Oh, come on! Really?!

Jacob's lengthy stare at Farid was a tactic he had used many times before when trying to root out troublemakers in his classes. Sometimes it was a half bluff, other times a full bluff. The strategy was that if he just picked someone to single out, it would personalize his threat of discipline. Classes were often more willing to stand together when they were referred to as a group, a whole. But when someone individually was put on the spot, it meant that someone was going to get in trouble, and guilt would take over then.

Or he could possibly have picked the right person, which followed obviously.

What Jacob could not anticipate was the appearance of a fox-like creature around his neck like a fancy fox fur boa. The attention he had focused on Farid immediately shifted to the animal as he stood up and stared with a raised eyebrow as it spoke.

A moment of silence.

"Alright! Whose familiar is this? Astral projection? Hallucination brought on by illusion magic? You know that's forbidden to be used on others while on school grounds. Farid!"

Jacob slammed his hand down on Farid's desk, again looking at the young man. The proximity of the fox's appearance to Farid put the suspicion on him.

"Is this your doing? Are you trying to scare me with ancient latin or something?"

"..."

Jacob said nothing in response to the fox spirit, and continued to stare doggedly at Farid. For a few moments, it almost seemed like he had not heard a word of what the magic animal had said. After more staring, he waved a dismissive hand behind him but remained fixed on Farid.

"The rest of you can go. Farid, you stay here."

He was all but certain that Farid was the culprit, or at least the accomplice. The fox made apparent he knew at least a few things about Farid, and Farid's reaction was just like any other time he had got a person in a lie. He was nervous and his eyes kept moving. When they weren't moving, he was unnaturally still, consciously trying to keep from fidgeting.

"... So you're one of those blowhard I've-Been-Around-Forever-So-I'm-Important kind of spirits, huh?"

Jacob stood up and craned his head to look at the fox.

"Oh, look at me~ I'm really old so I can look down my furry nose at other people like I'm so smart~ But it's really just to cover up my secret longing for death and escape from this endless existence~"

To call Jacob's impression of the fox condescending would have been generous.

"Pfft. Just straight with me. Are you with Farid here? Farid, are you controlling this thing? Because you really need to be more creative with your imaginary spirit foxes. Maybe make one that doesn't have his snout stuffed so far up his own butt hole?"

"You don't control him? So this fox here is..."

Jacob turned his head to look at the fox spirit again, and just in time to watch the animal disappear from view with just the saddest look in the world on his ethereal face. Suddenly Jacob felt a wave of guilt at his own words. His assertions had been quite cutting, but even he had to admit that insults did little to improve any situation. Still, Jacob had to stand his ground and not let himself be swayed too much just yet.

More importantly, he still had to deal with Farid and his possible punishment. There was the chance that Farid was lying about not controlling the fox, but his reactions and tone were enough evidence to the truth. Sighing deeply, Jacob rubbed his face.

"If you don't control him, then what is he? And why was he causing such a disruption in my class? I'm sorry if I hurt his feelings, but I can't have that nonsense while I'm trying to teach."

Jacob continued to rub his face in exasperation, slowly degrading to him just rubbing the bridge of his nose as he started to really calm down. The initial anger he had felt had begun to wear and he was starting to actually feel bad for the fox spirit and Farid. At least with Farid, Jacob should have been more considerate of the young man's ability to control his powers, or lack thereof, instead of going all out at the initial offense.

With a bit of a sigh, Jacob leaned against one of the nearby empty desks and folded his arms in thought. For a few moments, he just looked at Farid with stern but thoughtful eyes.

"No... No. I'm not gonna give you detention. Not yet anyway."

He looked up at the graffiti on the wall, still not happy about it but not feeling super angry about it.

"I'm going to drop the issue of how, or if, you control him. That's an issue for the special powers teacher. Right now, instead of getting detention, you can help clean up his mess. It might not seem fair, but it's better than detention.

I'll even help you if it's too tough to get out. Does that sound cool to you?"