Scribe of Thoth

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

_{April 13th - ???}

---

Well, the mirror gym certainly didn't look like it did the last time they were in there. Daigo would've thought the familiarity to the actual gym would've been a good thing, but Mira seemed to think otherwise. Then again, that was a lot of shadow students. If they all turned hostile, the group would be dogpiled before they could even call their Personas. And even that was better than playing more basketball.

At Genki's complaint, the redhead anxiously swiveled his gaze across the gym in search of anything that looked like a viable route. Even if they were stealthy in their dumb costumes, the open gymnasium didn't exactly have much cover for them to hide behind. Plus, their track record of being unable to sneak around a blind girl in a dark room didn't inspire confidence. There was a balcony, which meant there had to be stairs somewhere, and staircases were usually compartmentalized from the rest of the building.

Wait, couldn't their Personas fly? Trying it in the gymnasium proper was probably a recipe for getting knocked out of the sky with magic basketballs, but the locker rooms should have doors that led outside. Assuming they still existed on the Other Side, anyway. Ugh, but what if there were more shadow students changing? He'd already been put through one harrowing trip into potential-naked-lady-land today, and Hoshino's suggestion that he just take his glasses off was even less appealing when the people he was accidentally peeping on could turn into monsters.

"D'you think there's a way to get outside? We'd bypass all the sports and Khepri and... uh," Daigo's voice tapered off briefly as he looked to the transformed Noriaki. Nope, still creepy and terrifying. Genki wasn't much better, but the ginger supposed he didn't really have room to judge given his own attire. "His angel... baby... thing might be able to make it up to the roof." The gym did look a bit bigger than it did in the real world, though - no telling how high up the roof would actually be when they got there.

"Either that or... sneak under the bleachers somehow." Daigo punctuated his disjointed musing with a noncommittal shrug. Mira and Ueno were the experts here; he wasn't even sure what the 'rules' of this place were yet. "Wait, there's not gonna be pocket lint shadows under there, is there? Like, is everything here dangerous?" If it kept with the sports theme, he doubted there were any wells full of evil hands, but evil sinks were still a possibility. Or maybe volleyball nets that entangle people. Or just regular sports without any malicious additions at all - that was torture enough.

---

@Hero@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

_{April 13th - Afternoon}

---

That wasn't the answer Daigo wanted. Like always, he was given no answers and ended up with twice as many questions as he had when he started. He supposed it was slightly comforting that William wasn't behind their Personas after all, though. At least, Ueno had one without ever visiting the Velvet Room or signing a contract. But Mineri had and now the Velvet Room exists in her house. Or maybe it always did and the arson was an attack on William? But then why burn everyone else too?

The boy's frown only deepened as he considered the scenario. Ueno seemed to have no such objections, and beckoned them on as eagerly as could be. As skeptical as he was about the protection a blind girl could provide, he figured she had to have been capable of something if she survived inside the mirror world for a whole summer. Plus, if they wanted to find answers, at least Ueno would know what questions to ask in the first place.

On Genki's approach, Daigo shuffled in place for a moment, as if debating whether to get out of the other second year's way or not. It looked like everyone was ready except him; better to just rip the band-aid off. The redhead hoisted himself onto the counter and raised a hand experimentally, stopping short of actually touching the mirror. Still deliberating - even though he'd already seen the cat dive in like it was water, and Emiha still dangled halfway between hell and earth for him to plainly see. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and crawled forward into the mirror.

The impact of glass on forehead never came, and when Daigo opened his eyes, he found himself inexplicably back in the gym, with the basketball games audibly back in full swing.

"Why can't I-"

Oh. This wasn't his gym uniform. He wasn't in the gym. The boy raised his hand in front of his chest and willed whatever shred of determination had gotten him inside to come forth. Cyan flames burst from his palm, and that sun card once again rose from the blaze to dance tantalizingly before him. Khepri. Reassured but not comforted, Daigo let out a shaky exhale as he let the card descend back to the depths of his soul.

"Oi, Mira-chan, where'd you go?" He wondered aloud, too timid to raise his voice in fear of attracting Shadows. He received his answer moments later when his gaze followed the source of the noise to the open gym doors and the feline girl that had evidently opened them. "I always knew they'd have sports in hell," Daigo lamented softly as he approached.

