Abe had been so flustered that he had forgotten his plan to stop by the library before class and actually went straight to the building where his basic art class was being held. He was easily two hours early. He could use the time to finish the book he'd started before breakfast… But first, he figured he should figure out which room his class was in so he could sit nearby in case he got too engrossed in the text.

He glanced in rooms as he passed them, looking for the correct one. Everything in this hall had art supplies of some kind. He even came across a class already in session. Ceramics, it seemed, with what looked like a doorway leading to where the kiln likely was.

Thinking back to when he was signing up for classes, he didn’t remember seeing any sort of pottery or ceramic classes being offered. He might have chosen to take it instead of drawing if he’d known earlier… His mother had always complimented his skills with clay so it would have been an easy class to get the required fine arts class out of the way. Maybe he should look into transferring classes. Or would it be better to stay in the current one, possibly learn something new. Abe supposed he should at least try the drawing class before deciding.

Having found the room said drawing class was going to be in, Abe slid down to sit against the wall opposite to the door. He took out his phone, figuring students going in when it was about time would be noticeable enough to get his attention, no matter how engrossed in the information he was. Honestly, it was almost a fifty-fifty chance of the activity actually pulling him out of his reading once he really got started. A comprehensive study on local plant life was quite interesting, afterall.

Thankfully, he had gotten to a decent stopping place two hours later when other students started going in. He carefully got up and walked into the classroom, quickly sitting down at one of the long tables. He got out the supplies listed as required for the class and neatly organized them in front of him on the table. 

Once the professor made her presence known, she was a short, bubbly woman with dark hair that her hair tie seemed to just barely contain from exploding out. “Alright, class. This may be a basic art class but that isn’t a reason to be lazy in my class. Put in the effort and you will get good grades and pass. Don’t and you’ll fail. It’s just that simple… Any questions so far?” When no one spoke up, she started handing out a syllabus. 

She wasn’t kidding about needing to put in effort to pass the class. There were a number of assignments that were clearly intended to be done outside of class. According to the syllabus, they already needed to bring a sketch of a landscape to the next class to improve on during class. Abe smiled. And here he had been worried it was going to end up being one of those classes that everyone was just slacking off… He was determined to do his very best at mastering whatever skills this teacher taught them during the semester. He just needed to put his mind to it.

***

Artemis had tossed logs so much, her arms actually ached a little. Nothing that some lunch and taking it easy the rest of the day wouldn’t fix, she hoped. She made her way towards the common building where the dining hall and other activity rooms were found. She thought she remembered an older student mentioning there being a student council run movie library located in one of the side rooms. Watching some movies all afternoon sounded really nice right now.

She didn't find the movie borrowing room right away, but she did come across a room with a pool table and some round tables with board games ready to be set up nearby. It might be nice to hang out there once in a while during long breaks between classes… But at the moment, she had her heart set on some nice movies. Maybe a sweet romance or something with a lot of action.

A few doors down, she finally found the room she'd been looking for. And~ it was currently closed. There was a sign posted with a rough schedule of when movies could be taken out with a notation at the bottom saying hours were susceptible to change. Thankfully for Artemis, according to the sign, they would be open and available around one. She could grab lunch first and then maybe chill nearby for a little while before they opened.

The athlete headed to the dining hall, got herself a hearty helping of food and sat down at a random table. It isn’t long before she quickly found herself surrounded by other students. Everyone was casually talking and just enjoying not only the food but each other’s company. Artemis participated in conversation enough that she wasn’t just observing but not so much that she was hogging all the attention for herself. Honestly, she loved the activity and noise of having everyone around. Even if she only really knew half of the people sitting with them. It just felt so right to her.

“So, Arty, any hot plans for the rest of the day?” She didn’t even remember the name of the person who asked.

“Didn’t have much homework since it’s the first week so I was thinking about spending some time in the game room I noticed earlier.” She was done eating and considering leaving to do just that soon. “On that note, I think I’ll be heading out first… See everyone around.” She stood up and took care of her dishes before walking towards the hall with the game room and movie library.
It was only once she got to the room with the pool table and different games that she realized an oversight on her part. Everyone currently there were already in the midst of whatever they were playing so there wasn’t any opening for her to play with anyone. It's not like she could have just inserted herself into an ongoing game.

Just as she was thinking that, Artemis noticed someone in a slightly darkened corner sitting all alone. On the table in front of them, a chess game was set up. Well, no harm in asking, right? She walks up to the person.

“Hey, are you waiting for someone?”

“Just a partner to play a game or two with…” Despite the long, pine green hair pulled in a side braid, the person doesn't look particularly feminine or masculine to Arty. Not that it mattered to her. It was just a passing game, not asking the person out.

Artemis sat across from them. “I'll play with you if you want.”

“That would be perfect, thank you.” And the chess game began. Pawns moving forward in hopes of becoming queens, knights striking down unsuspecting pieces, rooks protecting their fellow pieces… The two players casually chatted as they moved their pieces around the board.

The other person, who Artemis was just now realizing she forgot to ask their name, moved their queen to take a piece threatening their king. “You know,” they start, “historically, chess is one of the few instances where the female is openly more powerful than her male counterpart in an Euro-sentric setting. It's the queens’s job to protect her king and their citizens. Some people think that makes the king weak and useless… But that's not really true, is it? He is still able to attack even if it's not his strong suit. Her being stronger doesn't diminish his worth as long as they work together as a team. They balance each other and thus are each individually stronger together since they can just focus on their strengths.” Artemis was now in checkmate.

She gives a good natured smile. “Good game. Rematch?”

“Yeah, sure.” The two start resetting the board for a new game. It wouldn't be too awkward to exchange names now, right? Arty hoped not.

“I'm Artemis, by the way. Some people call me Arty.” She put out her hand to offer a handshake but they didn't take it, only looked at her hand for a moment. Maybe that sort of thing made them uncomfortable for some reason… She casually retracted her hand, understanding it was just like that for some people. “What name do you go by?”

They smiled lightly and Artemis couldn't place her finger on it but the expression felt just a touch off. Not like it made her uncomfortable or anything, just like her subconscious noticed a small detail that she couldn't which didn't quite fit with her perception of this person in front of her. Maybe their eyes seemed too green for a second or their skin a tone too pale. Or maybe it was actually all just a trick of the light…

“Oh, you can call me Janan.”