Yeah, thanks for that, but Reiki had more than earned one of his days to not go to campus. Of course he took his job seriously—but Reiki was tired, and right now, he didn’t want to try and solve his undergrads’ problems for them, or to translate from Obaasan into Language That Makes The Undergrads Feel Moderately Less Terrified.
Getting back from a walk with Cersei had revealed a special, unexpected treat on top of it: Soya-hime had apparently decided to come over today. While Soya made herself at home however she pleased and Cersei practically dove into her water bowl for a drink, Reiki put on the kettle and got the salmon that Soya liked out of the fridge for her. You didn’t have a fine lady like Soya come over and not see her needs properly attended to—especially not when Reiki tried to catch her up on how the training session with Tama and Faustite had gone. So, a little plate of salmon slices, neatly laid out for her, and some water in a low, wide cup that Reiki had brought back from one of his family’s visits to Kyoto, once upon a time.
Strictly speaking, the vessel had been made with sake in mind, but Reiki didn’t drink sake anyway. This cup held more fluid than most of the others that Soya could easily drink out of, and it didn’t feel as potentially demeaning as a bowl. Either way, it got put on the coffee-table for her, and once, Reiki had his tea steeping (and could more easily keep Cersei from sniffing after the plate herself), he and the sliced salmon came along, too.
“So, I guess it didn’t entirely go over like a lead balloon?” With a sigh, Reiki tucked his bangs behind his ear. “I feel better about my magic in some ways, at least? Using it on Tama didn’t end as horrifyingly as Kerberos, Fang, and Faustite all did. And Tama seemed to think that, once I figure out how to make things settle, I might be able to actually decide how much to put into my attacks or not? Which would definitely be nice.… Y’know, not having it explode all over people or feel like it’s two seconds off from going full Chernobyl on me, which could actually make it helpful for something? A controlled amount to help figure out what needs in someone’s life aren’t getting properly addressed?”
A deep breath, and Reiki slouched onto the table, propping himself up on his elbows. “I just need to stop being such a magnet for assholes,” he said, thinking only of one specific a*****e. “Or at least I need to go back to Miss Jada’s good idea of ‘why don’t we all stay away from each other if we can’t play nicely.’ I don’t know what Faustite’s damage is? But if the two of us can’t even be around each other without somebody getting hurt? Usually him? Then it’s best for everyone if I just stay away from him, right?”
Noir Songbird
