A semi-quiet place (Open)

Elspeth rested her chin in one hand, frowning down at the half-finished drawing on the table in front of her. How was it that an image so clear in her head refused to turn out nearly so nicely on the page? She could see it now without having to shut her eyes: Rónán sitting beside her on the dock, right at the edge of her family's land, his feet dangling in the sea below. His dark brown hair clung to his head and dripped water down his back; he wore shorts without a shirt, because she had borrowed it after her first try at shapeshifting shredded her pajamas. His jet-black eyes (just like her own) were on her, and he smiled a lopsided smile in the moonlight.

Elspeth leaned back in her chair and sighed. Hard to believe that had already been months ago. He'd visited a few times over the rest of the summer, but so far she hadn't seen him here. Not that she blamed him, what with the problem male Selkies had with walking on land during the day. And she didn't dare go into Arcadia in hopes of glimpsing him there. Still, it was getting dark earlier and earlier now that autumn was here; maybe he'd be able to visit her between classes and curfew.

Hitomi wasn't especially hungry, but she'd managed to snatch up the last of the yogurt and a small plate of fresh fruit for breakfast before heading to the first open seat she saw in the cafeteria.

"Mind if I sit?" Hitomi asked, offering the other girl a polite smile. "There aren't a lot of seats open."

Elspeth looked up and smiled back at the girl who'd spoken. "Go ahead." She rearranged her paper and plate of toast and fruit so the other could have more elbow room. "You're Hitomi, aye? I'm Elspeth. Du's little sister, if that means anything to you."

Hitomi slid onto the opposite side of the table and tucked her legs underneath her. She reached to pick the stems off of her strawberries before dropping them into her yogurt.

"Yep, that's me." Hitomi smiled at the other girl. "You're new this year, right?"

Elspeth nodded. "Not sure I'd be here at all if I hadn't been Chosen. Then again, there are some normal humans here too. And maybe I would've become a mage like the rest of my family eventually. But last summer threw a wrench into that." She glanced down at her drawing with a laugh. "Not that I'm complaining, exactly. I like my matron spirit."

Tebryn had been walking towards the table with intentions to say good morning to Hitomi, when he happened to glance over the redhead's shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at the sketch in progress-- if he had moveable ears, they would be quirked with interest.

"You're talented." His voice was quiet and he hadn't entirely meant to say it out loud. His eyes rose to the two girls and his ears took on a delicate pink tinge. "Er... I mean, good morning."

Hitomi didn't know much about shifters, and she'd opened her mouth to say as much when she caught sight of Tebryn.

"Hey, Tebryn! Why don't you sit with us?" Hitomi slid over and grabbed Tebryn by the arm, not entirely giving him a choice on the sitting with them part. "This is Elspeth. Elspeth, this is Tebryn. He's one of the headmistress's foster children."

Elspeth looked up at the voice that commented on her drawing, and smiled when Hitomi introduced Tebryn. "Hi, Tebryn. And thanks. I wish it'd turn out more like I see it in my head, though. Drawings never quite do."

Tebryn flopped into the seat Hitomi pulled him towards and blinked a few times as he flicked his hair out of his eyes.

"Foster children is a very nice way to put it." He gave Elspeth a little bow of his head in greeting. "We're more like collectibles. Nice to meet you, Elspeth."

He glanced at Hitomi and half-smiled as he looked at Elspeth's paper again. "Usually it's just a matter of recognizing the disconnect between what's in your head and what goes down on the paper. Have you been able to meet with any of the art-inclined professors yet?"

Elspeth shook her head, then tucked her hair back behind her shoulders. "Haven't had the chance yet. Is there someone you'd recommend?"

Tebryn started naming the professors and TA's he knew to be interested in art, even if they didn't teach any form of it, ticking them off on his long fingers as he listed.

"There's also a handful of students that float in and out of the art rooms after classes. None of them are particularly standoffish, and I'm sure they'd be happy to share tips with you."

Elspeth nodded, storing the list of names in her mind for future reference. "I'll keep an eye out for them. Thanks."

She reluctantly pushed her sketchbook to the side in favor of finishing her breakfast, and spoke to Tebryn between bites. "Do you draw at all?"

Tebryn's eyes squinted a bit, to suggest a smile without the rest of his face actually changing. He shook his head.

"Unfortunately the only talents I seem to have involve either food or breaking things."

Elspeth giggled. "Not at the same time, I hope. So you're a cook, then? What's your favorite thing to make?"

"Not usually at the same time, no."

He cleared his throat. His rasp was getting worse-- perhaps it was just the change in season. "I like making savory things best, but any time I get to play around in the kitchen, I'm happy."

"And coffee. I like making coffee."

Elspeth nodded. "Ever tried rhubarb crumble? We make it all the time at home, it's amazing. Drunken or otherwise." She paused. "Meaning the crumble is drunken, not us."

Tebryn shrugged.  "I try to stay away from alcohol if I can help it.  I don't want to have any opportunity to lose control of myself."  

He'd never made a crumble before.  He tended to not like baked fruit, but since rhubarb was a vegetable the texture might be more bearable.

"I'll have to ask Rhythan if he has any recipes I can play with."

Elspeth nodded. "Or I could show you the one my family uses. You don't have to add whiskey if you don't like it. It tastes just as good without."

"I'd like that." Tebryn rubbed his forearms and looked around. The tables were slowly beginning to empty.

"I should get going. I have weight training first thing and I still have to get my gym clothes out of the laundry. It was great meeting you." He gave Elspeth a genuine smile as he stood.

"I'll see you later, noona," he added to Hitomi. He gave her hair a playful ruffle before stepping away.

Elspeth smiled back and nodded. "Great meeting you too. See you later!"

She turned back to her breakfast as Tebryn left, then looked back at Hitomi. "What does 'noona' mean?"

"Th—mph." Hitomi swallowed the mouth full of food she had been chewing, then dabbed the smudge of food at the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

"Sorry, um. It's a Korean term that's like... an affectionate way for a male to refer to an older female peer," she explained. "It's kind of like calling someone your older sister. There are different terms for girls to girls, girls to boys, and boys to boys."

"Oooh." Elspeth nodded, grinning. "That's cute. Are there terms like that for speaking with someone younger than you?"

"Hm, a bit? You can add -ah to the end of someone's name, or -yah if their name ends in a vowell," Hitomi continued. "Sort of like adding -chan or -kun in Japanese. But there aren't really single word titles like for older peers. So if we were in Korea, I might call you Elspeth-ah, and you would probably call me Unnie, since we're both girls. But if you were talking to my brother, you might call him Oppa."

...Hitomi didn't mention that half of what she knew about Korean was because Kazari introduced her to k-pop a few years ago and had rapidly learned everything about it that she could. She couldn't help it, she didn't often get to see people that looked like her singing or dancing in things.

Plus they were really, really pretty.

Elspeth nodded. "That's cool. We don't have things like that in Gaelic. Do you know if all Asian languages have honorifics?"