Dante and Sam continued to speak until the sudden interruption of a mousey looking boy. Dante didn't have anything against the guy, but as he turned towards the kid Dante noticed he looked like he was one of those geeky kids who would get picked on a lot. It slightly annoyed him that he seemed almost scared go speak to them.I'm an asshole sure,not change would know, but damn it my boy you seem like you get scared when you look in mirror. he thought with an amused smirk. "Hey what's good? You asking about the headache over there?" He says gesturing with his thumb in general direction of the others "no idea honestly I wasn't paying attention...Sam you know?" Dante asks looking at his sister.

Sam looked the newcomer up and down. "Hi nice to meet you... New person?" She said with a warm smile "Sorry we haven't been introduced,my name is Samantha Ryan though you can call me Sam Sammy Niki or anything really I guess?" She said as looked towards​ her brother "and this is my brother Dante... He's an acquired taste." She said trying her hardest not to laugh at her brothers scowl. " Oh and as for all the commotion...you know family blood feuds...Yay..." Sam said with mock joy. " Honestly I wanted some food but no... Destroy it all yeah that's fine would have been the first thing I ate today, but whatever" she muttered as Dante chuckled " you should have tried to eat before we left" he said half smiling as his sister pouted " you didn't eat either..." She pointed out " anyways off topic...I'm sorry you haven't introduced your self, how rude of us." Sam said looking back to Toby.
@LorelleQuips

Toby could tell by the look Dante gave him that he had miscalculated. He nevertheless took a seat at a safe distance, since it didn't look like he would be eating today either. "It's nice to meet you both, S..." He paused mid sentence when he heard one Maddie speaking - unlike some others, he did not pause to puzzle, as he had seen this Lovette before - but quietly resumed during the lull.

"Right. Blood feud," said Toby, wincing as he watched the carnage. He managed a wry smile as he looked back at the siblings . "Good to see the new generation of Norrevinter line has maintained its...um, d--diplomatic skills."

Ryan. Ryan. As he listened to their familial banter, he tried to place the name, but couldn't recall. That's what he for for keeping away from magical society for the majority of his teenage years.

Then Sam was prompting for an introduction, and he did his best not to stiffen.

"I'm Toby Schippers," he said, trying to play that casual, which was difficult, since in this crowd, that would be like trying to introduce himself as Toby the Ripper or Toby Bundy or Toby Manson or something and expecting not to get a double take.

Well maybe not quite that bad. But it felt that bad.

"So what classes are you two going to be taking?" he pressed on after the bare minimum of the polite customary pause had passed.

@caliban22

Kora was strong, and benefited from years of combat instruction under her family. What she didn't perhaps gain was the advantage of forward planning, or she might have realised that putting herself off balance in such a way was going to inevitably lead to her opponent taking advantage of it. The trip caught her to lurch sideways, sending some bottles of fruit juice splashing over the carpet, and her grip loosened enough to allow Larke to slip out.

That wasn't something she was over-concerned with, satisfied that she'd asserted dominant status over the lesser bloodline;
that was until the Sterling opened his mouth and she was filled once more with righteous fury.

"Considering that you're a Sterling I'm probably the only person in this room who isn't your cousin by now." she responded , shooting the red-haired young man who laughed the kind of feral glare that suggested he too was moments short of having a sharp and sudden visit from a bowl of apricot yogurt.

As she reached for another bit of breakfast-based weaponry, the air around her hands started warping with heat, the veins beneath her skin starting to emit reddish light through the white skin. Her eyes were set completely on Larke, less he make a move for it.

She must have tangibly felt the nullification field descend, and the light extinguish from her hands, but it didn't prevent the young woman seizing hold of the large piece of watermelon, winding back, and throwing it right towards Sterling's shit-eating smile..right as Professor Montana stepped in between them.

Possibly for the first time ever, Kora Norrevinter's expression portrayed a sudden and surprised understanding that she had made a very severe error of judgement.

----

Helena had been listening to Esperanza discussing blood magic with some interest, she wasn't especially au fait with it so it was good to try and pick it up, when the scream and the crash made the girl flinch in alarm.

Two of the students were fighting against the breakfast table. Did that happen often?

Her new acquaintance didn't seem especially alarmed by that development. If anything the opposite appeared to be true, and she was attempting to get a good look whilst Helena herself shrunk into her seat, wary of other potential flying bowls.

"I kind of..maybe hope there won't be. A fight everyday I mean." she replied.

Her attention was pulled away from the battle unfolding at the food table as Professor Lovette stepped in to begin the induction properly. Helena was already awar,e to some degree who he was. Partly this was down to his rather distinctive dress sense, and partly because of a rumor that he supposedly once vapourized a man during the war. She didn't know how true that was. He didn't look that scary. She could imagine Professor K or Professor Byrne doing that...but they weren't pyromancers so it didn't really work...

