ʀᴀᴠᴇɴᴄʟᴀᴡ ᴛᴏᴡᴇʀ

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：nathaniel ahn。⁰⁴ Time had seemingly come to a standstill as Alistair's raven irises stared into the flames. They danced with unpredictability and unparalleled beauty; however, they could only perform as much as their source of fuel would allow. After the wood were to burn away into nothing but mere embers, the flames would die out. Estelle was Alistair's fuel. She kept him motivated, loving, and full of life. Now, he was a mere shell of a man in his current state. There were no emotions on his expressionless countenance. There was nothing left to sustain his thirst for the graces of life. Instead, he had been forced to just exist rather than truly live.

It took a few moments before Alistair acknowledged Nathaniel's greeting--whether that be from his lack of energy or his focus on the fire, he didn't know. He pointed his index finger at Cerberus, the large black dog at this side and motioned him down towards the floor. The massive canine immediately followed and curled up at his feet. "Not anymore." He muttered, lifting his gaze from the fireplace to finally place a face to the voice that he had heard. "Not going home for the holidays?" Alistair inquired, staring at the other male with increased scrutiny.

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：alistair di angelo。⁰⁵ With a blink of an eye came the coldest season of the year, the year where students packed their belongings to return back home and enjoy the holidays with their loved ones. As exciting as it sounded, Nathaniel decided to stay behind and spend his winter break in the dorms, especially since he had no one to go home to. However, the thought of staying in the dorms alone wasn't too bad despite having the room to himself, and perhaps some peace and quietness for once.

Just as he was on his way to return to his bedroom with the two muffins he had saved from breakfast in each hand, he stopped in his tracks briefly the moment he noticed the familiar figure from behind, sitting on the spot where all students were forbidden to ever sit on. Hence, he had many questions floating in his mind as to why he was still there and thought to himself that he'd be the only one unwinding in the dorms. Yet, as he walked around the room to confirm who the figure was, he approached slowly the man from behind slowly and stood by the opposite arm rest of the couch whilst clearing his throat. "Um, is this seat next to you taken?" He asked, just loud enough to not startle the older Ravenclaw.

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：nathaniel ahn。⁰⁴ [ past thread. tw: mentions of death ]

A lump formed within Alistair's esophagus, holding down the emotions that he so desperately wished to release. It had only been a few mere weeks since Estelle's tragic accident, and Alistair had yet to process it fully. Instead, he buried himself into studying for his exams--but now that they were over, he had nothing to keep himself distracted. The professors insisted that he be granted extensions, but he vehemently refused them. The common room was abnormally quiet this evening--perhaps Alistair's presence warded off any remaining students that remained on the grounds.

The flames within the hearth danced across the wooden logs. Each flicker was more mesmerizing than the last, and so he stared. Cerberus, sensing the constant state of brokenness within his master, rested his head on Alistair's lap and released a low, sonorous sigh. Alistair's mind was so desperate for a thought to focus on that he did not notice the other student entering into the common room, even though it was the familiar face of Nathaniel Ahn--or perhaps his mind did notice, but chose not to bring attention to the younger male's entrance. Regardless, Alistair remained entranced on the dancing flames.