---

Like many others, Canvas scrambled straight over to the the towering mounds of breakfast food. The boy walked with a literal skip in every other step, with an easygoing disposition and a certain mischievous je ne sais quoi etched permanently into his face. He didn't bother to take his seat before he dug into the syrup-drenched pancakes (he'd used roughly a full cup of the stuff), instead eating on his feet near the food table as he scanned the room for faces he recognized. He recognized a few from Sterling parties, a few more Ahktar acquaintances, and a number of pretty girls that he'd probably flirt with later once he'd gotten a bit of confidence in this space and maybe his wingman.

And speak of the devil, Canvas spotted him, chatting with a Pelacour, a Memoli, and a pretty girl with shockingly dyed hair. "Ey, Larke," he said, remembering at the last moment to swallow his food before speaking. He set down his fork to grab and down a glass of orange juice, somehow managing not to spill as he jogged over to the table to sit with his cousin and his present company.

However, that was when something tall and ginger plowed into Larke like a bulldozer.

Canvas stood still, startled, not quite sure if he should intervene, as he was holding a half-eaten but still sizeable stack of soggy pancakes, and he didn't want to make a bigger fight out of it.

So Canvas simply watched with mild concern, drinking some of the orange juice in case Larke turned out to be in mortal peril and he had to drop it.

---

---

---

Tatia knew exactly 0 people in the room.

That didn't especially surprise her. She thought it statistically unlikely that she would just run into Carrie from 3rd grade and be like, "Oh, so you happen to be a friggin' wizard too, do ya?" But unsurprised or not, it did create an awkward moment as the lanky girl stood with her tray, looking for empty seats. In the end she simply eenie-meenie-mynie-mowed and headed for an empty seat next to a slim, blond boy and a slight, mousy haired girl cuddling a ...

Good lord, what was that.

Her face settled into its default pose of impassive, bordering on condescending, calm. It was a safety mechanism. It was a safety mechanism she needed REAL badly right now, considering that Tatia Anne Fale had never met another magic user, excluding her 95 year old Nan, and knew nothing about other branches of magic, and only marginally more than nothing about her own.

As she approached, she noticed the abomination was wearing a service animal vest.
Cool.
So it would be polite if she just ignored it until prompted otherwise.

"Hey, what's up," deadpanned Tatia, sliding into a chair near them. "Mind if I join you?" There was no sense of wonder visible on her face. She looked bored.

She was not bored.

Ha.

She was definitely not bored.

@Prosaic@ScoundrelQueen

---

---

---

As another trickle of students entered the eclectic room, one of them seemed to be making a concentrated effort to stay as near to the back of the pack as possible. Toby felt sick with nerves and didn't feel like eating much, but he made his way to get in line for breakfast because he figured he'd blend in more if he had food in front of him. If he didn't draw attention to himself, he could probably avoid talking family politics, or meeting anyone who would, you know, want to erase his family from the face of the earth. He knew he'd have to face it all eventually, but there was enough going on today without the frightening social gymnastics.

And then...

"TYYYYYYYYYR!'

It was like his worst nightmare in corporeal form. All of his fears about coming to this school were realized in the form of a tall young woman, rushing straight for him, no doubt to slay him for the supposed wrongs of Spire Schippers against her family.

Gut churning horror flooded his system as he saw the unmistakable Norrevinter barreling toward him, righteous fury burning on her face. He didn't have much time, but the adrenaline gave him just enough of a boost to step out of her path before she could trample him. Or more, throw himself out of the way so that he knocked into a table of students.

Breathing almost to the point of hyperventilation, he righted himself. Relief cooled his panic like ice water as he realized he was not the object of her rage. He pitied the boy who was. Norrevinter probably didn't even recognize Toby. But the relief didn't last long.

"I'm so sorry," he said, mortified, realizing he had caused something of a domino effect when he hit the rather formally dressed youth, causing other nearby students and ... knocking over a pitcher of juice onto the boy's jacket. Why did he have to be wearing white? "I'm sorry, I d--didn't see you. I thought --- the Norrevinter g-- girl was..." He skittered to pick up napkins and offer them to the boy, and the surrounding students, including a girl with a gas mask.

@chocomog333 @theWindel

Larke knew that scream.

The last time he had heard that specific cry, he was promptly bodychecked off of a low balcony into a hedge of honeysuckle. And before that, he turned to find a chair flying toward his person. Generally speaking, it was a sound that translated to "run, perhaps?"

"Move!" Larke yelled at Serenity and Canvas, though between the two of them and the table, Larke had little option to dodge before being struck full-on by at least 200 pounds of Norweigian anger. Delightful.

It was not, he thought in the split second before his face smacked into the breakfast table, unlike what he imagined being body-slammed by a bear would be. At least there was no open window.

"Good morning, Miss Norrevinter," he replied, his chipper smile falling into a half-smushed grimace where it was pressed into the wood. "Good of you to join us for breakfast," He pushed up a bit, testing her weight and strength. She was too big to buck off.

"But, you know." The juice in Larke's glass flew upwards to splash against his attacker's face, just as Larke arched to free himself again. His right foot hooked back around her grounded leg and yanked in against her ankle to topple her balance. When she moved to catch herself, he twisted free and pushed back to stand with his back toward the open room, rather than the table. The contents of a breakfast pitcher flew into one of his hands and hovered there in a tensioned orb of iced water. "Sorry, about the spill. I can wash it off, if you like?" He rolled his shoulders back, looking as self-assured and unruffled as ever.

Or, rather, as as self-assured and unruffled as someone could look after crashing into the table.

"Probably best to clean up before your aunt finds out you've been throwing yourself at me."

@vitofthevoid

Jake thought it was questionable whether indeed this truck was even driving along a road. The number of bumps occurring on the journey was starting to become ridiculous, and to top it off the truck didn't sound like it was in the most road worthy of conditions. Whats with this shoddy piece of... Crack! Jake's head delivered a not healthy sound as a hard bump sent him head first to the pole raising from the seat in front. Recoiling he raised a hand straight to his forehead as he blinked several times, nothing quite like starting the day with a throbbing headache.

As he sat back with one hand to his head he had ultimately decided that it was probably best to spend the rest of the journey holding himself in place as he gripped the chair in front. He delivered a less then friendly glare at his neighbour who was chuckling at his misfortune. Of course it must of been satisfying to be sitting in the window seat, not that Jake would really know. His height didn't play him well for sitting in that position, lest his legs take up all the room of the adjacent seat. He sighed as he stretched his legs out down the gangway from his aisle seat, nothing like being tall to make any journey in a cramped vehicle uncomfortable.