Helena was pulled out of her reverie upon realising another had joined her and Esperanza, a young man who had come to a stop between them, and whom had spoken a few moments before but only then had it succeeded in reaching the depth of Helena Kingsley's mind. She hastily smiled, overcompensating jut a little with a burst of overly-fast speech.

"Oh! Yeah. Pretty eventful. I know a lot of bloodlines don't get along but...didn't realise that was going to happen. "

She lowered her voice a bit.
"Also didn't count on some of our teachers being this scary."

She indicated with her eyes the dark shape of Professor Montana stood between the two fighting students. Beyond that Kovalenko and Byrne were stood over by the door regarding most of the students with a kind of pitiless disdain. It was a bit intimidating.

In the corner of the room away from the chaos of all that was going on sat two students in a bright pink bubble. Of the two one was eating a muffin while the other stood straight up watching Kora and Larke with an intense disapproving look.

With a sigh Jason stopped his favorite past time of showing how disappointed he was in his fellow peers and sat back down at the table. "You know, Tessa you could drop this bubble any time now, their is no real threat."

Tessa gave Jason a sheepish look as she swallowed the last bite of her muffin and looked over watching with interest the other students in the room. "I'm sorry but I either get duration or size and I focused on size. I'm kinda at this school for a reason ya know. I mean if I was perfect at defense I would be eating a baguette in Paris right now." She had not meant to snap at the future council member but her lack of control was a sore spot for her.

Jason had the decency to look apologetic before shaking his head. "Next time you make a bubble of protection please leave me out of it then." Once again he stood back up pacing in the bubble as he watched the others in the room.

The young student Aaron's question hadn't got unheard by Montana, his near accusatory tone was noted, but it didn't draw the older man's ire, or give him reason to reprimand the young man for his tone. The professor was less concerned with vocal cadence, and more concerned with the situation in front of him on the table, amidst the wide range of breakfast choices turned makeshift weapons.

Rather than diverge his attention between the two combatants and the third student, he would simply wait until he had dealt with the problem at hand. One half of the problem had decided to compound the existing issue with yet another piece of spoiled fruit. Kora's face, a picture of stunned resignation, was quickly obscured by the watermelon that entered the immediate vicinity of Montana's face. The absurdity of being pelted by a rogue piece of fruit wasn't what sprung into mind, instead, he was reminded of the Norrevinter penchant for friendly fire, and how that seemed to extended to the new generation.

A shield formed, roughly the size of two hands, with it's wedged edge pointing toward the airborne watermelon. One, became two, and the two met a sudden end as two more hand sized shields prevented what was left of the projectile form hitting two members of the student body.

Juice slowly dripped down the semi-transparent shield, revealing Montana's face, and lack of amusement.

Outwardly unamused. Inwardly he was quite tickled by the entire situation.

He spoke to Aaron first, fixing his gaze on the younger male. "You may refer to me as Lecturer, or Professor Montana, whichever you prefer Mr.Heruscir." The correct pronunciation of a person's name was something Montana took extra care in doing, Aaron was no exception.

"As you are all aware," Montana's voice rose a decibel to include the students, and remaining parents in what he was about to say. [color=slategray]"Combat Instruction is a required part of this schools curriculum. Training, and sparring with your fellow students is an immense responsibility. I will not tolerate it being made light of by chance brawling between students for the capricious reasons I've seen today, am I understood?"/color]

His voice lowered. He addressed Kora next.

"Am I understood Ms.Norrevinter

"Mr.Sterling, your choice of words lacks the tact I expect from our students when around faculty and parents. I expect more from you as time goes on."

As he scanned the crowd a final time, a redheaded face caught his eye for brief moment, then a rather loud sweater.

"Thank you for your collective time, parents and students."

The council had not forewarned him of any of this. Could even they in all of their omniscient precedence have predicted that the first day -hell, the first few hours of the first day - would unfold this way?
Between feuding noble houses and bitter war heroes, Ray could scarcely figure out just what the fuck he was doing here. Nothing gave that question more of a weighted exclamation point than Roderic Montana being here.
Ray wanted to look away from him, pretend like he wasn't here, but his gaze was stuck on the enigmatic figure. The pair had met on two different sides of the war. During Ray's inauguration into the Doomsday Cult, and then on the front lines of battle on the side of the Council.
Roderic had witnessed first hand the moment Ray's hands had plunged that dagger into an innocent mans heart. Why he later showed up on the Council's side, Ray didn't know. He didn't care to know. He didn't even care to be here.

