A Tuesday morning.
Just like Monday.
And Sunday before that.
Rory Brixton was once again awakened by the steady rhythm of Raveena's breathing.
The fox-folk groaned, face still buried in her pillow. Then she rolled her head to the side, and sure enough, from her perch on the top bunk, she caught sight of her roommate below.
There was Raveena, hands gripped at the pull-up bar that she installed a while ago, doing her pull-ups again.
Rory let out a weak noise of despair. "Stars above, not again…"
"I'll take that as a good morning," Raveena called up without even pausing.
"No," Rory groaned, dragging herself up slightly with a thump of her forehead to the bunk rail. "Please don't do this to me. I beg of you. I just want one morning without watching you do pull-ups like a gym ghost. It's still too early…"
Raveena huffed a quiet laugh, pausing mid-rep as she glanced toward the room's little wall clock. "It's seven."
Rory rubbed her eyes groggily. "What, like… seven in the morning?"
"No, seven in your dream," Raveena deadpanned. "Of course in the morning."
Rory flopped flat again with a soft whump. "How long've you been doing this?"
"Dunno," Raveena replied. "Didn't count. Probably an hour and a half. Then I'll go jog around campus after this."
"Jog. Around campus. After this. After."
"Yeah," Raveena nodded.
Rory groaned again, louder this time. "That's it. I'm filing a formal complaint. I'll write to Saint Maribelle herself. I bet she's up there somewhere listening to my cries."
"She'll just tell you to join me," Raveena said, hopping down with a thud and reaching for her towel. "You are in the Sports and Tactics strand, aren't you?"
Rory squinted down at her. "…Do not drag my academic choices into this."
"You mean your lack of stamina?"
"I swear, if you say the word 'cardio', I will throw my pillow at you."
"Come jog with me. It'll be good for your soul."
"My soul is asleep, Raveena."
"Then wake it up. It's seven."
Rory rolled around in place dramatically, tail draped limply off the bunk like a sad scarf. "Yeah, no, I'm allergic to morning labor. Fox stuff. Can't be helped."
"Wait. Aren't foxes more active in the mornings?"
Rory lifted a hand and lazily waved it side to side. "Eh, technically we're crepuscular. That means we're active during dawn and dusk. Little sprints, little flits. Very poetic. But me?" She rolled onto her side and yawned. "I use up all my charm and agility at night. So now I'm taking my day break early. Real early."
"…That's not how that works."
Rory propped her cheek on her fist and flicked her ear. "It is exactly how that works. I mean, come on. You've seen me dragging my corpse across the commons every morning. And don't even get me started on how many nights I sneak out."
"…Oh. Right."
Rory grinned smugly. "Exactly. So let me conserve my little foxy lifeforce, yeah?"
Raveena rolled her eyes and turned toward the door again, muttering something about "fox logic" under her breath.
But then… fwip—pap!
Something small and soft tapped the side of her head.
"…Huh?" She blinked and turned just in time to see a small, glowing paper crane fluttering slowly down.
Raveena raised a hand slightly. The charm-post crane gently hovered a moment, then nestled into her palm.
"Ooh~ Message birdie!" Rory perked up, ears twitching. "Who do you think it's from? Aya~?"
Raveena shot her a look, one brow arched. "Really? She's a train ride away. And that's your guess?"
Rory shrugged. "Hey, you never know. Maybe they improved the magic! Long-distance cranes could be a thing now. Inter-city love letters, ooo~."
"Charm-posts don't travel past regional borders. You know that."
"And you know," Rory countered, pointing a finger, "that Aya Ribbuns is the only person who's ever walked into my classroom uninvited just to find someone. And it wasn't even me, mind you. It was you. You got a lunchtime visit. That girl doesn't do that. Ever."
"Doesn't explain why you'd guess that she sent this."
"It's because she treats you differently! That lunch thing? She never did that to anyone," Rory continued. "And I would know. I enrolled the same year. Trust me—Aya Ribbuns does not do the whole 'approach first' thing unless it's baked goods or something's really got her stirred up."
At that, Raveena didn't say anything right away. She just… looked at the crane.
"…Don't get your tail in a knot," she muttered quietly before she began unfolding it.
She wasn't sure why she felt a little flutter of something, something almost like nerves. It wasn't like it was from Aya. Logically, that didn't make sense, charm-posts couldn't travel that far.
They weren't meant to.
Still, as the crane fully unfolded into its flat, paper message form, her eyes scanned quickly to the sender, then the rest of the message.
It was a message from Professor Vask.
She sighed and frowned.
Rory, of course, caught it instantly. "Whoa—what's that reaction for?"
