Without a clock in his dorm room, Isak was left with staring out his window and trying to gauge the time by daylight alone. An imprecise method at best that forced a frown before returning to read his book. It was an adventure story about a teenaged jungle troll discovering an uncharted island and her adventures there. What better way to pass the time until the next step of the group of five’s plan than some light reading?

Sure, this hadn’t been on the recommended reading list from his friends but that just meant that they likely didn’t know about it! Isak nodded to himself from how much sense it all made as a book about tropical adventures might even be so useful as to consider research. So useful, in fact, that he had to read through it before telling anyone else about it to ensure not only the quality of the story but the possible accuracy of tropical island exploration.

“Hey Vidal.” Isak looked up from his book to the rock man in the corner of the room. “Can you…tell time? I mean…do you have a general sense of time? Wait, no I mean…would you know what time it is if you didn’t look at a clock or at the sun?”

“I am capable of following precise orders.” Vidal directed his head and whirlpool eyes to his human. “This includes, but is not limited to, following orders that have precise time components such as carrying out actions at a pre-stated delay. To the best of my abilities.”

The human stared at him for a moment, mouth hanging open in a question. “Uh…so if I told you ‘do a thing six minutes from now’ you would do it six minutes from now?”

“Affirmative.”

“Cool.”

When the series of six knocks at his door broke his concentration, Isak flinched and tossed his book aside on his bed. There was no way of knowing if the depiction of jungle troll culture was accurate, so best not to tell anyone he was reading this until he was sure.

The human approached the door, hand hovering over the handle for just a moment. It had been a nice few hours of rest today. Between early morning paperwork filing about the fight you got into yesterday and starting in on the group of five’s newest plan.

“Who is it?” Isak asked, though the six knocks as the five had agreed on already gave him a good enough idea.

“Tonauac!” The lizardlad’s low voice called from the other side. The overly cautious human gestured back to Vidal to lower his prepared water cannon of a hand, then welcomed the green and black lizardfolk in.

Greetings were exchanged, the door was shut, and Isak pressed his ear against the wall while Tonauac pulled out a chair from the small dorm’s study desk. The lizardlad set down his book bag and asked the human “Anything?”

Isak angled his head to get as much of his ear pressed against the wall as he could. He wasn’t exactly used to dealing with so many walls being around but Zyn had instructed him on this method of attempted eavesdropping. Hearing no sudden shifting or other out of place noises, Isak pulled away from the wall and shook his head at Tonauac.

The lizardlad nodded and walked back over to the door, now that things were as close to ‘clear’ as they could hope for with their limited abilities. He began to flick his tongue out rapidly near the meeting of the door and frame, focusing on the door handle for a moment with a few flicks of his tongue that didn’t quite meet the metal, then continued downward to the ground where he had to crouch down.

He climbed back to his feet and shook his head. “Nothing I wouldn’t expect.”

“Well what would you expect to smell…er, taste? Both?” Isak asked, looking over his shoulder to Vidal as though he had any more clue than he did about lizardfolk senses.

“You, Zyn, Xoco, Xoco’s perfume, Citlali’s perfume, tortilla.” The lizardlad counted off on his fingers before giving a shrug. “And everything else…I dunno it all just sorta blends in together. Nothing strong enough to be recent, or useful.”

Isak chewed on his cheek as hummed to himself, recalling that he had in fact been eating a spare tortilla from breakfast on his way back to his dorm after the planned split for the day. “Well, I guess no one else breaking in here is good news…hey, you said you sensed Xoco’s perfume uh…you wouldn’t happen to know anything more about that like…if I wanted to get her some as a thank you, as a friend, for the umbrella and help with translating an unknown language on Vidal. I know it smells like honey but if you knew any more than that–”

“It’s expensive.” The lizardlad held up a hand to stop his friend’s rambling. “It’s honey and uh…I dunno…flowers? I know it’s different from what Citlali wears?”

The human grit his teeth as he walked back over to his bed and started gathering things in his book bag for the rest of the day. “...how expensive are we talking here?”

“I couldn’t tell you an exact price but…” Tonauac leaned down to flick out his tongue again, then scrunched up his eyes in concentration as he dragged the tips of his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “So you know how Citlali wears the expensive stuff? The kind that’s not so harsh on the senses despite how long it lasts?”

Isak, who was completely unused to women who had the luxury of purchasing perfume and only knew that it was all expensive, answered his friend with a blank stare and a plain “Yes.”

