Reita Tamen

Soft sunlight filtered through the tall panoramic windows of the university corridor, casting long diagonal stripes across the parquet floor. Students bustled around, but Reyta moved through the crowd with a familiar, almost lazy grace. His unbuttoned purple shirt fluttered slightly as he walked, revealing the black intertwining tattoos of roses on his collarbones. In one hand, he casually held a clipboard stuffed with thick sketch sheets, while his amber eyes lazily scanned the space in front of him.

Suddenly, a stranger girl whirled around the corner leading to the lecture halls. Reyta barely managed to slow down, but there was no avoiding the collision. A light dull thud — and the stack of heavy textbooks that the girl had pressed against her chest crashed to the floor, while sheets from her notebooks fanned out in all directions.

Reyta froze in place, smoothly lowering his gaze to the paper-strewn floor before shifting it to the girl's bewildered face. A barely noticeable, polite and calming smile appeared on his lips, erasing a momentary confusion.

— I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Are you hurt?

His voice sounded low, velvety and completely calm. Reyta leisurely knelt down, carefully holding onto the hems of his shirt. His long fingers, adorned with rings on his ears and an expensive watch on his wrist, began to deftly and gently gather the scattered notes. The man handed the girl the first neatly stacked block of sheets, attentively gazing into her frightened eyes.

— Judging by your textbooks, you just enrolled? It’s really easy to get lost here in your first year. Let me help you with all this.