V5 Incline 46: Test-Taker Larishazza

"So... H-How long is it going to take to get me used to all this?" Nin asks me, his words full of more worry than he is for the moment. I push a few buttons, clearing out the room as I think it's about time we get some real fresh air. Being outside will do Nin a lot of good with how rich the ambient magic of Thrurstradtur is. Said city being in utter control of the flow or not.

We've been in here for a while, anyway. I might not have been exerting myself heavily, but I am starting to feel it. That little stretch that makes me feel all the thinner. All that energy all throughout the non-stop day!

Quite the feat on Nin's part, too! He doesn't even look tired or exhausted, and he's the one actually putting in all the effort. Especially when one considers his control over his magic. But, I suppose that's precisely why he's not winded, he's used to overexertion to the point it's... Regular.

"A few weeks maybe? We might be able to get some other stuff into it but magical control tends to come naturally for most, while you seem like you never learned it." I finally answer, shaking my head a little to clear my thoughts of any unneeded dawdling and waffling.

"Because I haven't..." he moans, a blatant paranoia to his words as my mind fills in the words he's incoherently mumbling. Enough time. He hasn't enough time, and all that number mumbling is only proving my assumption correct. I don't like it... I don't like hearing his panic.

"You... You are very concerned about the time it takes. A-Are you near your entrance exam deadline?" I ask, hoping my friend isn't on that tight of a timeframe.

"No... Still have a lot of time... I am just not sure if I can get it all done as I have to do so much in what is actually so little time. I thought I might be able to stay focused and just do work, work, work... But, I don't think that actually is possible even with my circumstances." he heaves out, his words weak and shaky.

"Circumstances?" I question, the specifics lost on me.

"If I... I... If I fail, I will be execut-" he stutters out, on the brink of tears. I step ahead, interrupting him with a firm, safe touch.

"But you won't fail." I say to him with utter severity, my determined gaze keeping his quivering eyes against mine.

"You don't know tha-"

"You will not fail!" I interrupt him with, stepping even closer. My stare intensifies, like I'm trying to look beyond his eyes and to the soul he harbours. A beautiful thing that has just as much right to keep Undwote at bay as anyone's does. By life's very definition...!

He starts to look away, a different kind of nervousness overtaking him, a finger tapping his leg and it points slightly, "Can I turn it off?"

"Sure!" I chirp, stepping aside as we change the subject. I point where he needs to, and, steadily, he pushes and flicks. A few more and he'll be ready to clean the room up in a literal flash. Where we go next, however, I do not know. I... I don't plan that far with much of anything. Very few things make me plan far, I'm too in the moment, on the current song!

There's still much I want to do today, though. Then again, I always do seem to find excuses to stay away from homes and places of rest and stay. I like doing things, fun things and active things. Not within such a small space. My home city is always on the move, and so am I.

"How do I do it...?" Nin asks sheepishly as he struggles to keep up with my actions. I seem to have got a little ahead of him, and all he can do is stare at the console!

"See that one?" I point out.

"I would if your finger wasn't in the way..." he sarcastically whines.

"Just flick it." I pout over.

"Your finger or the switch?" he asks, trying to find a grin.

"Why not both at once?" I suggest, smiling and lightly giggling at his joke. He then follows through, flicking my finger up with nearly his entire hand.

"Don't push me through it this time..." he then warns, the portal automatically triggering as it registers the complete loss of active mechanically powered magic. We move back towards it, my lips wavering a little.

"No promises!" is all I have to say, and I push him on through the portal again. I chase after him, grinning at his body in the quiet hall. He slowly gets back up, the portal flickering closed as I push the button to end the flow. The reflection on his body disappears, too, a disappointment that makes me almost want to flick the portal back on. It looks so nice, reflecting about his polished form.

"Is it alright if I go back to the dorm?" Nin asks, looking away from the shutdown portal. A long, fearful sigh dotted with stutters leaves him. He keeps looking away, down the hall to the busy parts of the building.

"Do you want to carry on our game then?" I ask, getting close to him. My hands jab away with little gestures and motions, egging him on however I can.

"How are we going to get to a roof from here?" he replies back with, a little smile settling in as I smirk.

"Easy, we barge into another room and go through that one's windows." I say, and he steps back a little, getting a better view of the further down hall.

"Any way without getting seen?" he asks, some students otherwise ignoring us for the moment.

"We barge into and go through an empty room." I say, expanding upon what I had just said before.

He looks back to me, his smile going with a reluctant pondering replacing it. He nods, and I take his hand to take him somewhere else. I peek through every hole we find, looking for the two qualifying details: windows and emptiness. We find one and we quickly enter, just as quickly getting to the window and opening it up fully.

I dive out, swinging up to the first ledge I can, and I hold my hands down... Let them hang? Either way, he takes them, and we steadily heave each other up the building and I pull him over the last stop on the edge. We walk the roof and stop on the side we initially entered from. My hand crests my brow, and I try to find our dorm among all the identical buildings.

It's a bit of a struggle... But, if I imagine myself walking on the ground... I can figure it out if I... Ah, there it is! The building with the chill I'm related to by blood.

Then, I use my magic to solve the problem we have right now.

"Take my hand!" I tell him, my building excitement almost worrying to have. One can only hope that his worry is unrelated to me, to some extent.

A tightrope made of magical water shoots out, holding firm despite Thrurstradtur's influence. It's thicker the closer I am, more of a string on the far end, but it's holding. And, with reluctance, he grabs my hand, and I step on the rope. We zip across the Academy grounds, zooming off to another building as he makes loud noises.

We reach the other roof, and as I slide to a halt, he carries on into a gentle crash!

"A-Are you alright!?" I struggle to ask between my laughs.