Morning in the Fields

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    There was a sudden jump as Cayde straightened up suddenly. "Language, Nova!" Coming from such a gentle man, the scolding bark was shockingly harsh. With a hefty sigh, the pilot leaned back and rubbed the side of his temple. You can take the cat out of the alley but you can't take the alley out of the cat. The young man straightened back up and cleared his throat. Being seen as an older brother to Nova was sweet. It fit him too, he was already an older brother after all! Cayde's expression shifted a few times, strain on his eyes as the boy thought through what to say. "Callin' someone a... er... prick..." gods that was rough for him to say "...it's not nice. Especially don't say that kinda stuff when you start goin' to class." 

    One surefire way to get Nova cemented as a trouble maker. 

    Turning now to Ava, Cayde thought over how to explain it to the woman. "School is where children go to be taught various things. How the world works, how to behave, in some cases even how to use fancy magic and stuff." Well, that's a good base to start with. But it still felt lacking. "Different skills are taught there. Maths like all the stuff I use to build my flying machines. History and how different things came to be. Sciencey stuff. It helps kids better learn and grow without the stress of trying to teach themselves. Teachers there can help kids when they're struggling, make it easier for them to learn."

    The young man beamed and straightened up further. "School's the reason I'm able to know all the stuff I need to follow my dreams!" And hopefully, Nova will get all that stuff too. Whatever her dreams may be. Or, maybe while she's there, the girl could find a dream to chase. Some new goal or idea of what to do in life. Cayde took a few bites out of his meal, chewing thoughtfully before he continued.

    "Academies are like schools but bigger." He began. "They have a larger variety of classes and courses, so students can pick and choose what they want to learn and hone in on that. It lets them expand their knowledge and skills an' develop ways to utilize 'em better. Places like Vyridel help students hone their skills like a fine knife, so they can become stronger, smarter, and practice magics and stuffs to become powerful mages." with another pause, Cayde scratched the side of his chin. "I guess, the school Nova's gonna be going to helps lay the groundwork. An academy helps take that groundwork and builds somethin' greater upon it. It's like when I'm making a new machine, right? First I lay the frame down, and over time I build it up into somethin' functional!"
    
    There were a lot more specifics to what academies and colleges and all those places did. Allowing professors a place for research of their own. But that was digging really far past the intended explanation. No need to confuse Ava anymore than he probably already did. It was probably a good crash course to start with. Maybe. Then again, the falcon wasn't exaaactly the brightest bulb in the box when it came to human stuff.

    For good reason, of course! But no need to burn the bulb out. 

    "As for uniforms." Cayde's expression tilted upwards again, slightly puzzled himself. "There's a lot that goes into em' dependin' on where you're lookin. But mostly it's to keep things, well, uniform. Orderly. Organized. I'm sure there's some other reasons, like creating unity and discipline. Probably makes dress codes easier to manage or whatever. Personally though, I don't like em' in schools. Stifles creativity and expression and feels super old fashioned." Ands super upper-class. Which, like Nova said, can feel really snobbish. 

[Ari]

Nova

The former street, er cat, pouted at Cayde's yell. Which, to be fair you can't expect her to stop her foul mouth, stifle it maybe but not completely stop it. "S'not even a bad word though! Besides, I can't help it if someone is being that, I might as well call 'em out on it." Unless you want her to lie about it, but even if you went that route, Nova is still gonna call someone a prick if they act prick-ish. Stuffing the rest of her sandwich in her mouth, she listened as Cayde explained the concept of school to Ava. Lucky her, she didn't have to interact with a bunch of stuck-up bastards who thought they were better than others just because of their status. 
However, she stopped her mental tirade against snobby school kids when she heard about the chance to learn magic. "Wait, do you mean that kids at school are only able to learn magic at school? What if you were homeschooled or whatever, seems kinda dumb to stifle magic like that. What are they gonna teach ya anyway?" On the streets it was different, people used magic almost everyday, just to make life better. Case in point, Nova herself always used her shifter form to scam food out of people, or used it to sneak into warm places for the night.

She listened even further, getting more information about what to expect from school just from Cayde's explanation to Ava, but groaned at the thought of uniforms. Now she had a basic understanding of what uniforms were, thought they were to stifling and bland. All for the sake of unity and order. Bah! She already doesn't like being told what to do, but now a bunch of old foddies were gonna police her clothes? How does that make sense?? "That's so lame... Aren't schools supposed to nurture the next generation or some crap? How's it nurturing if I gotta look like everyone else.." She mumbled to herself as she picked up her plate to take it to the sink and let it soak in some hot water. Sure, she could kinda customize it, but still! She's still tryna figure herself out and her own style, but now she's gotta deal with bland, samey uniforms. 
Peering up at Ava, she grumbled, "Lucky that you don't gotta go to school. You wouldn't tolerate a bunch of people tellin' you what to do, how to dress, and how to act."