“Well…once again I really should be clear that this is just not my expertise but…” He gave a flick of his tongue against the roof of his mouth, then gave an impressed nod. “Huh, I don’t think I’ve ever sensed perfume this nice. So to answer your question…so expensive it hurts to think about?”

Whatever financial agony Tonauac was going through at that thought, Isak had paused while gathering any needed supplies for the day to brace himself against his bed from his own financial agony temporarily disabling his legs. As he winced away the pain, he forced a smile back onto his lips as he turned to address his friend on unsteady legs. “So a very thoughtful personal gift instead?”

“That’s always the superior choice of gift for a girl.”

“Who’s just a friend.” Isak was sure to correct him on any possible misunderstanding. “But perfume would also be a normal friendly gift.”

“Are you going to get me perfume, Isak?”

“You don’t wear perfume.” The human looked away to focus on moving things around in his book bag to pretend he was still working on that. “But if you did…uh, sure I would. Because it’s a normal friend thing to do.”

“Citlali wears perfume.”

“But she too has expensive tastes. So…you know. I would but I can’t.” Isak’s eyes were locked on his finally packed bag as he wondered if Zyn’s more blatant and snark filled teasing on this completely normal friendly matter wouldn’t be more tolerable than Tonauac’s tactics. There wasn’t a hint of teasing in his voice, and the lizardlad delivered each line with complete sincerity. Whether or not he actually was sincere or he was a master of keeping a straight face were both equal, and Isak didn’t know which was more impressive. “And those teeth she gave me…well it was one part ritual, one part gift so what would be the right gift in return? Don’t say teeth.”

Tonauac tapped a claw to his jaw as he picked up his own bag and stood. “How many teeth did she give you?”

Isak walked over to his study desk where he opened up a small wooden box containing her surrendered teeth. After the morning filing and paperwork establishing that the lizardlass had indeed switched affiliations, Isak was only marginally more aware of what all this entailed. “Three. Also…what do I do with these?”

The lizardlad leaned over Isak’s shoulder to check the teeth and hummed. “One of the teeth goes into a shrine at…okay we don’t have anything like a guildhouse or government building so, your dorm will have to do. We can work on that later. Then, take two of the teeth, make them into a necklace. For yourself. Use one bead or charm of a certain color to separate them, something that represents her…so red.”

“My friendly gift to her…is a gift to myself?” Isak asked as he cast a wary glance over his shoulder.

“Exactly!” Tonauac exclaimed as he walked to the door, slinging his book bag over his shoulder before pausing to shake his head with sudden realization. “Heart Necklace!...really they don’t have that where you’re from? Anyway, you’re carrying a bit of your friends with you wherever you go! Speaking of!”

Tonauac reached into his mouth as Isak’s eyes shot open and he scrambled to his feet. “WHOA WHOA WAIT!”

The lizardlad paused with a look of concern in his yellow eyes as he lowered his hand from his mouth. “Are we…not friends?”

“We are!” He held up his hands. “But just…yanking teeth is nightmare horror story stuff for humans since without magic they don’t grow back…so can you…do that later and not in front of me?”

Sudden understanding hit Tonauac as his pupil grew. “OH! Oh gods I’m sorry…okay, okay. I really need to learn more regrowth spells for your teeth.”

“It’s fine. Just focus on today for now.” Isak waved off the now extremely worried lizardfolk before joining him at the door. He pointed upwards. “Patli see anything good up there?”

Focusing on some unseen point on the ceiling, Tonauac narrowed his eyes in concentration for a moment before he shook his head. “Nothing. That would be too much luck for us.”

“Yeah that– wait, is that what I sound like?” The human mage suddenly felt like his voice had echoed back at him after shouting his woes into a canyon. Tonauac just opened the door and held it open for a bemused Isak and a towering Vidal, all while he kept the same earnest smile on his face.

As they took a step out into the hallway, all secretive talk was left behind. Around one of the stone and steel staircases connecting all the floors of the dormitories they struck up a conversation about swimming, and how Isak very much wanted to brush up on that skill. They almost made it to the entrance lobby before they got their first openly curious stares.

In the early morning, the five had crawled out of bed to file paperwork. Far too much paperwork for their first weekend at school. All to make it official that the group of five was, in fact, now five. As well as an official group. With official rivals.

Which was enough of a peculiarity that word had already been spreading since last night until this afternoon where the stares were all the more curious. Isak lost track of whatever Tonauac was saying as he looked over at the group of avian students who stared back for a moment longer before looking away.

