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Chapter 162: Sneaking Into School

Nathanial slowly opened his eyes and looked sadly at the empty space next to him. It felt...wrong. He'd only known Geoff for a short time, all things considered, but waking up cuddled with his prince of darkness just felt...um, proper. Not so much in the way Mom, er, Lily would mean -- certainly not that way -- but more as if he were following the path the Fates laid out. He stretched his paw out to rub the pillow where Geoff's head should be, sighing. "Geoff, I miss you." It had only been one night, too. Gods, that was pathetic.

Rolling onto his back, Nathanial closed his eyes and scanned the property. Micah was bouncing through the foggy forest coming back from the direction of the fairy ring, singing, and escorted by cavorting skunks, foxes, and an aged moose; Nathanial didn't know moose could'cavort,' and yeah, way too much Disney. Nick still slept, more peacefully than he had seen in awhile; the ofuda Liam set up in Nick's room and Micah's room seemed to be helping, as, perhaps, did removing his focus. Dad was up in his room and about as awake as Nathanial was -- lying in bed to gather enough energy to get moving. The peacefulness ended there, however, as Nathanial moved his mind's eye to look at the crowd around their front gate. An honest to goodness crowd this early in the morning -- of paparazzi and reporters, of course, plus two police officers to keep an eye on them. Nathanial didn't know these two. He sighed in melancholy. Really, he should be grateful the paparazzi were just at the gate rather than trying to spy on him illegally, but the police presence likely had something to do with that.

He sent his mind back to Nick, while a smaller part went to the kitchen to begin breakfast. Half of the blankets had been tossed aside from when Micah left, and Nick sprawled out to occupy the vacant space leaving his left leg and ribs uncovered. His mouth lay open and his tongue hung a little ways out; Nick looked so cute when he slept -- slept peacefully, anyway. Nathanial really regretted their fight over the weekend, but he just couldn't feel any sympathy for Sam Falkner in the slightest. Nick didn't understand what he went through and how it was totally_different than Mom. _Sigh. 'Lily. She stopped being my mom when she sent the Hunters after Nick and Mikey.'

Zhaohui wandered into Nathanial's mind as if summoned. *If betrayal can negate someone's relation to you, then she stopped being your mother long before that, Nathanial. She betrayed her duties as a mother with Micah from the beginning, and she betrayed you as soon as she started the abuse. Her words last night show she has no regret for her actions, either.*

Nathanial didn't want to think about her banishment to the Underworld; he had desperately hoped he could reach an understanding with her if they could just talk, but...no. After two minutes of her vitriol being liberally applied to everyone present, Liam cut it off. Even this indirect recollection made Nathanial's chest hurt, especially since Liam banished Lily with a curse -- or perhaps a negative character witness statement to be delivered to the judges would be a better phrase.

"Silence, mortal spirit." Timeus spoke through Liam at the edge of the glowing wards surrounding the spectral form of Lily. Nine artefacts, three each for Hades, Hermes, and Hecate, shone with deific power and anchored the corners of an intricate network of lines and Greek script. Twenty-seven blue-flamed candles marked key intersections of those lines and produced incense-laden smoke that filled the very centre of the ward. Outside the ring stood the four Markses and Liam. Lily made an effort to spit at Liam and say something else, but he merely waved his left paw and the wards blazed brightly. Chains of candle smoke bound her tightly, including her muzzle. "Fool. I'm blessed by Lord Hades, and you are entirely at my mercy, what little remains of it. At the request of your family, I gave you an opportunity to make some amends, perhaps enough to affect the judges' verdict, but you've squandered it." He clapped his paws together with a loud bang and held them together while raising his head. "Hermes Diaktoros! I call upon you!" The rest was in Classical Greek or something. A chill breeze swept through the dim basement, but the candle flames didn't waver.