His attention was suddenly snapped away as a soft voice cut through the tension, like a doves wings in the wake of a thunderstorm. Once he saw who it was, Ray managed to relax. Madison Lovette was one of the few members of faculty that didn't make him nervous. He recalled their first encounter, and the mild embarrassment that ensued.
"Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you," he had said. She had politely corrected him, without any shred of offense in her voice. Ray had apologized profusely as his cheeks reddened, but the way Madison had laughed the little error off had almost instantly endeared him towards the unusual man.
Ray was glad to have him in the room, directing things to their intended course.
He stood up now, holding his folder of papers behind him as he clasped his hands behind his back. Time to keep it together, it was just school after all, not the damn war.
Despite the number of recurring figures.

Ronnie "Gattlin'" Crier was a shit shot in pool, and had breath that could peel the paint off of a truck, but he was good at one thing.

Having a truck.

Azaziel was a better shot in pool and boasted considerably better breath.

Which meant Ronnie Crier lost himself a bet, and the right to complain about driving some upstart stranger with one too many bags up through some godforsaken woodland following buses and all manner of traffic which were inexplicably all going to the middle of nowhere.

None of which, save the landmarks he made careful note of, mattered to A.J.T.M.V.C, who's full range of initials was emblazoned on each and every piece of luggage he carried.

Some kids were moving rooms. He was moving his entire life. Zaze didn't have anywhere else to go besides the school that awaited him.

"Enough..enough.." He waved Ronnie's spiel about the sinister nature of capes away with his hand. Zaze was far more concerned that the other male's head was out the window of his pickup truck, facing 180 degrees away from the road, bothering him about a discussion he had already given his opinion on.

"I've said, and again, I've said, listen , a robe is benevolent as long as there are clothes beneath it Ronnie, up, no, no no more."

"Hush, shhh, shhh...shh."

Zaze brought his book back up to eye level, and blocked Gattlin's stupidity, and breath from his mind and face respectively for the remainder of the trip.

Time passed, more time passed, and finally the duo parted company with a firm handshake, another firm handshake, and a blot of paper under the tongue each.

"Stay firm brother, keep on with the keeping on."

"Keep on keeping the damned truck still or I'll never get this luggage off." Piece by piece it was lifted, and dragged to the gate, left, and piled, until a veritable mountain sat outside the office.

"I don't think I'll see you again. Goodbye Ron."

Next came?

Sign ins. A form for his familiar, (partial summons excluded he imagined), contraband search, blah blah blah.

"I was informed this was a place of learning, and I assure you each and every one of these," (moldy, waterlogged, questionable, vaguely demonic, and vaguely pornographic pieces of literature) "are an important part of my learning process."

Azaziel gave a small sound of frustration, and began to compulsively tap the counter-top.

"How can I level with you here."

'Leveling' amounted to several of the sketchier looking (and sounding), books being left behind the desk for further review, with a ticket issued for each that he could use to pick them up once 'It is is confirmed that they are up to standard.'

Typical, in his mind. The stout, intimidating woman who checked his bags fit into the 'uninspired' category of living creatures that breathed air on earth. "Understandable for the fainter of disposition Afrit."

Afrit was his familiar, a humanoid being with an unsettling amount of flexibility, void of any features save a large mouth. It had the ability to change the colour and consistency of its skin, much like a chameleon. Currently, it was a midnight black and draped around Azaziel's neck like a loose fitting scarf.

They walked into the cafeteria, initially drawn by the chatter and the smell of food.

The commotion drew his eyes like everyone else, and the conflict between the Norrevinter girl, and the Sterling boy, (info he had gathered from the idle chatter around him) served as a reminder of his broods outcast status among the other Mage families.

Perfect.

Being a pariah should certainly help him navigate through the competitive school environment while building bonds with the more colourful bits and pieces of the student body. The colourful bits were great for getting the bits he needed.

He deftly circled the intrepid madness, moving counterclockwise until he found a table left unblemished by fighting or boorish hands. He picked up a virgin pancake, untouched by the sweetness of syrup, and promptly stuffed it into his pocket, along with an apple, a kiwi, and a banana. For later.

"Maybe not the yogurt in the pocket."

Instead, he crushed it from the bottom and slowly sucked out the contents.

"Mmmmm."

Orientation time.

Something that Britney was looking very forward to, but she was thrown off by the fact she couldn't tell the so called "Professor of Pyromancery and Magical Theory"'s gender. Amazing. Well, the magical community was the real freak of society, so a crossdresser was probably the least weird thing this school had to offer. God, she was annoyed she was so disconnected from the other families she had nary a clue who anyone here was!

