Draecember 28- Getting into trouble
“Don’t forget, if you see anyone come running out of the gate, we run. I won’t be watching, so you have to.” Gervas grabbed Zarenn by the shoulder when it became apparent his friend was not listening.
“Did you hear anything that I just-”
“Yes! Yes, you’ve gone over how to anchor for you a hundred times and I get it. We’ve practiced. You screw with the mages and I watch for their guards. When you get caught, we both run.” Zarenn bounced a bit on his hooves, eager to be started. Playing pranks ranked among his favorite things to do, and pranking the arcane students was better than just about anything.
“What do you mean, when I get caught?” Gervas retorted, with a glare that would have done Zarenn’s grandmother proud.
Zarenn grinned and ducked well out of swinging range before replying. Gervas certainly wasn’t much of a brawler and nobody in their right mind would let him near a Jed’hin ring, but he could occasionally get lucky with a punch. “You always get caught!”
“I’m working on it.” Gervas’ shoulders drooped and he turned away. He saw Zarenn move out of the corner of his eye with a concerned look on his face, and swung. Zarenn caught the punch and twisted Gervas into an armlock, laughing.
“I gotta teach you how to fight.”
Gervas snorted and pulled free. “You keep saying that. I go running with you, isn’t that enough?”
“It’s a start,” Zarenn said doubtfully, leading the way towards the arcane conservatory. “At least you don’t spend all your time holed up in some room, studying.”
“I like being around others too much to isolate myself that way. Besides, I’ll never get better at this if all I do is sit around studying. I need practical experience.”
“Which is why you roped me into going to mess with some of the arcanists.”
“You volunteered!” Gervas grinned and thumped Zarenn on the shoulder. “This should be close enough.”
Zarenn nodded and took up a casual position, leaning against the side of a building. Across the street, the walls of the Conservatory glowed with arcane lights that swirled around the intricate designs etched on the stone. Yells and shouts from some sort of game reached their ears, and he grinned. He tried not to jump when he felt Gervas’ thoughts invade his own. Sorry, he heard. I forgot to warn you.
“It’s okay. Just remember…”
Don’t tell your parents anything I hear you thinking about. Gervas grinned at him, as comfortable now holding a conversation mentally as he was with speaking out loud. I won’t. I keep secrets, and I’d never betray your trust.
Zarenn grinned, idly watching the patrols as they circled around the walls. When there was a break, he gave Gervas a nod and waited. He sensed Gervas focusing his attention on the group of students playing handball, moving from mind to mind until he noticed someone with weaker mental shields.
A thud, a crash, and yelling erupted from behind the courtyard’s wall. Oops.
“What do you mean, oops?!” Zarenn grabbed Gervas under the arm and lifted him to his hooves, ready to tow him along if he had to, but his friend broke the connection and focused on him instead.
“Do you think!” A ball of ice sailed over the wall, crashing harmlessly into the sidewalk beside them. The next two did not miss.
Gervas raced away, laughing. A flurry of ice and snowballs chased the pair down the street, several hitting their mark with uncanny accuracy. They reached the safety of an alleyway and ducked down it, running until they were safely out of spell range.
“You never…” Zarenn said in between gasps for breath. “… said what oops meant.”
“I got caught. And I startled my target, who lost control of the ball, and it shattered one of those stone planter things.”
Zarenn’s jaw dropped. “Just what kind of ball are they playing in there?”
“Some sort of arcane thing.” Gervas dug a handful of snow out from under his collar and licked it. “Next time, let’s wait until they’re done their match.”
“Next time, let’s hope they don’t throw any of that arcane at…” Zarenn trailed off, mid-sentence, looking over Gervas’ shoulder. “Oh, damn.”
Gervas turned around to see what had his friend’s attention, his gaze falling on a pair of peacekeepers. They returned the look with a mix of sternness and amusement for a minute, before beckoning the two of them over.
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