"3:50, Ten more minutes" Raivis whispered to himself as he stared at the small clock above the blackboard. He tapped on the side of the desk as he tried not to get distracted in his thoughts, the droning of his professor threatening to become white noise as he switched his focus on his notebook. As the clock turned to 3:58, Raivis turned to the door and saw his friend, Emil. Raivis watched as the Icelander took out his sketchbook and write something before turning the book to face him. "What are you doing?! It's almost 4, get your shit together and get out!" Raivis gestured to his professor with a pained look before the bell finally rang. Grabbing his bag and books, the Latvian flew out of the room and almost knocked down the Icelander. "Geez, your teacher always keeps you guys almost past the bell. How hasn't anyone run out of class early?" "Erika actually did last week." "Wait, Erika? As in Erika Vogel? Our mom friend?" "Yep. She walked out at 3:47 after our teacher started a discussion that would have taken around 2 hours." "Your teacher must be shit if he managed to piss off Erika." The two boys laughed as they walked down the hall and grabbed their coats and hats.

     Thick, brown smoke hit Emil and Raivis's faces as they left their school gates, books in hand and bags slung over their shoulders. Emil sighed and patted the dust off his vest as Raivis coughed from the cloud. "Dammit, how many times have I cleaned my vest because of that stupid factory?" Emil grumbled, glaring at the looming building. "Almost fourteen times this week alone. We have to find a new exit." Raivis responded while wiping his mouth with a tissue. The duo walked down the sidewalk to the crossroad, stained glass gas lamps hung on tall brass stands and copper carriages powered by coal and steam trotted in front of them. "How long is this light going to take? The next novel in the Roses of Coal series just got sent to the library today, and we need to get there before someone borrows the last copy!" "You're still on your romance novel binge? Earlier this week, you talked about halting your binge-reading and getting more sleep." "I know, but romance novels take priority over everything! Plus, we left off on a cliffhanger." "Raivis, that's not healthy. If Lukas found out I was reading romance novels instead of sleeping, he would give me hell." Raivis sighed and lowered his head in embarrassment, curly blond hair falling in his face. Just as he was about to retort, the light turned green, and the horse-drawn carriages stopped at the crossing. Perking up, Raivis grabbed Emil's hand, dragging his older classmate to the library.

     Raivis's lungs burned with the speed he ran with, the cream and beige building blurring around him like giant streamers and his feet aching from running nonstop, but his determination to get the last book pushed him forwards, dragging a slightly concerned Emil behind him. "Raivis, how the hell are you running so fast? You never reach these speeds during physical education days!" The elder Icelander yelled at his colleague. "Huh? I'm running faster? Neat! I guess I really can do stuff under pressure." The Latvian responded, surprised at his speed as well.

     Squeezing through crowds and narrowly getting hit by a horse, Emil looked over at his classmate. "Hey Raivis, slow down! If you keep running this fast, you're going to run into somethingoW-" A sharp pain ripped through his leg as he fell to the floor, gripping his calf. Blood dripped onto the pavement as Emil stared at the large bronze hatpin that cut the bottom half of his leg. "Emil, holy crap! We need to disinfect the wound!" Raivis pulled out a small bottle of vodka before pouring it on the wound, disinfecting the cut. As Raivis patched the wound, Emil looked at the insignia on the pin. "Hey, isn't that the logo of that factory?" "No way, why would the factory logo be on a fancy hatpin?" "Just look at it!" "... Holy crap."