Dead silence.

Perhaps others might have become unnerved by the quiet, unbroken stare that came from the boy seated at the table. Percival was not. He rapped his fingers on the table for a moment, popped his tongue in his mouth, and gave his new companion another once-over. “Not much of a talker, aren’t ‘cha?” He opened his mouth to say more, apparently taking this as a sign that he could keep talking uninterrupted, when one of the professors took center stage and took the liberty to introduce herself.

Professor Madison Lovette. Magical Theory. That was one face to a name, at least. Rolling his shoulders, Percival kicked his feet up and turned his attention back to his companion as soon as the announcement was over. Before he could try to speak again, the guy had started bowing and bobbing and such, introducing himself as Noah Zima and apologizing. Percival waved him off.

“It’s no problem. I mean, with a face like this,” he paused, struck a pose that was decidedly ridiculous, then went on, “I don’t think I’d be able to keep from staring, either.” He grinned broadly, running a hand through his hair and mussing it further.

“It’s a Sterling-Norrevinter thing. It’s a tradition for them to try to smash each other’s heads in as soon as they spot each other. Council kids, eh? Buncha pricks, if you ask me.” His grin widened further, and he let out a peal of almost hyena-like laughter.

“You know when they started? Wanna see how long the ol’ staff let them go at it before they got pulled off each other.” Important information. Could be the difference between an underground gambling ring and being put on dorm arrest for breathing. Not really, of course, but it was still knowledge Percival wanted his hands on.

Soon enough, the lights had been snapped off, Lovette once again taking a stand to go over the rules and dorm assignments and whatnot. Apparently his roommate would be a Mr. Toby Schippers. Schippers, like the one and only Spire Schippers. Percy’s eyes sparked with interest, and, as soon as they had been dismissed, he darted away to grab his keys before rushing back.

You could say many things about Marchand, but “dull” hadn’t even scratched the list yet.

@Slendy

It seemed as if this upstart thought it'd be real funny to prod her.

Yeah, what a fuckin' comedian.

Yoko curled her lip as she looked at the boy, and tried to avoid punching him in the face. She almost spit out the food that was in her mouth when he suggested that she was into that shit. That was one thing that Yoko really didn't like. He can say that about anyone else, but Yoko would never do such a thing with her family.

"God, you're weird," Yoko snarled at him when he was finished talking. "Maybe your parents may have been brother and sister, but like I said, go project that shit on somebody else."

That was the first of Yoko's barrage, she pushed herself out of her chair, and stared up at the boy. "And second, I don't have to tell you shit," Yoko started off, balling her fists quite tightly, "Matter fact, if you don't fuck off, I'm going to show you the only thing you need to know about my family."

"Helena..Kingsley. Pleased to meet you." she replied, extending out a bandaged hand.
"Not that the family thing is super important...I'm not like an heir or anything ..but the Professors tend to call people by their first names so it'd kinda get confusing if I didn't say it...and kinda weird if I didn't mention the first one..so.."
She was pretty sure she was rambling, but it wasn't that often Helena had extended conversations with anyone her age and the fear of an awkward silence was instead leading to her attempting to take up any gap in the exchange with her halting non-sequitur. Mercifully, it was interrupted by Professor Lovette's orientation talk, and Helena was able to remain silent whilst it continued.

As it drew to a close, she neglected to go and look to see who she had been matched with, and instead contented herself with fishing about in her bag for something as so as to let other people go see for themselves.@EchoicChamber @LokiLeo789

----
Dinah had leant on the wall, eating her way through a box of cereal that rested in one hand, whilst the talk had gone on. All pretty standard stuff. most of it she was going to take as suggestion rather than hard and fast rules. Wasn't as if she was super scared of being thrown out when she'd already been ambivalent about attending...but it was good to know what you didn't want people seeing you do.

She could still make out Toby, though he'd not approached. She wasn't sure if he'd not noticed the presence of his cousin, or was avoiding acknowledging her arrival. If it was the latter she wasn't going to blow his cover. Well, not unless it was really funny anyway.