But, on the other hand, she (as Britney was going with for now) really didn't tell them anything useful. 'I'm the professor,' was literally the only thing that Britney didn't know! The second the speech was done, Britney merely turned her head, and couldn't care less about Madison. And she definitely was not going to stick around and clean. What was this school so poor that it couldn't afford janitors?

So, she had all the time in the world to focus on her meal... and her little friend across from her. Oooooh, Britney knew Courtney was smart enough to take a hint. That was probably why she relented, and is choosing her words very carefully. Britney smiled. She appreciated someone who knew their place.

She asked about Britney.

That made the pride of the Williams smile. "'Pretty girl?' What, girl? Is this a date?" She chuckled at her own joke, as she thought about what to talk about. Well, she's six feet tall, does ballet, and came from outliers in the magical community. Where to even start?

"But, really, you want to know about me? There's so much to know, where do I even start?" Britney asked, running a hand through her hair. "Well, for starters, I'm here because I want to learn about my magical ability... on behalf of my family." She nodded her head.

"... Aaaaaand I have no idea who half the people here even are," Britney laughed. "Let's just say me and my family didn't mingle that well with the other ones."

"I see, so you must be pretty new to terramancy, or magic in general?" She guessed that was the case. But she couldn't help but feel her heart rise a bit when the Williams girl mentioned that she didn't know most of the people here.

So this girl needed information? Well then, that might just be enough to get this girl on her side. "Your family must be very isolated from the magic community. Well, dear, you're lucky to have me. I can give you some quick info on quite a few people here."

She turned to notice the boy near to them and turned back to Britney. "The guy sitting a little ways from us is a Schipper. My mother defended his brother in court," she whispered so he couldn't hear. Then she pointed across over to Kora and Larke. "The tall girl is a Norrevinter and the guy is a Sterling. Their families don't exactly get along..." She then glanced at the guy that they were with earlier,"I have no idea about the little guy that was with us earlier, he's just a nobody in general I guess...Though it still annoys me." She admitted and then looked around the room and pointed to a girl with a smaller figure and long black hair. "And that's--Oh my goodness that's Dawn Memoli!" She stood up. "Please excuse me sweetheart."

She practically glided toward Dawn and hugged her from behind. "Dawn! Oh my god! It's been so long!"
@mr Allen j @echoicchamber

Initially, when she'd received the letter, she'd made a point of ignoring it. She'd leave being at the beck and call of the council to people who were still interested in that tedious runaround that was mage politics. The envelope remained stuffed into a seldom-used pocket of her backpack for several weeks until the thought of it returned and her mind started to change.

Maybe they were hoping she wouldn't show up.

Maybe if she did turn up it would piss people off.

And it did beat her current plans of couch-hopping after her recent falling-out.

So that was how the rather scruffy-looking young woman, in a denim jacket, shorts, and a faded T-shirt, approached Marchand Academy.

Dinah Jael Fox. Second-born of Matthew and Morgana Fox. She strolled along the side of the driveway, half-watching some of the cars that pulled away. She could see for a moment from her vantage point, a somewhat familiar face. Spire Schippers, driving past without a care in the world, whilst Erik Norrevinter seemed to be doing his best to talk his wife out of making the car's engine burst into flames.

Nope. She wasn't touching any of that.

Dinah picked her pace up and hopped across the road in order to avoid running into that shitstorm, and made her way to the steps with fairly little incident.

She was late. Entrance hall was already clear of new students.
Did she care too much? Not especially.
She even took a degree of amusement watching the expression of the receptionist falter and the smile became more strained as the name went down on the sign in sheet.

F-O-X.

Dinah offered a lopsided smirk in response.
Yeah, you weren't getting away that easily Marchand.

With the paperwork out of the way she set off upstairs. Her shoes, a pair of battered-looking hiking boots, left some grubby scuffs on the floor. This place was pretty fancy. Council was clearly doing pretty alright for herself.

She didn't hurry too much to get up to the common room. By the time she did, the orientation appeared to have already started.
Also it appeared that the resident Norrevinter and Sterling were fighting, but that was pretty much on the level of water being wet and the pope being catholic.

Pretty much everyone looked about five social classes better off than her, but again, not really a surprise.

She could see Toby Schippers, the cousin, not too far away, but neglected to approach as he seemed to be occupied. Plenty of the usual suspects, usual faces, usual bullshit.

On the bright side, free food and somewhere to sleep that wasn't someone's couch, so she was pretty sure who was winning. With a general disregard for the mess, DInah decided the creepy dude with the ponytail had the right idea and hopped on over to the wreckage of the food table, where she started stuffing several handfuls of dry cereal into her mouth like some kind of socially irresponsible hamster.

