(Untitled)

[lyra_silver]

A first-year student at St Sophia's College, Oxford (studying Rhetoric, with a special in Alethiometry), can get away from the dons and the Scholars and the other undergraduates whenever she wants, especially if she knows every corner and alley in Oxford. If she also knows of the existence of a certain door suspended on the fence of the Botanical

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[subtle_will]

Sometimes, Lyra likes to try and sneak up behind Will, watching for signs that he or Kirjava has seen or heard her coming. Occasionally, Will takes a turn and sidles up so slowly and casually that anyone else would never even notice him.

Tonight, he's later than Lyra (and they hadn't known, not really, that Lyra and Pan would be here, but they hoped. They always do) and he walks first to the end of the bar closest to the door, orders a cup of tea in a normal tone of voice. At his feet, a shadow detatches and slinks towards Lyra's feet, Will taking his time but unable to keep his eyes from lingering on Lyra's face, the turn of her wrist when she rests her cheek on her hand.

He can't quite help his smile, either. Clearly this isn't going to be a good night for sneaking, though he does his best, still trying even when he's close enough almost to touch her hair, with Kirjava lurking beneath the table.

[lyra_silver]

Lyra turns another page. Without looking up or smiling openly, she says, "We saw you when you came in."

Pantalaimon's already jumped to the floor to lay his muzzle on Kirjava's neck.

[subtle_will]

"We can't fool you, I guess," says Will, who's smiling back as he leans forward to rest his chin on Lyra's shoulder before turning his head to kiss her neck hello. At their feet, Kirjava and Pan rub cheeks, a contented sound almost but not quite like a purr rising and falling from Kirjava's chest.

"Are we interrupting your studying?"

[lyra_silver]

"Yes, and thank you," Lyra smiles, ruffling Will's hair. "If I read another word of Cicero, I think I might forget to speak English!"

[sime_channel]

Pan zlins...weird. So. Suzi, head tilted slightly, is watching him. She's not staring, exactly. She's zlinning for all she's worth, laterals extended slightly to make that easier.

[lyra_silver]

Pan raises his muzzle, peering at the woman with tentacles, and trots towards her. Lyra stands, walking a little behind her daemon. "Hello," she smiles at the other woman. "My name is Lyra, and this is Pantalaimon. Pan."

Lyra's learned to shake hands, so she offers her hand to Suzi. She won't be surprised, if it turns out that people with tentacles don't shake hands the same way people in Will's world do.

[sime_channel]

"A, um. A pleasure?" She shakes Lyra's hand a little differently, indeed. Her hand goes in Lyra's perfectly normally...and then her tentacles wrap loosely around the other woman's wrist, "I'm, um. Suzi Darley?" Her other hand is offered to Pan in a gesture which could be smell me or shake hands with me.

[lyra_silver]

"I like your way of shaking hands," Lyra says. "Do I call you Suzi?" Pantalaimon lifts his nose and sniffs Suzi's hand, but doesn't quite touch it.

[called_lioness]

Different blonde, different book, also reading nearby.

From the perspective of teacher with a lesson plan instead of student, this time.

[lyra_silver]

Lyra, disgusted with a particularly knotty Latin sentence, closes the book and looks around her for distractions.

Noticing the woman (about Lyra's own age, perhaps, or a little older), Lyra waves and smiles.

[called_lioness]

It's just a moment before she notices and smiles back.

"Hullo."

[lyra_silver]

With that encouragement, Lyra scoops Pantalaimon in her arms and walks over to the other woman. "Hello, I'm Lyra, and this is Pan. Pantalaimon."

[firewitandhate]

A falcon drops down from the rafters, and perches on the opposite edge of the table from them. It looks at the both of them, curiously.

[lyra_silver]

Falcons are predators.

Pantalaimon scampers towards Lyra. Lyra takes him in her arms and frowns at the falcon. "You needn't frighten him," she says.

[firewitandhate]

"Sorry," the Falcon says. "I was curious."

[lyra_silver]

"That's all right," Lyra says, still cradling Pan. "I'm Lyra, and this is Pantalaimon."