Another bump, Jake rolled his eyes as to what had somehow become customary. The truck would hit a bump the students to stupid to still not be holding on faced the consequences and then in some uproar everyone then complained about the bump. Oh please, let this end soon. Surprisingly, not making a racket seemed to be the way to best draw attention to oneself on this journey, though Jake just sat there with his hood up on his top ignoring those that would soon be his classmates and peers. Had he decided to join in the outcome would likely be it'd be the one time everyone else remained quiet, or everyone would realise it was the first time on this journey he had spoke. Either way it seemed like that would be a lose-lose situation for him, so he may as well settle for what he has now: a headache and what seemed to be now a less than amused neighbour.

Eventually the truck stopped with a mechanical squeal, Jake gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes as the high pitched noise caused an unintended shiver, such a horrible noise. The students began to file out of the vehicle one after the other, Jake would soon follow suit forcibly by the need to let the person that had been sat at the window out if nothing more. As he exited the vehicle he gathered his luggage but remained firmly rooted where he stood as he watched all the other students heading toward the school before joining setting off toward the school as the last student of his group. "Well... this is something alright." Jake commented to himself as he checks out the outside surroundings. Truth was he'd never seen a building so big, his family wasn't exactly well off in any sense of the words. He slowly trotted at his own pace toward the building.

Once inside he saw the last student before him signing something before being handed some papers and being sent on his way. Guess that's the first step... Jake in turn walked over to the desk looking at the sheet the student before him had written on, oh great, a roster. Jake grabbed the pen as he stared at the sheet for a moment as though he'd forgotten his own name. He looked over his shoulder to check for other students. Seeing none he quickly squalled down 'Jake Lucshen' on the roster. "Lucshen huh? Sorry about that kid." The person behind the desk said before handing Jake the map, rules and schedule, Jake simply shook his head in response. "Please head to the common area." Jake quickly glanced at the map before folding it and stuffing it into his jean pocket before heading off to the common area as his eyes scanned over the rules and schedule.

"Welcome Students, huh? Well I guess we'll see about that." Jake whispered to himself as he saw the welcome banner above the common area entrance. There seemed to be a number of students already here and most seemed like they probably knew each other at least by name. Introductions was not really a good social activity for Jake, best a matter to be avoided if possible... Jake glanced around, until he saw the table of food. With a small smile he walked over, he wasn't going to turn down a free meal as he grabbed a plate looking at the offerings. Jake spent some time, humming to himself as he carefully places items on the plate almost artfully piling as much on as he thought he could stomach. Turning around with his mountain of food in hand he looked around for an available seat before strolling over to an available one not too close to any of the other students. He takes a seat rubbing his hands together before digging in.

Guilt, it instantly sank into her stomach like a rock as she hadn't meant to make Dawn tense up so noticeably by such a simple action. It was in that brief moment she hoped that she hadn't crossed any lines but it seemed the instant that Dawn recognized her voice that all tension dissipated and a flood of relief rushed through her own being."Awwww, you do love me." Serenity teased, a bright smile lighting up her features."The family felt it would be a good opportunity to learn from more than just the personal trainer and get a few secondaries under my belt. Serenity answered. She had been leery of coming, knowing more than one person would know her last name though they had been out of many loops for awhile and the last thing she wanted to do was tell people where they could put their unwanted opinions or to smile and brush off how they might insult her. She was proud of who she was and would stand up for that. A nudge to her hands brought her out of her thoughts and she instantly pulled her hands away a small blush lighting up her cheeks as she forgot that they were even still covering Dawn's eyes. It luckily seemed more like she wanted to continue teasing a good friend but she needed to keep more focused, especially when being introduced to a fellow student and possibly gaining a new friendship if all went well. It was obvious that Dawn was thinking of both their feelings when it came to last names as it was a simple introduction without them.

It was then that he offered up his name on his own accord and was quite charming even smooth if she was being honest. He had pulled out a chair for her after all when it was not necessary and was pleased to have her around while most found her, strange. Sterling, it sounded familiar and that is when it clicked into place. This could be interesting, should she give him her last name? Why not, the worst that would happen is one more person avoiding her. She placed her hand in his own, a gentle smile on her face as she replied,"Serenity D'Amour and the pleasure is all mine." She was just about to take a seat when she felt a tap on her shoulder before hearing one of her favorite voices. "Always!" was her quick reply to the fly by welcome as the food was more important for now which just made her chuckle. She couldn't really blame him though as it had been a long ride for everyone. It was so nice to see another friendly face though. It was turning out to be a good start of the year. Her attention was quickly caught by Larke as he spoke up about how curious it was they had not met before with all the familiar company they shared. Location was probably the biggest reason as her visits had to be planned in advance and it usually meant the others kept it to just them. "Oh, I don't mind at all. I am originally from France but my family moved to America.

Serenity jumped a bit, startled by someone new suddenly joined the group and speaking up to Larke and Perci. It didn't take long to guess that he was a child of one of the council members like the other two. He seemed really nice and easy going. This was someone that she might actually get along with but it was hard to tell everything from first impressions. She was very much enjoying Larke's conversation and company so far. It would be nice to make another friend that was for sure. "Hello, Nate. It is lovely to meet you, I'm Serenity." replied and holding out her hand before a sudden chill ran up her spine and she realized why it as the goosebumps were crawling up her arm. Who had Nate upset? The only time she felt like this was when her Necro friend, Alex, had insulted a spirit by calling them a chatterbox that only spewed garbage in his ear. It was no problem for her but it could make for some unpleasant remarked from the spirit that the person might have to ignore. She hoped this wasn't the cast for Nate at the moment.
The introduction was cut short however when a random battle cry loudly rang out through the room and was not to be missed by anyone. It was followed by Larke yelling at them to move and she reacted on instinct, jumping back and getting into a defensive position, not sure what was going to happen. A firey ginger haired girl, full on body slamming Larke was not quite what she had in mind for happening and now she was not sure what this even was exactly. Was this an unhappy ex-girlfriend or something? Did they have a rivalry thing going? Was it a current girl he was seeing that was unhappy? It was just kind of weird to watch but Serenity stayed on edge just in case this needed to be broken up. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Larke was an aquamaner just like she was.

