At the very least he now had some time to think about what he was going to talk to the princess about after classes today. Victor wasn’t sure how or what he would say, would it be safe for him to tell her everything or be safe. Should he completely come clean it could be dangerous for leaf if he weren’t careful. The issue remained that he lacked the resources to investigate this further, effectively he had hit a roadblock.

These thoughts rolled through the counts mind while he got ready for class. He didn’t talk much to Salem only mentioning a change to his training schedule due to winter hours. Victor didn’t want his mage staying up later to try and catch more time in the sun while until he was used to his new classes. He also mentioned wanting to go over code phrases with him later while he was walking out the door. This didn’t leave much room for discussion.

Victor made his way to his first class of the day, an intro to tech class. Salem said it would be fun but he highly doubted that. Maybe this would make him more self sufficient in this new age and he wouldn’t have to keep breaking his phone or having the boy do it for him. None of this sounded fun to him he was glad he could get this out of the way first and enjoy his other classes.

He seemed to arrive at the class a bit after most of the others, but a few were still trickling in. he was wearing his normal loose-fitting clothes, but this time went with a more forest green pallet accompanied with a light jacket. It wasn’t normally something he would wear but it was still something one would expect some one who works for the council to wear. More akin to a field agent than anything.

Finding a spot towards the middle of the class with the small note book he kept in his pocket and a pen that he sat on the desk. He had brought his cell phone with him as well incase he needed it but it was off. He wasn’t sure if there was assigned seating like there was in other classes for the nobles, but he didn’t like sitting up there anyways. The teacher soon found her way in and started the class. This Dame Patel, he didn’t really have any opinions on her. Really, he hadn’t sat down and talked with her at length, she just came off as very energetic and that never really mixed well with him anyways.

This what Salem was here for, it was what he had come to school to learn. He eagerly finished getting ready in his dorm, choosing to wear a loose linen first green shirt, some brown pants, and an off-white canvas apron with leather straps. Salem was no stranger to work inside of a greenhouse and knew just how messy it could be, or so he thought. He readied himself before a mirror, getting psyched up as much as he could be to be learning some more plant magic. He didn't know exactly what to expect, or how much more advanced these classes would be, but he was ready to find out. His eyes glanced at an orchid that was set on the back right edge of his sink, its pale white petals allowing for the vibrant pink to shine through their center. He focused his magic and imagined the trail the plant would follow, wrapping itself around the stick placed in and growing. A thin strand of green magic formed its way from the plant down a small length of it no longer than an inch, and the plant began to grow and follow its trail.

Pleased with his progress, Salem decided it was time to head out. Placing his dirty dishes into the sink for later as Victor began to speak to him of changed schedules due to the winters shorter days. He nodded along, rinsing the cup and the teapot so that no stains would be left behind, tossing the leaves into a composte bin as Victor continued on. The last he heard was something about having codewords and then the front door closed leaving Salem in silence. He let out a sigh as he stared into the pot with water in it and a single swirling leaf. He was more than glad that Victor was finally learning to use technology. If he hadn't needed to Google one more thing for the vampire it would be too soon. Granted there were worse things he could have him doing. Salem dried off his hands with the towel that hung below the sink, pulling his hair back and up into a messy bun before sliding the tie off his wrist and holding it in place.

He made his way towards greenhouse 4, unfamiliar with the setup there as his previous trainings were at 2. Salem could see the chaos happening within the building, magic appeared to be going haywire in there, though he wasn't sure what else he expected when you get a bunch of novice mages into one room with throny plants and poison. He only hoped for their sake it wasn't as dangerous as it sounded...or looked. He filed in, taking a stand at a nearby table as he awaited the others. The professor seemed to make a grand entrance if by grand you mean narrowly dodging a flying thorn. It lodged itself safely into a wooden shelf as Salem followed it with his eyes and filing it away for later ideas in combat. The professor was a mess, but what more could he expect of someone who toiled with dirt for a living? Salems phone vibrated and he saw he had 2 new messages, one from Lilie and another from Max. How did he miss Lilies earlier?

