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[color=d3d3d3]Jocasta looked out of sorts. Rikard could sense it and it wasn't because he spent an awful lot of time looking at her. Presently, he averted his eyes and focused on his work. They were just so big and perfectly shaped and her pretty voice and smile and tiny little waist... His cheeks flushed with shame. It wasn't all about how she looked. She was smart, and didn't talk to people condescendingly. She always had some witty commentary or way to make class interesting. She was strong, too: [i]really[/i] strong, and she knew her stuff. [color=0072bc][i]You're good people, Zeno Re,[/i][/color] he told himself, [color=0072bc][i]Not just a pretty face.[/i][/color] Presently, she reached up to scrawl something in chalk on the board - a basic equation for time pressure that he already knew - and her dress stretched extra tight around her chest. His eyes couldn't help it, but he reminded himself that he respected her. That she was a cool person and a good thaumaturge. If he just wanted to steal glances like a pervert, there was Trypano, and Esmii, and kind of Marci. Well, the first two, anyhow. The third was... more of a friend, though she'd sort of just disappeared lately.

Still, he stuck by his initial observation and it distracted him, even as Jocasta rolled between rows of desks with a smile and an encouraging voice that only slipped into ironic tones when she was dealing with some of the dumber students. She hadn't cracked a single joke. There was no 'bounce' to her 'step'. He'd noticed a habit that she had when she was happy or excited: every third push of her wheels, she'd push herself up a little as well. [color=ffdead]"Daydreaming again, Rikster."[/color] Suddenly, she wasn't where he'd perceived her to be; she was right beside him, leaning over and resting her chin on a hand and her elbow on his desk. [color=ffdead]"Benny for your thoughts?"[/color] 

Flummoxed, he straightened in his seat until they were nearly at eye level. [color=a187be]"No, Zeno Re."[/color]

[color=ffdead]"Is that a no to the daydreaming or can I not pay you to disgorge your innermost secrets?"[/color]

He'd been put on the spot. He was being made a fool of! Sometimes, he hated her for this! [color=a187be]"The daydreaming, ma'am. I was just running some numbers in my head."[/color]

She smiled knowingly. [color=ffdead]"Well, then I'm sorry to interrupt."[/color] She lowered her voice. [color=ffdead]"Listen, it's okay if you're a little out of it. It's our first week back. I think a lot of us are."[/color]

Rikard nodded dumbly. [color=a187be]"A bit,"[/color] he admitted. Then, he, too, lowered his voice. [color=a187be]"Are...[i]you[/i] okay, Tan-Zeno?"[/color]

Jocasta paused and blinked, seemingly taken by surprise. [color=ffdead]"Not exactly, Rikard, but we manage, don't we?"[/color]

He swallowed and nodded and she rolled on to the next desk. [color=ffdead]"Pop challenge!"[/color] she called out suddenly, in her chipper Jocasta voice. [color=ffdead]"Books closed, wands ready!"[/color]

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That night, he dreamt that he was in class, and that Jocasta was there, but she was the only one he recognized and, for some reason, his mind was telling him that she was... Emma? Enna? Something like that. It was weird. He didn't know anyone by that name, but he felt, fleetingly, like he did. She wasn't a teacher, either, but a fellow student, like him. They were seated together near the front, on account of his eagerness to learn and her wheelchair. After class, they went to the great hall for dinner instead of back to their dorms, and there was a yasoi girl who looked a bit like Miret, and a boy who looked like Benedetto, and another who he didn't recognize, though something about him reminded Rikard slightly of... Juulet? He knew them, as well, or had the sense that he did. Who could really say what dreams were about?

He awoke to find himself standing outside of a random dorm that he did not recognize. He was standing there, in his nightgown. A stray cat was looking up at him strangely. He cast about, but there was nobody else. Surreptitiously, the youth pinched himself, but he was most certainly awake now. Disturbed and exhausted, Rikard gathered his magic and returned to his own bed as quickly as he could.[/color]
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