“You seem pretty fine to me,” Brant replied with a smile. He was surprised at her change of attitude. It was not that he was ungrateful, but it seemed like only seconds ago she was going to hit him in the head with a wreck. He thought it was better not to talk about it.
“I’m in Banner House and I’m the Research Track, focused primarily on magic,” he said softly. “I was not planning on being anywhere but my room, the training room and the library, but I think I can do some appearances here if you like. And I would like to see the rest of the island. There seems to be a lot of flora and fauna that I would like to study.”
He chuckled, visibly smiling at her commends on the possibility of pretending winter was here. It was nice and appreciated, but the cold was not what made winter, well, winter. It was the atmosphere, colors, behavior and, of course, the snow. Brant was terribly going to miss the snow. “Much appreciated, but no need to bust your air condition to make me feel better.”
“You’re not the only one who prefers it a bit cooler than this,” she said with a grin. “But yeah, I’ll let you know when I’m gonna take her out next. And thanks, by the way. I know I get a bit... touchy... sometimes. Mostly about the car. I let my temper get the better of me when there’s no reason for it. I usually don’t stay in one place long enough for it to matter.” She wanted to sit, but she didn’t want to do anything else to the leather of the car seats, so she brushed off her jeans and sat herself down on the hood.
“Magic?” Shai picked at the dirt under her nails, shaking her head in wonder. “I’m still amazed that that’s a real thing. That almost any of this is real. A week ago I was teaching street kids in NYC about keeping what they need to eat to survive, blending in and trying not to be seen by anyone important in the world. Now?” She laughed, shaking her head. “Now there’s magic and aliens and vigilantes, and a complete lack of playing cards and green skin. No word yet on the spandex though.”