Whatever the case, she was less likely to answer now that classes were almost in session. Probably too busy trying to contain herself to her seat with her overexcitement bouncing her up and down. It was an adorable thought, and even better mental image. He pushed it aside as the image Max had sent loaded up. Salem had to cover up his chuckle with a cough as he saw the message and vibrant image. > Whats he supposed to be? The lion that gets tamed Salem was about to send the message when his finger paused over the screen and he deleted his response. His mother wouldn't be proud of such a statement, instead he choose to send another. >Let's just be glad Varis was never that cruel. It probably wasn't what Max was looking for, and Salem was still trying to wrap his head around the idea that Max messaged him but he didn't put too much stock into it yet. Clicking his phone off as the other students began to file in.

Was it already too late to drop this class? As the instructor--Varis couldn't believe he was forced to consider whatever the abomination of a vampire was as one--spewed vulgarity and disrespected the basic foundation of their entire society, all Varis could wonder was where in the world Ryner managed to find these freaks. This was the problem with a modernist in charge of a learning institution. No respect for any of the rules and expectations that protect that world from crumbling beneath them and everyone wonders why even a Starag acts out. It's obvious when vampires like this manage to cling desperately to positions of authority when they are clearly little more than insects that need to be squashed as quickly as possible.

Varis grumbled as the instructor stepped away to gather supplies, turning his attention to his companion. Eris at the very least seemed to be enjoying himself, alluding to his tireless supply of awful and unnecessary commentary, but Varis scowled at the question. “Between this break, the boy nearly assaulting me in my own home, and whatever mockery of a class this passes as, I’ve barely had the opportunity to encounter something otherwise. There’s been exactly one pleasant thing since we left the Academy and this moment that even vague registers as something other than unpleasant but I suppose that’s the life of a noble heir.” Varis grumbled. “I suppose you had something at least passingly enjoyable over the break happen?”

---

---

Aaron was busy getting a closer look at the lattice on the floor as Professor Daun explained it, trying to get a rough mental estimate of how much of a challenge the tasks it presented would be until a brilliant flash of colour drew his eye to the corner of the room. His eyebrows raised as the flurry of light gave way to a woman, patting herself down.

“I did it. I did it!”

He almost jumped again as the mellow tone of Professor Daun’s introduction was interrupted once more, Aaron casting a disbelieving look over at the girl the Professor eventually managed to introduce as Meredith. The only other light mage on campus, was she? Aaron knew light was an uncommon affinity, but he didn’t realize it was that rare.

The girl’s—Meredith’s—bubbly attitude was certainly a change of pace from the evening he’d had, but an amusing thought did cross his mind that she’d probably get along swimmingly with Lilie. Maybe if things kept going well they’d get a chance to meet. Come to think of it, Lilie probably had a partner or two in her class too, or more seeing as her affinity — and there he went, distracted again, and missed most of Meredith’s last sentence.

Cracking a sheepish smile, Aaron did his best to pretend he’d been paying attention, eyeing the girl’s outstretched fist with veiled confusion. Was she… trying to hand him something? Gesturing to the lattice maybe? He wasn’t sure, but he offered Meredith a nod of acknowledgement, figuring a handshake probably wasn’t what she was looking for with that… whatever it was.

“Nice to meet you too, Meredith. And don’t worry about it,” he said, waving off her apology. He had to assume that “the whole terrifying vampires thing” referred to his partnership to Varis, and if that was the case, he certainly couldn’t blame her for keeping her distance. If anything, it was preferable. “And thank you for offering your time. Aside from Professor Daun, you’re actually the first other light mage I’ve met. I hope I can keep up.”

Looking back to the professor in question, he gestured to the ground. “So, how do we get started?”

---

Making alloys by bullying a collared weirdo on the astral plane. Sounded like Max's kind of class. Professor Artiae's mention of 'firmly independent' mages elicited a raised brow from Max, though he didn't comment. He certainly wasn't talking about Fido over there, so what, was he just calling Max uncooperative? As empowering as it was to hear he could make the room explode just by being difficult, it couldn't be that hard. He hadn't made that stupid crystal explode in last semester's partner exercises, in any case. All the other guy had to do was let Max take the lead; he was probably used to that.