From where she was though she couldn't help but hear the exchange happening closeby, and the...girl? (She was pretty sure girl.) She was threatening some guy who'd been attempting to...hit on her she guess. Not in a great way, admittedly, but not enough to warrant physical assault. The terramancer strolled past, and scooped up an errant piece of fruit that'd been flung off the table by the recent theatrics, before speaking up to the girl.

"Might wanna turn it down a couple of notches champ. You gotta live with us and we gotta live with you for the next year so if some dude trying it on with you is that big a deal we're all in for hard semester." she remarked, as she idly tossed the apple in between her hands.

Red Sonja and Don Juan taking bites out of each other at every opportunity was one thing. If Norrevinter and Sterling were going after each other, they weren't bothering anyone else. If someone was going to go psycho on people for innocuous things that happened to annoy them... well she had no intention of living with that for a year, so she might as well nip that shit in the bud.

Her gaze roamed over to Canvas. Oh the unmistakble fuckboy smirk of a Sterling.
"And you need to work on your game if you think incest is a great opener."
@Mr Allen J@LorelleQuips

---

Kora was certainly not sorry about throwing Larke into a table. This was unmistakably a matter of honour and wasn't something any true Norrevinter would have refrained from.

Still, she was going to have to play the game to some degree. At least until she'd established her status.
She glared at Larke in a way that suggested all of it was his fault, before muttering a "Yes, Professor" and dropping into a seat to let the orientation roll on.

Despite everything, the issue of rooms was something she was rather interested in.
She was more than eager to make her way over to find who was listed as her roommate, and more than pleased with the name written under hers.

"Tessa!"

Her Aunt's Goddaughter!

One of the few kids her age Kora had had around her whilst growing up, as the girl had made frequent visits to Vollr in the Summer. Probably the best possible outcome.

There was another name there, but that one she wasn't especially worried over. Whoever it was, they were outnumbered.
@shadowhope

Canvas' smile faltered a little as things escalated to actual bodily threats. He was pretty sure his good-natured if bad-taste teasing shouldn't be an invitation to a fight.

Wow. Maybe he really had touched a sensitive subject.

"Hey, cool off, sister. I'm just messing around," he said. He was all for some sparring with words, but he drew the line at actual sparring, especially when the opponent looked like she could probably rip his ribcage in half with one hand.

He met the look of the girl who came to his defense, and wrinkled his nose at her advice. "Oh. Don't worry. I'm not actually hitting on her," he defended himself. "I save the real pickup lines for girls who are more my type...you know, females who are more immediately recognizable as such."

@VitoftheVoid@Mr Allen J

Marcus’ joke was met with a blank stare for several long, uncomfortable moments, as Esperanza worked it out in her head. Having spent most of her life underground, surrounded by the dead and the dying, social interaction might as well have been some sort of alien language. Her brow creased in thought, before suddenly clearing as her smile returned.
“Oh. It was a joke.” Esperanza laughed, scratching her forearm. “That was very funny.”

Professor Lovette cut in before more- awkward or otherwise- could be said, and Esperanza obediently turned to listen through the duration of the speech. For the most part, the list seemed reasonable enough, and she nodded along to each point in an effort to show the professors how good she was at listening...although the darkness of the room obscured the action almost entirely. She was still nodding even after the presentation, and only came to a stop upon hearing that they would be displaying the dorm pairings. Dorm pairings! She would finally be able to meet the person she would be living with for the rest of the semester. Esperanza’s mind ran wild with possibilities- maybe they would become friends, or even the legendary best friends, and eat snacks together and stay up late when they were supposed to be sleeping and tell scary stories-

Esperanza paused. Her smile dropped, replaced by sheer confusion as she turned to her table companions.

“Helena, you do not have a roommate. Do you know why they did that?”

There were many, many names listed upon the screen. Most were paired up, as Esperanza was, and some were even in threes- but Helena held the only solo dorm. Even if they weren’t friends yet, Esp didn’t want the girl to be all alone.

@VitoftheVoid@LokiLeo789

As the lights went out the bubble around the Tessa and Jason disappeared without any fanfare. Jason of course gave Tessa one of his famous disapproving looks before moving to find a seat for their proper orientation.