A tall, very tall, Cheetah suddenly appeared beside Liam. He must have been a full head taller than Alpha Luke, perhaps two hundred fifteen centimetres, with brilliant gold fur and ebony spots, and he wore a bronze breastplate with a leather skirt -- in the Greek style. He also had a winged hat, winged greaves, and the caduceus staff in one of his paws. He was just_like all those statues of him! Nick and Micah were just as gobsmacked as Nathanial, while Dad immediately did that formal bow the Ohtoris did whenever they saw Liam._

Hermes looked down at his armoured chest. "Hmm. Even after all these years, mortals still expect me to wear the same getup." He chuckled at that, shaking his head. "Timeus, been a while."

Liam nodded. "Indeed. I have not seen you since Japan; I find it rather perplexing."

"Ah, another formal life, I see. No matter. Orders, orders that seem to be falling in tatters, but orders nonetheless. If this basement wasn't warded so well and the company so intriguing..." Hermes' eyes seemed to rest on Nathanial for a second, but that might've been his imagination. "...I wouldn't have stayed long enough to be seen. Besides, I figure you have more than a soul for me to deliver, even if it's one heavily laden with sin." Lily struggled to say something in response to that, and Hermes glanced at her with open loathing. "Timeus, even if you didn't plan on saying anything to the judges, I would have."

Liam arched an eyebrow. "You have been keeping an eye on affairs here?"

Hermes grinned widely and tapped the brim of his helm with his caduceus. "Of course. The god of thieves has ways of getting around without the others noticing, though that doesn't let me interfere undetected. Nor stay long."

Liam bowed more deeply than Nathanial had seen him bow to anyone else, though not as deeply as Garret had. "I understand. I, Liam, former priest of Hades, petition the judges to accept my statement as they consider the fate of Lily Marks nee McKay." He glanced at Nathanial and switched back to Greek. Nathanial still caught the word Tartarus a few times in the short speech, and the vehemence in Liam's voice left no doubt in his mind what fate Liam thought Lily deserved.

Once Liam stopped talking, Nathanial immediately spoke up, "N-No, please, not Tartarus. I-I know she's hurt so m-many people, b-but I ask f-for mercy."

Hermes looked at Nathanial with surprise, but Nick's exclamation cut the god off. "Mercy!? You offer her mercy, after all she's done, but you can't understand how terrible it'd be for Sam's soul to be burnt?_She's _done far worse than Sam ever has! You don't even know what he might be going through at home! She has no such excuse!" Nick glared at Hermes. "No. No mercy. Send her to Tartarus. If any mortal has ever deserved it, she does."

Hermes nodded and raised his paw toward Lily. The smoke binding her muzzle drifted away. "Mortal spirit, you've heard the statements of your children. Have you any response?"

She laughed harshly, the same laugh Nathanial heard too often in her office, in his nightmares, and it made him cringe. "The words of demon spawn? I couldn't care less about what they say. I go to receive my reward from God, and the likes of you won't be able to hold me when his benevolent hand stretches out to receive me."

"Sorry, but I am the shepherd of souls, and none can take you from me, nor can anyone take you out from the Underworld without Hades' consent; he alone holds the keys." Hermes stepped through the relic ward and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck to unceremoniously stuff her into his belt pouch. "I'll pass on your statements to the judges, but before I go..." He looked down at Micah. "You should have spoken up earlier, even though you were afraid." He turned to face Nick. "Your focus was sabotaged. The Succubus Grimoire taught you how to make one that would increase its influence over you and amplify the effects of demonic power on your body. Timeus is right when he says to never trust something made from a Demon. Once you met other Demon Mages, you really should've asked them for advice. As it is, you'd be better off with no focus than using that one." He reached over and unfastened Nick's choker. It, too, went into his pouch. The giant Cheetah nodded to them and abruptly vanished.

Nick stared blankly ahead as his paw slowly rose to rub the bare fur of his neck. "Wh-What?"

Liam scowled at the stunned pup. "As I said, Demons will always seek to betray; there is no other way for such creatures to behave. It is foolish in the extreme to expect otherwise. You were betrayed, and the grimoire sought to destroy you." He looked over at Garret. "I would also doubt the safety of your focus, as it is most evident those who taught you care little for your wellbeing."

