Boundless Limits {B.Durran}

17

Tierney basks in serene silence, listening to those around her as they scratch words on parchment, draw diagrams and talk quietly to one another.

Across from Tierney, Ciaran looks perplexed as he places a hand on his head, tangling his fingers in his hair as he stares at the parchment before him. Eyes narrowed and face scrunched in concentration.

Tierney's lips curve in a smile, "Having a hard time?" She asks, turning her eyes back to her parchment and scribbling down an answer to the question before her, her pen working easily as she continues writing what she expected to be at least a four-line answer.

"And you're not?" He replies his attention turning to her as he watches unamused at how the words come easily to her.

"Not quite." She lifts her gaze to meet Ciaran's, "Biology is easy enough."

"Fuck me," Ciaran mutters, dropping his quill and burying his face in his hands. "I wish I had Bio homework." His words are muffled by his hands but she has known him long enough to be able to make out his words.

"History can't be that bad," Tierney says, trailing off. "Okay— it is that bad. But!" She starts, smiling as Ciaran draws his hands away and throws his head back in a laugh.

Tierney looks at the boy affectionately as she finishes her answer and drops her pen, letting it clatter on the wooden table. Ciaran soon ceases laughing, Tierney provides him with a part answer to the question he's stuck on and he comes up with the rest, her words enough to jog his memory.

Tierney's almost surprised when Ciaran agreed to study with her when she asked him during flight today, if anything, he seemed happy about it. It's the first time they have hung out like this for a few weeks, just the two of them.

Just hanging out with her best friend feels long overdue as they finish, packing away their things and putting on their cloaks to prevent the November cold from seeping into their bones. They move out of the room they're studying in.

"I feel like you're leaving me behind in academics," Ciaran tells her, his lips playing with a smile.

"Oh?" Tierney lifts a brow as they descend the steps heading to the Rotunda, "Are you sure? I have to study my ass off, and as far as I know, you've never been one to study and your results are like, 10 points higher than mine— at least." She points out, hugging her books to her chest.

"That's not the point—" He says causing Tierney to laugh as they move through the Rotunda and to the dorms, weaving through the rows of cadets together.

"Is it so bad that I'm doing well in academics?" Tierney teases the boy, elbowing him softly, "Can't have the academic legend being overtaken by his badass best friend who kicks his ass in combat."

"Oh, so you had to go there." He shoots her a look and she only smiles innocently at him, accompanied by a light shrug. "Well, that badass best friend is about to be shown up in the combat department."

"Your confidence is suffocating. Who gave you such an ego boost?" She asks as they step into the dorms, heading to Tiereny's room first.

Ciaran squares his shoulders so he stands his full height while setting his chin, making it hard for Tierney to suppress her laugh. "You're not the one who's been training with Mairi for the better half of the year. You know, the top cadet and the person you're unable to beat."

Tierney gasps, "How dare you! I challenge you, Ciaran Cuanach, to a duel!" She tells him as they pause outside her door, she unlocks it without her key, using lesser magic which takes her a minute to use before the lock clicks and the door opens.

"Challenge accepted!" Ciaran nods, as they step in for a moment so Tierney can throw her books onto her bed and grab her broadsword— the one she crossed parapet with— and trade it for the one she earned and is carrying.