[center][h1][color=#B0C4DE]S p i r e S c h i p p e r s[/color][/h1][/center] [hr] Whether Dawn's presence would have done the trick to break up the fight, or whether Kora would have shoved past her to get glorious retribution for the juice in her hair, would remain a mystery. A decorative potted devil's ivy on a brass-legged marble end table in the corner suddenly came alive with furious speed, lengthening and thickening to thread into a wide wall of organic bars that blocked them from each other, appearing just behind Dawn so that she stood on Larke's side of the divider. It happened in about a second, accompanied by a subtle trembling underfoot, like a freighter had just rumbled by. [color=#B0C4DE]"Is this really how we're starting the year? Really?"[/color] His voice was cool and silky, but intoned with a lazy kind of drawl, an effect that somehow perfectly paralleled the appearance of the voice's owner: A tall, dark haired man in his thirties; dressed in a slim, tailored gray blazer and navy button up; evidently couldn't be bothered to shave in the last week or so; one hand lifted in a relaxed pose like he was showing someone a watch, the other in his pocket. He regarded the three students currently in the fray. He'd previously studied the student photo roster for people of interest, but he would have recognized Kora Norrevinter anyway. She looked like her father, and her aunt. But then, all Norrevinters came spat out of a copy machine, down to the way the ink seemed to be getting streaky and damaged each generation. The other was a Sterling kid. If nothing else, the context of this fight gave it away. And the intervening girl...was the Memoli. [i]That[/i] he knew from the roster. Memolis were people to keep an eye on. Especially with his history. His smile at her wasn't especially warm. [color=#B0C4DE]"Thanks for being a peacemaker, kid. You can sit now."[/color] He then turned pale gray eyes from Kora to Larke and back, but he spoke up for the entire room to hear. [color=#B0C4DE]"I'm not gonna give you some bullshit speech about how this is a safe place and we need to leave our family feuds at the door, okay? But this isn't how things are going to go, either. Anyone is welcome to hate each other's guts from across the room. You don't have to hug it out. I really don't care. But can we draw a line at throwing people into school property? The only fighting on this campus is going to be in combat class, got it?"[/color] He gave a pointed look at the mess Larke and Kora had made. Juice, bits of egg, and a couple of pancakes had made it onto the floor.[color=#B0C4DE]"And you two can clean this up."[/color] With a small, easy rotation of Spire's hand, the plant retracted back over its pot, groaning in complaint as its stalks coiled to roughly fit the space it once occupied. It now looked more like a misshapen piece of modern art, especially since many of the yellow and green ribbed leaves had crackled and dried out, sapped of moisture. The once tender green ones on the ends now bore that hollowed grayish spiderweb look. The expenditure of energy for the unnatural growth had clearly caused some damage, and the posture of the twisted knot of stems made it look as if it felt ashamed to have been used so roughly. Spire waited, folding his arms and watching them with half-lidded eyes and a dry smile, as though daring them to see what would happen if they took another swing at each other.