Garret snorted. "Duh. It's why I limit my exposure to it." He patted his pockets to show they were empty. "It's up in my room. It's dangerous to stay away from it too long, especially if I'm going to be around blood or going to use Demon magic, but since I avoid both to the utmost of my ability, I prefer to spend half my time away from it. That said, I've no evidence that it functions in any other way but how it's supposed to."

Nick seemed to ignore those two and turned his vacant stare to Micah. The Changeling flinched. "Micah...? You...knew?"

The black and white pup crouched down to trace the lines at the edges of the tiles with a claw. "Not, um, not really. I thought something might be wrong, but I don't know how they work and stuff. It... It looked different than Dad's or Nanny's, that's all."

Nathanial gently rubbed Micah's head. "Looked how?"

Micah shrunk lower; his head stuck between his raised knees. "It kinda seemed to be..._growing _in him. Tendrils of red magicky stuff running from his neck to his, heh, balls." Nick's face dropped and he grabbed his crotch.

Liam waved his finger at Nick to indicate everything. "Strip." A trace of excitement rose in Nick's face as he quickly shucked his clothing. Liam took hold of Nick's scrotum and gently felt the testicles within, ignoring the pink tip that poked out of the teen's sheath. "Based on your ancestry, you are growing faster here than expected. I sense no Taint, nor any lumps, so I cannot determine -- with this sort of exam -- if there are any problems. I doubt there are." Nathanial noted Nick's balls looked darned close to, if not a bit bigger than, his own; his brother was definitely growing quickly...in that one place, anyway. "The ofuda Ciaran and I made will boost your magical immune system and should help prevent any ill effects. I would hope this taught you to limit your magic to the Mage variety; there are plenty of combat-oriented spells for you to utilise without risking your soul."

Nick looked shamefaced and then disappointed when Liam let him go.

Nathanial rolled out of bed when Micah bounced into the basement. Zhaohui, the stalker Kirin that kept peeping on his private thoughts, had left Nathanial's mind while he was trapped in his memories. Nathanial reached the door to his room by the time Micah got to Nick's bedroom door. "'Morning."

Micah beamed up at him before his eyes were drawn south. Maaaybe he should have worn boxers out of his room, at least. "Hi-hi-hi!" The pup laughed. "It's cold out! The frost fairies were all zoomy today!" Nathanial snapped his fingers in front of Micah's face and pointed up at his own to get the pup to look him in the eyes when he talked. It worked, sort of. The pup's eyes still drifted down every so often. "Granddad says hello and that he's glad Lily has gone to the Underworld. He doesn't like mortals sticking around after they die; they cause lots of problems with the nature spirits."

"How was Nick feeling last night? He _looks_peaceful."

Micah drooped; even though he wasn't meeting Nathanial's eyes, he actually wasn't staring at his groin, either. "He's upset. At both of us. Nick feels he owes Sam because of how close things got, and he can't understand why you don't respect how he feels. He's mad at me for not saying anything earlier even though he says he understands I was scared. It's just that alls of you gots so much stuff to worry about..."

Nathanial ignored Micah's poor grammar, and didn't say anything about Sam. He knew where Nick was coming from, no matter how wrong-headed it was, but he couldn't ignore what Sam attempted to do to Nick. Should that Bull still get anywhere near Nick after his lesson, Nathanial would make him suffer. The groundwork had been laid for Sam's psychological demise. Nathanial pulled Micah into a hug. "We do, but the information you had would've helped alleviate some of those worries. I know you thought it would just add to them, but it really worked the other way around. If you see something like that again, please let us know."

Micah returned the hug gratefully before bouncing back into his normal, hyper, personality. "Yup! You going to school today?" Nathanial gently extricated himself from his clinging brother. "You've missed lots of classes already, with good reasons, but still."

