I hate Christmas music, can you tell yet?

    —————   

          Leon furrowed his brow in confusion, looking back at Mr. Mudelin, and then at Káel. "Was he just nice to you? Cause if that's the case I need to be more sassy."

          "Beats me." Káel grabbed the rock off the ground and rolled it in his palm.

          "Can I help?" Phantom said, leaning in over Káel's shoulder, forcing him to flick at his face, pretending to move a loose strand of hair.

          "This is good, if I keep doing everything perfectly I'll draw way too much unneeded attention to myself," Káel announced, acting as if he was talking to Leon.

          "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure what you jus' did is below average, way below average," Leon replied with a grin. "Seriously man, I'm pretty sure a baby could do better."

         "Not like it's gonna get any better in the time it takes for the teacher to come back," Káel grumbled, throwing the rock up and catching it.

          "Yeah... But we are bein' collectively marked."

          Káel was about to speak, but swallowed his words when he thought about how much of a jerk he'd be for not at least trying. But as he stared at the smooth grey rock he knew he couldn't move it, but if he accepted Phantoms assistance it'd go through the ceiling.

          You don't have to use the given spell if it's not working.

          He thought about those words for a bit, and despite the helpful loophole his teacher had given him, he honestly didn't know any other spells.

          What was he getting at?

          "You can use Insanctious," Phantom said, almost reading Káel's mind as he stared at the rock in hard concentration. Puff warbled in agreeance, and after realizing he was in public played it off with a small cough.

          "Well, I'll try." Káel held out the rock and focused on it even harder than before. He muttered Insanctious under his breath so Leon couldn't make out the words, and lifted it up to the height he and Puff had achieved earlier, adding on an extra foot or two. "Your turn, maybe you'll do better." 

          Leon muttered the phrase, slowly lifting the rock, and as he did so Káel quietly told the rock to go up, and stopped it at a good height, which was about a meter from the ceiling.

          "Woah. That was not me," Leon said, staring at the rocks new height with wide eyes.

          "Well it wasn't me," Káel lied.

          Leon smiled mischievously at their success. "Ah well, I ain't complainin'."

          The boys awaited Mr. Mudelin's return, and Leon gave him a triumphant smirk when he approached them.

          He looked at the rock, and then at the two boys. "I didn't expect that much progress. What happened?"

          The two boys collectively shrugged, and Puff did everything he could to avoid any eye contact with the teacher.

          Mr. Mudelin looked up at the rock calmly, lacking a single shred of confusion towards their sudden success as he scribbled in his book. "Well, good job."

          Phantom watched Mr. Mudelin stride away. "He's not gonna grind you for information?"

          Káel was confused too, Mr. Mudelin was being mild. Too mild.

          Something was up.

          Class went on until Mr. Mudelin had nearly exhausted the extent of everyone's abilities, Káel squeezing through a passable score for the sake of Leon's grades and nothing more.

          Mr. Mudelin didn't call Káel out even once, giving out pointers to him like he did with all the other students, and treating him like he was an actual part of the class.

          It was weird.

          Káel was used to being stood up and verbally trampled by his impassive burns... But they were cooled for some inexplicable reason, and although curious, Káel was also wary to delve for answers.

          Phantom was also unnerved by the drastic shift in behaviour, so when class did end he was skeptical towards Káel's decision to apologize. But he stayed as the students left, waving his friends away when they lingered at the doorway.

          Mr. Mudelin watched him silently, almost as if he was uncomfortable with the situation. "Your next class will start soon."

          "Yeah I know, can I just say something?" Káel replied.

          "Make it quick."

          Káel sighed, and with all the pride he could afford to lose he dipped his head respectfully and apologized. As he looked up to view his teacher's reaction he saw nothing, he was indifferent as he eyed Káel with a tired look.

          He finally spoke after Káel started cringing away from his silent stare. "That was unexpected."

          "Well to be honest I wasn't gonna do it originally... But you were being nice today for some reason."

          Mr. Mudelin smiled, but it wasn't a smile of acceptance, it was pure amusement. "And do you know why?"

          "No sir?" Káel replied, looking around with worry and trying to think up anything that would have called upon his kindness.

          "Well it's simple. You didn't cheat today."

          The words struck his heart like a knife. Had he known ever since the pocket jabs?

           Káel choked on his words with a strange grunt, he had to play it off like he didn't know what his teacher was talking about. Which turned into a nervous smile as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Cheating? H-how would I cheat in this class?"

          Mr. Mudelin put his hand out to Káel. "There's something in your pocket boy, may I have a look?"

          "S-sure?" Káel stuttered, pulling out Phantoms rock and waiting for him to finish whatever spell he was using, before dropping it in Mr. Mudelin's palm.

          Mr. Mudelin frowned at the rock, shifting it in his hand. "What's this? An enchanted rock?"

          "It's my lucky rock."

          "Did you get it from Lumi?"

          Káel shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Phantom for an answer he didn't provide. "Uh, yeah."

          "Where?"

          "Be vague," Phantom cut in, throwing Káel off as he went for the vaguest thing he could think of.

           "Well, the ground sir."

          "Where on the ground boy?"

          "In the forest," Káel lied, his heart was pounding as he spoke, hoping he wouldn't get busted yet again by the same teacher. "It was uh, after I was chased by the unicorn..."

          Mr. Mudelin hid a smile as he gave the stone a squeeze. "Very well, seeing as you're foreign, I'm assuming you didn't realize this rock has magical qualities."

          "Oh uh, no, I didn't sir. I thought it was lucky... Cause I could use lumience better with it..."

          Mr. Mudelin nodded, giving the rock one last inspection before handing it back to Káel. "I'll admit you're not as sharp as I thought you'd be, but I'll forgive your cheating due to your severe knowledge disability." He smiled as Káel nervously bounced on his heels. "Don't do it again."

          "Y-yes sir," Káel replied, dipping his head respectfully and turning away.

          "Take care of him dragon," Mr. Mudelin said, giving Puff a pet of farewell, as Káel walked away.

          Puff's confusion quickly turned into an enthusiastic nod of agreeance, and he bounded after Káel, popping into travel size when he reached the door.

           "Whew that was terrifying, that guy freaks me out, and his guardian is even worse. It just stares at me, do you have any idea how creepy that is?" Phantom said, striding down the hall beside Káel.

          "I'm just relieved he bought it." Káel slowed his pace to a halt, and looked around completely confused.

          "What?" Phantom grabbed his hips in confusion as he watched Káel look around at all the corridors.

           Káel looked at the ground in concentration, then back at where he'd come from, twisting the corner of his mouth in ashamed embarrassment. "I'm a bit lost."

          "Seriously?"

          "Seriously."

          Phantom folded his arms, with a miffed head tilt. "You do realize you've been walking to class for a few weeks... Right? Do you even pay attention?"

          "Nah, I follow Truvius."

          "Well allow me to educate you," Phantom said, taking on a sarcastic tone. "There's these magical things on your face, they're called eyes. Believe it or not, they really come in handy when you use them."

           "Ha... Ha." Káel gave Phantom a slow clap. "You should be a teacher, you're great at pointing out the obvious to idiots such as myself."

          "Trust me, you're enough of a hassle. If I had to deal with fifty of you I'd kill one or two."

          "I wouldn't put it above you," Káel replied, looking around the corridors once more. "Now lead the way."

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Quality Quip #16:

'Christmas is a guest that always comes a month before arriving.'

~ Anon