Cody knew that Jasper felt… different. Warmer, somehow. As if his life signature was more gentle, free.

The news that Jasper had activated to a sprite possibly explained these feelings. His energy signature was uncommon, even among other activated individuals.

This had to be why Cody felt slightly drawn to Jasper. Why he related to him, wanted to get to know him more, felt that existing was… easier around him.

If sprite energy was in both of them, they were different from everyone else in their class.

But even so, Cody was still different than Jasper. Different in ways no one would accept him for.

It was okay, having secrets. Cody could still have friends without telling them things they wouldn’t understand. And if anyone found out what Cody was and tried to hurt him, well… he had the power to win.

The magic capacity instructor Jorgien could see inside him was only a small part of Cody’s story. Of what he was. Concealing was something his mother taught him at a very young age.

“Did either of you solve the last two problems on the homework?” Marilyn asked, her short blonde and brown streaked hair swinging over her clavicles.

Cody blinked a few times. Statistics was not where he wanted to be right now.

“I think so?” Bashira said, sliding her paper over. “Giving the letters hats is very confusing.”

“Tell me about it, thanks!” Marilyn said. “And I love your hijab, purple and gold is my literal favorite color combo.”

“Thank you.” Bashira looked over past Marilyn, her dusky eyebrows starting to fuse in concern. “Cody, are you okay?”

Cody smiled out of his trance. “Yeah, I’m just… thinking about Jasper’s life.”

Marilyn laughed. “I think we all are. But we also haven’t forgotten Mr. Dancing-in-the-woods!” She poked his side a few times.

“Okay, okay, hear me out.” Cody said. “It’s an extremely fun thing to do.”

Marilyn narrowed her eyes. “Why are you talking as if it wasn’t a one-off?”

“He does it regularly!” Bashira said.

Cody held his hands up to cast away blame. “Listen, I like nature. But that doesn’t mean I trip every time. Sprites remember faces, they’ll trust you after a while.”

“Not every time? So you have tripped multiple times, still.” Marilyn chuckled. “I know I’m laughing because it seems uncharacteristic of you, but invite me sometime!”

And what, exactly, was ‘characteristic’ of Cody? What were these people thinking about him for? Assessing him for?

Ah, Cody. Don’t be too paranoid. You still know what socializing is like.

“It might be a fun class trip.” Bashira said, then snapped her face. “Wait, there was a pun there!”

Cody laughed a little bit. These people were entertaining him while making him slightly uncomfortable again.

The mixture of feelings was like cold syrup, delicious and sticky all the same. What was Cody going to do? Ultimately, anyone who knew what he was would see him as an enemy, and that was a fact that didn’t bother him. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the Council or of the ‘norm.’ But his whole class was growing… peculiarly close.

Last semester he started very closed off to the idea of friends. Perhaps, he should enjoy these people. Try to heal his youth here.

So long as no one discovered his truths, or looked where he kept things hidden. What was the probability of that, though?

Probability… It wasn’t worth paying attention in this class to learn more about, but he had to do it anyway to pass.

If he graduated this program, he’d have access to the Council archives. A grand library of all things incantations, entities and more. Their access now was decent, but Cody still couldn’t find what he needed. Three and a half more years was a trek, though, so he still hoped and looked for the answer to his problem in the meantime.

“Uhh, guys.” Marilyn was pointing to the window. “I think that’s one of our bugs.”

A large rhinoceros beetle was perched on the window, but on the outside. Cody looked at the hinges. “If we open the window it might fly away. Should I go outside?”

“I can hold it still.” Bashira said. “But going through a window will take a lot of magic, and it may become unrefined.”

“Go for it.” Marilyn stood up and walked to the adjacent window, to the right of the small entity. A few nearby students looked confused.

“Feembog a nhyway o.” Bashira chanted twice under her breath, gesturing her hand toward the entity. Thankfully they sat in the back of the room. It was kind of an encouraged thing for their program in normal classes. That and not talking about their studies too loud.

Marilyn was already throwing the window open as the beetle twitched once into an immovable disposition. “HEY GABBY!!” She waved into the courtyard with one hand as the other did a sneaky quick-grab of the beetle.

She squashed it instantly. The professor preparing upfront sighed at her as she closed the window and walked back to their table.

She handed the core to Bashira. “Now we’re even!” she said as she sat back down.

“Who’s Gabby?” Cody asked.

“No idea.” Marilyn said. “I’m just glad I took improv my first semester here.”

Cody thought for a moment. “I see why that class is a requirement now.”

Marilyn smiled at Cody’s slight revelation. “They call me the enlightener.”

“The enlightener of what? Blunts?” Cody said.

Bashira started laughing as Marilyn blushed and tried defending herself. “We are in college Cody. So I’ll take that as a compliment, thanks.”

And with that, class was starting. These bugs were everywhere now, and it bothered Cody that he had no idea who or what was behind it. The Council was likely going to start showing up in town soon, which was never good news for him.

The professor dove into their lecture, and Cody had to keep himself from sighing. Numbers were so inconsequential. Circumstances happened whether they existed or not. The patterns of thought and being alive were somewhat predictable, but also moldable. Experiencing the inner viewpoints and experiences of the world from history and literature was much more telling of the human pattern, because it led to a deeper understanding.

He didn’t knock the subject entirely, it just wasn’t cohesive with his purpose. Other people could be engineers, and Cody could fight what was lurking in the shadows. So long as his own shadow never overturned him.