To Run with the Wolf Pack When Your Legs Are Tired

Two

And yet, Gerard does not show up to any lessons in the weeks that follow.

Frank sees him around sometimes, and is more friendly with him now, but Gerard seems to have a habit of keeping himself scarce, for whatever reason. That, or he simply doesn't like leaving his quarters, or wherever he disappears to in the day. Which, according to Lady Way, is the main library. Frank can't say he doesn't blame him.

Despite becoming friendlier with Gerard, Frank still feels... strange around the man. He can't describe it, doesn't know how, and the most frustrating part is that the feeling is right on the tip of Frank's tongue, the words right there, yet he still can't piece them together in a full, cognitive sentence. Some sort of educator he is.

Frank wakes up again in the middle of the night, but it's not due to spontaneous bouts of coughing or anything of the sort. It's from a nightmare. He doesn't often get nightmares, but when he does, they're bad.

So he sighs, runs his hands down his face, and gets up out of his bed, resigning himself to another sleepless night. He'd been drained, too, after having a rather interactive lesson with the girls earlier in the day, acting out with them the murder of Julius Caesar, as per Poppy's request. He really did need the sleep, but he knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

And so, after pulling on a pair of rather loose-fitting breeches, he takes to wondering the halls of the manor aimlessly, adding the places he's never been to before to his mental map of the home.

Soon, he finds himself in an unfamiliar hallway, led there by the simple action of getting distracted by the enrapturing, overly detailed paintings lining the hallways. He should ask Lord or Lady Way if they know who painted them, in the morning.

Then, at the end of the hall, he spots a large set of double doors with no signifying marks. It's only then that Frank realizes that the paintings are arranged in such a way that they act as land markers, telling whoever is traveling in their halls where exactly they are in the manor. It's genius.

He pushes the doors open with little hesitation, revealing a large, ornate library within. Frank huffs in wonderment, stepping inside. He has to spin around, even crane his neck a little, to see all of the books. The shelves seem to go on forever, each of them lined with what has to be thousands of books each. Frank didn't know this many books even existed.

He wants to run over to the first shelf he sees and pull out a book at random, just for the novelty of even interacting with such a grand place - seriously, how had he never found this place before? - but he doesn't, instead choosing to go and peer at the open book already at one of the tables littering the room.

He approaches the table, leaning over to look down at the book, squinting at it in the low light of the moon shining through the windows. It doesn't appear to be any normal book, though, and when Frank looks at it, he realizes that it's a sketchbook, and not, in fact, filled with words. Frank feels his face heat up when he realizes the sketch is of a naked woman, laid over a marble bench. But it's so detailed and beautiful, that he really can't bring himself to look away from it.

"Frank?" someone says from behind him suddenly, causing him to jump. He hadn't noticed anyone in there with him. Frank turns around slowly, vaguely feeling like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't, even though no one ever said the main library was off limits, or anything of the sort.

Gerard stands across the room, overshadowed by the moon's rays coming from the window. Frank breathes a sigh of relief when he Gerard approaches him.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Gerard says when he's closer, peering at Frank curiously. But Frank doesn't miss the ghost of a pleased smile on the man's lips. His tongue, inexplicably, suddenly feels very heavy and dry in his mouth, almost preventing him from responding.