Tessa followed after a grin on her face and as she skipped to a spot. This was is, this was when she finally got to meet her roommate or roommates, not even a grumpy future council member like Jason could stop her now.

Waiting silently through the orientation was hard her leg moved up and down in her seat in anticipation. Finally Lovette had stopped talking and the names were up on the board. Letting out a small squee she jumped out of her seat to read who she would be paired with. The word "YES!!!" came out of her mouth unwillingly as she read the name. Her honorary cousin the heir to the Norriventer line was gonna be her roommate, they were gonna have so much fun! Oh and then there was the mystery that was this Yoko person, without a last name she had no clue who they were but she was sure they would be friends.

"Kora looks like we get to room together this year! Oh we should find Yoko so we can all help each other put up our stuff. Well I mean you're strong so you don't really need help but I might need a little help." There she went rambling when she was excited again, but that was okay because Kora of all kids would be able to understand her.

@VitoftheVoid @Mr Allen J

----------------------------------------------------

Jason dragged his feet waiting for the area to clear out before he dared to look at the person whom he was forced to share a room with. The name on the board was not immediately recognizable which was a good thing. He had no desire to room with most people of his known peers especially a Pelacuor or a Sterling who he had to deal with enough for the rest of his gosh darn life as was.

Giving off a polite smile to those he made eye contact with he glanced around the room searching for this Canvas. Then a small thought popped up in his head that made him groan. He knew exactly who Canvas was having seen the other at a few Council Christmas Parties, a half Streling. It also seemed like he new roommate was already getting in Streling brand trouble, with a heavy sigh Jason approached the conflict. He was surprised to find that Dinah Fox of all people was diffusing the situation. Still a disgraced Fox was no match for an Avalon in dealing with these matters.

"Excuse me, I happened to over hear the matter is everything okay?" He paused letting his words sink in before continuing. "I also think it is a bit early to be at each others throats or flirting we should at least wait a few days. "

@LorelleQuips

Azaziel had settled down into a chair close enough to the general population as not to immediately mark himself as an outsider, but far enough away that actually talking to him would require the amount of effort he doubted anyone would go to talk to him. Like hiding in plain view.

Then, the lights went off. A split second after they did he thought he saw the male teacher who was breaking up the fight, vanish into a shadow. "Ah. A shade stepper" Zaze mused. Talking to ones self seemed like a risky business this early in the school game, but he didn't care to temper every single move he made. That would be ridiculous. Only the socially insane at that much time to regulate every little action they did. 'Just enough to slide by', was Zaze's motto.

Rule one made him instinctively swallow the small tab that had been resting on his tongue for the past ten minutes. Of course that wasn't allowed here. Luckily for him, his narcotic of choice tended to look like a portrait at word, and at best like a piece of paper. Brilliant.

Yeah, the sex thing didn't matter to Azaziel but the room search, coupled with the curfew, and the stuck within limits, and what exactly did they mean by 'reckless use of magic.' "It must be magic that would put others in danger, not..unconventional magic." Surely that was the correct answer. This was a place of learning after all. He thought. One couldn't learn without risk, and risk, was the spearhead of innovation..

Azaziel moved toward the stage to grab the keys for his room. Apparently, his roomie was some dude named 'Malik,' well as long as 'Malik' wasn't a rat, and didn't mind him sleeping in the nude, he'd be tolerable.

Most of these names meant nothing to him. His family put little stock in mage families, and he had learned little about them during his travels. Some were familiar, mainly the council families. Two caught his eye. Both made his breath catch in his throat. Memoli. Schippers.

Both of those names were tied to a particularly interesting, partially traumatizing night. One of them simply carried the name. The other one carried the name. Toby's brother popped into his head. Those cold eyes and that devil-may-care smile. Urg. What an unsettling mortal being.

Thankfully, he was distracted by the sound of heavily accented yelling, directed at was was a essentially scaled down human being compared to the muscular frame of the irate young woman. Zaze found her to be loud, angry, and off-putting. Perfect candidate for a friend. Type of friend who scared everyone else off. Perfect.

