He smiled and shook his head. “Anyway, I figured you might still be back here, so I came to take you home as well. You shouldn’t be walking by yourself this late.”
She blinked, then grinned and poked him in the side. “Awwww, such a gentleman! I didn’t know you cared!” He was so totally on Team Jade now.
He laughed a little involuntarily at the poke, dodging to the side a little too late. He glared at her ruefully and quipped, “Hey, it’s not my fault they can’t close the library until you leave. Your reputation precedes you, and Joseph didn’t want to disturb you. He probably would’ve stayed all night if I hadn’t stopped by on my way back.”
“Pfft, excuses, excuses. Let’s go!” She grabbed her emptied bag, then glanced at the corner where she’d moved the little couch table and displayed her phoenix. “Will that be okay here?”
Lucas sighed. “Of course. This room has been designated yours for now…besides, I think anyone who opens the door would be scared half to death by the light anyways. It’ll be fine until tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She smiled, then latched onto his arm, grinning as she pulled him out the door. She began to hum ‘we’re off to see the wizard’ under her breath to quell her nervousness at going back into the now exceedingly dark library. Lucas seemed to take pity on her, creating a bright light in his free hand as he escorted her out.
He stopped at the front desk, where a boy who looked to be 1-2 years older than her was tidying things up. He smiled and introduced her. “Joseph, this is Jade. You’ll probably be seeing her a lot. She’s the one in room 15. It’s empty now, by the way. Just ignore the light…” He paused, glancing sternly down at her as he continued, “She lit it up like it was noonday in there somehow.”
She sighed, defending herself. “I don’t like the dark, okay!?” Smiling at Joseph, she confided, “It’s nice to meet you. Sorry for keeping you so late, I didn’t realize what time it was.” He looked a little different than the guys she’d seen so far. Almost scrawny in comparison to everyone else, he was definitely the kind of kid who was used to hiding in the corner. He had a flop of messy brown hair that covered one of his hazel eyes and contrasted with his ashen skin.
He smiled shyly and stammered softly, “I-it’s okay. It’s n-nice to m-meet you.” Poor thing, what had he heard to make him that nervous around her!? Well, whatever. Lucas pulled her away as she was waving cheerfully at him.
The streets outside were much quieter now, missing the constant burble of voices. The few people on the streets kept to themselves, giving them and their glowing magic a wide berth. She was leaning more heavily on him than she had anticipated, and she couldn’t help but yawn continuously as she absently noted the guard patrol passing them.
Lucas caught her on her umpteenth yawn and shook his head. “You look like you’ve exhausted your magic.”
She considered him thoughtfully, then nodded. “Probably. I pretty much used everything I had over and over again, basically draining myself as soon as I felt a little better.” She shook her head, shrugging. “Now I know.” Not that it would stop her, most likely. As they were approaching The Glass Phoenix, she pulled him over to the storefront window to admire her handiwork. She loved the way the sculptures glowed from within, fascinated by their beauty, even if she was the one who had lit them up in the first place. There hadn’t been much glass stuff at the hospital aside from test tubes and monitoring areas. It was too easy to break and hurt someone who was already weak. Therefore, it had all been utterly functional and completely lacking in any beauty, unlike these.
“How did you get the different colors?” Lucas paused, asking quietly. He hadn’t inspected her phoenix for very long, so she wasn’t surprised that he didn’t notice that the light was colored and that it hadn’t been just the glass reflecting the color.
She grinned. “Well, I just pictured the different wavelengths. It’s not so hard. The various lengths determine the color, so I just pictured the energy at a higher or lower frequency. There’s only so much variation on the visible spectrum.” He was ogling her like an alien again, and she sighed. “Science. I could do it because I understand the theory of light, because my world has studied it extensively and drawn pretty pictures that explain it. Get me a pen and paper tomorrow, and I’ll try to draw it out for you...”
“What’s a pen? Is it like a quill?” She sighed and hung her head. “Yes, it’s like a quill. Sort of. When I figure out how to reproduce them, I’ll give you one and be your favorite person forever.” He laughed softly, pulling her unwillingly away from the display. She felt she could probably stare at the crystalline shapes forever. His smile was nice too though, much better than the scowl he’d originally sported.
When they got to The Green Dragon, he let go of her, opening the door. “Good night, Jade. Get some sleep.”
She nodded absently and yawned, smiling sleepily as she responded. “Yup. Sweet dreams to you too.” She stumbled a little now that he was no longer supporting her as she entered the room, the door closing behind her.
Raphael and a few other people that should be students were playing cards on one of the tables in the common room. She smiled sleepily at them, giving a little wave when Raphael glanced over. He excused himself temporarily, coming over to her. “Did you have a good time at the library?”
She smiled tiredly. “Yup, but I think it’s time to sleep now. I think I overexerted myself a little.”
“Overexerted yourself? While reading?” He sounded a little skeptical and incredulous.
She shook her head. “No, that was easy enough. I was practicing my magic too.” He nodded as if this made sense...because it totally did.
“Did you eat while you were out?” He probed gently, seeming to realize she was only half paying attention to him as she shuffled slowly towards the stairs with him at her side.
“I had a big lunch and ate a bunch of stuff from the bakery for dinner, so I’m okay right now. But can you have Jessica or Kaylee leave me some easily accessible food? I’m most likely going to need another midnight snack again.” She was hoping it wasn’t too much effort for them. She didn’t want to have to go rummaging around when she was starving.
He nodded. “I’ll let them know. I’ll have them put it in a coolbox where you were eating last night.”
She smiled gratefully. “Thanks, I appreciate that.” With that, he nodded, bidding her goodnight. She somehow made her way up the stairs, using the restroom before she changed and collapsed in bed. She had the presence of mind to go through her notifications before she passed out completely. She randomly picked the ones that made sense to her tired mind, only paying close attention to a few of them.
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