Finally free, Nathanial rubbed Micah's ears before answering as he turned toward the bathroom. "I am, and I have. I'll be sneaking away to avoid the paparazzi out front, but you be careful around them. There are police keeping tabs on things, so it shouldn't be too much fuss." Changing his mind as he felt the need to burn off some frustration, Nathanial headed to the gym to go through some kung fu forms. He'd shower a bit later.

Nathanial teleported into the men's washroom closest to the rear of the school. It was identical to all of the washrooms other than the gym's and cafeteria's: two stalls, three urinals, blue-grey tiles, and sea-blue walls. He'd made sure it was empty of people, other than his three friends, of course. Geoff turned his phone off and engulfed Nathanial in a tight embrace...with a little rump grope thrown in. "Missed you, pup."

Nathanial kissed his boyfriend. "Yeah, me too. It was weird waking up alone."

Faelen flicked his ears toward the hall; some Furs were walking past. "Was that the agents' teleportation spell?"

Nathanial nodded before quickly turning it into a headshake. "I think it's a standard one. The agents' version includes a mind-affecting component so Furs don't notice it. I'm still having trouble with that part. This is in the Teleportation book I'm studying for the portal, and is the one I saw Ms. Banks use when she took me to Ottawa. I think. She cast it too quickly for me to follow well." He switched subjects. "Any troubles with the paparazzi?"

Liam twitched his shoulders up. "Not as such, and good morning, by the by. They were most intrusive at the school gates, demanding to know where you were, but did not bar our passage nor seek to take our pictures."

Nathanial began the process of extricating himself from Geoff's arms before they got too worked up. 'Who clings more, Geoff or Micah?' He didn't want to go into the hall with a bulge in his trousers. "Good. Let's head out." He used his senses to scout around and paused before his body even reached the door. There were abnormally large crowds around his locker and the front doors. There were even people hanging out by Ms. Paul's classroom, including some grade twelve students; their classrooms weren't anywhere near the grade ten wing. Nathanial frowned. Over half the Furs held pens and comics. Jeff Walker had one on his desk in homeroom and stared at the door in ill-concealed anticipation. 'The Wunderkind' blazed across the top of the cover over the image of an Akita fighting some Hunters. 'Oh, jeez.'

He must have whimpered or something because Geoff glomped onto him again. "What's wrong, pup?"

"I-I, uh..." He glanced at Liam feeling rather dumb to complain about the comics after making his friend go through the same with those manga and more. "There's a-a crowd around my locker." He opened a portal into it and pulled out his books telekinetically. "I-I'll just head right to homeroom."

Geoff rubbed his back comfortingly and rubbed lower in a not-so-comforting way, too. "Aww, it's just your adoring fans." That bastard knew about the comic. "We still need our books, so come keep us company."

Faelen began peeling Geoff's arms away. "I don't think he can cope, sir; I smell a lot of stress. Let him be."

Liam pushed his way in between Geoff and Nathanial, too. The tan paw moved over Nathanial's chest. "Faelen is most correct, Geoff; in fact, I insist he avoid the throngs."

Geoff's amorous and amused mood evaporated instantly. "I thought your medication was starting to work. How is he? Should we bring him home?" He stopped sending a barrage of questions at Liam and switched to Nathanial. "How do you feel? Should we bring you to Nurse Amy so you can lie down? Does it hurt? Is there--?"

"Silence, fool." Liam's sharp interjection cut across Geoff's worried prattle. "My medication is starting to work, emphasis on 'starting.' They may be miraculous compared to mortal medicines, but they still take _time_to repair damage. He needs to limit his exposure to stressors, and I would force him to stay home if I thought he would relax."

"B-But I missed so much--"

Liam shook his head, half-amused and half-frustrated. "My point precisely." Nathanial hung his head, chagrined.

Faelen's ears pivoted toward the hall and stayed there; a couple of Furs had stopped nearby and began chatting. "We need to get our books, sir. Time is running out."

