06-03-2019, 03:47 AM
Velameestra’s ear twitched faintly as she felt something on the edge of her perceptions, and she glanced out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, her gaze settled on the (now familiar) guise of the young elf that had become a recurring sight since her first visit to Scholomance.
One that always seemed to find their way into her vicinity, intentionally or not, and ultimately preliminary prodding into the story behind the eccentric young quel’dorei had offered little beyond the fact that they were a very gifted and intelligent orphan that had arrived by boat with an armful of regents who always referred to themself in plural tense.
At least, that was what instructor Chillheart had been able to provide in regards to the curiosity that was Nem’aen.
The mage sighed mentally as she straightened over the notes she had strewn over the desk she had temporarily claimed.
“...can I help you?” she asked, running a hand through her white hair and turning her head in the direction of the black-and-white haired elf.
The individual promptly responded with a small “eep!” as they stumbled, nearly tripping over their feet, and began to to fiddle with a small piece of parchment in their hands. “Yes!” they replied. “I mean, no! Sorry!”
Without another word, the young student turned to hurry off.
“If you need something I’d prefer you just say it rather than lurk,” Velameestra called after them, her voice neutral and matter-of-fact as it frequently was. “It conserves your time and mine.”
Almost as quickly, the other elf froze.
“Right! Um! Yes! We did have something to say,” they replied, before turning once again, the parchment still twisting in their hands. “Hello!”
Velameestra blinked, momentarily caught off guard by such a benign statement, and there was a pause before she responded with “...hello.”
Nem’aen smiled, saying nothing more, and the silence stretched to a point of awkwardness before Velameestra broke it again.
“Is that… all?” she asked.
“No,” the younger elf replied, and there was another pause. “Oh! You want us to say it! Oh, we’re sorry, we’re really not used to talking to our friends. Usually we just know what we’re thinking, so we don’t really have to say it! Oh, we probably seem really foolish, don’t we?”
Velameestra blinked again, taking a moment to process what the other elf was saying as she shifted her weight away from the desk. “I… unfortunately am not a mind reader, no,” she replied.
“That makes sense! That makes sense!” Nem’aen agreed with a nod. “We think you are really cool! And very smart, too.”
“...Oh,” Velameestra replied, once again taken aback. “Um. Thank you.”
The other elf smiled again. “You are welcome! We read that’s what friends do, and since we are now friends, we will do it too! Your name is Velameestra, right?”
“Correct. And you’re Nem’aen?”
“We are!” the elf exclaimed happily. “You remembered! That’s so cool.”
“I… it’s more a matter of paying attention, but if you want to call it that.”
“No one has ever paid much attention to us, so it is very cool to us,” the other elf said, hardly missing a beat.
Velameestra blinked, her fingers tapping on the desk for a moment as she processed the implications behind the statement. She felt a faint twinge. Ultimately, the other student was likely barely older than her younger cousins. In her initial impression of Scholomance, she got the sense it was a safe haven, but it didn’t take an expert to tell it lacked the warmth that came from a more familial setting.
Very effective for objective research and study. Or as somewhere to hide.
Likely less than adequate for most else. Especially if other sources weren’t available.
Mentally, the mage sighed again.
“... I see,” she started. “You don’t have many… friends… then?”
“No, hee hee, we don’t,” Nem’aen said, the edge of a laugh in their voice. “We just have ourselves.”
“There is… more than one of you, then?”
The other elf cocked their head to the side. “Yes! Uhm, no. We’re… not sure how to answer!”
In a surprisingly smooth transition, they started to whisper to themselves, seemingly carrying on a different conversation.
“Should you be telling her that?”
“I don’t know, should we?”
“Can we really trust her?”
“She’s very cool!”
Velameestra blinked, her mouth flapping for a moment as she looked for a moment to interject. “I… can hear you if that’s meant to be a… private conversation.”
“Oh! Oops!” Nem’aen immediately turned their attention back to the older elf.
“...do you… need a moment?”
“Mmmmmmmmm nope!” the other elf replied, an almost childish tambre to their voice. “We have decided to tell you a secret.”
“Alright,” Velameestra said, given a slight nod of her head.
“We… have a twin!” Nem’aen gestured with their hands for a moment, another smile on their face.
“Ah. I… see,” Velameestra replied slowly, her blue eyes momentarily flickering up and down the other elf as if she was reassessing what she was seeing. “What’s… their name?”
