Lunar Dining

Students from every year from Lunar Class, were bustling around, carrying large bowls and plates piled high with food. The cafeteria didn't look like any typical dining hall. It was more like a lavish buffet, the kind you'd see in five-star hotels. The space was alive with energy, voices murmuring, laughter echoing, and the delicious scent of freshly prepared food hanging in the air.

For a moment, I stood still, taking it all in. This place was a paradox. So beautiful, yet so strange. It felt like I was stepping into a different reality altogether, one that I wasn't sure I understood yet.

"Come on, new man," Miro said, nudging me forward again. "You've gotta try the sweet dumplings. Best thing here."

I nodded absentmindedly, but my mind was still trying to catch up. What was this place? Why did it feel so different from any other school I'd been to? Everything moved at a pace I wasn't used to. Maybe becacuse—I'm sleep-deprived? That had to be it. I probably needed sleep more than food right now.

As I followed Miro into the sea of students, I couldn't shake the feeling tugging at my focus—like something bright flickering just at the edge of my vision.

And there it was again.

President Percy.

He stood out like a beacon in a sea of black and gray—his crisp white shirt and royal blue tie practically glowing under the cafeteria lights. The contrast wasn't just visual, it was symbolic. He didn't belong here. Not because he wasn't allowed—but because he didn't need to be.

According to Miro, Solar students had their own dining hall, separate from the Lunar ones. Something about 'preference differences'. 

And yet, here he was. Alone. Unbothered. Looking like he chose to be here.

Curiosity gnawed at me, so I asked Silas and Nyra when Miro had wandered off 'hunting' for his food.

They glance at each other, and it's like watching a silent battle—one of those conversations that happen entirely through exaggerated mouth twitches, wide eyes, and frantic shoulder nudges. It's almost comical how hard they're trying to wordlessly force the other to speak first.

"Well, we never really asked," Silas finally mutters, sounding both casual and evasive.

Nyra lets out a sigh and facepalms, her long, neatly arranged hair cascading over her shoulders like a curtain—honestly, there's something calming about it, how it stays so put together while everything else feels like it's barely holding on.

"Ah! That's because President Percy has to be early for his duties," she chimes in quickly, her voice a little too chipper like she's trying to cover up the awkwardness. "That's why he eats with us Lunar students. Our meals tend to be served earlier than the Solars' after all."

I nod slowly, humming in agreement, distracted by her soothing tone more than the explanation itself. I barely notice how the two of them are now subtly trying to kick each other under the table with their feet.

But for now, all I could do was focus on the meal in front of me. As I was about to take another bite of my food.

Suddenly, a loud thud interrupts the already chaotic under-the-table skirmish. A massive plate, piled high with meat—grilled cuts, skewered bites, something that looks suspiciously like a whole roasted leg—lands right in the middle of the table.

"What are ya talkin' so serious about?" Miro asks, his words muffled by a mouthful of what I think is a fried chicken drumstick. He's already tearing into it like he's been starved for days.

I freeze mid-bite, blinking at him.

Because this—this is the first time I've seen him without the face mask.

It's such a small thing, or should be, but it throws me off. Miro and the others always had it on—half the time speaking through cloth, cracking jokes from behind fabric. But now? With it off, I finally see his full expression. His mouth curved into a lopsided grin, a small scar near the corner of his lip, and—god, he has dimples? Why does he have dimples?

I blink again, mostly to snap myself out of whatever odd moment this is.

He notices. Of course he notices.

"What? You look like you've seen a ghost." He leans closer, still chewing, voice teasing. "Don't tell me you forgot what a handsome face looks like, new man."

"I didn't know you had one," I mutter, eyes narrowing.

He dramatically gasps. "Rude!"

Nyra snorts, Silas hides his laugh behind a hand, and the table tension breaks like it never existed.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I glanced at Miro, expecting him to notice my frustration.

"I'm just wondering why President Percy is here with the Lunar students," I said, exasperated, and hoping for some solid explanation.

Miro, however, acted like I'd just cracked some kind of joke, dramatically clutching his chest as though I'd struck him with a dagger. "Wow, new man, you're truly becoming a Lunar student in just a night? Already going full 'no Solar student is allowed to do things that Lunar students do!' "he teased.

I glared at him, my patience thinning. "It's not like that!"

Miro laughed, his mouth still full, the greasy chicken drumstick seemingly as much a part of him as his smirk. "Well, that's because he likes our food more than what the Solars got," he shrugged, making it sounds so simple.

My frown deepened. "So, it's just about preference?" I asked, a little incredulous that this was the explanation.

"If you really wanna know," Miro continued, grinning like he'd just come up with the most brilliant idea, "you could just go ask him." And before I knew it, he was practically shoving me out of my chair.

As I felt myself get shoved off, I stared at him in disbelief—and then something strange happened. For the first time since arriving at this school, I felt… sort of normal. I hadn't broken anything—at least, not badly. I hadn't pushed anyone down the stairs. Sure, I'd caused some mild inconveniences, but no full-blown disasters. Not yet.

Even my introduction had been surprisingly anticlimactic. Honestly, I was expecting more.

The restroom didn't explode on me. I didn't get stuck in an elevator. No food spilled on me. The day had started calm—almost too calm.

And somehow, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the calm before the storm. That a disaster was waiting just around the corner. I just wasn't sure if it was inevitable... if I was the one who was going to bring it upon myself.