After being around so many different people as compared to his rural upbringing, Isak was slowly growing accustomed to learning all the finer details of a cosmopolitan society. He could tell that the small group of black feathered avians was a mix of human sized and stockier tonatecah and much shorter and slimmer metztecah. Even beak differences were apparent if he was to stare just as much as they had been.

And yet he still couldn’t place whatever expression it was that they had fixed upon him before averting their gaze. Even as they left the lobby full of students milling about and enjoying their day off, Isak still caught a few more glances and stares. While Vidal had been a notable center of attention since his first day at Black Reef Institute, this was the first time Isak felt eyes on him specifically.

Isak kept glancing over his shoulder to Vidal as they traversed campus. Just to be sure the rock man was close by as the stares started to weigh on him. It was a new feeling, and while he was still processing how exactly it made him feel he had settled on ‘uncomfortable’ in the meantime.

“I think it’s how you look at it.” Tonauac’s slightly raised voice finally broke the human out of his absent minded wanderings, and he suddenly realized he had just been following the lizardfolk for a while without really thinking. Isak looked up to see one of the dark stone entrances to the library, then back down to his friend continuing on inside. “This is new for you, isn’t it?”

The human nodded, then raised an eyebrow as the lizardlad looked over his shoulder with a smile. He proceeded to explain as they passed through the entrance and by yet another librarian scowling at the large elemental book catastrophe-in-waiting following behind them. “Awakening as a blood mage gets you somehow even more attention and higher expectations than most other mages. All before you’ve actually done anything. Well…now we’ve actually done something!”

“Alright…” Isak relented with a sigh. “That’s…fair…I’m still not used to it though…when do you get used to it?”

“I’ll let you know!” There might have been a small amount of pain behind that unwavering smile, but Isak couldn’t be certain. More importantly, he wasn’t going to try pestering his friend too much. Instead they focused on locating the small cafe on one of the lower levels of the library where it was planned for Zyn to be waiting.

Down several flights of stairs and through many rows of books they finally found the small, sectioned off cafe. At one far wall sat a small kitchen section and counter where low priced hot drinks were served for students, alongside a selection of pastries and other baked goods. Tile floor was sectioned off with wooden railing to make an area with tables and chairs for students to sit and enjoy a hot drink while studying.

Which is where they finally met with Zyn as planned, finding him sipping on some drink that was an apparent favorite of the students from Mu by the looks of all the patrons here. He set down his book and waved to the pair and Vidal.

“How’s your day going?” The drow asked as Ozzy scurried up his arm just as he raised it to take another sip of strange hot fungal drink.

“Lazy day.” The pair shrugged and repeated their ‘code phrase’ the drow had previously insisted on for openly stating that they hadn’t encountered anything strange.

Zyn sighed before downing the last of his drink. “Well I have had people staring at me the whole time here.”

At his raised voice declaration, several gawking onlookers buried their noses, beaks, or snouts back into their books. The drow just grinned at his work and hopped to his feet while hefting a large leather bag of unknown supplies onto his back. “Ready to go find the girls? They’re probably used to this by now. High society girls and all that.”

As Zyn returned his mug to the kitchen counter, Isak decided that limited explanation would have to be enough. Back home in the middle of nowhere, ‘high society’ wasn’t really a thing. Shops that served hot drinks weren’t a thing either. Outside of Kazimirz’s magic shop and the occasional traveling merchant, luxury goods were exceedingly rare. But no one needed to know the details of how horribly uncultured he was.

And Isak didn’t like the reminder.

A bit of stalking and overzealous school rivals were so far just the price to pay for things already being better.

There existed a drink and snack shop on the surface of campus as well. While the trek was thankfully mundane, the boys drew even more curious glances in a group. Many students might not be sure if Zyn was that drow, or if Tonauac was that lizardfolk, but the human with the large rock man confirmed that they absolutely were.

Whatever thoughts Isak had about how few humans he had seen here were short-lived when they arrived at the Caldera Cafe.

Ever since they had all come here for drinks late last night, Isak had been enraptured by the variety of drinks and baked goods available to students and staff for low prices. Prices so low, Isak still couldn’t actually afford them and instead felt deep shame no matter how quietly Zyn had paid for his drink.

True to form, the shop was a round stone building made to look like a caldera. Isak passed under the brightly painted sign bearing the name. Which he mused somehow managed to be alliterative in Clear Speech, Wastelander, and Lavi-Wastelander. A random fact that he would always remember as it had earned Xoco’s fascination and attention last night.