Labrador's monotone encouragement didn't exactly put Max in the mood to behave, though. Sure, this guy would rather be eating kibble out of his leech's hand than sit here; Max totally understood having better things to do, but he could at least keep quiet instead of being patronizing. That explained the comment, then; Artiae knew Max was disagreeable at best and fully expected him to perform the magical equivalent of French kissing with this jackass regardless. If the sparks didn't fly, there was probably reason for concern.

Max checked his phone rather flagrantly one last time before he fully engaged with the lesson, unconcerned with looking rude. Salem didn't even play along with the joke. What, was Aaron on his pity list because he got sent back to the pound when his owner allegedly died? Lilie, surprisingly, at least got him to exhale forcefully from his nose. Asston definitely had a leash somewhere; with self-respect that low, his vampire probably walked him to class and let him piss on street lamps. The brunet slipped his phone away shortly after, not looking to push the envelope too far.

The cube in question was already inhabited by a plentiful dose of Max's essence by the time he began, and the first part of the exercise was child's play. The mage extended a hand, bidding the metal to hover above the table. Pure metal, uniform crystallization, near-limitless possiblities for a clean faultline to form. He suspected that wouldn't be the case in a moment, but that just meant he needed to do another hasty internet search on metallic structure when he got back to the dorm later. His pointer finger flicked to draw a plus shape in the air as indentations etched themselves into the cube in parallel, and after a few moments of seemingly nothing happening, the cube segmented into four equally-sized prisms in a loose orbit about each other.

"Whenever you're ready, I'll hold them in place," The mage muttered before anyone gave him shit about the pieces moving too much. Spontaneity was far easier when his magic already had a flow to it, in his opinion. Inert metal needed to build up momentum, but objects that were already charged were easily and effectively manipulated. Granted, the whole point of the exercise was to stop movement, but he knew what he was doing, damn it!

The fingers of Max's other hand flexed at his side to drill the motion into muscle memory. While the professor could probably catch shrapnel in his sleep at this point, the boy didn't see any reason he shouldn't be prepared to at least deflect anything flying at him regardless. Ashton could fend for himself; it'd probably be a mercy for him to get brained with a metal rod.

---

@Achronum

There was a weird mix of energy a out the room. Some clearly eager to use their magic again, while others seemed to be either exhausted or uncaring. Salem focused his attention at the two that were practically bouncing in place. His mind immediately going to the thought of how Lilie must be doing the same thing. Eager to get her lessons on and advance, or at the very least use, her magic. He would've liked to think that even Max would have more energy than the other two in the room. He may not like people, but he seemed genuinely interested in figuring out more about magic and developing his skills with it as varied as he can. Why else would he take up Salems offer to trade lessons for transmutation and evocation. The final student, however, held a different pose from all the rest. He couldn't quite decide how he felt about her. Either she was very good at what she could do, or she was cocky and overconfident.

Salem listened on to the explanation that Professor Leo was giving to the class. He hadn't really thought about how other plant mages may of developed outside of a non plant family. They didn't have much of the knowledge that he, and apparently this raven haired girl, had. At least, not if Professor Leo had to explain about what cuttings were. Salem glanced over towards the overall girl, noticing her look towards him before he turned his attention back towards Leo. Was she sizing up her competition? Or simply just surprised to see another mage who already knows about the subject? If it was the former, then Salem had no cares on how she viewed him. He wasn't here to compete with other mages of his kind. He was here to learn, develope, and enhance his skills for what he would need in the future.

Once the Professor finished his little speech and gave out the pairings, Salem began to make his was towards his table, noticing that Angelica was already there. He slipped his hands into one of his aprons pockets and pulled out a pair of small leather gloves that came up just past the wrist. Slipping them on and tugging on the cuff of each glove to ensure they were snug. He extended a gloved hand out towards Angelica for her to shake. "Salem Spellman. I don't know about 'showing them serious magic' but I am ready to further develop my skills and hone the ones I have. We may be speeding things up, but horticulture is still about patience, practice, and a delicate touch. Don't want to be singled out for knowledge only to wither our cutting on the first try now do we?"

Walkie-talkie. Walkie-talkie. Walkie-talkie.