Aside from her intimidating physique, she had the most massive pair of breasts Azaziel had ever seen in his entire life. He wasn't looking at them from the perspective of a red-blooded Sterling male, but a perspective of genuine amazement. They were, in essence, the largest body part he had ever seen on a mortal woman. Fascinating.

Perhaps he'd walk over an introduce himself.

Azaziel had crossed the floor with the full intention of introducing himself to Yoko rather than his irrelevant room-mate, when Jason interjected.

Jason Avalon. AVALON. Right. He had to check in his weapons with either Maeve or a Derrick.

Right.

@Mr Allen J

Right when Yoko was going to give this upstart the business, more upstarts showed up.

Starting with some brown-haired chick that had literally nothing notable about her to Yoko. Well, her actions were far more notable than her appearance. She basically told Yoko to dial it back, like she did something wrong. She was just telling him to leave her alone, or she'll get violent.

"You're actin' like I'm some psycho?" Yoko said to the girl with a raised eyebrow. Trying to avoid sounding overly confrontational. "I just want this weirdo to leave me alone. Jeez."

In case the two plates of food wasn't enough of an indicator that she just wanted to eat. That was when Mr. Upstart here decided to insult her with the limpest insult in the world. She just narrowed her eyes, and spat back with.

"Well, what are you waiting for then, flyboy?" Yoko spoke to the boy. "Go find some other chick for you to use your lame ass pickup lines on."

Then again, this boy didn't probably didn't know what "go away" meant unless it was spelt out for him. He probably also ate butter. By itself.

"In case your brain can't understand subtleties and nuances, that means 'go away and let me eat.'" Yoko finally spat out in clear terms, as she sat back down, grabbed her knife and fork. And made it very clear to these upstarts that she just wanted to be left alone.



It wasn't long before Britney finished her food. Delicious!

But, it was time for Britney to decide what was next. Madison dismissed them, but she was too caught up in eating her food. She looked across, and Erika was still talking to her friend. While it was polite to wait for her friend to finish talking... she wanted to get her dormroom assignment, and get there, before her roommate could get there and muck everything up.

Britney got up off the table, and strut all the way over to Erika, before lightly tapping her on the shoulder. She whispered, "Sorry, love. But, I'm going to head to my room," She started off. "Maybe we can chat later?"

Before Erika could respond, Britney was off. She quickly went over to the table with the keys, grabbed hers, and quickly left the commons room.

Her roommate was Samantha Ryan? Britney wished she could had met her beforehand, but oh well.

Larke had no time to respond to Kora's quip before the imposing figure of Montana cut in, and a lump formed in his throat. The small orb of water that had hovered in his hand a moment earlier splashed to the ground. The tingling dull sensation of a negation field washed over him, and he took a healthy step further back from Kora and the Professor.

He had heard things about Roderic Montana. Namely, he had heard things about his trial.

He had heard so much, in fact, that he almost felt badly for Kora's misjudged produce projectile. Given that there was still a healthy helping of yogurt dripping from his hair and a centuries old good deposit still owed to his family, however, "almost" did not cut it. Larke returned her glare with a smug grin as her un-fortuitously flung fruit collided with the professor's shield.

His expression dropped as soon as the man's eyes were back on him.

"Yes, Professors," he replied, contrite sincerity coloring his voice. "I'll be sure to avoid any future altercations."

He stepped back to take a seat, relieved as soon as the numbness of Montana's field faded away. He gathered the spilled water back up into an orb with a sweep of his hand, and ran it through his hair to strip out the gunk.

The result, though damp, was clean and reasonably put together. Shower fresh, he hoped. He dismissed the dirtied water into a trash bin before ambling back to take his seat as instructed, never giving Norrevinter the satisfaction of a second glance.

A familiar face in a sticky situation caught his eye as he searched for a seat.

