![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Tarvek is settling into another semester of university when he runs into someone from his past he thought he never wanted to see again. Now he's not quite sure. Written for Day 2 of Girl Genius Week 2018 on tumblr.
841 words | [PG]
Tarvek slid into a seat in the back corner of his favorite cafe near the university campus. The position gave him a view of the entire cafe and street beyond the large front window, leaving no avenue for ambitious assassins to sneak up on him. He’d spent the time between semesters stuck in Sturmhalten playing politics. His father thought it necessary for Tarvek to stay visible to keep the Fifty Families in line. The only think politicking ever did for Tarvek was raise his blood pressure and paranoia.
Sipping his espresso, Tarvek leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh then opened the morning paper with a flick of his wrist. He’d barely finished with the headlines—Student Saves Three in University Lab Explosion—when the door slammed open with a cheer from a crowd gathered outside. He frowned, trying to focus on the front page, but the crowd grew more enthused by the second. Finally, they tumbled into the cafe while other patrons scrambled out of the way lest they get crushed in the chaos.
Someone bumped into his table sloshing espresso over the newspaper. Terrific. Tarvek blotted the coffee with his napkin, but the ink was already running. Not how he wanted to start his return to school after an intolerably boring and aggravating holiday. The mob continued to grow and chant, crowding into the small cafe. Tarvek peered through the throngs to whoever was commanding the center of attention.
“Excusez moi, mademoiselle,” he said as the waitress squeezed past. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
She let out a huff, ruffling her bangs. “Big celebration.”
“I can see that. But why here? Why now?” He couldn’t avoid the irritation in his voice.
She tapped Tarvek’s soggy paper. “Some kid ran into a burning building. Big hero.”
( Read more... )
