Disapproval

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory thought she had been settling into her new role quite nicely. She got letters from her cousins once a week, she was on top of all her grading, and she was having very few issues among her students. Nothing she couldn't handle. There was a boy in the second year that reminded her greatly of Dimitri, and it made her miss her elder brother horribly. She wondered where he was and if he was alright. She shook her head. She had spent a lot of time thinking of Dimitri, and she knew she probably always would, but she had grown more accustomed to working around it.

She had finished her grading, and now that she was caught up, she had begun to go through and answer her personal mail. Kira and Arcturus were back from their trip and were both settling into their new routines, he at his university and she at hers. Tyra was doing very well, the Inn was as busy as ever. She found herself wondering how Atkin was, but felt too shy to write to him, worried it would be intrusive of her. She had replied to both cousins and set the letters aside so she could send them all together when she noticed an odd-looking letter on her desk.

Without thinking, she opened it. Immediately the booming voice of her father echoed in her office, startling Mallory and sending her reeling back against the wall as the letter screamed at her in Russian, her father's dominating voice taking over her office. His words pierced her heart as he ranted on. She was a failure, a disgrace, an embarrassment to the Korrinov name. She would be homeless, helpless, left to wander the cold, harsh world as her brother had, and she was to return home immediately. She would marry the son of one of her fathers' associates, merging their companies to build a stronger, more powerful empire and assure a strong lineage and legacy to carry on the Korrinov line.

By the time her father had screamed himself hoarse, Mallory felt as if her soul had been shredded. She slid down the wall, a hand covering her mouth, shaking badly and very upset. Her father had always had an iron will and a strong presence, and it was a lot harder to escape than she had expected. She didn't notice the howler shred itself. She stayed where she was, shaking, tears slipping soundlessly down her face, curling in on herself as she fought to escape the darkness that had filled her office.

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha enjoyed the calm of between lessons, when he could go over the essays written by his students and in the peace mark them. It meant he usually got through them a little fast because he was focusing better. The peace was broken as he heard shouting from the new professor’s office. He frowned, it didn’t sound like a student and even Styx wouldn’t shout at someone new..He got up and began making his way over, his wand held tightly in his hand just in case he needed it. He didn’t know what was going on. It stopped as abruptly as it had begun and Misha without seeing anything was sure he was beginning to figure out what was going on. Misha pushed open the door of Mallory’s office, ”hey,” he said softly and he entered the room, noting the torn up shreds of a howler and the woman he’d been working with in silent tears. He hadn’t heard most of what the letter had said but, the tone alone had not been good. ”You okay?” he approached her slowly not wanting to startle her or intrude, he flicked his wand and utensils began moving to make a cup of tea. He moved towards her but didn’t want to be too forward, he didn’t know her that well, and he couldn’t know if she’d want a reassuring hand or not in this situation. ​

 

[Professor Mallory Grayveson]

Mallory was surprised to hear a gentle voice, and for a split second, she thought it was her brother. "Tri?" She breathed, looking up with wide eyes, feeling only the briefest flash of disappointment to see it was Misha. Mallory sniffled, wiping at her cheeks and sitting up, trying to straighten out her robes. "Misha, I, ah," Mallory brushed a hand over her hair, trying to look more presentable. "I am terribly sorry if I disturbed you," she spoke softly, pushing up to her feet and walking over to her desk, not looking to Misha and trying to stem the tears as she cleaned the remnants of the howler from her desk.