[b]William Ascot[/b]

William blinked and thought, [i]It worked? It worked![/i]

As he took the lollipop - Assuming he had been freed from the roots and the soil - William thought, [i]So, detention; it's probably going to involve mucking out some stables, cleaning out gutters, and other foul-smelling activities. But I might get free non-diabetes-inducing candy from it, plus a chance to get to know La'Tavia better - A Fire Mage is always a nice asset to have - and perhaps get to know the parts of the school others don't like thinking about.

So... There's a positive spin to put on things, a positive spin grounded in fact. After all, there's no shame in choosing to focus on the positive.[/i]

He bowed a little to Polyanna, and said, "Thank you for the fair treatment, Ms. Saccharine. That said, if I may ask, would getting a detention impact my access to the Research Building, as well as my chance to get an examination for mastership in the near-future? Please forgive me for being so eager to ask such questions so shortly after being punished."

A shudder of self-loathing; why did he ask those? Did he really want to sound like someone primarily concerned with his own advancement? Did he really want to [i]be[/i] someone who wanted to be a Master and a Hero and puff up his ego because of it?

He sighed, of course he was. William Ascot had always been an egotistic little shithead and the only thing his family had been wrong about him was assuming that he was unaware that was the case. Because he was fully aware; not like Zane and his insanity. William was fully aware that he was a hypocrite who fit his own definition of 'evil'. It was just that he was too lazy to fix it, intellectually and morally.

The boy froze, almost saying that Ms. Saccharine should forget what he said, but that'd sound too much like reverse psychology. So he won't do it; like it or not, William knew he wasn't a true hero - He didn't know what heroism even meant.

He finally took Polyanna's lollipop into his mouth; it tasted bittersweet.

[@Ryteb Pymeroce][@TheHangedMan][@QueenNugget][@Canidae][@Aviaire][@EpicKDP]