faileas: (Default)
aefenglom log posting account ([personal profile] faileas) wrote in [community profile] middaeg2020-05-03 03:07 pm

Event Log: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

Event Log: May, An Inauspicious Arrival

I. Boaltinn (1st - 3rd)

    Boaltinn comes around again. A handful of Mirrorbound will remember the holiday from last year, but for others, it will be brand new. In both Residential Districts, bonfires burn in central locations through the night, frequented by the residents celebrating another summer come to Aefenglom. Curiously, while last year the bonfires seemed quite segregated by human or Monster, this year, there is more of a noticeable mix at each, and Mirrorbound are invited to join the games and festivities quite happily. Characters are invited to try and jump through the bonfire's flames to burn away any poor relationship experiences, be it romantic or platonic, past or present; to aid them in this, those at the Eastern Bonfire will give those participating rune-etched accessories to protect them from the fire.

    The city has quite a bit to offer for this holiday: shared rose baths at public bathhouses and pleasure establishments that increase feelings of friendliness and talkativeness, poles draped in ribbons meant to be danced around, wrapping a ribbon around the pole to bring good luck for the summer, food stalls whose offerings are meant to be shared, and fortune-telling set up by Divination students of the Coven, who can tell your day is going to go.


To see last year's Boaltinn prompts, you can take a glance right here! Much of it, including the bonfires, baths, and entertainments will be similar this year, so feel free to use those in your top levels.
II. An Unusual Arrival (3rd on)

    A full year from the arrival of the first group of Mirrorbound, the 1st passes quietly, with no one showing up in the mirror-lined halls of the Looking-Glass House. Dates and times are important in most kinds of magic, and this is strange enough that some Witches of the Coven get together on the night of the 3rd to try a probing ritual, attempting to gather some kind of clues that could be useful in prying out the cottage's secrets. Boaltinn is the best time for such things, when the boundaries are thinner, and magic is stronger.

    Those who are awake that night at 3 am might notice a pulse of harmless silvery light that spreads like ripples on water throughout the whole city, originating at the Looking-Glass House, but nothing further happens, and the Coven receives no answers.

    Well, nothing happens in the Looking-Glass House.

    Before long, the reports start coming in: people are emerging from mirrors, regular old mundane mirrors, all over the city. Anything with a particularly reflective surface could be an entry point for someone from another world! Inhabited homes, businesses closed and locked for the night, pools of still water in fountains or the river, these unorthodox Mirrorbound pop up anywhere and everywhere, causing chaos for the City Guard (folks aren't happy to find strangers in their bathrooms at 3 in the morning) and the Coven both.

    Out of nowhere, a glint of light catches your eye; your heart thunders in your ears as your body moves on its own, your mind consumed with inspecting the source. Your reflection stares back at you, just as curious from the surface - a mirror, a pool of water, your most trusted sword, something fleeting that your mind can barely remember - then ripples at your touch. If you are one of these unfortunate arrivals, it's likely a rude awakening for you, to find yourself somewhere inconvenient, somewhere other than where you've been. It only makes sense to be confused. Hopefully someone finds you and explains to you what's happened to you.

    Resident Mirrorbound will hear a message from Miss Nessie shortly after it begins, a call to arms: "Dears, I'm quite sorry to disturb you, but it seems your fellows are arriving elsewhere than the Looking-Glass House this month! We're trying to track them all down for the usual welcome, but we could use a hand or several! If you could just bring them by the Coven, the usual spot, that would be lovely." She'll give her usual orientation and pass out Watches, but no doubt the Mirrorbound will be more helpful in this regard, with so many arriving.


III. The Goblin Market (All Month)

    Life goes on in Aefenglom, despite the addition of so many new residents. With the City Guard decidedly busy dealing with the sudden flood of break-ins (or, more accurately, break-outs?), the vendors of the Goblin Market find opportunity to set up their stalls more openly than they have since the crack-downs some months ago. They pop up all over the city, but clustered more often in the Residential Districts and the Harbor District, where there are even fewer law enforcement agents out and about to run them off.