Mitch did not, in fact, know what a Santora was. Moreover, she really only had the vaguest idea of what a necromancer was based on pop culture. It seemed to all be rather morbid, but Nolan seemed nice enough; though if he were wearing dark eyeliner, it was hardly as if she would have known. But she imagined that goth kids spoke... gothier.

“I'm sorry, but I don't know a lot about families,” she replied, chasing a bit of egg around her plate. “My mom told me they were important before I came, but... We kinda kept to ourselves. So, I'm sorry if I've missed anything important? And, I'm a rune user. Which I just thought was, like. Writing in some kind of specialized universal sourcecode, which I guess it kind of is, but...”

She slipped another piece of fruit to Apple and took a quick breath, catching herself mid-ramble.

“But the Mitch comes from Leila Michelle, because it's easier to convince programmers that you know what you're doing when your online alias is a 30 year old man. And it just kinda, like...” Apple nudged her arm for another bite, which she obliged. A moment later, another voice came alongside them.

“Oh, I don't mind, if Nolan doesn't. But it was his plot first, so, you know-"

At the sound of a blood-boiling scream, Mitch released Apple's harness and ducked in the same moment. “What's happening?” she asked, covering her head with her hands in case something came flying.

And Apple, for his part (and because he was such a good Apple,) leapt atop Mitch's hunched back, assessing the threat with a series of angry, forward-fronded cackles and raised wings. His two forelimbs sat squarely on Mitch's shoulder, and his tail barb was curled overhead, ready to attack anything that came for his bad-eyes, good-snacks friend. Because he was a good Apple, and good Apples looked out for their friends.

@prosaic@lorellequips

Caius was distracted by his pitiful attempts at conversation when he heard the yell come from across the hall. He looked up to see a well dressed young man hurl himself out of the way of the rampaging student. He had just enough time to put up a basic shock absorbing spell as Toby crashed into him. Caius rubbed his hand. He looked at his jacket and was mildly annoyed, but considering the circumstances, he decided to focus on the more important things. "My jacket will be fine. More importantly, are you ok?" As he got up, he quickly inspected the man who accidentally tackled him. He also looked to make sure Jackie wasn't injured. Seeing that they seemed ok, he looked around Toby to see if he could get a sight of the combatants. He watched as Larke moved himself out of the pin and held the sphere of ice in his hands. Caius worried that things may escalate even further, and thus prepared his energy to try and counterspell anything that got out of hand. He turned to the door and screamed, "Is there a teacher in the vicinity!?"

@TheWindel @LorelleQuips

---

Tatia met Nolan's infectious, glowing smile with a smile of her own, though one of about a tenth the intensity. She turned the same smile on Mitch, then quickly stopped, because that was a lot of effort to waste on someone who evidently could not see it. "Well, thanks for allowing my trespassing on your plot, then. I'm Tatia. Fale," she said, pealing a tangerine, spritzing the air with pleasant bursts of citrus oil that made her nose twitch. "F-A-L-E, not F-A-I-L, but...yeah. It's still kind of unfortunate."

She didn't really have the scope to measure what actually made a last name unfortunate around here.

She looked over her shoulder at the fight... which she hadn't bothered to glance at before, so she could give Mitch a little more detail. "Massive ginger girl and some fuckboy appear to be having a food fight. Now he's doing some uhhhhhh water magic shit. Nolan's concept of having something handled is somewhat debatable, but, you know. I do think we're out of the splash zone, so there's that," she said rather tonelessly, and turned back to her tangerine.

---

---

---

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said. He could tell Caius was frustrated, but at least he was being polite about it. Of course, Toby didn't notice the genuineness of the concern, since he only expected the annoyance part. Eager to seem helpful, not wanting to make an enemy, he responded to the boy's cry for a teacher with, "I, ahm, think I saw Maeve--Byrne, Professor Byrne somewhere over... " He gestured vaguely, but couldn't spot her, scooting out of the way surreptitiously so that Caius could see the fight better. Toby didn't really want to watch. He felt like he might be watching his future, except you'd have to replace what looked like a quick-thinking aquamancer with his dopey self, and that really couldn't improve the odds. He looked to the girl who was wearing a gas mask for no discernible reason instead, trying not to let his face show how unsettling it was to look at a girl who was, you know, wearing a gas mask for no discernible reason.

"Sorry," he repeated lamely, still proffering a napkin to her.

Having known Mr. Larke Sterling for some time now, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that his attentions quickly zoned in on Serenity at her approach, effectively losing interest in his current conversation. Regardless, a smile was still on Dawn’s face as her eyes were uncovered, and she turned to get a better look at her friend. There were shadows under her eyes that had deepened since the last time they had seen each other, and she had grown a bit pale, but the warmth in Dawn’s face was genuine as she wrapped Serenity in a brief hug. “My family felt the same way,” she said, drawing back. “They, um, thought it would be good to...broaden my horizons, so to speak. So here I am.” It had been a surprise, admittedly, but it was by no means an unwelcome one. The last time Dawn had gone to any sort of public school, she had probably been at least five or so. Maybe younger.

She went back to work on her pancakes as Serenity and Larke got to know each other, glancing up as one of the people she recognized as belonging to one of the more notable families- Percival Pelacour- slid past, then again as a dark haired young man appeared and greeted both Council children and introduced himself. Nate. It took only a second for it to click that he was very likely Nathan Negromante (given his comments about the council and all, as well as the sharp chill of the dead that followed him), although Dawn didn’t comment on it. Instead, she smiled, nodding her head at him in greeting.

“Dawn. It’s, um, nice to meet you, Nate.” The fact that he hadn’t openly stated his last name was something she was grateful for. It meant that, for the moment, she could keep her own unsaid.

The pleasant meet-and-greet that had been formed didn’t last long, however. With a hollering cry, a blur of orange tackled Larke into the table, pinning him there with her knee. A Norrevinter, if the height, red hair, and general anger at Larke’s very being was any indication. Their rivalry was practically a legend by this point, and a sight that wasn’t too surprising by its nature. Dawn found herself alarmed regardless, hopping away from the table as Larke broke free and whipped a pitcher of water into shape.

It seemed about the makings for the fight, really. And seeing that another student was currently screaming for a teacher, she wasn’t the only one who thought that was the case.

