[h1][i][color=7ea7d8]Mason Crawford[/color][/i][/h1][hr]

Before Casper had chance to respond, the voice of an as-of-yet unnoticed man interrupted the conversation. Mason wasn't ordinarily concerned with politeness, and was guilty himself of interrupting or talking over people on occasion, but something about the brazen way in which he butted in before Casper irked him. Nevertheless, Mason thanked him for his observation with a courteous smile.

He merely observed as Kana made conversation with the man, who introduced himself as Mark. Kana introduced him the group, and when Mark addressed Mason he responded with a firm nod. They hadn't got off on the right foot, and he could tell Mark's presence was making Casper feel uncomfortable too, but Mason tried his best to be accommodating. They were all - quite literally - on the same boat, after all.

Despite not being a chain-smoker, he lit up another cigarette primarily to avoid taking part in the conversation. He didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but the group was getting a little large for his liking. He looked over the waves as he absent-mindedly absorbed the conversation; talk of 'new starts' at the academy would sound cliché to Mason if he himself could not relate to it so profusely. In fact, the conversation was making him uncomfortable. It was so saturated with the harsh reality of his situation that he just wanted to escape. The artist in him longed for something more surreal.

"[color=7ea7d8]The ocean is so beautiful,[/color]" he announced suddenly, his instincts causing him to interrupt whatever conversation was taking place. "[color=7ea7d8]I need to get my camera from the hull, before we get too close to the island. It was great to meet you,[/color]" he said, haste in his words. Hopefully they would assume he was just overwhelmed with passion. He began to leave, before he stopped and turned to face the trio again. "[color=7ea7d8]I'm sure we'll see each other around.[/color]" he said, smiling at Casper as he vanished down the stairwell.