Luminary Institute

15: Morning Troubles

Passing the rest of the evening with Kaiser and Slade, Nyssa was overjoyed when she opened her presents. Slade, having brought a set of workout clothes for Kaiser, bought Nyssa her dream presents: Sleep items!

To start, there was a cat bed to add to her already expansive collection of napping spots. As for her actual human bed, he had gotten her a  new pillow, a new set of sheets, and a new set of silk woven pajamas!

Heaven on earth... 

Yet, with the first day of school—and her severe lack of naps—wearing on her though, she headed off to bed not long after the presents were opened and presented. Of course, she wanted to talk longer to the two of them, especially Slade since he hadn’t come home for a while, but the magnetic attraction between her bed and her ass was just... too strong to resist. 

Having annoyed Slade and Kaiser with that imagery once more, she scampered off to bed before the two could retort. 

Bed dearest! She was coming! She was on her way! 

---

The next morning. 

Groggy. 

Eugh... she was so groggy. 

She wasn’t built for a life outside of the warm comforts of her bed... 

Lamenting her life choices, Nyssa slid out from under her pile of blankets and onto the ground. One shiver up her spine later, she reached for her sock drawer. Deciding to pull on a warm pair of socks for the day, she spent a few seconds groping around the interior of her sock drawer to find the perfect pair. Once the socks were found, she grabbed her uniform and put on each piece one-by-one before grabbing a jacket. 

If only she had a ‘star engine’ in her chest, maybe then she could leave her bed for extended periods of time...

Combing through her bag to ensure all her school materials were inside, she nodded in satisfaction before slinging it over her shoulder. Meeting up with Kaiser, she grabbed a small cup of yogurt for breakfast before heading to the doorway.

With Slade still asleep, she and Kaiser slipped out through the front door like a pair of assassins so as to not wake him up. Clambering into the car, they made their way out and back towards the school. 

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“Do you think I should start living in the dorms?” Nyssa asked while staring out of the window with a long yawn. “All the others do, right?” 

“Many of them split their time between the dorm and their house. Most live quite close by after all. Though some are always in the dorm.” Kaiser answered while keeping his eyes on the road. Plus, with the roads still quite wet, his driving was much safer than the morning before. “I’d ask them for more details though. I’m not very informed.” 

“Alright, I will...” Nyssa sighed while propping her chin up. 

“Don’t worry, if you do decide to get a dorm I’m sure we have enough space heaters, bedsheets, and cat beds for you to live the same lifestyle you do at home,” Kaiser chuckled with the most dad face in the world. “And it’s fine for you to split your time between both.” 

“I’ll think about it,” Nyssa nodded before zoning out. That was an issue for ‘later her.’ For now, she had to wake up and be ready for a day of classes... 

---

Nyssa yawned as her footsteps echoed down the empty hallway. She held her still-unopened yogurt cup in one hand as she used the other to cover her mouth. Passing through the breezeway between Administrative and the Class Zero building, she squinted her eyes as the blinding light of the morning sun seared an imprint onto her eyeballs. 

Closing her eyes—since they were useless anyway—she tried her best to navigate through her sense of hearing. 

One step... 

Two steps. 

The coast was clear. 

With her confidence building after each step, her posture began straightening and her steps began lengthening. Her hubris, however, punched her in the gut just a few seconds later. 

Literally. 

Having walked into a water fountain, Nyssa crumpled to the ground like a wet square of toilet paper. Curling up on the ground, she clutched her stomach while cracking her eyes open. 

Turns out, they weren’t so useless after all. 

With her yogurt on the ground next to her, she pulled it closer before rolling over. 

It hurt. It hurt so bad... 

Swearing to always keep her eyes open while walking, she spent the next minute waiting for the pain to fade. 

Who designed the water fountain anyway? Sharp corners? While also built like a solid hunk of metal? Sure, it was the classic design honed over—probably—centuries of expertise, but in this particular moment, it was horrendous. 

Was she biased?

For sure. 

Did she care?

Not at all. 

After spending a couple minutes reflecting upon her poor life choices, Nyssa picked herself up and made her way to the classroom—this time, with her eyes wide open. Sliding the door open with a sad sigh, she looked left, then right, then down as she realized no one was there. 

Of course. 

Kaiser had decided to come late on the first day of the term since, well, it was her first day and he wanted to stay with her. Very kind move, by the way. Yet, he couldn’t just come in late every day because he was the headmaster, he had work to do!

Thus, they had come an hour before the start of classes... 

Unlucky. 

Walking over to a desk by the windows facing the outside, Nyssa plopped her stuff down with a long sigh. Taking a seat, she rifled through her bag for a spoon while tracing her finger along the edge of her war veteran yogurt cup. 

It had survived a beating over the course of the morning... 

“... god darn it...” Nyssa sighed to herself as her search through her bag had been unsuccessful. Prying open the mouth of the bag with two hands, she looked through it with careful eyes while trying to find her spoon. 

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

Did her morning grogginess make her forget to bring it?

... At least she had a fork... 

Shaking her head, she took out the little case her fork was in, took out the fork, and set her bag onto the floor with a glum face. Unwrapping her yogurt cup, she began the long process of eating. 

“At least it tastes good...” 

Staring off into space as she ate the yogurt, listened to the clock tick second after second as the world fell to a quiet standstill. She had no motivation to pull out her phone, even though watching something while she ate the yogurt would make the pain sting a little less... 

Sliding down in her seat as she ate her yogurt, Nyssa dismissed every warning Kaiser had given her about indigestion until she was practically horizontal. Spooning the last bits of yogurt into her mouth she laid there with a sad sigh of defeat once she had finished. 

Prying herself back upward, she made her way to the restroom to wash her fork before returning to the room. 

The facilities were nice, that was for sure. It was... modern, sleek, and innovative. She could already imagine the commercials! They belonged to a sci-fi movie’s laboratory for sure. 

Each hallway had windows into the rooms, and each room had windows outside, yet there was just something... unique about it. There weren’t any lightbulbs, which was one thing. Instead, there were lightstrips inlaid with the metal that changed their intensity and color as the day went on. Along with it, large screens acted as interactive directories showing maps of the campus... 

It also helped though that there were a myriad of plants dotting every area to break up the color and metal though. A splash of green here and there really kept the place... alive. Pun intended. 

Snickering to herself, Nyssa pat herself on the back before pausing. Slumping back onto the desk in realizing she was now one step closer to her dad, she rested her head against her arms with a long sigh. 

The scenery and interior design did get boring after a while. She could, after all, only look at the same plant for so long. In fact, how long had it been?

Glancing at the clock, Nyssa deflated as she realized it had only been fifteen minutes since getting out of the car... 

45 minutes to go?

Forty-five?

At this rate, she was going to rot before class started...