    These sellers, while not as devoid of morals as those major players of the Black Market, still have very few compunctions when it comes to lying, cheating, fencing stolen goods, and misrepresenting their wares to unsuspecting buyers. It's also the place to find those things that are- not quite legal, shall we say. They won't say a word if you don't. If confronted, they are quick to pack up their things and slip away, however; they know this city and its hiding places a lot better than you do.

    With a brand new batch of what the natives assume are Mirrorbound, many undergoing rapid transformations into their Monster forms, many of the wares on display are potions: supposed cure-alls for aches and itches, calming draughts for the full moon restlessness, some even claim their brews can halt changes entirely! Some concoctions are meant to increase a Witch's magical ability, or decrease it, or provide them a finer control. They offer potions that they say will eliminate the need for a Bond, or temporary Bonding potions of their own that they claim are more pure, stronger, than the ones offered by the Coven.

    Claims are only claims, though. A few remedies for the pain of changing or some regular temporary Bonding potions can be found here and there, but for every potion that works, there are twenty more that have less than pleasant side effects. A brew that will cause everything you touch to turn to solid gold for up to an hour; a potion that will invert your sense of direction - trying to turn right will make you turn left, trying to go forward will cause you to walk backward; a potion that will remove all traction from your feet, causing you to slide around as if cobblestone are the slickest ice. Worse, some shadier vendors sell things more sinister, including a potion that gives you the appearance of being moderately to heavily infected by the Cwyld.

    Even if you don't drink any, the vendors are not at all careful where they're sloshing those bottles around, trying to show them off, and they all activate on skin contact.

IV. A Wilde Hunt (7th - 22nd)

    All Mirrorbound, temporary or not, are likely to feel it. Monsters are always affected by the full moons, but this month, it is more. Stronger. Instincts rise to the surface as the Sisters emerge full and visible in the night sky, and for many Mirrorbound, they are undergoing rapid transformations into whatever type of Monster they are meant to be. Curiously, the natives get along like they usually do, noticing nothing out of the norm, other than the increased agitation and restlessness from Mirrorbound Monsters.

    Monsters' aggression fades when the Sisters start to wane, but as the new moons approach on the 22nd, Mirrorbound Witches will notice their magical reserves overfilling, and will find themselves stricken with the overwhelming urge to use it, until casting spells, pushing one's magical limits, is almost a compulsion. Those who are not in proper Witch-Monster Bonds will feel it even stronger, with no stabilizing magic to consume (for Monsters) or avenues to expend magic (for Witches) other than casting spells. (For those who are interested, the Coven does offer temporary Bonding potions which can be used to help alleviate the effects somewhat.)

    The Coven Witches notice the signs, and they take decisive action on the morning of the 6th, the day before the full moons. So many Mirrorbound, likely to be so heavily affected by the lunar cycle this month, many of them coming into new features and abilities at a breakneck pace, only spells danger for the city. They barricade off a massive chunk of Wilde outside Aefenglom, largely free of Cwyld and totally bereft of farms, homes, and Wilder outposts. They invite anyone who feels the effects of the moons too strongly to control to come out for a Hunt. The hunting grounds will be open nightly to anyone who needs to work off restless energy or overflowing magic; all participants will be warned that their safety cannot be guaranteed from others, but they won't be able to harm bystanders out here.

    The woods are thick, with the river cutting through them, and full of wildlife. There is room to run and chase prey, or room to play with your developing magic. Play cat and mouse with your friends or Bondmates, or stalk a stranger. If playing games isn't your thing, there is something else to hunt out here as well.

    With the deep Wilde entering into Winter, this patch of land so close to the city is much warmer, and fearsome Shades have emerged to search for prey. These were once living beings, Monsters, Witches, or animals, who have been overtaken by Cwyld infection long ago, leaving them dead but for the infection, white-eyed and seeking out sources of magic to consume and infect. Anything could become a Shade, but the most common out right now are the ferocious remains of bears, wolves, and nomadic Arachne and Turnskins. If not killed, these Shades threaten the people of the Outer City, when they inevitably escape the barricade. Careful to limit your contact, though; anyone infected upon their return to the gates will be escorted straight to the infirmary.