Very deliberately, Dawn grabbed a handful of napkins, then circled the table to place herself in between Larke and the Norrevinter girl. If one of them tried to press the conflict any further, they’d have to either go around her, or through her. “Here, ah.” She held the napkins out to the Norrevinter in a peaceful sort of offering. “So you can clean yourself off.” Dawn smiled, then turned towards Larke, a look of concern on her face.

“Are you alright? That, um, looked like it hurt.”

@ScoundrelQueen@Akayaofthemoon@VitoftheVoid

---

If Esperanza had been offended in any way by Helena, she showed no sign of it- instead giving a wide, goofy grin from ear to ear before taking the roll of bandages in hand. “We are having the same class, then! Do not worry- you will be getting better at it the more you do it. It is like ripping the bandages, but with more blood and stinging.” She plopped down into the chair opposite of Helena’s after throwing away the last bunch of soiled napkins, then carefully began to wind the gauze around her arm, looping it over and over with practiced hands.

“I have never met the Defender before. Only the Necromancers and the humans. So I am thinking that you are very cool.” She beamed. “I am the Necromancer primary, and I am having the other Secondary in Familiars.” Esperanza paused, a moment. That reminded her- Helena hadn’t given her other Secondary. Only her first. Before she could investigate, there was a scream, and then the clatter of tableware and flesh against wood. Eyes wide, Esperanza turned to look over at the sound, only to find a red headed girl shoving a boy’s face into the wood.

Esperanza’s eyes went even wider.

It was the beginnings of a fight. The first fight of the school year.

Something had to be done.

Snapping off the roll of gauze, Esperanza reached into her bag, pulled out her phone, and began to take pictures of the event for her family.

“This is so exciting!” Esperanza said to Helena, voice a hushed whisper. “I have never seen anything like this before. Do you think this will happen a lot?”

@VitoftheVoid

---

There was a moment or two where the guy was sizing Percival up, and where Percival was just sort of sizing him up in turn, in a sort of strange nonverbal standoff of some kind. He had already seen how on edge the guy was, but now up close, he could really take in the whole picture well and fully. All black clothing. Real tall, dark, and broody. He leaned back in his chair, idly taking another bite of his cinnamon roll as the guy broke the silence and began to speak.

“Fan of the Norrevinter style, eh?” He said, after swallowing the mouthful of sweet, cinnamony goodness. “They’re a huge fan of skulls and fur and all that. Think they made everything themselves, with the whole…” Percival paused, making a sort of absent gesture in the air with his free hand. “Trade ban and all.”

Another bite, another swallow. Another grin. “Isaiah Parrish? Heard of the name, yeah- although that’s probably just cause it’s kinda my job to know who pretty much everyone is.” He shrugged, rolling his shoulders in a fluid, catlike motion. “Name’s Percival. Percival Pelacour. Percival Rowan Pelacour the Third, sans the ‘the Third’ bit.” He didn’t wait to see if the guy would recognize the name or not, instead giving the cinnamon roll in his hand a careful, cursory glance over before popping the rest in his mouth.

“They’re great, honestly. Only thing I’d really think you’d have to be worried about is if you’re one of the types allergic the gluten or something.” Percival paused, scratching the side of his jaw. “Think there was some non-gluten-y stuff up there, too, so you don’t have to end up starving or anything like that.”

Percival slid into a semi-proper sitting position as another guy his age came strolling in, eyes brightening even more than they already were (which seemed like it was a near impossibility, if not for the fact that it happened). “Well, look who it is!” He crowed. “Good seeing you again, Nate.” He gave a little chuckle at the ‘weight of the name’ comment, folding his hands behind his head.

“Think that’s pretty much mandatory across the board, honestly. Like some kinda tradition.”

And speaking of tradition…

The scream of a battlecry served as the main, glaring warning of what was to come before Larke was tackled right into the table he’d be standing next to. Despite the suddenness of the whole thing, Larke breaking free included, Percival seemed remarkably unfazed as he turned to Isaiah. “And she, my good man,” he drawled, “is a Norrevinter.”

His whole appearance gave the impression of someone who had seen this event unfold many, many times in the past, and at this point any sort of novelty from it had worn off.

@Avanhelsing@Prosaic

---

Whether Dawn's presence would have done the trick to break up the fight, or whether Kora would have shoved past her to get glorious retribution for the juice in her hair, would remain a mystery. A decorative potted devil's ivy on a brass-legged marble end table in the corner suddenly came alive with furious speed, lengthening and thickening to thread into a wide wall of organic bars that blocked them from each other, appearing just behind Dawn so that she stood on Larke's side of the divider. It happened in about a second, accompanied by a subtle trembling underfoot, like a freighter had just rumbled by.

"Is this really how we're starting the year? Really?" His voice was cool and silky, but intoned with a lazy kind of drawl, an effect that somehow perfectly paralleled the appearance of the voice's owner: A tall, dark haired man in his thirties; dressed in a slim, tailored gray blazer and navy button up; evidently couldn't be bothered to shave in the last week or so; one hand lifted in a relaxed pose like he was showing someone a watch, the other in his pocket.

He regarded the three students currently in the fray. He'd previously studied the student photo roster for people of interest, but he would have recognized Kora Norrevinter anyway. She looked like her father, and her aunt. But then, all Norrevinters came spat out of a copy machine, down to the way the ink seemed to be getting streaky and damaged each generation.

The other was a Sterling kid. If nothing else, the context of this fight gave it away.

And the intervening girl...was the Memoli. That he knew from the roster.
Memolis were people to keep an eye on. Especially with his history.

His smile at her wasn't especially warm. "Thanks for being a peacemaker, kid. You can sit now." He then turned pale gray eyes from Kora to Larke and back, but he spoke up for the entire room to hear. "I'm not gonna give you some bullshit speech about how this is a safe place and we need to leave our family feuds at the door, okay? But this isn't how things are going to go, either. Anyone is welcome to hate each other's guts from across the room. You don't have to hug it out. I really don't care. But can we draw a line at throwing people into school property? The only fighting on this campus is going to be in combat class, got it?" He gave a pointed look at the mess Larke and Kora had made. Juice, bits of egg, and a couple of pancakes had made it onto the floor."And you two can clean this up."