“You already know!” they said. “Well, part of it anyways.”
The younger elf pointed up to their blue eye. “I’m Nemia.”
And then their finger switched over to gesture to to their red-pink eye. “I’m Revaen.”
Velameestra silently clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth, once again processing the new information she had been presented with.
“...fraternal twins, yes?” she asked, her eyes flicking from the elf’s eyes up to their dual-colored hair.
“Yes! That’s right! I don’t know if we should have told you, but we did, so it’s too late now!” Nem’aen replied.
“She won’t tell anyone. Right, Velameestra?”
As the mage paid more attention to their curious way of speaking she noted that their voice didn’t change--not truly--but there were subtle shifts in the pitch. It could have just as easily been due to changes due to excitement or other such emotions, but regardless, at points it seemed that it was pitched up slightly more or slightly less than others.
Perhaps in emulation of a more masculine or feminine voice as applicable.
Interesting.
“I’m not in the habit of disclosing secrets, no,” Velameestra said, giving a slight, affirming shake of her head.
“That’s so cool!~” Nem’aen replied, a border-line sing-song air to their voice.
Velameestra made a small, vaguely amused sound in the back of her throat. “...If you say so. I imagine most here are of the same mind.”
“Yes, everyone is very quiet here,” the younger elf agreed.
“...indeed.”
Velameestra let a bead of silence hang for a moment before continuing. “I suppose if you… need anything further just… say so, in the future, then.”
“We will!” Nem’aen replied eagerly. “And if you need anything, just ask. This is our home after all. We know all sorts of things.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Velameestra replied evenly. “Thank you, Nem’aen.”
“Yes! Bye!”
Without another word, the younger elf turned and hurried off, disappearing down one of the dim corridors. The older mage gave a few seconds to ensure that they weren’t going to suddenly appear again before she turned back to the notes she was reviewing.
“Interesting people in this school of yours, Kel,” she commented mentally, directing the thought at the mentor that was always hovering on the edges of her consciousness.
“Indeed,” Kel’thuzad replied. ”Why, one of our students even has the spirit of our headmaster staving off a malevolent curse from devouring her body piece by piece. A regular haven for misfits, I think.”
The mage couldn’t help but smirk as she made a quietly amused noise in the back of her throat.
“Yes, I suppose oddity is rather relative in this case.”
One that always seemed to find their way into her vicinity, intentionally or not, and ultimately preliminary prodding into the story behind the eccentric young quel’dorei had offered little beyond the fact that they were a very gifted and intelligent orphan that had arrived by boat with an armful of regents who always referred to themself in plural tense.
At least, that was what instructor Chillheart had been able to provide in regards to the curiosity that was Nem’aen.
The mage sighed mentally as she straightened over the notes she had strewn over the desk she had temporarily claimed.
“...can I help you?” she asked, running a hand through her white hair and turning her head in the direction of the black-and-white haired elf.
The individual promptly responded with a small “eep!” as they stumbled, nearly tripping over their feet, and began to to fiddle with a small piece of parchment in their hands. “Yes!” they replied. “I mean, no! Sorry!”
Without another word, the young student turned to hurry off.
“If you need something I’d prefer you just say it rather than lurk,” Velameestra called after them, her voice neutral and matter-of-fact as it frequently was. “It conserves your time and mine.”
Almost as quickly, the other elf froze.
“Right! Um! Yes! We did have something to say,” they replied, before turning once again, the parchment still twisting in their hands. “Hello!”
Velameestra blinked, momentarily caught off guard by such a benign statement, and there was a pause before she responded with “...hello.”
Nem’aen smiled, saying nothing more, and the silence stretched to a point of awkwardness before Velameestra broke it again.
“Is that… all?” she asked.
“No,” the younger elf replied, and there was another pause. “Oh! You want us to say it! Oh, we’re sorry, we’re really not used to talking to our friends. Usually we just know what we’re thinking, so we don’t really have to say it! Oh, we probably seem really foolish, don’t we?”
Velameestra blinked again, taking a moment to process what the other elf was saying as she shifted her weight away from the desk. “I… unfortunately am not a mind reader, no,” she replied.
“That makes sense! That makes sense!” Nem’aen agreed with a nod. “We think you are really cool! And very smart, too.”
“...Oh,” Velameestra replied, once again taken aback. “Um. Thank you.”