The phrase echoed into Benjamin’s head, the syllables performing a haunting melody as they replayed over and over. The intricacy of the definition betrayed the actual outcome. Dame Patel had an explanation that was both precise and informative with an endless supply of chip and patience. The result was in a word that he had somehow never heard before, a technology that had not crossed his mind in his near century. The device was as mysterious as his smartphone, a relic from an era of communication.

And it was called a walkie-talkie.

The snort that had erupted from Ben was both wholly unnecessary and shamefully humiliating. After the Dame went out of her way to acknowledge them and he had been sure to remain as pleasant as possible, to remain humble despite the honoring, it was outright disgraceful that he would dare to react in such a way. But no amount of willpower or exercise or leaning into old habits could save that distinct chuckle of his to escape.

Shameful. Absolutely shameful.

Who, however, could blame him wholly? Could they have not used a pair of words that didn't speak to his inner juvenile? No. No, for his lineage it was inappropriate to react in such a manner. The class had only just begun, he needed to get better control of himself. Even if he had to bite down on his tongue to ensure he would remain silent, he would do so. An arduous task, he realized as the dame repeated the word, but one worth committing to.

Amaris could feel the inevitable shifting of eyes as Dame Patel greeted the three nobles she would be teaching for the semester. It seemed most of the major shock of their attendance had faded by now but that didn’t stop the curious glances from the students who had yet to experience the nobles up close and in person. Even she couldn’t help but cast subtle glances towards her classmates as if to verify for herself the names that had been said. There wasn’t much time for students to spend gawking anyway as Dame Patel shifted quickly into the subject at hand.

The class overview sounded simple enough, but an entire semester for only three devices? It might have been considered an introductory course but didn’t that seem a little… too easy? Or so was her thought before the instructor introduced the object referred to as a ‘walkie talkie’. It was a curious device, small enough to be held with one hand but much larger than the phone she possessed at current. As far as she could tell from where she was seated, there was nothing that looked remotely like a screen anywhere on it.

How is one supposed to direct their call? Did you speak a name to it and it connects to the device belonging to that person? There was also the matter of its name, a basic combination of words that led the Countess to believe that some walking would be involved in its use. However, as the demonstration was made… there was no name request and certainly no mobility from either as a test was conducted. Even after a short description of the device, Amaris was no closer to answering her own question about it. What she did learn, however, is that it was far from secure as a means to communicate. From the sound of it, anyone with a compatible device could just wander in on a private conversation. Was that, perhaps, a reason why she had never seen anyone use something like it?

Eventually, Dame Patel opened the floor to questions but Amaris found that she had too many. Was there a way to keep people out of the room you were speaking in? Would you even know if someone new had entered it? Was there a limit to how many people could fit into the same room at one time? But above all else… where did the ‘walkie’ come in to the ‘talkie’? Holding back a sigh of confusion, Amaris raised her hand into the air and asked the only question that wouldn’t result in a rambling train of her thoughts.

“It seems so open for a private communication device. What sort of occasion was it designed for?”

A short mention of the other nobles in the room then quickly moved on with the lesson. It was something he enjoyed about this professor, quick to the point with a little bit of flamboyance to get the point across. She quickly went over a few quick things Email, Cell Phones, and Walky Talkie. He was somewhat familiar with the last one as they used them on the council but cell phones were hard to understand and the Email was a strange realm of trickery.

The other’s in the class mostly seemed to be equally confused or intrigued by what was being explained with the hand held’s. Honestly he wasn’t too keen on the inner workings of it. It was always, “we are on this channel.” Or “hold the talk key down for a second before talking.” Half the time the dam things would only work within a few kilometers of each other.

Benjamin seemed to find the name funny by the not so subtle snort and smile. At least he wasn’t so stone faced all the time. Glancing to Amaris he could tell that she was thinking very hard about the subject given the face she was making with the explanation given.

“It seems so open for a private communication device. What sort of occasion was it designed for?”

The question finally came up when the teacher finished her explanation. “Huh, that is a good question… what did they tell him when he had to use them.” he thought for a moment before adding to the discussion.

“Short ranged interpersonal communication. We use them during oper… uh Jobs with the council occasionally.”

Pulling the brick of a cell phone out of his pocket with a shrug. The phone’s screen and case were cracked in several places but the device was top of the line for simplicity and endurance. Even with these specs, it still looked damaged and worn.