"Canvas!" he called as the other student shuffled into place. He swung into a seat directly beside his younger cousin, unperturbed that both Dinah Fox and Jason "I-Know-More-Than-You" Avalon had already arrived on the scene. He threw an arm fondly around Canvas for a quick hug, and jerked a thumb at him as he addressed the bulky woman. "You're gonna have to excuse my little cousin, here," he said, and then lowered his voice to speak even after the presentation had begun. "He's mildly afflicted with being a dumbass, but it's all from my side of the family. He's not a bad guy. But uh-" She seemed more interested in food than anyone, and Larke threw Canvas an elbow and a subtle shake of his head.

Let sleeping- or eating, in this case- bears lie.

After the presentation ended, he looked to Jason and offered a handshake. "Always good to see you, Avalon! It's been a few, what? Weeks?" He chuckled, appraising the pathetic hard-ass with the kind of disingenuous joviality that a child may extend to a pair of socks found under the Christmas tree.

It seemed that nobody had yet to be so kind as to remove the stick from up Jason Avalon's pretentious ass.

"And...." Larke stood as the other students started to split away, and extended an unabashed hand to Dinah Fox. He had never seen the girl in his life, but she had the sort of picture his parents looked at on social media and said things like "what a shame," and "poor thing" toward without moving to actually help. He knew well who she was, but "I know you're bad news and basically burned ground around here," did not make for a good conversation opener. "I can't say we've ever met. Larke Sterling."

The girl just wanted to eat and that was understandable, before Jason could say his peace his favorite person in the whole world showed up. Larke "future frat boy" Sterling. Keeping his eye from involuntary twitching at the boy's voice he turned to smile to him. "Oh yes I think it's been a few weeks. Great to see you again, and to be able to go to school with you will bring that time down to days it seems. It will make for an interesting year that is for certain." Why his grandfather hated him and sent him to school with these people Jason would never know.

The moment Larke was distracted with presumably Dinah's booty, Jason turned to Canvas. "Canvas right? I'm your roommate Jason. How about we leave this woman to eat and go get settled in. I'm looking forward to rooming with you." The last part sounded forced as if he was trying his best to look at this experience positively. Either way he had a special liquor stash in his luggage if things got truly bad.

"So many noble ones coming to my aid. I've been reduced to damsel in distress," sighed Canvas, elbowing Larke right back.

"Apologies. Enjoy your victuals Milady." Canvas raised his hands in a whoa-Nellie gesture and backed away a few feet... slowly.

"Heyy," he grinned, "Avalon, right? I see you've already got my back, being a good roommate. We seem to be off to a good start."

He gave Larke a shove and parted with, "Don't think you saving my ass means I'm helping you clean up your mess," before jerking his head and going to retrieve his key, expecting Jason to follow.

---

---

@VitoftheVoid@EchoicChamber

Marcus took the rather small, bandaged hand of the Kingsley into his own imposing, callused, mahogany hand, and shook it once before letting it drop.

He let her ramblings wash offer him like a negligible breeze. Opting to rather deem it a considerable lack of social skills cultivated by a rather shut-it kind of lifestyle. Or simply a personality flaw or trait that needed little work. And by mingling with those of her own age, no doubt she would grow to cease the presumed habit of useless ramblings. Instead he smiled and nodded, taking in bits and pieces here and there but never really absorbing the information as a whole.

But he couldn't help but notice that Esperanza - through the awkward moments of silence that ensued after his rather funny joke - too must have suffered from the same lack of social skills that Helena did. It wasn't exactly the pause that caught him on. Instead it was:

The scratching, he recognized.

A small memory resurfaced. The act of scratching any part of the body in the manner that she did may thus indicate anxiety which is either driven by a lack of trust in the other person or an internal discomfort and sense of vulnerability.

Marcus mused all through the orientation, the mystery of the girl's psychological histories and former environments fascinating him to no end. Marcus was a Leon. And as a Leon, Marcus' job was to study people and things, to investigate. The act of observation and deduction came as natural to him as breathing.

Not until Esperanza spoke up did Marcus snap out of his meditative state. He took a moment to consider her words, then glance at the screen to further confirm them. Just as she said, Helena did indeed lack the notable addition of a dorm partner, as supposed to him who was too bunk with an "Allen".