Esperanza paused, smile faltering for a moment as she tilted her head. “Why is that? High school is supposed to have many fights, yes?” In nearly every movie regarding the subject, fights were as common as fires among dry brush. Just as climatic, too, whether they were simplistic fist-fights like this one, or the more subtle play of words to bring rivals to the very bottom of the social ladder. And nearly every time that either happened, there would usually be a gang of other students huddled around, calling for action. It was unfathomable that the real thing would be any different.

She frowned for a moment, shook her head, then picked up the same bright smile as before as she sat down. “I hope you do not mind if I sit with you. I do not know if I can sit anywhere else now, and you are very nice.” From where she sat, Esperanza could see another professor bound in, all bright lights and cheer and smiles. She leaned forward in her seat upon seeing him draw some sort of fire hound from thin air- if that was the Professor for Familiars, then he would be one of the many Esperanza would be working under. And with the addition of the Theory woman...immediately, Esp attempted to make herself look like the ideal student, hands folded properly on the table before her, back straight as a ruler, eyes wide and attentive.

The effect was quickly ruined as she noticed that another student had joined them at the table. Surprised, Esperanza turned towards the voice, then beamed at its owner and gave a vigorous nodding. “It is all very exciting,” she said. “It is like the movies, except with less singing and more of the shouting. And the students do not look like the thirty year old men.” Her accent thickened as she spoke, giving them a sharp, rolling edge. “Also, my name is Esperanza Ciervo. It is nice to meet you. I like your jacket.”

@LokiLeo789@VitoftheVoid

---

Dawn’s attention had been largely preoccupied by Professor Lovette’s brief speech and introduction- then, after, the sight of Norrevinter flinging a melon in the face of another instructor- that she didn’t notice Erica’s approach until her fellow Trickster had wrapped her arms snugly around her. Dawn started a bit, head swivelling to the side, but soon relaxed upon seeing who it was.

“Erica? Is that you?”

Within moments, she twisted around to return the embrace (albeit somewhat awkwardly, seeing as the other had grabbed her from behind, making reciprocating difficult), smiling all the while. “Um, hey there! It’s, um, it’s been a while, yeah. Long while, actually. How have you been?” It had been at least five years since Dawn had last seen the Luxlane in person. Six, maybe. Despite that, it was easy enough to recognize her, although both she and Dawn had grown quite a bit since then.

Mostly Erica, admittedly. As unfortunate as it was, Dawn hadn’t been blessed when it came to height.

@Dodi do 900

---

---

@VitoftheVoid@EchoicChamber

A single eyebrow of humored countenance rose to attest to Marcus' reaction to the red-headed girl's late yet speedy response. Although he noticed the girl's small blunder, he refused to acknowledge it any further than he already had. Yet his physiognomy acquiesced to her comment referring to the professor.

Instead, he smiled. It was a toothy grin that flashed a pristine set of pearly whites.

Indeed the professors were quite intimidating. For good reason, he presumed. The fight that had just broken attested to this. In a school where hundreds of bloodlines came to intermingle, history was bound to spark the fires of conflict. Professors, the men and women sworn to protect them from the entity ravenously hunting down the magically gifted, had too be strong. And their strength had to be displayed at all times.

They don't have to stand around like Secret Servicemen, though.

Marcus humored the girl. "Bloodline feuds and hormones make for a bad combination don't you think?" he jibbed in reference to the girl's earlier statement. He refrained from commenting on the professors just yet, although he made sure to acknowledge her later words with a heavy nod in agreement.

The rapid movement of the dark-haired girl's head caught Marcus' attention and he found himself staring her rather intoxicating smile. And although he couldn't place it's origin, he found her accent alluring.

Focus! Don't go drooling over girls you just met. he mentally chastised himself.

Dressing the moment with another smile and ignoring her latter statement about 30-year old students, Marcus introduced himself. "It's one of my favorites I'm glad you liked it, I wore it for you." Marcus paused to chuckle at the joke before moving on. "It's a pleasure to meet you Esperanza. My name is Marcus Leon, but my friends call me Mark, but go ahead and call me Mark is you see fit." Marcus turned to red-head. "And your name would be?"

The feeling of being marooned in a lonely seat by rowdy teenagers was not as bad as Noah thought it to be. Who'd of guess waking up to a family that sounds like a rave is happening every second would come in handy at a time like this. Noah peacefully​ enjoyed his vegetarian themed meal and continued to scope out the beings that paraded around the Commons. As he finished his salad he began to slowly reach for a carrot to eat next. He successfully​ apprehended the carrot but as he did so a boy sat himself across from Noah. Before Noah could even examine this boy, he had already started a conversation between them. He asked a question relating to other students which Noah somewhat ignored and responded with by starring​ blankly at the boy. Noah sat silently​ and continued to stare at Percival as he wondered why did he choose to approach him of all people.