Geoff groused, "Not sir." He still walked away from Nathanial, shooting worried looks over his shoulder. "See you in homeroom." Nathanial smiled, raised his paw in farewell, and teleported up to the washroom closest to Ms. Paul's class.

Before stepping out, he placed a paw against the wall and braced himself while taking deep breaths; fortunately, the washrooms were cleaned well. Reaching for the door, he paused; the crowd was just too large. Nathanial drew his paw back slowly, mind racing. Well...he _could_lure them away and sneak in. Dropping a _Shield_spell over the door to block sound, he opened a tiny portal leading to the other end of the hall and just around the corner, and spoke directly into it. "W-Why are there so--?"

A delighted shriek drowned him out. _"Nathanial!"_The mob's attention was seized by the fangirl, and they stormed down the hall after her, calling for autographs. The frazzled Akita ducked out of the bathroom door and sprinted for the safety of Ms. Paul's class.

Slipping around the door jamb, he came face to face with a bristled Lynx. Ms. Paul relaxed as soon as she saw who it was. "Sorry, Nathanial; I thought it'd be someone else wanting to wait for you in here." Despite her apology, he could tell she was seriously annoyed. "Honestly, I'm surprised to see you in school today." She stared at his eyes. "I can't believe you don't have a concussion. I would've sent you to the hospital in an ambulance if I were at the airport Friday." That almost sounded like a threat, but he knew what she meant. "Still, there's no sign of one that I can tell, now."

He grinned sheepishly, momentarily ignoring the vibrating Labrador that had materialized by them clutching a comic. "N-No, I-I'm fine, really. A-All good!"

Jeff couldn't take the anticipation any longer and shoved the comic towards the Akita. "Nathanial! Look!" Ms. Paul rolled her eyes, shaking her head in amusement, but looked almost..._eager_as she watched the two students. She must've been waiting for this, too.

Nathanial kept from glaring at the heavens; this was his comeuppance -- the Fates' revenge -- for how he'd treated Liam after finding that shrine in Taipei. He could only swallow his embarrassment and play along. Nathanial's ear twitched toward the door behind him; the crowd had discovered his subterfuge and were on their way back. "L-Let's move aside so we're n-not blocking the way." He took the comic and walked to the front of Ms. Paul's desk; she had a comic half-buried under some papers next to her computer. Sigh. 'Geoff, I wish you were here.' His boyfriend was still a few halls away from his locker, but Liam's annoyance kept the crowds from slowing them down. Even just looking at the three remotely caused Nathanial's jaw to tingle due to the Ancient One's blazing chi. In a closeby hall, Ahjeet Jhansi slithered through at a near sprint heading this way; someone must've told-- 'No...' Nathanial looked more closely at the phone in Ahjeet's hand. It showed Ms. Paul's classroom as seen from the security camera. 'Huh. Somehow, I don't think he did that legally.'

Keeping an eye on Ahjeet, Nathanial refocused on the comic held tenderly in Jeff's paws; it was undeniably him. "D-Do I fight Mr. Harper in here?" Jeff's eyes nearly glowed in response, and a faint purr escaped from Ms. Paul. That would be 'yes.'

"No. In the first comic, we covered the carjacking--"

'Wait. What? "We"?' Nathanial looked over the credits on the comic, and sure enough, 'Walker' was listed as one of the contributing writers.

Jeff didn't notice Nathanial's momentary distraction. "--and foreshadowed some of your backstory."

Betty snidely interjected, _"Mythical_backstory," as she strode over. She was the only one who did, despite how eagerly many other students watched them. Ms. Paul must've told them to behave.

Nathanial channelled Liam for a moment in content and cadence. "'Fantastical.' Myths are stories, often associated with cultures derived from rich oral traditions, used to explain creation and scientific mysteries. 'Why leopards have spots' is one such story and a well-known example. Fables are stories containing moral teachings. Fantasies are stories for story sake. Nothing related to me could possibly be mythical."

Betty's muzzle curled up. "Yes, _Lima._Jesus Christ, you two can be so annoying."