“I just want to know how to use this… I’m not even sure where to start with the Email.”

Jostling his phone around even as he did made one of the buttons fall off. This was enough for victor to look at the device like it betrayed him. “So much for endurance with it being a week old.” he whispered, a frown showing on his face.

---

That Dame Patel would indulge him gave Ben a great source of humility. He did, at minimum, give her a nod of acknowledgement and appreciation. To think that communication went beyond letters and phones! Their evolution was one he was entirely unfamiliar with as the changing times often meant more stubborn vampires dug their heels in firmly in the old ways. While it was as good a time as any to remark on even his own father's stubbornness, he had to admit that he was in that camp as well. Aside from spending years crafting his penmanship, receiving phone calls from his mages and receiving letters from his father and others held two different methods that he was able to mentally compartmentalize; letters felt more personal and calls felt more accessible. Of course, he could simply be just like his father, but he would prefer to avoid that thought.

The evolution of technology really did amaze him. He was aware of the Eve security detail using similar devices, but he was the last person to know. As his mage would attest, despite his young age Ben was not the most 'tech-savvy' (a term that still confuses him but to his chagrin is often uttered in his presence) vampire. This was not entirely uncommon regardless of a vampire's age. However, even the oldest would at minimum acknowledge the convenience and have their mages learn the new technology in order to keep up. For years he had assumed he would be going the same way as his mages were young and he was still cultivating his Luscin branch. Broadening his horizons and at least making an effort, however, was more prudent.

Lilie had brought up the suggestion more than once. It didn't take much thought to realize that the typewriter he used for his assignments was slowly driving the mage up the wall. Ben had long gotten used to the clack of keys and would dare say he actually enjoyed it. Comparing it to the much softer clicking of a laptop did enlighten him to the difference. The poor girl would often retreat to her room or go outside whenever he worked. To her credit, she was always polite about it, but her dislike became obvious. And so there Ben was, listening intently to Dame Patel's lesson. The walkie-talkie (whose name he will never understand) in his hand felt like some mystical object. It was larger than he had expected for one, the dials and buttons a mystery to him. He wondered if his father knew of these. He took Dame Patel's warning to heart as he avoided any buttons; causing an awful racket was the last thing he wanted. He decided to take the advice to spread out as he rose from his chair.

Once he had deemed himself far away enough he cleared his throat and pressed the button. "...I am not sure what to say," he said, the thought only occurring to him after the matter.

Listening carefully to Professor Daun’s explanation, Aaron didn’t judge the task too difficult—an estimate he made cautiously, of course, given his proven tendency to fall on his face through the simplest of tasks. Reasonable apprehension aside, though, he was feeling fairly confident; his performance in Professor Daun’s class had been generally impressive (or so he was told) and on top of that, Meredith seemed to adopt the tougher of the two parts of their task: shaping the light into the pyramid. All Aaron had to do was draw more light into the pyramid to maintain brightness, presumably at a rate matching Meredith’s so there wouldn’t be any spikes or dips. It was a clever first test: it built on an already well-developed skill, but challenged him with finer control at the same time.

Honestly, Aaron was really just excited to tackle a job he actually knew how to do.

Eyeing the pyramid for a moment, he raised his hands in front of him, taking a long, slow breath. As he exhaled, his ring began to glow; however, a moment’s hesitation dimmed it. The mention of encountering another’s magic sprang a memory to mind, one of his first Affinity Mastery class at the Academy. It seemed so long ago now, back in the brief window where he and Salem were on decent terms: they’d grown bored of the crystal exercise, and decided to have it out in what amounted to a magical arm-wrestle. It didn’t really occur to Aaron until now that that night, having his magic interact with someone else’s, was a much bigger step in his learning than he’d given it credit for.

Despite the fresh bitterness associated with Salem, Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle. “As a matter of fact, Professor, I’ve actually done it before.”

Back on task, his ring brightened once more as he focused on drawing light from his surroundings, his eyes glossing over in glowing gold to match. Blinking the sensation away—he’d have to get a handle on that eventually if he wanted any semblance of discretion when he practiced, but that was a job for another time—he took another breath, bracing himself for first contact with Meredith’s magic as he guided the light into the pyramid.

