Once he was a reasonable distance beyond the door, Bernard stretched his arms toward the ceiling and let out a massive yawn. As much as he loved the World Philosophy course, Professor Michaels' lecturing voice seemed specifically designed to put his students to sleep. Considering the fact that Bernard had been up most of the night reading, he considered it impressive that he had avoided passing out at his desk. Thankfully, it was his last class for the day. Checking his watch before heading down the hall, he confirmed that he had time enough to stop for coffee before he needed to head for the book store. As he neared the doors to go outside, he pulled up the hood of his oversized hoodie. The garment was thick and warm, but wouldn't have been enough to stave off the bitter cold for anyone else.

Silently thanking his heritage, Bernard stepped out into the sunlight. The cheap slip-on shoes he wore chilled almost immediately as he started to move along the walkway, causing him to only really feel the cold on his feet. A breeze picked up as he walked, and he turned his head to keep his face out of the wind. When he turned his eyes forward again, he noticed another student ahead of him picking up some papers that had been scattered. Waving and smiling sympathetically as he passed, the large young man only changed his course enough to avoid running into the other student or stepping on his belongings. 

[color=a36209][i]Looks like a rough day,[/i][/color] he thought as he continued on, bringing a hand up to his neck to absently run his fingers along the smooth glass beads of his talisman. It was a steadily noticeable weight across his collarbones and the back of his neck, a constant reminder to keep his head in even the worst situations. So far, he'd been lucky here in Eagle Rock. With the exception of a park Ranger or two, not another soul had seen his bear form. Even better, he'd been able to keep his transformations overall to a minimum. There were times that the itch to get out of his human skin for a while just couldn't be ignored though.

Allowing his mind to wander and thoughts to drift, Bernard made his way off-campus. He'd walked the path enough to simply let his feet carry him toward his favorite coffee shop and eventually his job, which was further down the same street. He considered the employment at the book store to be incredibly cushy. Any time he wasn't stocking the shelves or helping a customer he got to sit behind the counter and read. It helped that the old man who ran the place couldn't be nicer. George was a great guy, and had enough of a sense of humor not to be bothered by Bernard's near constant referring to him simply as 'Old Man.'