Post by Aegle Verdant on Jul 8, 2019 9:40:59 GMT -5
It was strange, just how quick one could get used to the bizarre. Her first time in the cafeteria, Aegle had just about been crushed by the press of students; She had felt adrift, caught in a riptide of bodies, amidst a sea of unfamiliar faces, constantly threatening to drag her under. A week had done little to change her feelings for the cafeteria, and it still took far too long to get her food and escape the press, but at least she was growing used to it. Being comfortable with being surrounded was probably something she'd need, should she ever hope to actually be a huntress, and dealing with people far larger than she was in close confines would be an equally necessary skill. So Aegle endured the cafeteria, with its face-high elbows and heedless diners as best she could.
But she could never like it. She could never like how disorganized, how chaotic it all felt. She thought there must be some deeper insight she might glean from the experience, something about humans all trying to accomplish the same thing and thereby making it next to impossible for some, but she was usually too burnt out from class to give it much thought.
Classes were a different sort of challenge for Aegle, and they, like the cafeteria, hadn't grown any easier in the week since she'd first arrived at Haven. History was all memorizing dates and places and people, and all those details couldn't have seemed any less useful if Aegle had also been required to memorize them in verse. Math was just as bad; She'd never had any especial love for sums, and had done only the bare minimum to bring herself up to the prerequisite level before applying to the Academies. So the fact that it often seemed like her math professor was writing in a foreign language probably shouldn't have been that surprising, but nobody else seemed to be struggling with the material like she was. Everyone else knew what that weird zig-zaggy 'E' was meant to represent, or what a limit was meant to be. Half the terms, half the notation, Aegle had never seen nor heard before, and yet everyone else seemed so familiar with them that she felt like she was slowing down the whole class whenever she raised her hand to ask for clarification.
'Why does a huntress need math anyway?' She wondered. She thought she knew the answer; Some of her classmates, most of them, would not remain huntsman forever, and those which hope for more would doubtless need some sort of education that wasn't just hitting things with sharp objects.
'Not me though,' Aegle knew, 'Sixteen plus five equals twenty-one; That's all the math I'll ever need.'
Finally, the press parted, and Aegle was free of the elbows and hips that threatened to smash her face or send her food tray tumbling to the floor. She paused, giving the tables and benches nearest the food counter her customary, cursory glance. Those were the first to fill up, she'd learned on her first visit to the cafeteria. They were promptly divided among the many groups and cliques that made up Haven's student body, in places they'd had half a semester to make their own. There was no place for her on those benches; She was the new girl, Jenny-come-lately, and nobody was wont to save her a place.
She was about to move on to the stony shore beyond the sea of seat-savers, when she noticed a shock of bright red hair at a nearby table. Looking again, Aegle saw at least one familiar face among the strangers.
'Carmin.'
Aegle had not spoken to her roommate as much as she'd wanted; Their unlikely first meeting had done little to change their respective schedules and habits. Save the occasional interaction in class, they'd spent very little time around one another.
'And whose fault is that?' Aegle asked herself, with a pang of guilt. She liked Carmin well enough, and had meant to speak to her more, to actually get to know her. She'd called her friend, but Aegle had not acted like one.
'I've been avoidin' her.'
No need to wonder why. Aegle knew why.
'She's probably with friends any. You can bother her some other time.' Looking around the table, she saw it wasn't as packed as some of the others. Then she remembered, Carmin was new to Haven as well.
Instead, Aegle found herself walking towards her roommate, navigating a path among the benches and dodging the occasional hand or foot. To her relief, the seat beside Carmin was empty. Putting on a grin, Aegle slapped down her tray and collapsed onto the seat.
"Hoi~," She said, by way of greeting, "M'glad I saw you; Was gettin' awful tired, carryin' this thing around.'
She waved a trembling hand at the disarray upon her tray, made all the worse by its sudden impact with the table.
words - 826
But she could never like it. She could never like how disorganized, how chaotic it all felt. She thought there must be some deeper insight she might glean from the experience, something about humans all trying to accomplish the same thing and thereby making it next to impossible for some, but she was usually too burnt out from class to give it much thought.
Classes were a different sort of challenge for Aegle, and they, like the cafeteria, hadn't grown any easier in the week since she'd first arrived at Haven. History was all memorizing dates and places and people, and all those details couldn't have seemed any less useful if Aegle had also been required to memorize them in verse. Math was just as bad; She'd never had any especial love for sums, and had done only the bare minimum to bring herself up to the prerequisite level before applying to the Academies. So the fact that it often seemed like her math professor was writing in a foreign language probably shouldn't have been that surprising, but nobody else seemed to be struggling with the material like she was. Everyone else knew what that weird zig-zaggy 'E' was meant to represent, or what a limit was meant to be. Half the terms, half the notation, Aegle had never seen nor heard before, and yet everyone else seemed so familiar with them that she felt like she was slowing down the whole class whenever she raised her hand to ask for clarification.
'Why does a huntress need math anyway?' She wondered. She thought she knew the answer; Some of her classmates, most of them, would not remain huntsman forever, and those which hope for more would doubtless need some sort of education that wasn't just hitting things with sharp objects.
'Not me though,' Aegle knew, 'Sixteen plus five equals twenty-one; That's all the math I'll ever need.'
Finally, the press parted, and Aegle was free of the elbows and hips that threatened to smash her face or send her food tray tumbling to the floor. She paused, giving the tables and benches nearest the food counter her customary, cursory glance. Those were the first to fill up, she'd learned on her first visit to the cafeteria. They were promptly divided among the many groups and cliques that made up Haven's student body, in places they'd had half a semester to make their own. There was no place for her on those benches; She was the new girl, Jenny-come-lately, and nobody was wont to save her a place.
She was about to move on to the stony shore beyond the sea of seat-savers, when she noticed a shock of bright red hair at a nearby table. Looking again, Aegle saw at least one familiar face among the strangers.
'Carmin.'
Aegle had not spoken to her roommate as much as she'd wanted; Their unlikely first meeting had done little to change their respective schedules and habits. Save the occasional interaction in class, they'd spent very little time around one another.
'And whose fault is that?' Aegle asked herself, with a pang of guilt. She liked Carmin well enough, and had meant to speak to her more, to actually get to know her. She'd called her friend, but Aegle had not acted like one.
'I've been avoidin' her.'
No need to wonder why. Aegle knew why.
'She's probably with friends any. You can bother her some other time.' Looking around the table, she saw it wasn't as packed as some of the others. Then she remembered, Carmin was new to Haven as well.
Instead, Aegle found herself walking towards her roommate, navigating a path among the benches and dodging the occasional hand or foot. To her relief, the seat beside Carmin was empty. Putting on a grin, Aegle slapped down her tray and collapsed onto the seat.
"Hoi~," She said, by way of greeting, "M'glad I saw you; Was gettin' awful tired, carryin' this thing around.'
She waved a trembling hand at the disarray upon her tray, made all the worse by its sudden impact with the table.
words - 826