With a small, easy rotation of Spire's hand, the plant retracted back over its pot, groaning in complaint as its stalks coiled to roughly fit the space it once occupied. It now looked more like a misshapen piece of modern art, especially since many of the yellow and green ribbed leaves had crackled and dried out, sapped of moisture. The once tender green ones on the ends now bore that hollowed grayish spiderweb look. The expenditure of energy for the unnatural growth had clearly caused some damage, and the posture of the twisted knot of stems made it look as if it felt ashamed to have been used so roughly.

Spire waited, folding his arms and watching them with half-lidded eyes and a dry smile, as though daring them to see what would happen if they took another swing at each other.

Jake glanced up from his food occasionally to the watch the movements of the different individuals within the room. Such a wide variety of personalities, it was actually quite the display, ah an altercation. It didn't seem to take long for such an encounter to occur, though he had to wonder what exactly had brought it on in the first place. Perhaps different opinions during the war? Well if that was the case the hood he had up seemed to be serving its purpose well enough, plus thankfully he was graced with being far enough from the point of origin to be treated to any of the... debris from the fall out. "Well if nothing else this will be an interesting endeavour." Jake whispered to himself before deciding to ignore the goings on and return to his food.

Though curiosity remained on his mind as he kept an ear open for interesting goings on. "...it's kinda my job to know who pretty much everyone is." it'd be a moment after hearing this that Jake almost coughed up his full mouthful of food as he quickly covered his mouth trying to stifle it. Well I most certainly hope that's an exaggeration. Jake thought to himself. The next part of what the person said almost made it sound like they were some kind of noble, maybe they were... The status of Nobility and the council was hardly the business of the Lucshen, the Firestrom maybe, but for them it was often best to steer clear of the highers where possible.

Despite his lack of knowledge of who, well who pretty much everyone in the room was simply listening in seemed to be paying off on learning names. Self judgement on tones and posture offered small inclinations for some as to their status within the community. All the while he was able to avoid altercation of his own or any undue or requested judgement from those that would supposedly be his peers. Not that such judgement could be holey claimed as wrong, the misguided and written truth is much the truth for some after all.

An impressive feat of magic was eventually displayed as a means of breaking up the two opponents, even though a student had already volunteered themselves into intervening the situation. The way they spoke and look, must of been on of the teachers, right? The claim of a non-bullshit speech of one context, came across as a bullshit speech in another context as they asserted themselves of being in control of situation. Jake almost chuckled at the comment of school property as he recalled the donation plaque near the entrance to the common area. "But sir, surely most of this 'school property' was purchased with their families funding." Jake's thoughts had escaped him in form of speech as he blankly stared ahead of himself, almost as though he'd frozen in the moment. perhaps that was unwise. Jake, having somewhat recomposed, returned to eating his fill.

Given the number of students this place was filling up with, a chaotic maelstrom was almost to be expected at this point. Really, the staff of this place should have made sure to provide a larger space of movement if this was going to be the result. Still, Jackie didn’t much mind; nor could she vocalize these supposed complaints anyway. Despite the bustle of fighting, students wondering what the hell was going on, and students wondering where the hell the teachers were, she just stared at the events unfolding before her.

Happily enough, the action seemed to head right for her without her needing to say so. A boy had been flung over to her table; or rather, he had flung himself. With a crash and a boom, he skidded upon the tabletop, even managing to spill juice on poor Cauis’ shirt. None of it really fazed Jackie though, the quiet girl continuing to jot down some words on her paper before turning back to the two boys before her.

She shrugged at Caius before nodding to assure him he was fine. He seemed to be the type to readily help others anyway, if his proclamation for a teacher was anything to go by. While he was doing so, Jackie fixed her gaze on Toby when she heard herself being addressed. “…..” She stared right at him with unblinking yellow eyes, only moving in kind when he offered to her a napkin.

Slowly she reached for the fabric, taking it in her hand and wiping away some sprinkled juice on her mask. She couldn’t quite thank him for the gesture of course, but she did give Toby a tiny nod as if to approve of his act. The sounds of the fighting, or rather lack of them, caught Jackie’s attention and she noticed the scuffle finally being broken up. Was this going to be a daily occurrence in this school?

Seeing Professor Spire handle the situation relaxed Caius. He dropped his arms as his energy dimmed back to its baseline level. "Thank goodness." He sighed. He knew that practice was important, but unfortunately, he was afraid he was going to get more from his students than the teachers. This is the reason his family didn't trust most of the other mages and why they stayed out of the petty politics of the other families. Too many seemed absorbed by their personal issues and not enough seemed concerned about the others around them.

But, there was hope. From their brief interactions, he liked Toby. Honestly, he saw himself a lot in him. Awkward for sure, but he seemed to genuinely want to help. Caius could relate. He grabbed some of the napkins and helped clean off the table. He turned to Toby and offered his hand. "I... I know we may have had a rough introduction, but my name is Caius Velius. I'm a defense major." He turned to Jackie as well. "I... I do believe in the midst of the ruckus, I missed your name as well, miss." Luckily, the adrenaline of the moment was still coursing through him, allowing him to push out the introduction a little less awkwardly.

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. This became clear when her eyes were assaulted by the sting of fresh orange juice splashing into the heir's face.
She let out a burst if nordic curse words, swiping across her eyes and flinging numerous pots of fruit yogurt in all direction as she rushed to clear her vision, but did not succeed before the aquamancer caught her off-balance and caused her to stumble against some scattered chairs.

The pyromancer stood, hair and face nor dripping with citrus, and a feral glare on her features.
" I could just throw you if you prefer." she growled, flexing her hands and planting her feet, like a bull facing a matador.
"Or you could save that water for yourself!"

As she reached for a 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.

Unfortunately at that point another student stepped in between.
"Get out of the way. This is between me and the Sterling."

She was quite prepared to push the girl out of the way...especially considering the fact that the pyromancer towered over the girl and six and a half feet tall. She never got the chance however, as her view was suddenly obscured by a vastly increasing net of vines.

Kora's shoulders few and the red lines on her forearms began to fade as her gaze turned to the source of this, a teacher.
She didn't mind defying a student to get what she wanted...but staff were a problem. She did need to impress them.

"Yes Professor.." she muttered, addressing Spire, though glaring at Larke Sterling through the retracting plantlife, as if the entire thing had been his fault.

And well, if they didn't want to be jumped during breakfast they shouldn't have put the trade embargo on her family.

---

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. Maybe practising a magical skill that called for slicing yourself with a knife on a regular basis gave you a less intense feeling of self preservation.

