fireplace
heyo! this is my contribution to the nevermoor big bang, and also the first time i'm posting fanfiction on tumblr. i was paired up with the lovely @pixieberry992 so please go check out their amazing art for this once it's up!!
summary: when wandering around wunsoc, lam ends up at the school of wundrous arts, and runs into rook. the two proceed to have a conversation.
lamya - or, as she preferred to be called, lam - was very well known among her peers for being a little strange.
she was always deep in thought, often not even bothering to pay attention to the seemingly endless and mostly useless classes she had to attend as a member of the famous wundrous society, and a student currently in her third year at proudfoot house.
but proudfoot house itself was much more interesting to lam compared to the activities that went on inside it.
or, more specifically, the areas surrounding proudfoot house that she had yet to explore properly.
so, when the opportunity to spend some time in solitude in between her classes arose, lam decided to take a walk.
//
the sound of students and teachers alike chatting and laughing slowly grew distant the further away she walked from the school.
lam's steps became automatic as she let her mind start wandering as well.
a lot had changed over the two years she'd now spent at wunsoc.
lam still remembered how she'd felt the day she'd joined. scared. anxious. other synonyms that meant 'to be in a state of fearing something'.
at the time, that something had been her past, her secret, being revealed.
she was young, but she wasn't a fool.
she knew the kind of harm that could cause.
but now, thinking about her life, her present, lam couldn't find any of that fear anymore. there were still some nightmares, awful images that presented themselves as visions and disturbed her sleep, but nowadays they felt less like an impending doom, and more like a distant sorrow.
lam knew what this meant, of course. she'd found peace, of some sort. a life of her own, with friends that knew her better than she did.
lam smiled fondly at the idea.
that nothing could drive unit 919 apart. not her secret, and not morriga-
"you're not supposed to be here."
the calm, monotone statement interrupted lam's thoughts.
she opened her eyes, first eyeing the ground beneath her feet, realizing that whoever she was about to face was correct: she was not supposed to be here.
carefully, the girl looked up, strands of smooth black hair settling on her shoulders.
the person that stood before her was one she had not seen before. sharp shoulders and dark eyes.
thin fingers reaching out for a handshake.
"rook rosenfeld. head teacher of the school of wundrous arts."
lam shook rook's hand, trying to calculate how much trouble she might or might not be in.
"lam..amari."
it was the name she was going by now, and she liked it. it felt like her, more than the other two names she'd been known by in her life.
"oh, you must be morrigan's friend. the oracle, yes?"
lam was a little surprised the head teacher recognized her name, but then she realized morrigan must've talked about their unit at some point during her lessons at the school of wundrous arts.
"short-range, that's right. uhm..."
"y'know what? don't worry about it." rook shrugged casually, apparently guessing what lam was about to ask. "you don't seem like the type to cause trouble. well, not the kind i'm trying to avoid, anyways."
lam just nodded, but the entrance to the school caught her attention.
there was not a single student at wunsoc that wasn't at least a little curious about morrigan crow's education.
rook noticed the girl's sudden inattentiveness, and turned to look at the vandalized door as well.
"....you wanna go in?"
lam's gaze snapped from the door to the now grinning head teacher, not sure if they were kidding or not.
rook shrugged again, simply stating "hey, you kids aren't the only ones who get to break the rules."
//
lam eyed the walls and doors of the seemingly endless rooms with moderate intrigue. it was certainly a different world from the classrooms she was used to.
rook kept up a calm monologue as the two walked. they talked about the history, the people whom these rooms had been named after, the stories that had been left here, never to be spoken of again.
lam could picture it all. children her age, younger, older, learning and mastering their unique abilities right here. there was a melancholic feeling pressing slowly against her chest. an entire history that she'd never known about.
she couldn't help but wonder why it had been lost.
rook's voice cut off. they turned to glance at lam, a somber understanding in their dark eyes.
"it's a lot, huh?"
"...yeah, i guess i just haven't thought about any of this before."
"i don't blame you for that, not a lot of people really have a reason to think about wundersmiths and their history. a lot of people don't want to, i suppose."
"and why do you?" lam didn't exactly know where the question came from, but she stood by it.
"because it's my job. my, eh, purpose, if you wanna get dramatic about it."
lam raised a questioning eyebrow at the cryptic response, and rook sighed.
"it's a long story, and i don't know all of it. in any case, i suggest we sit down for a while, because i'm not entirely convinced we haven't been walking in circles."
//
lam was a little surprised when she noticed the fireplace. somehow, it didn't seem like anyone had ever made it. as if it simply existed, cracking and burning eternally, out of some will of its own.
"do you think it's...alive?" she suddenly asked.
"hm?"
lam pointed at the fireplace, and rook tilted their head a little, staring into it.
"oh, who knows, honestly? as far as i know, it's always just kind of....been here. maybe it just came into existance one day, and it's been here ever since. maybe it doesn't even know how it came to be itself." rook stated calmly.
lam didn't miss the metaphor, but chose not to comment on it, returning her gaze to the flames.
she let her mind start wandering again. something about the flames reminded her of home. well, the place that used to be her home, anyways.
"this might be a weird question, but...have you ever thought about who you really are?" lam's voice was soft and quiet now, her hands resting in her lap.
"believe it or not, yeah, i really have."
"it's confusing, isn't it? i don't know what i should define myself as or by anymore. i think i like who i am right now, though."
the bright flames danced around in the fireplace, and in turn their reflection in lam's eyes flickered, like a good idea you might've had in your dreams.
"maybe that means that you should stop thinking."
rook shrugged, grinning a little.
"hell, i should probably stop thinking too. we've both got better things to do than sit around thinking about identity."
"yeah, probably."
her inner clock starting ringing.
"oh! i should get going, i promised cadence i'd meet her before class"
and with that, lam stood up, giving the room one last longing glance.
"well, it was nice to finally meet you, lam amari." rook paused, apparently considering something, before declaring "and feel free to come by anytime. y'know, as long as you don't tell anyone who shouldn't know, and don't get lost."
"getting lost was how i found myself here in the first place." she replied.
"then it shouldn't be too hard for you to find yourself here again, eh?"
"that's assuming i didn't dream up all of this." lam rarely joked, but the moment seemed appropriate.
rook chuckled lightly.
"that's fair. anyways, get going already, from what i've heard, cadence blackburn isn't the overly patient type."
//
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