[u]Vera[/u]

Vera inconspicuously leaned towards Deborah, offering her ear as she scouted out the guy she was talking about. It hit her like a slap in the face when she realized it was Chris Deb was scoping out. Of course, he would just radiate his problems to her- Vera got stronger impressions from him as well. From what she remembered of him, anyway. She hadn't gotten very close to him since she saw him yesterday, but she wondered how much he had changed.

Vera nodded knowingly and gently rapped her fingers on the side of her mug. The Academy was pretty small, so word would get around fast about Chris. But maybe sliding Deb a little bit of information could make that work in Chris' favor.

"I know him, actually. Not the metal guy- the other one." Vera kept her eye on the two as they chatted over their breakfast. "His name's Chris. I met him my first year here and he was always super nice to everyone." Then some dude went over to the table and shoved Chris out of his seat. Vera winced. What was his damage? Then, naturally, Chris dumped a glass of juice on his head.

"I mean, he was nice when I knew him." She shrugged and drew a sip from her coffee. So much for giving him some good words. "He could still be, I guess. But I dunno. I haven't really spoken to him. Since he came back, I mean." Wow. Awkward. She cleared her throat and drummed her fingers on her mug again. Time to change topics.

"So, how've you been? How was your break?" Vera was genuinely interested in knowing, but it did work as a nice switch, if Deborah bought it. She took her eyes off of Chris and didn't see or sense him coming until his hand was hovering over her shoulder. The touch, as small as it was, washed over her a wave of feelings, all too fleeting to discern, but it had the same effect as dumping a bucket of ice water on her head. She jumped in her seat and blinked rapidly, twisting around to see who it was. 

It took her a second to register and recover from the shock. A wide smile spread across her lips. "Yeah! It's me." She was surprised he remembered her. People she saw regularly in her hometown didn't remember her. "Of course I remember you, Chris!" Boy, he looked very different up close. Out of habit, she counted and calculated the ruggedness of the skin of his face and then some of the scarring on hand and- Oh. 

"You have a cut on your hand," She stated. Vera thought she could do a little something to clear up his face and whatever scars he had. He was in desperate need of a haircut, too, but she knew her limits. "May I?" She offered her hand to him. "It'll help prevent infection," She added temptingly, giving her fingers a wiggle. 

"Oh, and this is my friend Deborah," Vera said, inclining her head to the girl next to her.