[quote=@Crimmy] [b]Gratia Mindaro - Cafeteria [/b] "[color=66cd00]Your hair could fucking burn for all I care,[/color]" she replied tonelessly. "[color=66cd00]But not until I sate my interest in it.[/color]" The assumption that Schwarz' strange hair situation was associated with his emotional state was one based on very little evidence, the only sign having been the surprise on his face earlier. But it was a hypothesis that had greater basis than any other shitty idea that could pop up. And Gratia was going to prove that her hypothesis was correct. By all fucking means necessary. "[color=66cd00]My dorm, straight after classes, [/color]" she continued, standing from her chair with remarkable solemn grace. "[color=66cd00]DoN'T be tardy.[/color]" And once again, she was the stoic Mistralese huntress, walking away into the crowd with nary another word. [/quote] [h2]Luke Schwarz -- Fallout[/h2] He said nothing as the daughter of Mistral vanished into the crowd, leaving him once more at his lonesome at the table. Instead, his eyes merely widened, a touch more than imperceptibly so, and his mind had raced. Sure, it was no doubt rooted in innocent intentions and nothing more, but the pure fact of the matter had remained all too clear for the fistic Hunter, whether changed by context or not. [i]Sh-She just invited me to her room! D o u s h i o [/i] Despite the message being laden with Mindaro's characteristic verbal abuse (or perhaps instead simple freight-train bluntness), nonetheless the study subject in question found his ears burning and cheeks no doubt taking a slightly rosy tinge. Purely scientific intentions or not, that was really fast! Wasn't he little more than an acquaintance to her?! A guy going into a girl's room may not have normally been a big deal due to the team-to-dorm structure of this Academy, but being invited had an entirely different meaning! What should he do? Should he clean up beforehand? Be sure to spray some extra deodorant? Should he bust out his nice clothes? No, she said straight after classes, so they'd both be in uniform... [i]Sc-School Uniforms![/i] Eyes bugging, he shook his head vigorously, smashing them shut and sending his growing locks to and fro. He was getting ahead of himself, losing his cool. This would go nowhere! [i]Slow down, slow down, slow down! Get it together, man![/i] With a deep breath, he rose as the bell indicating the beginning of passing period rang, tossing his scraps of remaining food and used plates in the necessary bins. Bag locked in an iron grip, he proceeded down the halls to Armory, forcing his head to cool. [i]I am just an acquaintance, and I'm no more special than anyone else to her. The only reason this is happening is because my hair sparked her curiosity.[/i] This was the honest truth of the matter. While the thoughts had been fun to entertain, he was far too cowardly and far too savvy to try and bring them to life through action. After all, he was too much of a coward to seriously go as far as to [i]dress up[/i] for the occasion of meeting a friend in her room. That was the sort of thing you never lived down. Showing up right after class as requested-- [i]More like ordered.[/i] -- was all he needed to worry about. ------------------ One short and convenient timeskip later, and Schwarz found himself in Chatsworth's Armory class, plopped somewhere in the mix near Cian and half of BASL and idly toying with his watches as class began. Armory. He could see why his teammate had opted for this one easily: being essentially entirely reliant on Byakko, it behooved her to know the ins-and-outs of both her weapons and those she could potentially encounter, and likely be called upon to deal with, on missions. It made perfect sense, and the class could only do her good. Him, on the other hand, he was primarily a fist-fighter using weapons that, while in good condition and reliable, were hand-me-downs passed onto him from his mother. Ones that he used with a decent deal of proficiency, but had long ago concluded would be best served by being passed onto the middle child as opposed to the eldest. As such, he would, for now, need to learn how to make them work for him, as there was no turning back. [i]Or is there? I wouldn't be surprised if we learned forgery...[/i] He visibily perked up a tad, pupils dilating ever so slightly. Learning to shape steel, to fold it upon itself to reduce impurities... [i]I'll do so one thousand times![/i] [b]"How do you think this one's gonna play out, Cian? Can't be worse than Math, right?"[/b] Or history, despite Professor Oobleck's best efforts at both slowing things down [i]and[/i] keeping them concise...