Wick was almost late to class the next morning.It wasn't her first class; her first class she'd skipped entirely. It had taken her that class time to convince Jor she couldn't afford to miss the second, and to make a quick jaunt through the showers and make herself presentable before the beginning of the second class of the day. Her short dark hair was still a little damp, but her uniform was very much in order and she doubted she would receive any sort of reprimand. As luck would have it, another student entered the class a few moments late, and any frowning the instructor might have done at her for barely making the bell was forgotten as he spent the first two minutes of class yelling at the hapless boy.
When the lecture did begin, Wick made an excellent imitation of paying earnest attention. The instructor bought it and left her alone, and somehow Wick managed not to smile for nearly the entire class period. It wasn't until the end that she broke her act, and it was too brief for the teacher to catch. Daniels had been glancing at her now and then during the instructor's speech, and when he did a slight doubletake towards the end, she looked in his direction automatically. His face was almost grim, unreadable, and cool air on a little of her bruised neck told her what had caught his attention. She brushed her collar back into place easily and gave Daniels a rather hostile smile before falling back into her role of avid student.
He was still looking at her when the instructor caught him. "Daniels!" he said sharply, and the boy practically jumped. "If you could quit staring at Callenstrom long enough, kindly tell us the common name for the chemical HNO3, the substance we'll be working with in the lab tomorrow." The boy blinked like a deer caught in headlights, and against all odds, the instructor turned to look at her instead. "Callenstrom?"
Wick tried, but she couldn't help smiling a little. At least the man was fair about humiliating his students.
"Nitric acid. Miscible in with water in all proportions and completely inflammable," she said clearly, "by itself."
The teacher blinked and then nodded slowly. "Impressive, since I didn't cover the flash point or the miscibility in this session. Trying to make up for yesterday, eh, soldier?" He gave her a sarcastic grin and any comradely feeling she might have felt towards him dissipated as he looked back to glare at Daniels with the same vicious glee he'd bestowed upon her the day before.
The boy did his best to look impassive while the instructor let him have it for a minute or so before completing the lesson and setting them free, but Wick knew all about fire, and Daniels was more than a little angry when he left. Wick gathered her desk and sauntered out, deciding to catch Jor before he went to lunch and thank him for letting her go to class.