Through the doors and Isak was hit with the aroma of a delightful variety of hot drinks and baked goods that was still almost overwhelming to the human. He had only been here the previous night and he still had to struggle to not be brought to tears at the scent of drinks so decadent that it put all he had ever tasted to shame. All the times he thought he was lucky to have traveling merchants bearing coffee in his village, and none of it compared to the simple cup of coffee he tried last night.

Tea and hot cocoa were two delicacies that he would dare to dream of another day.

Today, he remembered the ‘mission’ as he spotted the girls sitting together in the dining area. Amongst all the tables and cozy chairs and the low hum of conversations it was still easy to spot the girls. Despite everyone being in uniform, the girls still had a more elegant air about them as compared to others.

That, and Xoco was notably taller than everyone in the cafe who wasn’t vidal and it was apparent even as she was seated.

The girls spotted the boys and the two groups waved to each other shortly before merging and attempting to find spare chairs to join the girls at the table.

“Hello!” Xoco said with a bright smile as she set down her cup of coffee. “How has your day been?”

“Eh.” Isak shrugged his shoulders as he looked to Vidal. “Honestly kind of boring after this morning? I just hung out in my dorm.”

He wasn’t lying, and was in fact being overly truthful. Most of his day had been spent hiding out in his room as part of the group’s scheme. And indeed, there had been nothing to report for an otherwise dull day.

“Yeaaaah.” The drow at his side sighed and agreed as Ozzy patted him on the shoulder. “After yesterday? A hot drink and a good book underground was enough for me today.”

Citlali scoffed as her tail thrashed behind her, causing Coztic to dodge out of the way. “Your first weekend on a tropical island and you boys spend it inside?”

Tonauac flicked his tongue and pointed at the collection of empty mugs waiting to be taken back to the kitchen. “How long have you two been here?”

“We also worked out this morning despite my protests that we had done enough of that yesterday so we saw plenty of the beach and the sea!” The lizardlass huffed and crossed her arms.

“Exercise is good for stress relief!” The troll girl was an exercise in contrast to the lizard girl. Above average height for her species compared to the below average height Citlali. A preference for dresses as opposed to a blouse and long skirt combo. Mammal vs reptile. Coffee drinker hot cocoa enjoyer. Love for physical activity versus wanting to just passively relax. “You should all join us! Especially because we now might be in fights more! Official rivals and all that…”

Zyn leaned back and crossed his arms “Yeah but they’re gonna have to be a lot more subtle now if they try to pull anything…okay, being more physically capable would still help with that too.”

The group mumbled their agreement while the girls finished the last of their drinks. Gathering up all of the spent mugs was a group effort that even involved Vidal. Due to his water form, the mugs that he carried were ever so slightly cleaner by the time they were returned to the kitchen counter. Much to the thanks and confusion of the cafe worker staring at the rock monster.

Outside, many students were also still staring. It was possible that they were staring at the now somewhat famous group but Isak preferred to think of them as being jealous of the best familiar ever. Hopefully they would all gain something else to focus on soon enough.

Soon enough they all found themselves at the beach just in time for the last warm hours of daylight. Idle conversation continued as one by one all of their eyes turned to Tonauac, and random chatter died while waiting on the announcement.

The lizardlad glanced up at the skies, narrowed his eyes, and focused. “No one following.”

Four relieved sighs sounded off as they all visibly relaxed and started to gather supplies for their beach fire. Tonauac looked to the skies once more where Patli soared on thermals. “Some other students…maybe professors here too? Well nothing unusual on the beach.”

“No footprints in the sand made by someone invisible?” Isak asked as he had Vidal help him to move a few large rocks and pieces of driftwood into a seating arrangement.

“None, and though no one was questioning Patli he did just resist the urge to swoop down and snatch up a small crab so it’s not something he would miss.” The lizardlad shook his head with a grin.

Citlali was already sitting and unpacking some of the snacks to be roasted over the flames as she turned to Tonauac. “So where did you learn the sand trick? I thought you were a city boy?”

“You live in a city too.” Tonauac pointed out and tilted his head before shrugging it off. “And my dad is a very cautious man. Sand, snow, bodies of water. All make it very hard for someone invisible to stalk you! So trips and vacations to places with lots of those were common!”

“And that was something he was worried about?” Xoco’s own curiosity had her questioning him while she rolled a driftwood log towards a growing circle of makeshift seats.

