Chapter Text
Afternoons spent in the Archives were only as productive as you made them. And Liam was not feeling particularly productive this afternoon. He sighed heavily, sagging in his seat, and glanced over to his right. Rhiannon was deep in concentration, engrossed in her assignment, her pen tapping against her chin thoughtfully. Liam lolled his head to look toward his left. Ridoc sat hunched over with his face plastered against the open book on the large desk in front of him, snoring softly. Across the table sat Sawyer—who had no business working as hard as he did given his stellar grades—and Violet—who tackled her physics equations with the gusto and intensity of a trueborn Scribe.
Study hall is such a drag, Liam thought with a wide yawn. He had never studied much with others before becoming friends with Violet. The Archives was undoubtedly a beautiful space, especially during this time of day, when the quiet was comforting rather than stifling. Catching a glimpse of the lovely Jesinia on her on-duty days was a nice perk, too. But why study in a group when he could do it all on his own from the comfort of his private room? Even Xaden had told him that Liam should take some time to himself… A little mental checkout sounded nice right about now, and though he wasn’t as shameless as Ridoc, Liam let his gaze drift to some point above and beyond Violet’s head.
Mindless daydreams filled his head just as the sunshine filled the vast open library, windows gleaming in the beautiful afternoon. Ideas for his next dragon carving flitted past his brain. Man, I could go for a nap, was the last coherent thought he had when his gaze drifted back down to earth, and he happened to notice his favorite upperclassmen—his marked “brothers,” Xaden and Garrick—sitting beside each other at the long study bench just beyond him. Garrick had his head bowed, hard at task on the textbook in front of him, but Xaden seemed distracted by something, his jaw hung slightly slack, his dark eyes blinking slowly. For a confusing moment, Liam thought Xaden was spacing out at him, but after getting no reaction from crossing his eyes or sticking out his tongue, a light bulb went off in his head. He followed Xaden’s sightline to discover that he was completely transfixed on the person sitting directly in front of him: Violet.
Ahh, yes… The lovely Cadet Sorrengail. Liam indulged in a good long look at Violet, a sly smile creeping across his face. He could absolutely see the appeal. The way her brows furrowed slightly; the way she mindlessly tugged on the little silver baby hairs next to her ear; the way the sunlight hit her perfectly braided crown… Yeah, no, Liam thought to himself, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand, I totally get it. Anyone with eyes could see Violet Sorrengail was an attractive woman. Not to mention all the non-physical qualities that made her an amazing person. That wasn’t really the amusing bit, now was it…?
The slightest hint of a shiver trailed down Liam’s neck and he just knew Xaden was watching him. He risked making eye contact with his foster brother. As predicted, Xaden was boring holes into him with his eyes, the dreamy look having been replaced with one of irritation. You’ve been caught, you sucker, Liam thought, his sly smile morphing into an all-out cheeky grin. He gave Xaden a saucy head bobble, as if to say, What are you staring at, asshole?
Xaden begrudgingly turned back to his assignment in front of him eventually, but not without a great deal of teeth gritting and Liam had to snicker to himself. He had known Xaden for a long time and had never seen him so flustered before, especially not over some girl. That Violet was an attractive young lady wasn’t the amusing bit at all, was it? No—it was Xaden’s painfully obvious crush that was really something else. Or at least, it was painfully obvious to him. It was hard to know how much Violet realized she had Xaden whipped. Now there was an amusing idea: Xaden fucking whipped? Priceless.
Another involuntary shudder passed through Liam, who now was struggling to keep his shoulders steady. He practically had to bite down on his knuckle to keep from cracking up as he watched Xaden nearly rip through his notebook with the maniacal grip he had on his pen. Absolutely fucking priceless. He noticed Garrick’s shifty eyes, flickering back and forth between Xaden and Violet, and another lightbulb went off in Liam’s head that while Garrick had been ostensibly minding his own business, he was absolutely in on the joke—a joke that apparently only Xaden did not find funny.
Garrick, you twisted son of a bitch, Liam thought. We have got to chat about this later. That got Liam’s mind spinning about all the possibilities—maybe Bodhi could dish out some details too? Garrick caught Liam’s eye for a beat and pursed his lips, wiggling his eyebrows. Liam slapped his hand over his mouth at the loud snort he let out.
Violet looked up at Liam, that cute little furrow still wedged between her brows. “What is it?” she said in a low whisper, looking at the formulas in front of her. “Did I miss a problem?”
“No, I’m sorry, it’s nothing like that,” he replied hastily, and then leaning towards Violet—his voice just loud enough that eavesdropping, nosy upperclassmen could hear—said: “Sorrengail, are you aware of how cute you are when you’re all focused like that?”
Violet’s eyebrows shot up through her forehead as she pointed at herself. “Who, me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“Oh, shut up,” she retorted.
“No, no, I think I agree with him,” Rhiannon chimed in, inserting herself into the conversation. “You’re a whole snack, missy.”
“What about me?” Ridoc said, awakened to the sweet sounds of his classmates goofing off. He pressed a hand to his cheek and looked down bashfully. “Do you guys think I’m cute?”
“Yeah, the drool on your face is fucking adorable,” Sawyer muttered without looking up from his book, and the whole table bust out laughing, only to be hushed by the Scribe on duty.
“Gamlyn, don’t be a dipshit,” Liam whispered, smacking Ridoc on the shoulder when the Scribe turned away. “We all know Sorrengail is our token Scribe girl. She’s mastered the art of being ridiculously cute while studying.” Ridoc took fake notes of Liam’s words while Rhiannon nodded solemnly in agreement.
“Oh, blessed Amari…” Violet said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “You guys are idiots.” She turned back to her assignment, but her tiny girlish smile told Liam that his friend was charmed—even if only a little.
Rhiannon leaned into Liam and muttered under her breath: “I think someone back there is ready to skin you alive.” She nodded over towards the pair seated behind Violet. Liam was not disappointed to see Xaden glaring daggers at him, pure fury storming behind his eyes. Garrick, on the other hand, nodded approvingly and sent him an exaggerated “OK” sign.
Violet, her curiosity piqued from Rhi and Liam’s obnoxious giggling, turned just in time to see Xaden grabbing Garrick into a chokehold.
“What’s their problem?” Violet whispered to Liam, cocking an eyebrow.
“I dunno. They’re lunatics,” he said with a bored shrug.
Liam rested his chin against the heel of his hand, watching with silent delight at his foster brother’s antics, the Scribes kicking the pair out for their ruckus, and the middle finger that Xaden inevitably threw over his shoulder on his way out. Even getting smacked in the head with a library book (mysteriously enough, when Liam turned to confront the perpetrator, he saw nothing but a shadow retreating quickly into a bookshelf) could do nothing to dampen his mood.
Glad I didn’t take a nap, he thought, combing his blonde tufts back into place. Studying is way more fun with friends.