Just a Bystander

Dinner and Duel

Thanks to Devon's enthusiasm, putting dinner together was less of a hassle than we expected even though the rest of us were strangers to the art of cooking. Devon took stock of what was already in the fridge and set us to work with small tasks, giving clear instructions and demonstrating what needed to be done. He actually made a pretty good teacher.

In just a little over half an hour, there was a decent spread on our table - omelettes, stir-fried vegetables mixed with mushrooms, braised chicken, and rice. I thought it was actually quite good but Devon only pronounced it as passable, insisting that if we had more time and better ingredients, we would be able to do much better than this. I wondered how well he ate at home.

'When did you learn to cook, Devon?' I asked.

'Pretty early on. The cook's been with us since before I was born, and I just got interested and started hanging around the kitchens a lot.'

Kevan stared. 'You've got a personal cook?'

Devon did tell me that his family was quite wealthy earlier this morning, but he had managed to skirt around any details and I didn't feel the need to pry. His face flushed a little now and he hastily shoved a spoonful of food into his mouth in lieu of a response.

Jerric grinned and elbowed him. 'Tell them how loaded you are.'

'Not loaded,' Devon mumbled around a mouthful of food. 'Parents, not me.'

'How do you know?' I asked Jerric. 'He only told me a little this morning. Did you know each other from before?'

'Oh, no, I'm his roommate, remember? I've seen things,' Jerric said, wagging his eyebrows at us.

Kevan sprang to his feet and rushed to Devon's door, which was ajar. It slammed shut before he could reach it, and the lock clicked audibly.

We all turned to look at Devon, who hadn't even looked up from his food. He had given a casual flick of his fingers and gone right back to eating. An awed silence fell over the table.

'The doors aren't keyed to do that, are they?' Ambrose asked uncertainly. 'I thought we only had ordinary locks and keys.'

Jerric shook his head, his grin widening. 'Like I said, I've seen things.'

'You guys have an arcane ward over your room?' Kevan demanded, sinking back into his seat.

'A commercial one, yes. He installed it on the first night and keyed us both.'

'Over-the-top security. Great way to show you trust your dorm mates,' Kevan said sarcastically.

Lynus smacked his brother over the head. 'You just proved why it's necessary. Sorry, Devon.'

'Is it from Panoply?' I asked. It was one of the big names in security artefacts, and I knew my father had done some consultant work for them in the past.

Devon nodded grudgingly. Lynus gave a low whistle. 'And you're using it on a dorm door. Damn, Devon.'

'An arcane ward covers windows too. Actually, it covers the six sides of the room and even reinforces the walls,' I pointed out. Lynus whistled again.

'I didn't want it,' he grumbled, growing slightly red. 'My mum demanded I use it, and she has a trace so she knows when it's active. We actually fight quite a bit over stuff like that. She even tried to get approval for a telepresence globe in the dorm, but Academy security put a stop to that.'

He was chewing his words as much as he chewed his food. I sensed a lot of angst there.

'Alright, let's ease off on him,' Jerric said airily. 'Otherwise our next meal will be bread and water.'