07-06-2011, 05:32 PM
Cebrisae Goldenwaltz was tired. She was tired of studying, and tired of traveling. Tired of exercising. Tired of being tired. The Sin'dorei chunkbucket was ready for rest - not only the physical kind. Her mind was starting to feel as if it had caught fire, and she wasn't someone who took the stress easily.
Stepping up to one of the buildings in the capitol, she gave the door a lazy knock. It was a cozy-looking establishment, a bit on the small side but well kept and as decorated as the next building in fiery shades and golds. It wasn't long before a woman opened the door, her ornately patterned robe boasting cooler shades of blue and sweeping nearly to the floor. She looked Cebrisae over before giving her a smile, "Back so soon, dear?"
The younger woman nodded, holding her arms out. The woman accepted the offer of a hug, although her return of it wasn't as warm as she would've hoped.
"Almost done with this quarter. I just stopped by the academy on my way over to get my quarterly evaluation," she replied. Her tone, however, was meek.
The woman held her hand out, and Cebby promptly placed a piece of parchment in her palm. With that, the two stepped inside.
"I'll make us some tea if you'd like, mother," the bespectacled elf said.
Her mother nodded, waving a hand, "We'll sit out on the veranda, then." With that, she disappeared out of a pair of glass doors and onto a back porch.
Cebrisae knew it was only a matter of time, before…
"...Your grades slipped at the end of this quarter, Cebrisae."
The girl paused in her tea-making. She smiled a tiny, apologetic smile at the kettle and called out a small, "Sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to change them. It's all because of this nonsensical picture-book reading that you've been doing. That's why they've fallen so much." The woman looked at her daughter sharply as she returned, teapot and cups arranged on a small tray.
"No, it's just…the material is very difficult-"
"That's nonsense. I'm sure you'd excel if your head wasn't in the clouds," the woman said curtly, pouring herself and Cebrisae a cup of tea.
The overweight young woman merely frowned at her tea. There were times when she was homesick, for her mother and her room and her childhood memories. It was just that when she returned home, she always remembered why she left. The girl slouched a bit.
"What have they been feeding you at that academy? You look even weightier than usual. You really should try to exercise more."
"Yes, mother. I've just been trying to study, is all."
"You'll be held back if you don't keep yourself on the path."
"I know, mother."
The two remained quiet after that as they drank their tea. Cebrisae was thankful for the silence, and her bespectacled gaze remained fixated for the time being on the sunset over the veranda. How foolish she was to break that silence with her own train of thought.
"Mother, I'm planning on going to Dalaran for the rest of the summer intersession."
"No you're not. You're staying right here to work on your studies. Don't you have to have a thesis written by the end of this last year?"
"I have a whole year to do it," Cebrisae muttered, "And besides that, Dalaran would be a satisfactory place to do some studying, would it not?"
Her mother eyed her with that cold, calculating stare of hers. It bothered the young woman every time she received it. It was like a viper staring down a frog.
"I don't like what's becoming of you," she finally said, "All of this nonsensical behavior. A woman your age should be well into her career by this point, and you're lagging behind, reading picture books, sitting idle and doing goodness-knows-what in Dalaran."
Cebrisae set her teacup aside. She wasn't thirsty anymore. "I've been learning a lot from the people I meet there, mother. I would really like to go back…"
"If you did, I would expect you to come back ready to change those grades of yours."
It was hard for the theorist-in-training not to feel like wailing her own mother in the teeth. She'd always been this way, though. So strict and distant, trying to build a daughter that she wanted, instead of being satisfied with the daughter she had. It bothered the girl more than she cared to say. She always just swallowed the bitterness down and obeyed. She felt like enough of a disappointment to herself, it was all she could do to not disappoint anyone else.
"You're a Goldenwaltz, Cebrisae. Do not forget that. We don't pride ourselves on being lazy."
"Yes, mother," the girl muttered. She paused. "I think I'm going to go and turn in early." She wouldn't even wait for her mother's reply before she stood, excusing herself and shuffling back inside. She closed the door to her room behind her, stepping over to the bed, falling face-first into her pillow.
Her eyes stung as she thought about her life, and what direction it was taking. Arcane theorist…she was only doing it because it was the wish of her mother. The thought of sitting at a desk day after day, researching and writing about various magical methods. She was good at it, but that didn't mean that she enjoyed doing it. And doing it for a living, until she was old and gray? It was a thought that frightened her. Dalaran had not been that cruel to her. In that city, there was opportunity and the promise of something much grander. In that city, people seemed happy to see her. She had made friends who, even though they seemed eager to teach her how to 'better herself,' seemed as though they mostly took her for who she was. There was still that lingering feeling of dread, however, that she would forever be someone who stuck out. The things she was good at, she despised. Yet, the things that she liked were the things she had no talent in at all.
Cebrisae pulled an issue of Iceman out from beneath her pillow, rolling onto her side to look at it; the buff Quel'dorei on the front boasted his fur-lined leather costume and a mask over his eyes, sending the chilly burst of an ice spell towards a demonic foe. His silver hair whipped behind him, a confident grin playing on his chiseled jaw.
