Top Of Class, Bottom, a ficlet of Edally Academy

[aldersprig]

This story comes during There Are Lessons You Only Learn in Pain, Chapter 20 of Edally Academy.

It is written in reply to Rix's suggestion to this request for questions, after the successful Domain Name Fundraiser.


There was a mechanical goat pissing down the side of the Philosophy building.

Lielbyim stifled a chuckle and looked around the courtyard. The Philo students were almost universally angry - almost, because the Bitrani Philo boy was hovering with his three, trying hard not to smirk.

Well, the Bitrani always had a hard time of it. If he was getting along with his three, all's the better. Onadyano House, because they liked to think themselves very knowledgeable on all things historical, could be even more unpleasant than the other houses when it came to the historical oppressors of the Calenyena.

Lielbyim moved slowly around the courtyard, staying far clear of the goat's spray. Many of the first-year students in House Akaizen were watching, chuckling. Some of them were taking notes - some older Akaizen students were taking notes, too. The design wasn't just funny, it was clever, too.

Lielbyim paused by a first-year, looking over the notes. Bipryaam, she thought his name was; everyone just called him Bip, the way most people called her Liel. "I think you've got the intake mechanism wrong. If it was done like that, it would be choking by now."

"What? Oh." He colored and hid his notebook. "I was just trying to figure out - choking?"

"Like this." She traced a line in the air. "It's got to have enough pressure to pull the water all the way up, right?"

He was looking at her as if he understood, but there was nothing going on behind his eyes. Liel sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure the instructors will cover it."

Sometimes, you could just tell who was going to fail out. In this case, Bip might not be the first or the worst, but he wasn't close to the best and the brightest, either. Liel patted him on the shoulder and moved on.

Best, brightest. Liel remembered when that had been her - eager and curious and most of all full of herself. She'd been so sure she knew everything - and, to be fair, for the small town she'd come from, she really had been the sharpest in her generation.

And, of course, so had everyone else in her dorm, the other two in her three, and all the other students in the school. Liel's eyes lit on Tairiekie again. She wasn't taking notes. She had her tongue stuck slightly out of her mouth to one side, and her left hand was twitching, like she was reaching for a wrench. Liel followed the girl's gaze up, up - yes, if you tightened the connection right there, the spray would be even more impressive.

Interesting. It remained to see whether she'd get away with it, of course - it wasn't as obvious as punching an Art House student, but, on the other hand, it was going to anger a lot more people than a little fracas would. Liel scanned the courtyard again. She placed three angry Instructors, hiding in the shadows and watching, and three who simply looked curious, standing out near the fountain and discussing the goat. There was, Liel supposed, a chance that Tairiekie could get expelled for this. There was also a chance she'd just written her ticket for the next five years. Liel would just have to wait and see.

Unless, of course, she wanted to nudge things along. She studied the six Instructors again, and picked her target.

Comments

[clare_dragonfly]

Hee! I like seeing the goat from another student's perspective.

[aldersprig]

I like Lielbyim. I should write more stuff involving her.