a 'perfect' meant you were your own dorm leader, and didn't have anyone to tell you what to do - other then crowley and the teachers, who usually didn't concern themselves with you anyways.

"it'll be fine! no ones gonna catch us! everyone's probably back at their dorms for their evening right now." "ye pro'mus?" he asks, holding out his pinky finger towards you. You playfully roll your eyes, and lock your pinky around his, for a brief moment. "i promise."

That seemed to reassure him, and he got back to it in his usual peppy manner. soon you both arrived at the botanical garden, opening the door and putting the big bag down with the other supplies for tomorrows class. you both let out a unified sight of relief upon no longer having to hold that heavy bag anymore, before making eye contact, and having a small giggle-fest.

You didnt get caught - the tension was still there, but not as strong as it was before. since you knew this area rarely had people outside of class. maybe other then Leona who naps here a lot, but luckily he didn't seem to be here right now. Ruggie probably dragged him off somewhere like a disappointed mother does to a child who wont do as their told.

It had been fun speaking with him, though it was clear he couldn't stay any longer. you two traded phone numbers, to keep in touch. this boy was clearly from RSA, you thought. he mentioned attending a school on this island, and since you'd never seen him around NRC, it only meant he was from the rival school, but then didn't bother you. perhaps it would be nice to know someone outside of the people your forced to go to classes with everyday. your friends were fun, sure, but sometimes they really tired you out. so this could be a nice change of pace.

When you put his number in your phone, something dawned on you. "what do i put for the contact name? just realized we never introduced ourselves."

"ay re'lly don' mind whut ye put f'ur mine, bhut meh name's Cailean!" he chirped, "Cailean Atharrais. though meh pal's call me Cae or Callie. A'm frum RSA! though, a'm shure ye figured that ohut bhe now, since ye'r sow smart!"

"thats a nice name! im (y/n)! pleasure to properly meet you. RSA or not, its nice to meet someone outside of NRC, its a nice change of pace from the same old same old."

"y/n? y/n…" he parroted as his voice trailed off, him staring off passed you into space almost like a deer in headlights, before letting out some actual bird sounding chirps to himself under his breath almost like a excited school girl, not knowing you could hear that due to your close proximity. he grinned wide again, and shifted his gaze back to you once more. a warm pink blush still dusting his cheeks. "that's ah mhighty fhine name! suits ye real whell! heh eheh, ay wish ay could say and hear it all dhay!" Soon enough you began to hear a voice, followed by one of the doors being unlocked- it was crewel! most likely he was coming to check on the set up for tomorrow, and to see if you had completed your task. both of you stood frozen in surprise and fear - he needed to hide! but where?? there wasn't many places to hide, unless he was small enough to ball up inside the bustled of flora… as you attempted to think of a solution to not blow his cover, you turned to look at him again, and.. he was gone!

You whipped your head around in confusion, not seeing him anywhere- only spotting a black shimmering feather with gold trimmings, on the ground. You picked up the feather out of curiosity, and the black parts seemed to be filled with purple and green tones when held up to the light. it was rather eye catching if payed attention too.. but where did this come from..? you heard a small bit of rustling in the canape of the one tree in the center of the building, that you were standing next too, but before you could investigate-

Crewel opened the door after fumbling with that darn key- muttering that dire needs to get those locks fixed. he then headed your way, spotting you and the bag you brought back. he congratulated you on bringing back the 'luggage' and sent you on your way now thta he was done with you. he eventually left as well after a while of setting things up and checking inventory, not wanting a single thing out of place. like the perfectionist he was.

As you walked back to Ramshackle, you spotted a bird flying overhead, seemingly matching the feather you still held in your hand.. it let out a cheerful caw towards you, swooping down and flying low near you for a moment, causing your heart to race a little - it had those same eyes as Cailean.. Those warm and welcoming oak toned irises that held so much hope and enthusiasm for anything and everyone, from what you had encountered. The eyes that made you feel.. Well, you're quite sure yet, but you knew it was a good feeling. Soon enough though it soared off into the air high above the buildings and away from the campus grounds. heading in the direction of RSA, and soon disappearing from your view.

You had a theory that; that was Cailean. you didn't have much evidence, but you had always been good at linking together contact clues. Perhaps it was his unique magic? couldn't have been from a potion, since those are illegal.. from what you've been told- you we're too sure about it. plus he didn't seem to have any bottles on him, nor good enough pockets to hide one. maybe you could ask him about it another time- you had his number after all. You wondered how he got out of the enclosed garden.. but perhaps he just found an opened window or something and snuck out? not too far fetched. you've heard of, and have encountered, far weirder circumstances and solutions to problems during your time here so far as it was anyways.

Aislyn

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Cailean

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