With a loud boom, the door to Lorelai's room blew open. The next moment, Dignitas charged through, his sword in hand.
"What in the world are you guys doing?"
Now this was unexpected, to say the least. They expected to see something elae entirely. Instead of the crazed, rabid Lorelai they thought was on the other side of the door, they were met with a calm, collected, and now somewhat-pissed because-they-wrecked-her-door Lorelai.
"I…" Dignitas stood there, surprised. Just a few seconds ago, they could hear as if Chaos itself was making a mess out of her room.
Lorelai's dorm was rather well kept, too. All the plates, silverware, and glass they heard hitting the floor seemed to have been nothing. Everything that should've been broken to pieces was neatly organized.
"Did we… hear it wrong?" Dignitas questioned the two behind him. Like him, tney were bewildered beyond reason.
"Curie says she heard it correctly," John replied. "And there's no way her senses would've failed her."
Even amongst mental magic users, Curie's senses were a cut above. She was gifted with extreme sight, smell, and hearing, and could adjust this if the situation required it.
So if she heard it wrong… this could only mean that there was some foul play in motion.
"Illusion magic, perhaps? But who'd even bother to do that? Better yet, why would they even do it?"
The Illusion Affinity was a sub-type of the Mental Affinity, and perhaps one of the only few that possessed a great threat to Dignitas. If Reality Magic was the root and maker of creation, then Illusion Magic could conjure falsehoods.
"Hello!? You three still haven't explained why you busted open my door! I have to pay for that, you know!" Lorelai spoke up.
"Yeah… that's our bad. Don't worry I'll get it covered. Honor student funds seem to be infinite, anyway." Dignitas replied.
"Oh… really? Y–you don't have to… but, okay."
"Did… she just speak to me nicely?" He said inwardly. For the first time since meeting her, Lorelai had spoken to him in a tone that didn't harbor any anger or hate.
It was the same tone a girl would take when speaking to her senior, or to a close friend. A tone Dignitas never thought she could take when he was in her company.
Even Curie and John noticed it immediately. They, too, were no stranger to the frequent quarrels that would erupt between the two whenever they met them during assignments.
Of course, almost all of those quarrels were started by Lorelai, but that wasn't the point. The point was, she was acting unlike herself, clearly!
"We should take our leave now, you guys. I think it's clear nothing changed with Lorelai." Dignitas turned around, making way for the exit.
Curie and John didn't fail to catch the subtle look he gave them, though. Nodding, they, too, made their way for the exit.
"No, you can stay a bit more! You don't have to go now…" Lorelai suddenly spoke up. It was almost like she didn't want them to go.
"Nah, it's pretty late already. We're gonna head back now."
However, Dignitas was stopped by John, who silently gestured with his eyes to Curie. The girl was holding her hand out, the same way she did when she was asking to initiate a mental connection.
He stretched his own arm out and allowed Curie to take it, to which she nodded.
"Thank you, Dignitas. Just to clarify, we are inside a secure mental link. No one should be able to… look inside without my permission. John, please." She looked to the swordsman beside her.
"Right. So, Dignitas. We want to ask you for a favor."
"Yeah… and what is this favor?"
"Could you… please take Lorelai with you back to your room?"
"...do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now? I'll admit the prospect of sharing a room with a girl is high on my to-do list, but it's not gonna fly here! Especially with how Lorelai is acting." Dignitas looked at the girl, who was watching him with a weird look on her face.
"Yes, but that's the thing! You noticed it too, didn't you? She's been staring at you, and only you this whole time."
"We do not have much to go off here," Curie interjected. "But my hypothesis is that you are connected to how she's been acting… even if you don't know how."
"If you were to take her back, then maybe she will continue to stay in the same mood she is displaying right now. Quiet… and… timid."
It just didn't sit right with Dignitas. Bringing Lorelai back to his room. It sounded like a chapter in a romance novel. The guy brings the girl back to his place…
Except none of those would be happening.
"You know what? Fine. I'll do it, but promise me you'll make sure no one sees me bringing her home. I don't have the time to deal with rumors, it'll affect my productivity at school."
Dignitas finally conceded. Even if they were to call the dorms' management to fix Lorelai's broken door, they'd still have to wait until morning before a repairman came by. And he nor John felt that Curie would be safe is she were to take Lorelai in.
***
"Well, here it is. Make yourself at home, Lorelai. I'm going to sleep on the couch, so you can take the bed."
It took a great deal of effort, but Dignitas, Curie, and John were somehow able to convince Lorelai to tag along with them and sleep in his room for the next few days (or at least until she returned to normal).
They played it off by assimilating a group of friends hanging out in the middle of the night, which allowed them to not be labeled as suspicious by the night owls that walked the campus grounds.
There was the issue of them having to bring with them almost all of Lorelai's belongings, but that too was easily subverted when each of them volunteered to take a bag.
"No, I couldn't… it's your bed, and you've been kind enough to let me sleep here while they fixed my room…" She replied timidly.
"Yeah… this ain't it. I can't suddenly get used to having a virtually different Lorelai around. I'm already missing the insults, heh." Dignitas thought.
"No, I insist. Just take it. I have no time to argue."
"Thank you. Do you need anything? I could maybe boil you some water… are you hungry?"
Dignitas slammed his body onto the couch, before responding halfheartedly. "No, not hungry, nope. Just take it easy. We've got school tomorrow."
It was odd. In fact, what wasn't odd about this entire situation? But the real point of interest here was the way Lorelai was behaving. Yes, she acted like a shy little girl. Yes, she was being unreasonably kind. That still wasn't what irked him.
There was one thing that stood out from her new personality. It was how much she honored Dignitas. Like a maid, she followed his every order, rarely ever refusing to do something, only looked out after his best interests, and made sure he was comfortable.
As long as it was in his will, she would follow it. This left Dignitas asking himself,
"What the hell happened?"