The Dean's office was very luxurious, but Imre sensed it was not in an attempt to flaunt his wealth, rather a choice of personal comfort. The bookshelves were crafted from sturdy, richly coloured wood, and the clashing furnishings edged on ruining the scholarly aesthetics of the office, but the disorderly prints gave the room a homeliness. Imre was seated primly on a plush armchair opposite the Dean.
"Levgardian will try the most in supporting your education into Green Cultivation, but you must understand, that our school is not fitted to this type of apprenticeship anymore. I'm aware that your insistence to remain here is because of your younger brother?"
Imre didn't say anything, knowing the Dean already had the answer.
"No matter," Dean Ruefallo said to the papers he was reading on his desk, "we've dug up an old program for Green Cultivation from before the implementation of the Emperor's education policy. We may have been the best secondary institution for Biological Cultivations in the past, but that was before the previous Emperor's…radical move to militarise all schools." Reaching into one of the draws, Eli Ruefallo took out a binder and placed it in front of Imre. "You have the option to transfer before the end of the first term, but what we lack in facilities, we do make up for in research in the Buried Library and professional contacts."
"Now, it's 12:15 and I had booked an appointment for you with Sir Asoka at 1:15PM. That should give you enough time to have lunch and meet with him."
Standing up, the Dean opened the door and motioned for Imre to leave, "He'll be overlooking your progress and be your primary source of contact for any questions. If you're any good, Sir Asoka might offer you an apprenticeship, but focus on your studies and don't think too far. He hasn't had an apprentice in at least a decade."
Imre thanked the Dean and headed over to Levgardian Primary to meet up with his father and brother.
Standing outside his brother's classroom, that Harvey had circled on the map for him, Imre peered into one of the windows but saw no one inside.
"You are…?"
Turning towards the voice, Imre pasted on a gentle smile, "Imre Brennan."
"Oh! Your father told me you would be coming. I'm Harvey's roll call teacher, Imogen Lee. If you head down to the end of the corridor, the last door on your left is my office. Ah...just knock."
And then Imogen walked briskly the other way. Imre wondered who was with his father and brother right now that had Ms Lee so flustered.
'A hint of sickly sweet peaches,' Imre mused, 'Someone she looked up to?'
Knocking tentatively on the door, Imre was answered with a, "Come in." And the thought he had before seeing this other person was confusion as he tasted sour plum, 'Why is he excited?'
"Imre!"
Imre spared a glance at his younger brother before staring the unknown man down.
"This is Commander-in-Chief Gabel." Turning towards the other man, Harvey introduced Imre, "This is my older brother." Harvey patted the spot beside him on the couch, indicating for Imre to sit next to him.
"Would you like a glass of ice tea as well?"
"Yes please, sir."
"No need for that. Just call me Vincent."
So the family of three sat across Vincent with a coffee table between them, holding four cups of ice tea, in a room smothered in tension.
Theodore sipped his tea and tried to discreetly glare at his eldest son for making the atmosphere so awkward. Imre ignored his father's warning and listened intently to his brother and Vincent's conversation. The second he felt the light touch of fur across his skin, he was dragging Harvey out of here. For an older man to be this excited, filling his whole mouth with sour plum that made it difficult to not screw up his face, because of a much younger boy, had Imre on high alert. Especially as Vincent had seemed very good at hiding this excitement with a calm face that showed none of this emotion as he asked Harvey questions about his childhood.
"Imre's helped me manage it since I was young."
"Oh? Is it because he's an...empath. Synesthetic empath." Imre caught the very minute wince from Vincent as he seemed to realise the reason for Imre's cold attitude towards him.
"Yeah. We've got this system so he knows when I'm out of my headspace."
"Headspace? That's an interesting way to put it."
"Imre came up with it, because he says it's like I'm completely not here when I'm stuck in a loop. I got caught in one this morning actually."
"Are you okay now?"
"I'm 'kay but I haven't been in a loop for a long time. We held a fake meet for it."
"Now you know they're fake, I might have to come up with something else."
Vincent was taken back by his reaction to Imre's voice. He felt like he could sink into his words and-
"Oh! You don't know what a meet is! They're pretty awesome actually."
Vincent was pulled out his thoughts, and what he knew was going to become a loop, from Harvey's jump.
"Why don't you explain it to me?"
"Because I get so caught up in my focalisation and can't get out of it- It's like walking in fog but you're thinking really clearly. Is that what your loops are like?"
"Not really. More like a headache because of everything going on in my head, but my motor is the opposite of yours."
"Right. That's pretty cool. You can do like hundreds of things at one time."
Vincent chuckled, "That would be cool if it was true."
Imre relaxed slightly as he watched his brother and Vincent bond over their Evolved skill, his guard up against the Commander relaxing slightly as he smelt, felt and tasted Vincent's changing emotions that settled on contentment.
"So yeah, we hold meetings to try to sort everything out. It helps to have it all laid out outside of my head even if he doesn't get it right, I know what he's worried about."
"I won't take up any more of your time now. Thank you for your patience." Vincent shook hands with Theodore and Imre.
"Why don't I give you my personal number and we can have another chat again sometime."
"Yeah! That'd be great."
Vincent's actions stuttered as he felt Imre's glare at the hand that was going to pull out his contact information from his BrainCell.
"Actually, I might have to give it to your father, for security reasons."
Theodore's hands shook as he accepted the Commander-in-Chief's personal number. His sons, who had just arrived at Garden, might not have understood the importance of this man to the entire Empire, but he had been on the edge of his seat, nearly vomiting from nerves, the second he walked into Ms Lee's office.
"That's all for today. Thank you once again."
"No no no. Thank you. Thank you." Theodore stared at his BrainCell as if it were a precious relic from Earth and ushered his sons out of the building in the opposite direction the Commander was headed.