"I wish I could be as neat as you," she said softly, removing her glasses and setting them on the night stand. She nuzzled her face against the pillowcase to try and swipe a tear away, sniffling.
"...Then maybe I'd finally be good enough for everyone."
Stepping up to one of the buildings in the capitol, she gave the door a lazy knock. It was a cozy-looking establishment, a bit on the small side but well kept and as decorated as the next building in fiery shades and golds. It wasn't long before a woman opened the door, her ornately patterned robe boasting cooler shades of blue and sweeping nearly to the floor. She looked Cebrisae over before giving her a smile, "Back so soon, dear?"
The younger woman nodded, holding her arms out. The woman accepted the offer of a hug, although her return of it wasn't as warm as she would've hoped.
"Almost done with this quarter. I just stopped by the academy on my way over to get my quarterly evaluation," she replied. Her tone, however, was meek.
The woman held her hand out, and Cebby promptly placed a piece of parchment in her palm. With that, the two stepped inside.
"I'll make us some tea if you'd like, mother," the bespectacled elf said.
Her mother nodded, waving a hand, "We'll sit out on the veranda, then." With that, she disappeared out of a pair of glass doors and onto a back porch.
Cebrisae knew it was only a matter of time, before…
"...Your grades slipped at the end of this quarter, Cebrisae."
The girl paused in her tea-making. She smiled a tiny, apologetic smile at the kettle and called out a small, "Sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to change them. It's all because of this nonsensical picture-book reading that you've been doing. That's why they've fallen so much." The woman looked at her daughter sharply as she returned, teapot and cups arranged on a small tray.
"No, it's just…the material is very difficult-"
"That's nonsense. I'm sure you'd excel if your head wasn't in the clouds," the woman said curtly, pouring herself and Cebrisae a cup of tea.
The overweight young woman merely frowned at her tea. There were times when she was homesick, for her mother and her room and her childhood memories. It was just that when she returned home, she always remembered why she left. The girl slouched a bit.
"What have they been feeding you at that academy? You look even weightier than usual. You really should try to exercise more."
"Yes, mother. I've just been trying to study, is all."
"You'll be held back if you don't keep yourself on the path."
"I know, mother."
The two remained quiet after that as they drank their tea. Cebrisae was thankful for the silence, and her bespectacled gaze remained fixated for the time being on the sunset over the veranda. How foolish she was to break that silence with her own train of thought.
"Mother, I'm planning on going to Dalaran for the rest of the summer intersession."
"No you're not. You're staying right here to work on your studies. Don't you have to have a thesis written by the end of this last year?"
"I have a whole year to do it," Cebrisae muttered, "And besides that, Dalaran would be a satisfactory place to do some studying, would it not?"
Her mother eyed her with that cold, calculating stare of hers. It bothered the young woman every time she received it. It was like a viper staring down a frog.
"I don't like what's becoming of you," she finally said, "All of this nonsensical behavior. A woman your age should be well into her career by this point, and you're lagging behind, reading picture books, sitting idle and doing goodness-knows-what in Dalaran."
Cebrisae set her teacup aside. She wasn't thirsty anymore. "I've been learning a lot from the people I meet there, mother. I would really like to go back…"
"If you did, I would expect you to come back ready to change those grades of yours."
It was hard for the theorist-in-training not to feel like wailing her own mother in the teeth. She'd always been this way, though. So strict and distant, trying to build a daughter that she wanted, instead of being satisfied with the daughter she had. It bothered the girl more than she cared to say. She always just swallowed the bitterness down and obeyed. She felt like enough of a disappointment to herself, it was all she could do to not disappoint anyone else.
"You're a Goldenwaltz, Cebrisae. Do not forget that. We don't pride ourselves on being lazy."
"Yes, mother," the girl muttered. She paused. "I think I'm going to go and turn in early." She wouldn't even wait for her mother's reply before she stood, excusing herself and shuffling back inside. She closed the door to her room behind her, stepping over to the bed, falling face-first into her pillow.
Her eyes stung as she thought about her life, and what direction it was taking. Arcane theorist…she was only doing it because it was the wish of her mother. The thought of sitting at a desk day after day, researching and writing about various magical methods. She was good at it, but that didn't mean that she enjoyed doing it. And doing it for a living, until she was old and gray? It was a thought that frightened her. Dalaran had not been that cruel to her. In that city, there was opportunity and the promise of something much grander. In that city, people seemed happy to see her. She had made friends who, even though they seemed eager to teach her how to 'better herself,' seemed as though they mostly took her for who she was. There was still that lingering feeling of dread, however, that she would forever be someone who stuck out. The things she was good at, she despised. Yet, the things that she liked were the things she had no talent in at all.
Cebrisae pulled an issue of Iceman out from beneath her pillow, rolling onto her side to look at it; the buff Quel'dorei on the front boasted his fur-lined leather costume and a mask over his eyes, sending the chilly burst of an ice spell towards a demonic foe. His silver hair whipped behind him, a confident grin playing on his chiseled jaw.
"I wish I could be as neat as you," she said softly, removing her glasses and setting them on the night stand. She nuzzled her face against the pillowcase to try and swipe a tear away, sniffling.
"...Then maybe I'd finally be good enough for everyone."