Before Noah decided to respond and kill the awkwardness that he was probably causing a woman took the stand and spoke to the students. Noah waited for this woman to finish her speech and as he did so he thought about his situation with Percival. If he interacted with him more he can gain an ally, but for every ally there's an enemy. He ignored this and decided to befriend Percival once the speech was over.

Once Ms. Lovette finished speaking Noah turned towards Percival and bowed to him. "Sorry for the disrespectful starring. My name is Noah, Noah Zima." Noah smiled for once and continued to interact with Percival. "I am also sorry that I do not have any information on why certain students were fighting. Although it could be family history. It's not hard to notice the large amount of royal blood present in this room." Noah didn't wanna mention anything but he believe he read of Percival's family before. It wouldn't be a surprise since Noah was raised to be a servant to more powerful royal families and any prior knowledge of them had to be learned.

@EchoicChamber

Allen's eye brows were slightly raised. The commons room was more lively than it prabably should have been. What with fights suddenly breaking out, some insults from various sources being thrown out and one instructor showing off his familiar. And now another instructor, after addressing the room, wa wheeling out a projector for the continuation of speech. Reaching out to the left, he poked his sister's arm and pointed silently to the woman who'd named herself as Madison.

An annoyed look was tourned on Allen. Kaitlyn raised had raised her head to look at her brother and followed Allen's pointed finger with her eyes to the woman speaking. Her book thumped soft as she closed it so as to listen to what was happening. It was only then she realized that some in the room were either aruguing or fighting and caused a worried look to enter her mismatched eyes. "We won't get into a fight, right?"

"Of course not, we're from a family of nobodies compared to some of the others here." Allen answered with a self-mocking tone.

"..." A sudden wave a anger ratiated from Kaitlyn as she glared daggers at her brother. "Don't say that. Our family aren't nobodies."

"We are when compared to those from noble families." Allen's glaring eyes sharpened, daring his sister to say otherwise.

"No we aren't." Kaitlyn half growled and began giving Allen the silent treatment.

Canvas leaned back in his chair, tipping it back on two legs until he was perched at a dangerously precarious angle, sipping orange juice and people-watching, still recovering from the fit of silent laughter he'd endured when Larke got into it with the Norrevinter girl.

He observed the girl sitting near him, a girl of Asian descent whom he had admittedly mistaken for a boy for a split second.
He now saw his mistake.
Kept seeing for a few seconds without too much thought of how his quizzical look might be interpreted.
Determined that his mistake was actually pretty hard to miss once he noticed them.

Sufficiently bored as he waited for Madison to que up the orientation, Canvas let his chair fall with a clang and slid over to Yoko, all smiles.

"I really hope she's not right, you know," he said to the Japanese girl. He had a light whimsy in his voice, and he spoke quickly yet lazily, like he didn't need to breathe much. "Viking ginger, I mean, about everyone in the room being Larke Sterling's cousin. See, because I'm Larke Sterling's cousin--Canvas Ahktar-Sterling, pleasure-- and if you're also his cousin, well...I like to avoid dating any closer than my third cousins, you know?" He gave a coy little overdramatized wink and took a deliberate sip of his juice.

Because that was just how Canvas introduced himself to women.

"So. Please make my day and tell me we aren't related." A pause. He made a show of studying her, biting his lip like he was worried he might see family resemblance. "Mind you, if you are a Sterling, don't worry, third cousin's just a general rule. I might make an exception and go for seconds."

@Mr Allen J

Dante looked at Toby with a half smile. " Toby huh...Nice to meet you man, call me Alex, everyone but my sister does." He said as he began to leaf through the papers he received from the reception woman.
"It's nice to meet you Toby,I hope we can get along well at this school." Sam said with a smile. " I was considering familiar summoning and healing. Familiar summoning could be useful who knows really, honestly the only class I am really interested in is healing." She said as she looked toward her brother.
"Dante said he wanted to check out...Um... Dante what was it?" Looking up from one of the papers Dante responded "tracking and or shadow step depending on how that goes." Looking back at Toby he continued " No real reason for picking them like Sam did, just sounded interesting." He mumbled as he went back to reading.
With a sigh Sam rolled here eyes "Sorry about Dante." Sam said putting more emphasis on the name "he's not really good with people...Though he means well...Sometimes?" She said confused. "Oh before I forget​ your last name... I feel like I had heard that before..."@LorelleQuips

While some of the students had settled down into quiet, many had just had quickly returned to their conversations, laughing and chattering and tossing the occasional snide remark here and there. Madison couldn’t blame them. After all, at that age, he doubted that he would be able to stay quiet for long, either. Smiling fondly at the crowd for a moment, he shook his head, then backed up to the far wall.

