The Man With The Gloves (mxmxmxm)

13. The Headmaster's decision

"Why am I so changed? Why does my blood rush into a hell of a tumult at a few words?" (Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights)

Tough times don't last, tough people do, Fayez told himself over and over again, as they walked in silence into the Institute's corridors.

He might not know Zephyr very well, but he found it weird that the guy was suddenly so uncommunicative. The vampire had struck him as a pretty talkative and straightforward man - flirty, even. Yet, since Fayez had asked him where the Headmaster's office was, about ten minutes ago, he hadn't uttered a single word.

Now, Fayez was beyond stressed, and Zephyr's silence wasn't helping at all. He had wanted to ask the blondie if he was mad at him, but decided not to.

Asking him such a thing would imply that they had a relationship of some sort. They didn't. He was nothing in Zephyr's eyes, or any of the three prefects, for that matter. Zephyr couldn't bother to be mad at him.

Fayez was therefore not entitled to ask him any personal question.

And yet, they had kissed. God knows Fayez wouldn't forget that kiss anytime soon. Surely, kissing someone wasn't insignificant, right?

Maybe it is, Fayez thought sadly. Maybe I'm just too ignorant about how these things work. Maybe Zephyr kissed me out of boredom or worse, because he pities me.

And to say that he had felt so relieved when he had met the other vampire by accident in the school's halls! A few hours after Akhenaton and him had arrived safely at the Institute, he had received a letter requesting him to go immediately to the Headmaster's office.

The problem was - Fayez had no idea where the Headmaster's office even  was. He had asked several students, of course, but apparently only very few people here knew its location. It was rather surprising, since Fayez would have expected this kind of information to be common knowledge in a school.

Then again, the ISB was no ordinary school.  In fact, only a few weeks ago, Fayez would have never imagined that such a place could exist.

He was starting to feel more and more desperate, as time went by, thinking that if he didn't even manage to find the Headmaster's office, then he probably wouldn't get another chance to explain himself later and would be fired from the ISB without further notice.

In his growing state of panic, he had been almost crying, until he had recognized Zephyr's passing figure.

"Master Zephyr!" he had exclaimed, a huge smile on his face, which quickly turned into a grimace, as the prefect had replied, rather coldly:

"What is it now, Fayez?"

Such a severe tone didn't suit the cheeky blondie at all.

"Huh, I've been summoned into the Headmaster's office, but the problem is, I've no idea where it is."

Zephyr's expression had softened a tad bit,  much to Fayez's relief, but then his next words hadn't been the friendliest:

"Why don't you ask other students instead of me? I'm busy right now"

"Actually, I've been asking around, but it seems like nobody knows..."

Zephyr had let out a sigh at this point, causing Fayez to promptly add:

"Never mind, I'll find a way, don't worry"

He had been about to leave, but then Zephyr had caught him by the wrist, and said in a neutral voice: