There was no name to indicate who the message was from but Caius knew. He had never seen the writing before, but he knew. And it pulled a smile on his lips as he folded the parchment back into the shape of a bird as Delia looked over.

"Hmm," she said, and when Caius looked over at her, she had a strange look in her eyes. It was an interesting look of knowing and unknowing at the same time.

She had felt something in the wind pattern. Something familiar. But she had no clue what the bird-shaped note was. Still, she believed they were connected. Her brain just wasn't putting the two pieces together as it should.

"I have to go," Caius said then.

"What?" Kaya said as she, Eloise, and Aylin rounded on him.

"Where?" Eloise asked.

"What was that note?" Delia asked.

Caius felt a little amused. This was likely the most they had ever contested any of his departures.

"A long overdue meeting, I believe" he said to answer the questions and then added, "I'll be back."

After his reassurance, he stood up and walked away. He could still hear them stay silent for a while before they went back to conversing even though it was a bit more sparse until he was out of earshot.

It was as though only now were they realizing that while they were keeping each other in check, Caius's time might not even be theirs to claim. Because there were others—other matters—that could call his attention away. Matters like that bird-shaped note in his hand.

•••

Caius walked down the corridor and soon, he was in front of a door. He raised his hand to knock but before he even touched the door, it clicked and opened as a soft voice answered his unspoken request for entry.

"Come in."

Caius pushed the door inward and closed it behind himself before looking over at the large Professor's desk to find that the chair behind it was empty. He cast his eyes to the side then and saw her sitting on the beautiful sofa in the office.

"Professor Kragsten," he greeted with a little bow.

"Really?" Cynthia said with a light smile as she stood to her feet, her gown swishing around her ankles.

"Such formality…" Cynthia said and the look in her eyes was almost upset.

Caius's formal tone was reminiscent of what he had used the last time they were together like this. When he had said they should probably take time to assess what they were doing. And though, he had said 'we' at the time, Cynthia had known he really only meant her.

Because it was her idiosyncrasies that had driven that wedge and after spending the first couple of days angry at him while insisting to herself that she was fine and it was their would-be relationship that was problematic, she had spent the rest of their time not speaking to one another, realizing that sound reasoning was pointless.

Her points made sense. Being who she was, she really should care about fairness in caring for her students. And the fact that Caius would upend all that was a significant concern. Alas, it was a concern her brain insisted she was ready to accept.

Hell, this past weekend—ashamed as she was to even think it—her own sister had come second to Caius in terms of worry. And the two had definitely been above everyone else. It had just not been too obvious because saving them—at least getting through the sealed veil—also meant saving the rest of the class.

If there had been a way to secure Caius and Delia's safety without the rest of the First Years, Cynthia feared she would have picked it. And only when she was certain Caius in particular was alright would she then return her attention to all others.

That realization had filled Cynthia with shame. But it had also brought her clarity. Now she was ready to actually assess the situation she had now found herself in. She was ready to find a possible solution. Alas, she learned that not only might there not be a solution to this predicament of hers, but she might not even want a solution.

Caius held up the bird note.

"A note, Professor?" He asked and while he used her formal title, his tone was lighter— more informal, "What are we, Kids?"

"Well, you are," Cynthia said with a hand on her hips. She struck quite the sexy pose as her stormy grey eyes became a bit more intense.

"You left me little choice. You didn't come on your own."

Caius laughed a little.

"But a note?" He said, sounding incredulous.

"Is a very subtle way to pass a message," Cynthia argued.

"I suppose if no one actually sees it floating. Or sees it land pointedly on my hand," Caius retorted with a smirk.

Cynthia rolled her eyes. It looked cute.

"What? You didn't like the personal touch in the fact that I wrote it by hand?" She asked.

Caius paused then and then he unfurled the note to read the message within again before he asked,

"How many times did you have to rewrite it?"

"Please. I was very articulate and precise," she said with a casual wave of her hand.

It was a lie of course. She had indeed done a couple of rewrites. The note had actually started as a complete letter that went on for a page or two. Hilariously, the reason she ditched that wasn't that it would be embarrassing to pour out her heart to her student in such a thick letter but rather that it didn't quite capture all that she wished to express.

Eventually, she decided that getting him here, with the littlest message possible so she could express all that in person, was the way to go. She destroyed the other unsent attempts so no trace of her shame remained.

"I'm just kidding," Caius said then, "It's a very cute note."

"Cute?" Cynthia said, raising a brow. Not sure how to take that.

Caius continued,

"I especially like the little swoop here."

That moment passed. Cynthia let it pass because now that Caius was actually in front of her, she wasn't finding it all that easy to express all that she had determined her letters were not enough for.

Eventually, though, she shook herself out of her stupor.

'Come on Cynthia,' she said to psych herself up, 'Being tongue-tied is so unlike you.'

It worked.

She found the words to start.

"Caius. About that assessment…"

"I don't care," Caius cut in to say.

"What?" Cynthia responded and blinked.

Caius folded the note back into shape and stuffed it into his pocket as he looked up into her face.

"I said I don't care," he said.

"You'll just shut me up before I even get started?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah."

Cynthia looked taken aback and then she blinked.

"As your Professor, I must point out that that is very rude…" she began but Caius cut in again.

"You're an over-thinker. And I think that's fantastic. By nature, I tend to think things through very little. I often have to make an effort to actually give things a bit more thought. So I like to think this habit of yours complements me quite well.

However, part of being an over-thinker is keeping the processes in your head."

"Caius…" Cynthia started.

She actually understood him. While she had landed at an end-point she was happy with, it had been a messy path to that end-point. It had involved sleepless nights where she agonized over previous decisions before overturning them with new ones.

However, it had taken her so long to do away with set principles that she felt the best way to explain why this talk was coming this late was to explain the complicated and messy thought process that led to it.

"Just tell me this," Caius said as he stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer, staring into her eyes,

"Does your decision allow me to do this?"

Cynthia paused and then a ravishing smile formed on her lips as she answered.

"Yes."

"Then we're good," Caius said with a breathtaking smile of his own before he connected their lips.

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