A flick of a switch plunged the room in darkness, and another flick lit it back up again- albeit with a much more weak, timid light offered via projector and screen. Nodding to himself, Madison stepped close to the glow, casting odd shadows across his face.

“Now, then. If everyone is ready, then allow me to get started. As you all already know, you will be attending Marchand for the next semester, during which it will be our job to educate and provide for you. Regardless of who you are, what social standing you come from, or even your family line, you all will be treated as equals here. You will face no bias from your professors- but as a result, you must follow the exact same list of rules.” Madison paused, clicking a button on the side of the projector and causing the screen to light up with text.

“While you should have received the list when you arrived, I will go over it now, so there are no misunderstandings in the future.

With the exception of any prescribed medications, no drugs are allowed on school grounds.

Boys and girls are prohibited from entering the other's’ dorms.

On a related note, sexual activity of any sort is prohibited.” Madison paused, suddenly, eyeing his audience. “While I understand that many of you will form relationships while here, understand that we will be performing random dorm checks often, and it would make things much less unpleasant for everyone if you all kept from being a bit...too intimate.

“Arrive to class on time.

Do not break school curfew.

You are forbidden to leave campus, with the exception of school mandated events.

If you happen to have any personal firearms or weapons, please check them in with Professor Avalon or Professor Byrne to be approved.

No summons are allowed within class, with the exception of Familiar Conjuration. If you are unable to unsummon your familiars before class, you are welcome to keep them in your dorm until it is time to retrieve them. In addition, if you are required to have a familiar kept in this world for whatever reason, you should have been provided a form to complete so we can properly accommodate its presence.

No reckless use of magic of any kind.

Fights are also prohibited, save for any instructed by Professor Byrne.

Lastly, please show respect to your peers, as well as your professors- no matter background, ethnicity, sexuality, and so on.”

All of this was spoken with a clean-cut formality, hinting that the little speech had been rehearsed several times before its official delivery. This was reinforced by the decisiveness which Professor Lovette stepped from the glow, switched off the projector, and returned the light to the common room. “That should be all,” he said, all formality dropped in favor of the cheerful air he donned earlier. Swiping a remote from his pocket, Madison clicked on a nearby television, sending it alight with student names and numbers. “You’ll find your names on this screen here, along with the number of the dorm you’ll be staying in. Your keys are on the table beneath it.

“With all that out of the way, consider yourselves dismissed- with the exception of those told to stay behind, of course. You’re free to go to your dorms or explore the campus as you please, so long as you don’t try to leave, and show up in time for dinner. Feel free to ask any one of us if you have any questions!"

Beaming once more at the audience, Madison unplugged the projector and wheeled it back into its little cubbyhole.

Hopefully he had held the air of professionalism long enough to leave an impression on the students.

Toby's expression lit up. "I'm taking Familiar Summoning and Healing too," he said eagerly, his tongue forgetting its usual practice of sticking to the roof of his mouth as his unease diminished. "I've done some of my own research on summoning - I bet you'll like it."

Despite the fact that she looked a fair amount younger than he, she seemed so friendly and personable that he felt they might get along fine.

Dante, on the other hand appeared to be studiously remaining aloof. He tried to engage the boy in the conversation by fishing for the first thing he could think of, "That's c--cool. My brother's a tracker. It's really practical..."

He paused, clearing his throat as he considered the easiest way to answer Sam's question, rather glad that she evidently had a low enough regard for family names to forget his already (especially since he didn't even know what their family was known for), but simultaneously apprehensive that she recognized it. He walked a delicate tightrope between not wanting to dodge the subject or act ashamed or evasive...while being totally ashamed and evasive.

"And it's Schippers. We're runecasters - mostly, nothing special, honestly, and ah..." Better to just own it, he decided. "...maybe you know--" (Or know of, he thought) "--my older brother, the one I just mentioned? Spire, he...he ran with the Alpha-Omega unit in the war, if you've heard of them, and--"

"Now, then. If everyone is ready..."

Saved by the proverbial bell before he got to the gritty part. With a half-apologetic smile, and a 'hold on a sec' gesture of his index finger, Toby turned his attention back to Madison, keeping his eyes on the presentation - more or less expected information, except when Madison changed the screen. He sat up extra straight at the room assignments, combing his memory for family names and who he might do best to avoid.

Percival Pelacour would be his roommate. That, at least, was a name Toby recognized...a fairly benign name, for his circumstance. He glanced around at the other students, wondering if he would be able to recognize the Pelacour if he spotted him, or if they would have to get acquainted later.