---

@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

_{April 13th - Afternoon}

---

Daigo's head was swimming as Ueno recapped her story; none of this felt real. Which, if the past week was anything to go off of, meant it was absolutely, without a doubt, real. Worse, it made the stakes that much higher. Not only did he have to worry about some shadow monster eating him while he gallivanted around the mirror world on the whims of some butterfly, there was also a chance it could decide to burn down the restaurant and kill him in his sleep. And it would kill him - Ueno was crazy if she thought her friends were anything but Shadow food right now. It was a small comfort they had a veteran of supernatural combat to consult in place of a demon cat with questionable motives, at least.

At her mention of Mineri's address, the redhead shot to his feet in alarm, "Akai- that's the house! The one that William was in!" Not that he had any idea what that meant, but it had to be important somehow. Probably. Maybe the appearance of her dead friend was a clue for her to find the - what was it? Linen Room? Or... that blue door had been a portal to the afterlife and William was some jailor of the damned waiting to collect on their souls in the fine print.

Suddenly very conscious of the gravity of the situation, Daigo nervously fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as he thought. If she couldn't remember what started those fires, they could easily find themselves repeating it. The price for a breach of contract was apparently memories, but Ueno clearly remembered plenty about the Other Side, so that couldn't have been it. Maybe the demon lady sealed her out because she'd survived the fire thing somehow.

Ugh, speculation hurt his head and nothing made sense anyway. Better to just keep with the plan until William gave them another cryptic piece of nothing to ponder over. "Don't worry about it, we'll probably figure it all out when we're inside. The Shadow pulled everyone touching me in too last week, so if one of us drags you in... it should work the same, right?"

Conjuring a veneer of false courage, the diminutive boy approached the mirror. It crumpled almost immediately. Even with his posturing, the reflection that stared back at him didn't look very confident or heroic; just a scrawny little kid made even smaller by timid posture and glasses that were too big for his face. A bout of lightheadedness pulsed dully across the back of his skull. These people were so composed and here he was, the same coward he was when that damn hand had grabbed him, ready to collapse and cry at the first hint of adversity but too afraid of becoming a burden to follow through.

So what did his contract with Khepri mean?

"Ueno-senpai," He mumbled soberly as he searched for the words he could assign to his worries, "What- What's the point of all this? Persona. What is it?"

---

@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

_{April 13th - Afternoon}

---

The plan couldn't have gone worse. All three of them managed to expose themselves and, while Daigo was thankful he wouldn't be going down alone, he'd never manage to slip away now that all his compatriots were involved. Did she know what a Shadow was? Or was Ueno merely scoffing at Genki's excuse? If she did, one would think she'd know to avoid mirrors.

Unfortunately, Daigo got his wish; she stepped away from the mirror - toward him. She was going to kill him. He'd die to blind samurai kung fu. When the hand plopped down on the top of his head, the squirrelly second-year raised his hands in preparation to block a knee to the face, only to lower them again when her hands clamped down on his shoulders. Even worse, she'd snap his neck like they do in the movies! Or- or do a shoulder... death... touch...

Okay, he probably wasn't in immediate danger. Daigo only tuned in to Emi's hysterics when Noriaki decided to antagonize her for some reason and the ginger heard his name excitedly squealed. Nevermind, he was still going to die - just by school administration rather than angry woman. They were caught. Busted. Cornered- did she say William? Ueno didn't even seem angry; quite the opposite, in fact. They were saved! Exonerated! Some... other positive word!

Though it begged the question of how she knew about William. Had she signed the contract too? Seemed like a waste to give a blind girl a Persona. Though, she could evidently see the butterfly so... maybe demons or Shadows or whatever are visible to everyone? He didn't know what a Mineri was - wait, no, that was one of the girls that died, wasn't it? Maybe her house was the one they found miraculously repaired, and Ueno had been there too.

"W-William yes, Minoru- err, Mineri, no," Daigo sheepishly answered in hopes that acquiescence would spare their disciplinary records, "A demon... hand... shadow... thing came out of a mirror in the gym the other day and pulled me in, so when we saw you and the butterfly going into a room with mirrors I- well, I mean, err, we, I guess- uh, followed you into the, um... g-girl's room." Though Ueno couldn't see it, the echoes of a shoe feverishly tapping against the floor announced rather blatantly that the redhead's nervous ticks had come out in full force at the admission.

