Attention Cuts Both Ways

Eric and Welyvyne passed through the double doors, the smell of warm bread and roasted roots wafting over them. At first, no one seemed to notice. The clatter of cutlery and hum of chatter rolled on as they moved toward the serving line, trays in hand.

A short elf ahead of them shifted slightly, tray tucked to his chest. When his eyes caught Eric’s, he flinched—just barely—then snapped his gaze forward, stiff as a board.

The change spread like a ripple. Heads began to turn, one after another. Voices faltered, dimming to murmurs until it was as if someone had turned the hall’s volume down a notch.

By the time Eric slid his tray onto the rail, the air was thick with the kind of hush that wasn’t silence so much as watchfulness.

He leaned just slightly toward Welyvyne, muttering under his breath. “Well… that’s subtle.”

Welyvyne scoffed softly, voice pitched low. “I’m beginning to think subtle isn’t even a word here.”

Eric chuckled under his breath, following her gaze across the hall. Their table from that morning stood half-empty — but not abandoned. Lyren was already there, elbow propped on the wood, watching them with a grin that didn’t quite hide her mischief. Across the room, Kaelen was striding in the same direction, noble posture impossible to miss.

“Well,” Eric muttered, tipping his chin toward them, “guess we should go over there. Looks like they’re expecting us.”

Lyren’s eyes locked onto his the moment he said it. She shook her head slowly, a glimmer of delight tugging at the corners of her mouth, like she couldn’t decide if she was disappointed in them or thrilled by the spectacle they were about to cause.

As Eric set his tray down, Lyren fixed him with a stern look, her dark-blue skin and sharp-cut hair making the glare twice as effective.

“I thought I said,” she began, voice full of mock severity, “don’t do anything without telling me first.”

Eric froze halfway into his seat, brows raised.

Then her expression cracked into a wicked grin. “So… I heard what you did. All the way in Anatomy, mind you.”

Welyvyne groaned, dragging a hand over her face. “Of course you did.”

Eric muttered under his breath, “News travels faster than lightning around here.”

Lyren leaned forward, eyes glittering. “News? No. The news is fast, but the boom from your spell? That shook the whole school.”

Eric winced, shoulders hunching. “Great. So I didn’t just embarrass myself in class — I rattled the walls for everyone else too.”

Kaelen, already settled across from them, set down his cup with a calm precision. “You’re not exaggerating. I was in the practice yard when it hit. For a moment, I thought someone had died in Artificing.”

Eric deadpanned. “Comforting, Kaelen. Thanks.”

Welyvyne just sighed into her drink. “You’re impossible.”

Lyren smirked, stabbing her bread with theatrical flair. “Impossible, unforgettable, loud enough to shake the rafters — we’ll have plenty to talk about.”

Lyren tilted her head, the grin still there but edged with something sharper. “So I heard… you’ve got a lightning affinity. I wouldn’t have believed the rumors, but the boom speaks for itself.” Her eyes narrowed slightly, gleaming with curiosity. “And people are saying you dumped enough mana into that spell it would’ve nearly killed anyone else to cast.”

Eric paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, blinking at her. “Rumors get awfully detailed around here.”

Welyvyne muttered, “Not rumors. She’s right. We all felt it.”

Kaelen folded his arms, gaze steady on Eric. “So. Either you’ve been holding back, or you don’t realize just how much force you’re carrying.”

Eric gave a weak laugh, trying for casual. “Or — hear me out — everyone’s overestimating me. Great story, though.”

Welyvyne tilted her head, golden eyes steady. “Eric, based on your mana and stats, no one is overestimating you.”

Kaelen’s brows lifted, the unspoken question clear on his face — but Lyren got there first, sharp as a knife. “Wait. How do you know what his stats are?” Her voice carried, accusatory, like she’d just caught them sneaking sweets from the kitchen.

Eric didn’t even flinch. He shoveled in a forkful of something that tasted vaguely of cinnamon, chewed once, then mumbled past it. “I showed her.”

Lyren’s eyes widened, her grin faltering for the first time since they’d met. She leaned back slowly, studying Eric as if reassessing him. The hall’s hum seemed to dull again, a few nearby students shifting in their seats to listen more closely. When she spoke, her tone carried less mischief and more weight. “…You showed her your stats? Bold move, Outworlder. That kind of trust… it isn’t thrown around lightly here.”

Lyren’s lips curved, though her eyes stayed sharp.

“That’s some kind of foreplay, Eric.”

Welyvyne didn’t miss a beat. Her lips curved in a sly smirk. “He said, ‘If I show you mine, you show me yours.’ So… we showed each other.”

Eric looked at Welyvyne like she betrayed him. “Gods above. You know it was logical. If we’re going to be tied together, we should at least know each other’s capabilities.”

Kaelen chuckled, the sound low and surprisingly warm. “If it weren’t so logical,” he said, eyes glinting faintly, “I’d say you were in fact lovers.”

Lyren burst out laughing. Welyvyne just smirked into her bread, as if the accusation didn’t bother her in the slightest. Eric, meanwhile, looked like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

Eric turned his head slowly, fixing Welyvyne with a look of mock hurt. “You are not helping.”

Her smirk widened just enough to show she wasn’t planning to. “Why would I? This is far more entertaining.”

Lyren slapped the table, laughter bubbling out again. “Oh, I like her. She’s got the right instincts.”

