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Ophiuchus opened his mouth to say something, but stopped short. He couldn't quite think of what to say. He was actually sort of proud of Lin in a way - she was making a decision that she thought would be best for her, to distant herself from him. And yet, part of him was completely frustrated in a way that had nothing to do with their relationship. Ophiuchus honestly believed that Lin had amazing potential as a healer. His normal class and the books in the library would not be enough for her.

He raised his hand and tapped Lin on her shoulder. Immediately, she was back in the school, with Ophiuchus nowhere to be found.

Alec was quite surprised at Nathan's outburst, deciding then and there to obey the man rather than stick around and find out just how big his balls had decided to grow in the last few minutes. So Alec had walked out to the plot of land that Cook and Sly had dedicated to be Danni's grave.

Alec stood with the others, waiting for when Cook and Sly mustered the strength to do what needed to be done. While he was standing though, Alec felt a very fast breeze of wind rush past the entire group waiting for the funeral to start. This instantly grabbed Alec's attention, so with a small flick of finger, he conjured up a small probe to follow the thing that had caused the disturbance, which had apparently flown into the forest.

It didn't take very long at all, Alec's probes were very versatile. What he found though was certainly not what he expected. It was Lin, crying in the forest all by herself. Alec had no idea what would cause this in her. She certainly did NOT seem like the type to break down like this for no reason. Elves in general wouldn't normally allow themselves to be like this in private, much less in public. Alec knew something truly bad had happened, and he felt like he could do something about it. So, in lieu that the funeral had yet to take place, Alec went into the forest to try and see what the deal was.

Alec followed the trail his probe had taken, making sure to stay out of sight and to keep his steps quiet enough that even Lin's elven ears wouldn't pick up on them. When Alec was close he decided to wait in the shadows for a bit, and the best way to do this was to actually become like the shadows. Alec closed his eyes, inhaled, and as he exhaled his body became a very thin mist, floating up into the branches so as to get a better view of the situation and stay out of Lin's sensory range.

It took all of Alec's strength not to snort or make any sound at all when he heard the last part of Lin's tirade. Who the hell was she talking about?!? Certainly not him, he'd only seen her a few times since the beginning of the school year. Alec had no idea what to make of this at first, until he looked at the situation below him as a whole. Sitting in the middle of nowhere was a young, high school girl, confused and upset with life and herself. Alec had seen this countless times in real life as well as many hundreds of horrible reality shows on television. Honestly, the garbage that people come up with was astounding.

But right now Alec had a distraught student on his hands, and he felt that he might be able to help her out, even a little bit. So Alec floated back down to the shadowy spot he was in before and rematerialized himself, feeling the comforting feeling of hard soil under his shoes. Alec took a deep breath to center his thoughts, trying to collect his responses to what Lin may have to say to him. When he was ready, Alec made a small step towards the spot where Lin was, snapping a small branch in the process. It would definitely alert Lin to his presence, but Alec had enough practice with animals that it wouldn't have scared off her new squirrel friend that had come out of nowhere. Alec stepped into the clearing, holding up a hand as he said a mellow "Hey," in greeting. The last thing Alec wanted was to spook her off before he even got a chance to talk to her.

Alec sat down in front of a tree directly across from Lin before he sighed softly. "You don't have to be so formal right now Lin. You and I both know you're upset over something. Something very large I'm guessing too." Alec popped one of his legs up so he could rest his hand on his knee, while the other one laid flat on the forest floor. Alec smiled softly at Lin, hoping to calm her down enough that she would talk. "It's alright to be upset you know, happens to the best of us." Alec cocked his head to the side slightly, almost like a curious puppy would at it's master. "Did you want to talk about it? There's no one here but us."