“Touching” Meredith’s magic was like a static shock, and Aaron’s light flickered in surprise before stabilizing again. It was a while ago, but he remembered his contact with Salem’s magic pretty well: not nearly as shocking, it was… earthy, he supposed, with the strange sensation of being both dynamic and rooted at the same time. Like an old tree, or a field of grass; changing, sure, but never budging. Salem had described his magic as a puppy, eager to please—he supposed that was a fair enough interpretation, if a little simplified.

But Meredith’s was nothing like Salem’s. Where his had a sense of stability, Meredith’s was all over the place, buzzing with excitement—much like its master, Aaron supposed. His own magic got a little overwhelmed at first, but stayed surprisingly stable. There was no explosion of magic or fearful fizzling out, just a moment of adjustment for his magic to learn the new rhythm before it melded cooperatively with Meredith’s, blending Aaron’s supplemental light into her pyramid.

“There, not so bad,” Aaron muttered, focus still on the pyramid as he checked that the flow of light within was even, with no bright or dark spots.

Victor was first to offer insight into the device, seemingly already familiar with its purpose. It was a rather textbook explanation, and paired with a personal experience to him that she couldn’t relate to, but it somehow lacked what she needed to fully grasp what the object was. He had added what sounded like a limitation of distance, which seemed like a rather important detail to know, but ‘interpersonal communication’ seemed so… redundant. It defined without explanation which, with how swift he was to follow up into his own off topic request. For a man training her to be patient and focused, he seemed to be lacking quite a bit for this particular subject.

The Dame took the inquiries in stride, addressing each concern individually until she had covered everything that she thought she needed to. Her detailed response had captivated an eager Countess, Amaris listening intently to every word describing the potential for the device. So it was something that was used primarily in groups instead of with an individual, although it didn’t rule that type of communication out entirely either. There was also the matter of physical distance playing a role in the device’s function. From the sound of things, it’s primary use was in coordinating group efforts, whatever those efforts may be, and to be as accessible a device as possible. Suited to vampires and all types of mortals? What a wondrous mechanism indeed.

Amaris gratefully accepted the walkie talkie into her hands and rose to her feet. She wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. With its brick-like shape she would have thought it to be a bit heavier, but it was surprisingly light to her. Perhaps a bit on the clunkier side, but one couldn’t always expect fashion with function. Count Eve had already received his device and had started making his way to another area of the classroom as instructed. She cast a quick glance at Victor before scanning the room for an optimal place for her to stand. Once satisfied with a destination, the Countess made her way to the wall and stared down at the device expectantly.

Despite having known what was supposed to happen, Amaris couldn’t help but to react as the object crackled to life and Benjamin’s voice filtered through. Her eyes widened with surprise before a small smile worked its way onto her face. She shifted the weight of the walkie talkie around in her hands, inspecting each of the knobs and buttons in turn before pressing her thumb down on the button slowly. She repeated the action of pressing down the button a couple of times before holding it down and raising the device closer to her face curiously.

“Ah! I hear you, Count. Is my voice coming through as well?” It took Amaris a moment to remember that she also had to remove her thumb from the button so that she could actually receive a response.

Salem cocked an eyebrow at Angelica, shrugging and pulling his hand back as he placed his forearms against the ridge if the table. He watched as she decidedly replanted the cutting into a new pot to allow it to grow and blossom as needed. "I'm not exactly sure who you think I am to be bossing people around outside of class. But I can assure you that's far from the truth." He spoke with a smile still on his face, though it was clear Angelica wasn't here to make friends, she was barely here to learn if he guessed it. In his mind she only seemed to care about one thing, being right and being on top. When she was done explaining to him what steps they should take in he nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a simple enough plan to approach this. Though remember that we should be working together on this or it won't work. If you try to overpower me in magic, you'll simply end up placing more roadblocks for the both of us. I was thinking maybe before we start we could try and sync up our breathing, be on the same page so that when our magic comes out it won't have to fight to match, it'll be relatively close already." Salem offered her with a serious look, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly as if to ready himself.

