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[color=92278f]“Don’t flatter yourself, you’re cute but you’re not that cute. You got balls kid, I’ll give you that, but you let that mouth of yours get you in too much trouble and this place will extinguish that flame.” [/color]

Max actually snorted a bit in response. Either he had guessed the leech's game right, or Count Astronomy was blowing him off. He scowled at Victor as he was shoved aside in favor of Salem, although he supposed the vampire's attention shifting elsewhere was worth the minor offense. The mage's mind was far too preoccupied making sense of what Victor had said to Flower Boy to actually formulate a snappish response anyway. He was talking to the queen? Him? Makes sense, he was the Retriever's friend; people from upper circles stuck together, even among humanity. But the supposed treason charges were even more curious. Why would a suspected rebel be invited to a prestigious academy? And why would they be allowed anywhere near Her Majesty?

Max backed up a bit, distancing himself from the scene enough to prevent himself from being drawn back in but close enough he could still pick up on the juicy gossip about [i]treason[/i] of all things, although it seemed Victor had once again shifted his attention to Paleface. Apparently she was cuter than he was, because Victor was even closer to her than he had been to Max. Unless... she wasn't the target to begin with. Salem's reaction had Max doing a double take to ensure he had seen it right, but it told him enough about the situation to put him back at ease, at least for his own safety. 

Astronomy was trying to provoke someone here, and he'd gotten what he wanted. Flower Boy had walked right into the crude little web Victor had spun, and Salem even had the audacity to [i]touch[/i] the giant of a man. Either he was exceptionally confident in his magical abilities or exceptionally stupid. Words can be written off, but physical contact and [i]threats[/i] were an actual offense. The vampire could easily get away with punishing him for that, rules be damned. Couple this with the treason charges the Astorio had mentioned earlier, and this looked like Flower Boy's unlucky day. Over some woman he just met too, jeez.

Count Cinnamon seemed to share his thinking, given his warning. Max was a bit concerned that Varis already knew his name, though. He didn't seem like the type to be memorizing all his students, especially on the first day. At least Max was getting what he wanted, Retriever had to babysit him for the time being. Although him getting punished (in whatever loose sense of the word applies to merely being escorted out) and not anyone else involved in that altercation left him a bit miffed. He merely asked an innocent question of intent to His Magnificent Excellency, Count Astorio the Giant, hardly a crime.

[color=8585ad]"As much as I'd [i]love[/i] to join you, I think I'm being assigned a chaperone,"[/color] Max responded to Salem's question flatly. He doubted Astronomy would let Salem off so easily once they were both outside the lecture hall anyway. Max took up a spot near the exit, looking down on Aaron at Varis' side with thinly-veiled disdain. He was just eager to do whatever this leech told him to, wasn't he? Tool.

[hr][@Hero][@ReusableSword][@Trainerblue192][@Obscene Symphony][@Achronum] [sub]Who aren't I interacting with at this point?[/sub]