"I promise I'm not a pervert! I don't even l- uh. I'm sorry!" The boy's face had easily surpassed his hair in redness, and his cadence picked up to match Ueno's. "C-can someone else take over? I think I'm... rambling too much... or-digging-my-own-grave..."

---

@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

_{April 13th - Afternoon}

---

Daigo wasn't certain if the definition of bullying encompassed dragging the unwilling into supernatural danger, but he would definitely be petitioning the school administration to spread awareness about it. Y'know, if he could actually convince anyone that supernatural danger even existed. Hoshino - cruel, merciless Hoshino - denied him even the dignity to walk to his own death like a man; he chose instead to lead him there like an animal sent for slaughter. Must've learned that working at the yakuza konbini. At least Genki had the benevolence to not let him face his end half-blind. Not that fetching his glasses made their messy-haired classmate any better; that good cop act was transparent. He could frame their little excursion as fun and exciting all he wanted, but all that meant was that he was complicit in Hoshino's scheme.

"Thanks," Daigo timidly muttered as he slipped his glasses back on his face, his other complaints left unvoiced. Not that he was scared to voice them or anything. Nope. There just wasn't time and- jeez, eye contact was a lot more intimidating when he could actually see Genki's eyes.

Once they started in pursuit of the butterfly, the ginger surprisingly followed without complaint. It was better to just pretend he was holding hands with someone hot - not Hoshino, just... maybe someone that kinda looked like him - that totally wasn't leading him to his demise. Less stress. At least until his wicked jailer seemed to notice he had regained a modicum of peace in his heart and shoved him toward the girl's locker room in an effort to defile the last bit of dignity Daigo held.

"Wha- I can't-" Daigo sputtered aimlessly, then puffed his cheeks out in a childish pout, "I'm not girly..." They just didn't wanna get in trouble. Typical bullies.

The ginger opened his mouth to voice his protests, but he was stopped by something wacking his shoe and then outright stumbling into him. Excuses raced through his mind, though as tempted as he was to throw Noriaki to the wolves for forcing him into the girl's locker room, his assailant moved on with only a muttered apology. Whatever spirits that protected him couldn't have given him a luckier break. There was no way Ueno-senpai even registered who he was. There was no way they'd get in trouble for that. Even better, they couldn't expect him to go inside while the locker room was occupied.

"See! You can't make me go in there. She could already be shirtless and there's no way I'm going in there to look at that. That would be wrong." The redhead huffed triumphantly as soon as the locker room door closed behind Ueno. Looks like the shadow hands would have to wa-

There was a defenseless blind girl alone in a room with a demon.

No, it was fine. He could pop in, cover his eyes, put on a convincing falsetto, and tell her Nakano-senpai had been looking for her. Easy.

"I'm leaving the second she's safe, you hear me?" Daigo mumbled defeatedly as he trudged forward into what was quite possibly the last place he'd ever want to be on campus. It hadn't occurred to him just how dark the locker rooms were without power. Normally, that would've been a blessing in a place he didn't want to be caught, but the darkness was wasted when tailing a blind girl. Thankfully, he had the haunting luminescence of the butterfly to guide him toward his target, and the echoing rattle of cane on locker to give away Ueno's position. The lack of any sweeping cell phone flashlights or idle conversation suggested they were alone - and more importantly, he wasn't likely to stumble into anyone in their underwear - but he might be able to pass for a girl in the pitch blackness if spotted. Not that he'd admit it to stupid Hoshino.

Nervously, the redhead skulked down a row of lockers, mindful of touching anything that could possibly give away his position. The repetitive clatter of the cane had stopped, unluckily enough right next to the butterfly, if his ears served him right. That was bad. Assuming both locker rooms had the same layout, they were both by the mirrors. It took every ounce of restraint the boy had not to rush over, expecting some otherworldly horror to burst forth at any moment.

“What do you want, then?!”

Crap, had she heard him? No, even if she had, there's no way she could've distinguished him from any random girl that wandered in here in search of her phone or something, and that certainly wouldn't warrant her tone there. Had he missed someone? Daigo craned his head around the locker he had concealed himself behind and watched as the blind girl pawed at the mirror in silence, awaiting a response from whatever third party Ueno had questioned. Except she wasn't pawing at the mirror, was she? Everytime she moved, the light dimmed for a brief moment, as if muffled by her hand. She was grasping for the butterfly. She was talking to the butterfly.