Marcus gave Helena an inquisitive look. "Yeah that unusual. Your not radioactive are you?" he jibbed.

Orientation now over, the students began milling out slowly to find their dorms and settle in. Ray supposed it was time he too left as well. He had to focus on preparing his lessons and ignore everything else. He was utterly determined to make sure none of these kids fell prey to another man like Mathias. The nightmares had never ended, though the panic attacks were under control now. He still occasionally thought he caught sight of him in the corner of his eye on the street, or the subway or in his old apartment. He had to attribute part of his (now cured) narcotic dependency on the paranoia, but he couldn't cure the fact that Mathias had entered his brain, to manipulate him into joining a cult he knew nothing about.
He would die before letting another kid become a victim. It was just about the only resolve he had left, and he clung to it like a drowning man would a lifesaver in a storm.

He had become so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had blocked everyone else out around him and didn't realize he was scowling. Students he passed by and just barely avoided bumping shot him wary glances, and a few whispered to each other. He was a nobody in the grand scheme of things, but the higher noble houses were always after some piece of crippling gossip to tear somebody down with. Ray didn't think he registered enough interest, but he had been aware of the rumours revolving around him ever since basic training. He managed to silence them by being - even he would admit - a bloody good soldier. A ferocious man on the frontlines, possessed by a hatred for the Cult that his brothers in arms could only speculate upon behind his back.
He suddenly felt his shoulder brush roughly past somebody, and was met with an icy chill upon the contact that made his shudder. Ray looked up and his breath caught in his throat.
"Oh, Professor Montana. I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

@echoicchamber
"It's great to see you too Dawn! Wow, I just can't believe that we were like, ten or eleven when we last saw eachother!" She was about to keep on with her banter, but then the room went dark.

Well, at least it was finally orientation, but all of the stuff that Mr.Lovette said was really just common sense in a way, right? Oh well.

When the lights turned back on, her friend Britney tapped her shoulder and told her that she was going to head to her dorm. Once she left, Lux eyed Dawn and sighed. "Well, I should probably get going and find my room key." She gave her a European kiss on both cheeks. "We should totally catch up later though!"
@lorellequips
With that she sauntered off and found her room keys. So she was roomed with Esperanza Ciervo. Hm, wasn't she associated with a cult...? As she was about to leave, she noticed another familiar face from her childhood as she passed by him and grinned. She tapped his shoulder. "Psst! Toby, remember me?"

Maeve watched the exchange with same contemptuous disinterest that a caged tiger may extend toward zoo guests: They were there, and so was she. The students threw each other. Montana stepped in. Lovette did something Lovette-y. Both students parted in a huff.

Her mood perked up for a moment as one Mr. Schippers entered the room, but she caught herself from waving or walking over to the boy. He was a teenager, and this was his new school, and she was probably a super uncool (or lame, or whatever the kids these days would call it,) teacher. The kid looked like he was holding his own just fine without any embarrassing mishaps.

When the lights blacked out, however, her demeanor took an abrupt turn. A thick, coppery taste slicked over the back of her mouth, stinging in her her sinuses. Her gaze narrowed. She took a step back toward the wall behind her. She looked about to try and catch sight of Kovalenko, but there was no time.

Her pupils dilated and her face flushed white. A cold sweat beaded along her hairline. Byrne's gaze fixed forward on a table full of students, glaring like a tiger through the dim-lit room.

Specifically, her unflinching stare had settled on Britney Williams.

Professor Byrne did not blink. Her right hand twitched, opening and closing like a nervous tick. Or like she was thinking about going for the throwing knife sheathed in her jacket. For a few seconds, she did not seem to breathe. If the girl had looked at her, Maeve did not seem to care.

And then, as quickly as it had set on, the spell was broken. A second after the lights flicked back, Maeve blinked, ran a hand through her hair, and took off for the girls' side dormitories so quickly she clipped shoulders with a student on her way out the door.