“Heh heh, yeah…we never were attacked by anyone though, even when we didn’t go to places with sand, snow, or lots of water! So it worked!” The lizardlad’s reminiscence and laughter was paused as he put a claw to his jaw and pondered something. “Or maybe they were only observing? Or they didn’t exist? Or my dad dealt with them when I wasn’t looking? Or-”

Just as everyone, even Vidal, was casting worried looks at the rambling lizardlad, Zyn interrupted. “Cool, so it either worked perfectly or it will work perfectly now!....right?”

Isak was suddenly all too aware of everyone’s expectant stares being on him now. He looked around and behind him before realizing they were in fact looking at him. “Oh. Uhhhh yeah that makes sense. Mud would also work. We have options! Until hover boots become a thing…that’s not a thing yet, is it?”

“Only in stories!” The jungle troll girl had already found her seat but was already nearly leaping out of it with excitement before she regained her composure. “Sorry, it was a cool story and they did a clever thing with them and…that would be spoilers. Sorry…but I can recommend ‘Midnight’s Warden’! It’s a good series so far!”

“...wait.” Isak had been helping to distribute some metal skewers when he paused. “We didn’t tell Citlali about Book Club!”

“....that’s a thing?” Realization hit the lizardlass, lighting up her face just as she ignited the stick that Isak had been holding out to her. No sooner was the tip of the stick lit did her pupils turn to slits. “Wait, what kind of books?”

Zyn shrugged while sticking one piece of meat at the end of his skewer, and handing another Ozzy. “Fiction, and yes historical fiction and alternate history are both allowed! Because some incredibly handsome drow did some very worthwhile bargaining.”

“We all did some bargaining.” The human corrected and touched the burning stick to Vidal, turning his flowing water into flames. Vidal’s flames immediately lessened in severity, as had been requested to make the fire cozy as opposed to a roaring inferno. “Aaaand you can thank me for having some folktales included!....it counts!”

Xoco held her own skewer over the Vidal fire as she studied the flames. Even Nelli seemed to join in, flicking her tongue out as she watched. “I was going to insist that we include some non-fiction books on linguistics but…some leisure is needed now more than ever isn’t it? So I just supported the folktales and historical fiction ideas.”

“And I gracefully withdrew my suggestion for horror to keep things lite!” The lizardlad smiled even as Isak was still surprised yet completely unsurprised that the friendly blood mage was a fan of horror.

“Right, well, any requests Citlali?” The human asked their newest member.

Said new member twiddled her claws and looked at Coztic until the small raptor squawked at her and she groaned. “I will not be subjecting you to the romance novels I read because while I love them dearly I am trying to be a good friend. What about Vidal?”

“I…” Isak hadn’t actually thought of that. At all. His mouth hung open and his eyes unfocused for a few moments before he caught the similar looks of his friends who all had the same apparent question on their minds. He asked the burning rock man “Do you…want to read anything buddy?”

“My thus far discovered elemental forms are not conducive to reading flammable documents without causing irreparable damage, Master Isak.” Vidal sat cross legged in the sand, magical flames dancing over his component stones while the group of five stared and let their skewers of meats sizzle and char. “Should this obstacle be overcome, it is not a desire I possess.”

The five quietly decided that this wasn’t worth taking notes and interrupting their beach campfire and afternoon meal. Isak noticed Citlali quickly studying everyone and fidgeting under the silence. He could tell she was thinking of some way to break the awkwardness because he was doing the very same at this moment. If someone didn’t, if he didn’t, the good times would end and relationships would sour and-

“You know what? That’s fine with me! This is already a great year!I finally have real friends and I’m also roasting snacks on the greatest magical discovery of our age!” Citlali cheered as she turned over her skewered meat before frowning. “It sounds weird when I say it out loud…has this been happening to all of you a lot?”

“Near constantly.”

“It’s not so bad!”

“Nothing horrible has happened yet!”

“It gets more thrilling with each time!”

“I shall endeavor to keep all revelations regarding my self and inherent nature non-harmful to Master Isak and his friends, in both a physical and mental capacity.”

The group went quiet as they stared at the burning rock man, until Isak finally took his turn to break the silence. “See? Not so bad! How many magical discoveries make it that clear that they won’t hurt anyone? Or…or at least they have a list that they won’t hurt. How many have that?!?”

Zyn cleared his throat, forcing Isak to slump his shoulders while still holding onto his charring skewer. “There’s been more than one, hasn’t there…fine. Story time now, research later.”

“I’ll make it a brief story!” Zyn said before starting in on a story that was anything but.

Though no one minded much as they enjoyed each other’s company, and the roaring fire of a talking rock man as night approached.