"Y-you can see it too?!" The nervous boy blurted out in a more masculine voice than he intended. Abort, abort! Staggering back, Daigo made it an impressive two steps into his escape route before he toppled over a nearby bench and flopped onto the ground, the tile almost knocking the wind out of him. "I-I... uuuh. I c-can explain."

---

@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

_{April 13th - Afternoon}

---

Nope. If it wasn't already obvious, Daigo could tell from Hoshino's face that he wasn't gonna get out of this. For a moment, he shrunk under the other teen's glare, only to relax the slightest bit upon the (needlessly harsh) reassurance that they'd at least have something to fight back with. That explanation... sort of made sense. Daigo wasn't sure he liked William holding that much control over them, but he seemed to be able to dick them around in a million other ways anyway. Or maybe the blue room and the mirror place were fundamentally different somehow, and Personas could only manifest in one and not the other. Or... maybe they just needed to be in danger.

The mention of Genki got a small frown out of the redhead. He figured everyone else would've taken the opportunity to run in the opposite direction once they caught sight of the butterfly again, but apparently their classmate hadn't been fast enough to avoid Hoshino's notice and now he was slated for execution too. Daigo felt bad for him, but at least another body helped their odds against... whatever the hell William intended for them to go up against.

He turned to follow Hoshino's gaze, squinting into the not-so-distant distance in search of their third musketeer. It wasn't very hard to locate him with the way Genki loomed over most of the class, but the nearsighted redhead couldn't make out enough of his face to properly gauge whether he was 'pumped up' antsy or 'freaking the fuck out' antsy. Daigo himself was firmly in the latter category and likewise would've assumed everyone else would be too, but Genki did seem pretty excited when his Persona came out last time. Unfortunately, before Daigo could throw so much as a warning glance in Genki's direction, he felt his wrist suddenly shackled in the indomitable hold of a student athlete's grip strength.

"Waitwaitwait! Lemme go! I was going with you anyway! I swear," Daigo whined as his attention snapped back to Noriaki, fully expecting to be picked up or dragged away harshly in the coming moments. He wasn't even trying to slip away this time! At best he might've been able to put up enough of a struggle that a teacher got involved and broke them apart, but with the lights out and a whole gymnasium to manage, they might not even care to intervene until the diminutive redhead had already been hoisted out the door, and Hinari Daigo was not a betting man.

"A-And I still can't see anything, so if you could maybe... let go for a... second... yeah, nevermind..." He weakly gestured toward the bleachers with his unseized hand as he pleaded his last bid for freedom before the outstretched limb went limp in defeat. The boy's gaze drifted sheepishly down to his toes for a moment, then back toward Genki. "Um. M-Mori-kun," Daigo called over, "Can, uh... can you grab my glasses off the bleachers? Hoshino-kun's a big meanie that wants to see me cry." Childishly, the redhead punctuated his statement by blowing a raspberry back at his aggressor. Not his finest retort, but anything involving magic butterflies was unlikely to be his finest hour either.

---

@Asura@Lord Orgasmo

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

_{April 13th - Afternoon}

---

Basketball had to be Daigo's least favorite sport. Well, every sport was his least favorite, just for different reasons, but that was beside the point. Basketball still had to be one of the worst. Everyone was taller than him, he fumbled every catch even on the rare occasion there wasn't a giant ready to intercept the ball in front of him, all of his throws were way off target; his only consolation was that his teammates had eventually stopped passing to him altogether. He hadn't been hit in the face with a basketball yet either, which was a solid improvement from middle school.

Contrary to everyone else's annoyance, Daigo had to resist the urge to cheer as the sudden darkness descended over the gym. No more basketball! What a shame. Of course, the sobering realization that the teachers would probably just march the class outside for a different sport if the power didn't return soon rather than cancel this stupid gym day altogether put a damper on his celebration, but at least he got a short reprieve from his torment. Still, the power outage was too good to be true. There had to be some divine irony lurking in the shadows somewhere, waiting to ruin his day in exchange for cancelling the basketball game. The fiery-haired boy trudged toward the bleachers before the student body's antsiness turned into boredom; with his luck, his genius idea to leave his glasses safely tucked away from facebound basketballs on the bench would end with someone sitting on them in the dark.

