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Five minutes from now, Kellen wouldn’t be able to tell you what he had just consumed. The plate in front of him had some sort of fish on it, which in the moment Kellen could acknowledge tasted good enough. Well-seasoned and light without being under-cooked, he could intellectually acknowledge it was better than anything he had ate in the past year. But he hardly savoured it.

He could blame it on first-day nerves, but this had been on ongoing issue over the past year. He had hoped it could be blamed on the bland fare they had been served in camp, but the rapidly-dissapearing fish on his plate confirmed it wasn’t the food that was the problem. It was him. Eager not to fully consider the implications of this, he let his mind wander.

After he had departed from the trainings grounds, Kellen had made a speedy exit to the church. Standing at the entrance, he had made sure to make eye-contact with Auberon and give a quick nod and a wave. Auberon was standing with Clarissa, the pious Deer who had seemed the most grounded and capable of her house.  The two seemed a logical duo. But as his house leader began to move towards him, he felt an ache in his stomach that he had long grown familiar with. This was silly. This whole charade was a silly, stupid idea, and the only thing that could make it worse would be to try and justify it. Besides, he had already achieved his objective. Auberon had seen him at the Cathedral. That was all he wanted. As a student walked by, Kellen made a show of recognizing him, giving another wave towards Auberon before turning to walk with the strange. He apologized profusely to the confused Adrestian he had accosted the moment he was out of vision.

After that, he had come up a simple plan. Lurk near the dining hall, eat as quickly as possible, and lock himself in his dorm room for the night. He would figure out a plan for tomorrow, tomorrow. As soon as the doors to the dining hall had opened (and a few minutes before the bell had even rang), Kellen entered and asked the irritated staff for whatever they had a plate of.  

Said plate had once held fish, and was now empty. The only evidence there had ever been food there the not-minute amount of sauce that had stained the cuffs of his baggy shirt. Kellen’s manners had deteriorated since he had been with his family in the castle. Still, he was halfway done his plan. Now to make it – Oh. 

As Kellen looked up from the plate, he realized only a few seats down from him that both Lienna and Derec – Kellen commended himself for his memory – were enjoying their meal. He had had his head down and there were a few students who were between them, so it wasn’t  a surprise that neither had spotted him. But this presented a challenge to his clean exit. From his seat, Derec would have been unlikely to spot Kellen’s exit, but Lienna had a good view. And she had told the group that she would see them at dinner. He owed them at least a brief introduction, and they would be unlikely to prod him about his attendance at the church. Speaking of… He gave a quick scan of the dining hall, trying to spot the shock of blonde hair that adorned his House Leader’s head. His quick survey revealing nothing, Kellen stood up, taking his empty plate in one hand and his jacket in the other. He walked over to the two.

[color=63a2e4]“Err…”[/color] Wonderful. Just how he had wanted to start. [color=63a2e4]“Hello Lienna. And hi Derec. We haven’t really talked yet, but it appears we’ll be working together more. I’m –“[/color] He stopped himself from starting off on the same cycle of horror that was trying to say his name. [color=63a2e4]“You know.”[/color] He pointedly kept his attention on the boy, afraid Lienna’s expression would send him into another spiral of babbling. [color=63a2e4]“Ballard, right? Where’s that from?”[/color] Some part of his brain reacted as he said the name out loud, though for what reason Kellen could not say. He frowned slight, standing stock still with the plate is his hand perfectly level with the ground. After a moment, the frown faded. [color=63a2e4]“Food’s good, huh?”[/color] He looked down at his plate, letting it waver slightly.