The Temple part 2

We encountered our first monk lesson ten minutes later.
“This is…”
I hardly heard the young monk as I was once again taken by how ふるい everything seemed. The stillness returned with the flavor of rustling autumn leaves.
“So how do we sit?” someone asked a little too earnestly for my taste. The young monk took in a breath, as if he had expected this.
“Well…” and so I had my second encounter with the half lotus style of sitting. I had fuzzy memories of sensei demonstrating half lotus in the middle of class, a memory that always brought a smile to my lips. What he had done was nigh on impossible, a perfect half lotus with minimal struggle, in formal trousers without any kind of warm up. I had dismissed it as his being Kobo Daishi in disguise. This young monk was no Kobo Daishi, but he sat easily enough. I watched him with little interest, I was flexible so it wouldn’t be a problem right…?
The boys somehow ended up in our room afterwards. I suppose they were excited and wanted to share.
“Did you see Naveed after we practiced the half lotus?” I raised an eyebrow at the direction our conversation had suddenly taken.
“Yes?” I chanced prodding the topic further.
“I swear! This guy is actually like a monk.”
I snorted at the prospect, despite having thought so myself; it was then that Naveed chose to enter.
“Hey Naveed, I’ve sort of been rolling around a theory that I wanna run by you: are you a monk?” I blurted out with some semblance of finesse. He blinked and looked up to where I sat atop the bunk-bed opposite him. His eyes lit with amusement and something else I could not discern. Something quiet. I looked uneasily to my hands.
“Um…no?—
“Ohh, then you must be a Jedi master.” I interrupted, perhaps trying to rationalize the stillness I knew at this point he had allowed to take him.
“More like a Sith Lord—
“Knew it!” went the entire room. I smiled sheepishly and I sat back allowing the peals of laughter to keep the impending inner silence at bay. Naveed tilted his head at me in question, but I said nothing, not wanting to encounter that quiet presence, his nature again.