Ms. Paul frowned. "Stop that, Betty. All religions and belief systems are to be treated respectfully in this school; that was covered in the student handbook, and I went over it in the first homeroom." Nathanial stuck his tongue out at Betty, waggling his ears as he did. She huffed and turned right around, going back to her seat. It was actually kind of fun teasing her; maybe Liam had the right idea after all.

Jeff sidled up next to Nathanial and opened the comic; it appeared as if he was just excited to show off the book, but the Lab was almost cuddled up to him. Jeff's tail drummed out a rapid beat on the desk behind them. Hmm, Jeff's fur smelt a little nutty. His conditioner must be one of those ones that contained 'natural' ingredients. It was kind of nice, and it did make his fur very soft and shiny. "See!?" The page showed several panels of a car's interior with Mei Lin -- Liam's secretary at his medical office -- in the driver's seat, Liam in the passenger's, and Nathanial in the back. Liam's dialogue bubble was squared off on the sides, but not fully rectangular, as if alluding to a robotic nature. Jeff kept talking, preventing Nathanial from putting as much attention into the comic as he'd like. "We put a lot of time into tracking down every detail we possibly could; of course, getting what you guys actually said was impossible, but the type of car, the interior, _everything_is as close as we could get."

It was almost...frightening how accurate it was. "I-I-I see. It's v-very, um, _detailed."_The comic inferred they were on their way back from a lab appointment to finish activating Nathanial's modified genes.

Jeff fiddled with a fine-point Sharpie and cautiously inquired, "Soo...you like it?" The marker was brought a bit more into Nathanial's view, just in case the Akita missed it or wasn't sure _why_Jeff had it. Ms. Paul unobtrusively pulled her comic a bit further out from under the papers on her desk.

"Wo-Would signing it count as _authorizing_it?" Nathanial wasn't sure if that was the correct word, or even what, exactly, he was trying to say, but the frowning faces of Director Hugh and Commander Cecil kept popping up in his mind.

Jeff looked surprised and glanced over at Ms. Paul. "I... I'm not sure? Is there something wrong with approving of the comic? Don't you like it?"

Ms. Paul put words to the nagging feeling he had. "You're afraid to put an official statement out by signing autographs; that it might be contravening some policy. Don't sign, then; not until you receive clarification." She sounded like she was sure he belonged to some secret agency, too. Well, he kind of did, and him showing up with Director Hugh and the police at the airport was specifically meant to put that story out there.

"O-Okay. I, um, well it might take a bit to get an answer back, my boss -- the Badger guy -- he, um was injured in... Er, he's not at the office now, so I-I'll have to wait." Everyone deflated and Nathanial saw many Furs putting comics into backpacks or onto the books for their next few classes.

Jeff tilted his head. "Hugh? Hurt? Da--ng." He sounded like he was about to say 'damn,' but thought Ms. Paul might chide him. "Everything I heard about the guy said he was pretty much invincible." Where in all the hells did Jeff hear anything about Director Hugh?! Jeff caught Nathanial's expression. "Hugh isn't the most visible Man In Black, but he's really popular. The guy is a total bad ass, and every sighting of him gets spread around the forums immediately."

'What is Jeff involved in, and how have these forums escaped the Society's notice for so long?' Nathanial's mind began a long chain of questions, but something else hijacked his train of thought.

There was a commotion at the door when Ahjeet forced his way through the crowd to get into the class. The Cobra's bronzy scales gleamed in the florescent lights, and the orange scales in his half-opened hood were very eye-catching. Ms. Paul jumped around the edge of her desk to intercept Ahjeet, and the Ophidian reared up to loom over her. "I'm here as a reporter for the paper, Mss. Paul, I'm allowed anywhere in the sschool as long as I don't interrupt a classs in ssession."

Ms. Paul's bristled fur settled down somewhat. "As long as you aren't late for your homeroom, fine." She moved aside.