    Welcome to May's Fourth Wall event, An Inauspicious Arrival! The comms are now open to comments from all registered users and will be until June 1st. Current players, if you don't want fourth wall characters tagging your posts, just say so in your text. Fourth wall characters can use this post for their own network top-levels, or this post for log top levels. This event is game canon; threads from this fourth wall can be used as application samples later and current players may use these threads for AC. As always, be courteous to each other! Let the mod team know if there are any problems and we will handle things.

    As always, please direct your questions to this thread!

distantsniper: (01)

Shamir Nevrand | FE3H | Monster (Harpy)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-04 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[1: Arrival]

[You know what isn't necessarily a great thing to do to a knight-slash-mercenary-slash-assassin? Kidnap them and dump them into an unfamiliar world.

Oh, she'd managed to see her own way out of the bathroom she'd tumbled into, without even waking up the inhabitants of the house, and before they could raise any kind of alarm, even. Not that she thought her skills were getting rusty, but that sure was not how she expected to spend a good twenty minutes of her time.

Once she's out in the streets proper, she has to take a moment to find an inconspicuous spot to spy on the goings-on. It's only once she sees a face that is either familiar, or innocuous enough that they look like they could answer a question that she steps forward. Hint: She is good at stealth, so it's probably a jumpscare when she says-
] Hey. Can I ask you a question?


[2: Wilde Hunt]

[Feathers? Super itchy. Thanks, she really hates it. Turning into a bird? Really fucking weird, honestly, but once she realizes it's an owl type of bird, and that even at her still-human size that the displacement of air from her wings is still mostly silent, she likes it a lot better.

Actually, being able to get up into higher trees to use them for cover has its advantages for a sniper like her.

So when she levels a shot and fires off an arrow, and slams a beast clean in the neck right in front of another Monster or Witch - killstealing, yes she is - it's probably not easy to find out where she came from, nor where she went, aside from some rustling of branches in the trees.

At least not until she drops down from a totally different angle than where she loosed the arrow, next to whoever is here.
] Gotta be faster than that.


[3: On the Town/Goblin Market]

[Best way to learn about a town is to get into its nooks and crannies and darker places and figure out what makes it tick. So she can be found perusing the Goblin Market throughout the month, of course, where it has popped up. There's things there - but most of them do stupid things, like hawk lotions to soothe the itching where her feathers are rapidly starting to grow in. Conditioners for talons. Lip balm for the inevitability where her mouth is going to turn into a beak.

... She leaves with a snarky comment after that one, no thank you, she is not about the life of turning into a bird.

After that, she hits up the taverns. Another great place to do intel gathering.

And also drink! Because absolutely she is going to do that. Can't stop, won't stop. And as much as she isn't super into the idea of being inebriated in unfamiliar territory, after a while, it becomes just familiar enough for her to let down her guard.

And comment on a darts game.
] You get better aim if you exhale before you throw. Same thing with shooting anything.


[4: Wildcard]

[For anything else! Hit me up via PM or at [plurk.com profile] Reslari or Reslari#9561 on Discord.]
lostinshadows: ([89])

1

[personal profile] lostinshadows 2020-05-04 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[A rather unmanly shriek slips out of Lavi when she suddenly speaks next to him.

It has him jumping a bit, body tense as his newly found instincts to flee try to kick in. But seeing as how she doesn't seem to pose a threat, it has him relaxing.

Only slightly.]


--Yeah, sure. What is it?
distantsniper: (05)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-04 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
What do they call this place? [It's not any major city she recognizes in Fodlan. Dagda, either, nor anything she can think of off the top of her head from her other adventures around as a mercenary...

No, she is also not going to apologize about scaring the bejeebus out of him, she has other things to focus on.
]
lostinshadows: ([180])

[personal profile] lostinshadows 2020-05-05 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
Aefenglom.

[It'd be nice for you to apologize.

Just...even a little.]