Kaelen only shook his head, though there was the ghost of a smile tugging at his mouth. “If this is how you two are on your first week here, the rest of us may not survive the gossip.”

Lyren pressed a hand dramatically to her chest, eyes going wide in mock incredulity. “I, for once, don’t even have to fan the rumor mill. Eric here is doing a fine job summoning a hurricane straight at it.”

Eric dropped his forehead into his palm with a groan. “I hate everything about what you just said.”

Welyvyne’s smirk turned sly. “Well, technically, you’re Air and Fire. A hurricane would be perfectly within your wheelhouse.”

That set Lyren off again, laughter spilling across the table. Even Kaelen chuckled under his breath, shaking his head like he couldn’t quite believe he was sitting here.

Kaelen’s gaze moved from Welyvyne’s sly grin to Lyren’s laughter, then to Eric’s face buried in his palm. His lips curved, and for the first time it seemed genuine rather than practiced.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever enjoyed company more than yours,” he said with a low chuckle.

Eric peeked at him between his fingers, groaning. “Great. Even the noble’s laughing at my misery. Perfect.”

Welyvyne elbowed him lightly. “Oh, don’t pout. You’re the one who lit up half the school.”

Lyren smirked over her cup. “And rattled the rest of it. Honestly, if this is lunch on day one, I can’t wait to see what dinner’s like.”

Eric snorted into his bread. “Well, dinner will be boring then. Welyvyne and I have a date.”

Both Welyvyne’s and Lyren’s eyes went wide in perfect unison.

Lyren nearly dropped her fork. “Oh, moving fast, are you? I knew humans liked to live quick, but this is insane!”

Welyvyne sputtered, half choking on her drink. “It’s not a date—” she shot Eric a look sharp enough to cut steel, “—and you know it.”

Eric leaned back with the most innocent grin he could muster. “What? Handler meeting. Totally a date if you squint.”

Lyren slapped the table, laughing so hard a few students turned to stare. “Oh, I’m never letting this one die.”

Kaelen raised a brow, but his mouth twitched with amusement. “I suspect you may have doomed yourself, Elwyn. Words like that tend to grow wings.”

Eric chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, well… I’m starting to get into the spirit of things.”

Lyren wagged her fork at him like she was scolding a child. “Careful, or the spirit of things is going to get you married before the month’s out.”

Welyvyne groaned, pressing her palm to her forehead. “Spirits save me. I can already hear the whispers.”

Kaelen gave a rare, easy smile. “Better whispers of companionship than whispers of fear. This place thrives on both, you’ll find.”

Eric tilted his head, smirking faintly. “Well, I know half our Spellcraft class was afraid. I nearly made myself deaf.”

Kaelen set down his cup, his white eyes sharp but not unkind as they flicked from Eric to Welyvyne. “So, Welyvyne… how exactly gifted is this guy?”

Welyvyne froze with her fork halfway to her mouth, golden eyes narrowing in thought.

Lyren leaned forward immediately, grin splitting wide. “Yes, please, do tell. Because if the rumors are even half true, I want a front-row seat.”

Eric groaned, dragging his hand down his face.

Welyvyne laughed lightly, shaking her head. “I’m not saying a word. You’ll just have to wonder.”

Eric shot her a sidelong glance, a grin tugging despite himself. “Thank you. Besides—” his voice dropped lower as he leaned slightly forward, “—this is not the setting to be discussing such things.”

He swept his eyes across the dining hall, and sure enough, more than a few nearby students had slowed their chewing, ears tilted just a little too obviously in their direction.

Lyren smirked knowingly. “Oh, they’re listening, alright. You couldn’t buy this much attention if you tried.”

Kaelen’s lips curved faintly, though his tone carried a note of warning. “Attention cuts both ways. Be careful how much you feed it.”

“Noted,” Eric said, giving a small nod. “You’re a wise man, Kaelen.”

That earned him a soft chuckle from the noble-born elf. “Careful. If anyone else heard you say that, they’d assume you were mocking me.”

Lyren’s grin widened, sharp as a cat’s. “See? Even when you compliment someone, you make it sound like a setup.”

Eric chuckled, shaking his head. “And the harder I try not to, the worse it gets.”

Welyvyne smirked over her bread, golden eyes glinting. “At least you’re self-aware about it.”

Kaelen gave a low laugh, surprising in its warmth. “Self-awareness might be the only thing that saves you here.”

Across the hall, Eric caught the sideways glances, the students pretending to be absorbed in their food while clearly straining to hear. He exhaled through his nose. Yep. Definitely not helping myself.

Eric leaned back slightly, pushing his tray away. “Well… I guess if I’m going to keep digging holes, might as well make them deep enough to bury myself in.”

Lyren chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make sure the whole school brings flowers.”

Welyvyne rolled her eyes, but the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her. “Let’s just make it to the next class without another explosion, alright?”

Kaelen raised his cup in a quiet toast. “To surviving lunch.”

They all clinked — Eric half-smiling, Lyren grinning like a fiend, Welyvyne shaking her head, and Kaelen somehow dignified even mid-joke. Around them, the stares and whispers hadn’t faded, but Eric found himself caring a little less.

Runes next, he thought, swallowing the last of his drink. Seltherin’s waiting with another lecture… this is going to be a long day.