0.4: Between the Between

So I didn't mention that Chapter 1 concluded with 1.7...because I didn't realize it until just now. Silly me. But since chapter one is concluded(despite the numbering, it was over ten segments long, believe it or not. ^~) I'm going to side-story tonight since I almost forgot to write again and haven't wrapped my head around Chapter 2. So why all the idle chat? I just thought you might like to know that chapter one was completed.

There are those who really haven't gotten used to him after all of this time. Professor or not, there was still something about the lanky man with his strangely colored skin and hair, and those soul-baring eyes that ward many off. It is not his fault, and he does little to encourage the space that surrounds him at each meal. It wears on him sometimes, and his students see it in the days that he snaps, using a student as an example, regardless of the established rules. His wiry fingers snap and crackle with energy until it is resolved. But most of the time, Theo still forgets to care about his solitude.

For so many years, it is all he has known. Even when he was a student at this institution, he struggled to make loose associates friends. The most emotional relationship he had had been utterly volatile. Of course, that had mostly been on the part of the girl...she had found him repulsive and an altogether unsuitable suitor for her best friend. Theo never blames her for this attitude...though stealing her first kiss had been cruel of him, he admits to himself as the thought found him. But he had never intended to hold her captive to the marriage arranged by their parents. In reality, it is still difficult for the man to care about someone, or even imagine caring about an individual in a classically romantic light.

The closest had been a friend whose interest in him had been a matter of mutual respect, and there was nothing but friendship between them now. Hi heart aches for her as he dotes on her sometimes, sending her odd presents that come through the school in various ways. In some ways, she is the greatest love of his life, though that love is so restricted that he hardly recognizes it as such. It eats at him beneath the surface, but he fails to notice, possibly because his world would crumble if he ever thought about it too hard. The Professor settles within him as the student that lives within him still voices its concerns.

There are too few that call him Theo. In his mind, that is the only name he has, though always, he introduces himself as Theodore Nott. The students call him Professor Nott, of course. They could hardly be expected to call him anything else. The disrespect would cost them, if only because he had professionalism to maintain. The other professors...they avoid him still. There are few people on the staff that he would call friend, even now. Yes, they nod in the halls. The other alum from his group acknowledge him with more than that. But mostly, they gossip amongst themselves of their year mates, people who had likely tormented him in his youth. It is frustrating for him, to be continue the self-renewing cycle of loneliness, but he can't help it anymore.