Are you one of those people who just came through a mirror recently?
distantsniper: (01)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-05 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah.

[Unfortunately, apologizing is for nice people. Shamir is... not nice, really.]

Just trying to get my bearings is all. You been here long?
lostinshadows: ([131])

[personal profile] lostinshadows 2020-05-08 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Shamir please.]

Not too long. Only been here a month.
distantsniper: (05)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-10 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
A month is longer than I have. [She isn't necessarily going to immediately specify, but she might as well make it clear she hasn't been here necessarily all that long.] You happen to know where a good tavern to catch up on gossip is?

[It's one of the easiest places to run reconnaissance is, at least.]
lostinshadows: ([59])

[personal profile] lostinshadows 2020-05-14 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[He nods.]

I can lead you there. It's on the way of where I needed to go.
distantsniper: (01)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-15 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't really need to go that far. [She doesn't want to owe him something, when she doesn't really have anything to give. And, given her history... people aren't always that kind for free. Still, it doesn't sound like an inconvenience, so... she'll take it for now.] But I guess if you're going that way anyway, lead the way.

(no subject)

[personal profile] lostinshadows - 2020-05-20 16:50 (UTC) - Expand
boarddyd: (pic#13876935)

2

[personal profile] boarddyd 2020-05-04 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[Giving into his instincts for even a moment - much less a night - is too much of a risk. Dimitri is familiar with desires cloying at him each and every waking moment, and he wears his mask as dutifully as ever.

Even surrounded by dark, empty woods and the perfect scurrying prey-

thnk!

Not so empty woods.

Searching the trees, Dimitri can't see signs of anyone among the leaves and branches. When Shamir drops to his side, he starts, and turns quickly-]


Ah! [Recognition follows from her voice, not her features. To be so far along in her transformation, how long has she been here...? Of course, if anyone were to stay off of the radar, it'd be the Church's sniper.] Forgive me, Shamir - I didn't recognize you.

Unfortunately, I didn't come here to hunt forest animals.

It seems some shades have found their way into the reserve.
distantsniper: (01)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-04 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
It's no problem. If I wanted you to see me before, you would've. [If only it were something so easy as just having been here for long enough for a full, normal Monster transformation to take effect. No, she's on the expressway to it, apparently, and not very happy about the situation, but it's been less painful since the wings finished growing at least.

She's still learning to fly, but that might be why she's sticking to just jumping from treetop to treetop.
]

Shades... oh, those dead creatures they were talking about. [The unfamiliarity at least says something about how she's actually not been here as long as it seems. But... if one of the students knows, that's fine, to her.] Something about that magical blight, right? Did you find one?
boarddyd: (pic#13876997)

[personal profile] boarddyd 2020-05-05 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
[Dimitri doesn't question Shamir's expertise. It'd be foolish to doubt her ability to shift through the shadows; even the Archbishop trusts her with countless tasks best left unspoken. He leaves the church's business to the church, unless bidden.

Though, in this place, they may need to cooperate more actively.

Particularly regarding the shades. Terrible things to fight, especially up close - one spray of blood and the infection spreads. Perhaps he's found quite the lucky ally.]
Not here, at least, not yet.

All the others I've encountered blend in with the shadows. The first glimpse is usually their eyes, and they're quite often larger than you'd expect. And varied, like the monsters we've begun to encounter in Foldan.

[The crest beasts, in particular.] Would it be too much to ask you to help me with the hunt tonight?
distantsniper: (02)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-05 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. I see. [She hasn't actually encountered any Shades - this is one of her first forays into these 'hunting grounds' they've set up. She's, of course, armed to the teeth, or the beak, like she's fairly certain her face will eventually turn into, just to explore.

Technically, she is not getting paid for any of this. So she doesn't actually have any reason to want to help him, aside from... because he's a familiar face? However, more than that, there's a niggling at the back of her mind. Something that perks up at the thought of... hunting something. Of bringing down prey - the same way it was piqued when she shot the woodland critter now laying dead on the ground in a little puddle of blood near both of their feet. The joys of being a predatory creature.

So she leans down, and yanks the arrow out of the creature, shaking the blood and clinging meat off, and puts it back in the quiver. Leave the corpse for the scavengers.
]

What's in it for me? [Then, she cocks a half-smile.] I guess I'll found out later.

[Altruism? Not exactly, she probably will figure out if there's something she can get out of it, but if nothing else, it'll soothe her predatory instincts. It's more interesting and safe than trying to be unbonded as she is and fighting her nature in a populated city center, anyway.]
boarddyd: (pic#13876916)

[personal profile] boarddyd 2020-05-06 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Freeing the arrow looses the scent of the beast's fresh blood. Dimitri's nostrils flare, and he can feel spit welling in his mouth, a craving to eat he hasn't felt in years. He watches Shamir reclaim her arrow intently, and his body screams for him to pounce the moment she steps away from an easy dinner.

He shakes his head and flexes his fingers at his side.]
I am capable of paying you - though I doubt what I offer would compare to Church's salary.

[Her coyness doesn't fly over his head, but Dimitri insists on keeping things serious and professional regardless. No matter her reason for cooperating, he intends to pay.] If that alone won't suffice, I'm sure I can find another means of payment.

[Not that he has any ideas.

Finally, he approaches the piece of game Shamir abandoned. Slowly... so very slowly... he picks it up by the hind legs. It'd make good bait. As gently as he can manage, he tosses the meat into a thicket of trees - it's not subtle.]
distantsniper: (05)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-07 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Do they even have anything that's accepted as currency back home, here?

[She's still convinced this is all some weird fluke and she'll be going back aaaany day now. Turning into a bird, and still maintaining all her faculties somehow, is just a step too far down the path of 'weird' for her to fully accept. That doesn't mean she isn't prepared for other eventualities, of course - learning to adapt and overcome is second nature to someone who's worked as a mercenary before - but there's still parts she's holding out on fully embracing just yet.

Call it... paranoia, maybe.

She watches him life the corpse of the critter, and as soon as he tosses it, her feathers ruffle, her body tensing as though poised to chase it, and it's only at the very last second she catches herself before diving right into the bush after it.

Instead, she plays off the whole thing by stretching her wings a little, fluffing out the feathers, and then folding them against her back once more.
]

... That'll do. Let's just find these 'Shades'. Do you need me to reconnoiter from above, or do you have a trail?
boarddyd: (pic#13876924)

oh no the owl

[personal profile] boarddyd 2020-05-10 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[When prompted, Dimitri opens a pouch at his side and produces a few golden coins. They're not worth more than a night's meal and board here, but back home the right buyer could take interest in foreign gold. He has more, of course, in his quarters, and is willing to pay whatever she demands.

Quickly, he pockets the money, and the follows her sudden trail.

Had she seen something? Dimitri's shoulders set when he stops at her side, as if he's ready to barrel into prey a beast his size or greater.

It's just the bait - seems it summoned two animals after all. Dimitri smiles, shaking his head at himself before taking a few steps back and crouching in the underbrush, back against a tree.]
I don't.

If you keep watch from above, I'll wait here.

When something comes, we can pin it from two angles. [A great plan, so long as what shows up doesn't take hours to do so, and is actually a shade and not a bear or something.]
distantsniper: (02)

owls are very cute when they want to be

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-10 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[Well, if nothing else, that sure looks like gold. If she can't find someone into foreign coins, she can sure find someone who would melt the gold down, and pay her for whatever she brings them. Both in Fodlan, and Dagda.

The plan, though... she cocks an eyebrow.
] Wouldn't you rather be out hunting it, than waiting for it to come to us?

[That's not just the predatory bird in her speaking, honestly. There's a time and a place to be passive, especially when you're lining up a shot from afar, but you have to get into that position for the best angle, first. It's a lot of setting up and hurrying up to wait as a sniper, in her experience. Just sitting and waiting for someone to come to you is...