---

What the fuck. Max had expected unpleasantness, maybe akin to a cat being rubbed the wrong way, not having its fur ripped out and set on fire. And, like touching a fire, he'd recoiled away on instinct and withdrew his presence from the shrapnel without thought rather than doing something useful with his magic like stopping the explosion. If Artiae hadn't been there, he'd probably be dead. Wonderful start. There was sweat pooling on the back of his neck too; hopefully that came from the sudden burst of heat and not fear, he didn't need Poodle over there thinking he was soft.

In the short time it took for Max to catch his breath the surprise and panic gave way to annoyance. That collared idiot was going to get them both skewered; all he had to do was cooperate - surely that tool was capable of that. Asstongue or whatever was a senior, so he had to have taken this class already, which meant he already knew how to do this. Was he being intentionally difficult? Got his kicks making underclassmen look like idiots because he had no power in his home life with Count BDSM? He was tempted to snap at him, but as he opened his mouth, Max realized he didn't have much ground to stand on. The guy had volunteered for this; not even Max was willing to waste hours of his day for a whole semester just out of petty spite, so this coward certainly didn't have it in him. Weak men like that could be angry conniving little shits, but he doubted to that extreme.

So that meant Max was at fault. Great.

"Is that gonna make a difference?" Max questioned the professor as his classmate flicked his queer little wand around. Maybe he'd been focusing too hard on holding everything in place and his magic subconsciously rejected any outside movement to the contrary. So, it would stand to reason that if he was the pusher in this case, Ashton would be responsible for compensating for him, rather than the other way around. Logically, anyway; nothing in magic made any fucking sense at first.

Adequately prepared for another near-death experience, Max extended both hands to prime the levitating fragments with his magic before he brought both hands together, curling his fingers inward to slide the pieces gently and steadily into place. His movements were notably hesitant and incremental now, probing each movement for resistance or more heat before proceeding. Yep, he definitely looked like a coward now. So annoying - why was the second person necessary? It wasn't like he knew any other metal mages, nor did he feel like mixing his magic with any other mages on principle even if he did know one. There was probably some asinine lesson about teamwork in here somewhere. Though, the last academy-approved lesson on teamwork he received ended with mental magic conspiracies and Eris losing his fucking marbles, so Max didn't exactly have his hopes up.

---

Victor sat back and listened to the others. Honestly he only knew a few things about how the radio worked and a bit more about how to talk on one, but was mostly in this class to learn about the cellular device in his hand and what this internet email is all about. The only other thing he was interested in is how they used spiders in the computer and how they used a web spanning the world without it being seen. A sticky situation for sure, at least he liked spiders.

The professor handed all of the student’s radios and had them split up away from each other. Benjamin spoke first with Amaris right behind him, the others in their group seemed hesitant to speak into the strange contraption. The awkwardness in how they looked and handled the thing made him smile. Even if he was the one to be awkward with it he would still find it funny.

He could hear the jumbled mess of the other group and sighed. He brought the radio up stopping a few inches from his face and pressed the talk button. “Victor to Benjamin, be sure to keep the radio an inch or two away from your face when you speak, how copy? Over.” his smile didn’t fade but he tried to trip the other count up with the radio procedures he has used before when working with the council.

---

Though Meredith’s impromptu lesson supplement was a speedbump to his concentration, Aaron couldn’t deny that it was, in a way, kind of exciting. Not only was the sudden flood of magic a shock to his own, but the feeling of sunlight, actual sunlight entering the stream was… exhilarating. Not just from a practical standpoint, either; aside from the very tangible burst of energy, the idea that he had, by proxy, finally worked with sunlight was like a glimpse into a very exciting future. After all, that was what light mages were known for, their biggest claim to fame: the power to protect, and also to destroy, by manipulating the single most dangerous substance known to vampires. He knew on an intellectual level that such a power would someday be his to command, but to feel it, even just for an instant, was a kind of thrilling he hadn’t experienced before, and couldn’t wait to feel again.

Things calmed down for the rest of the lesson, and though the excitement never quite faded, it wasn’t long before the two of them were working well in tandem, having found a rhythm that worked for both of them. By the time the lesson was up, Aaron felt leagues better than he did when he came in, like he’d just come back from a run in the woods.