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

---

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. A few of them costing more than the last house she lived in. This was....clearly not her kind of scene.

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 held together with some silver duct tape, 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.
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....for various reasons. 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 hopped on over to the food table, where she started stuffing several handfuls of dry cereal into her mouth like some kind of socially irresponsible hamster.

Nolan seemed nice, for someone who was from an allegedly unimportant but "don't believe what they say" sort of family. Overall,Mitch found it to be a little mafia, but still a little Weasley. After a brief thought, the whole prospect was not unlike a tiger with a big bow around his neck playing with a ball.

Dangerous, yet charming.

And then there was Tatia F-A-L-E not F-A-I-L. Mitch almost asked if her middle name was, per chance, "Epic," but Apple's screams and the overall commotion saved her from saying something that was (upon second thought,) really, really stupid and not at all funny. She did not miss the vague disinterest in the girl's voice, and wondered if she was always so vaguely uninteresting.

Mitch scrunched her nose at the description. “That sounds like a waste,” she said, reaching up to stroke Apple's floof-covered antennae much like one might stroke a cat's ears. She had seldom been to a proper school, and certainly never a magical proper school. The whole affair was far more TV than she had ever expected.

“.... Is it at least a magical food fight?”

@prosaic@lorellequips

---

Larke froze.

Not so much because he was intimidated by a professor, but because he realized very quickly that Norrevinter was not the only one watching him. And, given this situation, his options were to have his ass handed to him by a Schippers on the first day, or to take life's lemons and do with them what he could. Regardless, his choices would influence how his classmates' view of him for the remainder of the year. For Council students, this story started long, long before Larke had any control over matters.

But for those who had just walked into the fray?

This was a "spotlight moment," as his father would say.

"Sorry, sir," Larke said, though he did not drop his weapon. Instead, with a gentle sweeping motion of his hand, he drew the watery orb across the spills on the counter. The mass was pulled up into the liquid, leaving only a thin layer of dew in its place.

He adjusted his shirt and ran a hand through his hair, as calmly as if he had been disheveled by a sea breeze, and not a viking.

"And I'm sorry to you, too, Norrevinter." The liquid, now laden with yogurt and soggy cereal, hovered in his left palm, but he extended his right to shake. "If we're going to be classmates, we can at least be civil, right? It's not like we get to choose our family histories." He flashed her an easy smile, and directed the now nutrient-rich water into the potted plant Schippers had so sorely abused. "We're past that, aren't we?"

He then turned his attention to Serenity, Dawn, and Nathan with an embarrassed chuckle. "Um... Well. I'm fine, and... Sorry, again. Politics can be a mess, and all. We're unfortunately like cats and dogs."

@vitofthevoid@echoicchamber@akayaofthemoon@avanhelsing

---

---

Breathe in, breathe out...breathe in, breathe out...

Standing several feet from the front door, light green eyes peered up at the massive building. Margie gulped as she stared at her new home, her body trembling in anxiety. Marchand would be the first place she would be without her parents. The first place to have fellow students that shared in her abilities. The thought turned her anxiety on hyper drive.

"Shit, Mags, put me down!"

Snapping out of her nerves, the girl turned to look over her shoulder at the voice of her brother. Her eyes widened at the sight of the teenager hovering several feet in the air before watching him fall quickly to the concrete, followed by their suitcases. She cringed and scrunched her nose. In times of stress, her levitation secondary would often times occur beyond her control. However, when she needed it the most, the concentration and focus it required drained her energy quickly. Definitely made high-stress situations interesting, however. She cleared her throat and gave an awkward laugh. "Uh...Sorry, Jax...

A small growl escaped the boy's throat as he picked himself up from the ground. Dusting himself off, he checked himself for injuries before shaking his head. This day was just growing more fantastic by the minute. "Don't worry about it, Mags. Let's just get this over with." Jaxon grabbed his suitcase and made his way to the building, stopping only momentarily to make sure his younger sister was following him. Their father had made sure he was aware that Margie was his responsibility once at this school; Jax was not about to let him down a second time.

The two brunettes made their way into the building and over to the receptionist to sign in. Once they both scribbled their names into the list, they were soon heading towards the common area.

Margie braced herself for the introductions that were on the other side of the door. She was tired of the days where she was invisible, always stuck inside a book or left out of the crowd. This new school was a chance for her to be someone else, someone better. At least in her eyes. She needed to get out from her brother's shadow and be her own person. This was her time. Pushing past him, she made her way into the room and her eyes widened at chaos that had just ensued. Her eyes ran over a teacher already breaking up a fight and she gulped. What kind of place had her parents gotten her into? Her eyes danced about as she quickly smoothed out her light blue sundress with her free hand, adjusting her suitcase in the other. Opening her mouth to speak, she soon decided against it before seeking refuge in the breakfast table.

His eyes kept track of his sister as she left his side. Giving a small shake of his head, Jaxon returned his attention to the common area and smirked. Already it seemed like his type of party. Deliberately ignoring the professor in the room, Jax moved past the crowd. Smelling bacon, his stomach grumbled and he quickly moved to his sister's side. "Not following you, just need food," he muttered to her under his breath. He quickly piled an abundance of food on his plate before tossing his suitcase to the ground. He'd get it later. Turning once more to face the ground, he popped some food into his mouth before addressing nobody in particular. "So. What'd I miss?"

---

---

---

Slowly moving about the halls was none other than Professor Grayson Davis, resident Necromancer. It seemed as though nothing in the world was bothering him as he continued to walk, unperturbed by the fact that teenagers were entering the building. The tall man full of muscle muttered silent words under his breath as he stalked along. Dark eyes darted back and forth along the walls, seeming to take in everything, and yet nothing all at the same time.

He nodded to nothing in particular as he continued along and soon found himself in front of a rather eventful room. Dark eyes blinked as momentary awareness filled them. There were children of every shape and color within the area and he was quite certain he didn't know a single one of them. Neither did he recognize the lone man among them. Where was he, exactly?

Raising a brow, Grayson turned to take in his surroundings. He had the faintest memory of arriving at the building after receiving a notice of employment. What was the job, exactly? With a shake of his head, he made his way into the room and scrunched his nose at Spire. He tapped the man's shoulder and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, excuse me, hello! What are these small things doing here? And who are you? Where am I?"