... Well, it has its time and place, but she's not feeling it right now.
]

Would you rather I chase it over here? I can probably find something pretty easily from above.

which is always

[personal profile] boarddyd - 2020-05-14 22:58 (UTC) - Expand

this is true

[personal profile] distantsniper - 2020-05-15 20:45 (UTC) - Expand
hegemonwings: (ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ)

wilde hunt

[personal profile] hegemonwings 2020-05-09 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the arrow had been a surprise. she'd tried to trace its origin with no luck, and then...

byleth shifts in surprise when she hears a voice next to her so suddenly, turning and drawing the saber from her waist in a single motion—

ah. she sheathes the blade again and some of the tension melts from her stance, her lips shifting into a slight smile.
]

Shamir. It's good to see you.
distantsniper: (02)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-10 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[You know, Shamir has seen Byleth fight, so yes, she is nicely out of range of even accidentally being hit. In fact, she just looks rather smug standing there, as she inclines her head a bit in greeting. She smiles in return - she's friendly, even if she's in kind of a weird mood because of the approaching full moons.] Professor Eisner. Fancy running into you here.

[As though she probably hasn't been tracking Byleth for at least a short while, and waiting to see if she could find a good opportunity to just. Pop up. Little things she does to amuse herself.]

Bored? [She's not spying Monster-like changes on this one (unlike herself - as uncomfortable as a lot of them were, especially at first), but that doesn't mean she's not missing something. Vampires still look mostly human until the full moon, if she remembers what they were all told.] Or were you after something specific out here?
hegemonwings: (ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ sᴘᴀᴄᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ɪɴ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ)

[personal profile] hegemonwings 2020-05-16 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it's odd to hear professor from her after all this time, byleth thinks. she looks shamir over, trying to get some sense of when she might be from. ]

Curious, mostly. [ and a place to cut loose with her magic doesn't hurt. ] Have you seen any of the others, yet?
distantsniper: (05)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-18 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
Dimitri and I had a little run-in with a Shade not too terribly long ago, but we've separated since then.

[She says it rather casually. Honestly, she wanted to do a bit more reconnaissance, anyway, and she's not exactly his babysitter, so she's more than happy to leave him - and any of the others - to their own devices.]

You're a Witch, here, then? You don't look like you're growing any hair in weird places, or extra limbs.

[You know. The opposite of what's happening to her.]
overannchiever: (Default)

arrival

[personal profile] overannchiever 2020-05-12 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Jumpscare it sure is, Annette's own predisposition towards cowering away from anything remotely sudden or spooky certainly not helping matters. She shrieks, the sound enough to send a nesting pigeon a rooftop away fluttering away into the sky, and stumbles backwards with one hand clutched over her heart, eyes not stopping until they land on Shamir's familiar face. ]

Sh-shamir! Can't you wave o-or call out something instead of sneaking up on a girl? You scared me.

[ Her heart's pounding in her ears still, give her a moment. ]
distantsniper: (01)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-13 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
[Come now, Annette, is she ever actually that nice?]

I'm not exactly in familiar territory. It's better not to just walk around so visibly.

[Life lessons from a Knight of Seiros. She is also Not Sorry.]

Have you been here long?
overannchiever: (Default)

[personal profile] overannchiever 2020-05-13 12:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ No, but a girl can dream.

Now that she's established that Shamir - or anyone else - is not in fact out to get her, she lets her shoulders drop an inch. Her hand doesn't drop, instead rising up to rest at her chin. ]


Not too long...a couple days, I think? Everything's been kind of a blur since I fell out of that mirror.

[ Which was real weird, not gonna lie. ]

What about you?
distantsniper: (05)

[personal profile] distantsniper 2020-05-15 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
So we're both new here. Alright.

[She's mildly disappointed - after all, she wants answers, but... well, if someone is new, there's no real reason to grill them about things they wouldn't know. Especially not a familiar face in unfamiliar territory.] I was hoping someone would be able to answer a couple of questions, but I guess not.

[She looks back up and down the street, assessing where Annette came from, and where she's going, and then decides perhaps it wouldn't be too bad to do a little investigation. Especially with one of the students. Though now that she's looking a little more closely...] ... Did you get a hair cut?

[Hey guess who's pre-timeskip.]