Ahjeet remained where he was, tongue flickering out as he stared down fiercely at Nathanial. His inner, translucent lids blinked sideways over his wide eyes. "How did you get into the school thiss morning?"

The observing student body murmured in confusion over the odd question. Nathanial stopped his paw from pulling out his sunglasses once he realized he'd subconsciously reached for them. He still held onto the arm of them and let the cool feeling of them bolster his confidence. "The same way I've done many times before when I don't want to deal with the crowds at the front doors. Why? Is it so peculiar?" He pointedly glanced at Ahjeet's phone, still clutched in taloned hand and still logged into whatever program he used to hack the security system. No one else could see what was on it, he thought, but Jeff caught the shift of Nathanial's head and the Lab frowned at the white rectangle.

Ahjeet tucked the brand new smartphone into his breast pocket. "I had a reporter at each door. None saw you come in."

Nathanial cocked his head, smiling obliquely. "Operative word, 'saw.' That doesn't mean I didn't use another door, does it?" He pulled out his glasses with one paw and put them on, while he fished out his own phone and waved it at Ahjeet. "Plus, even then, what you think you saw mightn't be the truth." Nathanial was pretty sure the reporter got what he inferred -- that the cameras might have been tampered with, too. He slipped the phone back into his pocket. Jeff's eyes widened and his tail flipped into high gear, but the Lab managed to keep quiet.

Ahjeet's pupils had thinned into tiny slits to sharply focus on the phone; they didn't widen again when Ahjeet tried to peer through the dark lenses protecting Nathanial's eyes...and confidence. "That is true." A beat passed in silence. "And is precisely what journalissts exissst to uncover. The things shadowy agencies and ssecret _ssocietiess_try to hide from regular folkss."

'That's an odd emphasis. What does Ahjeet know or suspect? Something along the conspiracies of Jeff, or something closer to the truth? Maybe he's just paranoid?' Regardless... "Yet, not all citizens are law abiding, trustworthy, or acting in the interests of their nation. That extends to journalists -- perhaps moreso, given the special dispensations bestowed on your profession."

Ahjeet's hood had expanded to its full width as Nathanial spoke, and Ms. Paul's fur bristled correspondingly. Faint serpentine hisses and feline growls drifted through the silent room, silent other than the sound of Jeff's tail brushing against the desk behind him.

Ms. Paul broke the, erm, near-quiet. "You haven't asked a _single_thing that could go into an article yet, Ahjeet. Start asking or go to homeroom."

His attention moved to her and the hostility in his eyes caused the Lynx to instantly bare her fangs and claws. The Cobra visibly fought to control himself and he retracted his hood. Lowering himself down to his usual height, Ahjeet took a few calming breaths. "As you ssay." He ran an audio recording program on his phone. "Nathanial, what is your opinion on the Wunderkind comic?"

"I have no official opinion on it. I haven't read it yet, anyway."

"Oh? It's been out since Friday; I asssumed you would have heard about it and made time to read it by now."

"My friends wanted to surprise me, I guess."

Ahjeet gazed at Nathanial for a few seconds; Nathanial had no idea what was going through the reporter's mind. "I ssee." He was hissing a lot more than normal; perhaps Ahjeet was agitated about something. "You are acting differently than I am used to. Is this confident personality your real one? Is the timid Nathanial we're used to just a front to earn the student body's trust?"

Nathanial kept his face as professional as possible. "I wear my masks as needed." The phrasing delighted Jeff as he intended. "When I'm at school, normally I can relax. Not always, though. Other times I need to behave more professionally."

"Or crazy?"

Nathanial expected that one. He just shrugged. "Wars can be won on many different levels. The unknown is hard to fight; it causes fear, and fear is the most effective weapon. It sets the mind on its most primitive level -- fight or flight -- and no animal will willingly fight what it can't comprehend."

"Your enemies are 'animals'?"

Nathanial smiled without humour, thinking of Sam. "By the time I'm done with them? Yes." Ahjeet withdrew into a tight coil while the mammals in the room shivered from the sudden chill.