Runa did not like social gatherings. It put her in enough of a foul mood that she had accidentally hacked the root she had been digging out in two, which absolutely did not help with her grumpiness. She grumbled a few choice swearwords to herself while finishing her task of digging out the rest of her gurdyroots. Apparently it had become fashion among the sixth years, especially those who took advanced potions, to spike each other's drinks with love potion. And as gurdyroots made for a more effective antidote for love potions, the school matron had asked her if she could grow some.
Runa had taken the opportunity to tinker a bit with the plant. She had crossed it with a common red beet. It had taken Runa countless attempts to even have something growing, but now she was finally harvesting actual roots which had taken a faint yellow colour. Next would be to test if she had indeed managed to remove or at least lessen the taste of bogeys the gurdyroot tended to take when brewed into a tea, making any potion rather disgusting.

But there was no time for that now. Thanks to social obligations. She cleaned the earth and dirt off her body with a quick shower of cold water right outside the back door of the hut, then scurried inside, completely starkers, to put on some clean clothes. She donned some dark green robes and pulled them together around her waist with a wide belt, adorned with a beautiful clasp in the form of a wolf's head. She did not take the trouble to put on shoes, however. She rarely ever did. Instead she wound some braided ribbons around her feet and calves up to her knees underneath the robes so it almost looked like she wore sandals. Her damp hair put up in a messy bun she followed Almir up to the castle.

Instinctively she tensed up when her big friend hit her shoulder in amusement. He sometimes tended to misjudge his own strength, but Runa, despite being petite, was used to it and had learned to take the occasional blow rather well without actually hurting. "We'll see," she consented, trying not to dampen her friend's mood.

It was strange to think about how rarely Runa was actually in the castle considering she was a teacher at the school. She joined for lunch or dinner at times, but was rarely ever seen in the hallways. Despite this they found the get together just fine. The small woman hit her friend in the side when he walked against the doorframe. Honestly, he should know better. But then, maybe he was not used to it anymore that doors were not high enough for him when their own front door admitted him just fine. Once he had finally entered successfully and Runa had slipped in after him, she was drawn into a group hug. There was one person whose hugs she tolerated and that was Almir, but when other people were involved, that was a big no no. Quickly she ducked out under the arms of her friend and stood to the side to avoid any further involvement.
Her arms crossed over her chest she stood by, watching her co-workers mingle. She listened when the new joiner spoke about her students in a way that made Runa raise her eyebrows. That was some strong language considering the evening had just begun.
Deciding that she could just as well wait for drinks to start flowing properly and people to forget about her, she sat down on a different table than the loud person, folding her legs in a lotus seat. She might take a beer or two if Almir brought some. Wine was far too fancy for her.


JACK O'CONNOR ,ALMIR VILGOT ASKELAND ,ZOE SAVAGE ,