Hallway Hassle PV closed

Terrible Presence in effect.
| Aura of Unease Present |

Macbeth noticed the disturbance before Leonardo did, the small screech owl beginning to excitedly step back and forth on tiny talons on the length of Leonardo’s shoulder. This in and of itself was not unusual; his owl was always on the move, but it was only when the owl spotted something that intrigued or excited that Macbeth would open wings fully, inadvertently batting Leonardo’s face with reddish wings and letting out excited trills in greeting to a new individual or being.

“Macbeth, not now.” He began, trying to roll his shoulder back in an attempt to soothe his compatriot. “What compels you so...” he began, before he head the loud voice calling out for a professor. His gaze lifted from the coffee to the hallway, scanning for the voice. Feminine, he believed, young. Something disturbing the amoeba of the hallway, something drawing closer and closer to him.

Before him, seeming to apperate into existence with little to no warning, a young girl who seemed to immediately block the path of the Astronomy Professor. There was a sort of awkwardness to her approach, a stammer as she began to speak. The shadow which had been trailing upon the wall stopped moving, resigning itself to haunt the singular spot for the meantime as Leonardo was halted where he stood. It was almost as if it were watching the unfolding situation as well. Macbeth, blissfully unaware of the tension which was currently being held, fluttered his wings once before attempting to politely cross from Leonardo’s shoulder to the young girl’s. It was a habit Leonardo had yet to break, something that he believed betrayed politeness.

“Apologies, Miss.” Was all he said as he watched the resulting interaction, his voice low and unimpressed. “He has a tendency to greet on any new individual he encounters this unorthodoxly.” As he spoke, he attempted to make out more of her face, to no avail. He continued to study intently as she shared what was on her mind.

“Aspiring to be a professor is an admirable desire, and I am assuming that by your inquiry with my experience with Astronomy you desire to be an Astrology or Astronomy Professor. Correct me should I be incorrect, of course.” His opinions in another’s life was not his place. Their lives were their own, the only source of control that these young individuals had so far. “Let us say that Astronomy has been a part of my life whether I was fond of it or not.” Leonardo blew on his coffee before taking a small sip.

“I admit I was swayed more towards reading the stars and interpreting the patterns found there as opposed to memorizing and recalling numbers and names; Divination was one of my more favored courses alongside Astronomy. Yet, science behind the universe was what held my curiosity: creation and destruction theories, speculations of sacred and secular, and a small sprinkling of spacetime for the flavour.” He stared a bit longer at his coffee, watching it ripple a bit. There was a bit of a prickle he felt, not of fear, but more of overawareness, the overwhelming feeling he was being stared at and the heat of eyes penetrating through the velvet cloak he wore though no one person may have been watching him in the moment save for the pupil in front of him. “Why do you ask, Miss...” He raised a brow, glancing at her again. “I am afraid that names and faces were never my strong suit.”

The professor had not moved, hardly a shift even in his posture, holding himself almost stiff; chin lifted, though his shoulders were a bit slumped forward. If anything, he seemed a bit drawn inwards, his only visible hand being the one which held the coffee; the other one hidden with the rest of his form under the cloak he was scarce seen without. He stared with the intensity of a bird of prey, as if gauging action and reactions to take.

Reducio

@Mistie Meador

Terrible Presence in effect.
| Aura of Unease Present |

Macbeth was now comfortably perched on the girl’s shoulder, his tiny body vibrating with a sort of owl-purr... an odd mixture between a hoot and a trill.

Mistie. Miss Mistie Meador. First year Gryffindor. Well, that would certainly explain her brashness and uninhibited boldness in daring to draw close to him in the first place. If there was anything that Leonardo had learned from his experience with the scarlet house, it was that these... red knights loved to push the envelope, no matter if it was good for them or not. They never seemed to take a hint, even then they had been taught a lesson. That was a fine line; a thin border between incessantness and insanity, and a line that the lions seemed more than eager to straddle.

Meador... where had the Seer heard that name before? It sounded oddly familiar, familiar to a degree, a name, reputation, and face that he could barley put his finger on... but where and how was not entirely clear. His gaze narrowed, trying to focus on one feature at a time. Her face... fuzzy perhaps, a little hard to discern, but familiar. Unsettlingly so. Yet, she met his gaze firmly back, something that Leonardo would never confess to be beneficial to his lackluster attempts at retaining a facial memory, but it was, nonetheless.

The small, pointed emphasis on Leonardo’s name, however, had caused the Professor’s left eye to twitch ever so slightly. He knew he was not very good with socializing. There was no reason to add emphasis to the fact that he never was fond of remembering names or faces; all it did was lower his opinion of those who dared to make a mockery of it.

“I would be cautious how you define ‘boring’. Sometimes it is the inconspicuous details which can be the deciding factor of pass or fail, especially if you are in a job not unlike your father’s or mother’s.” He quipped in response to Miss Meador’s hasty analysis of what she appreciated and did not so much enjoy about Astronomy. “Though I concur that learning about how the universe works, what mysteries lay beyond her veils, and what things the stars can tell us was a far more enjoyable subject to me.”

Her next words had been a stammer, a reaction perhaps to his steely gaze and touched with an air of something perhaps related to concern. A common question: Are you alright? A simple yes or no would suffice. For some, it could be flippant, for some more deeply felt. Her lack of ability to conclude her question, however, caused the Astronomy Professor to merely raise a brow, wearily awaiting an answer before she hastily diffused it with a short never mind.

Her next question, however, was more prompt and complete. Leonardo’s rationale behind wanting to teach Astronomy. This dredged up many of his conflicting feelings about the job, and his own reasoning for taking the work position. But, there was one that was glaring, one that could satiate the question without becoming too deep. “I wished to share my knowledge with others who care enough to learn. I have few and far between talents; I am not strong or athletic, I am not naturally inclined towards animals, and I am not a prodigy in the realm of runic magic.” Preface to his answer. “I teach what I can, what I am capable of, and I benefit from the ability to be left in peace from the outside world and its grasping, hungry reach.” A father who refused to leave him in peace and let him make his own life choices, most specifically.

“I beg your pardon but while we are sparring questions, permit me to ask one of my own?” He politely asked, tipping his head away from the light. “For some reason, you seem oddly familiar to me, though I don’t believe we have met before.” A pause as he tried to collect his words to poise the proper question. His grey eyes flicked to his shadow and then back to the crowd, the prickling sensation on his back growing only stronger. “Your name perhaps. Has any of your family attended this school before you?”

Reducio

@Mistie Meador