---

Spire's lips curved into a smile as he looked around, amused, for whoever had made the peanut gallery comment. He found him. Another face he vaguely remembered. Something with a negative connotation. Santora? Or the Lucshen, maybe? Nothing he'd had a personal connection to, so he hadn't made much note.

"You're right. And I'm guessing their families would want them to respect their generous donation, smartass," he said, chuckling.

The Sterling kid's response was expected. Little sycophant, putting on an aquamancy show and offering the handshake to Kora that Spire had said he didn't care happened.

The Norrevinter's response, however, was not. In fact, Spire frowned at her for a second, puzzled. That was mild, if her reaction to the Sterling kid said anything about her temper. Either she didn't recognize him, she had a surprising respect for his post as a teacher, or...Hilda had deliberately withheld information, and kept her from the rumors.

Interesting.

Professor Grayson's interruption brought him out of his brief reverie. He groaned under his breath, rolling his eyes, and grabbed Grayson's arm, leading him as far out of earshot of any students as he could before he explained with as much patience as he could manage. "If by small things, you mean students, what they are is already a massive pain. I'm Spire Schippers, I'm a last minute stand in for the terramancy professor position. Which is also what you're doing here, if you'll recall, only it wasn't last minute for you and you're not a terramancer, so here's hoping you've had enough lucid moments to come up with some lesson plans. The term's starting. Nice to see you out of your office."

---

---

---

Tatia started slightly at Apple's scream, but composed herself as quickly as she could manage. She cracked another wry smile at the talk of magical food fights. "Tell you what. If we don't get to witness a real magical food fight by the end of the year, I'll start one with you guys on the last day," she said. "I'm sure I can make enough enemies by then to find someone who deserves to have some of this ... truly, bizarrely, exceptionally awesome food in their hair," she said, almost trailing off at the end there. Somehow it would have sounded more of a punishment if this was run of the mill cafeteria food instead of whatever this ambrosia was that some damn house elves must be making in the kitchens.

"I'm an aeromancer," she said, glad she remembered the correct term since she usually thought of it as just windy-powers in her head. Somehow the idea of necromancy and runic magic shifted her perspective. Controlling wind, water, fire, earth, levitating things all seemed somehow more manageable in her mind, like super power stuff that she could easily set against the urban/suburban world she knew. Necromancy and runic magic. That, and "blood magic," which she'd spotted on the list of possible secondaries to choose from, made it all seem inescapably...arcane.

But Mitch and Nolan didn't seem arcane, or even that weird.
Other than the cockroach guide dog.
That was weird.

What she said out loud was, "So do you full on Frankenstein it or is it a bit more subtle than that?" she asked, hoping the question didn't betray too much ignorance. "And runes - how does that work? Do you just get to kind of jack-of-all-trades it but you have to say the rune, or write them, or...." Okay that one definitely betrayed some ignorance.

---

---

---

When he didn't get a verbal response from the girl, Toby fiddled awkwardly. Was she mute? Or just quiet? Or just really pissed at him? She nodded. He thought that might have been a thank you. "You're, uh..." he started, but didn't say "welcome" in case he was wrong, and just nodded back, still red to his ears. Her yellow eyes made him squirm. Confusing social situations were his worst nightmare. He already knew his stutter was going to be out of control all day.

Toby wanted to shrink a little as he saw Spire breaking up the fight. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his brother. They were close. He was sort of glad that Spire was here. It was just ... he didn't want to have to go there or talk about that with anybody yet. He knew he didn't need to worry. It wasn't like Spire was going to have the bad tact to come over and throw his arm around him and call him little bro and announce it to the world.

Fortunately, Caius didn't seem to notice that Spire was, well, Spire Schippers, and just seemed glad that an adult was intervening, so Toby wouldn't even have to navigate any gossip about him at that moment. If the gas mask girl noticed, she sure didn't seem to be very chatty about it. He felt his shoulders relaxing. Vaius. He hadn't been swimming in magical society much lately, but he knew the name. A respectable family. Healers. Defenders. Good people.

"I'm Toby Schippers," he said, giving his last name even though he didn't want to, because he remembered his mother telling him it was shockingly impolite in magical society not to give your last name if the other person did so first. He liked how Caius said "defense major," like this was just college. It normalized the whole affair. "I'm a runecaster," he said.

He tried to turn his body to include the mute girl in the conversation. Though he wasn't sure she wanted to be included. Maybe she could talk, and just didn't want to talk to him. He could not read her. And it stressed him out. Caius was easier. His fear about the guy hating him off the bat had dissolved.

"Have you t--two picked your secondaries?" he asked, hoping to find something in common.

Admittedly, Dawn was a bit concerned about what the Norrevinter girl would do if she didn’t move, gaze flicking over her shoulder as the redhead spoke. She didn’t have to look hard to see the glow of power that had begun to surge through the Norrevinter’s veins, or even look at all to feel the heat practically radiating off her. That didn’t stop Dawn from standing her ground, however. Her own magic swirled to the surface, but before she could put any of it to use, a thick fence of ivy had surged forth to separate her and Larke from the Norrevinter. The sheer force of the divider’s appearance had sent Dawn stumbling a little, but a good amount of the tension had gone out of her shoulders by the time she had collected herself. A teacher. There would be no fight for now.

A good chunk of the tension returned, however, upon seeing who exactly the teacher was. Dawn did a decent enough job of hiding it, returning the rather cool smile with a polite one of her own, but she couldn’t quite keep a sort of sense of discomfort from twisting up in her gut. “Thank you, Professor.” She went to sit back down, hands folded stiffly in her lap.

Another student made a dry quip about the Professor’s message- something the Professor responded to in kind- but most of Dawn’s attention had returned to the conversation at hand. “It’s, um. It’s alright. I’m glad you’re not hurt.” She smiled at Larke, absently adjusting the cuff of her shirt as she spoke. “I just hope that no one else gets tackled again any time soon.”

Although knowing how...heated family issues could get, that would be easier said than done.

@vitofthevoid@akayaofthemoon@avanhelsing@scoundrelqueen

---

The arrival of the professor brought some mixed feelings from Esperanza. Disappointment that the fight was ended before it could have even begun, for one- she had never seen two users of different magics fight before. It was, however, alleviated somewhat by the means in which the teacher had separated the two (three, now, one of the other students had stepped into the fray). Eyes growing wide as saucers, Esp quickly snapped a few more pictures of the event, the teacher himself, then, once the wall had slithered back out of view, the decimated husk of the plant that it had been built from.

