[quote=@Lewascan2] I'm sure Ciel's new attitude would spark some measure of confusion in Malcer at first, which begins to transition into concern the more he is exposed to the new her and how she acts around Bartholomew. Being nonconfrontational, Malcer wouldn't have been the first to make accusations or anything, but he would perhaps have asked her "if she was alright" if he ever got her relatively alone. And I'm sure her response would be less than encouraging. Owing to the fact that Malcer wasn't generally the most "in-person socialized" and kinda lived in his own head a lot of the time, he's the kind of person that when receiving one of these backhanded compliments would either humbly shrug it off, miss the compliment part entirely, or directly ask for clarification if he's confused on the intent. Which, naturally, Bartholomew wouldn't really be able to do without digging his hole deeper. Malcer's lack of socialism in some respects leads him to be blunter at times and cut through social shenanigans. A short "I'm sorry?" or "in what way?" and so on might start to see Bartholomew's facade unravel in Malcer's eyes.[/quote] Yup. She would have said "I'm fine,", but Malcer would easily be able to tell that she wasn't. Bartholomew would probably notice that Malcer isn't generally the most "in-person socialized", and would use that to his advantage. He probably would have answered his clarification questions in a way that would have seemed like a save to others, but would have been a deliberate diss that only Malcer would pick up on. [quote=@Lewascan2] You bet the first thing Malcer would think is to ask "Did you get hacked?/What's this about?" on some alternative social media connection if he received such a weird message, complete with screenshot. Although, if Bartholomew was already that deep, it's certainly questionable if that inquiry would ever have reached Ciel. [/quote] Yeah, I would say at that point, Bartholomew was already in deep, so he would have been able to make sure that Ciel didn't see that message. He probably would have answered Malcer's inquiry with "No. Leave me alone," and a prompt block of Malcer and the other friends' accounts on Ciel's alternative social media accounts.