Private Finished Blame everyone but me for this mess

Lochlann usually liked the library.

Usually.

He usually liked it because he had the expectation of alone time.

Instead, Lochlann was sunken sullenly over a table in the far corner of a study section off the main room. His hair was a mess and stuck up in awkward angles that suggested that Lochlann fell asleep at some point since he left his apartment earlier in the day. He had his books spread out in a pile before him and a notebook in front of him. Lochlann has drawn tiny circles over and over again onto one corner of the page so hard that the paper had started to fray and rip from the pressure.

He did not look like a person who was going to be happy to meet with the tutor assigned to him, but, truthfully, Lochlann was just unhappy because, well, he was an unhappy person.

He eyed the room, waiting for the poor bastard who was going to be stuck with him. He had no idea what the tutor would look like or what to expect. He scowled, waiting to see who would approach.


@Schrodinger's Cat

There weren't many people here.

Lochlann tapped his fingers off the table. He stopped when he realized that would make a noise, so instead, Lochlann began tapping his foot into the air instead. He crossed and uncrossed his legs. He reached for his pen and held it between his fingers.

So far, no one had approached, but there was one man who made eye contact long enough for Lochlann to be suspicious. He narrowed his green eyes and asked, "Are you supposed to be my tutor?"

"Hi Marcus," Lochlann said as the other boy sat down across from him and assembled his textbooks. To his credit, Lochlann managed to say it without sounding entirely miserable, but it was still pretty glum. "I'm Lochlann."

Introductions assigned, Lochlann leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. He assessed Marcus for a moment and, rather than answering the question, Lochlann asked one of his own. "I don't recognize you. Are you new here?"

It was entirely possible that he wasn't new. Lochlann was very oblivious to others around him, especially the last few weeks. He chewed on the inside of his cheek.

Lochlann played the events backwards in his head.

A few days before Halloween. What had he been doing when Marcus arrived?

Moping, probably. He was definitely at the ball on Halloween. Lochlann bit hit bottom lip for a moment. he narrowed his eyes and gave Marcus another once over. It was impossible for Lochlann to guess age on this island; Marcus looked like he was close to his own age, but maybe he was five hundred. It was hard to tell.

"You probably got assigned to me because you're new and haven't learned to be afraid of me yet," Lochlann said, matter-of-factly. With his crossed arms and perpetually knitted forehead, Lochlann was not helping with being reassuring. He asked, "Do you like it here?"

He'd answered his question with a question, which was Lochlann's normal tactic, but Lochlann wasn't skilled enough to recognize this. He ran his thumb against his bottom lip for a moment and then said, "I have a bit of a reputation. Some of it's well-deserved. Some of it's nonsense. It makes me an unpopular candidate to be tutored."

Lochlann shifted in his chair, perking up slightly at the mention of the interdimensional monster fight.

"Yeah?" he said, trying not to sound too interested. "Obviously you won the fight because you're here. So what was that like?"