Alec smiled that same comforting smile at Lin again. "Lin, even though you're not human, and many people that go to school here aren't either, we all still hold many human characteristics. We laugh, cry, feel love, anger, sorrow, disappointment, desire, admiration, it's all part of what makes us people. Life is full of complicated scenarios, and especially for someone of your age it tends to get pretty chaotic. You're dealing with all these situations and people at once, and previously you've probably never had to deal with anything quite like it. Especially for someone like you Lin, you're definitely not used to how things work in the real world." Alec leaned forward a bit from where he was so Lin could hear him better, because it seemed that she was about to start sobbing again. "And you probably don't know that it really does help to talk about what's bothering you. A lot of times people don't see why, but it really does." Alec leaned back against the tree again, this time folding his hands together over his knee. "I promise to stay unbiased if you wish to divulge anything to me Lin. Truly."

Alec sighed again. He knew Lin was lying about the boy bit, but he wasn't going to call Lin out on it. Not in the state she was in now. Alec decided to try and draw her into telling him the truth though by playing into the matter itself. "Trust me Lin, a failing grade isn't the worst thing that can happen. In fact, I clearly remember back in my high school days that I got horrible grades in math." Alec smiled, hoping to get one in return from Lin.

"About this boy though..." Alec paused for a minute, tying to think of how best to word his response. "Just what is it you like about him? Is it really a redeeming quality, or is it something you can't really pin down?"

Alec had a couple of ideas about who she was talking about. Ophi was at the top of the list, but he couldn't really see the old snake going so low as to deflower a pride student like Lin. Although he did seem to have that air of sophistication going for him that a lot of girls liked. Maybe he was who Lin was talking about? But Alec still wasn't going to say anything, instead he opted to ask something that he though would be beneficial for Lin. "...Lin, are you sure this isn't just a crush?"

Alec looked Lin dead in the eyes as he continued. "I get the feeling you're very new to how love works. I think you should take a few minutes and think about this boy you're so smitten over. Is he really right for you? In my experience, the one who's right for you is someone you've gotten to know for a while, someone who you can share your interests and desires with, someone who sees some things the same way as you, but also knows when to disagree, and if it comes down to it, how to forgive when or if you get in a fight."

Alec leaned back against the tree as he began to recall one of his own high school memories. "I remember back when I was just a sophomore here at Mystic Fountain there was a girl that I really liked. Her name was Janice Montley. She had this really gorgeous hair, long and blue of all colors. She was a water nymph I believe. Anyway, I had a few classes with her and tried to get to know her. We had some nice conversations, some funny exchanges and all that. She was smart too, really smart. I was almost certain she was gonna be perfect for me, until I found out about her musical tastes. Turns out she had a thing for Rhett Akins." Alec shivered visibly when this name rolled out his mouth. "If you don't know who that is, he's a country singer, and a horrible one at that. Needless to say I knew that it wasn't gonna work out if I had to listen to some good ol' boy yodeling his blues every hour of the day."

Alec waited for Lin's reaction to his story to be over before he looked at her carefully in the eyes again. "Lin, I think you should take a good long while and think about what you like about this boy, and why you like those aspects. Think about what you don't like about him, think about what you want in life and what he can offer. If it doesn't match up, don't waste any tears on him then. It's probably best you let it go and try and find that one guy who CAN offer you what you need in life."

Lin watched her professor as he spoke, and the more he spoke, the deeper her scowl got. When he was finished, she was livid.

She stood up from the ground, against the tree, and glared at her professor. She was developing a habit of this.

"If you let such a simple thing as a different taste in music get in the way of what you believed to be love, then you were not in love to begin with! I may not know much about love, but I do know that much!"

She was also upset because when Professor Leaton had mentioned a water nymph, Lin's mind went right back to the night on the cliff with Dymetri, when he had reeducated her about what nymphs were really like, and she had seen her first one that night. It hurt her heart because she missed him and because he would just leave her like this.

"And I am not some child! I do not develop some childish crush over frivolous things such as..."

She rolled her eyes and changed her voice to a mocking tone of a Valley girl. "ohmygod, he looks sooooo hot in a pair of those tight jeans!"

She went back to her smooth and lilting voice. "You do not even know me, so don't you dare judge me!"

With that, she turned and dashed off into the forest, as deep into the woods as she could get.