Unpacking or maybe not

After the worker left, Callan laid down the luggage on his side of the room, and the wind magic that was working hard to hold all twelve of his pieces of luggage dissipated with a small 'whooooosh' sound.

"Amazing" Callan heard the breathless exclamation of Adrian who was standing next to him, "Wind magic is really powerful!"

His depthless blue eyes were sparkling like stars and Callan couldn't help but chuckle, "That was nothing, wait until you see real wind magic in action!"

"mm, I can't wait." Adrian smiled but then frowned as he glanced down at the baggage, "I don't know where I'll have the space to keep this though."

Surprisingly, all this luggage wasn't his fault but his parent's. They had insisted that he had needed to bring everything with him to the capital to ensure that he was well prepared and also didn't feel the need to go out and buy all the expensive capital clothing items and furnishings. But maybe they had gone a little overboard...after all one bag was filled solely with body moisturizers and muscle cream for his poor stiff tail that was forcefully made into legs.

Although he was certainly sure that would come in handy now that his opportunities for times where he could transform back had been greatly reduced.

Whilst he was in the middle of his dilemma, Callan reached down and his warm hand stroked back one of the long blonde strands of hair that were trickling over Adrian's shoulder and tucked it behind his ear so he could see his face better.

"There are some drawers under the bed." He told him, "There's also a cupboard there, so I'm sure you'll find the space somewhere. I don't mind if you use more than half the room as long as it's not too cluttered."

Adrian nodded his head in response, his cheeks slightly flushing from the touch as it had reminded him of their earlier 'affections'.

"I can't be bothered doing it now." He sighed wistfully. Things were going well with his new roommate and he didn't want to ruin it by unpacking a bunch of 'weird' creams and homemade remedies and goodies that were hidden in other bags... so instead, he simply asked Callan "Anyway when did you arrive here? If I remember right the dorms only opened yesterday but you already look all packed and settled in."

Light laughter came from the other grey-haired boy "I arrived this morning, but unlike someone, I didn't procrastinate my unpacking which is why it's all done." He accused him.

"..." Adrian stared up at him in disbelief.

Was this guy really teasing him?

Also, why did he have to look so attractive when he laughed, this plain-looking man!

He quickly glanced away and mumbled softly, "I'm not lazy, I just don't feel like unpacking right now."

"Isn't that the definition of laziness?" Callan sniped back.

"You're very annoying, you know that right?" Adrian raised his a thin blonde eyebrow and his thin sweetly red lips moved into a pout.

Callan laughed again, the sound of it rippling around the room. Coming to the academy was definitely the right decision after all~

"Don't be mad, Adrian." He reached across and stroked his soft cheek again, "So what do you want to do instead."

Adrian was a bit surprised to hear the other calling his name for the first time and felt a light fluttery feeling blossom in his chest which flustered him enough to forget that the other boy's fingers were squeezing his cheeks.

'Squishy' Callan thought to himself, 'like dough'

But his hands were brushed away by Adrian who instead asked, "We don't need permission to leave the dorm area right?"

"That's correct, provided we come back before the 10 pm curfew." Callan affirmed, "Why? What do you want to do?"

"While I was traveling here, I passed by the Adventurer's Guild, so I think I'm gonna go register."

It wasn't uncommon for Gaiwarth Academy students to register with the adventures guild as they were older than the 16-year minimum requirement and it was a good source of income and a chance to gain real-world combat experience or earn some side cash.

Plus after graduation, many students continued to walk the path toward becoming a renowned adventurer or undertook certain occupations where a past history of adventuring would be very useful.

However, in Adrian's case, it was for one reason only and that was freedom.

By being an adventurer, no one would question him if he needed to randomly disappear and then he could go off and soak in the sea...

Maybe it was because he was a mermaid but even though he had lived nearly all of his life as a human, there was still a deeply engraved longing for the sea inside of him. It was like an unscratchable itch that refused to settle down.

"hmm." Adrian felt Callan's grey eyes scan him up and down. He was fully covered but... he stood out way too much.

He wasn't sure if he should be telling this to him or not... it wasn't like it was a national secret or anything...or maybe it was...

Oh well, he'd just teach him a very basic version of it and if anyone else found out then he'd deal with it then.

"Do you know any appearance disguising magic?" He asked and the other boy stared at him in confusion.

"Yes, but isn't it super hard to learn?" Adrian frowned. He'd read books about high-level magicians being able to alter their appearances with ease but surely a beginner like him couldn't dream of it yet.

"Yes and no." Callan responded to his confusion with another charming smile, "It's not hard to learn because the incantation's hard but rather because it's heavily restricted and not available as public knowledge, otherwise it would be far too easy to misuse."

Although some people still learned of it and misused it, those criminals were an entirely different group of people than normal magicians...he thought bitterly.

Of course, Callan wasn't one of those people and the appearance alteration he was currently disguising himself under was far more advanced and untraceable than the one he was about to teach Adrian.

His was the true national secret and he had the academy's permission to use it while attending, whereas that could be considered an imitation of sorts.

"So would you be interested?"

In the dormitory room S-12, a young blonde-haired beautiful boy who looked like he'd stepped right out of a painting, paused and allowed silence to envelop him as he remembered all the times when he had to hide his appearance in public; the times he'd almost been kidnapped and all the unnecessary remarks and looks he'd received just for the way he looked.

While a mermaid knew how to disguise its tail and fins on land, he had no way to disguise his face and while he loved his appearance, he didn't love the trouble that it brought.

He wanted to shed his hood and mask and experience being ordinary and unnoticeable too. Who wouldn't?

"Of course." His fierce blue eyes that were as precious as rare gemstones shone brilliantly, with equal parts desire and determination, "If you would be so kind."