“This is all so very cool,” Esp gushed. She took a moment to send all the pictures to her family before stuffing her phone back into her bag, although her enthusiasm was given some pause at the clear discomfort of her new companion. “Is there something wrong?” She gave a puppyish tilt of the head, brows furrowed in confusion. Evidently, the idea that Helena might have been made uncomfortable by the prospect of the fight didn’t quite cross Esp’s mind.

She was a bit distracted from Helena roughly around the time her bag started crying, however. Not the whimpers of the animal, but the wails of an infant in distress. There were sound of shuffling, some gasps, and then some thing began to try and poke its head from the opening Esperanza had left for it. A look of pure, unadulterated delight fell upon Esp’s face at the sound, and she quickly knelt to open her bag further. “That is my Chu,” she said. After fumbling for the zipper a moment, Esperanza managed to unzip her backpack all the way, allowing the creature within to hop out with a grumble.

The thing that had been concealed within Esp’s luggage had crawled straight from a nightmare, where some unspeakable sin had given birth to some ungodly horror. The folds of skin on the top of its head were distinctly catlike, as was its nose and the arch of its back as it stretched free- although the slender build of it, as well of its hind legs, suggested a weasel. The mishmash of clashing traits didn’t stop there, however. The front paws spoke more of an aye-aye than anything else. Its teeth, and the tongue that rolled across them, were disturbingly humanlike in shape. A spider’s nest of silver eyes clustered together across the front of its skull, and its tail was entirely its own- long and furry, forking off in seven different directions at the end. They groped at the air, opening and closing and reaching about for something unseen.

The entire beast itself was covered in a thick layer of tawny fur, save for its belly, which seemed to be plated with overlapping, toothlike bone. The thing snuffed at the air once, made a few more babyish cries, then began to gorge itself on the globs of yogurt the redheaded girl had thrown in her flailing.

Esp giggled, petting it between the ears as it feasted. “He is my Familiar. I am thinking that he is cute, but...in the ugly way, yes?” After it had cleaned the outside of the bag completely of yogurt, Esperanza scooped him into her arms, nuzzling it and beaming when it ran its tongue along the side of her face. A trail of thick, grey saliva was left behind, which she promptly dabbed away with the leftover napkins.

“He does not bite,” Esp said, “but he might try to steal the food.”

@VitoftheVoid

---

Percival shrugged, reaching for another of the cinnamon rolls on his plate. “Can’t say I blame you. Skulls are pretty much the de-facto symbol when it comes to necromancing. That, and maybe those little blanket-sheet ghosts you see around Halloween. Y’know the type.” He made a little “ooo” sound, then laughed at himself and took a huge bite from his roll.

“Nothing wrong with a good ol’ bit of symbolism,” he said after a swallow. “I got named after that one guy from ’The Scarlet Pimpernel’. Well, kinda. Mostly just the ‘Percy’ part. The rest was kinda just tacked on.”

He leaned back, then did a grand, sweeping gesture at the plate he had gotten for himself. “Feel free to take whatever you see fit, my good man. I mean, still the risk of gluten and all that, but pretty sure I have an apple or something in there somewhere, too.” Percival grinned a little at Isaiah’s question. “Nah. Norrevinters and Sterlings just kinda hate each other’s guts by default. Some kinda thing with their ancestors and a bunch of trade sanctions, and yadda yadda, centuries long-feud.” Percival moved his wrist in a lazy circle. “Prrrrrobably won’t be their last fight, if I had to give it a guess.”

And then a Professor stepped in to restore the status quo.

And then Percival had to do a quick double take on, who, exactly, it was that had stepped in.

“No way.”

The words were murmured, but they were there. Spire Schippers. He’d seen the face in the reports his dad had gotten enough to recognize it after a good moment or two. He had aged since then, yeah, but it was still definitely him. Working at the school. Percival was so legitimately taken aback that he didn’t even join in on the snark trading going on between Schippers and some other student, instead scratching the back of his head and watching until the Professor slipped out of the room, dragging another, clearly bewildered teacher that had wandered into the room in tow.

“Yikes.” He shook his head, grimaced a little, then turned to Isaiah. "Anyway. All that aside. What Secondaries you planning on heading into, anyway?”

It wasn’t a bad topic. Already, he could dimly hear the question being echoed across the common room. In a place where Primaries tended to be tied to last names, Secondaries tended to get much more varied results than anything.

@Prosaic

Smart ass, eh? Well could be worse I suppose. Plus given the context some might even consider it a compliment, but obviously on this occasion, not a compliment. The rebuttal seemed fair and hardly worthwhile being followed up on less he cause un-needed friction between himself and the staff, further than what was likely to already exist from any feeling bitter due to the war connection. As he thought on this Jake came to end of the meal he had gathered for himself. This was somewhat disappointing, did this mean having to mingle with the fellow students?

Just a Jake was about to make a move he saw the battle breaking professor grab another, who was likely serving a similar position at the school and pull them aside. A small frown on his face as he was unable to eavesdrop on whatever it may be they were talking about. "What strange behaviour..." With a sigh Jake got up from his seat sliding his plate onto the nearest flat surface as he made his way back over to the food table. "Missed?" Jake scans over the room with his eyes. "Not a whole lot unfortunately, rather uneventful so far. Although..." Jake points out the Norrevinter & Sterling pair. "You missed a dispute, rather minor one between those two. Though without the intrusions maybe they would of gone for each others throats."

Jake grabbed an apple from the fruit on offer as he tossed it lightly with his left hand and swiping it into the grip with his right as he rubbed it softly against his hoodie. "Lemme guess..." He points at the close pair before taking a bite of his apple. "Siblings?... at a push cousins, but I doubt that. Should never underestimate the bonds of family, there's a certain closeness to be observed." He smiles before continuing. "You will be a force to be reckoned with in combat classes. Even if you don't realise it right now. So long as you're not too heavily invested in sibling rivalry?"

"Names Jake, you'll have to forgive me I'm not a huge fan of family names. Words such as family names can dictate a persons actions. Like our squabbling duo from before for example, were they oblivious to their family ties would they really still hate each other?" Jake stops as he thinks to himself. "Apologies, sometimes I prattle on to much. As I was saying, Jake and you?" He finishes as he extends his free hand before taking another bite from the apple.

@Sailorsadie