As they were dismissed, Toby turned his head back to smile at Sam and Dante. "So it looks like a nice c--c----campus," he remarked, hoping that (despite the fact that he struggled so hard with the C his shoulder rose up to his ear in the strain) he had offered a neutral enough statement to leave it in their hands whether to respond with either a polite goodbye or an offer to go check out the grounds together...
And off-topic enough to keep his family name from coming up again.

@caliban22

"Well, magic in general..." Britney reluctantly answered Erika, before she smiled. She was probably the least qualified person to be attending this academy, but she was going to make the best of it. Before she cheerfully added, "That's why I'm here, sweetheart!"

Fortunately, Erika was willing to give Britney everything she wanted! Information on the other families. Since there has to be some familiarity between them! Starting with the Schipper family (whom apparently were up to something shady, if they had to go to court), Norrevinters (who were probably all tall and imposing), Sterlings (the only thing that stood out to Britney is that the Norrevinters hate them), and she had no idea who that boy Britney met was. Oh well. That makes two of them.

But, Erika quickly recognized an old friend of hers. She said she was Dawn Memoli? Funny name. She seemed to be in a rush for a reunion, and left Britney in the dust. Which left a slight sour taste in her mouth.

Oh, what about our "date" then, love? Britney jokingly thought to herself.

Well, that left Britney plenty of time to finish her morning meal. She wasn't going to follow Ericka around like some parasite, not when she had an empty stomach to attend to!

Then the lights went out.

Perfect.

They came back on a second later, and dimmed upon the weird ladyman teacher. She was annoyed because she couldn't see what she was doing. What the hell? Why couldn't Britney have a good day for once...

Well, Madison went over the rules. Basic shit; no alcohol, don't be stupid with your magic, no weapons, stay in school, eat your vegetables, stay off drugs. Basic etiquette... What caught Britney's attention was the "no sex" rule. Not that she was particularly bothered by the rule... she was more worried about getting a little caught in the moment. She briefly glanced at Erica, and bit her lip. She was only human after all.

But, she was not going to tolerate these "random checks." Which sounded more like a reason for pervy teachers to come spy on the students. Especially while changing. First pervert charges into her room, and they're going to get a facefull of rock.

Bah!

Britney just went back to eating. More annoyed than anything.



Ugh! That was one long trip!

Yoko's legs were getting tired. The short, but incredibly well-built, girl stepped off the bus, with her luggage. She had cramps out the ass. Mostly because she was not used to sitting on her ass for so long. From one long ass plane ride, to several long ass bus rides. She put her luggage down, and got in the grass. She spread her legs further than shoulder width, and leaned to one side. Then to the other. A simple exercise to warm up her muscles. She got dirty looks, but Yoko couldn't stand her ass being so sore!

By the time she was finished, the bus was gone, and everyone had went inside. Weird, huh?

Probably should pay more attention. Yoko thought to herself, as she grabbed her luggage. She looked up at the school, and thought it looked a little cool. Best of all, she had the scent of food! Like a hound, she quickly traced the smell of the food back to the source! The big sign that said "Welcome students," pretty much signalled that she made it here on time. She arrived on the tail's end of orientation, and didn't even realize what she missed. Nor did she really pay attention to the other kids.

The only thing on her mind was the food! Yoko quickly filled like two plates full of food. She was used to eating a lot. Someone like her needed lots of food. Caloric intake, and all. She found a table just for herself. One plate was nothing but eggs, and sausage, while the other had pancakes, french toast, bacon... and more eggs and sausage.

She didn't waste any time digging in!

The only thing that interrupted her was some boy sliding his chair over. The sounds of that chair scraping on the ground made Yoko cringe, but she stopped for a moment to rear her head over to him. He was some white boy with this boring looking haircut. Didn't really tickle Yoko's fancy for a moment. He was just a boring white guy!

Then he started rambling.

The kind of rambling that annoyed Yoko to no end. About random shit. She tried to ignore him, but that failed. So, Yoko did what she did best. She put down her forks, and sighed.

"... The fuck are you on about?" Was the first thing that Yoko said. "Can you go ramble about fuckin' your cousin, or whatever stupid jokes you have, to somebody else? You're getting on my nerves."

Yoko's explosive retort only made Canvas' smile quirk to one side. One doesn't go poking a bear if one doesn't secretly want the bear to react.

"Ah," he said without missing a beat. He began collecting his bag as he spoke, glad Madison had dismissed them. "I can see I've touched a nerve. Sorry if I've offended you. Maybe your family is into the whole incest thing? I'm sure I can come up with stupid jokes on a topic that's more your speed if you introduce yourself and tell me your story."