@Mr Allen J

Dante chuckled for a second. He knew enough about Toby's family that was gonna steer clear of his brother. From what he could tell Toby was a good guy, but that deer in the headlights way about him still bugged Dante. Coupled with that few things he had heard about Toby's brother made him want to ensure this is the last time Sam would ever talk with him again. Even though every fiber of his being wanted nothing but Continents between them, Dante's mind would drift back to the first night when had been taken in by Mr. Ryan.
"People are not their families, I would think you of all people would know that my son." With a half smile​ Dante dismissed the feeling.

Sam could understand when people were trying to avoid a topic he will tell me if and or when he is ready. She understood everyone has things that are personal. Dantes got his parents, Dads got the war and I got spiders... she thought as she looked at Toby
"Yes it is an amazing campus, I can't wait to go explore it." She said in response to Toby's comment. " Do you want to come with me and look around?"@LorelleQuips

Shadow stepping to get around wasn't something Professor Montana made a habit of. There was an instinctual enjoyment he took in walking, observing, studying his surroundings and how the people around him interacted with him. It was a deductive exercise, picking up people, their habits, where they enjoyed being, when. He planned on teaching these habits to the students he tutored in tracking. There was much more to the art than magic alone. The Leon child, Marcus was one pupil he expected to understand the fundamentals of tracking. From what he observed, the the young boy was very much fifteen. That said, he was a member of the Leon family. Montana wouldn't be surprised if his casual demeanor belied a deductive acuity.

Ms.Luxanne was another one in his class who possessed practical skill in tracking, from what he had gathered from ther file. The others, Dinah, Malik, Dante, all showed promise from his perspective. Perhaps he'd use the more experienced students as,

Montana felt his shoulder connect with another. He turned with the motion, rather than against it, so he stood face to face with the gentleman he had touched shoulders with.

As tutors. Outside stimuli rarely interrupted his focus.

"Mr.Matheos." He regarded the younger man evenly. "You must be as lost in lesson planning as I." Montana hadn't resisted Raymond's appointment as teacher. Guilt was a powerful motivator. Guilt, regret, were emotions that separated those who held themselves accountable, and those who levied the blame on the movement, rather than their own hubris.

He could see where he carried it. His shoulders, eyes. His aura. He used it as a weapon, a belief system. This sat well with Montana in regard to the days to come.

“The other person we wanted to take this job went missing, so we guess you can have it. Please drop whatever plans you have, pack your life, and get on a plane in the next three days, or you’ll have a hard time enrolling your child at this school next year.”

It wasn’t exactly what the Council’s letter to Mariana had said, but it may as well have been. She was quite lucky to have an understanding mother and father, and a son who was already pushing for independence.

Moreover, she was lucky to have found the place at all.

Two flights and a rather long ride in a Council-hired car later, the Professor arrived at Marchand nearly an hour after most of the students. She had skirted along the back wall of the welcome breakfast with her bags in tow, dropped the lot off in her room, and collapsed face down in the mattress for a solid thirty-four seconds before sitting up to address a string of text messages on her phone.

”Yes, Santiago is allowed to have cup-of-soup for lunch,” she typed to Mamá.

”TQM, corazón,” was the next, to “Jimmi,” ”I'll call tonight. Be good.”

She sighed, ribs collapsing and her body deflating with the motion. The last time she had been so far away from her youngest son was while he was at Summer camp, and that was only two weeks. Mariana ran a tired hand through her tired hair, not even bothering to look at how flight bedraggled she would look in the mirror.

He would be fine. His grandparents could look after him. The family was tight-knit.

She dug a sweater out of her carry-on luggage to throw over her maxi dress and crossed to the hallway. The bustle of excited teen girls moving into their new rooms pushed against her forward motion to the exit, but she handled it with a kind smile and an occasional comment of, “Oh, careful now,” as a body bounced off of her. Her hair was a bit unkempt from such a long flight, but her stride was still as confident and easy as ever. She wore a soft expression and had a gentle smile, and the skirt of her dress seemed to flow with the same easy fluidity as her personality.

Two doors and a few turns later, and Mariana had found just what she was looking for: It was difficult to find oneself a sudden outsider in a place, but she had received the roster (albeit only upon getting into her car from the airport,) and old friends had a way of making new places feel less hectic.

