Carole saw no point in wearing different attire from yesterday. It was not like her students would care if they never saw her before. Thus she decided to just wear the same outfit after passing a swift iron on it to get rid of all the crises that had formed from the previous day.

She did her daily check-up and grooming, checked and plucked out any red feathers from her mostly mangled whitish-grey meat stumps she called wings. Adjusted her brace to allow for her daily movement, and then finally passed a swift brush through her unmanageable hair to at least put on a show of caring.

As she exited her room, she saw that towering Asbjorn boy again just outside her doorway, looking at the screen of his phone. He was not paying her much attention as he seemed to snicker and chat away with whoever was on the other end.

Just as Carole was about to dismiss the boy and leave for her classes, he looked up from his screen in surprise.

“W-wait,” he stammered.

With that, he said a hurried goodbye to the screen and walked up to her with a casual smile. A contrast to his rather nervous demeanor from the other day.

“Oh, um good morning, Ms.,” He chimed, giving her a relaxed smile.

Well, he was an Asbjorn, so best she tries to be as polite as possible with him, despite her heavy feeling of reluctance. Maybe a sip of drink would get the words out q-

She stifled that thought and gave him a stiff nod.

“Yes... Good morning….. Do you need anything?”

The man’s eyes, though seemed uncomfortable, displayed some level of recognition.

“Oh wait, you’re that um... the girl from yesterday, right?” he said

“Yes,”

He nervously chewed the inside of his cheek and added, “I’m still very s-sorry about, knocking you down like that”.

“I don’t care... I'm fine.”

“Oh, um..,” the man nibbled on his bottom lip, trying to find the proper words to say next.

Maybe she came off too blunt? If he’s going to be stuttering that much. Carole did not want to have a long conversation right now so early, and just as the silence was getting rather uncomfortable.

“So you’re going to t-teach my little brothers, right?,” He asked.

“Yes,”

He then gave one of his calm friendly smiles and held his hand out to her before saying brightly, “I guess um, I should introduce myself, Loukas Asbjorn, th-though of course, Loukas would preferable.”

She stared at his hand, figuring out what he expected her to do.

Shake his hand?

Though she did not want to, she had gathered that her previous conversations were perceived as rude, so she limply rested her hand into his hand and let him shake it.

“So, I’m just here to check up on who's going to be t-teaching my siblings, you know. A big brother has to keep watch, haha,” his laughter was very light, rather contagious little thing.

Once Carole understood his motivation, she walked down the hall alongside him as they made their way to the room she would be teaching in.

During the walk, the boy talked... and talked.

He talked about his brothers and how wonderful they are, despite their issues. He talked about cooking and a country off-land. All the while she nodded and not spoke another word back to him just nodded as his cheer and joy infected his words. It was... odd seeing such a warm glow from a rather dreary, chilly place.

It made her uncomfortable…

They, at last, made it to the door where her classes would take place, Loukas then finally, much to her relief, stopped talking.

He then steps aside, ”You’ll be fine, I have my faith, those guys may come off…” he chewed on the lower lip, "rough…, but th-they are all-round good kids.”

“I would keep that in mind,” Carole said with her hand upon the door nob.

“Okay, just do your best alright,” he cheered.

He smiled, gave her a wave, and she opened the door.

He did not seem as bad as the staff seems to make him, nor did he seem much like how the rumours of the Asbjorn family make them out to be. Rich, smug, dark, overall. He just seemed... annoyingly dense.

Carole then took a deep breath, turned the handle, and opened the door.

And before her, were her three students.

Three boys, the oldest seemingly around seventeen and the youngest, could not have been over fourteen. The youngest was chattering with the other, while the oldest had his head on the desk, most likely asleep.

Not a single one of them noticed her when she entered the room, nor when she set up her stuff, nor when she set up the laser projector to begin the lesson all as her cane tip tapped against the floors

She then took a deep breath and thought over her script for these kinds of situations.

She walked up to the youngest boy in his rather expensive looking purple uniform as he cheerfully chatted with his annoyed-looking older sibling.

Said older sibling noticed her presence and gave her a dismissive eye roll but said nothing more. She leaned over near him, using her cane to keep balance.

“Pleasant conversation you have going on there,” she said

The boy then jumped from his seat and turned to her.

“... Can I join in?”

Over time she managed to use her script to get her students back in line.

Though out her lesson she noticed something that has been bothering her ever since she got here.

Where were the parents?

Usually, with families like these, the parents and Family members would interrogate her about any and everything, long before she met their kids.

They usually dismiss her for being too insensitive for their 18-year-old illiterate ‘child’.

Which was true.

However, ever since she had arrived here, she had not had a glance at the Asbjorn head nor even their close family members. The head was obviously still alive or else the title would have given to one of their children already.

All that she saw from her interview to her arrival were workers and maybe the occasional long-distant 3rd cousin-once-removed. Even more strange whenever they talked about the boys there was this... chill, it felt cold and empty.

Asbjorn manor was just as cold as the outside weather of Ildens. It was unsettling.

Finally, the classes ended, and she gathered her papers and went outside to see Loukas giving a hi-five to a cheery14-year old Enok who ran off just as she came up to the young man.

“So, how it went?” he asked with genuine concern, “I know they are pretty difficult and all”

Carole folded my arms and said, “It was alright, some stubbornness but nothing I’m not used to”

He let out a sigh of relief at her lukewarm response, “Thank goodness, Enok can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but he’s a good kid, haha”

“Typical for his age,” she said

Carole's thoughts wandered to what she wanted to do after her first day, her thoughts gradually went to alcohol and she blocked that thought with a, “not now”

Loukas was still there looking keen to hear about her first day and how his siblings acted, with the same air of a dad wanting to know if his kids behaved on their first day of school.

She was tired. She wanted to tell him she didn't want to, but she remembered she should at least do the usual 'informing the caretaker' part, her job normally had. No matter how socially tired she got.

Thus she summarized the class events, Loukas’ face seemed to ponder on her every word with a mixture of concern and interest.

Once she finished, he smiled, “Thank you, I’m glad it wasn’t too hard on you.”

Then they both heard a low rumble that caught her by surprise but Loukas just had a solemn look on his face. She turned to the window and saw a wild rush of ventis spewing from some unknown area.

“Must be a surge,” Loukas said as if to answer the question in her mind.

She was always curious about the Ventis but no one ever seemed to know much about it, but there was always something so fascinating about it.

Carole turns to Loukas and asks, “What does this smog do, anyway?”

He should know, he is an Asbjorn probable heir, he should at least have an answer. However, he without even so much as glancing at her, he replied, “..... I don’t know.”

The two stood together in silence with Loukas dreamy looking out through the window as the smog spewed into the sky.

And before she could question him further he was already leaving the room.

Leaving her alone by the window.