"Antitribu? Yeah, that was-"
"APPRENTICE?" Algernon scoffed, cutting Michella off before she could finish her sentence. The sound of a heavy lock clicking echoed through the hall, and a moment later the door cracked open just enough for Algernon to peek out. He was a very disheveled man, with wrinkled clothes and dark hair that was too short to be as messy as it looked. It looked like he much be of average height, but he was slouching to much to tell. "I don't know what Vargo told you, but it doesn't matter how little credit he gives me. I'm still a magister, thank you very much!"
"Algernon! Don't be rude!" Michella snapped her head to the opening in the door and glared at the man.
"Will you stop nagging?" Algernon drawled. "Algernon, don't be rude. Algernon, clean the lab, Algernon-"
It was Michella's turn to interrupt. She shoved her hips hard into the door, slamming it into Algernon's side and making him stumble backwards. It sounded like he might have actually fallen down. At the very least, he was mumbling a string of barely audible curse words.
"Sorry about that, Regent. He's probably in a bad mood because he hasn't fed yet. He gets like that sometimes." Michella gave Lyle a sweet, apologetic smile. "But yeah, I'm the one the antitribu talked to. The name's Michella Copeland, and the magister in the lab is my sire, Algernon. You wanna come inside? I don't want to make you stand out here in the hall all night. But then it's probably a mess in there, so if you want to talk somewhere else that's fine too."
Michella took a quick glance inside the lab and cringed. Oh yeah, it was embarrassing. There were piles of crumpled up notes on the floor, overflowing from the trash. One table was covered in random bits of old electronics and computers, strewn about without any semblance of organization or order. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered moving out of the chantry. This would never happen under her watch.