She heard him before she saw him. It was a hard, cold voice, not unlike the rocks one would cling to in a storm at sea. And, like those stones, quite capable of warming up once the skies cleared.

“Roderic Montana!” Her voice was bright, though tired, and she picked up her skirt to walk toward him a bit faster. “And Mr. Matheos.” Not who she had been seeking out, but not someone she was a stranger to. She moved to embrace Ray before he had a chance to pull back, and then Montana.

“You're getting old, Mr. Montana,” she said fondly, hesitant to break the hug until he did, “Isn't he, Mr. Matheos? Nothing but dust will be left of him soon.”

@Magister@Gelatinous Cube

Ray felt his mouth twitch into a lop-sided self conscious smirk.
"Yeah...I, uh...yeah. I guess not many kids are into necromancy, are they? Gotta try and reel them in somehow."
He could remember the last time he'd been so close to Montana...the blood that had followed in his wake as though he were the eye of a crimson tornado.
He shook that memory away. This was a school and here they were on equal footing, Ray must not be afraid.
"You're looking well, Roderic. It seems like peace time agrees with y-"

“Roderic Montana!” Her voice was bright, though tired, and she picked up her skirt to walk toward him a bit faster. “And Mr. Matheos.”

Ray turned to regard the owner of the voice, and felt his face impulsively soften into a genuine smile.
"Mariana!" he exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him for a friendly hug. Though the two did not know each other terribly well, they were both aware of each others unique pasts. As similar as they were different. They had both been victims of the Cult, but she had come out of it much better than Ray had. Defectors were usually better off than prisoners. He understood Roderic had a hand to play in that, and that the two were quite close, which only served to further haze Ray's preconception of the man. He feared no judgement or manipulation from Mariana, but Roderic had forever been a wild card.

“You're getting old, Mr. Montana,” she said fondly, hesitant to break the hug until he did, “Isn't he, Mr. Matheos? Nothing but dust will be left of him soon.”

Ray chuckled softly, "That'll be the day. He'll be kicking on when we're all in our graves."
That was kind of a dark thing to say, Ray...what the hell?
He hoped his abrupt silence hadn't given away his embarrassment. The last thing anybody needed to be reminded of was imminent death...least of all veterans of the great war.
Change the subject, you idiot!
"Oh...how are you kids, Mari? They must be getting pretty big now, huh?"
That's better. Nice and happy. We're all friends here.

@ScoundrelQueen@Magister

"Yeah," said Toby gratefully to Sam. "I have a weapon to check, so I might want to d--to do that if you don't mind." He looked around for Maeve. He thought he'd spotted her in the dark during the presentation, but now she was nowhere to be found.

As he scanned the crowd, he saw a few more familiar faces--Dinah Fox, for one: cousin, former foster sister, who hadn't been around much since Toby went to live with Spire for reasons Toby recalled with an inward wince. He tried to catch her eye and gave a little, awkward wave, but she seemed absorbed in another conversation and he put his hand down before anybody noticed that he was probably going to be left hanging.

Then Toby spotted Azaziel. He felt his fingertips get cold as recollections made his heart begin to race. His blood flowed to his core for survival mode. He wondered if he should speak to the other boy. He didn't really know him, and yet with what they'd gone through and seen, in a way knew more about each other than most people ever would. He was interrupted before his stare could last too long.

Toby looked over as someone tapped his shoulder, startled to see that one of the girls he'd deemed too primped to talk to came right up to him and greeted him like an old friend. Obviously, he didn't recognize her, at least not at first, though after a second's lull he shook his head like he was recovering from being whacked in the jaw and said, "Oh! Erica, right? Yeah, it's--been a while." He remembered a few things about Lux: she was nice to him...except that one time...and her mother was a damn good lawyer.

He smiled, genuinely, though it didn't change the permanent furrow of concern in his forehead. He gestured to his previous companions. "This is Alex and Samantha Ryan. Alex, Sam, Erica Luxlane."
@caliban22@Dodi do 900@VitoftheVoid@Magister