He didn't get very far before the mention of a bathroom rendezvous stopped him in his tracks. Was- was that code for Hoshino needing to talk to him? Or did he intend to cut class and drag Daigo along as an accomplice into his sordid life of crime? Maybe Daigo just really looked like he had to pee. He was nervous around flying projectiles, sure, but he didn't know basketball made him look that outwardly pathetic. The boy spun around to question his classmate when he noted the subtle mote of blue in the distance.

Ah. The divine irony.

Daigo didn't need to be able to actually see it to know damn well what it was; his blood froze in his veins all the same. Which meant Hoshino was intent on following the butterfly to whatever nightmare it led them to this time. How was a newly-built gym already haunted? Or cursed. Or whatever a Lilith did to buildings with broken mirrors and poor innocent Daigos in them. With a resigned sigh, the redhead paced back toward the other would-be demon hunter. He already knew he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of this one if he couldn't even talk his way out of the Satin Room - or whatever it was called. Wherever they were going, he prayed there was a Khepri there too, at least, because he doubted Class 2-A's walking basketball handicap would fare much better against more shadow hands.

"Um, can you help me find my glasses first? It's dark," Daigo asked innocently, though his puppy dog eyes were ruined by the obvious anxiety written blatantly across his face. Was he stalling? Yes. Would it matter in the end? Probably not. Hoshino already proved he was both willing and able to physically drag Daigo into whatever supernatural hell he was intent on putting them through, but he could at least wait until Daigo was confident he could hold his lunch down before volun-telling him to come fight monsters in mirror land.

"So, I wasn't able to make Khepri appear in that blue room earlier," He continued in a lower tone once the coach was out of earshot, "What are we gonna do if our Per... Personas, that's it! What are we gonna do if our Personas don't show up?"

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@Asura

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

---

Were Auberon a man of less than peerless decorum, Kellen might've gotten a laugh out of him there. Not in mockery - the expression of concern and offer to the rest of the House were both noble sentiments - but from the sheer absurdity of Kellen of all people saying it. The thought of his housemate on shaky legs with a sword - no, worse; a bow that couldn't hit the side of a barn - brandished against an advancing kidnapper that had thus far bested even the Knights of Seiros was hardly the image of a protector one would want accompanying them on a midnight stroll. And yet, he'd still offered of his own volition. That kid made no sense sometimes.

And so Auberon stared in incredulity, as if peering a hole through Kellen's head would offer a clue as to where that selfless bravery was hidden all the time. He seemed more frightened of an unexpected knock than an outright attack, yet allegedly couldn't even bring himself to lift a sword again because of some hellbound raiders.

"You're a good person, Kellen," He finally blurted out, for lack of any other encouraging words, "Even if I don't understand you at all." The blond patted his housemate on the back while he turned his attention to Derec. Right. He'd have to do something about Lienna too, whether she wanted him to butt in or not. He had the strangest notion that she leaned more heavily toward the 'not'. If Auberon offered to keep her safe, she'll call him a patronizing blowhard; if he reassured her she could handle herself and not to worry, she'd spit some more nonsense about the Goddess not liking her. Honestly, what did these peasant churches teach at mass every week? Fortunately, the Goddess saw fit to provide him a convenient escape before anyone talked him into another argument with the countess-to-be.

Tea with the archbishop promised to be an enlightening experience, though with so much going on, it was a surprise that Auberon was still allowed the honor. Then again, would the Goddess deny Her humble servants enlightenment in such trying times?

"I think that's my cue to depart. If anyone has further concerns, no matter how trivial they may seem, I'll be available later. Please seek me out." Auberon bowed his head toward the rest of the Lions before he slipped out of the pew and into the aisle. With a regretful pause, he gave one last look to Derec and Kellen. Just couldn't leave a job unfinished, could he? "If you want to try checking on her, I'd appreciate it, but I doubt she'll talk to any of us. She's -" Needlessly difficult? Then again, so was Kellen, "- headstrong like that."