As jazzed up as he was, he was still definitely ready for a break, but Aaron hardly took two steps toward his coat before Meredith whirled around in his way, asking for his number. He opened his mouth to give it, but hesitated, remembering the conditions of his isolation, should he agree to undertake it.

“That’s a good idea, but do you think we could exchange numbers later?” he suggested, hoping a friendly grin would cover the outright oddness of the request. “There’s just a good chance I’m gonna be getting a new phone soon; no point in giving you a number that won’t work in a few nights.”

"Oh, yeah, totes! Just let me know when you get your new stuff working and we'll do a tradsies then!" Meredith agreed, unphased by the request. "Not like you can get away from me anytime soon anyways!"

Vaguely ominous statement aside, Aaron nodded in agreement, bidding Meredith goodbye for the time being. With that hurdle jumped, he collected his coat and made his way outside, leaving the front unbuttoned to take advantage of the chilly air. He had nowhere to go, really, and with the benches covered in snow he opted to lean on a wall near the entrance, calmly watching the snow. He could feel a bit of fatigue creeping in from his lesson, but it paled in comparison to the buzzing of his magic: His body might have been starting to feel the strain of the magical workout he’d just undergone, but his magic was raring to go, alive and excited from the new and challenging stimulation of more complex work. He was greatly looking forward to tackling the challenges in store for the next lesson; in fact, daunting as his major was, the fact that it came with early access to higher levels of Affinity Mastery was definitely a silver lining. With any luck, the eagerness of his magic would persist throughout his education, and that enthusiasm would help protect him from the grim possibility of affinity loss going forward.

But that was far too dour of a subject to dwell on, and for the first time in a week, Aaron was feeling… content. His magic’s thrum, the pleasant fatigue of exercise, the satisfaction of a job well done in class; it all worked together to bring him a rare tranquil moment, his head not clouded with the worry, fear, or dread for the future that usually harried his waking mind. It was a little selfish—moon only knew there were plenty of things that deserved his attention right now—but if dark thoughts were content to stay at bay, he wouldn’t invite them back just yet.

Holding his palm out in front of him, he let his magic flow freely, forming a trio of little lights in his hand, slowly orbiting one another. They weren’t very bright—there wasn’t much light on a cloudy night aside from what he could pull from nearby street lamps, and he had no interest in pulling very hard to brighten them—but they were charming, occasionally forming links among themselves as they traveled. The sight brought a smile to Aaron’s face; a few months ago, merely pulling light from the environment required full focus, and now pulling and shaping it felt as natural as breathing. If he wanted to think very hard on it, he supposed it was reassuring, a tangible example that, at least in this one single area, he was actually moving forward for the better.

He passed a few minutes that way, until his magic finally calmed down enough not to be bursting at the seams—a smirk met his lips at the thought that Meredith’s out-of-control magic might be a bad influence on his. Flicking his wrist to check the time, he noticed there was still an unread notification on his phone, from Max of all people. Right, that came in right before class started. Sighing, Aaron supposed he’d deign to take a look, fully prepared for some poor taste jab about Varis’ survival as he pulled his phone from his pocket.


Hm, not about Varis after all. Aaron peered at the image, examining it for a moment in confusion. At first, he wasn’t really sure what he was looking at; upon realizing it was a mage in a garish outfit, he felt no more enlightened. Aaron was no fashion expert, but at least he didn’t walk around looking like a Charms student that got into a fight with a can of paint. What about this had anything to do with— oh. He finally noticed what must have been the focal point of the picture: a heavy leather collar around the mage’s neck, secured with… what on earth were those things? Straws?

Aaron rolled his eyes, closing the image. It didn’t matter; this was no different than any other of Max’s “Fido” comments. Collared mages weren’t the norm, luckily, but they were common enough that you’d see them from time to time; a few—this one included, obviously—walked around campus, and Aaron had seen his fair share accompanying nobles and delegates at Noila Castle. Fortunately, despite her rather… particular preferences for the dress code of her mages, Her Majesty wasn’t a fan of collaring, and popular opinion in his circles was that it was something of a faux pas: frowned upon, but best dealt with by pretending you didn’t see anything. Was this Max’s class partner, then? If that was the case, Aaron didn’t envy him. It sounded more than a little distracting to try and dance around that elephant in the room and work on his magic at the same time.