The other elf smiled again. “You are welcome! We read that’s what friends do, and since we are now friends, we will do it too! Your name is Velameestra, right?”
“Correct. And you’re Nem’aen?”
“We are!” the elf exclaimed happily. “You remembered! That’s so cool.”
“I… it’s more a matter of paying attention, but if you want to call it that.”
“No one has ever paid much attention to us, so it is very cool to us,” the other elf said, hardly missing a beat.
Velameestra blinked, her fingers tapping on the desk for a moment as she processed the implications behind the statement. She felt a faint twinge. Ultimately, the other student was likely barely older than her younger cousins. In her initial impression of Scholomance, she got the sense it was a safe haven, but it didn’t take an expert to tell it lacked the warmth that came from a more familial setting.
Very effective for objective research and study. Or as somewhere to hide.
Likely less than adequate for most else. Especially if other sources weren’t available.
Mentally, the mage sighed again.
“... I see,” she started. “You don’t have many… friends… then?”
“No, hee hee, we don’t,” Nem’aen said, the edge of a laugh in their voice. “We just have ourselves.”
“There is… more than one of you, then?”
The other elf cocked their head to the side. “Yes! Uhm, no. We’re… not sure how to answer!”
In a surprisingly smooth transition, they started to whisper to themselves, seemingly carrying on a different conversation.
“Should you be telling her that?”
“I don’t know, should we?”
“Can we really trust her?”
“She’s very cool!”
Velameestra blinked, her mouth flapping for a moment as she looked for a moment to interject. “I… can hear you if that’s meant to be a… private conversation.”
“Oh! Oops!” Nem’aen immediately turned their attention back to the older elf.
“...do you… need a moment?”
“Mmmmmmmmm nope!” the other elf replied, an almost childish tambre to their voice. “We have decided to tell you a secret.”
“Alright,” Velameestra said, given a slight nod of her head.
“We… have a twin!” Nem’aen gestured with their hands for a moment, another smile on their face.
“Ah. I… see,” Velameestra replied slowly, her blue eyes momentarily flickering up and down the other elf as if she was reassessing what she was seeing. “What’s… their name?”
“You already know!” they said. “Well, part of it anyways.”
The younger elf pointed up to their blue eye. “I’m Nemia.”
And then their finger switched over to gesture to to their red-pink eye. “I’m Revaen.”
Velameestra silently clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth, once again processing the new information she had been presented with.
“...fraternal twins, yes?” she asked, her eyes flicking from the elf’s eyes up to their dual-colored hair.
“Yes! That’s right! I don’t know if we should have told you, but we did, so it’s too late now!” Nem’aen replied.
“She won’t tell anyone. Right, Velameestra?”
As the mage paid more attention to their curious way of speaking she noted that their voice didn’t change--not truly--but there were subtle shifts in the pitch. It could have just as easily been due to changes due to excitement or other such emotions, but regardless, at points it seemed that it was pitched up slightly more or slightly less than others.
Perhaps in emulation of a more masculine or feminine voice as applicable.
Interesting.
“I’m not in the habit of disclosing secrets, no,” Velameestra said, giving a slight, affirming shake of her head.
“That’s so cool!~” Nem’aen replied, a border-line sing-song air to their voice.
Velameestra made a small, vaguely amused sound in the back of her throat. “...If you say so. I imagine most here are of the same mind.”
“Yes, everyone is very quiet here,” the younger elf agreed.
“...indeed.”
Velameestra let a bead of silence hang for a moment before continuing. “I suppose if you… need anything further just… say so, in the future, then.”
“We will!” Nem’aen replied eagerly. “And if you need anything, just ask. This is our home after all. We know all sorts of things.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Velameestra replied evenly. “Thank you, Nem’aen.”
“Yes! Bye!”
Without another word, the younger elf turned and hurried off, disappearing down one of the dim corridors. The older mage gave a few seconds to ensure that they weren’t going to suddenly appear again before she turned back to the notes she was reviewing.
“Interesting people in this school of yours, Kel,” she commented mentally, directing the thought at the mentor that was always hovering on the edges of her consciousness.
“Indeed,” Kel’thuzad replied. ”Why, one of our students even has the spirit of our headmaster staving off a malevolent curse from devouring her body piece by piece. A regular haven for misfits, I think.”
The mage couldn’t help but smirk as she made a quietly amused noise in the back of her throat.
“Yes, I suppose oddity is rather relative in this case.”