---

@ThatCharacter@Hero

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

---

If Rudolf didn't wish fervently every night that he was back at Fort Merceus before, he certainly did now. The rumors had him nervous enough, but confirmation just left him enervated and mildly annoyed. Disappearances. In Garreg Fucking Mach. Unbelievable; the Knights were a joke nowadays. If they seriously thought he might be a threat when something like this was in the works right under their noses, they must've been. Maybe Theo should've spent less time monitoring him and more time watching for infiltrators. At the very least, Rudolf should be well-protected once that silver-haired psychopath inevitably tried to name him as one of the suspects and stepped up his spying. Nothing could be worse than letting Rudolf von Bergliez, Criminal Mastermind, Serial Murderer, Peerless General, and Sorcerer Supreme run around unmonitored. He might go to the library or something - how positively dastardly.

The boy's momentary grimace was wiped away along with such bitter thoughts as the prince spoke up. Right. He was probably the safest person on campus even without the Knights hovering over his shoulder, not that he ever left his room enough to try his luck. Speaking of which, that sounded like a lovely place to retire to before he was cornered and interrogated for more things he didn't do. Whatever Kayden hoped to glean from Captain Battleaxe up there didn't interest him anyway. Any guard rotation schedules they gave to a student would probably have to be changed to prevent a leak anyway, even if it was one of the House Leaders.

Unfortunately, just as Rudolf went to make his escape, someone's arm slammed right into his face as he rose from the pew, which caused him to stagger into the seat in front of him. It wasn't the first time he'd been literally tripped over and it likely wouldn't be the last, but the fact that it happened so brazenly told him he must've slipped away more adeptly than he thought. His assailant - that ice magic girl from Faerghus - was nice enough to toss an apology back at him but clearly decided he wasn't worth any more of her time than that with the way she tried to scurry off. Not that he blamed her.

"Yeah," The boy mumbled awkwardly as his eyes shyly drifted toward his toes, "Keep an eye out for me next time, I guess..." Why was everyone around here so full of action all of a sudden? It wasn't like they could march up to the podium and nag the administration into finding the culprit. Or was that just what successful people did; threw aside passivity at the first sign of danger and paced around like ants near spilled honey until they found something decisive to act on. Whatever it was, Rudolf wasn't that person. He didn't belong here and now he was almost in danger for it.

---

@Obscene Symphony@POOHEAD189

Of Blood and Magic

---

Ugh, Max hated the way she spoke so calmly about his... magic situation. Then again, what was he supposed to do? Tell Lilie to stop talking about it because weirdos like Eris want to use him as breeding stock? She already wanted to use Aaron as breeding stock; probably wouldn't even understand where the issue was.

"So wouldn't it follow that you should go jump in a lake to get a better handle on this?" Max mused unenthusiastically, "Go underwater, get used to shaping a sphere and then repeat without the vessel to hold all your magic." At least, that was how he would do it if he wanted a large portion of his magic to vacate his immediate vicinity. Maybe he could line up a bunch of cans and bounce his magic across them until his dowsing field compressed, now that he thought of it. No, he'd probably just get another mental 'stretch'. Or send all the cans flying - better out in the woods than here, though.

With their dismissal, Max promptly dropped that train of thought. Waste of time. Not worth caring about. He could cross that bridge when he got to it, preferrably with a competent instructor next to him.

"Whatever, I don't care. I'm hungry." Of course all his exhausting classes had to be before lunch. Not that this should've been an exhausting class, but apparently entertaining the professor's weird complex was also part of the curriculum. Just like high school, except the eccentricities were twice as bad when the teachers were half-insane from years of vampiric servitude and the power trip of being able to shoot fire from their hands.

A bleak future to look forward to. Hopefully when he finally snaps he'll get lucky and take Eris with him.

Speaking of Eris, lunchtime was probably his cue to try and pester Max into doing his homework for him in whatever mortal psychology class he probably padded his schedule with. Okay, he had absolutely no idea what vampire classes were even about, but Max assumed they were probably mortal-related. They had like a century to learn all the ins and outs of vampirism beforehand, after all.

The mage rose with a sigh and trudged off toward the exit, heedless of whether Short, Pale, and Lovestruck was finished with their theorizing or not. And even that was infuriating because there was a little Eris somewhere in the back of his head saying, 'That's right, always make them chase you,' and that meant Max was marketable to all that leech's tabloid sycophants. He couldn't fucking win today.

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@Hero