"This is Georgo, Grisia." Neo clapped a hand down onto Grisia's shoulder as carefully as though his student was made of glass. (He'd learned his lesson the last time he'd forgotten to adjust his strength, when he'd snapped the poor kid's collarbone and gotten an earful from Chasel.) "He's going to be the Earth Knight someday. Why don't you say hello?"

Grisia peered around Neo's leg to examine his fellow student; Georgo was much taller than he was, but he had soft eyes and a polite smile. Deeming him harmless, Grisia broke into a delighted grin and stepped out to shake hands.

"Good morning, dear brother! The kind God of Light has blessed us today. May the God of Light shine his benevolence down upon you like shimmering starlight, and may every dove of peace you see bring you gifts of heavenly joy. How are- uh, how art thou?"

"I, um." Georgo looked back at his teacher, who shrugged helplessly. "Uh, g-good morning to you, too, Grisia! I-it's a b-beautiful day out, huh?"

Grisia tilted his head, smile faltering slightly. "That's what I said, dear brother."

"N-no, you didn't, Grisia, you said something about b-birds." Georgo was still stuttering properly, but his polite smile was rapidly fading. Honestly! It was annoying enough that his future boss talked like a love letter, did he have to pick fights about it?

"I believe you are mistaken, dear brother. I said- Grisia said that the 'kind God of Light has blessed us today,' because the weather's so marvelously beautiful, and then Grisia asked what fortune the benevolent God of Light has granted you."

"What? N-no, you didn't." Georgo paused for a moment, mouth twisting into a frown as he looked at Grisia. "You're lying."

It was Grisia's turn to frown. "No, I'm not."

"Y-yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!" Grisia stepped closer to Georgo, ignoring how the other boy loomed over him. Georgo's eyes flashed, no longer as soft as they were a moment ago.

"The God of Light doesn't forgive liars."

"The God of Light forgives everyone! That's his whole- that's like his job or something. The Earth Knight's supposed to be honest and friendly, so stop calling me a liar!"

The Earth Knight hissed for Neo to stop his ridiculously aggressive child, only for Neo to scoff.

"They're kids," he whispered over the heads of the bickering boys. "Kids fight!" He did, however, step in when Grisia's robes starting fluttering in a wind that wasn't blowing. Whenever his student lost his temper, he tended to start casting magic accidentally; it generated an unpleasant buzz that made Neo's teeth hurt. "Hold it, short stuff. The Sun Knight doesn't use magic."

"But he called me a liar!" Grisia wasn't mad enough to try and dodge past Neo to get at Georgo, who was making faces from behind his own teacher, but he glared up at the Sun Knight indignantly. Neo sneered back at him, crossing his arms.

"So? The Sun Knight never loses his cool, especially when someone else is mad at him." Neo shook his head disapprovingly. "The only time you're allowed to get emotional is when one of your brothers dies."

Grisia's sudden thoughtful silence, coupled with an intense stare towards Georgo, sent a chill up the Earth Knight's spine.

"U-um, Neo, I think that i-it's, um, about time for you t-two to be on your way, now?" Luckily for the Earth Knight, Neo nodded, shooing Grisia in front of him as the two of them disappeared down the corridor. Georgo turned to look at his teacher, mad that his fight had been interrupted, but before he could say anything his teacher leveled him with a deadly serious look.

"Listen to me, child. There's certain rules you need to follow when speaking with the Sun Knight, just to ensure your own safety."

"My own safety? What-"

"Hush. Remember, child, no matter what the circumstances are, the Sun Knight is always perfect!"

x

Thanks for reading! I'm cross-posting this fic from AO3. Both sites will be updated with new chapters at about the same time. The prompts are from Variation 2 of the 100 Theme Challenge by JennyDigital on DeviantART.