Raveena held up the paper. "It's from Vask. Says she wants to talk. Something important."
Rory gasped dramatically, one hand over her chest. "Raveena Vesper, what did you do? Don't tell me you were naughty. That'll definitely fuel the rumors."
Raveena gave her a deadpan stare. Then let out a sarcastic snort. "Ha. Ha. Real funny."
Rory chuckled. "Hey, hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood for you here."
"Then pick your jokes better," Raveena said flatly, folding the letter back up. "Good thing you're my roommate. If you were anyone else, I'd have slapped your soul right out of your body."
At that tone, Rory immediately froze, ears straight up.
"…Wait, you're kidding, right?"
Raveena stared at her…
Then smiled slightly. "Of course I'm kidding."
She leaned back against the edge of the desk and crossed her arms. "Relax. I don't hurt people. Not even annoying little foxes who think they're clever."
Rory let out a phew and sagged against her bunk once more. "Stars above. You had me there. Thought my ghost was gonna be sent to the laundry room."
"Oh, don't worry. Not today," Raveena responded. Then, with a sigh, she pushed herself upright and stretched out her arms. "Guess I'll jog another time…"
She turned toward her wardrobe, opened it up, and pulled out her folded Foxcut uniform. With zero hesitation, she reached down and peeled off her black top in one motion, revealing the sharp lines of her back and the pale scars along her side.
Rory sat bolt upright. "HELLO?! What the heck are you doing?!"
"Huh?" Raveena blinked over her shoulder, one brow raised as she kicked off her shorts. "I'm not about to waltz out there in this. It's Professor Vask, not a gym coach. What's wrong with you?"
"Oh—right." Rory coughed into her fist, ears twitching. "Carry on. Proceed. No objections here."
Raveena stepped into her uniform skirt, pulling it up as she muttered, "What was that panic even for? You've seen me change plenty of times already."
"I know that," Rory huffed. "But like… I only recently realized that you're actually… kind of hot."
Raveena froze mid-blouse.
She turned slowly, and looked at Rory.
Expression somewhere between a bit of confusion and some horror.
"…Excuse me?"
Rory's eyes widened. "W-wait! That came out weird—what I meant was—you're attractive, okay?!"
"…What."
"Like, objectively! Not even in a weird way!" Rory flailed. "It's just—people might not see it right away, because you're always glaring and fixing stuff and looking like you might punch someone. But I'm your roommate, I've been exposed longer than everyone else. So now I'm, like… hyper-aware."
Raveena stared again, then slowly shook her head. "That might be the dumbest explanation I've ever heard."
"It's a compliment!" Rory groaned, pulling her blanket over her head. "Just accept the appreciation from the audience of one!"
"I'm scared for your standards."
"I'm trying, okay?! Let me live!"
Raveena chuckled as she pulled her sleeves on. "Stars. You're so weird."
Rory peeked out from under the blanket, one eye showing. "You're weird. At least I have the decency to be flustered about it."
"You're the one who called your roommate hot mid-conversation."
"It was a delayed reaction, alright?!" Rory squeaked. "Body just caught up!"
Raveena couldn't help but chuckle again as she fastened her collar. But just as she was tucking in her shirt, Rory sat up again.
"Oh! Hey, hey, while you're going out, can you swing by the cafeteria for me? Just grab me a couple morning snacks or something?"
Raveena didn't even glance back. "No. You give me the money now, I've got none."
Rory whined. "Please? I still can't find my wallet…"
Raveena paused for a moment, then turned slowly, with her eyes eyeing the study desk in their room, where Rory's wallet sat plain as daylight. Right on top of one of her clearly bookmarked smut novels.
Specifically, "The Clockmaker's Courting Calamity Vol. 3"
She stared at the wallet some more, then back at Rory.
"Seriously?"
Rory blinked twice, then her eyes followed Raveena's stare. "Oh look," she said brightly, "you found it! I've been searching for ages. Thanks, roomie! Love you~"
Before Rory could react, Raveena grabbed the wallet and tossed it at her with a thud.
"Ow," Rory muttered, catching it against her stomach.
Then came Raveena's open hand, outstretched towards her.
Rory sighed, flipping the wallet open with reluctant fingers. She fished out a small stack of copper zennies and dropped them into Raveena's palm. "Just buy whatever this can get, alright? As long as it's snacks."
"You know I deserve commission for this," Raveena said as she took the coins.
Rory groaned but pulled out a few more. "Fine, here. Happy?"
"Much," Raveena answered, pocketing the extra.
And with that, she gave her collar one last tuck, slipped on her boots, and stepped out the dorm room door, making her way across the dorm's halls and out of the building to head toward the faculty office.